Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

I often pick on my husband because he has a “texture” thing. As in he doesn’t eat certain foods because he doesn’t like the texture…ie, he doesn’t eat soup or beans of any kind. I used to think it was odd(I still do a little) until I made this weeks Tuesday’s With Dorie pick….Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake. And I realized, I don’t like the texture of polenta in cake. Cornmeal doesn’t bother me in cornbread, so I find it weird that I don’t like it in cake. But I don’t…it’s a texture thing.
Since I am not a fan of polenta cakes I knew I would be giving it away, I decided to use dried blueberries instead of figs, as the person they were going to is not a fig fan. It didn’t call for it, but I made a lemon glaze to go over the top of it. I made 4 mini ones that were well received by people who did not have texture issues.
Make sure to go and see Caitlin of Engineer Baker, for she picked this recipe so I bet she has a good one. And if you have even more time you can see all of the different ones through the Tuesday’s With Dorie website.
So is there anything you have a texture issue with?

Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake

 
1/2 cup dried blueberries

1 c. medium-grain polenta or yellow cornmeal

½ c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 c. ricotta

1/3 c. tepid water

¾ c. sugar

¾ c. honey (if you’re a real honey lover, use a full-flavored honey such as chestnut, pine, or buckwheat)

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 large eggs

 
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 10 ½-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Toss blueberries into a small pan of boiling water and steep for a minute, then drain and pat dry.

Whisk the polenta, flour, baking powder, and salt together.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the ricotta and water together on low speed until very smooth. With the mixer at medium speed, add the sugar, honey, and lemon zest and beat until light. Beat in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are fully incorporated. You’ll have a sleek, smooth, pourable batter.

Pour about one third of the batter into the pan and scatter over the blueberries. Pour in the rest of the batter, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, if necessary, and dot the batter evenly with the chilled bits of butter.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. The cake should be honey brown and pulling away just a little from the sides of the pan, and the butter will have left light-colored circles in the top. Transfer the cake to a rack and remove the sides of the pan after about 5 minutes. Cool to warm, or cool completely.

Source: Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

In hockey when you have bad streaks where you are not scoring(or as I call it…every time I play hockey) people want to get rid of the bad ju-ju. Hockey players are highly superstitious, as are a lot of athletes. So when your stick has been cursed you will find the player touching(usually the blade) another’s player stick. You never do it in front of that player, you would piss him off for he would fear that he now had the bad ju-ju. So you have to do it when they are not looking. The player usually then feels that his curse is gone and he can go play hockey. Weird I know, but psychologically it seems to work for a lot of players.
Well, I need to go find a baker and touch their rolling pin or something when they are not looking. Seriously, I have some bad baking ju-ju going on. The un-Midas touch as I am calling it. I made a pots de crème that stayed liquid. I made a chocolate pudding that turned to paste…I am talking this stuff could be used for glue people. I made carrot muffins that did not rise, they sank. I made my old stand by, apple cobbler in hopes of getting back in the saddle and for the first time(I have made it a ton of times) it spilled over everywhere in the oven causing quite a mess and the smoke alarm to go off for what seemed forever. Then what I did bake that turned out, turned out ugly and was not wanting to photograph for me. AHHHHHH.
But I must go on. I have a blog to bake for and nothing in the archives to rely on. I had won a free jar of Fig ‘N Ginger Chutney over at Blake Makes. You had to write in your post what you were going to do with it. I said I would make a pork panni with blue cheese and the chutney. Nothing too upscale. They liked the idea enough to send me a jar. I made a walnut and wheat loaf. You may be saying, that loaf looks good. It was. The loaf turned out fine…I did slice my thumb in 3 different spots while making it. Don’t ask. Bad ju-ju.
The chutney is very pungent, like good chutney should be. Lots of good chunks of figs in it too. Gigantic raisins(really where did they find these?) and bits of apple. McQuade’s Celtic Chutney offers a variety of flavors from Melon and Peach to Plum and Black Pepper. All of which I am sure I could make a sandwich with. They also have seasonal chutney’s that sound wonderful. I am really loving the sound of the Strawberry Cardamom Chutney and and am considering sending my mom some Rhubarb and Tangerine Chutney since she is the rhubarb lover of the family.
The actual making of the sandwich went off without a hitch. Perhaps a good sign of things to come. Still just in case, bakers beware(Helen I’m coming for you!), I might just be sneaking into your kitchen and touching your oven.

Gorgonzola, Fig and Ginger Chutney, Shaved Pork Sandwich on Walnut Wheat Bread(say that 5 times fast)

two slices walnut wheat bread(recipe follows)
sliced pork(I used 5 slices…but I like my meat)
a generous spreading of McQuade’s Celtic Fig ‘N Ginger Chutney
Slices(or crumbles as it tends to do) Gorgonzola cheese

Take one slice of bread and spread the chutney on it. Place pork on top of that. Place Gorgonzola on top of that followed by the other slice of bread. Slather the top and bottom pieces of bread with room temperature butter and place in pan, or if you are like me in a panni maker. Grill until cheese is melty and it is browned on the outsied.

Rustic Whole-Wheat Walnut Bread

ingredients
1-3/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1-2/3 cups cool water
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached bread flour
5 oz. (1 cup plus 2 Tbs.) fine whole-wheat flour
4 oz. (3/4 cup) coarse stone-ground whole-wheat flour
2 tsp. salt
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
how to make
In the mixing bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the water. Let it sit until the yeast dissolves and the water looks milky. Add the flours, salt, and walnuts. With the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until a rough dough forms. Change to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl to form a ball. You may need to add a small amount of flour or water to get the right consistency.

Turn the dough out into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm spot (about 75°F) until doubled in bulk, 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Line a basket or bowl with a kitchen towel or a piece of cotton fabric and sprinkle it lightly with flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, knead it a few times, and shape it into a round. Put it in the basket, bottom up, and fold the ends of the towel over it. Cover with a large plastic bag (like a kitchen garbage bag). Set in a warm place and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.

Set one oven rack in the lowest position; put a large, shallow pan on that rack. Set the second rack just above that and position the baking stone on it. Heat the oven to 425°F for at least 45 minutes. Just before you put the bread in the oven, bring about 2 cups of water to a boil.

Lightly dust a baking peel or a flat baking sheet with flour. Remove the plastic bag and gently invert the dough onto the peel. (The dough may deflate somewhat.) Remove the basket and towel. With a single-edge razor blade or a sharp serrated knife, make a few slashes in the surface of the dough.

With a quick jerk, slide the dough from the peel to the baking stone. Wearing long oven mitts and standing as far away from the oven as you can, immediately pour the boiling water into the pan in the bottom of the oven. Caution: This will cause an instant burst of steam. Close the oven door immediately and don’t open it for at least 10 minutes or the steam will escape.

Bake the bread until it is well browned and sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely on a rack before serving

From Fine Cooking 30, pp. 61

When we would go back to visit my maternal grandparents it meant a few things. One, my diabetic grandmother would slip us money to go buy her doughnuts and we could “keep the change”(my cousin Chad and I were always to young and foolish not to know that you don’t go and buy a diabetic doughnuts). It meant picking raspberries while trying not to be stung by bees(Summer only). It meant breathing in the fumes of Vlassic pickles the couple nights I would stay at my cousins(the factory has since moved and sadly I miss that smell). It meant getting to swim in the mayor’s swimming pool(Summer only). And it meant the torture that was Sunday drives with my grandfather.
Oh how that man loved to get in a car and drive absolutely nowhere…for hours. Hours and hours. My uncle has this same trait but he is smart enough to sucker you in to a 5 hour trip to Duluth, Minnesota  by saying we were going for the “best pie you ever tasted” and I am stupid enough to be lured by it. But my grandfather you had no choice. He said get in the car. We got in the car. For hours. Did I mention the hours part? Nothing can be more fun for a 10 year old then sitting in the back seat of a Oldsmobile listening to big band music and not being allowed to bring anything to do. It “took away from the scenery”. Ugh. Those car rides would draw out my morbid imagination. For with nothing to do and not really being involved in the adult conversation about second cousins and what not that I knew nothing about, my mind would wander. It would wander into all the different ways we could crash the car. Now keep in mind it was not totally morbid, as I never did kill anyone in my day dreaming. If the car was engulfed in a fiery inferno, I made sure in my mind to get everyone out of the car. Sometimes it was just a simple crash into a tree. Other times we would go over an embankment by swerving to miss a cow in the road and would launch off a big ravine in the Duke’s of Hazard style.
Though I hated those car rides so, they were really only the memories I had of my grandfather. He was a very quiet man. One who showed little emotion. He was the kind of man who would hug you but they whole time he was doing the side hug you knew he was thinking, “she’s touching me”. My grandfather ran the pharmacy in the town where my mother grew up(my aunt still works in that pharmacy). The town didn’t even have a stop sign(when they eventually got the one yellow blinking light in the middle of town, that was big news). My mother’s high school graduating class had 8 people(mine had 532). He usually spoke about 2 words to me when they would come out to visit or we would go there. Those two words were “uh-huh”. I would ramble on and on about something, and no matter what, I got the uh-huh. Despite all of that, I always knew he loved me.
When I was still in high school, my grandfather, a man who smoked most of his life and then switched to chew, developed pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic is not a kind cancer. Now before you say what cancer is?..none. However, some are more kind in the fact that they give you time to fight it.  Pancreatic cancer tends to be quite aggressive and your prognosis is usually poor. This was the case of my grandfather. For just months after hearing his diagnosis, my grandfather was laid to rest.
What a horrible story you say. Yes and no. For of course, death is never a good thing, it did make me realize how very little I knew about him. Only years after he passed through stories told by my mom and uncle do I really know anything about him. Spend time with people now. Get to know people now. If you have a recipe that you always wanted to learn from your mother or grandmother go and have her teach it to you now. Appreciate the time you have with others even if it is just sitting in a car for hours at a time starring at miles and miles of farmland.

When I saw that Chris of Mele Cotte’s grandmother passed away from the same form of cancer my grandfather did, I knew I wanted to contribute something to the Cooking to Combat Cancer event. This Black Forest Chocolate Bundt Cake comes from Canadian Living and was chosen because my grandfather did love chocolate and I always used to see him eat cherries(I just remember the bowls of pits). I encourage you to participate in both this event as well as Barb’s A Taste of Yellow…there is still time to do both!

Black Forest Chocolate Bundt Cake

Serves 16
1 cup butter, softened
1-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup  cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp  baking powder
3/4 tsp  baking soda
1/2 tsp  salt
1-1/4 cups  sour cream
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup dried cherries
1 tbsp powdered sugar

Preparation:
Grease and flour 10-cup Bundt pan; set aside. I used 6 mini Bundts.
In large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Into separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and sift again. Stir into butter mixture alternately with sour cream, making 3 additions of flour mixture and 2 of sour cream. Stir in chocolate chips and cherries. Scrape into prepared pan.
Bake in center of 325°F  oven until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour(about 30 minutes if you are making mini). Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. With knife, loosen rim of cake. Place rack on pan. Wearing oven mitts, grasp pan and rack; turn over. Lift off pan. Let cool completely. (Make-ahead: Wrap in plastic wrap and store for up to 2 days or freeze in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.) Dust with powdered sugar.

Canadian Living Magazine: December 2004

The glaze is just some melted cherry jam that my mom made with a little sifted powdered sugar. I didn’t actually pay attention to the amount…sorry.

I’m quite sure by now there is a big red flag next to my name at the post office. For over the months I have received many a package from some pretty far away places. From Singapore to New Zealand and today, Brazil. Not to mention the mail and packages I get regularly from Canada. With all this International packaging coming my way, we can all bet I am on some list…..and not a good list. Food bloggers are amazing people, so very kind. I mean even the dish towel this loaf is sitting on came from a food blogger as a gift! I truly don’t deserve such nice things from such nice people.
While walking through the store the other day I ran across date sugar. $12 date sugar. And the consumer in me just had to have it. Why? Because I didn’t have it. And had never tasted it. No wonder my husband cringes at our grocery bills. I wasn’t really sure what I would do with this. So when pouring over cookbooks one weekend I saw a recipe for a date and walnut loaf. I didn’t have any dates but hey! I had date sugar. A quick substitution of dried cherries for dates and a little date sugar produced a very dense and yummy quick bread. Though, not all that quick when you have to sit around and wait for the ingredients to bath in boiling water. But much quicker than yeast bread.
I’m glad I bought the date sugar. It certainly adds a new dimension of flavor to the bread. Next I am thinking some sort of molasses and date sugar something…just not sure what that something will be.
Again, I want to thank every food blogger and reader out there who has been generous enough to send me a pick me up from your end of the world. Thanks to Patricia for sending me a fabulous house warming gift..I actually got misty-eyed and my husband made fun of me for it.

Date Sugar Dried Cherry and Walnut Loaf

1 cup dried cherries
¾ cup roughly chopped walnuts
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ + 1/8 cup boiling water
3 TBSP unsalted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup date sugar(use brown if you do not have date)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups cake flour
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly grease a loaf pan, approximately 8 ½ x 4 ½  x 2 inches with butter.
Mix the cherries, walnuts baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Then stir in the boiling water and the butter. Let sit for 20 minutes.
Sift the sugar and flour together into a small  bowl. Lightly whisk the vanilla and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the flour and sugar into the egg mixture in 3 additions. Fold in the cherry and nut mixture, making sure the ingredients are well combined. The final mixture will be thick.
Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour. Check with a knife or wooden skewer after about 50 minutes. Don’t worry if a little piece of the cherries and some moisture stick to the tester. It’s better to take it out early then risk overcooking the loaf.
Take out of the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Source: Adapted from The Ace Bakery Cookbook by Linda Haynes, 2003