Cookbook Review: Recipe Rehab

I have been given the awesome opportunity to review a cookbook...from an actual TV show...this week!  

 As someone without TV, I'd never seen the show Recipe Rehab, so I really went into this with no preconceived notions.  I quickly gathered that the premise of the show is to take not-so-healthy family style recipes and "rehab" them to be a healthier meal option. It started on YouTube, and is now showing on most ABC stations on Saturday mornings.  On each episode, they take one family recipe submitted by an audience member and two accomplished chefs compete in an effort to recreate the best healthier version of the dish. Recipe Rehab (the book) is the first book that has been written in conjunction with the show.  The 175-page cookbook includes 80 recipes and lots of color photos.  There are recipes for every meal of the day and at first glance the book includes no recipes that sound unappetizing (I don't always feel this way when scanning a cookbook) though I wasn't drooling over it either.  Until I got to the Creamy Kale and Artichoke Dip with Garlic Toasts, but I'll get to that.  Most of the book's recipes are about a page long and while they're family-style dishes that you may serve at home, some are also kind of fancied up for the foodies.  The book also includes text boxes of "chef tips," which are always nice in a cookbook.  

These are my photos, not the book's, of the recipes I tested.  Their photos are better!

I wrote this article for the Daring Kitchen website.  Hop on over to read more!

Low Budget, Low Maintenance Food Photography

I'll get down to food photography tips and tricks, but first let me rattle on about why I have to think so hard about this subject, if you will.  I'm not exactly poor and lazy (maybe a little of each) but I surely don't have a lot of money or time to burn.  Or space, for that matter.  I live in a small house so my "studio" is a little corner of the basement between the camping gear and the litter boxes.  Another little hindrance of mine is location.  For much of a Duluth winter, the sun shines only after I leave for work and sets before I get home.  Shooting in natural light isn't always an option for me.  On top of all of this, I have a pretty fierce streak of perfectionism that keeps me from letting things be.  A very good example being my participation in the Daring Bakers club.  I started a blog with the intent of it being specifically for posting my DB challenge results and I didn't even own a camera.  My husband took the photos as I pretended not to wring my hands over his shoulder fretting about my "vision."  It's been a year and a half and I now own a camera, I post weekly, I am constantly tweaking things on my blog, and I secretly do care if I make it onto a traffic-driving site like foodgawker.  People want to take better photos for many reasons, and I alone have many reasons.  Attracting blog traffic and getting recognition is the least important to me, but does make the work I put into it more rewarding.  Producing a visual art that I am proud of is very important to me, as I want the experience of looking at my blog to be a pleasant one.   And most importantly, I love the process.  Love it!

Maybe you share some of these feelings and want to take better photos.  Maybe not, and if that's the case, more power to you!  I am by no means an expert, or even really that good at food photography, relatively...Have you seen those elaborate studio shots on foodgawker?  I can't accomplish that if I try.  But I've learned a few super simple things that have helped me to make a better blog.

I wrote this article for the Daring Kitchen website...Click here to hop over and read on....

Eclectic Daisy Chain Bracelet

I remember making daisy chain jewelry as a kid.  A really young kid, actually, because it's a pretty easy stitch.  I always used seed beads and made all the daisies exactly the same and that's what you usually see when you find a piece of daisy chain jewelry.  I wondered if a grown-up version of this kid's craft would come out looking cheesy or beautiful.  I am loving this bracelet...and would definitely go with beautiful!

Here's how the daisy chain stitch is done:

Look at me go!  I threaded through the wrong bead on step 4!  Follow my words below, not my illustration.  Sorry about that!

Thread 8 beads on a string [1].  Make a loop by passing down through the first bead [2].  Add a center bead.  Thread down through the 5th bead (directly opposite of the 1st bead) [3].  Add the first bead of next daisy.  Loop through down through the 5th bead of the previous daisy and up through bead 1 of the next (the one you just added) to reinforce it.  Add seven beads and loop the first.  Add a center bead and pass through the bead directly opposite the first [4].  Repeat.  Not that it matters a huge deal, but if you follow the arrows on the illustration regarding the direction you are passing the thread (down through or up through) you will get a nice and even and not-so-crooked appearance.

To get started, you will need these beading essentials:

Beads of various color and appearance. I kept my color palette to a minimum...black, creams, browns, a little touch of green, pink and blue. I wanted the bracelet to look sophisticated and that's an easy way to do it.  I also wanted the bracelet to look eclectic, so I used a wide variety of materials and textures...pearls, crystals, stones and metals.

I use little tins to hold beads, needles, spacers and crimps. Spacers help to stabilize a double stranded piece of jewelry and are threaded on just as a single bead would be. Crimps are tiny metal tubes that you use to reinforce a knot at the clasp/end of the bracelet. Use a needle nosed pliers to smash the tube after dabbing the knot with clear nail polish. (I use my nail polish so little, it's aged to an amber color, but still works and dries clear.)

Good, strong beading thread is essential when making jewelry. Or more so, when wearing the jewelry, as regular thread will break easily. It's also waxed to prevent knots while you're working. Little manicure scissors are handy for snipping threads close to the knot at the clasp.
 

 To make this bracelet:

Measure how long you want the bracelet to be and plan how far apart your spacers will be.  Draw it out, if you like, so you can hold the bracelet up to it as you work.  Thread a thin needle onto a very long piece of beading thread (about double the length of your arm).  Tie one side of a clasp to the end of your thread.  Make the top row of your daisy chain, adding a spacer when needed.  Loop through the other end of your clasp and make another daisy chain going back the other way.  Be sure to thread through each spacer when you get to that point.

Pay attention to balancing your colors and the size of your flowers.  Round beads work best in the center of the flower, with the center bead being slightly larger than the petal beads.

When you get back to the beginning clasp, add a crimp to your thread before passing through the clasp a couple times.  Pass your needle thread and the end thread back through the crimp and tie a good knot.  Dab the knot with clear nail polish and use a pliers to smash the crimp, over the knot if you can, or just behind it to secure the thread ends.  Once it is dry, clip off extra thread.

Hopefully that is clear...sort of?  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section and I'll help if I can!

Enjoy your day!

Almond Glazed Orange Chamomile Savarin

Savarin (pronounced "saw-vaw-raw"): a rich yeast cake baked in a ring mold and soaked in a flavored syrup, typically with rum or kirsch. 


April '13 Daring Baker's Challenge:  Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling. We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes! 

This pretty dessert bread involves several components and eventually comes together into a rich, moist, sweet treat suitable for a holiday party.  I thought "yikes!" at the amount of time involved, but decided to spread the process over a few days and it was really no sweat!

 

Day 1 was all about making the bread.  I did this by hand, which was a trip because it's one of those really wet doughs that calls for lots of egg and butter and is mixed for ages.  There are several rise times and once the bread has baked, it's best left sitting out to dry for a day or two so the bread will better soak up the flavored syrup you'll be drenching it in.

 
On Day 1, I also made the orange chamomile syrup so it would be cooled and ready to pour over the bread the next day.

Day 2 was the easiest.  After soaking the cake in syrup, I mixed up an almond honey glaze for the cake and prepared an orange fluff filling.

This filling is based on a frosting recipe that I use a lot.  The texture is so perfect for so many things and I can never quite describe it.  Basically, the fact that it is made using a cooked milk and flour roux causes it to have a sturdy creamy texture.  Like a heavy whipped cream that you can almost chew, that won't deflate or weep.  It's amazing.









Day 3 involved assembly, which I anticipated would be a chore.  Not so, it turned out.  I sectioned some oranges in no time, toasted up some almonds and threw it together just in time for dinner.






 
Of course, I had no time to make a real dinner, so we basically ate an Almond Glazed Orange Chamomile Savarin for supper this night.  No complaints here!

Here, you will find chronological step by step instructions that explain how I made my Savarin by hand over the course of 3 days.  I chose the hand method because I prefer it* but you may use a paddle attachment on a mixer on low if you prefer.  You will see a note in the bread recipe at the only point that there may be a difference in mixing time.  You may also cram all steps into one or two days if you like, but the flavor is said to be better if you allow the bread to dry before soaking and allow the soak to rest a day before assembling.

*Admittedly, I achieved 2 blisters on my hands with this method.  If I had another shot, I would still use the hand method but I would wear gloves on the 15 minute mix.  Maybe I'm crazy...

Almond Glazed Orange Chamomile Savarin
Serves 10.  To see Natalia's original DB post with lots of photos, click here!  (In her recipe, you will learn to make a Peach Soaked Savarin filled with Vanilla Chantilly.)

Day 1
Making the Bread

About 2½ cups bread flour, divided
2 tablespoons water, lukewarm
1½ teaspoons active dry yeast
6 large eggs at room temperature, separated
1 tablespoon orange zest (from one large orange)
4 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature and sliced into about 6 pieces
¼ cup butter for greasing the work surface, hands, putty knife/bench scraper & baking pan

In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons water and 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast.  Cover and let rise for one hour.

After about 30 minutes, place 6 egg whites in a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon, gradually adding 2 cups of flour until you have a smooth, soft and very sticky dough.  Cover and let rest for about 30 minutes.

Add the bubbly yeast mix and orange zest to the egg white dough along with a tablespoon of flour and start mixing with a spoon in a steady circular motion.  When it starts to wad up around the spoon, add one yolk and stir.  As soon as the yolk is mostly absorbed into the dough (less than half a minute of stirring), add one tablespoon of flour.

Add the second yolk and the sugar and as soon as the yolk is absorbed, add one tablespoon of flour.  Add the third yolk and the salt and as soon as the yolk is absorbed, add one tablespoon of flour.

Add the remaining 3 yolks, one at the time, each with a tablespoon of flour.  Each addition of egg and flour only takes about a half minute of stirring.

Continue stirring the dough in a steady circular motion until the dough until is smooth and elastic and sticks to the sides of the bowl in threads. This steps takes a few minutes.  

Add the pats of butter and mix, squashing the butter on the sides of the bowl to help smooth it out.  As soon as the butter is mostly absorbed, add the last tablespoon of flour.

Continue mixing vigorously for 15 to 20 minutes or until the dough is smooth and sticking to the sides of the bowl in thin sheets (or passing the "window pane test").  If you are using a mixer with a paddle attachment, it will take about 10 minutes to develop the proper amount of gluten.  By hand, it will take about 15, or more if you take a lot of breaks.  Your arms will get tired.  I sat in a chair holding the mixing bowl between my knees, switching hands every so often, moving clockwise with the left and counter clockwise with the right.

Cover the dough and let rise until it has tripled in volume (2 to 3 hours).

Prepare a 10-inch bundt baking pan (mine is about 10 inches by 3.5 inches high) by buttering it very carefully, yet not leaving excess clumps of butter on it.  Grease a wide putty knife (or bench scraper), your hands and your work surface with butter. Place the dough on the greased surface and fold over on itself in all directions using the putty knife 10 to 15 times. Turn your bowl upside down over it to rest for 15 minutes on the counter.

Turn the dough upside down and with the help of your buttered putty knife shape your dough in a rounded bun.  Make a hole in the center with your thumb and put it in the prepared pan.  This may not be so easy, but don't worry.  Once it's in the pan, gently shape it evenly.  Cover and let rise until the dough has doubled in size (about 1 hour).  

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Let the Savarin cool, then remove carefully from the pan.  Slice a couple inches off the rounded top of the bread so the bread will sit flat on a serving platter.  Set the bread on a cooling rack out in the open to let it dry out (so it will lose some of its moisture that will be replaced by the syrup) overnight or up to 2 days.  I left mine sit overnight uncovered, then covered it in a towel for one more half-day.

Making the Orange Chamomile Syrup

2 cups boiling water

2 bags or 2 teaspoons chamomile tea
2 cups orange juice
1 1/3 cups sugar

1/3 cup honey

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan, then remove from heat.  Add tea bags to the water and let steep for 7 minutes.  Squeeze the tea bags to release flavor and discard.  Add juice, sugar and honey to the tea and return to a boil on the stovetop.  Simmer for 5 minutes, then cool completely.

Day 2
Soaking the Bread

To immerse the Savarin in syrup, place it in the mold you baked it in and slowly pour the Orange Chamomile Syrup over the bread. Let the Savarin soak for about 5 minutes, then carefully move it to a cooling rack positioned over a sheet pan, sliced side down, to let the excess syrup drip off.  Leave the soaked bread sit overnight, covered in plastic wrap, to gain flavor.

Preparing the Orange Fluff Filling

1/2 cup milk

2 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup sugar (not powdered)

4 tablespoons butter (room temp)

3 ounces cream cheese (room temp)

Whisk milk and flour together in a saucepan over medium heat.  Once it warms, whisk vigorously until it is so thick you struggle to get your whisk through it. Put the pan of paste in a bowl of ice water to cool it completely. Once cool, whisk in the vanilla, almond and orange extracts.

Using an electric mixer on high, mix together the butter and sugar for one minute. Add cream cheese and mix for one minute. Add the cooled milk paste and mix for 3 minutes.  Refrigerate until ready to use.
 

Making the Almond Glaze

4 tablespoons almond paste

1/4 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons honey

Process in a mini food processor until smooth, or whisk until smooth.  If whisking, the paste may be difficult to smooth out unless you smash clumps with the back of spoon, but it will eventually come together. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Day 3

Sectioning the Oranges

Cut the top of an orange off so that the orange flesh is visible. Cut off the same amount from the bottom so that the orange sits flat.  Cut the outer peel and pith off from top to bottom, curving the knife to the shape of the orange. Repeat all the way around until all you have left is a completely orange ball.  Next, slice out the flesh from in between the membranes, placing your knife as close to the white membrane as possible, and slicing to the core. If you follow the membrane, you’ll be cutting out perfect little fleshy wedges of orange.

Toasting the Almonds

Place about 1/2 cup sliced almonds in a single layer in a skillet over medium heat.  Heat for several minutes, tossing and shaking the pan here and there, until you can see the nuts browning and smell them toasting.  Watch them very closely, as they will go from perfectly toasted to burnt rather quickly.  Remove from the pan to cool before use.

Assembling the Savarin

Place the syrup soaked Savarin, cut side down, on a serving platter.  Brush the Savarin with Almond Glaze.  Fill the hollow center of the bread with Orange Fluff Filling.  Decorate the top of the bread with orange sections and toasted almond slices, as desired.  Slice and serve in wedges with a bit of filling and toppings on the plate.

Enjoy!
 

Run Smelt Run 2013!

  You may recall Run Smelt Run 2012, which was the first annual second line parade event in Duluth, courtesy of the Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe and the Brass Messengers.  Our second annual smelt parade was definitely colder...a little wetter, kind of slushy and windy, and in spite of it all...even more festive and awesome than last year!  SO much fun.  If you're looking into whether you want to brave next year's event, yes, you do!

 

 The parade began under the Arial Lift Bridge, where we were greeted by Neptune before we heartily booed out Old Man Winter and watched the Smelt Queen bash him with her tail.  Parade goers festively donned their silver flare, much of which was costuming created through a series of workshops hosted by the Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe throughout the last month.

The procession moved up Duluth's shore, led by the Brass Messengers, a Twin Cities band that is so much fun, we bought both of their CDs at last year's event.

 

The night had just begun by the time we arrived at the Zeitgeist Cafe for a little street dancing, playful human puppet plays...and lots of smelt, both in the form of a delicious smelt fry and the silver fish puppets that we used as just another excuse to dance.  

And as I write this, it snows...Think warm thoughts for us and we hope to see you at next year's event!

Neapolitan Swirl Cookies

My littlest girl, Sophie, is always begging to cook together.  Perhaps less for the act of cooking than for the together time, which is probably the most treasured thing in Sophie's whole wide world.  Today, Sophie had a fun day of cookie making and I followed along with my camera.  She made these Neapolitan Swirl Cookies all by herself, adapting recipes from a book called Mom and Me Cookbook.

The cookies start with a versatile dough,  before you go on to flavor and shape the dough in swirls and whirls.

It turned out we only had one stick of softened butter at go time, so the recipe had to be halved...which involved using half an egg.  Sophie beat an egg and measured out half of the liquid amount.  Very clever!  She also got in some practice "eye balling" amounts of other ingredients since I don't use or even own all sizes of measuring cups and spoons.

 This photo depicts Sophie's version of "mix until smooth."  I'm no stickler when it comes to extreme accuracy, but I started to wonder just what might come out of the oven when all was said and done!

 

Once Sophie's dough was together, she flavored one-third with cocoa powder and the other with strawberry jam.  Like a pro, she cut equal sized squares, stacked them and rolled them neatly before slicing into perfect little spirals.  I was really impressed with Sophie's orderliness today!  I think she'd make a great pastry chef!  Of course I won't tell her that because that would likely lead to anything but.  (I guess I've learned a few things with her older sister!)

Sophie is the kind of kid that's basically always dancing and talking and making up songs.  And she makes funny faces.  She's hilarious.

 
And here we have her works of art!  I was thoroughly impressed with these cookies.  The flavor was great and the texture reminded me of store-bought Lorna Doones.  Yum!













Neapolitan Swirl Cookies
Adapted from Annabel Karmel's Mom and Me Cookbook.  Makes one dozen.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 egg (1 1/2 tablespoons of liquid beaten egg)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon strawberry jam
Red food coloring (optional)
1/2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth.  Add flour and salt and stir together just until combined.  Do not over mix.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Divide dough in 3 equal parts.  Knead cocoa powder into one part.  Knead strawberry jam and a few drops of red coloring into the other part.  Add sprinkles of flour to help dry up the strawberry dough as it gets super sticky from the added liquid in the jam.  Use a wide putty knife or bench knife to help pick up dough, mix dough, and clean the counter top.  Wrap plain dough, chocolate dough and strawberry dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Prepare a baking sheet by lightly buttering it and preheat your oven to 350F.

Roll out each dough on a lightly floured surface about 1/8 inch thick and cut into an equal sized square or rectangle with your putty knife.  Stack chocolate, strawberry and vanilla doughs on top of each other and trim in a neat square or rectangle.  Roll up the dough in a tight spiral.  Slice into disks 1/4 inch thick and place on your baking sheet, about an inch apart.  Use scraps of dough pressed together in random pieces to create marbled swirl cookies.  Form into a log, slice and bake as you do the others.

Bake cookies for 15 minutes or until golden brown on the bottoms.  Cool on wire racks and serve with cold milk.

Enjoy!

Thrift Store Home Project: Children's Book Illustrations as Wall Art

I could happily write a series of thrift store home projects, or a whole blog of them if I really got down to it. My husband and I make a hobby of decorating and redecorating our home.  It's easy to do when you're constantly compelled to buy beautiful things and need a place to put them.  Given that our purchases cost us so little, we donate and collect from thrift stores on a steady cycle, all the while rearranging and redecorating at home.  One of my favorite things to collect is old books, especially old children's books...always with the thought that I may use them for an art project some day.  This week we did just that!

I am especially loving these illustrated English nursery rhyme books by Kate Greenaway.  Steve actually found these in a garbage pile at an elementary school!   I love the balance between playfulness and romanticism and sophistication in these books.  The aesthetic of her drawings blends right in with a lot of the things we currently have displayed on our walls and shelves.
 

For this week's framed illustration project, we used many recycled frames that we collected from free bins and thrift stores over time.  Once we had a proper amount of frames to create several groupings of art, we began poring through our collected children's books to find our favorites.  We took most of the pictures from the Greenaway books for this grouping below. 

We also grouped together some darker images by James Daugherty, Maurice Sendak and Aubrey Beardsley (who, by the way, is not creating work for children in most cases).  These drawings were grouped with other similar pieces from books such as the Wind in the Willows and a Children's Illustrated Dictionary.







Notes:
When you are shopping for frames, consider buying a piece of framed art just for the frame.  Often an undesirable wall hanging is priced super cheap though it's frame may be perfect for your project.

Did you have a favorite book as a child with images that come to mind?  You will likely be able to find a copy of the book, used and dirt cheap, through an online bookseller.  I have multiple copies of Little Bear, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, so I feel free to slice one up when I have a use for it.

Remove individual pages from a book with an exacto knife, then trim all edges evenly with a sliding or rotary paper cutter.

Some of the frames that we had collected came with matting that we could reuse.   I also used black card stock and white onion paper for backing.  The onion paper is actually vintage typewriter paper.  I bought a big box of it years ago and I use it very sparingly (hoping it'll last my lifetime!).  Double stick tape also comes in very handy when matting and framing.

Be prepared with a staple gun or some picture hangers to attach to your frames.  Often they are not equipped with a hanging device that suits the orientation at which you want to hang the frame (vertical/horizontal).

To hang collages on the wall of many little framed pieces, trace each frame onto a sheet of paper and cut the paper to size.  Using a little piece of tape, loosely attach the papers to the wall in configuration, moving things around as desired, until you've got the arrangement planned to your liking.  Leave the papers up and replace them with the art pieces one at a time.  Perfection!

Enjoy!