My Favorite Recipe Blog Posts for 2013 (some of these were yours too)

This post takes a look back at my favorite blog posts for 2013 for each month. I hope you enjoy this look back as much as I did.

January: Boef Bourguignon

Even though I wrote about several great bread recipes last January, this recipe is my January favorite for three reasons: First, the flavor is amazing. Second, it brings back great memories of a wonderful evening we had with great friends. Third, It took two days to prepare and was crazy complicated with lots of hands on time, but represented a challenge I had always wanted to complete. Did I mention that it was so worth it?

February: General Tso's Chicken

This was the second dish I'd ever prepared in my wok, the first being this Asparagus, Leek, and Pea Stir Fry. This was very tasty dish. The chicken was so good, and like any good Chinese take-out, made a great breakfast the next morning. This is also my first post besides the Hokkaido Milk Bread to get a lot of extra attention, especially on Pinterest. Woo hoo!

March: Spicy Parmesan and Herb Grissini

These grissini are so addicting. They are crunchy, spicy, and cheesy. I was particularly proud of these because I had attempted them before and was less successful. They actually require running the dough through a pasta maker, which made me happy to justify yet another kitchen gadget purchase. 

March also was the first month in the short life of this blog that one of my photos and recipes, the Crescia al Formaggio, was stolen and passed off as someone else's on the Internet. I found it on his blog, his Facebook page, his G+ page, and his ScoopIt page. I found out this practice is pretty common and a lot of not so nice people do this. I learned a lot about digital copyright "take down" notices. Now, whenever I recognize someone else's content on another person's page or site, I let the owner know. 

April: Pain a l'Ancienne Baguettes

Besides the fact that these baguettes are delicious, airy, crunchy, and wonderful, there are a couple of other reasons why I love these so much. First, this was the first photograph that I submitted to Tastespotting and it was accepted. Yay! Second, this recipe was originally posted by Yvonne, The Bitter Baker, who had adapted one of my posts to create these baguettes. She has a such beautiful blog. I was so flattered to see that she created these wonderful baguettes from my ciabatta post that I had to try making them myself. 

May: Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs

My grandsons LOVED these ribs, and when they love my cooking as much as they loved these, I get so much pleasure. That is reason enough to choose this as my favorite post for May. This post also garnered a lot of attention on Pinterest, and continues to pop up from time to time as a re-pinned post. 

Oh... and these ribs are so easy to make.

June: Pure Levain Country Bread

Have you ever made a loaf of bread that you were so proud of that you could not keep walking back into the kitchen to admire it (and frankly, stick your face into it for the wonderful aroma)? This bread was the one for me. This was the first loaf for which I tried using Ken Forkish's method. The dough is 80% hydration, and is 100% leavened by starter/levain. Oh, and this was the first (and only) photograph I submitted to Foodgawker, and it was accepted! Yay! 

July: Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread

This was a difficult decision, because there were a lot of tasty posts last July. I think I picked this one because it takes raisin bread to a higher level with the use of starter and a high hydration dough. It's also just plain delicious and makes a wonderful breakfast toast. Maybe next week my July favorite would be these Cornmeal Sables (they are so pretty!), but for right now, the raisin bread it is. 

August: Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese, and Balsamic Tartlets

I had a hard time choosing between this recipe and the Slow Cooker Pulled Pork. Both are amazing. The pulled pork continues to be one of my most popular posts. This photo above went a little crazy on Reddit. Reddit? I haven't spent any time there, but I've heard you are supposed to share other people's posts over your own at a 9:1 ratio (don't quote me on this), so thank you kind soul who shared this. I just like it because it's so sophisticated and flavorful. I had to make both caramelized onions and a balsamic reduction before even thinking about assembling these little tarts. I felt so fancy when I was done. P.S. They were goooooood. 

September: Overnight White Bread

I chose this bread as my September favorite for two reasons. First, it has such an amazing structure and flavor, and I am really enjoying learning how to work with such high hydration sticky dough. Second, we took these loaves with us on vacation at a beach house in central California where we stayed with dear friends for a week. We spent the time talking, laughing, cooking, eating, and mixing some of the best martinis and G&Ts with Counter Gin and Q Tonic. We made toast with this bread every morning, and even used it instead of hamburger buns when we barbecued. These friends are such a comfort to me. Awesome memories. 

October: The French Baguette and the Un-Massachusetts Roast Beef Sandwich

What I love about this post: I finally conquered my nemesis, baguettes, with the amazing baking by hand technique and dough temperature management. I learned to slow roast tomatoes and pickle red onions. I also learned how to slow roast a fairly inexpensive cut of beef, producing juicy roast beef that is pink from edge to edge. I also got to participate in a virtual "book tour" for this amazing new book, Baking By Hand: Make the Best Artisanal Breads and Pastries Better Without a Mixer.

November: Bittersweet Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tarts

I love this post because of a number of reasons, not the least of which was that I had to carry this tart all over the house and yard chasing the evening light in order to get a decent photo. Even more significant was that Mr. K said "you have outdone yourself. This is amazing." I love that my sister noticed the 45 year old Royal Worcestershire Regency Green china. Those were the days, registering for "fine china" and "everyday china." I also love that my bread baking friend Ron Photoshopped this picture on Facebook to depict a bite taken out of the tart. I'm still not thrilled with this photo, but I was thrilled with the dessert. In fact, it was not an easy month photography wise, with daylight savings time going away. 

December: Thai Cabbage Salad

My second choice for December was these seriously good sandwich cookies, but in the end, this salad was my favorite. It is crispy and delicious, and the dressing is amazing. There's nothing sentimental about why I love it. I just can't seem to get enough of it. The ingredients stay crunchy so you can make it in advance, and it just feels healthy eating it. 

So there you go! These are my favorite blog posts for 2013. 

Thank you so much for visiting my little space and making my day. You lift my heart. xoxo

Lardy Cake

"Lardy Cake." Is it a cake? Is it a bread? This might be a Saturday Night Live Shimmer skit.

Lardy cake is actually a yeasted sweet bread originating from southern England. It is also known as Lardy Bread as well as many other names, according to the Interwebs (just do a search on "lardy cake"). Evidently, it is a tea time and holiday treat, originally made with yeasted dough, lard, spices, and dried fruit.

This is a "modern" lardy cake recipe, which substitutes butter for the lard. The recipe for this dough contains only 35 grams of fat (a little over 2 T), in this case, butter. The filling contains 100 grams of butter (a little more than 1/2 C).

This bread/cake was chosen by Lien of Notitie van Lien of The Bread Baking Babes for the December Bread for the Babes and Buddies to bake. Check out her post for fabulous step-by-step photo instructions to create this great laminated dough. I forgot to add the raisins (I weighed them and then discovered them sitting on the scale after I had layered the dough), and the bread was fine without them.

The flavor is comparable to cinnamon rolls, but much lighter. The bread is delicate and ethereal, with layers that you can peel off and enjoy... and it's way easier than croissants.

Lardy Cake

Ingredients

Bread

375 g bread flour

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1 T sugar

3/4 tsp salt

35 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

200+ ml milk, warmed to about 100 degrees F (I had to use a bit more as it was a very stiff dough)

Filling

100 g butter, softened

75 g dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

75 g raisins (I left these out)

1 egg, for a glaze

Instructions

1. Mix the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer, place it in an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket, and allow to rise, covered, until doubled. Mine took about an hour. The dough can also be kneaded by hand. 
2. While the dough is rising, prepare a 9 inch cake pan or springform pan by spraying it with spray oil, and lining the bottom with parchment. Spray the parchment. 
3. Mix the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg with a spoon until creamy. Add the raisins if using. 
4. Roll the dough out onto your counter to a 10" by 20" rectangle. 
5. Spread the filling over 2/3 of the rolled out dough (lengthwise). 
6. Take the part of the dough that does not have filling on it and fold it over to cover half of the filling on the rest of the dough. Fold the other side over the first fold, like an envelope. Pinch all of the seams closed. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes. 
7. Using a rolling pin and your hands, gently roll and press the dough into a 12" by 6" rectangle, fold it into thirds, cover with plastic, and let it rest for 5 minutes. 
8. Repeat three more times. Work gently with the dough so that the dough does not break and you squeeze out all of the filling. A bit of mine squished out, but not too much. You can also patch holes as needed.
9. Once you have finished folding the dough, press it into the cake pan as best you can. It will fill in the gaps when rising and in the oven. 
10. Cover with plastic and allow to rise until doubled. Mine took about an hour.
11. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
12. Lightly slash the dough with a sharp razor or knife (I'm not sure why) in a cross hatch pattern, and brush with the egg wash. 
13. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until an instant read thermometer reads about 185 to 190 degrees F, and the top is a deep golden brown. 
14. Allow the bread/cake to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then remove from the pan, peel off the parchment, and allow to cool on a wire rack. 
15. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

This recipe is from Warm Bread and Honey Cake: Home Baking from Around the World.

Update: I'm pretty excited to report that an English friend from the Artisan Bread Bakers Facebook page let me know that Lardy Cake is "a traditional West Country tea bread with slightly different recipes from different counties." Mine, without the raisins, is similar to those from Hampshire. So there you go!!!

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Chinese Burmese Chili Chicken

This Chinese Burmese Chili Chicken represents a combination of Chinese and Burmese cuisines. It also includes Indian spices such as paprika, cumin, and chili powder.

The ingredients also include skinless chicken thighs cut into large pieces. onions, ginger, bell peppers, fish sauce, garlic, Anaheim chilis, and zucchini.

The ingredients are really fresh tasting, and are a wonderful contrast to the last few weeks of traditional holiday foods and baked goods.

After prepping all of the ingredients, this dish takes just a few minutes to stir fry, and the flavors are amazing.

The sauce in this stir fry has so many dimensions.

This stir fry recipe comes from Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge by Grace Young. Wok cooking has become a bit of an obsession for me, and this dish is one of my favorites. Plus, the ingredients aren't too exotic and are pretty easy to find.

Get a wok, make this dish, and get hooked on wokking!

This recipe, with rice, serves 3. As part of a multi-course meal, it serves 4.

The recipe can be found at Saveur.

Chocolate Babka

The recipe for this chocolate babka comes from my friend Olga who contributed it for the Bread of the Month (aka the BOM) for the Artisan Bread Bakers Facebook group. This is a wonderful supportive group of bread bakers, both pros and amateurs, showing off their wonderful breads and helping each other with questions and tips.

The dough for this bread is lovely, and really easy to work with. It starts with a sponge.

Sponge you ask? It's a small amount of dough that is allowed to ferment for a few hours before the final dough is mixed, in order to develop flavor.

I cut Olga's recipe in half to make a single loaf. To make a beautiful ring loaf, double this recipe and bake it in a big angel food cake pan.

Chocolate Babka

Ingredients

Sponge

2.5 ounces bread flour

1/2 tsp instant yeast. I used SAF Gold

2.75 ounces water

1 T honey

2.62 ounces eggs (about 1 1/2 large eggs)

Dough

11.65 ounces bread flour

3/4 tsp instant yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

1.75 ounces egg (about 1 large)

1.25 ounces oil

2.12 ounces honey

1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar

Filling

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/8 C sugar

1/8 C Dutch process cocoa

1/4 C butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Early in the day, mix all of the sponge ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 4 hours. 
2. Add all of the dry ingredients on top of the sponge, recover with plastic wrap, and allow it to sit for 1 to 2 more hours. 
3. Add the eggs, oil, and honey to the bowl and mix on medium low speed for 5 minutes. Scrape the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for a few minutes more. The dough should be slightly tacky.
4. Place the dough into an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket and allow to rise, covered until doubled, about 1 to 2 hours. The room temperature will affect the rising time. 
5. Deflate the dough by pressing it down and folding it over itself like a business letter. 
6. Let the dough rise in the container again, covered with plastic wrap, until doubled (you can also refrigerate the dough overnight). 
7. Place the chocolate chips and butter in a double boiler and stir until smooth. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and stir. 
8. Roll the dough out into a 15 by 15 inch square on a lightly floured surface. 
9. Spread the filling over the rolled out dough. 
10. Roll the dough up like cinnamon roll dough and seal the seam. Stretch the roll out to about 18 to 20 inches long by rolling it back and forth. 
11. Coil the dough into a snail shape, and then stand it up to form a loaf shape. 
12. Press the loaf into an oiled loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap. 
13. Let rise at room temperature until it has crowned over the top of the pan, about an hour. 
14. Brush with egg wash and bake at 350 degrees F until it reaches 175 degrees F internally, about 50 minutes. 
15. Let cool in the pan for about 5 to 10 minutes, and then de-pan and cool on a wire rack. 

Shared with Yeastspotting

Thai Cabbage Salad

This Thai cabbage salad is light, refreshing, and loaded with all of my favorite Asian flavors.

Can I just tell you? This Thai cabbage salad is amazing. I could eat mass quantities. I've made this salad several times, and each time, I wonder why I don't make it more often.

Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies

These Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies are reminiscent of Italian bakery cookies. What's so appealing about these cookies is the lovely vanilla flavor... and the magical effect of lots and lots of sprinkles!

I made them with two types of sprinkles, as well as chocolate jimmies.

A party in a cookie!

The texture of these cookies is soft and light, yet they still hold up well as cookies. The dough is really easy to work with, and the cookies are super good. I took these to work and they pretty much disappeared. Fast.

Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies

Ingredients

1 ½ C flour

1 3.4 ounce pkg instant vanilla pudding

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

¾ C butter, slightly softened

1 C sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Lots of sprinkles (about a cup)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
2. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugar on medium high until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. If you are using a hand held mixer, it may take longer
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until incorporated
5. Add the vanilla and mix briefly
6. Mix in the dry ingredients until just incorporated, about a minute
7. Place the sprinkles in a small bowl and using a tsp scoop or a spoon, form the dough into balls and roll them in the sprinkles to fully coat
8. Place them on the baking sheets and bake for 9 to 10 minutes, one sheet at a time
9. Cool on a wire rack and store air tight for a few days 

Inspiration: Delicious Meliscious who got it from Sweet Bella Roos

Candy Coated Marshmallow Pops

I had my grandsons over on Sunday and we made these cute little marshmallow pops.

I have a huge collection of sprinkles in my house for sprinkle emergencies. When my oldest grandson was about five, we would regularly bake a little five inch layer cake, frost it, and he would proceed to decorate it with sprinkles, M&Ms, and frosting swirls. I had one of those Easy Bake Decorating Pen Kits and he would have so much fun with it. In the end, the cake would have every single color and type of sprinkle available on top of it, and would be dripping with frosting swirls.

It's been a while since we've made treats together, so when I spied a big bag of marshmallows at the grocery store, I just knew I had to make these with "help" from the boys.

Of course, I let the boys loose on the rest of the sprinkle collection, and each one of them took home a box full of their own multicolored marshmallow pop creations (plus a bag of mixed sprinkles).

As much as I love to make complicated multi-step dishes that, as a good friend says, "require algorithms and graphs," these are so fun to make with kids, are adorable as part of a holiday table, and are actually pretty tasty. I have an Electric Chocolate Melting Pot (of course I do) that I used to keep the chocolate warm after melting it in the microwave, but it is not necessary (still, it's really convenient). And marshmallows are fat free!

Candy Coated Marshmallow Pops

Ingredients and Supplies

1 bag of marshmallows

1 12 ounce bar/bag of almond bark or candy melts in the color/flavor of your choice

Sprinkles

Shortening and/or paramount crystals

Lollipop sticks (can be found at craft stores)

Styrofoam blocks (for drying the pops)

Instructions

1. Melt the candy in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted. 
2. If the candy is too thick, add shortening or paramount crystals, 1 1/2 tsp to 1 T, until the candy reaches a consistency that is easy to work with. You can remelt the chocolate/candy melts as needed to keep it at the right consistency. 
3. Dip the sticks into the melted chocolate and stick them 3/4 the way through into the marshmallows. Allow the candy to harden. 
4. Swirl the marshmallows into the melted candy, and then tap the marshmallow over the bowl to shake off excess. 
5. Over a plate, sprinkle the pop with sprinkles. 
6. Place the stick into the styrofoam and allow the pops to harden, about 30 minutes. 

Cracked Wheat Bread

This cracked wheat bread is delicious and nutritious. You get a ton of fiber without a lot of strong whole wheat flavor.

What is cracked wheat you ask? It's whole wheat berries that have been crushed or chopped. To use cracked wheat in bread, you soak it in boiling water first, and then add the rest of the ingredients to make the bread.

The resulting bread is perfect for toast, sandwiches, and especially sliced and slathered in butter. I suspect it will not last long in this house.

It's incredibly easy to make and the dough is really easy to work with. Give this bread a try. You can make your own healthy bread!

Cracked Wheat Bread

Recipe slightly adapted from Red Star Yeast

Ingredients

1 1/4 C plus 1 T water

2 T vegetable oil

4 ounces cracked wheat (I got mine from King Arthur Flour)

14 ounces bread flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 T sugar

2 1/2 tsp instant yeast

Instructions

1. Bring the water to a boil and add the oil. Pour it over the cracked wheat in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow the mixture to cool to about 90 degrees F.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together until all of the ingredients are combined.
3. Knead with the dough hook for about 7 minutes, adding water by the tablespoon if the dough is too stiff. The dough should be smooth but not sticky. 
4. Place the dough into an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise until doubled in a warm spot in your kitchen. 
5. Flatten the dough into a 14 by 7 inch rectangle and roll into a loaf starting with a 7 inch side of the rectangle. Pinch the seams together and place the loaf, seam side down, into an oiled 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. 
6. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it crests over the top of the loaf pan. 
7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 
8. Bake the loaf for about 35 minutes until the interior of the loaf reaches about 190 degrees F and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
9. Cool on a wire rack. 
10. Slice and enjoy!

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Chinese American Shrimp with Lobster Sauce | Wok Wednesdays

This Chinese American Shrimp with Lobster Sauce is probably not the most photogenic dish, but it is amazingly flavorful. Amazingly.

Hardest part of making this shrimp dish? Finding fermented black beans. Fortunately I am part of a fabulous Wok Wednesdays community, so as I wandered through my local Asian market unable to locate said beans, and unable to get help from the employees, I turned to my Wok Wednesdays friends and posted my plea for help. Within minutes, someone posted which aisle as well as a photo of the package of the beans. Others chimed in with their feedback as well. What an amazing community!

Another thing I learned? Lobster sauce does not contain lobster. All righty then.

This dish contains shrimp, clam juice, cornstarch, soy sauce, pepper, garlic, ginger, ground pork, Thai chili, fermented black beans, egg, and scallions. It involves peeling the shrimp and boiling the shells in the clam juice to create the lobster sauce. It's pretty cool watching the shrimp shells turn pink as they boil in the clam juice.

The egg and scallions are added during the last few seconds of stir frying, and give the dish it's "cloudy" look. Just know that it is totally flavorful. You just want to eat it. And eat it some more.

The members of the Wok Wednesdays group are wokking their way through Grace Young's Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge. We get assistance from Grace herself when we have questions about the recipes and wok cooking. How cool is that? To get the recipe for this dish, check out page 179 of the book. You won't regret it. Every recipe in this book has been a revelation.

Homemade Turkey Pot Pie

The only problem with this turkey pot pie is that you will want it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's filling, comforting, and the perfect dish for leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

I love pot pies. Along with meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese, they the ultimate comfort food.

You don't have to wait until Thanksgiving to make this pot pie. You can buy a turkey breast or turkey legs and roast them for the filling. If you don't like turkey (and why not?), this recipe also works for chicken.

I found and adapted this recipe from the Thanksgiving leftover section of  The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays: 140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations.

This has got to be one of the most illustrated step-by-step cookbooks ever. If you like illustrations in your cookbooks, this one's for you. I definitely do, and I also love pretty food photos.

I was originally looking for a turkey soup recipe, but this pot pie looked so delicious that I ended up buying a turkey breast just to make this dish. The original recipe says that it's 12 servings, but we managed to stretch it to four. It was that good. In addition, you can make the filling a day before assembling the pie. In fact, I roasted the turkey breast on day one, made the filling on day two, and assembled and baked the final dish on day three.

How's that for a make ahead dish?

Homemade Turkey Pot Pie

Ingredients

4 T butter

3/4 C finely diced onions

3/4 C finely diced carrots

3/4 C finely diced celery

2 C chopped or shredded turkey meat

1/4 C flour

3 C low sodium chicken broth

1/4 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 dash hot sauce (optional)

1 T chopped fresh thyme

1/4 C heavy cream

1 recipe pie crust of your choice or store bought pie crust

One large egg + 1  tsp water, whisked to use as an egg wash

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
2. In a large Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery. 
3. Saute the ingredients for about 3 minutes, until the onions are soft. 
4. Add the turkey, add the flour, stir, and then continue to cook for another 2 minutes. 
5. Add the chicken broth, turmeric, salt, pepper, hot sauce, thyme, and cream.
6. Stir and bring to a simmer. Let cook for about 3 minutes, until thickened. 
7. Pour the filling into a deep dish 2 quart pie dish or casserole dish. 
8. Brush the edges of the pie dish with the egg wash and cover the filling with a pie crust round. Arrange the pie crust so that it will stick to the edges of the pie dish.
9. Slit the pie crust with a sharp knife and brush with the rest of the egg wash. 
10. Place the pie pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, until the crust is a deep golden brown. 
11. Serve in bowls with shards of the crust on top. 

Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dark chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate dough. Chocolate chips. Just chocolate.

These cookies are rich and chewy, and completely decadent. Plus, you can make the dough in advance,  refrigerate or freeze it, and bake the cookies when you need them. Perfect for holiday gifts, right?

The dough for these cookies is formed into a log, refrigerated or frozen depending on your timeline, and then sliced and baked. You will need to place the cookies two inches apart on your baking sheet, because the dough will spread quite a bit.

I used a mix of mini semi sweet and large bittersweet chocolate chips in these cookies. This dough could easily lend itself to other combinations and flavors.

Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

155 g unbleached all purpose flour (about 1 1/4 C)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C room temperature unsalted butter

100 g light brown sugar (1/2 C firmly packed)

6 T granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

4 T Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted through a strainer

170 grams bittersweet chocolate chips

170 grams semisweet mini chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugar on medium speed for about a minute. 
3. Add the egg and vanilla and mix for another minute. 
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture and mix for another minute. 
5. Add the cocoa powder and mix until just incorporated. 
6. Add the chips and mix briefly until mixed in. 
7. Divide the dough in two and form into two 9 inch long logs and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. 
8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
9. Slice each log into 16 pieces and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. 
10. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for about 14 minutes.
11. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. 
12. Keep in an air tight container for up to four days. 

Pandoro

I have wanted to make Pandoro bread ever since I saw this post on Wild Yeast. I had been having great success with a panettone recipe, and that Pandoro sounded like a great challenge.

Bloodhound Cocktail

Isn't this Bloodhound Cocktail pretty? I found it in an old out of print Williams-Sonoma Bar Guide and just had to try it. It is gin based, and contains both white and red vermouth plus a small amount of strawberry jam puree.

Frozen pureed jam works just fine too, and helps keep the cocktail cold. I like to keep a container of it in the freezer and dip a spoon into it when I "need" to make one of these (this trick also works with frozen lemonade and limeade concentrates, all great when you want to make margaritas on the fly because the purees never really freeze solidly).

How was your Thanksgiving? I sure hope it was wonderful. I thought of my aunt Chris this Thanksgiving. She passed away recently and I miss her, especially on holidays. She was my dad's sister, and the only real aunt I had.

I have a lot great memories of her, but one of my favorites is of her helping me make gravy about 10 years ago when it was my turn to host the family Christmas dinner. I had no clue and I had an electric stove top that required that you move one knob to operate each of the burners (all of the others were stripped). She and I worked together... scraping and moving the knob to control the burners, and produced a gravy of which we would all be proud. She was so calm and never made me feel like I didn't know what I was doing, even though I didn't.

I still don't get gravy I guess, because I put too much water in the bottom of my roaster this year and ended up with seriously diluted pan drippings. I warned my family that we might have a gravy-less dinner and then went to work. Somehow, I ended up with an amazingly flavorful gravy. Thank you aunt Chris. I know you were looking over my shoulder.

Oh, and I made your Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes.  Cheers! And much love.

Bloodhound Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients

2 fluid ounces gin

1 T dry vermouth

1 T sweet vermouth

2 tsp strawberry jam puree

Instructions

1. Chill a coupe or martini glass
2. Fill a shaker with ice and add the rest of the ingredients
3. Strain into the chilled cocktail glass

Enjoy!

Roasted Potato Bread

According to Jeffrey Hamelman in his book Bread, adding potatoes to bread was a result of serious grain shortages near the end of the eighteenth century. Those in power, including the governments, were concerned about unrest, so they attempted to devise ways to add other ingredients to bread to make up for the short supply of grains. While many of the attempted ingredients didn't work, potatoes definitely did.

Multi-grain and Spelt 100% Sourdough Boule

This sourdough bread is one of my new favorites. Even though it's 100% sourdough, the bread can be made in one day (albeit you must start early). The bread has a wonderful fruity sourdough tang.

The dough for this bread is 80% hydration. What does that mean? It's really wet and sticky. In order to get the dough to come together and be workable, I used the "stretch and fold" method. It really is an amazing thing to see the dough come together so that it can develop lovely pockets of air.

Whenever I write about this method, I usually send you to Peter Reinhart's excellent video here. If you're a total bread geek (like me), I think you'd like Craig Ponsford's demonstration too. Go to the 4:40 mark on this video to see the "stretch and fold" method.

This bread contains a blend of bread flour, whole spelt, and a mix of different grains. Because I had some on hand, I used King Arthur Flour's 9-grain blend, but you could easily use a blend of whole wheat, barley, oat, and rye flours. If you can't find barley or oat flours, just play around with whole wheat and rye, or whatever you can find, until you find a blend that you like.

Although my bread did expand in the oven, I think I should have put it into the oven just a bit earlier. This dough rose much more quickly than I expected during the second rise. Check out the Finger Dent Test video here on Ken Forkish's site for tips on how to know when your loaves are ready for the oven. He also has a great video on how to shape the loaves.

Helpful tools:

Dough scraper, bench knife, 12 quart dough rising bucket or large wide bowl, 9-inch bowls (2) or brotforms, and a baking stone or 2 Dutch ovens. You don't "need" all of this stuff, but they do make it easier.

Multi-grain and Spelt 100% Sourdough Boule

Ingredients

430 grams 100% active hydration sourdough starter 

750 grams bread flour

150 grams whole spelt flour

100 grams of a mixture of whole wheat, whole rye, and other flours

700 grams bottled or filtered water

20 grams salt

Instructions

1. Stir the starter, flours, and water together in a large bowl or bucket until everything is blended, about 3 to 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for about an hour. 
2. Add the salt, and using your wet hands, pinch the salt into the dough, alternately mixing the dough with your hands, and pinching the dough with your fingers. Do this until you feel the dough develop a little tension. 
3. Let it rise, covered with plastic, at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold, and cover again. Stretch and fold two more times, at 30 minute intervals. Let the dough continue to rise until nearly doubled, about another 90 to 120 minutes. 
4. Lightly flour a work surface, and scrape the dough out of the bowl/bucket. 
5. With a wet bench knife, divide the dough into two pieces. 
6. Loosely shape the dough the pieces into two balls, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let rest for about 15 minutes. 
7. Flour two brotforms or line two bowls with floured dishtowels. 
8. Shape the dough into boules and place them, seam side up, in the bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and let them rise at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
9. Prepare the oven for steam by placing a baking stone on a lower rack and a broiler pan underneath it. You will be tossing hot water into the broiler pan right after placing the loaves in the oven. If you'd rather go the Dutch oven route, see this post for instructions. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
10. When the loaves are ready, turn them out onto peel or the back of a baking sheet lined with good parchment paper. Slash, and slide the loaves, parchment and all, onto the stone. Place one cup of boiling water into the broiler pan and immediately shut the oven door. Turn the oven down to 475 degrees F. 
11. After 20 minutes, pull the parchment out from under the breads and reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Bake for approximately another 30 to 40 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches about 205 to 210 degrees F. 
12. Cool completely on a wire rack. 

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Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins

These pumpkin applesauce muffins derive a lot of their moistness from pureed pumpkin and applesauce. Of course the butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar help too.... 

A couple of years ago there were rumors of a pumpkin puree shortage. Having never been a big lover of pumpkin, I immediately felt the need to buy a few cans "just in case." I'm not proud of myself. I'm pretty sure it's behavior like this that caused the gas lines in the 1970s and the run on Cabbage Patch Kids in the 80s. 

This year, the rumor is that there is a "small fresh turkey shortage." I'm pleased to say that I did not stock up on extra birds. 

By the way, these muffins were wonderful. Now that pumpkin puree is free flowing again, give them a try!

Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins

Makes about 21 muffins.

Ingredients

Cooking spray

3 1/3 C all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground clove

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

8 T unsalted butter, softened

2 C sugar

4 large eggs

1 C applesauce

1 C canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

1 tsp vanilla 

2/3 C apple or orange juice

1 1/2 C golden raisins

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degree F and fill 21 cavities of two regular sized muffin tins with cupcake liners. Lightly spray the liners with cooking spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. 
3. In a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes, until creamy. Add in the eggs, applesauce, pumpkin, and vanilla, and beat until blended.
4. Add in half of the dry ingredients and and mix. Add the juice and mix. Add the second half of the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Don't over mix.
5. Fold in the raisins.
6. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake on the center rack for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 
7. Allow the muffins to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, remove them from the pans, and cool on a wire rack. Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Recipe slightly adapted from Spices of Life: Simple and Delicious Recipes for Great Health.

Double Chocolate Cookies

These double chocolate chip cookies are sort of a cross between a truffle, brownie, cake, and a cookie... all in a very good way. It's kind of a "fluffy" candy bar.

Imagine a cookie that requires just 1/2 cup of flour to a POUND of chocolate.

The flavor of the chocolate is enhanced by 1 1/2 T of espresso flour. You can't really taste the coffee, but it does a wonderful job of enhancing the chocolate flavor.

The eggs, sugar, coffee, and vanilla are beaten at high speed for 10 minutes to create a thick batter. You then add the chocolate, flour, and extra chocolate chunks (seriously) and chill the batter at least overnight and up to 4 days before baking.

These cookies were amazingly easy and will definitely impress any chocolate lover in your world.

Double Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 large room temperature eggs
1 1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp espresso powder
2 tsp vanilla
6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chunks (I used these from King Arthur Flour but I've seen chocolate chunks in grocery stores recently)

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.
2. Melt the bittersweet chocolate, butter, and unsweetened chocolate together in a double boiler or a metal bowl over simmering water (don't let the bowl touch the water) until melted. Set aside to cool a bit.
3. Mix the eggs, sugar, espresso, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer using the wire whip on high speed, for about 10 minutes, until very thick. 
4. Switch to the paddle attachment (one with the built in bowl scraper is really helpful), and on low speed, slowly add the warm chocolate until incorporated. 
5. Add the flour mixture and mix for about a minute.
6. Stir in the chocolate chunks. 
7. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours or up to 4 days. 
8. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper. 
9. Scoop the dough by tablespoons onto the parchment, placing the mounds about 2 inches apart. 
10. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for about 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies will appear underdone, but that's okay. 
11. Using a thin metal spatula or a fish spatula, move the cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Continue to bake each sheet until done.
12. These cookies can be individually wrapped and frozen for up to a month. Perfect for holiday planning!

This recipe is from Baking with Julia: Savoring the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers.

The original recipe says it will yield 24 cookies, but I ended up with about 36 cookies.