More stripes… and more blue and white… do I have a problem?

When I was at the fabric store choosing fabric to recover my chairs (see the details: http://anytimegourmet.blogspot.com/2011/07/no-more-eating-dinner-on-couch.html), I found this Nautica blue and white striped fabric on clearance for only $6/yard. I thought it would go well with the blue and white print for my chairs and I could use it in some way in the living room or dining room. I wanted to make a valance-type window treatment to cover up the ugly aluminum blinds when they’re not in use. I decided it needed to be simple and didn’t want window hardware that would be too big or gaudy.

I saw Ikea’s curtain wire hardware at my friend’s house – she had made something similar to what I wanted to make. The hardware is very simple and easy to adjust to most window sizes. Not only that, but I could also buy an extra piece to make the wire turn the slight corner we have in our dining room. Check out the hardware at http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60075295.  

After having the fabric for 2 months and the curtain hardware for a few weeks, I finally got around to sewing the valances! I kept it very simple and just made a 15-inch high rectangle. The fabric was very thick so it didn’t need any lining. Something that should be very obvious, especially to a math teacher, made the sewing take much longer than it should have – I sewed the top seam (where the wire would pass through) before the sides, which closed the openings I had created for the wire! I had to redo the first panel, but at least I didn’t make that mistake again.

Here’s the sewing order that worked best: sew the bottom seam, then the sides, and finally the top seam. Because the wire is much thinner than a normal curtain rod would be, I had only a 5/8” seam on the top. Depending on the size of your curtain rod, you will need to adjust this.

Bottom corner

If I ignore the brass light fixture and mirrored wall, I think our dining room looks pretty great! I will try to stay away from blue and white for a while…

Fudgy, thick, not too sweet brownies

Photo courtesy www.kingarthurflour.com

One of my students requested brownies for his birthday treat. He had two requirements, however. The first was fudgy brownies, and the second was that he didn’t want them to be too sweet. 

I have made at least a dozen different brownie recipes and there always seems to be something wrong. Even Ina Garten, who I love, has a brownie recipe that has come out slightly dry and not the right texture for me. I searched all over the internet, and finally came across a brownie recipe from King Arthur Flour. It received reviews raving about the texture, flavor, and shiny top. I knew it was the one. It uses a combination of cocoa powder and chocolate chips. I rarely use chocolate chips because I think the flavor in a chocolate bar is usually much better and chocolate bars don’t have as many stabilizers. This recipe does something different than any I had seen before. You actually cook the eggs and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. This is what makes the top shiny. I also wonder whether this affects the egginess (is that a word?) of the brownies, because they didn’t come out too cakey or tough. Another benefit of this recipe is the quantity of the batter. Usually the brownies I have made are just not thick enough if you use a 13 x 9 inch pan, but these were just the right thickness. And, wow, was the texture just perfect! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Fudge Brownies (from King Arthur Flour)

 Makes 24  2-inch brownies.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (I used salted and decreased the salt to 1/2 teaspoon)
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional - I left it out)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped dark chocolate (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan

2) In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Or simply combine the butter and sugar, and heat, stirring, until the butter is melted. Continue to heat (or microwave) briefly, just until the mixture is hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the mixture to this point will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

3) While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth.

4) Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

5) Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

6) Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan.

7) Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.

The birthday baking begins...

Ready to take to school - with butter, of course

Carrying on the tradition from the previous AP Statistics teacher, I have been baking for each of my students’ birthdays. Seniors sometimes revert to their maturity level in elementary school, so birthday treats are fitting. One student of mine asked for raisin walnut bread, which was much different from the normal request of cookies, brownies ,or cupcakes, but I was up for the challenge. I found quite a few recipes online, finally choosing one from The Fresh Loaf, self-described as “a community for amateur artisan bakers and bread enthusiasts.”  Their recipes had oats in the dough but not walnuts. I figured I could add walnuts and it would turn out fine. It worked great! I actually made the dough the night before, let it finish proofing in the refrigerator, and baked it in the morning so it would be fresh for class 1^st period. The students loved it, as did I. I want to try this recipe without the final proofing in the fridge – I think it would turn out even better.

I changed a few things from the original recipe – I multiplied all the quantities by 2/3 because I only wanted two loaves, omitted the cinnamon, and added walnuts. The link to the original recipe is here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/cinnamonraisinoatmealbread

Oatmeal wheat raisin walnut bread
Makes 2 loaves
3 2/3 cups bread or all-purpose unbleached flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup + 1 T rolled oats
1 2/3 cups water
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons +2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/3 cups soaked and drained raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

At least half an hour before you begin, soak the raisins in warm water. Doing so plumps them, which makes them softer and moister in the loaf and also prevents the ones on the surface of the loaf from burning. Just prior to adding the raisins to the loaf, you'll pour the water out.

Next, soak the oats in the 2 1/2 cups water for 20 to 30 minutes. If you are using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, which I did, withhold 1/2 cup of the water to proof the yeast in.

Mix the flours, yeast, milk, honey, oil, salt, and cinnamon into the oats. Mix well, until all of the flour is hydrated. Knead by hand for 5 minutes or in a standmixer for 3, then mix in the drained raisins. Knead or mix until the raisins are distributed throughout the dough.

Cover the bowl of dough and allow it to rise for 1 hour. Then remove the dough from the bowl and fold it, degassing it gently as you do. Place the dough on a floured work surface, top side down. Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter, gently degassing as you do. Fold in thirds again the other way. Flip the dough over, dust off as much of the raw flour as you can, and place it back into the bowl.

Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise in bulk again for another hour. Then divide the dough in thirds and shape the loaves. Place each shaped loaf into a greased bread pan. Spray or gently brush each loaf with water and sprinkle with some more oats. Cover the pans and set aside to rise until the loaves crest above the edge of the pans, roughly 90 minutes. (I put the loaves in the refrigerator at this point and let rise overnight. I removed them from the fridge 30 minutes before baking to help them come to room temperature.)

Preheat the oven to 450. Place the loaves in the center rack of the oven. After 5 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 375. Rotate the loaves 180 degrees after 20 minutes, and bake for another 15 to 25 minutes, until the tops of the loaves are nicely browned, the bottoms of the loaves make a hollow sound when tapped, and the internal temperature of the loaf registers above 185 degrees when measured with an instant read thermometer.

Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and let the loaves cool completely before slicing (although we ate them warm and they were delicious).

French toast in the waffle maker

I love French toast and I love waffles, so why not combine the two! I had seen this years ago in a magazine and always wanted to try it, so I finally gave it a go. I made french toast as I would ordinarily – soak the bread in a mixture of eggs, milk, vanilla, a pinch of cinnamon, and a pinch of salt – and cooked it in my waffle maker. It turned out fantastically and gave the french toast such a delicious crust.  The only thing I would do differently next time is to use white bread rather than wheat. Thick slices of good white bread make the best french toast.

French toast waffles (makes 4 pieces)

4 thick slices white bread
4 eggs
Splash of milk (about ¼ cup)
½ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
Dash cinnamon (about 1/8 tsp)
Pinch salt

In flat-bottomed dish, whisk eggs, milk, vanilla (or almond extract), cinnamon and salt. Soak bread for 30 seconds or so on each side until very moist. Gently shake off extra egg mixture before placing bread into waffle maker. Cook according to your waffle maker – it takes about as long as a waffle. Serve hot.

Farmer’s Market Dinner

One of our favorite things to do on a Saturday is to go to a local farmer’s market in the morning and spend the afternoon cooking with the ingredients we found. Yesterday at the Redmond, WA farmer’s market, we found golden enoki mushrooms! I had no idea what they were, but my husband Reed was thrilled that they were only $4, so we had to buy them. They turned out to be unbelievably delicious – earthy with a great texture.

golden enoki mushrooms

We also found an abundance of yellow summer squash, stone fruits, and greens. All we needed was to buy some meat and we were ready to make dinner. We (well, mainly Reed) decided to buy steak, making what started out as a vegetarian meal decidedly not so much anymore.
Our dinner consisted of three dishes: steak with sautéed enokis, green salad with ranch, and grilled summer squash.

Here’s how we did it: first we took the steak out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature, then sliced the squash and tossed it in olive oil, salt and pepper. Next, we lit the charcoal, then mixed up the ranch dressing, grilled the squash, sautéed the mushrooms, grilled the steaks, rinsed the greens, and finally, ate a fantastic meal!

Steak with sautéed enokis

Take the steak out of the refrigerator at least 20 minutes before you plan to cook. Don’t salt and pepper the meat until just before cooking.

Cut the mushrooms from the cluster but leave each mushroom intact. Just before putting the steaks on the grill, heat 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add the mushrooms and a little salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden brown. Transfer to a bowl, check for seasoning, and let stand until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, grill the steak for 3-4 minutes per side (depending on its thickness). We like our steak rare to medium-rare, so we aim for about 2 minutes per side.

Let the steak rest at room temperature for 7-9 minutes and cover with aluminum foil. Transfer steak to plate, top with mushrooms, and serve.

Grilled summer squash

Slice the squash lengthwise into ¼ inch thick slices. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. They need to stand at room temperature for a while so that the squash gives up some of its liquid (from the addition of the salt).

Once the grill is hot, place squash on the grates. Grill for 3-4 minutes per side, or until charred. Transfer to a plate and serve.

Green salad with ranch dressing

Mix fresh greens with Uncle Dan’s ranch dressing (it’s a packet that we mix with mayo, sour cream, and milk or buttermilk) just before serving.