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Comfort Food: Chicken and Cheese

2010-12-13T08:30:00.001-06:00

Like most people who enjoy food and cooking, I’m always game to try something new. The thrill of discovering an unexpectedly great flavor combination or cozying up to a previously unfamiliar ingredient inspires me to seek out new foods. But at the end of a long work week or the end of a busy weekend, I yearn for the old rather than the new. I break out the comfort food recipes.

The most comforting foods are usually the most familiar. For me these are often foods I remember from childhood, especially from big holiday dinners where my maternal grandmother cooked for 40 or more people. From big, steaming pots of chicken and dumplings to coconut layer cake with a pile of white frosting, eating dishes I first encountered as a child is soothing.

Even my dad’s signature peanut butter and jelly sandwich can always put a big smile on my face. My dad doesn’t cook, but he makes the best PB&J. He mixes the peanut butter into the grape jelly with a fork then spreads the oddly colored, strangely lumpy mixture onto the bread. It looks weird, sure, but it tastes so good. (I was quite surprised when, as a young adult, I found out most people don’t mix the two elements of PB&J. If you’ve never mixed them, you’re really missing out.)

One of the joys of getting married is joining two families, which means sharing in two sets of culinary traditions and two sets of comfort foods. I may never convince my husband, who was born in upstate New York, that grits are delicious, but he’ll happily devour a slice of my Maw Maw’s German chocolate cake or one of my mom’s biscuits.

I’m lucky to have married into a family of folks who can make exquisite deep dish lasagna and perfect ribs. My husband’s family also makes a dish they call Chicken and Cheese, and it has become a key recipe in our combined repertoire of comfort foods.

Chicken and Cheese is one of those great innovations that sometimes happen when your fridge and pantry are filled with a mishmash of seemingly incompatible ingredients and dinner needs to be ready in less than an hour. When my husband and his twin brothers were young, their mom found herself in just such a situation. The meal she devised has long since become a family favorite, often requested at birthdays and other special occasions.

The first time I saw it being prepared my jaw dropped at the massive quantity of cheese that goes on top of this casserole. However, the first bite made me a believer. An inch of baked, browned, melty cheddar with cream bubbling around the edges clearly says, “I cooked this because I love you. I’m glad you’re here for dinner.” That’s why we make this dish so often for friends and family.

Terry and I have tweaked this recipe from time to time, experimenting with fresh ingredients in place of some items that happened to be in his mom’s pantry and spice cabinet. I’m sharing our tweaked version here, but, honestly, the original version is at least as good. So feel free to swap out dried herbs for fresh ones, regular pasta for whole wheat, and canned soup for the mushrooms and cream. This is yummy comfort food either way, and sitting down to dinner with your loved ones is the most important and most comforting step in this recipe.

We also recommend experimenting liberally with the measurements below. The only time I have ever made a bad-tasting batch of Chicken and Cheese is when I was testing this recipe in order to post it, trying so hard to get precise measurements of all the ingredients. We usually just stand at the stove and follow my husband’s first rule of cooking: “When you think you’ve added too much, add a little more.” The Worcestershire sauce is especially important, and we’ve learned not to skimp there. Slosh it on generously until you’re vaguely uncomfortable with the amount you’ve added. Then slosh on some more.

Keep reading for the recipe. You can also check out more comfort food recipes being posted this week in the Holiday Recipe Exchange. Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Le Creuset.

Chicken & Cheese
serves a crowd or three teenage boys

Click here for printable recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. whole wheat gemelli or other spiral pasta
4 chicken breast portions, cut into bite-size pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ onion, finely diced
¾ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 - 3 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves finely chopped
10 ounces mushrooms, any variety, sliced or chopped
1 ¼ cup cream
1 ¼ cups milk
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
4 cups shredded cheddar
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put a large pot of water on to boil. While waiting for it to boil, begin cooking the chicken.

Add chicken to a large skillet over medium heat.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
After about 2 minutes, add onion and garlic.
When onions begin to soften, add Worcestershire sauce.
Chicken and seasoning should simmer gently but not boil. Adjust heat if needed.
After about 10 minutes, add chopped oregano
Simmer for a few minutes more then turn off the burner.

Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, add mushrooms, milk, and cream to a 5-quart casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper. Add a little freshly grated nutmeg. Stir together.

NOTE: You can use a dutch oven instead of a casserole. If you do, cook the chicken in the dutch oven. Then add the other ingredients to the chicken mixture. We use a 5-quart Corning Ware casserole in the blue cornflower pattern because that's what Terry's mom always cooked this dish in.

Drain pasta and pour into baking dish on top of mushrooms. Stir together.

Pour chicken into baking dish and stir to evenly distribute all the ingredients.

Top with 4 or more cups shredded cheese. The cheese should form a solid, substantial layer on top of the pasta mixture.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. The dish is done when the cheese is well browned and liquid is bubbling up around the edges.

Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Birthday Dinner for Terry

2010-12-12T17:20:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was the husband's 33rd birthday. Originally I planned an elaborate meal. Then I realized he'd probably rather have his favorite homemade pizza with pepperonis and jalapenos.

Here's what we had:

sausage stuffed mushrooms

Pepperoni and jalapeno pizza. (See below for Terry's crust recipe.)

an interesting Shiraz-Viognier blend recommended by a gentleman at our local Spec's store

black-bottom cupcakes

RECIPES

Sausage stuffed mushrooms from The Girl Who Ate Everything.

Black-bottom cupcake recipe is from David Lebovitz as seen on Smitten Kitchen.

Perfect pizza dough is adapted by Terry from the recipe book that came with our KitchenAid stand mixer. Click here for printable recipe.

Sweet Potato Brownie Bars

2010-12-08T08:57:00.018-06:00

I love sweet potatoes.

I like them

in pies

in pot pies

in whoopie pies

as fries

mashed

baked

cooked into soups, stews, and chowders

in cookies

in cakes

for breakfast or lunch

in dinner and dessert.

I rarely meet a sweet potato recipe I don't enjoy, and they're so versatile (and tasty!) that I'm always looking for new ways to combine them with other flavors.

This fall I've been searching for a perfect recipe to combine the flavors of sweet potato and chocolate. I think I've found one. It's a layered bar inspired by a recipe for cookie dough brownies. Two of the layers are all about chocolate, and a few chocolate chips sneak into the third layer as well.

On the ground floor: cinnamon cayenne brownies. In the middle: sweet potato cream cheese filling that tastes a lot like my Grandma's sweet potato pies. Up top: bittersweet chocolate glaze.

I'm adding this recipe to the Holiday Recipe Exchange. Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Scharffen Berger.

And check out more sweet potato recipes from Foodista:

Sweet Potato

Sweet Potato Brownie Bars
Makes at least 20 servings.

Click here for printable recipe.

LAYER 1: CINNAMON CAYENNE BROWNIES
These were the husband's innovation. We were bouncing around ideas for combining chocolate and peppers.

We debated the merits of chipotles vs. fresh jalapenos. Then we considered various ways to prepare the jalapenos--rolled in brown sugar, dipped in raspberry simple syrup, candied.

Then the husband headed for the kitchen and declared he was going to use cayenne. In a brownie.

It was delicious. So simple. So good. My husband is brilliant.

Ingredients
2 sticks butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne
large pinch salt
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

(prep)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
(recommended step) Line a 9” x 13” baking dish with foil.
Grease the foil if using, or grease the dish.

I neglected to use foil when I was baking the brownies, and this is the mess I was dealing with as I tried to cut and serve the bars. With foil I think I would try to lift the brownie bars out and then cut them.

(mix)

In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt butter and chocolate.
When chocolate is almost completely melted, remove from heat and stir until smooth.
Transfer chocolate to a mixing bowl, and stir in sugar.
Beat in 4 eggs.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt.
Stir flour mixture into chocolate mixture just until combined.
Fold in ½ cup chocolate chips.

(bake)

Pour batter into prepared baking dish.
Bake until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean. Start checking after 30 minutes baking.
Cool completely in the baking dish.

These are VERY rich. I gave the husband one that I mangled when removing it from the pan. (It's upside down here.) He only managed a few bites. I recommend cutting these into small squares to serve.

LAYER 2: CHOCOLATE PECAN SWEET POTATO FILLING
This filling is delicious. I'm already trying to think of other ways to use it.

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 ½ cups mashed sweet potato
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup flour
½ cup pecan pieces
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Cream together the cheese and butter.
Add sweet potato and mix until combined.
Add cinnamon and both sugars. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Add 1 cup flour and stir until completely combined.
Fold in chocolate chips and pecans.
Spread over completely cooled brownies.
Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before adding final layer.

LAYER 3: SILKY CHOCOLATE GLAZE
This is essentially a chocolate ganache with a few extra ingredients, notably butter, to give it a silky-smooth texture and to help it solidify on top of the bars.

Ingredients
¾ cup cream
6 tablespoons butter, softened
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup confectioners sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt

Directions

Put the butter and the cream in a saucepan over medium low heat.
Put the chocolate, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a mixing bowl.
Heat saucepan until the butter is completely melted and the mixture is steaming.
Pour hot cream over chocolate and whisk until smooth.
Allow to cool for about 2 minutes before pouring over sweet potato layer.
Return pan to refrigerator until well chilled.

Looking a little worse for wear because they were so difficult to remove from the pan. Still delicious though.

When brownie bars have chilled, cut into squares and serve cold.

Thoughts for next time I make these:

I wonder what these would be like without brown sugar (using only granulated sugar) in the filling. Before I added the brown sugar, the filling mixture was a gorgeous pale orange. That color would look wonderful in the finished bar.
I would probably use more flour and/or more butter in the filling. I was adapting from a cookie dough recipe (see link below). I wanted the texture of the original bar, but I wanted it to taste like sweet potato pie filling instead of cookie dough. I added cream cheese, added sweet potato, reduced the butter, and halved the flour. Although I was testing and reassessing the consistency as I went, I'm still dissatisfied with the finished filling. It should be more solid, less gloopy. Did I mention that it tastes great despite these imperfections in appearance?

CREDITS
Brownies and chocolate glaze adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, Tenth Anniversary Edition.

Sweet potato filling adapted from Cookie Dough Brownies by Cookies and Cups, which was also the inspiration for this way this treat is layered.

Zucchini Cashew Bread

2010-11-30T10:44:00.001-06:00

Some unexpected teaching work fell into my lap week before last. That kept me from baking or posting for a bit. But I'm back. This morning before breakfast I was hastily snapping photos of zucchini bread.

Also before breakfast this morning I checked C & C Cakery's blog hoping to see results of The Movemeber Manly Cupcake Challenge. The results are up, and my Beer & Pretzels Cupcakes won!

If you haven't already seen the lineup of excellent cupcakes that were submitted for this challenge, you can ogle them here. I was particularly fond of this one, which features a caramel-scotch frosting; this delicious-sounding, perfectly decorated vegan one; and this one with a cookie barbeque grill that actually lights on fire. Thanks to the folks at C&C for hosting such a fun challenge!

Now about that zucchini bread:

My husband and I try to have breakfast together every morning. It gives us a chance to talk for a few minutes as we start the day. It's one less meal that we eat alone at our desks while working. And it usually convinces our finicky dog to eat her breakfast, too.

This is Penelope. She only eats when we eat. If we don't sit down to breakfast together, she doesn't eat her breakfast. (This picture was taken when I was getting ready to move back to Houston last year. She was helping, of course.)

Terry leaves at 6:30 every morning (and sometimes I leave that early as well), so breakfast needs to be pretty straightforward. Muffins and quick breads are good options. They're delicious for breakfast. They're handy for snacks. They're perfect thank-you gifts for the neighbor with whom Terry sometimes carpools.

Keep reading for details on our current favorite quick bread, which was very tasty this morning with some bacon left over from making chipotle sweet potato corn chowder last night.

Zucchini Cashew Bread

A very moist, deliciously sweet quick bread punctuated by the buttery taste of cashews and a dash of citrus.

(Punctuated? Cashews? Come to think of it, whole cashews are shaped a bit like commas.)

Yields 1 loaf

Click here for printable recipe.

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons butter, softened, plus more for the pan

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

⅞ cup whole milk

zest from 1 small orange

2 small or 1 large zucchini, peeled and grated (about 1 ⅓ cups)

⅔ cup cashew pieces

DIRECTIONS

This is an easy two-bowl quick bread. To ensure the bread is soft, stir and mix only as much as necessary to combine ingredients.

Prepare to bake

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a loaf pan with butter.

Don't skimp on the butter for the pan. It's crucial that the loaf come out easily after it bakes.

Mix the ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and 1 teaspoon salt.
Using your fingers, rub 4 Tablespoons softened butter into the dry ingredients until there are no pieces larger than a small pea.
In a small bowl, beat an egg for a few seconds with a fork.
Beat ⅞ cup milk and the zest of one small orange into the egg.
Pour egg mixture into dry ingredients and mix just enough to moisten.
Fold in the grated zucchini and cashew pieces.

I love that this bread is best when made without using a mixer or food processor. The technique of rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients also works nicely with biscuit dough.

Bake and cool the loaf

Pour and spoon the batter into the greased loaf pan.
Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.
Cool on rack in loaf pan for 15 minutes.
Remove from pan to finish cooling.

Last night my bread took closer to 70 minutes. Like banana bread, the middle of this loaf will still be wet long after the outside looks golden and done. Keep checking with a clean toothpick until it comes out dry. Unlike banana bread, this recipe seems to work best for me in a glass loaf pan rather than a metal one.

CREDITS

Adapted from Mark Bittman’s Vegetable and Nut Bread published in How to Cook Everything, Tenth Anniversary Edition.

Beer and Pretzels Cupcakes

2010-11-15T14:32:00.011-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across C&C Cakery's Movember Manly Cupcake Challenge, and I knew immediately that I wanted to enter. After a brainstorming session with the husband, some recipe writing and testing, and a full day of baking, I'm ready to share the recipe for Beer and Pretzels Cupcakes.

These cupcakes feature a rich, spicy brown ale cake with a brown ale custard filling. They're topped with caramel buttercream and homemade soft pretzels.

Why are these cupcakes so manly? Three reasons:

They bring that classic pair of manly comestibles--beer and pretzels--together in a delicious baked good.

They're bigger and badder than your usual cupcake recipe. When I think about how the men in my life cook, I visualize the vast quantities of food they prepare. They like to cook for crowds. I picture my father-in-law grilling steaks for the whole family on a Friday night, and I picture the five-gallon pot of chili my husband cooks every fall when he invites 40 to 60 of his closest friends over. In that quintessentially manly more-is-more spirit, this recipe yields 24 ultra-rich cupcakes and 32 soft pretzels.

They feature some of my favorite man's favorite flavors. My husband loves caramel, loves soft pretzels, and loves a good micro-brew. This cupcake has all of that and more.

Before we move on to the recipe details, let me tell you more about The Movember Manly Cupcake Challenge.

C&C Cakery has created this challenge to help raise public awareness of men's health issues. As they explain on their site, "Prostate Cancer has no ribbons. Testicular Cancer has no large walks for charity. They have no pink shoelaces, pink hockey sticks, or pink fire trucks. Lets be honest, they really don't get as much attention as their female counterparts."

Movember, first observed in 2003, is a month-long celebration of that emblem of manliness, the mustache. During November, men from all over the world grow mustaches to raise money for men's health organizations. Click here to learn more about The Movember Foundation. You can also donate to the foundation through the contributions page for the Movember Manly Cupcake Challenge.

Several fine businesses and artisans are contributing prizes for this challenge. The Manly Cupcake Contest prize sponsors include:

Blush Printables- a $15 electronic gift card
Hello Hanna - A pack of Sweet Stands (for every finalist)
Elise Steven’s Illustration and Design - a hand-painted ornament featuring our mascot, Colonel Cupcake.
Taraduff - a handmade bearded beanie
Miss Kitty Creations - a special edition Tuxedo Cupcake Charm
Bella Cupcake Couture - one pack of Cupcake Wrappers for each finalist and one extra for our grand prize winner
Drama Llama - a handmade secret stuffie
My Creative Side - Two dozen Mustaches on sticks

And now for the recipe.

Beer and Pretzels Cupcakes

yields 24 generously filled and generously frosted cupcakes plus 32 miniature soft pretzels

I've seen a lot of recipes that add dark beers to chocolate cake, but I wanted to bake something non-chocolate and focused on enhancing the flavors of a sweet, malty dark beer. I started with Saint Arnold's Brown Ale, which is made by a local brewery here in Houston. (Need help picking a substitution available in your area? See the brewery's description of this ale.) In both the cake and the custard filling, I added nutmeg and brown sugar to bring out the beer's sweetness. The sweet caramel frosting and the salty pretzel complement each other as well as the spicy, boozy cake and custard.Biting into one of these cupcakes is like tackling two decadent treats at once: a delicious soft pretzel with a caramel dip plus a custard-filled brown ale spice cake.

Click here for printable recipe.

Ingredients
(cake)

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup brown ale

(custard filling)

2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup brown ale
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon nutmeg

(buttercream frosting)

1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons water
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 sticks unsalted butter
scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups confectioners sugar

(pretzels)

1 1/2 cups warm water (between 110 degrees and 115 degrees)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt + more for sprinkling the pretzels
2 1/2 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablesoons unsalted butter, melted
vegetable oil for the pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

ALTON BROWN’S HOMEADE SOFT PRETZELS
Made from a wonderfully soft raised dough, these pretzels are briefly boiled in a baking soda solution and then baked until dark golden brown. In the instructions below, I’ve slightly altered Alton Brown’s recipe in order to make 32 miniature pretzels instead of 8 large pretzels.

Making the Pretzel Dough

Combine 1 1/2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees), 1 tablespoon sugar, and 2 teaspoons kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Sprinkle yeast on top and allow to sit for five minutes until mixture begins to foam.
Using the dough hook on low speed, gradually add 4 1/2 cups flour and 4 tablespoons melted butter. Alternate between flour and butter until all ingredients are added and mix until well combined.
Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (about 4 or 5 minutes).
Remove the dough, clean the bowl, and oil it well with vegetable oil.
Return the dough to the bowl. Cover with a plastic bag and a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise in a warm place for about an hour until the dough doubles in size.

Preparing to Cook the Pretzels

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush the paper with oil.
In the stock pot, add 2/3 cup baking soda to 10 cups water and bring to a rolling boil.
In a small bowl, beat together 1 large egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water.

Shaping the Pretzels

Turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface.
Divide dough into 32 equal parts.
Roll each piece into an 10-inch rope.
Shape each rope into a pretzel by holding the ends of the rope, making a U-shape, and then pressing the ends of the rope into the bottom of the U to make a pretzel shape.
As you form the pretzels, place them onto the parchment-lined pans.

It took us a while to get the hang of making the dough into the pretzel shape. We also experimented with pretzel knots.

Boiling and Baking the Pretzels

One at a time, add the pretzels to the boiling water and boil for 15 seconds.
Using a large spatula, return the pretzels to the baking pans.
Brush the top of each pretzel with the egg yolk and water mixture.
Sprinkle each pretzel with salt.
Bake the pretzels until they are a dark golden brown, approximately 8 to 10 minutes.
Transfer pretzels to a cooling rack and cool completely before adding to cupcakes.

It's important to press the ends of the pretzel into place so it holds its shape in the boiling water. A few of the pretzels in our first batch uncoiled themselves while boiling.

BROWN ALE CUPCAKES
A sweet, malty brown ale is added to rich golden cake. Brown sugar and nutmeg provide perfect complements.

Preparing to Bake the Cupcakes

Bring eggs and butter to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line the muffin pan with paper liners.

Mixing the Cake Batter

Whisk together 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
Use a mixer to cream 10 tablespoons butter until smooth.
Gradually add 1 1/4 cups brown sugar and beat until fluffy (3 to 4 minutes).
Beat in four eggs, one at a time.
Mix in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla then turn off the mixer.
Using a spoon, gradually add the flour mixture and 3/4 cup brown ale to the egg mixture. Alternate between the dry ingredients and the liquid until everything is combined.
Stir until smooth.

Baking the Cupcakes

Fill each paper liner half full.
Bake 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.
Remove muffins from pan to cool on wire rack.

BROWN ALE CUSTARD
To add to the richness of this manly confection, brown ale custard is used to fill the brown ale cupcakes. The custard is cooked on the stovetop then chilled to bring it to room temperature.

Making the Custard

In a small bowl, whisk two large egg yolks.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup brown ale, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until well combined.
Cook the cream mixture whisking frequently until it’s hot and just beginning to steam.
Gradually pour half of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolk, whisking constantly.
Whisk egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining cream, and cook for 1-2 minutes whisking constantly, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Pour the custard into a small bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon unsalted butter.
Place the custard over a bowl of ice water, and chill in the refrigerator until it reaches room temperature.

Filling the Cupcakes

Remove a bit of cake from the center of each cupcake.
Spoon custard into the center of each cupcake.

CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
Though mustard may be the most common dip for a soft pretzel, caramel is another delicious option. The sweet caramel is a perfect complement for salty pretzels. To make this frosting, barely warm caramel sauce is stirred into rich buttercream.

Making the Caramel

In a saucepan, stir together 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 4 tablespoons water.
Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Cook without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color.
Remove from heat and slowly stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla then 1/2 cup cream.
Stir until very smooth.
Let cool for 20 minutes until the caramel is barely warm and still pourable.

Making the Frosting

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat 4 sticks unsalted butter until lightened and fluffy.
Add scant 1/4 teaspoon salt and 3 cups powdered sugar and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the caramel.
Beat on medium high until light, airy,and completely mixed (about 2 minutes).
If frosting is too thin to spread, refrigerate for about 15 minutes before assembling cupcakes.

Assembling the Cupcakes

Spread or pipe frosting onto filled cupcakes.
Garnish each cupcake with a pretzel.

A good example of one of the pretzel knots we used as a garnish (top left).

A perfectly shaped, perfectly browned pretzel.

A box of cupcakes the husband took to work this morning, featuring a few of the less-than-perfect pretzels.

CREDITS
Cake recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman’s Golden Layer Cake recipe published in How to Cook Everything, Tenth Anniversary Edition.

Custard recipe is adapted from Sugar Plum’s Boston Cream Pie Cupcake filling published here.

Caramel buttercream recipe is adapted from SprinkleBakes’ Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting published here.

Soft pretzel recipe is Alton Brown’s and is available here.

menu monday

2010-11-15T11:28:00.001-06:00

My husband and I spent hours yesterday baking together. By tomorrow I should be ready to share photos and a recipe from our baking marathon.

For now, here's a look at what we're eating this week:

WEEKDAY LUNCHES

crock pot Tex-Mex chicken (recipe) served with tortillas and taco toppings

MONDAY DINNER
balsamic tuna steak, green pea salad with roasted peppers

TUESDAY DINNER
chicken and cheese casserole

WEDNESDAY DINNER
leftover casserole

THURSDAY DINNER
bean burritos and green rice (recipe)

FRIDAY DINNER
rehearsal dinner for a friend's wedding

SATURDAY DINNER
deviled chicken (recipe), cabbage salad, fresh bread

SUNDAY DINNER
chicken and dumplings

We're bringing out the family recipes this week. The casserole we're making Tuesday is a favorite in my husband's family. The chicken and dumplings is a variation on my grandmother's recipe. I'll try to get at least one of those into a post in the next few days.

Happy cooking and eating this week!

menu monday and thoughts on delicious yet healthful eating

2010-11-08T16:18:00.005-06:00

When my husband and I first started dating (almost 10 years ago), I had been a vegetarian for about three years. While I was a sophomore in college, I read somewhere that all the grain we feed to beef cattle in the U. S. could, if fed to hungry people instead, practically eliminate hunger worldwide. So I stopped eating meat.

However, I was 22 years old, a novice cook, and not a very smart vegetarian. I ate a lot of cheese sandwiches. Maybe that's why I didn't object or decline to eat when my then-boyfriend began cooking me non-vegetarian dinners. He served up chicken alfredo, lasagna, beef chili, pork chops. In the kitchen with him, I began to love cooking.

Flash forward ten years.

Healthy eating is a hot topic in our household. We've been casting about for years looking for simple, healthful rules to guide our dietary choices. I've toyed with vegetarianism from time to time; the husband has experimented with low carb eating. We've also joined a lot of other people in talking about organic produce, free range chicken, cage-free eggs, grass-fed beef, the local food movement, and so on. Our trips to the supermarket got a lot more confusing as we began to think critically about all these labels.

We can no longer look inside an egg carton just to see if it has any cracked eggs. No, we look and see the crowded chicken house where the hen is likely kept, the antibiotics or hormones the hen might have been given, and the petroleum used to transport those eggs to our local supermarket.

Scene: Between the eggs and orange juice in our local supermarket.

Him: Are those the eggs from Texas chickens?

Me: Um, no. Not these. Says here they're from somewhere in Oklahoma. How about those organic ones in the cardboard carton?

Him: Not local. Not cage free. It says, "from vegetarian, grain-fed chickens" though.

Me: Oh. Why are these eggs $6 a dozen?!

Him: I guess because they have omega-3 acids added?

Me: Well, we know we don't want eggs with anything added. Right?

{long pause}

Him: What does a chicken eat if it's not vegetarian and grain-fed?

{long pause}

Me: This is confusing. Let's just get those store-brand eggs that are on sale, and we'll think about this later.

We're getting past the utter confusion we felt at first, but we're still working to understand labels and make better choices. One of the ways we tackle the task of making better eating choices is to draw up a weekly menu and then follow it faithfully.

We're also working out specific goals. One of these is to eat less meat. Another is to make everything we possibly can from scratch in our own kitchen rather than buying processed foods.

Careful menu planning--and all the cooking practice that goes along with it--has produced the following benefits for us:

We throw away less food because we plan out how many servings we're making, when we're going to eat leftovers, and how to work extra ingredients into upcoming meals.

We never look at each other at the end of the day and wonder what's for dinner. This eliminates both stressful moments and impulsive eating choices.

We have plenty of home-cooked meals stashed in our freezer ready to be thawed out and eaten on those busy days when no one has time to cook dinner from scratch.

We eat out very rarely because we've learned to cook better (tastier) food than we can get at most restaurants.

Here's a look at what we're eating this week :

Lunches
chipotle sweet potato corn chowder (recipe) and a slice of homemade French bread

Monday Dinner
pasta primavera

Tuesday Dinner
roasted pear and blue cheese salads (recipe)

Wednesday Dinner
leftover pasta primavera

Thursday Dinner
scrambled eggs, popovers

Friday (date night)
steak, baked sweet potato, salad

Saturday Dinner
chicken paprika (recipe), green rice (recipe)

Sunday Dinner
baked potato soup

Note: I provided links to several recipes. We always end up tweaking and changing the source recipe, but these are some of our starting points.

We're doing pretty well with our goal to eat less meat.We're making some progress in our quest to avoid processed foods including making all of our own breads.

Sweet and Spicy Peanut Butter Dip

2010-11-08T15:04:00.002-06:00

I love happy accidents that result in tasty dishes: tossing in the wrong spice only to discover it tastes better than what the recipe called for; making a last-minute substitution because you're out of an ingredient and finding that it tastes wonderful; completely misunderstanding your mother-in-law's tried-and-true recipe but creating something new and delicious in the process.

Last week my husband and I were pressed for time one evening, and we were hurriedly working together to pack lunches for the next day. We needed to whip up a new batch of dip to go with fresh veggies. I had a printed recipe, which I handed to him after rattling off the short list of ingredients that we needed to pull out of the fridge. He was measuring out some ingredients; I was chopping some other ingredients. He was working from the page I handed him while I was working from memory. We were both tossing ingredients into a single mixing bowl.

Then we found ourselves staring into the mixing bowl, him holding a bottle of soy sauce and me holding the canister of brown sugar.

Me: This doesn't look right.

Him: But we're following the recipe you gave m--oh.

Me: Oh?

Him: That's not the dip recipe.

Me: Oh.

Fortunately for our veggies, the recipe we intended to follow was printed on the same sheet of a paper with a chicken satay marinade. We had commingled the dip ingredients with the marinade ingredients. We made just a few adjustments to finish it off. The result is a wonderful, creamy, spicy dip that would be good on crackers as well as vegetables.

Click here for printable recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup smooth, no-sugar-added peanut butter (we use an all natural one that contains nothing but dry roasted peanuts)
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili paste
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
juice of 2 lemons

Directions
Mix all ingredients together. Chill. Serve as a dip for fresh veggies.

a brand new, fresh-out-of-the-oven baking blog

2010-11-04T13:07:00.001-06:00

I've been baking. A lot.

And loving it.

I've been cooking more, too, with a focus on unprocessed ingredients and from-scratch recipes.

Over the past year,I've become a better cook and a better baker. I'm no longer a blind follower of recipes. I can tweak, adapt, and improvise--and still get dinner on the table at 6:30. I've even begun dreaming up and testing my own recipes.This new-found confidence makes me love cooking and baking even more than I already did.

Baking has increasingly become a distraction from other things I'm supposed to be working on. Things like finishing graduate school.

Lately I find myself thinking about Ana Pascal in the film Stranger than Fiction (2006). There's a scene where she talks about being in law school and how she would always bake some treat to take to meetings of her study group. She says she became more and more interested in the lemon bars, oatmeal cookies, and chocolate tortes and less and less interested in law.

I relate to that story. I'd rather be baking than finishing this degree. I'm happiest when I'm in the kitchen mixing, pouring, kneading, and keeping an eye on whatever is in the oven. In that happily-baking state of mind, I'm beginning this new venture.

For a couple weeks now I've been brainstorming and searching the web looking for the perfect moniker for my online presence. I found a lot of baking and cooking blogs out there in cyperspace, and I also found that almost every clever name I could think of was already being used (or, more often, was holding a spot at a lonely, abandoned blog somewhere).

I was trying so hard to be hip and clever. I began to fret that I would never find an appropriate name. Then I happened to read a blog post that discussed how essential it is to just be yourself in the blogosphere. Finally, the pieces clicked together.

I'm a writing teacher as well as a baking enthusiast. I like words, and I have many opportunities to see words used, misused, hopelessly confused, and generally made amusing.

The college freshmen I teach often mislabel a common punctuation error "a coma splice." I find this quite funny despite the spelling error.

When we were planning our dessert wedding reception, my husband, a heckuva sharp guy but not the world's best speller, sent me a text message in which he wondered if we should be concerned about putting any of our guests into "a sugar comma." I thought that was pretty cute.

I like words, and I figure I can work with this amusing mashup of similar words. Perhaps, when I combine my interests in baking and in the English language, I'll even find some additional opportunities for wordplay.

What do I expect to do with this blog? Right now I'm baking two or three times each week, and I cook every day. That's a lot of potential material. My goal is to post a few times a week including at least one baking project (with a recipe) and at least one post about cooking from scratch with unprocessed foods (again, with a recipe). I also have some ideas about how to format recipes to maximize their usefulness, and I'll be practicing those as I go along.

So welcome to my shiny new food blog. I hope you find both entertaining commentary and worthwhile recipes as we go along.

Here's hoping I'll keep it updated and not let Sugar Comma become yet another of those lonely, abandoned food blog spaces.