Garlic Bread

Warm garlic bread can taste heavenly with salad, pasta, or all by itself. This homemade version is extra flavorful, with herbs added for a slightly brighter flavor. It is very easy to make, and comes together in about 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

• 1 loaf ciabatta bread
• 6 cloves of garlic
• olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 cup parsley
• 1 stick melted butter
• 1/8 pinch red chilli powder (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat about a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan. Mince garlic, and add to the pan. Sautée for about a minute.

I made two loaves, so this is twice as much garlic as you'll need for the recipe

2. Wash and chop the parsley. Add to the pan along with salt and chilli powder. Stir for about a minute, then take the pan off heat.

3. Cut the loaf of ciabatta lengthwise. 

4. In a medium bowl, melt a stick of butter. While it's melting, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place the bread on it, and spoon butter evenly over both halves of the loaf.

5. Take the garlic mixture from the pan, and spread it evenly over the bottom half of the loaf. 

6. Wrap the loaf in foil. Place it on the baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes.

7. Then, unwrap, and bake for another 5 minutes. Allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes, and serve sliced.

Mushroom & Leek Galette

Galettes are rustic open tarts that you can fill with all sorts of combinations of fruit or vegetables. I made a savory mushroom and leek version for dinner tonight with some goat cheese that we had, and it turned out delicious. I used frozen pie crust because we happened to have it on hand, but if you want to make it completely by hand, Martha Stewart's recipe for pâte brisée is simple and fabulous. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

• 6 oz. shiitake mushrooms
• 8 ounces crimini mushrooms
• 1/2 medium white onion
• olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. red chile powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 pound (3 cups) leeks
• 1  1/2 tbsp. cream cheese
• 1/2 tbsp. milk
• pie crust (make sure you have one without sugar in the ingredients list!)
• all-purpose flour
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• grated parmesan and pepper for serving (optional)

1. Wash mushrooms. Remove stems and slice thinly. 

2. Peel onion and slice it thinly. Heat a little olive oil on a skillet and sautée the onions until they are soft and golden brown like this:

3. Add mushrooms, chile powder, and salt. Cook off all the water from the mushrooms.

Fresh Mushrooms...

All cooked down!

4. Slice leeks into 1/2 inch pieces and rinse them thoroughly in water to get rid of all the dirt. Add to the skillet and cook until slightly browned.

I used frozen leeks - fresh ones weren't available.

Once again, all cooked down!

5. Whip together cream cheese and milk, and add it to the vegetable filling. You could use 2 tbsp. of creme fraiche, but I didn't have any on hand. 

6.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a baking stone inside to warm

7.  Sprinkle all-purpose flour liberally onto a work surface. Roll out  pie dough into a circle, approximately 14 inches across. Don't worry about uneven edges! Galettes are meant to be rustic, and slightly raggedy edges will just give your tart character :). Just remember to try to cover up cracks in the folding process later on. 

Giant cracks like this one can be covered up later.

8. Foil and grease a rimmed baking sheet. Place crust on the sheet, and then spoon half of the vegetable mixture on top. Crumble 2 ounces of goat cheese on top. Make sure to leave at least 1 - 1 1/2 inches between the filling and the edge of the galette dough. 

9. Top with the remaining vegetable filling, and then the rest of the goat cheese, crumbled.

10. Tuck in one piece of the dough, as shown below, and then brush one corner with a little water.

The folds don't have to be of even length. 

Brush the dough enough to make it sticky - but not too much!

11. Fold the dough over the filling again, lightly pressing it into the wet dough. Brush again with water to seal. 

12. Repeat until the crust of the whole tart is closed.

13. Turn the oven down to 375, and then bake for 35 minutes, until the crust is hard and golden. Allow it to cool before slicing, and serve with a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Mocha Bread Pudding

This dessert is a delicious take on the concept of bread pudding. It comes together with very little effort, and tastes wonderful with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a dollop of freshly whipped cream. I originally found this in the April 2009 edition of "Mix", a dining magazine we receive along with our newspaper. I've made this family favorite many times, and have added a few tweaks along the years. I thought it would be fun to share on here!

I haven't quite figured out how I want to integrate pictures onto this blog, so for now, I'll have a series of pictures at the end, after the recipe.

Here's the recipe:

• 1 loaf challah bread, or 1 medium loaf of white bread
• 2 cups half & half
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp fine coffee powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup whipping cream (can be substituted with milk)
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar + 1 tbsp to sprinkle (optional)
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Meanwhile, cut the bread into 1" cubes and spread onto rimmed, foil-lined baking sheets. Set in the oven to toast for 20 minutes. 

While the bread is toasting, whisk together half & half, coffee powder, cocoa powder, and salt in a saucepan on low heat. Bring to a simmer, being very careful to whisk often to prevent it from sticking or curdling. Take off heat and set aside. 

Chop the bittersweet chocolate into fine pieces. Next, add chocolate, whipping cream, brown sugar, and eggs one at a time to the cooled half & half mixture. Whisk together thoroughly until completely combined. Place the toasted bread cubes in a large bowl and pour the pudding mixture over it, stirring carefully to combine. Allow the bread to sit in the pudding for about 3 minutes, and the transfer to a greased, oven-proof 13" x 9" pan. At this point, you can sprinkle the additional tablespoon of brown sugar on top of the pudding if you wish. Bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees, until the top is slightly crispy. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

Challah Bread

Pudding mixture with chopped chocolate

Ready to bake!

Szilveszteri (Linzer Cookies)

I wanted to make cookies for a class party one time and thought it would be great fun to try out these lovely Linzer cookies! My Hungarian friend graciously translated this authentic family recipe for me, and the cookies turned out beautifully! The cookies bake VERY fast, so be sure to keep an eye on them when the first batch is in the oven to get a feel for how quickly they cook. The top cookies might even be done a minute earlier because they have less dough due to the cutout. They also require at least 12 hours to set after they are baked, so you'll have to make them about a day in advance of the event you want to serve them at.

Note: These do require linzer cookie cutters to get the shape of the top and bottom cookies. Mine are Wilton brand, and have a fun valentine themed cutout. You can even get ones with holiday themed center cutouts to make great Christmas cookies!

Here's the recipe:

• 5 1/4 cups of flour
• 2 ½ sticks of thoroughly softened butter
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 ½ cups of powdered sugar (I always blend granulated sugar until it's fine enough for me)
• sour cream as necessary
• Pinch of baking soda

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Knead the flour, butter, and lemon. Beat the yolks separately, and then knead into the dough, along with sugar and baking soda. Use sour cream to soften until is easy to work with. Roll out until the cookies are quite thin, about a ¼ inch thick – since you will need to layer them, and cut. Bake for 5-7 minutes, until the cookies are just barely golden brown. Let the cookies stay on the hot sheet for a minute longer, and then transfer to a cooling rack. Let them cool completely.

In a separate bowl, spoon out the jam and mix it with a fork until it gains a smooth consistency. With a knife, spoon a dollop of jam in the center of a bottom cookie and spread it so that there is more jam in the center (where the cutout of the top cookie will be) than the edges. Sandwich a top and bottom cookie, and allow it to harden overnight in open air. (If you choose to cover them with plastic wrap, the cookies will take longer to “set.”)

Welcome!

I love to bake and experiment in the kitchen, and I thought this blog would be a fun way to document my adventures. Enjoy!