Holiday Swirl Cookies

Hello, world!  Did you miss me?  I just realized the other day that I haven't posted here since the end of September!  I've been cooking, but I just haven't had time to photograph or write about my food.  I don't really know what happened.  One day it was September and the next...poof!...it was December.  I'm hoping to get back to blogging seriously after the new year, but until then, I'd like to share a couple of links to recipes that I made at home recently.  The first were these deliciously light swirl cookies.  They take a little time and attention, but they are worth it.  This is a basic sable cookie (a not-overly-sweet French sugar cookie) that is crisp, light and as my husband puts it, "ethereal."  Thanks to Sprinkle Bakes for this holiday go-to cookie!

**I made a couple of slight changes to the recipe.  Instead of using red food coloring and strawberry flavoring, I used green food coloring and peppermint extract.  :-)  I also didn't have any cake flour, so I used all-purpose flour minus four tablespoons and added four tablespoons of corn starch.

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Double Chocolate Snowball Cookies [International Blogger Cookie Exchange]

Last year I participated in the first annual International Blogger Cookie Exchange hosted by Lori at Fake Food Free and Andrea of Food Embrace and loved it so much that I put my name in the hat to participate again.  Instead of actually sending the cookies we make to each other, we send each other recipes to try at home and eat ourselves!  I was delighted to find out that my recipe was coming from fellow Kentucky Food Blogger Tammi from Picture Perfect Cooking.  She sent me the recipe for Double Chocolate Snowball Cookies...and my entire family LOVED them!  These are great cookies to make with kids--easy, but they get to get their hands dirty while rolling the dough around the chocolate chips.  My daughter helped make these, but as you can see in the photo above, it was my son who tried to sneak a bite or two!

I made the recipe as instructed for half of the batch.  The second half, I divided into two parts and tried different fillings.  I had a craving for caramel, so my original idea was to stuff a caramel into each cookie, but my daughter begged to create her own cookie...how could I say no?!  I cut caramel squares into quarters and placed two quarters into each of my cookies.  My daughter wanted to play with hers, so put one quarter of a caramel and two chocolate chips into hers.  Her version won hands down!  The all-caramel cookies leaked caramel all over the pan and came out flat, while hers looked just like the original version.  My husband described my daughter's cookies as tasting just like a candy bar.  I'll definitely be making this again and am excited to try out new fillings: miniature candy bars, peppermint chips...the possibilities are endless!

Double Chocolate Snowball Cookies
Adapted slightly from Picture Perfect Cooking

Recipe Notes: This is the original version of the recipe, but feel free to play around with the fillings and possibly even the dough flavors.  Try substituting other extracts for the vanilla and see what happens!

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup nuts, crushed or chopped (I used hazelnuts.)
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Powdered Sugar

In a large bowl, mix the butter, sugar and flour until light and fluffy.  Stir in the flour, cocoa and nuts.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and flatten into a disk.  Chill for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Unwrap the dough and cut it into about 24 even pieces.  Flatten each piece into a circle and place three chocolate chips into the middle.  Shape into a ball, tucking the chocolate chips inside.  Place on the parchment paper and bake for 18-20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the sheet or until you can remove the cookies to a cooking rack without them falling apart.  Once they've cooled a little more, roll in powdered sugar.

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A Moroccan Easter Feast: Lamb and Fennel Tagine

A couple of weeks before my birthday in March, I told my husband that I was on the lookout for a tagine.  And not just any tagine, but a traditionally decorated clay tagine.  He replied, "Really?" And I went on to explain that perhaps I would start a clay vessel collection.  I already have a cazuela from Spain and a baeckoeffe turine from France.  I thought the next addition should be a tagine.  Lo and behold, guess what I got for my birthday--the beautiful tagine in these photos!  And the funny part is that he had already ordered it before I mentioned I wanted one.  He's quite a husband!  :-)

The beautiful Moroccan tagine

I hadn't had time to make anything in it, but we thought that Easter would be the perfect time to test it out.  And let me tell you, this little clay vessel can cook a mean stew.  The lamb practically melted in our mouths.  According to the Moroccan cookbook that my husband also gave me, you can create a tagine (which also can mean the stew) in a dutch oven or pot with a heavy lid, but dutch ovens can't beat a traditional tagine's beauty--it brought a certain elegance to our table that is often missing with a four year old and an 11 month old.

I served this tagine with a traditional bed of couscous and some Moroccan carrots on the side.  (I'll post about these later this week.)  This is definitely a time consuming, if simple, dish to make, so plan accordingly--but I'll be looking for every excuse I can to use this special birthday gift!

Lamb and Fennel Tagine
Adapted from Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco
Serves 6-8 easily

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of saffron
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 1/2 to 3 pounds lamb shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks and trimmed of excess fat

1 clove garlic, smashed1/4 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
4 small fennel bulbs
1 preserved lemon, or one lemon plus 1 Tbl olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
1/8 cup lemon juice

In the base of a tagine or a dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  (If using a tagine, make sure to use a diffuser.)  Saute the onions until translucent.  Add the salt, pepper, ginger, saffron and turmeric and stir for one minute.  Add the lamb, garlic, cilantro and one cup of water and stir well.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer over medium to low heat (keep at just a simmer) for 1 1/2 hours.  Stir every so often and add water if necessary.

While the lamb is cooking, prepare the lemons if you do not have preserved lemon.  Slice the lemon into thin rounds.  Heat about one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick skillet.  Add the lemon slices and one teaspoon each of salt and sugar.  Cook, stirring often, until the lemons soften and start to brown, about 20 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside.  (If using preserved a preserved lemon, quarter the lemon.)

Trim the tops off of the fennel bulbs and quarter them lengthwise.  Cut into 1-2 inch pieces.  Add to the lamb after it has cooked 1 1/2 hours.  Cook, covered, for 10 minutes.  Add the lemons, olives and lemon juice and stir well.  Cook, covered, for another 10 minutes or until the fennel is tender.  Taste and add salt or pepper to taste.

Serve in the tagine or in a large bowl with couscous.  Serve hot.

Although my 11 month old doesn't understand the concept of an elegant Easter dinner, he sure did enjoy it!

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Pub Food: Bangers and Mash

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day this week, I'd like to share one of my favorite pub foods: bangers and mash. I've traveled several times to England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, and it never fails that I eat this dish every time I go. Basically just sausages with mashed potatoes and a rich gravy, it's always filling and warming on those chilly, wet days on the Isles. I never really thought to make them at home until I ran across the Gastronomer's Guide's version. I adapted this recipe slightly and used Marksbury Farm's fresh bratwurst sausages--it was definitely a hit in my household and definitely easy to make on a cold, wet weekday in Kentucky!

I'm also entering this into The Daily Spud's Paddy's Day Food Parade--go check out the roundup of other Irish-related food on St. Patrick's Day!

Bangers and Mash
adapted from Gastronomer's Guide
Serves 4

For the mash:
2 lbs. of yellow potatoes (Yukon Gold, etc.), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2-4 Tbl butter
1/2-1 cup heavy cream (You can substitute milk or half and half here if you'd like.)
Salt and pepper to taste

For the bangers:
4-8 bratwurst sausages (depending on size of sausage and appetite of the eaters)
1 Tbl olive oil

For the gravy:
1 Tbl olive oil
2 large shallots, minced
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups beef broth, preferably homemade, but if store-bought, get the low-sodium.
1/4 tsp ground dried thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 Tbl butter
1 Tbl flour
Salt and pepper to taste

To make the mashed potatoes, place the cubed potatoes in cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and put them back into the pot. Add 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of the cream and a little salt and pepper. Mash with a hand masher. Add more cream if the potatoes seem dry. Mash until desired consistency. (I like them a little lumpy, but feel free to mash all of those lumps out!) Taste, and add salt, pepper, or butter to taste.

While the potatoes cook, make the sausages. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan and sear the sausages until browned on all sides. Remove the sausages to a plate.

To make the gravy, add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan if there isn't much left from searing the sausages. Add the shallots, and cook, stirring often until they are translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add the wine and scrape off the bits left on the bottom of the pan. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the sausages back into the pan, turn down the heat, and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until the sausages are cooked through, turning once or twice if the sausages aren't completely covered by liquid.

When the sausages are done, remove them to a plate. Increase the heat on the pan and reduce the sauce by about one third. Mix the butter and the flour in a bowl with a fork until smooth. Add to the sauce to thicken, whisking constantly. Continue to cook for a few minutes until it reaches your desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Return the sausages to the pan to rewarm.

Serve the sausages and gravy over the mashed potatoes.

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Tartines, or Fancy Sandwiches

Before I tell you about these tantalizing tartines, I wanted to let you know to keep an eye out later this week for a giveaway! Yes, I'm hosting my first giveaway--yahoo! CSN Stores approached me earlier this week and offered me to review a product or give something to you, and although I'd love to add a new item to my kitchen, I'm going to pass the luck on to you, my loyal readers! CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find anything you need whether it be office desks, fitness equipment, or even awesome cookware! I'll tell you more about it soon, but I wanted to give you a head's up. :-)

On to the tartines! I was introduced to lovely tartines when I lived in France. The French have such a fancy name that rolls off the tongue and elicits images of elegant food. Really, they're just open-faced sandwiches, but the French do it with such flair. Open-faced sandwiches in the U.S., at least in my experience, are often piled high with meat and smothered in gravy or sauce. Not so in France--they are delicate sandwiches, usually made with simple ingredients that meld together perfectly.

On Valentine's Day we recreated our favorite tartines from one of our favorite restaurants in Strasbourg, L'Épicerie. It is located such a quaint little space where you really get to know your neighbors (or at least their elbows!) and is combined with affordable (which is hard to find in Europe!) and delicious fare. My daughter would always order the smoked salmon while I would order the goat cheese tartine. Ahhhh...the memories!

These sandwiches are great as a meal if paired with a salad or would be great cut up into bite-sized pieces and served as an hors d'oeuvre. Feel free to be creative with your toppings--the French certainly would!

Smoked Salmon Tartine with Dill, Capers and Crème Fraiche


1 slice of rustic bread, preferably a boule-shaped loaf (I used homemade wheat.)
Crème fraiche
1 slice of smoked salmon
1 tsp fresh dill, chopped
1 tsp capers, rinsed

Spread a little bit of crème fraiche onto the bread. (A little goes a long way.) Lay the salmon on the bread and sprinkle with the dill and capers. Enjoy!


Goat Cheese Tartine with Honey and Almonds

1 slice of rustic bread, preferably a boule-shaped loaf (I used homemade wheat.)
1-2 Tbl goat cheese
1 tsp honey (or more to taste)
1 tsp sliced toasted almonds (or more to taste)

Spread the goat cheese onto the bread. Drizzle the honey over the goat cheese and sprinkle with almonds. Enjoy!

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Valentine's Day Chocolate

Okay, I've succumbed to the Valentine's posts that have been floating around the blogosphere. I just can't resist, not because it's Valentine's Day, but because it's one of the days of the year that the whole family cooks together. It all started when my husband (then boyfriend) cooked dinner for me on our first Valentine's Day together. It's been a tradition since then to choose something different, difficult or fun to cook together. Last year, we included our daughter in the tradition when we made sushi together, and this year we decided to recreate a favorite meal at a Strasbourg restaurant when we lived there a couple of years ago. (More on the rest of the meal to come!)

Today, though, I'd like to focus on our very simple dessert--chocolate! I ran across a "recipe" from Jacques Torres in this month's Food & Wine and thought it would be perfect for the hectic Valentine's Day we were expecting. My daughter and I made the chocolate the day before, and it took all of about 30 minutes (10 of which were hands on). My daughter loved the idea of recreating chocolate, and we all loved eating it. I think this will be my go-to quick dessert when required to bring something sweet to a party, although I might play with the additions a little. (I've been dreaming of orange zest, pumpkin and sunflower seeds ever since we ate this last night!)

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Bark with Roasted Almonds and Seeds
Recipe by Jacques Torres from Food & Wine

1 lb. dark chocolate, finely chopped (60-70% cacao)--I used 70%.
1 1/4 cups roasted whole almonds
3/4 cup shelled salted roasted pumpkin seeds and shelled sunflower seeds (combined)

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Add a little water to a pot and bring to a simmer. Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl that is big enough not to fall into the pot and place over the simmering water. (Make sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.) Heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is about 2/3 melted. Remove the bowl from the pot and stir the chocolate until it is completely melted. (At this point, you're supposed to use a candy thermometer to get the chocolate to 90 degrees, but I don't have one, so I just stirred until completely melted and not too hot.) If the chocolate won't melt completely, return to the pot until it's melted. Make sure not to overheat it, though.

Stir the almonds and the seeds into the chocolate and pour the chocolate onto the parchment paper. Spread to about 1/2 inch making sure the nuts are completely covered in chocolate. Refrigerate for 10-20 minutes or until the chocolate has hardened. Invert the chocolate onto a work surface and break into pieces.

The chocolate can be stored in an airtight container or bag at cool room temperature for up to 10 days.

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Easter Dinner--Lamb Chops and an Assortment of Veggies

I always say that one of my favorite things about being an adult is that I can eat dessert before dinner (or just have dessert for dinner, for that matter!) I have apparently extended that rule to blogging as well. Although dessert was my favorite part of Easter dinner, the rest of dinner wasn't so shabby either. :-)

We started by deciding to cook some lamb chops. My husband loves lamb, but I've learned from my travels around the world that lamb does not taste the same everywhere. I don't think that I've ever had lamb in the U.S. that I've really, really liked. I don't know what it is about the taste, but there's a strange aftertaste for me with American lamb. I didn't even know I liked lamb until I ate some in Australia, and realized that lamb raised in different places can have different tastes (duh!). So, we decided to try some French lamb--which again is much tastier than American lamb. Maybe I'll have to figure out a way to import lamb once we get back to the States in July. ;-)


I didn't really use a recipe per se, just let the lamb marinate for a couple of hours in a mixture of chopped garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper and just enough olive oil to make the herb mix wet. I pressed that mixture into the chops and let them sit in the fridge. About a half hour before I was going to cook them, I took them out to bring them to room temperature. Then I seared them for a couple of minutes on each side.


I also made a balsamic reduction with some rosemary and peppercorns in a separate saucepan, and then when the lamb chops were done, I poured the reduction into the chop pan, swished it around a couple of times and then removed it from the pan. It was nice and thick, and went well with the lamb. My husband gave the lamb chops two thumbs up...I don't think I heard him say a word, except for "Are you done with that?", until he finished them off!

We also had some garlicky green beans and white asparagus with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette. I make the green beans often as a side dish--just boil some fresh green beans for a minute in a pan, remove them, and drain the water. Add a little olive oil and butter to the pan, add some chopped garlic, and once it starts to soften, toss with the green beans and season with salt and pepper.


And finally, I like white asparagus, but I'm not sure I would use the Dijon vinaigrette again. I wanted a more hearty flavor with it--maybe something more buttery than biting? But they are beautiful right now, aren't they?


We missed being with family for the holiday, but all in all it was a nice little dinner for just the three of us.

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Easter Dessert--Strawberry Shortcake

Since we're in France, we celebrated Easter on our own--just the three of us (me, hubby and our daughter). We wanted to make something special, but the typical big-crowd meals just wouldn't work. We decided to make some lamb chops (which I had never made before...I'm not a big fan of American lamb), roasted potatoes, green beans, and white asparagus. All of this was tasty, but the dessert was the coup d'etat for me! I'll post the recipes for the other dishes worth making again soon, but you should go out and make this strawberry shortcake...now! :-)


I'm not usually a fan of shortcake because it's usually that store-bought squishy stuff or a really dry and tasteless biscuit that can't hold up to the strawberry juices. This shortcake, though, was tender, buttery, and moist, but able to stay firm--the perfect vehicle for the yummy strawberries and vanilla whipped cream. (I also usually make my strawberries differently--a little sugar and a dash of balsamic vinegar--but I decided to follow the recipe I found at Ezra Pound Cake, and I'm sure glad I did. The balsamic vinegar recipe is great for using strawberries as a topping for ice cream, but this one was great for a refreshing shortcake.) I'm posting the recipe below for ease's sake, but if it's representative of Alice Waters' other recipes, this is the first cookbook I'm buying when I get home!

Strawberry Shortcake
Adapted from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food by Ezra Pound Cake

Cream Biscuits

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons sugar (optional, although not in my household!)
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar (if using) and baking powder.

Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingertips. The pieces should be the size of small peas.

Measure cream; set aside 1 tablespoon. Add the remaining cream to the flour, and stir with a fork until the mixture just comes together. Lightly knead the dough a few times in the bowl, turn it out onto a lightly floured board, and roll out about 3/4 inch thick.

Cut six 2-inch circles or squares out of the dough. Reroll the scraps, if necessary.

Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment, and brush the tops with the tablespoon of cream and a sprinkling of sugar.

Bake for 17 minutes or until golden and done.

Strawberries and Vanilla Whipped Cream

4 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste

In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries and sugar.

Remove 1 cup of the strawberry mixture, and purée it in a blender or food processor. Return the purée to the rest of the strawberries; stir. Set aside at least 15 minutes.

In a standing mixer with the whisk attachment, whip together the cream, vanilla and sugar until it starts to form soft peaks.

To assemble the strawberry shortcake, slice the Cream Biscuits in half. For each biscuit, spoon the strawberry mixture onto the bottom half, and add a dollop of whipped cream. Top with the other biscuit half, and dust it with powdered sugar (optional).

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A Taste of Home--Guacamole

I grew up in southern California, the land of sunshine, warmth, and fresh produce. I grew up with avocados, and I didn't realize until I met my husband that many people didn't. His family can't even eat them because the texture is so foreign to them. But in my family, a family gathering was not a gathering without guacamole. My recipe is a mix between my grandmother's, my mom's and my grad-school roomie's recipes. And really, it's not a precise recipe (as most of mine aren't)...adjust flavors to fit your needs. Do you like more or less spice? Add or take away some of the chiles. Do you like Tex-Mex? Add more black pepper, lime juice and smoked chiles.

In the version I made the other day, I couldn't find fresh jalepeños, but I did have some Thai chili paste on hand, so I added that for some heat. In fact, I liked it so much, I might forgo the jalepeños in the future and continue with the paste...

Mindy's Guacamole

3 medium-sized avocados
1 small tomato
1 small onion
1 small jalepeño (or other spicy chile)
Juice of one lime
Cilantro to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

Halve the avocados, remove the pit, and scoop out the flesh into a food processor or blender. Roughly chop the tomato, onion, and jalepeño and add them to the avocado. (I usually put about half of each of these in to begin with and add more if the flavor isn't balanced later.) Squeeze a generous amount of lime juice into the mix and add a handful of cilantro. Add a little salt and pepper and blend. Taste, add ingredients as needed, and blend again.

You can blend this to a creamy consistency or if you like it chunkier, blend some of the ingredients first, withholding some finely chopped avocado, tomato and onion and adding those at the end to create a chunkier texture. I like both ways, and since I'm lazy, I just blend them all together.

Enjoy with tortilla chips, veggies, or other dippables. I personally like mine on tacos, burritos, and on a south-of-the-border burger.

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Christmas Dinner Revisited--Choucroute Garnie

I'm back, after a ton of holiday house guests (which I absolutely loved having), lots of day trips, a trip to Paris for New Year's, and a two-week vacation in Spain with my husband and daughter (which included getting the flu during our last few days there). I am now recovered and ready to cook again!

Christmas dinner was a fun treat for us because we were able to cook a traditional Alsatian dish for our family--choucroute garnie. Choucroute garnie is an artery-clogger, alright, but since it's the dish of Strasbourg, we just had to make it. Basically, it's a variety of sausages and sauerkraut cooked in Alsatian white wine, and is yummmmmy.

Choucroute Garnie (from Bon Apétit)


1 3/4 pounds smoked meaty hamhocks
1 pound fully cooked bratwurst
8 ounces thick-sliced bacon strips, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
2 large onions, chopped
1 teaspoons juniper berries (optional)
1 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
10 whole cloves
8 whole allspice
3 bay leaves
3 Red Delicious apples, unpeeled, cored, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 2-pound jars sauerkraut, squeezed dry
2 pounds fully cooked kielbasa, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
1 pound fully cooked knockwurst--**I would suggest putting these in during the last 15 minutes of cooking, as mine started splitting and turned ugly, even if they tasted good.
2 cups Alsatian Pinot Blanc or other dry white wine (I used Alsatian Riesling...more flavor than Pinot Blanc.)
2 pounds small red-skinned potatoes
2/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Assorted mustards

Place ham hocks in large saucepan. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat is very tender, about 2 hours. Transfer hocks to medium bowl. Boil broth until reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes. Remove meat from bones; discard bones. Place hock meat in medium bowl. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover hock meat and broth separately; chill.) **I've found that this makes much more than 2 cups of stock. I usually freeze the rest for other uses.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add bratwurst and bacon. Sauté until bacon is crisp and bratwurst is brown, about 10 minutes. Place in bowl with hock meat.

Add onions, spices and bay leaves to same pot. Sauté until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add apples; sauté 2 minutes. Mix in sauerkraut. Add all meats; press to submerge. Add reserved broth and wine. Boil 10 minutes. Cover choucroute and bake 1 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, cook potatoes in pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 18 minutes. Drain; cool slightly. Cut potatoes in half. Dip cut sides into parsley. Arrange sauerkraut and meats on platter. Surround with potatoes. Serve with mustards.

I didn't get any pictures of the spread, unfortunately. These are actually pictures that my mom took since my brother, who was transporting our new, lovely camera, was delayed until Christmas day, and his luggage was delayed until that night. We went for simplicity with the meal since the choucroute is such a heavy dish...some white asparagus with aioli and steamed green bean bundles wrapped and baked in bacon. Of course, wine was abundant, and we sampled our way through several Alsatian wines: Sylvaner, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and a local brandy called "eau-de-vie." Good thing none of us were driving that night! ;-)

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Cranberry Sauce Bread

I can't believe how daring I've become with my baking! I've always liked to cook and often add my own twists there, and baking was okay, but I never, never deviate from a recipe when baking. Until now.

Recently, I've been baking a lot (at least once a week) because we host a group of college students studying abroad in France in our home every Friday. I've had to go out on a limb because this has resulted in 14 Fridays that I've needed to come up with something for. And now I'm addicted to baking...who knew?!

Anyways, back to the experiment story. Someone made a big batch of cranberry relish for Thanksgiving and gave us the leftovers. We didn't have enough turkey leftover to warrant so much cranberry relish, so I racked my brain to find a solution...and then I came up with cranberry sauce bread! I've become a big fan of the loaf in my baking pilgrimage, so this seemed so natural. Really, I just substituted the cranberry relish for the bananas in my banana bread recipe and added an orange juice glaze, but this little deviation from a baking recipe has been so liberating for me!

There are some changes I'd make next time, but this won't be anytime soon. Cranberries are very difficult to find in France, so I'll have to wait until I return to the States to make this again, I think. Even so, although the traditional cinnamon/nutmeg spice combo tasted good in this recipe, I was looking for something more. As it was, it tasted like banana bread without the bananas and with the tartness of the cranberries. I wanted something more distinctive, and through some recipes for cranberry bread by Dorie Greenspan, I think I'll add some Chinese five spice instead of cinnamon/nutmeg next time. I might try adding a little more of the cranberry sauce, too, for some added tartness. I was limited since I only had a little less than two cups left, and I wanted to make two loaves (one to eat and one to give to the person who had contributed the cranberry relish to Thanksgiving).

Cranberry Sauce Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup cranberry relish (see below for recipe)
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon

Glaze
5 Tablespoons orange juice
1/8 cup sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degree. Butter and flour a loaf pan.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in one bowl and set aside. Cream butter and sugar together. Add in the cranberry relish, eggs and vanilla. Add in the flour mixture. Add in the milk as well as the nutmeg, and cinnamon.

Pour mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and let rest in the pan for 10 minutes.

While the loaf is cooling in the pan, boil the orange juice and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. (I approximated here because I wanted a less sugary and more orangey taste. But the glaze doesn't shine without the sugar. You can play with this to your liking.)

Remove the loaf to a rack or platter and poke the top with a toothpick all over. Spoon the orange glaze over the loaf and let cool completely.

Here is the original cranberry relish recipe. Walnuts were used in this batch, but I think that either walnuts or pecans would be fine. Also, I used the cranberry relish a few days after is was made, so that might make a difference in the consistency and taste. If you are able to, make the cranberry relish ahead of time.

Cranberry Relish

Makes 10-12 servings (if used as relish)

Ingredients:
1 bag of cranberries (10-12 ounces, 4 cups), washed
2 small oranges, quartered, seeded (can be peeled or unpeeled)
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chopped nuts--pecans or walnut work well

Put cranberries and oranges in a food processor, chop until in small chunks.
Add sugar, mix well.
Chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.

(Amount of sugar can be altered to increase or lessen tartness, but wait for the hour in the fridge to test.)

Enjoy!

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Little Bites of Strasbourg--Swedish Bombes

One of our favorite recent finds in the Strasbourg Christmas market are Swedish Bombes. I think they're called something a little less PC in France, so I'll stick to the German translation. They're a wonderful concoction of a creamy, fresh marshmallow (think marshmallow mixed with mousse) covered in chocolate and flavored with cinnamon, mint, coconut, rum, coffee, and other yummy flavors. I think this will quickly become our new Achilles heel for the season!

Here's the pretty average picture I got yelled at for taking and in turn made me feel so guilty that I bought some. Sometimes a little uncomfortableness is worth it!


The box of 15 that we started out with, including croquant, rum, coconut, cafe mocha, strawberry, cinnamon and mint:




And the favorite unanimously was the mint:


A view of the creamy inside:


We still have a few leftover, but we'll be going back soon for more!

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Thanksgiving Turkey

Phew! Thanksgiving is over! I love the holiday and the focus on family and friends, but I don't know how my mom did it all of those years!

My family is large. We regularly have 30+ people at family events...Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc. So I thought I was used to a large group for holidays, but I quickly realized that my small apartment in France was going to be a challenge in order to host 32 dinner guests. First, my refrigerator is about 3/4 the size of an American fridge, and the same goes for my oven. We decided to get mid- to large-sized turkey and then supplement with ham so that we would be able to fit the turkey into the oven and still have enough food for everyone. The turkey ended up being a whopping 23-pounder! It barely fit in my oven:


But it did, and besides trying to keep all of the potluck dishes hot until everything was ready to serve, all went smoothly. We cleared out our living/dining room, set up every table we had, and we all fit (just barely). All of the students seemed to have a wonderful time, and piled their plates high with the food they've been craving from home.

I stressed about what to do with the turkey for days, but decided on a very simple preparation since it was my first time cooking one. And I actually decided not to cook the turkey overnight because I was afraid it would set my apartment on fire since it was so big and close to the heating elements. I rubbed the inside with salt and stuffed the cavity with onions, celery, carrots, and a leek. I also put a piece of each of those on the bottom of the roasting pan to flavor the juices even more. On the outside, I cut up about 1/2 stick of butter and placed them in strategic places around the turkey (i.e., where they wouldn't fall off right away). Then I roasted it for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees F and then lowered the temperature to 325F until the turkey was done. Everything I came across said that this sized turkey should be done in about 4 1/2-5 hours, but mine only took a little over 4 hours. I think it may have been because this turkey was super fresh. (Here in Strasbourg, you have to special order whole turkeys, so they come straight from the farm.)

The final, beautiful result (which even I was surprised about!):


And finally, a picture of one of the breasts, larger than my husband's hand:

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Happy Thanksgiving!

This year will be my first time hosting a Thanksgiving. We're far from home, but my husband and I work for an American university here in Strasbourg, so we're hosting the students, some of their family members, and a couple of other staff members at our house for an American Thanksgiving. The total number (so far) will be 32 people. Phew!

Luckily, it's a potluck, but we're providing the turkey, ham, and a couple of apple tarts. I have a lot to do to prepare since somehow we have to fit all of those people in our apartment! My to-do list looks like a battle plan, and I'm happily about 1/2 way through. Tomorrow, my little munchkin has been invited to a play date with a neighbor, so I'm going to take advantage of the time and take the tram out to a supermarket. (I live in the city center, so there are a few markets, but none of them are big enough to carry everything I need.)

Tomorrow I find out if the 8 kilo turkey will fit into our oven. We had to special order the turkey. And because we're the only ones with an oven in our apartment, the oven will need to be used on T-Day for dishes other than turkey. My mom has given me a recipe to cook the turkey on low overnight, so we'll see how that turns out!

Good luck to all of you cooking and hosting Thanksgiving this year!

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