I wanted to make something different for Shavuot. The picture of this tart in the cookbook The Art and Soul of Baking just jumped out at me, and I knew I had to try it. Also, I love nutty crusts. When I read through the recipe and saw that it called for cherry or berry juice, I knew I wanted to make this tart even more sour and use POM! Continue reading
I love biscotti! They are the perfect after dinner treat, and are a great treat in the morning to dip in coffee. These cookies are filled with dried fruits and nuts, which makes me think they’re healthy, too! I usually take my time and make teeny skinny biscotti, but these are great cut a bit thicker, since you get a mouthful of the dried fruit. Plus, it makes making the biscotti that much easier. Continue reading
The problem with making desserts for Shabbat is that we can’t take pictures of the final project…I mean, you can see the cake and how it looked right out of the oven, but you can’t see it sliced and on a plate, which is too bad because this cake was pretty. Okay, the pan is a little bit messy, but at least my counter is clean! Oh, and the other problem is that you have to make the desserts pareve. Which means no cream cheese frosting! Those who dare to eat pareve whipped topping dolloped some on top of their cake. I ate it plain and it was amazing just the way it was. Continue reading
I love baking bread. It just makes the house smell so good. And I know it doesn’t have ingredients I can’t pronounce in it. It also allows for some really easy lunches – sandwiches! Though I’ve tried many bread recipes, my go-to recipe is always Amish white bread. It has the soft texture and flaky crumbiness that just works. I try to have some slices in my freezer at all times. Sometimes, I want some variety, though. Whole wheat bread, rye bread, and sourdough bread are great, but oatmeal bread? That’s something new to me. So when I saw Alton make bread using leftover oatmeal, I just knew I had to try it. And I did, the very same day. I didn’t eat oatmeal for breakfast, though. I cooked it just for use in the recipe. It was definitely worth it.
This bread is amazing with some salted butter or fruity jam. It’s great for breakfast, and healthy, too! Put some in the freezer for fresh bread the entire week. Those oats are good for your cholesterol, according to the Cheerios commercial. This is a bread that I’ll definitely be keeping in my bread-baking rotation. I might double the recipe next time, though. It takes a lot of time to only yield one loaf. And maybe try to make it in my mixer because after being spoiled by my dough hook, kneading by hand gets tiring (though it wasn’t nearly as hard as kneading bagels).
Oatmeal Bread, adapted from Alton Brown:
Make one loaf – I got 16 slices.
Ingredients:
Directions:
1. Combine yeast, flour, 1/4 cup uncooked oats, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine cooked oats, agave, water, and oil in a large mixing bowl.
3. In three increments, add dry ingredients to wet. Mix with a wooden spoon until completely incorporated.
4. Knead by hand on a floured surface for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Add more flour if it’s too sticky.
5. Oil bowl, add dough, and cover. Let rise for an hour.
6. Punch down dough and shape into loaf. Place in greased loaf pan.
7. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
8. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
9. Combine the egg yolk and water in a small bowl. Brush the top of the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of raw oats.
10. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour (actually it took me 1 hour, 10 minutes), until the internal temperature of the dough reaches 210 degrees.
11. Cool on rack for 30 minutes before slicing.
Like Lori said, this recipe makes way too much dill sauce! So here’s my not-as-fancy version of eggs benedict. Okay, so it’s nothing like eggs benedict: no hollandaise, no canadian bacon, and a sunny side up egg instead of a poached one. At least there’s a toasted English muffin involved. Continue reading
I’ve never really thought of baking eggs in the oven, but it turns out they’re fluffy and creamy, and definitely easy when feeding a crowd. This is the perfect Sunday brunch food, and much more interesting than making a giant pan of scrambled eggs.
I actually ate this in Napa, and decided the second I came home that I just had to try the recipe for myself, in my own kosher kitchen. It took six months, but I finally tried it, and immediately regretted not making it months ago. Continue reading
Everyone knows that brunch is the best meal of the week. On Sundays I like to stay in bed late, and eat a real breakfast that nobody has time for during the week. So when the headline, “The world’s best pancake recipe” showed up in my Google Reader one morning, I bookmarked it and knew that I would be eating the most delicious buttermilk pancakes for brunch the next Sunday.
The only ingredient that I had to buy before I made these was buttermilk. The writer of the original post suggests using the best ingredients you could find, especially real buttermilk; apparently grocery stores sell impostors. Since I live in Manhattan, I easily found the real stuff, but if you live elsewhere, I’m sure it’s well worth it to search for it.
