Swiss Buttercream

I am ashamed to say that yesterday I baked a cake mix cake: Fun-fetti flavor. But, I can proudly say that I made my own icing: Swiss buttercream icing.

This icing was a bit more difficult to make than my regular confectioner's sugar blend. However, it was well worth it. It wasn't overly sweet as many icings tend to be and it had a nice smooth and spreadable consistency.

Note: This icing is not very sweet. It would be better on a cake with a sweetened fruit filling.
I went a bit crazy decorating this cake, so that is why in the pictures it looks as if a clown sneezed on it. Sorry. I promise to make a nice respectable looking cake in the future.

Swiss Buttercream
* This recipe is taken from one of my favorite food blogs smittenkitchen


For a 9-inch cake
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
26 tablespoons butter, softened (3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions 
Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a big metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk occasionally until you can’t feel the sugar granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers.

Transfer mixture into the mixer and whip until it turns white and about doubles in size.
Add the vanilla.

Finally, add the butter a stick at a time and whip, whip, whip.

Tomato Soup

I have had a favorite tomato soup recipe for a couple or years now. It is delicious, warm, and comforting. My favorite tomato soup is Tyler Florance's Ultimate Roasted Tomato Soup. It roasts the tomatoes in the oven which leaves a wonderful and homey taste. This is not Tyler's recipe. This is Jamie Oliver's recipe. I found it while going though a stack of recipes. And you know what? Tyler has some competition.

Yes, Tyler roasts... but Jamie's is a tad easier--and his is full of vegetables. It is thicker with a little bit of carrot, onion, garlic, and chunks of tomato to bite into. Yes... tomato soup should be smooth like Campell's, but trust me chunks add flavor and filling.

Jamie Oliver's Tomato Soup

* like always I have adapted somethings to make it easier

The recipe says it serves 4, but it made much more for me. Like 7-8. This is a good thing though because soup is the prefect thing to reheat for lunch and nights you are too lazy to make anything else. 

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 carrot, coarsley gratted--- I put a hand ful of baby carrots in the food processor

Handful of fresh basil leaves

olive oil

6 Tablespoons of heavy cream

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

2 egg yolks

2lbs canned diced tomatoes

5 cups of chicken broth

salt and pepper

Directions

Put onion, garlic, carrot, and basil stalks into a large pot with olive oil. Cover the pan, and simmer gently for 20 minutes without coloring.

In another bowl whisk together cream, vinegar, and egg yolks. Set aside.

Once the vegetables are soft add the tomatoes and stock. Simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes.

At this point puree the soup with either a handheld blender of a food processor. Once the soup has been pureed pour it back in the pan and bring it back to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Just before serving , add the egg and cream mixture. This will give the soup a shine and silky texture.

Apple Crumble

In high school I entered an apple pie baking contest.  I placed third, out of at least 50 entries. Sadly, the recipe I used was lost. I have kicked myself for losing that recipe. It was a combination of several recipes, my own flare, brandy, and homemade caramel.

Going though my huge stack of recipies I found a new apple pie recipe. This crumble with its buttery topping and cream cheese bottom is a new favorite recipe. It may not be as good as that 3rd place pie, but it is pretty close.

Apple (Pear) Crumble
adapted from kraft desserts


* I didn't have any pears so I used 2 extra apples. But I am excited to try this recipe again with pears

Ingredients
3/4 cup crushed Nilla wafers (about 24) ** I used leftover snickerdoodles, it was wonderful
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
1 Ready to use pie crust
4 oz of cream cheese, softened
2 large baking apples, peeled sliced thinly
1 large fresh pear, peeled sliced thinly
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Whipped cream (optional)


Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor blend cookies, brown sugar, and butter until well blended.

Spread cream cheese onto the bottom of the pie crust, sprinkle half of the crumb mixture on top. Set aside.

Combine fruit in a large bowl. Add sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Toss to coat. Pour fruit mixture into pie pan. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes or until brown. Cover with foil after 15 minutes if necessary. Serve with whipped cream.

Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy

I'm not a big fan of sausage, but this recipe looked delicious in Jamie Oliver's Cook book. Jamie did not disappoint, this meal was even better than the picture.

Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy
Adopted from Jamie Oliver

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 sausages ( I used Italian)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
dash of sage
dash of rosemary
olive oil
2 Tablespoon of honey 
5 1/2lb potatoes, peeled and cut into uniform pieces
1/2 cup grits
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3 Tablespoons stone ground mustard
salt and pepper-- to taste
1 1/2 cups water
1 stick of butter
2 medium onions
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
splash of red wine
2 beef bouillon cubes

Directions 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place sausages in a small baking pan that has sides. Sprinkle garlic, sage, rosemary, olive oil, and honey over top. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until brown. Rotate sausages and bake an additional 10 minutes or until browned on all sides. 

To make the mash bring  potatoes to a boil and cook until they are fork tender. Drain and mash with heavy cream, mustard, salt, pepper, and 5 Tablespoons of butter. In another bowl make grits by bringing 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil and by adding the grits and cheese. When the grits have finished cooking add the mash potatoes. 

To make the onion gravy fry the onions really slow in a little oil, covered, for about 15 minutes until soft. Remove the lid, turn the heat up and as soon as the onions become golden brown, pour in the red wine and vinegar and boil until it almost disappears. Turn the heat down again and add the remaining 3 Tablespoons of butter. Crumble in the bouillion cubes and 2 1/2 cups of water and stir well. Let this simmer until you have a nice gravy consistency. 

To serve, dollop some oozy potatoes on the plate, chop up the sausage and place on top of the potatoes, and top it all off with the onions. 

*** For more vegetables I added canned green beans under the mashed potatoes 

Raspberry Scones

This is my second attempt at writing this post. I had the entire post completed when my computer froze and I lost everything.

So the first recipe is completed. Raspberry Scones. It is New Year's eve and I chose to make this recipe because scones will be the perfect thing to eat after a late night. Scones are simple and you can make them in advance and freeze them until your ready to eat.

I like to make to scones, put them on a baking sheet, freeze, and then toss them into a zip-lock freezer bag for easier storage. Since they are frozen individually they won't all stick together. They will last months in the freezer. When you are ready to eat them take out as many as you like, place on a baking tray and bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. The perfect lazy-man breakfast or afternoon snack.

The recipe that I used is from Tyler Florence. However, like with most of the things I make, I can't help but change it around a little. Tyler calls for fresh blueberries, I used what I had in the freeze: Red Raspberries. I also added more sugar to my scones.

Raspberry Scones
Adapted from Tyler Florance's Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze

Yield: 8 Scones 
Time : 20 min. prep/ 20 min. bake

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons sugar
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup frozen raspberries

Directions 
Put flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a food processor and blend for 5 seconds. Add the butter and mix until mixture resembles fine crumbs. While the processor is running slowly add in heavy cream. Stop when dough forms a ball. DO NOT OVERMIX!

Knead dough on a floured surface. Fold in raspberries. Try not to bruise the raspberries so they won't bleed too much into the dough. 

Roll out the dough into a 12 by 6 inch rectangle. Fold dough length-wise so you have a 12 by 3 inch rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half width-wise, and those halves in half again. You are left with 4 squares. Cut each square in a diagonal to make the usual triangular scone shape. Place scones on a baking tray.

At this point you can either bake the scones in a 400 degree over for 15-20 minutes. Or you can freeze them and bake them when ever you feel like it. Enjoy!

The Challenge

So I have been trying to think of some sort of Julie-esk challenge to put myself through. To test my culinary ability. Well, it's not Mastering the Art of French cooking, but it is something. I have a stack of recipies that I have copied out of cook books for years now. My goal: to cook all of these recipies. It is probaby close to 400 recipies, the bulk of which will be desserts.

I will make these recipes, take plenty of pictures and document it all here. I'll tell you what you have to try, and what you should probably skip.

Wish me luck. I never complete many projects, but maybe.... I'll be able to stick to this one.At the very least I will be able to get rid of the stack of papers cluttering up my dresser drawer.

Inspiration

I have been inspired to create this blog by a few random sources. The first of which being one of my new favorite movies- Julie and Julia. Like the Julies', I am a chef of sorts... I was once on the road to culinary school, until I realized I didn't want to slave away in a hot chaotic kitchen for the rest of my life. I also didn't want to work while everyone else was partying. It seems unfair. Why waste my nights and weekends and rest during the awful hours of prime time TV.


I would like to say that I have some great plan like the Julie/Julia project... But I don't... and I feel like anything I attempted to do would make me a meager copy-cat. Hopefully some day I will come up with a great project that propels me forward in life and blog lore.

Not that I think anyone will actually read this blog. I am using this an online journal of sorts. A place to get out all the crap in my head. And a place to document my culinary adventures. Actually, I have no idea what this will evolve into. Hopefully it will be great, like a souffle. I will cross my fingers and hope it rises to a fluffy cloud of deliciousness.

If anyone does ever read this, I welcome your help. I am a girl with many options before her and no idea what to choose.