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Sunday's With Macrina: German Pancake with Apples, Rum, & Brown Sugar
by: Renée via Baking Experiments on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:41:00 -0500

Keywords: Macrina , Brunch , Apple , Pancake

I picked this recipe to do first because Chris and I were looking for something fun to make for breakfast with stuff we already had in the house. The only thing we had to run out for was the apples. Also, because we wanted something a little heavier than a muffin or a scone.

Here's how it came together:

We had to substitute a few things for this recipe. The main thing was the rum. The recipe calls for dark rum, but we didn't have any and since we live in NY, liquor stores don't open until noon on Sundays. We only had Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay Passion Fruit Rum in the house, so we used that. The other two things were minor. First, I don't own a 9" saute pan, I own a 10" saute pan so we used that. Second, we don't drink whole milk, we buy 2% milk so that's what we used.

Wet ingredients: eggs, milk, vanilla

Dry ingredients: flour, kosher salt, sugar

Melting the butter.

While that melts, mix the dry and wet ingredients together until there are no lumps.

Then you pour the batter into the saute pan

After it cooks for a few minutes and starts to brown around the outside, you pop it into the oven to bake.

Meanwhile, you take the cut up apples...

And mix it with the melted brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, rum mixture.

Stir to coat and then cook them for a little while.

This is what the pancake looked like right before I pulled it out of the oven. It kinda made me crack up.

Then it deflated a little and we poured on the apples and dusted with powdered sugar.

Wow. Soooo goood. The pancake wasn't too heavy and really had a nice flavor. It was a great brunch and so easy to make that we will definitely make it again. The only thing was that the apple mixture was a little on the sweet side, but we are blaming that on our choice to use the fruity rum instead of dark rum. We may try it with a different fruit next time. Maybe apricots.

I'm so glad I chose this for the first recipe! I had a really hard week at work last week and wasn't so much in the mood to cook but I thought, hey, this is why I decided to do this in the first place. Chris and I had a lot of fun making it (and eating it!) together.
Challenging Myself... with Macrina
by: Renée via Baking Experiments on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:03:00 -0600

Keywords: Macrina , Baking

I am going to bake my way through the Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook by Leslie Mackie. Cooking, in general, has always been something I love. When I was little I would pretend I had my own cooking show whenever I made something, even just PB&J. But baking... baking is my true passion. There is nothing like the feeling of taking something freshly baked out of the oven, the smell, the heat, the golden brown crust, the perfectly baked cake... it's like love in solid form. So why am I starting this adventure?

My job is stressful but it is not hard to do nor does it require a lot of brain power. Lately it has been a bit more stressful than usual because they are closing my office and moving my branch into another office to be shared with the team that is there from the company that took mine over. My boss is being moved to a different location than the rest of us, which leaves me as The One In Charge. So I've been working longer than usual hours and am a bit more stressed because of the extra responsibility and trying get all my work done while also doing all the things my boss normally does.

My point is that when I come home, I am mush. I don't use my brain at work, which I think is more tiresome than if I had to use a lot of brainpower. I do the crossword on my lunch everyday just so that I have at least 20 or 30 minutes of thinking to do during the day. I am not challenged at work. I do not have rewarding experiences at work. I mostly deal with complaints and problems, which can be wearing on the spirit. When I come home lately, I can't seem to get my brain to turn on to engage with Chris for more than watching TV. I'm cranky, I don't want to talk, I don't want to cook... I just want to put my pajamas on and veg out on the couch. Which is unfair to Chris and causes unnecessary stress on our relationship.

So what is the solution? Well, I can't just up and quit my job. It's a "good" job. So since I can't just quit, I've decided that I need to take matters into my own hands and challenge myself more. Do more things that require brainpower. (I also need to do more things that challenge me physically, but that's another topic for another day)

I've been reading through Carol Blymire's blog Alinea At Home, where she is cooking her way through the entire Alinea cookbook by Grant Achatz. She also finished cooking through the French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller. Carol is really inspiring. I really could go on and on about her blog but really you should just head over there and check it out.

So why Macrina? Because there are things in there that I have only dreamed of baking. Intimidating sour doughs, croissants and other pastries....Things that will be hard, possibly frustrating, might make me cry but will be ultimately rewarding. The breads in this book sound so inviting to bake. There are also cakes, cookies, muffins, tarts, pies... the works. I also love the section toward the back that has the Cafe Favorites with savory dishes that make your mouth water just by reading the title like Egg Scramble with Delicata Squash, Spinich, Smoked Provelone & Beurre Blanc Sauce and German Pancake with Apples, Rum & Brown Sugar.

So I am going to make at least one new recipe per week from the Macrina book on Sunday. I hope to come out of this adventure a bit more intuitive about bread baking, more confident about pastry and with experience in a broader range of baked goods. I also want to gain a sense of accomplishment and a better understanding of what my plans are for the future. I also, for at least one day a week, want to feel passionate about what I am doing.

Wish me luck!
Quiche
by: Renée via We Cook Together on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:22:00 -0600

Keywords: quick , Quiche , Julia Child , Eggs

Julia Child's book has a great section on Quiche. I have made a variation of the basic recipe 4 or 5 times now. I made two different versions on Sunday to take over to Uncle Richie's birthday brunch. One was Jalapeno, Sweet Red Pepper, Homemade Sausage and Cheddar and the other was Baby Zucchini, Jarlsberg cheese and Homemade Sausage. (Sorry no pictures, there was an Incident Regarding The Number Of Eggs In The House which took up all my photo taking time. You can blame Chris :P) The Jalapeno version was SO good. We will definitely be making that one again.

I had some left over pie dough from Sunday so last night for dinner we made little quiche cups. I cut dough rounds to fit the bottom of my ramekins, pricked them with a fork and baked them in the ramekins for about 7 or 8 minutes. We added crispy bacon bits on top of that and pressed them into the crust (Julia suggests doing it this way). Then we added the egg mixture on top (eggs, cream, milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg) which had some Jarlsberg and sweet yellow and orange peppers. They baked for about 25 minutes. I did forget to dot the tops with butter the way Julia says to (which in all honesty might not be necessary but it sure does make it taste goooood). They came out great. It was a quick and delicious dinner for Chris and me. We made six and each ate two.

I really recommend making a quiche using Julia's recipe. Especially if you have friends coming over for brunch. You can put it in the oven and let it bake and serve it with some toast or bagels, maybe a pastry or two and you don't have to stand over the stove cooking while your company waits for you (because really you can't cook eggs early, they get cold and gross or dried out and gross if you try to keep them hot). You really can put whatever you think sounds good in there too. My only tip would be that if you are going to use something that is a little wet (like my shredded baby zucchini), you want to dry it out or drain it in a paper towel before adding it, or your egg mixture might become too watery. MMMmmmMMM! Yum!
Cookies!
by: Renée via Baking Experiments on Sun, 21 Dec 2008 19:50:00 -0600

Keywords: Cookies , Silpat

So for Christmas, Pat and Courtney got us a Silpat. Pat said that it would change my life. Well, I know what a Silpat is supposed to do and it sounded to me like the same thing that my Pampered Chef Stoneware Bar Pan was supposed to do. Non-stick, even baking, best cookies ever. So I put them up head to head on Sunday morning and made two batches of cookies. The first batch was White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (recipe found here) and the second batch was White Chip Chocolate Cookies found on the back of the Toll House bag of white chocolate chips (and here).
Now I was going to post pictures of the top and bottom of each batch Silpat vs. Bar Pan, but honestly they came out almost exactly the same. The bar pan *did* cook a little more evenly, the bottom was done *exactly* the same amount as the top (one of the things that PC boasts is that food cooks at the same time all around) and the Silpat had the bottoms a tiny bit more done than the tops. Both Chris and I preferred the Silpat doneness, the little crisp on the edges was really nice but the middles were still soft and gooey.

Silpat top:
Silpat bottom:

Ok now I just feel bad and have to post the PC cookies too. Sorry about the bad lighting on the next one but it just wasn't working for me.

PC top:
PC bottom:On to the chocolate cookies!

Silpat top:
Silpat bottom:

PC top:
PC bottom:
So now you can see that they are pretty much the same. That said, I am in LOVE with the Silpat. It doesn't say on the PC website but the Bar Pan must weigh like 6lbs. I'm constantly worried about dropping it and honestly, its a little to hard on my wrist to carry it one handed, which makes it really hard to hold the pan and shut the oven. The Silpat weighs... I dunno... 4oz? maybe? Bar Pan: hard to store. Silpat: currently rolled up inside of a paper towel tube on the shelf. (Thanks btw to whoever blogged that a few weeks ago, I can't remember who but its a great tip) Both products are non-stick (I've cooked bacon a few times in my Bar Pan so its got a nice coat on it) but the Silpat seemed to be better at it. The PC cookies got a little squished from the spatula when I was moving them to the cooling rack. The Silpat cookies were perfectly round.

The winner? Silpat, hands down. I am so happy with it. If you make cookies, even once a year, you should get one (or two!) of these. It is totally worth it. I'm thinking about getting another one.

As a side note, if you like White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies, make that recipe! They were seriously some of the best Chris and I have ever had. And that is a favorite cookie for both of us.
Who Needs McDonalds?
by: Renée via We Cook Together on Sat, 20 Dec 2008 06:31:00 -0600

Keywords: Chris , Burgers , Meat Grinder

You may already know that Mom got us a KA mixer for Christmas this year. Chris' company gave him a $50.00 Amex gift card for Christmas. KA mixer + $50.00 =

YAY! We got the food grinder! We have been so excited at the prospect of making our own sausages that its not even funny. We decided to grind up a roast beef that we had in the freezer to make some hamburgers. I have to say, the grinder is quite disgusting. The meat looks really gross coming out and every once in a while it spits meat juice across the kitchen (or in my case, right onto my face). Luckily, I could get over it enough to really enjoy the process. Here is the final ground up meat:

So into the mixer it goes with all of Chris' special burger making stuff (I really don't know what he puts in there or I would tell you)

I know there are sauteed garlic and onions in there.

MMMmmmMMM! That is damn good! We even bought Ore Ida 'fast food fries' that go in the oven. They were pretty good!

Wanna bite?