Bakin-n-Bacon

Trading Spaces

Well, it's official. Yesterday we closed on a house in Minnesota and Friday we load up Ryder trucks for the first part of our move. That is the reason I haven't been posting about my baking and cooking - I haven't been doing any! My kitchen is mostly in boxes now, and things are crazy.

While this move is exciting and will be a better opportunity for us, concessions have been made. One of the biggest is the new kitchen. I'm leaving this:
 

For this:

Sigh. On the bright side, I'm looking forward to the planning for a new kitchen. The house is a 1908 Craftsman-style bungalow, and it will be fun to create a period-appropriate kitchen that will be attractive and highly functional. Dreaming will be all I can afford until we sell our other house, so I'll have plenty of time to plan.

Once we are moved in, I'll be posting regularly. Check back in a week or so to keep updated. Christmas cookie season is coming right up, so there will be plenty to read in the next few weeks.

Perfecting Pancakes

Remember when I ate at the classic diner in Philly in July and commented on how I could never make pancakes like those diner cakes I like so much? We'll, I'm quite a bit closer now.

I've made many changes to my standard pancake recipe, although stupidly I keep forgetting to write down the changes to make sure they stick. I think, however, that I have a handle on the differences that have transformed my pancakes into something quite similar to those lush diner cakes.

First, I am substituting cake flour for some of the all purpose flour which my original recipe used. Second, I use more liquid than normal. Third, I use a tad more leavening, and finally, I don't oil my skillet. I'm using a nonstick skillet with a very flat bottom, one that I purchased with pancakes in mind. I noticed that many nonstick skillets seem to have a hump in the middle that makes the pancakes cook unevenly. Therefore I was on the lookout for a perfectly flat bottom with a nonstick finish (although someday I hope to get a carbon steel pan and season it myself). I picked up a Vollrath 12" nonstick skillet at Northwestern Cutlery in Chicago. Vollrath is based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and manufacturers their pans right here in the U.S.A.

I found that when I oiled the skillet, the pancakes cooked up spotty instead of evenly brown, so I just quit adding oil or butter. The nonstick surface on the Volrath works great and I get that even look I've been after for years, ever since I was a short order cook in my teens.

I tried to take a photo of the crumb of the cakes, but my camera refused to focus and I refused to let me pancake get cold while I was fiddling around with the camera. You can see how fluffy it is, though.

These puppies nearly melted in my mouth, yet they weren't mushy. Now if only I am accurately remembering the recipe...

Pancakes
Serves 4ish

1 cup (4 oz.) cake flour
1 cup (5 oz.) unbleached all purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups buttermilk or soured milk OR
3 tablespoons buttermilk powder and 1 1/4 cups 2% milk
Dash of vanilla extract (optional)

Put the dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl and stir to combine. Separate the egg and put the yolk in the melted, but slightly cooled, butter. MIx the white with the buttermilk or milk and vanilla extract, if using. Pour the egg/butter mixture into the milk mixture, stirring well to combine.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once. Stir to combine but don't over beat (you will have a few lumps left in the batter). Heat skillet over medium high heat and when a drop of water starts to sizzle, it's ready. Pour batter into the skillet to achieve the size of pancake you want, then wait until bubbles start to form on the surface of the batter. Peek under the pancake to make sure it's brown enough, then gently turn it over and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until browned on the bottom side. Eat. Yum.

Mini Apple Pie recipe

Since the Charleston Gazette only keeps the recipes on their site free for 14 days, here is the recipe for the Mini Apple Pies from a couple of weeks ago.

I'm busy in the kitchen developing new articles, so please bear with me if I go a few days without posting.

Mini-Apple Pie ‘Roses’

Makes 6

 

Crust

1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt (if using salted butter, omit)

1 teaspoon sugar

6 tablespoons butter, frozen

4-5 tablespoons ice water

 

Filling

1 lb. baking apples (about 3 medium)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon cornstarch

 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and place oven rack in lowest position. Combine the butter, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Grate frozen butter into flour, tossing butter and flour together occasionally to prevent butter from clumping. Transfer bowl to refrigerator.

 

Peel and core apples. Slice apples in half vertically, then cut thin (1/8”) slices horizontally. (You should have half-moon shapes). Toss apples with lemon juice, sugars, spices and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Set aside while you finish the crust.

 

Retrieve flour from fridge. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of ice water over surface of flour and using rubber scraper, bring flour in from the sides and bottom of bowl and press down on the center in a folding motion. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough mostly comes together. Turn out onto cutting board or counter and, using your hands to press dough together, form into a 6-inch disk. No dry crumbles should remain – add additional ice water if necessary. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator while you finish the apples.

 

The apples should have released some juice. Toss apples and juice, and place in microwave. Cook on high for 3 minutes. Stir apples and continue to cook until juices have thickened and apples have softened to the point where they are flexible enough to roll around your finger (caution – apples will be HOT), 1-2 more minutes. (You can also cook them in a saucepan on the stove.) Place apples into the fridge.

 

While apples cool, remove crust from fridge and divide into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a circle about 6 inches. Using a large plastic lid or can (I used the lid from a container of sour cream), cut a circle approximately 5.5 inches in diameter. Place circle over muffin tin hole, and pleat once or twice to fit dough in tin. You should have an overhang of dough around the edges. Press this overhang down onto the edges of the muffin tin. Combine the dough scraps, re-roll, and cut into decorative leaves, if desired.

 

Once you have formed all 6 crusts, place a couple of teaspoons of apples into the bottom of each one. Then take the remaining apple slices and arrange around sides of crust, overlapping edges, and continue until crust is filled. (Step-by-step photos of making the crust and flower petals can be found on my blog, http://bakin-n-bacon.typepad.com). Place one or two leaves on each pie (don’t let them hang over the outside edge of the pan or they’ll burn) and sprinkle with regular or turbinado sugar if desired.

 

Bake pies until crust is golden, 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Remove from tin and serve.