Sablés (Sandies) and Losing Our Way

I'm sharing Bob Herbert's final column, printed in the NY Times, the 26th of March, 2011. It's brilliant, correct; and it's important that you read it. 

Then, bake.

Peace (really) and love, jane

Losing Our Way

By BOB HERBERT

So here we are pouring shiploads of cash into yet another war, this time in Libya, while simultaneously demolishing school budgets, closing libraries, laying off teachers and police officers, and generally letting the bottom fall out of the quality of life here at home.

Welcome to America in the second decade of the 21st century. An army of long-term unemployed workers is spread across the land, the human fallout from the Great Recession and long years of misguided economic policies. Optimism is in short supply. The few jobs now being created too often pay a pittance, not nearly enough to pry open the doors to a middle-class standard of living.

Arthur Miller, echoing the poet Archibald MacLeish, liked to say that the essence of America was its promises. That was a long time ago. Limitless greed, unrestrained corporate power and a ferocious addiction to foreign oil have led us to an era of perpetual war and economic decline. Young people today are staring at a future in which they will be less well off than their elders, a reversal of fortune that should send a shudder through everyone.

The U.S. has not just misplaced its priorities. When the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young, it has lost its way entirely.

Nearly 14 million Americans are jobless and the outlook for many of them is grim. Since there is just one job available for every five individuals looking for work, four of the five are out of luck. Instead of a land of opportunity, the U.S. is increasingly becoming a place of limited expectations. A college professor in Washington told me this week that graduates from his program were finding jobs, but they were not making very much money, certainly not enough to think about raising a family.

There is plenty of economic activity in the U.S., and plenty of wealth. But like greedy children, the folks at the top are seizing virtually all the marbles. Income and wealth inequality in the U.S. have reached stages that would make the third world blush. As the Economic Policy Institute has reported, the richest 10 percent of Americans received an unconscionable 100 percent of the average income growth in the years 2000 to 2007, the most recent extended period of economic expansion.

Americans behave as if this is somehow normal or acceptable. It shouldn’t be, and didn’t used to be. Through much of the post-World War II era, income distribution was far more equitable, with the top 10 percent of families accounting for just a third of average income growth, and the bottom 90 percent receiving two-thirds. That seems like ancient history now.

The current maldistribution of wealth is also scandalous. In 2009, the richest 5 percent claimed 63.5 percent of the nation’s wealth. The overwhelming majority, the bottom 80 percent, collectively held just 12.8 percent.

This inequality, in which an enormous segment of the population struggles while the fortunate few ride the gravy train, is a world-class recipe for social unrest. Downward mobility is an ever-shortening fuse leading to profound consequences.

A stark example of the fundamental unfairness that is now so widespread was in The New York Times on Friday under the headline: “G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether.” Despite profits of $14.2 billion — $5.1 billion from its operations in the United States — General Electric did not have to pay any U.S. taxes last year.

As The Times’s David Kocieniewski reported, “Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore.”

G.E. is the nation’s largest corporation. Its chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt, is the leader of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. You can understand how ordinary workers might look at this cozy corporate-government arrangement and conclude that it is not fully committed to the best interests of working people.

Overwhelming imbalances in wealth and income inevitably result in enormous imbalances of political power. So the corporations and the very wealthy continue to do well. The employment crisis never gets addressed. The wars never end. And nation-building never gets a foothold here at home.

New ideas and new leadership have seldom been more urgently needed.

•

This is my last column for The New York Times after an exhilarating, nearly 18-year run. I’m off to write a book and expand my efforts on behalf of working people, the poor and others who are struggling in our society. My thanks to all the readers who have been so kind to me over the years. I can be reached going forward at bobherbert88@gmail.com.

Sablés

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan by Blue Heron Kitchen        

Americans tout chocolate chip cookies.

The French started it with sablés.

Nobody will object to sitting down to a plate of these with a glass of milk.

Sablé means ‘sand’, and when you bite into one of these sand cookies, it crumbles, a buttery empire, collapsing and exploding, simultaneously releasing flavor and texture. (Up for it?)

Forget pecan sandies. Those are childhood memory cookies that are so filled with ingredients that include numerals and that don’t come close to anything resembling this authentic ‘sandie’ experience. 

The recipe couldn’t be simpler, and once you have the technique down, you may opt for these as your new ‘go to’ for clean, simple, easy-bake, always on hand (you can keep rolls of them in the freezer for ‘slice and bake’) cookies. They’re simple and straight forward enough for young children and elegant enough to serve as a petit four at a champagne celebration or at the end of an elegant dinner party. (Remember those?)

Provided you use the best and freshest ingredients and 83% butter (either American produced, such as “Plugra” made by Hotel Bar) or the real stuff from France, you’ll be astounded at how much like a French bakery your home will smell and you’ll wonder how you ever thought pecan sandies were what a ‘sand cookie’ was supposed to be.

The basic recipe is below and there are two variations, one with nuts and the other with chocolate ‘chips’. You can play around with citrus rinds (I omit the citrus when I use chocolate chips and nuts), and Dorie’s recipe has other variations for ‘spice’ sablés (add 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. ground ginger and ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg into the flour), as well as a savory one with parmesan cheese, omitting both sugars and adding 2 ¼ oz. very finely grated parmesan cheese to the beaten butter (don’t coat the logs with sugar with the savory variation – you can, however, sprinkle the logs with finely chopped nuts or fleur de sel.)

Ingredients:

8 oz. unsalted butter, (83% butterfat such as Plugra brand or imported butter from France is recommended), at room temperature

½ c. granulated sugar

grated zest from one lemon, preferably organic

¾ c. confectioner’s sugar (be sure to sift first, then measure)

½ tsp. kosher salt

2 large egg yolks, room temperature*

1 egg, room temperature (optional, if you’re coating the roll)

2 c. all-purpose flour (unbleached, scoop and level to measure)

sanding sugar, optional

finely chopped, toasted almonds, optional

INGREDIENTS for two VARIATIONS:

NUTS: substitute ½ cup of the flour with ½ cup finely ground almond (or other nut) flour (Bob’s Red Mill is a great American brand.) Whisk together with the flour and set aside.

CHOCOLATE “CHIPS”: finely chop 2 ½ oz. excellent quality (Valhrona dark chocolate) and mix into batter, by hand, as the final step.

Procedure:


Sift and measure 10X (confectioner's sugar) and whisk together with granulated sugar in a small bowl. If you are using citrus zest, using your fingers, incorporate the zest into the sugars and set aside. You might want to do this while you are bringing the butter and eggs to room temperature. It's a useful truc to have in your repertoire. The citrus oils have an opportunity to combine with the sugars.

In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid or other electric mixer, using a paddle attachment (have you bought your beater blade yet?) Beat butter at medium speed until smooth and very creamy.

Add both sugars and salt and beat until blended. Important: This mixture should be smooth, but not fluffy.

Reduce speed to low and beat in egg yolks until combined.

Turn off mixer and pour in flour (or flour/ground nut mixture). Pulse several times (you can put a towel over the mixer so you don’t look like Lucy in the ‘make up!’ episode) until just incorporated. Continue, uncovered until the flour just disappears into the dough. The dough isn’t going to come away from the sides of the bowl. It’s not going to come into a ball.  Work the dough as little as possible. It’s going to look and feel moist and as Dorie says, like Play-Doh.

Scrape onto a clean and smooth surface, divide into three or four balls, whatever size you’re most comfortable working with, and shape each into a log. Diameter is up to you, but I like about one inch. It’s easy to do this on plastic wrap (I’m still looking for non-BPA – if you find it, please write to me and tell me.) and then roll it, and swing it into a roll, holding the two ends. (It’s fun.)

Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Longer is better. You can keep it in the fridge up to three days or you can freeze these logs up to 2 months.

Baking the sablés:

Preheat oven to 350º F. and center the oven rack. You’re going to back just one sheet at a time. (sorry) Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Remove one log at a time from fridge. If you’re going to coat the outside of the log, whisk the egg and using a pastry brush, coat the outside of the log with the egg and sprinkle the log with sanding sugar or chopped nuts (or a combination of the two!), or if you’re making the savory sablés, some fleur de sel, and then with a sharp knife and a swift cut, slice the cookies about 1/3” -1/2” thickness, your call. Leave an inch between the cookies.

Bake one sheet at a time for about 15 minutes, give or take, until they are browned on the bottom, lightly golden around the edges and pale on top. They will be tender and crumble when they come out of the oven. Let them rest before transferring them to a rack with a wide metal spatula to cool to room temperature.

Cream Cheese and Chocolate Marble Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Chocolate Marble Cream Cheese Pound Cake

"Plain" in a tube pan

Lately, life is like a One Note Samba:
SNOW


I can't not smile watching this, so I had to share it with you. Watch it all. (It's easier than baking the cake.)


Truth: The wheel (and the pound cake) was invented... but - -
I tweaked (improved) it and added a chocolate marble variation.


There are several things you should know before you make this pound cake. The first is that it must be made the day before you intend to eat it. It morphs into a different product overnight, so you have to be patient and not claw into it right away. Also, I was happy to know that my dear friend, who also made this cake, had the same experience as I did, where there was a little 'seepage' from the bottom when it first went into the oven. I think this is because of the large quantity of eggs in the batter. In this 'new and improved' recipe, the addition of a small amount of whole wheat pastry flour may help to hold up the batter some.  But, do this: Put the tube pan on a sheet pan or bake it in a bundt pan or in a couple of loaf pans. (One solution was to open the windows to stop the fire alarm and later, to self-clean the oven.) 


Something else you should know is that this cake is almost too good. It has a fine but firm texture and can stand up to any berry or scoop of your favorite ice cream. It can be sliced and toasted and buttered and jammed, or you can enjoy it plain. It will become your basic pound cake from here on in. Promise.

This recipe yields one ginourmous cake that feeds at least 10 people. I use Philadelphia Brand cream cheese and either 83% European style butter, such as "Plugra", or, if you don't have access to this product, my fave American butter is "Land O Lakes". Make sure your butter isn't salted and it's FRESH. Here's the benchmark: If you take a little bit with your finger and taste it and it tastes like the fridge, so will your cake.


I added some whole wheat pastry flour. It's a small amount, and it supports the structure, adds a slight nutty flavor without the pound cake masquerading as a 'healthy choice, loaded with b vitamins and fiber'. If you're looking for a healthier baked good, try my Tabula Rasa Bran Muffins.


I use Baldwin's pure vanilla extract (exclusively). It makes a huge difference. My other 'secret' flavor is King Arthur Flour's Fiori di Sicilia. You don't have to buy the 4 oz. bottle (image at left), but if you do, it will last - you keep it in the fridge. It's a magical combination of vanilla and citrus extracts that lifts and enhances the flavor of any butter or nut-based product. You can find another link to this truly distinctive extract in my recipe for Rhubarb Muffins. Or, you can go directly to King Arthur Flour and order it from them. Sign up with them, and when they offer 'free shipping', that's when you should load up on stuff.

I like Bob's Red Mill for my whole wheat pastry flour. You can buy their wonderful milled products online, directly, (click on the link above), through Amazon (on left), or at better markets. In New York Fairway Markets carries a huge selection of Bob's Red Mill stuff. You I can get lost in the Bob's aisle at Fairway.


For chocolate - well, that's a whole other story. You can go as high end as you want. For this recipe, I went 'middle'. I used 60% Jacques House Selection discs. Jacques Torres' baking chocolate is very reasonably priced and great to have around. 72% dark chocolate disks are $9.50 for the lb., mail order, and they're great for baking.  

These products are all relatively easy to find, and worth hunting down. 

Cream Cheese or

Chocolate Marble Cream Cheese

Pound Cake

adapted from Staff Meals from Chanterelle by Waltuck and Phillips

by Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 package (8 oz.) Philadelphia brand cream cheese, room temperature

12 oz. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, European style preferred, room temperature

3 cups sugar

6 eggs, size large, at room temperature

1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. Fiori di Sicilia extract (optional, but recommended)

2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour  

1 tsp. kosher salt
8 oz. dark chocolate, melted and cooled (if making chocolate marble)

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350º F. and lightly butter a 10-inch tube pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Truc: melt butter and use a pastry brush to butter pans. make sure the brush you use is only used for pastry. if you use it for barbecue sauce, your cake will taste like baby back ribs.

Measure flours and salt into a small bowl, whisk together and set aside.

Place the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of your Kitchen Aid or electric mixer, or using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat until smooth.

Add the sugar, increase the speed to high, and beat until light and airy, 5 minutes with a hand held mixer, less with a Kitchen Aid.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. (With the fabulous silicone Beater Blade, you won't need to do this. See my post My Kitchen Aid Does the Tighten Up.) Add the vanilla and fiori di sicilia (if using) then the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated.

You can do this: mix until almost all incorporated and complete the mixing by folding the rest in BY HAND. Less mixing makes for less gluten makes for a more tender crumb. (This isn't bread, sweetheart.)  

If you're making the chocolate marble pound cake, melt and cool the chocolate. This is one of the only good reasons to own a microwave oven (but stand back when you turn it on.) Remove 1 1/2 cups of the batter and in a separate bowl (the one you melted the chocolate in would be a good choice - just be sure it's large enough!), mix together, the cooled,melted chocolate and the batter.


For "plain" Cream Cheese Pound Cake: Pour the batter in the prepared pan and even out the top. Bake until golden brown on a rack in the middle of the oven, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours. (You can use prepared loaf pans or the paper loaf pans .. these don't need to be buttered - just plop the batter in them, put them on a cookie sheet and bake. They're great for 'giving'. Bake time will be less - watch them like a hawk dove.)


For Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake: If you're making one large cake or several small ones in loaf pans or paper loaf pans, the procedure is pretty much the same: First, spread the white batter on the bottom. Plop tablespoons or teaspoons of chocolate batter, depending on the size of the loaf, about an inch apart. Cover the chocolate batter with more white batter and spread white batter carefully over the chocolate batter. With a dinner knife, cut down into the loaf or tube pan and lift up the batter, doing this several times through the batter, but being careful to not fully mix the two batters together. You can make a nice Fiorentini pattern for fun!

When cake tester comes out clean (anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, depending on size of cake and your oven), place on a cake rack (if you've baked this on a cookie sheet, remove it from the sheet) and cool. If you've baked this in a tube pan or in a loaf pan, remove and cool completely. When completely cooled, wrap well and leave overnight.


This cake needs to 'rest' overnight. Trust me, it will taste much better 'tomorrow'. 


It freezes extremely well. You can keep it in the fridge too. 


If you live in New York, it will bring you some relief from snow grief.


Stay warm. 
Happy Valentine's Day.


peace and love,
jane

Tabula Rasa Bran Muffins

Happy New Year!
You're gonna ease on down the road with this fantastic bran muffin recipe.
It's time for a big bag of Bob's Red Mill Wheat Bran.  Buy it here, online, or you can buy it at Fairway Markets.  You can purchase Bob's Red Mill products directly from them at bobsredmill.com

Use their whole wheat pastry flour too.  It's reliably great.  Another terrific brand is King Arthur Flour.  Try their White Whole Wheat flour (cool).

For those of you who want to cut out the refined sugar (my friend Michael, commented that these looked great, save for the brown sugar), I've tweaked the recipe for Agave Syrup users.  Look, it's still sugar, but it's supposed to be lower glycemic and 'better' for you. At least I haven't stooped to apple juice concentrate. The substitute/variation will be noted in bold red.

Bran New Year Muffins

Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen from Nancy Silverton’s Pastries From the La Brea Bakery

2 c. unprocessed bran, toasted lightly (Bob’s Red Mill is great)

1 ½ c. organic raisins 1 3/4 cup for Agave syrup variation

½ c. toasted and chopped organic walnuts (optional) Add 1/4 c. chopped organic dried apricots

1 1/2 c. water additional 1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. for Agave syrup variation

½ cup low fat buttermilk

1 Tbsp. orange zest, finely chopped (or use 1/4 tsp. orange oil, added with vanilla to the cooked raisins)

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/ 2 c. light or dark brown sugar, firmly packed. (make certain it is fresh and moist) Omit sugar and substitute: 1/4 c. dark, raw Agave syrup

½ c. vegetable oil

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 egg, size large, room temperature

1 egg white from a large egg, room temperature

½ c. unbleached all purpose flour

¼ c. whole wheat pastry flour (or King Arthur’s “White Whole Wheat” flour)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. kosher salt

Adjust oven rack to middle and prepare muffin tins (approx.. 12-18, depending upon the size of your tins) with paper cups or with spray release (unless you’re still with the 2011 green resolution) or brush them with melted butter (the best choice).

Bran truc: Babysit your bran. After about 3 minutes at 350º F., gently turn it over or shake it around (using a jelly roll pan is a good choice) and don’t leave. It burns faster than a newborn baby on a tanning bed.

Put 1 cup of the raisins with 1 cup of water for Agave syrup variation, put an additional 1/4 cup raisins plus 2 additional Tbsp. water in a small saucepan and simmer on low heat until the water is mostly absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. It’s okay if there’s liquid left.  Cool for a few minutes, add the vanilla extract (and orange oil, if you're not using zest) and place in a blender or (better) in the bowl of a food processor with its steel blade and process until puréed.

Measure the oil and 1/4 cup dark Agave syrup in a large liquid measuring cup, add the eggs and lightly whisk together. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Pour the toasted bran into a large mixing bowl.  Add the buttermilk and remaining ½ cup of water for Agave syrup recipe, add an additional 1/4 c., bringing total to 3/4 c. of water and stir to combine. Stir in raisin purée, orange zest and brown sugar (omit sugar if using Agave syrup duh). Add the oil/egg/Agave mixture and stir to combine.

Fold in the remaining combined dry ingredients. Add remaining raisins and optional walnuts (or other nuts/dried fruit of your choice) add 1/4 c. chopped organic, dried apricots for Agave syrup variation.

Spoon into prepared tins almost to the top.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until the muffins are browned and fairly firm to the touch. 

Take care to avoid over-baking them or else you’ll be cursing that you didn’t buy that Groupon for a half off colon hydrotherapy session.

Cool for a few minutes and release.  Serve warm.

These are best the day they are baked. They freeze beautifully.

this one is for GS. thank you for making my christmas so bright.

peace and love and may all your dreams come true in the new year,

jane

Mushroom Black and White Barley Vegetable Soup

Mushroom, Black and White Barley, Vegetable Soup

Blue Heron Kitchen

This soup feeds a crowd (It yields about 4-5 quarts of soup), but here’s the good news:  if you’re cooking for yourself, it’s going to work for you. Portion it, freeze it, and when you come home after a long day and it’s been dark outside since, like 3:00 and all you can think of is another bowl of yogurt or cereal or a can of minestrone for dinner, you can eat dinner not from a can or a box.  Heating this up is fast, healthful and lends itself to variations. Throw in some whole wheat pasta or some cooked beans.  Cut up some cooked chicken sausage or add some meat, like turkey, chicken or pork. Grate some Parmesan cheese over it.  It’s fat-free, fiber-rich and like most of the soups I’ve been making, it has lots of kale.  I love kale.                                                  

I'm a stock cheater.  I use the organic soup bases called Better Than Bouillon. It’s a product from Canada that you can buy at places like Fairway markets, Whole Foods and other ‘better’ markets.  You can also order it on Amazon.  It tends to be somewhat sodium-packed.  So, you needn’t worry about adding salt to your soup.  I use less of this base than the label calls for.  I like to taste the vegetables. For this soup, I used the organic beef base.  But, you can use the organic vegetable base if you’re a vegetarian.  They used to make an organic mushroom base that was out of this world, but they stopped making it because I was probably the only person who bought it.  Of course, you can use your own stock.  But I didn’t feel like starting with beef bones and all that.  This is an alternative to Health Valley canned soup, not a suggested soup course for your annual “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!” party.

I bought black barley at Fairway.  You can probably find it at a good health food store.  It’s available at Amazon.  If you can’t find it, use regular barley.  Try Bob’s Red Mill unhulled barley.  It has more fiber. 

Equipment: A large stockpot,

Time: At least four hours for cooking

Ingredients:

3 Quarts filtered water

3 Tbsp. Better Than Bouillon Organic Beef Bouillon

¼ cup black barley

¼ cup white pearl barley, Bob’s Red Mill sells both hulled and unhulled

4 cups sliced, mixed variety fresh mushrooms

2 stalks organic celery, diced

3 organic carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 bunch of kale, chopped fine

2 small organic Yukon Gold (or other variety that aren't for baking) potatoes

1 14.5 oz. can salt free organic diced tomatoes (I used Whole Foods’ 365 brand)

Chopped, fresh parsley to taste

A few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only

Freshly ground good quality peppercorns

Procedure:

Bring water to boil and add bouillon base

Rinse barley(s) and add to boiling stock and immediately reduce to a simmer

Add all other ingredients and when soup comes to a boil, turn heat to low, cover and cook for several hours, until barley is cooked through. (The hull-less barley won’t be as soft as the hulled or 'pearl' variety.)

You may need to add some more water as it cooks.

Have some fun and throw in other vegetables you may have laying around… cauliflower, peas, parsnips, turnips, and kohlrabi.  (I don’t ever have kohlrabi around, but I like the way it looks and how it's spelled.)

Add freshly ground pepper to taste.  If you feel you need salt, go ahead, but have your blood pressure checked soon.

Peace, love and button up your overcoats,

Jane 

Pumpkin Bread 2010

As economic recovery stalls, largely due to fear and opposition to change and the pitfalls of how government can really ruin our lives, my new mantra is "use it up". I have too much.

These aren't, as my last husband used to say, the 'salad days'. But don't poo-poo the low-cost joy and healing power of fooling around with gourds.

peace and love,
jane

Pumpkin Bread

Blue Heron Kitchen

Don't let fall leave without pumpkin bread.   

This year’s updated Pumpkin Bread, like last year’s, doesn't leave that oily residue on your fingers because it has no oil. It's better that way because it uses a little butter.  And what I like about this most is that it doesn’t have that generic clove-heavy, “autumn spice” blend that guarantees to any other ingredient you might otherwise taste. It’s not cloyingly sweet; and the subtler spicing and ‘rougher’ texture renders a true quick bread.  This bread ain't no loaf.

Feel free to play around with combinations of nuts and dried fruit.  This year, I opted for dried Monterey cherries, and I added a smidge of orange oil.

I’ve used both home-cooked organic pumpkin as well as canned pumpkin. Either is great. Today, I used Whole Foods’ “365” brand. 

Never cut corners on butter. Give it the sniff test to make sure it’s fresh. You be the judge.  Here’s how I decide whether to use it or lose it: I ask myself (probably aloud): would I make plain butter cookies with this butter?  Try to find 83% fat European style butter.  Plugra (made by Hotel Bar) and Cabot’s are two American-made brands that are excellent.  If you only buy American, Land-o-Lakes is the best. Fairway markets carry the domestic 83% butters (and they’re less expensive than Land-o-Lakes, go figure).

Ingredients:

1 ¾ c. (15 oz. can) cooked pumpkin, fresh or canned

1 c. dark or light (or a combination of) brown sugars, firmly packed (what’s critical is that it’s fresh and moist)

½ c. granulated white sugar

4 oz. (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter (European style is best), room temperature

3 eggs, size large, room temperature

2 ¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour

2 ¼ c. whole wheat pastry flour (Bob’s Red Mill is a great choice and it’s available at Fairway Markets, online and through Amazon)

2 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cardamom (freshly ground is best)

½ tsp. ground nutmeg (freshly ground is best)

¾ tsp. kosher salt

1 ½ c. walnuts, toasted, cooled and chopped

½ c. dried Monterey (or other) cherries, chopped and sprinkled with 1/8 tsp. orange oil (available through King Arthur Flour and through Amazon). Or, you can soak them in a tsp. of Grand Marnier or Cointreau.

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350º F. 

Butter or spray pans with release: two medium loaf pans, several smaller loaf pans of the same capacity, or a even smaller molds (you’ll work it out) If using paper molds, (great for gift giving/impressing friends and pretending you’re a professional baker.) you don’t need to do anything but set them on a flat cookie sheet.

In a large bowl, measure flours, baking powder, spices and salt and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Set aside.

Prepare nuts and dried fruit and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars.  When light and fluffy, add eggs and mix until blended well.  Add pumpkin (it will look curdled). Add dry ingredients, all at once. Don’t over-mix (interesting historical note: from this common but easily avoidable baker's boo-boo, the colloquialism, “tough pumpkins”). 

Remove from the mixer and using a spatula, fold in nuts and dried fruit until just incorporated.

Gently spoon (really ‘drop’) batter into prepared pans. Be sure there is batter in the corners.  But don’t press, push, flatten or mess around with this batter.  Think of plopping it, like cobbler batter, into the pans and ‘working it’ as little as possible.  This isn’t a fine-crumbed quick-bread.  It’s has more of a ‘spoon bread’ personality.  It’s a coarser crumb and more toothsome, (but it won’t be ‘dry’ if you don’t over-mix or over-anything the batter).

Bake until a metal tester comes out clean and dry. Be careful not to over-bake these loaves, or you’ll yell I should just stop this and stick to teaching Für Elise because you almost choked to death. As soon as they spring back and don’t feel ‘wet’ in the middle, they’re ‘done’. And depending on the size of the forms you use, they’ll bake for anywhere from 15 minutes (mini-muffins, anyone?) to ¾ of an hour! Your molds, your oven, your judgment. (Keep a thermometer in it until you’ve made friends.)

Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before turning the breads out of their pans.  (If you use paper molds, there is no need to release them.) When completely cooled, wrap well.

Like you, these grow more fabulous with age. Try to let them rest overnight.

Wrapped well, these will keep for a week or two.  I’ll be freezing mine until our annual Faux Thanksgiving this December.

Pumpkin Bread 2010

Digestive or "Wheatmeal" Biscuits

Alternative Healthcare

(A recipe for  when healthcare reform is reversed.)

While snooping around for an authentic recipe for digestive biscuits, I learned how they got their curious name. Sometimes referred to as Wheatmeal Biscuits, these date back to the mid-19^th century and they’re probably from England. It was believed that the baking soda would fend off stomach acid as well as flatulence. Also, the fiber in the whole wheat flour and oatmeal would encourage regularity. My feeling is any cookie that has this quantity of butter isn’t screaming ‘fit for life!’ Wheat is one of the more difficult grains to digest. And, finally, be honest, have you ever farted and followed up with, “Time for a biscuit!”

I like these cookies because they’re delicious. They aren’t very sweet, they pair well with fruit, cheese, nut butters and/or jam and they’re great plain (my preference).   You should bake them regularly often. You can prepare them up to the ‘cut-out’ stage; lay them on a cookie sheet on wax paper or parchment (this way, you can layer them), freeze them, and then seal them in freezer bags.  Bake them directly from the freezer, adding a few minutes to baking time.

You can get all the grains for these biscuits in the “Bob’s Red Mill Aisle” at Fairway.  Or you can purchase these products online at Bob’s own site, or through Amazon. Buy organic when you can.  Once you begin using these products, you may not stop.  The quality is unsurpassed, and the price point is remarkably good. Buy the big bags of stuff.  Go to Bob’s site and register for sale notification. (Then pounce.)

For fun, purchase a small set of round fluted cutters. I bought mine at Sur la Table, but you can get them from Amazon - easy.

My recipe is adapted from an oat biscuit recipe from Nancy Silverton’s great book, Pastries from the La Brea Bakery. 

I liked the original recipe, but nobody else did, so these curatives were born.  

And now that we have them, we can worry less about health care reform being killed as the republicans dip into deep corporate pockets to buy back the house.

Peace, love and good health always,

jane

Digestive Biscuits

Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup, minus 4 tsp. whole wheat flour

½ cup graham flour

2 cups old-fashioned steel cut oats

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp. kosher salt

½ cup fresh and moist light brown sugar, packed (generous, if you want a sweeter biscuit)

8 oz. unsalted European style (83% butterfat) butter, cut into 1” cubes and chilled,

            frozen (If you can’t find Cabot, Plugra or President, use Land-o-Lakes)

½ cup plus 2 Tbsp. low fat buttermilk (additional may be needed to make dough biscuit come together)
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract (optional), added to buttermilk

Procedure:

In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with a steel blade, combine all dry ingredients, pulsing to incorporate. 

Add the frozen butter and pulse until the mixture is a fairly fine meal. 

Transfer to a large bowl and make a well in the center.  Pour in the buttermilk and with your hands, rotating the bowl, mix the dry ingredients into the center, tossing and rotating until incorporated.  (This is where you may need to add a little more buttermilk, a very small amount at a time, until you feel the dough will come together when turned out to be kneaded together.)

Turn out onto a large surface that is dusted with some whole wheat flour and knead JUST until the dough comes together. Too much kneading will make a tough cookie.


You can immediately roll out the dough and begin baking, but if the butter has become too soft, you should: 

Separate into two and flatten to two large discs. Wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm – at least an hour, but longer is preferred.  You can chill the dough overnight.

Preheat oven to 350º F. 

On a lightly floured, large surface, roll a manageable sized piece of dough, 1/8 inch thick.  Cut the biscuits with a 2 ¼” (smaller or larger) fluted (plain if you don’t have fluted) round cutter (or even easier, a juice glass works well). Place close together on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 12-18 minutes, depending on thickness and your oven, until lightly browned.

Yield: varies upon size of biscuit cutter and how many you scarf down before counting.

hummus bi tahini the way it haute to bi

This has been a distracting period, and I've shared fewer recipes and trucs.

For my cyberfriends who actually read (and try some of) these recipes, my knives were recently sharpened at Chelsea Market by Samurai Sharpening and I'm excited about sharing more and wringing my hands less.

This is an updated and GREATLY IMPROVED recipe.  And an added perc is that it's easier than the original. If you've made the original recipe, try it this way. You'll hate me for pushing the "publish" button the first time.

If you haven't unsubscribed or flagged Blue Heron Kitchen as spam, I hope this one will absolve me. (IMHO, this one is worth checking the expiration date on your Beano.) I humbly offer:

Hummus Bi Tahini the Way it Haute to Bi

Once you've soaked and cooked beans, you'll hate canned beans and save them for the next food drive. Your beans won't be mushy, and the liquid won't look like it's a potential breeding ground for West Nile Virus.  

My friend, Bernadette, whose brainchild is the Long Beach, NY's Farmer's Market, is an expert about things green and healthful She advised me to cook beans in Kombu (seaweed).

You can buy Kombu at your health food store or at better markets, like Fairway or Whole Foods.  You can purchase Kombu online. It has all kinds of health benefits, none of which I really know about.  I use it because it's supposed to minimize the discomfort and shame of gas.

If you can, buy organic beans. Soak the beans overnight, drain them and then throw in a five inch strip of Kombu and cook them according to the directions on the bag. When the beans are cooked, the Kombu will be all slimy and viscous.  Some people actually keep it, eat it, or use it for soup. Frankly, I think it's unappetizing and that it tastes like rubber, so I chuck compost it.

I like my hummus rough.  This recipe is for a more 'toothsome' product.  If you like yours creamy, just use the steel blade of your food processor and whip the daylights out of it.  See if I care.

Without a food processor, you'll need a food mill. It's a great kitchen tool that you'll use when you make tomato or applesauce.  It separates skin from the pulp, and your sauces won't come out like baby food.  You can also make great baby food with a food mill. I have an ancient one made in France by Mouli that one day my kids will bat it out over.

Buy organic ingredients whenever possible. They are better for several reasons.  A primary one is because they taste better. (You may disagree, but like it or not, when your taste buds have grown accustomed to ingredients with numbers attached to their name, mother nature is on vacation and your taste buds have been tampered with.)

Once you've soaked and cooked the chick peas, this is quick and easy.  When it's finished, so that the flavors can meld, let it sit in the fridge overnight (or at least several hours).  It can be made oil free (there is, however, oil and fat in the tahini).  You can also opt to add some oil upon serving.

Some suggestions: drizzle olive oil, flavored or 'hot oils' before serving, sprinkle with Hungarian sweet or Spanish smoked paprika, squirt on or mix in some Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce,  available at any Asian grocery store or on Amazon.
Add Harissa, grate in some fresh horseradish, or roasted and puréed red pepper, chopped olives, toasted pignoli nuts, oregano, toasted and ground cumin, chopped parsley, chopped cilantro, a swirl of pesto base, or popcorn (checking if you were paying attention).

Add your own serving suggestion in the "comment" suggestion!

What's great about this is that you're in the saddle.  So, hitch up your camel, start soaking your beans and have a gas!

Hummus bi Tahini

"Master Recipe"

Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chick peas, liquid discarded (cook your own - it's worth it)

1 small clove fresh garlic chopped, or passed through a garlic press 
                 (more to taste if you're a garlic freak)

4 Tbsp. tahini (more or less to taste)


1-2 Tbsp. excellent quality extra-virgin olive oil (you can omit this, but the flavor will
                be less 'rounded')

Juice from 3 large lemons (more to taste if you're a lemon head)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste*

Procedure:

Using the grater disc of your food processor, pass the chick peas and garlic down and transfer to a medium sized mixing bowl.  Be careful to scrape everything into the bowl.

Add remaining ingredients (except salt and pepper) to the bowl, and using a potato masher, mash to desired consistency, adjusting quantities to taste.

Add salt and pepper, to taste (*Kitchen Truc: If you're salt-restricted, the addition of lemon juice is an excellent alternative.)

Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Serve with fresh pita, pita chips (brush pita with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt and herbs, toast and cut into wedges), raw vegetables, on a sandwich with lettuce and tomato and other vegetables, or add herbs, olive oil and lemon juice and make a salad dressing. 

Yield: 1 1/2 pints 

peace,

jane