Parsnip Spice Cake with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

Sense of Home

A nearby neighbor plants a huge garden every year and they have often shared some of their produce with us.  They were part of the 'back to nature' crowd that began here in the early 1970s, heating with a wood stove and growing a huge garden.  Late last fall and then again in January they gave us several squash, and just a couple weeks ago they gave us parsnips.  Wherever they store their produce it keeps quite well because these parsnips were nice and firm, although as you can see in the photo below they were starting to grow and needed to be used soon.

Parsnips get a bad rap.  I know I didn't want to eat them as a child, my mom would sauté them and I would declare them disgusting and do whatever was necessary to avoid eating them.  Perhaps it is their pale color or their surprisingly sweet flavor that turns people off.  It was not long ago that I decided to give them another try, and now I can't quite figure out what it was that I did not like about them.  According to the March 2006 Bon Appétit magazine, where I found this recipe, in Europe parsnips were once more popular than potatoes.

After the first frost the starch in parsnips turns to sugar, contributing to their sweet and nutty flavor.  Parsnips are a good source of Potassium, they are high in fiber, Vitamin C, Folate and Manganese.  Like carrots, parsnips are such a versatile vegetable, they can be sautéed with other vegetables, {a thought for food} has a recipe up for Parsnip Fries, and earlier I made Lemon Thyme Parsnip Mashed Potatoes.  They are so versatile that they even wiggle their way into dessert.  You would never guess there is a vegetable in this spice cake and next week I will post a recipe for some muffins I squeezed parsnips into, eating your vegetables was never so easy.

Parsnip Spice Cake with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

~from the Sense of Home Kitchen adapted from a March 2006 Bon Appétit recipe~
12 to 16 servings

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon ground allspice

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3 large eggs

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

2 cups (packed) shredded peeled parsnips (about 3 large)

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger

3 cups (about 12 ounces) powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.  Combine flour, ground ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon salt, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves in a medium-sized bowl, stirring to combine.  

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar, add eggs, buttermilk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla while whisking.  Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring to just combine.  Stir in parsnips and walnuts.  

Transfer batter to prepared pan.  Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.  Cool completely.

For Frosting

Beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until smooth.  Beat in heavy cream, grated ginger, the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.  Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.  Spread the frosting over the cake and serve.

Sense of Home / Recipes / Cake

Homemade Crème Fraîche

Sense of Home

I have come across several recipes calling for crème fraîche, however it is not available to purchase at the stores in my home town, and I have heard that it is expensive when available.  I have substituted sour creme which works fine, but I wanted to know what crème fraîche tasted like, and how it differed from sour creme. Food In Jars website had a post on homemade crème fraîche back in February, reminding me that I could make my own.  So I did just that, and now that I have made my own, I have found it to be so simple that there is no reason to search out the expensive product in neighboring cities. Crème fraîche is not as sour as sour creme, it tastes more like a thick sweet creme with a slight tang.  I followed the directions in the book The Lost Art of Real Cooking (a good reference book that covers many of the basics of traditional cooking), which says that it can be whipped and served with desserts and that it has less of a tendency to curdle during cooking.

Crème Fraîche
In a pint or quart jar, depending on how much you wish to make, pour in fresh sweet cream (not ultra-pasteurized*) add a large or small (depending on how much cream you are using) dollop of plain yogurt or buttermilk, and stir. Cover and leave the jar sit in a warm spot for a day or two (longer if your house is cold).  I placed mine in my microwave so that it was out of the way and it is a warm spot since it is located above my stove.  Once the cream has thickened (mine took two days with temps in the upper 60s, in the summer heat I'm sure it will take less time) it is ready to use.  Store in the refrigerator where it will keep for a couple of weeks.

*Although the directions in the book I used said the cream should not be ultra-pasteurized, the only cream I had available was an organic ultra-pasteurized whipping creme so I gave it a try and it worked just fine.  I also make homemade whole-milk ricotta using organic ultra-pasteurized whole milk and it has worked every time.

Sense of Home / Recipes  
Sense of Home / Homemade Life / Kitchen and Pantry / A Homemade Life  

Artichoke, Potato, and Portobello Mushroom Casserole

Sense of Home

I've been on a quest to learn to cook foods I have never cooked before, one of those is fresh artichokes.  Oh, I've eaten fresh artichokes before at a friend's house, dipping the steamed leaves into homemade mayonnaise, and I have cooked with canned artichokes before, but I have never taken a fresh artichoke and tackled the choke, turning the spiky globe into something eatable.

It is not the easiest task the first time around.  I wasn't sure I was doing it right when I seemed to be throwing in the compost bucket more than I was placing in the acidulated water.  I ended up with so few slices of artichoke I opened a can of artichoke hearts and added some to the casserole, I wanted to be sure we could actually taste the artichokes in the dish.  Below the spiky, purple leaves that gave me more than one nearly impossible to see sliver, is the hairy center that needs to be removed (I found a small paring knife worked well).  This is best done with the assistance of someone who knows what they are doing or after watching this how to video.  If I had seen the video before attempting the task I would have forged ahead with confidence rather than trepidation.

Ok, it is not that bad, but the next time I buy fresh artichokes, and there will be a next time, I will know what I am doing and I wouldn't spend the whole time thinking that perhaps I got some bad artichokes, because it appears to have gone to seed and there just isn't any usable fleshy heart in the center.  I finally sliced the last two artichokes in half to see just what was inside, the heart I was aiming for, which as it turns out is just the base of the artichoke, right above the stem.  This is what makes cooking so much fun for me, it is a science experiment, a chance to create, make a mess, and in the end have something interesting, maybe even delicious, to eat.

These large portobello mushrooms really are large and every bit as good as the baby portobello I love to saute in butter, adding a splash of wine towards the end.  

This casserole is layered like lasagna, but it is a lighter dish, less cheese and no heavy sauce.  The feta cheese paired well with the artichokes and the house smelled fabulous with the white wine, garlic and mushrooms cooking in the oven.

Artichoke, Potato, and Portobello Mushroom Casserole

~from the Sense of Home Kitchen, adapted from Bon Appetit, April 2006~

6 - 8 servings

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

4 large artichokes

2 pounds of Red potatoes, about 4 or 5 medium-sized, peeled thinly sliced

4 large portobello mushroom caps, thinly sliced

6 ounces Feta cheese

4 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 lemon (for preparing artichokes)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Brush13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.  

Add the juice from half a lemon to a large bowl of cold water.  Cut off the artichoke's stem; rub cut surface with the other lemon half.  Peel off the leaves.  Cut off, or twist and pull out the purple leaves, taking some of the choke with them.  Clean out the remainder of the fibrous choke with a small paring knife.  Rub the artichoke all over with lemon and drop it into the lemon water.  

Using a food processor or mandoline, thinly slice the potatoes.  Drain and slice artichoke hearts.  Arrange half of the potato slices in the prepared dish, covering the bottom completely.  Top with half of the artichoke hearts and half of the mushrooms.  Coarsely crumble half the feta over the dish, layering everything as you would for lasagna.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and half of the garlic, then 1 tablespoon Parmesan.  Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Cover with remaining mushrooms, then artichoke hearts, feta, garlic, 1 tablespoon Parmesan, and 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Top with remaining potatoes.  Pour wine over; drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Cover dish with foil.  Bake 40 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees F.  Sprinkle top with remaining 1 tablespoon Parmesan.  Bake uncovered until potatoes are tender and top is brown, about 25 minutes.  Cool slightly and serve.

Sense of Home / Recipes / Vegetables / Vegetarian Dishes

French Onion Soup

Sense of Home

Nosing through my freezer earlier in the week I came across a few jars of beef stock and started thinking about what I wanted to make with the stock.  I hadn't settled on anything by Sunday morning, but when I woke it was cloudy, cool, and rainy, perfect for a pot of soup. Then I found this recipe over at Smitten Kitchen, where there is always another creative and delicious recipe to try.  Ms. Smittenkitchen herself adapted it from Julia Child's classic cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I stuck close to the recipe, just leaving out the Cognac I did not have, and using the homemade beef stock I had.  I toasted the French bread rounds under the broiler before placing them on top of the soup, they soaked up some of the soup as we broke them apart with our spoon, but they kept their crunchy exterior.

The beef stock is not from 2010 as the jar lid would indicate,  I just didn't cross out the '10 when I crossed out the Apple Juice label.  The beef stock was made back in January and placed in the freezer, it almost looks like chicken stock in its frozen state.  I find stock to be very easy to make and freeze or can, for later use.  In fact all the necessary ingredients can be placed into the crock pot, I can head out to work for the day and come back to a finished full-flavored stock.  Toss the bones and vegetables and place the remaining stock in quart jars and into the refrigerator overnight.  In the morning, remove the solid piece of fat from off the top, put on a lid and place in the freezer.  It is perfectly good for several months.

I really like the finishing touches to this French Onion Soup.  I ate it with and without the gratinee, but prefer it with, it balances the soup nicely.  A strong flavored Gruyere and Parmesan are perfect with the strong onion flavor.  This recipe reminds me of the scene in the movie Julie and Julia, based on the book with the same title by Julie Powell, where Julia Child is practicing chopping onions, with a mound of chopped onions in front of her and tears streaming down her face.  I shed a few tears while chopping onions for this recipe.  This is my second Julia Child recipe that was not as difficult as I anticipated.  This recipe is actually very simple, and both recipes I have tried are very tasty.

French Onion Soup 

~adapted barely from Smitten Kitchen where it was adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking~

1 1/2 pounds (about 5 cups) thinly sliced yellow onions

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt, additional to taste

1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 quarts beef stock (preferably homemade)

1/2 cup dry white wine (I used a Viognier, from Cline)

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

To finish [Gratinee], optional

1 tablespoon grated raw onion

1 cup freshly grated, Parmesan cheese 

1 cup grated Gruyere

olive oil to drizzle

approximately 12 1-inch thick rounds of French bread

Heat butter and olive oil on medium-low heat in a large, heavy bottom pot.  Add onions, stirring to coat.  Cover pot and reduce heat to low, letting them cook and soften for 15 minutes.  Now, if you are like me and tend to cry over onions, run your hands under cool water and dry your tears.

After the 15 minutes is up, uncover the pot and turn the heat to medium, add salt and sugar.  Saute onions, stirring frequently, for 30 to 40 minutes until they are a deep golden brown.  Sprinkle caramelized onions with flour and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.  Add the wine in full, then add the stock a little at a time, stirring between additions.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring to a simmer and simmer partially covered for 30 to 40 minutes, skimming any foam that rises to the top so that the soup will remain clear.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if it needs it, just remember, if you finish with the cheese and bread topping, the cheese will be adding salt to the soup, so go easy.  Set aside.

If finishing with the Gratinee:  Place French bread rounds on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Broil bread rounds until toasted, watch closely.  Grate the onion.  Mix the two cheeses together.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Arrange six oven-proof bowls or crocks on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Bring the soup back to a boil and divide between the crocks.  Add to each crock of soup, 1/2 teaspoon grated raw onion and approximately a tablespoon of grated cheese   Stir to combine.  Place one or two toasted bread rounds on top of each crock of soup and mound as much cheese as you like on top.

Bake soup bowls or crocks on tray for 20 minutes, then preheat broiler.  Broil for one or two minutes under the broiler until the top is lightly browned.  Enjoy!

  

Sense of Home / Recipes / Soups

Sunday Stills

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Inside-Out Mango

A Jar of Applesauce

Sense of Home

I love finding breakfast on the pantry shelves and eating it right out of the jar.

Chai-Spiced Cheesecake with Ginger Crust

Sense of Home

My day began with sour milk in my oatmeal and the cat puking on the carpet, after that my expectations for the day were not very high.  I had story hours around town and the sky was gloomy and spitting rain as I ran from my car to the preschools.  I returned to the library to find an email from a board member saying that a reporter wanted to do another story on our potential building project at 5pm, which meant one more bad photo and incoherent quote; like I said my expectations for the day weren't real high.  Arriving home I decided to open one of the jars of chicken noodle soup I canned last fall for dinner, in part to warm up and because I could not muster the energy to do anything more.

The soup was warm and comforting and the sun actually began to peek out as it was setting.  My thoughts turned to the weekend and what I might cook or bake, these thoughts are never very far from my mind, but the day was not over and there were evening chores to take care of and preparations for the next days work.  Then around 10pm, while watching the local news, I began to page through an old Bon Appetit and came across a recipe for Chai Cheesecake.  Both my husband and I enjoy chai tea, those east Indian spices, the hot milk and cream that warms you from the inside out.  I was sure this recipe would be a hit, but I turned to my husband anyway and asked what he thought, his response was "Yes!", as if I really needed to ask, of course he would like chai cheesecake, so it was settled, I would make chai cheesecake on the weekend.

Did you know there is black pepper in chai?  Likely you did, but I was surprised by this in the ingredient list.  Look at all the wonderful spices in this cheesecake.  There is even crystallized ginger in the crust.  There is no need for a fruit topping on this cake, the flavor is all inside, I added the sliced strawberries for photo color and eye appeal, but they simply are not necessary.  This is a creamy, rich cake, I mean 32 ounces of cream cheese, 8 ounces of mascarpone, I sent some home with my daughter and we still had plenty left over to eat on since a thin slice is all you can eat at one time.

Chai-Spiced Cheesecake with Ginger Crust
~Bon Appetit, February 2007~
12 servings

Crust
Nonstick canola oil spray
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup minced crystallized ginger

Filling
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 8-ounce container mascarpone cheese
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Topping
1 1/3 cups sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


To Make the Crust:
Spray a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 3-inch-high sides with the nonstick spray.  Sift the flour, ginger, and salt into a bowl.  Then in an electric mixer bowl beat butter and sugar until well blended.  Beat in egg yolk and flour mixture, then stir in the crystallized ginger.  Gather dough into a ball and on a floured surface flatten into a disk. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough to a 9-inch round.  Carefully transfer the dough to the prepared springform pan.  Press onto bottom and 1 1/2- to 2-inches up the side of the pan.  Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Pierce frozen dough crust all over with a fork.  Line crust with foil or parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights.  Bake until set, about 30 minutes.  Remove paper and beans and continue to bake crust until it is just golden brown and cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes, watch closely.  Cool crust on rack.

To Make the Filling:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add mascarpone; beat until smooth.  Beat in in whole eggs, 1 at a time, then beat in yolks.  Add the next 6 ingredients and beat until blended.  Transfer filling to cooled crust in pan.

Bake cake for 1 hour.  Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees F. and continue to bake until the cake is set around the edges but the center moves slightly when pan is gently shaken (the top of the cake may crack), about 25 to 30 minutes longer, watch closely.  Remove cake from oven and increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

To Make the Topping:
Whisk all of the topping ingredients in a small bowl and spread evenly over the top of the cake.  Bake until set, about 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and run a knife around the cake sides.  Refrigerate uncovered overnight, then cover and leave chilled until serving.

This dish can be made 2 days ahead.


When Serving:
Remove pan sides.  Cut into wedges and serve.


Sense of Home / Recipes / Desserts

This post is shared with Sweets for Saturday.

Sherried Chicken

Sense of Home

I had taken a whole chicken out of the freezer and as it sat thawing in my refrigerator for a couple days I thought about what I wanted to make with it.  Would it be Chicken Tagine with Apricots, Roast Chicken with Lemon and Thyme, or Garlic Roasted Chicken and Vegetables?  I was really undecided until the last minute when I saw a 2008 Gourmet recipe for chicken Reisling that started me thinking about a chicken dish that I used to make often, it had sherry, Dijon mustard and cream, most of you probably make a version of this dish and it is always good.  Wanting to make a one pot meal with plenty of left overs for the week, I switched it up a little, with good results.  In the photo above the skin is removed, I remove it just before eating (unless it is very crisply fried), allowing the skin to add to the flavor of the dish and helping the chicken to stay moist.

The birds we have are locally raised and run about 2.5 to 3 pounds each, so they are not large birds, but they are just right for the two of us.  I think it is better to buy chickens whole and cut them up, they are cheaper that way, they taste better (the variety of pieces adds to the flavor of the dish), and you have the option to roast them whole or cut them into pieces, plus eating a variety of cuts provides a variety of nutrients (the dark meat contains more of some vitamins and minerals).  Here is a good video by Gourmet on how to cut up a whole chicken.  I sectioned the chicken into breasts, thighs, legs, wings and yes that is a neck there.  I leave the neck in the pot mainly to add flavor to the juices, however, there is a little meat around those bones if you are so inclined.  I lightly browned the chicken in a large pot, then took the pieces out and let them rest on a plate.

Next I caramelized a white onion, sauted minced garlic for a minute, placed the chicken back in the pot, added some sherry (which goes so well with chicken and cream), large pieces of carrot, and into the oven it went.  This is where the one pot meal goes awry.  I then chopped some potatoes and boiled them, once they were tender and drained I tossed a handful of Italian parsley, gave it a stir and just before serving I added the potatoes, some sour creme, and a splash of lemon to the chicken pot.

Sherried Chicken
~From the Sense of Home Kitchen inspired in part by a Gourmet, March 2008 recipe~
Serves 4

1 whole chicken (about 3 pounds), cut into 8 serving pieces
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large white onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 large carrots, chopped in thirds diagonally
1/2 cup medium-dry sherry (not cooking sherry)
4 medium-sized red potatoes, peeled and cut to 1 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
2/3 cup sour cream
Fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Dry chicken pieces with a paper towel to prevent splatter when placing them in the oil.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.  Heat oil and butter in a large oven-proof pot over medium-high heat.  Brown chicken in a single layer, turning once, doing so in batches if necessary.  Transfer to a plate, reserving 2 tablespoons fat.

Saute sliced onion over medium heat in the same pot using the reserved fat, until they begin to caramelize, add garlic and saute for one minute more.  Return chicken and collected juices to the pot and add carrots and sherry, simmer uncovered for 3 minutes.  Cover and place in preheated oven and braise for approximately 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and carrots are fork tender.

While chicken cooks boil potatoes in salted water until they are just tender.  Drain and return potatoes to the saucepan.  Add parsley and gently stir to coat.

Once chicken is cooked stir in sour cream and potatoes.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to taste.


Sense of Home / Recipes / Main Dishes

Maple Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

Sense of Home

I worked a forty hour week, then a full weekend, followed by a 12 hour Monday, a 10 hour Tuesday, and then finished off the week with eight hour days.  In the middle of all that craziness I went to the nursing home to help my Grandmother with her lunch.  I haven't mentioned it before, but my 96 year old Grandmother went into a nursing home this winter.  She now cannot eat without help and the wonderful staff at the home help her when my mother or I are not able to come, but usually at noon my mother stops by to help her with lunch and I have taken my turn.  I brought a simple sandwich made with this bread and ate my lunch while also helping her to eat hers.  This woman who raised 6 children, countless chickens, grew a huge garden and canned it's produce, helped to run a farm, for years used a wringer washer and hung clothes on the line to freeze-dry in winter even though her hands grew so cold they were stiff and hurt, cooked three square meals for her large family and farm-hands, now needs someone else to help her with the very basic of needs.  She feels useless, and wishes she could still be active, and yet, even when I am so busy and feel stressed and rushed I find that while I spend time with her I begin to feel myself relax and I always come away feeling very calm, she has more worth than she will ever know.

Baking bread has a similar calming effect, kneading bread dough is therapeutic, working out the stress of a too long week.  Yeast is a live, single-celled fungus, most of us are familiar with the beige granules we buy in packets or jars, this organism lies dormant until it comes into contact with warm water, in effect waking up the yeast and turning it into a bubbling brew.  Add flour and the yeast begins to feed on the sugars in the flour, releasing carbon dioxide and causing the bread to rise.  Yeast adds much to that fresh baked aroma and flavor so many of us love. It takes time, kneading the dough, letting it rise, kneading again, and letting it rise again.  I like working with my hands to knead and stretch the dough, working the proteins in the wheat flour, which combined with water form gluten, the hand work allows time for my mind to wander and work out building maintenance issues, work schedules, and brain-storm future programs.  I begin to feel myself relax and end the process feeling calmer than when I began, similar to the calm that comes over me while visiting my Grandmother.

Maple-Oatmeal Sandwich Bread
~From the Sense of Home Kitchen, adapted from a February 2008 Bon Appetit recipe~
Makes 1 loaf

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (105 degrees F. to 115 degrees F.)
1 tablespoon yeast (or 1 packet)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (grade B)
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon salt

Combine warm water and yeast and let set for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.  Place egg, butter, maple syrup, maple extract, and yeast mixture into a heavy-duty mixer.  Stir with paddle until combined.  In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients.  Attach a dough hook onto the mixer and beat at a low speed while gradually adding dry ingredients, scraping down bowl occasionally.  Beat until dough is smooth and pulls cleanly away from bowl, adding more flour by 1/4 cupfuls if dough is very sticky.  Scrape dough from hook and turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.  Knead dough for 10 to 15 minutes.  Place back into bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap and towel. Let rise in a warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.

Butter a 9x5x3-inch metal loaf pan.  Butter sheet of plastic wrap.  Scrape dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Shape into 8x3-inch log.  Place in prepared pan; cover loosely with prepared plastic, buttered side down.  Let dough rise in a warm draft-free area until center is 1 1/2 inches higher than pan, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Gently pull plastic off dough.  Place bread in oven; bake until deep golden, about 30 minutes.  Cool in pan 15 minutes.  Run a knife around the edges of the bread; turn out of pan.  Cool completely on a rack.


Sense of Home / Recipes / Bread

Sunday Stills

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Sunset

Lemon Butter Cookies

Sense of Home

There were lemons galore at the grocery store I shop at, they had them in bins just inside the entry way, by the fish, and over in the produce section.  No doubt they got a good deal on them because they were priced low.  Not all were organic though, just one bin in the produce section, I wanted to use the zest, so I snagged a few of the organic lemons.  I was thinking of making either a lemon cookie or maybe even a lemon cake.

Well, I was short on time and I do love cookies, so the cake would have to wait for another day.  I saw several lemon cookie recipes, but none of them were quite what I had in mind, I wanted a really lemony taste, so in the end I made a butter cookie and added lemon zest, lemon juice, and a really fine lemon extract.

According to a Purdue University research paper the true home of the lemon is unknown, though it has been linked to northwestern India.  Gradually spreading through the area, the fruit was prized for its medicinal virtues in Egypt and Syria around 1174 - 1193 A.D.  A few centuries later Christopher Columbus carried the seeds to Hispaniola in 1493. They have grown in California since the mid-1700s and in Florida since the mid-1800s though a devastating freeze in northern Florida the winter of 1894-95 halted commercial production until 1953.  It was a long journey, but I am glad to see this yellow citrus in the bins at my local grocery store as I'm sure most people are.  Although I like to eat oranges, lemons are my favorite citrus, I crave that strong acidic flavor with its pucker power, I have been known to eat a fresh wedge of lemon.

These cookies can be baked as drop cookies or rolled, chilled, and sliced as refrigerator cookies, providing fresh baked cookies all week.

Lemon Butter Cookies
~from the Sense of Home kitchen~
Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon extract
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugar in a mixer.  Add eggs, lemon extract, and lemon juice and mix thoroughly.  Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together, add lemon peel and stir into butter mixture.

For drop cookies:
Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheet.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes in a 350 degree F. oven.

For refrigerator cookies:
Dust work surface with flour.  Roll dough into two or three cylinders, depending on how many cookies you want to bake at a time.  Wrap dough cylinders in plastic, chill in refrigerator for up to a week.  To bake, cut dough cylinder into 1/2 inch slices and bake at 350 degrees F. for approximately 13 minutes.

Store cookies in air tight container for one week or store in the freezer for up to one month.

Sense of Home / Recipes / Cookies

Chicken Curry Soup

Sense of Home

Yes, I know, it is not soup season anymore, but I would argue that this is an island soup, where it is always warm, and the spice can make a person sweat, producing a cooling effect.  Plus I love soup and I think it is always soup season so I actually went in search of a spicy soup recipe.

I've had this can of coconut milk in my pantry for a while now, can't remember the recipe that prompted me to purchase it or why I did not use it when I bought it, but, there it was, sitting between the beans and the chicken stock looking a little lonely.  I would need chicken for this recipe, so out came a whole chicken from the freezer, neck and all.  This would provide both the chicken and the stock for the soup.  Though I needed to cook some chicken, this recipe would actually be a good way to use up left over chicken.

The Fresno pepper has the same level of heat as does the jalapeno pepper.  They are bright green as they grow, turning orange or red once they have fully matured.  I chose to use this pepper both for the amount of heat it would deliver and the color.  I believe adding a variety of colors to a dish provides eye appeal, making the dish taste better, not to mention a variety of colors provides a variety of nutrients in our diet.

Chicken Curry Soup

~From the Sense of Home kitchen; adapted from Bon Appetit, August 1993~

Serves 4

2 cups chicken stock

1 13 1/2- to 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 tablespoon curry powder

1 Fresno chili pepper, minced

2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

For Garnish:
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup freshly cooked white rice
Lime wedges

Bring chicken stock, coconut milk, curry powder, and chili to a simmer in a heavy medium-sized pot  over medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, add chicken and continue to simmer as chicken warms and flavors blend, about 5 minutes.  Mix in lime juice; season with salt and pepper.

Spoon rice into individual soup bowls, ladle soup over rice and garnish with green onion and cilantro.  Serve lime wedges separately.


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