Bakin-n-Bacon

Open, Sesame!

These cookies taste much, much better than this crappy photo looks (taken with my cell phone). I've crammed a whole lotta sesame into one cookie.

The original idea for these sesame delights came from Flo Braker in her book Sweet Miniatures. Her cookies, called Sesame Chips, were good, but since I adore sesame so much I wanted to go even farther. I added the seeds to the batter in addition to putting them on top, added toasted sesame oil for an extra burst of flavor, and also cut back on the molasses which can overpower the more delicate flavor of the seeds.

The sesame seeds in the dough contributed to a great nutty flavor but surprisingly also gave the cookies great chew. Many people asked me if I used oatmeal in these cookies because of the texture. (Hmmm, something to think about for the next iteration).

I also used a combination of black and white sesame seeds for decoration, which gives them greater visual impact. Surprisingly, many of my coworkers had never seen black sesame seeds before, prompting a lot of inquiries. Some people thought they were flax seeds, which gives me yet another cookie idea.

If you like sesame, you will like these cookies.

Sesame Spice Cookies
Makes about 36 (2.5-inch) cookies

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened 
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons barley malt syrup or corn syrup
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (9 ounces) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (3.5 ounces) white sesame seeds
white and black sesame seeds for decoration (a couple of tablespoons)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add egg, molasses, syrup and sesame oil and mix until well blended.

Add baking soda and spices, mix well. Add flour and mix until incorporated.  Stir in white sesame seeds until evenly distributed.

Using cookie scoop or spoon, make tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough. Dip tops of dough balls into black and white sesame seeds and place cookies, seed side up, at least 2 inches apart on baking sheet (these cookies spread quite a bit).

Bake for 15 minutes, checking after 10 minutes. Because the dough itself is brown, it's hard to tell when these are done. I use the following visual clues: the cookies have spread out, they have cracks across the top, and the cracks are beginning to dull (at first they will be very shiny). The outer edges may also get a little more brown but that is harder to see. I bake one sheet at a time; if you bake two sheets together, rotate pans top to bottom halfway through.

Cool baking pan on cooling rack for about 15 minutes, then remove cookies to rack. Store in airtight container; cookies will keep for several days.

Chacutepalooza Challenge 3: Brine

or, "You Must First Create the Universe"

This month's Chacutepalooza Challenge is brining, and more specifically, corned beef brisket.

Brining is an effective tool for imparting flavor, preserving foods, and changing the texture of meats and vegetables. I chose not only to make corned beef, but also to make homemade sauerkraut. Once I decided that, it was a quick leap to a made-from-scratch Reuben. I made the corned beef, the sauerkraut, and the rye bread. I even made the Thousand Island dressing from scratch!

But alas, I did not make the pickle, or the chips, and I didn't make the cheese either. When you want to make something "from scratch" you have to decide how far to carry the "scratch" part. If I really wanted to make the sauerkraut from scratch, I should have raised the cabbage myself. I could have made the mayonnaise used in the dressing, and to take it a step further, I could have raised chickens for the egg used in the mayonnaise. I could have ground the rye and wheat for the bread or even raised it myself. There is no end to the from scratch cycle, and in the words of someone much wiser than I:

“If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.”

Dr. Carl Sagan

That's overkill even for me, so I had to content myself with making most of the components from scratch.

So, on to the brining! You don't need any special equipment for brining, just vessels large enough to hold the meat or veggies in the brining liquid. I started with the sauerkraut since it takes two weeks - it is not an impromptu affair. That's why I'm somewhat surprised I pulled it off, because planning is not my greatest strength. But, perhaps due to my German heritage, the kraut gods smiled upon me and I had excellent kraut mojo.

The  sauerkraut brine is as simple as brine can be: salt and water. This simplicity is both the beauty and magic of brining. Salt's transformative powers combine with water's ability to penetrate and bring about change that is nothing short of amazing. I started with a small head of cabbage, finely sliced. After submerging the cabbage in the brine, which took some doing because it wanted to float, I set the bowl upstairs in what I now call the "curing room" (where curious cats are not allowed). Then I turned to the corned beef.

A tisket, a tasket, a brisket in my basket

There are many articles about the origin of corned beef so I'll leave the history lesson to others. Since there was no brisket on the shelf at the local market, I ordered a whole brisket. (This, like most of the beef I buy, is from a farm that has won several environmental stewardship awards.) The butcher must have thought I didn't know what I was doing because he asked me twice if I was sure I wanted the whole thing. But I knew that buying an entire brisket would allow me to choose just which part of the brisket to use for the corned beef, and I would also have excellent pot roast and ground beef with the leftovers. After trimming, I had 5.5 pounds of well-marbled meat. The brisket went into a brine that is more complex than the sauerkraut brine, containing pickling spice along with salt and pink salt. It is remarkable how well the flavors from the pickling spice (which I also made) come through in the finished meat. A five-day marinade allows the water to carry all of the flavors through the meat. The photo shows the brisket post-brine, being simmered with additional pickling spice, which is the final step to corned beef nirvana. 

Now that I had two components complete, it was on to the rye bread. Rye bread can be a bitch because the dough is incredibly sticky, but I used a recipe from the Cookaholics bulletin board that contains a higher percentage of bread flour for a more manageable dough. I allowed the sponge (or pre-ferment) for the dough to sit for 3 days, giving an extra zing to the loaves.

The final "from scratch" piece was the Thousand Island dressing. Since both the sauerkraut and corned beef recipes are from Charcuterie by Brian Polcyn and Michael Ruhlman, I'm not at liberty to print them here, but I've provided my recipe for the Thousand Island dressing below.

The components of the reuben pre-toasting are shown below. You saw the final, tasty result at the top of this post. What I found most interesting was the flavor of the sauerkraut. It was less acidic than commercial versions, had a great crunchy texture, and was beautifully translucent. It was a bit salty, but I believe that is because I kind of, well, lost track of time and it was in the brine a couple days longer than was ideal. But it was fantastic nonetheless, and I shall now be forever ruined for store-bought sauerkraut. This happens to me frequently as I learn new cooking or curing techniques: I am no longer satisfied with the inferior commercial versions. This is great, but also frustrating, since I hardly have time enough for all of my "normal" projects without continually adding new ones! 

I think these Charcutepalooza challenges will cause me to gain about 5 pounds apiece, but it is wonderful to be pushed like this. I only wish I could share the recipes and techniques with everyone. What I can do is try to answer any questions you may have, so feel free to post a question in the comments.

Dinner tonight will be corned beef hash from scratch (well, subject to the limits described above). And I've used the sauerkraut in another application: to top a tasty Hebrew National hot dog!

Thousand Island Dressing
Makes about 1 cup

3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
2-3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 teaspoons green olives, diced
1 tablespoon onion, finely diced (I used a red onion)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar, or to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Stir together until well mixed.

Happy 3.14

I do not understand why some random day in January is National Pie Day, when the obvious choice is March 14. (If I have to explain it to you, never mind.)

So in celebration of what should be National Pie Day, I made a coconut cream pie. This is based on a recipe from Cook's Illustrated, but of course I tweaked it. Since it's pretty close to CI's recipe, I'm not going to publish it here, lest I incur the wrath of the Cook's Illustrated gestapo. It's a shame that organization has so many glaring flaws, because they do produce a worthwhile product. If you want the recipe, leave a comment or send me an email. And Happy Pi Day!

Strawberry Cream Cakelets

We had some friends over for dinner last night, and I had planned to make Cook's Illustrated's Strawberry Cream Cake for dessert. That plan, however, was doomed.

I got off to a bad start because I decided to make my own cake instead of the cake in the recipe. In itself, this was not a bad decision. The problem was that I forgot to read the directions first, so I baked a normal two layer cake thinking that the finished cake had 4 layers, and I would just split each layer in half. As I discovered after taking the cakes out of the oven, the finished cake has 3 layers, and I didn't have enough strawberries to add a layer. By this time it was almost 4:00 p.m. and the only thing I had managed to do was make the wrong size cake. I made an additional crucial error in that I didn't toss my strawberries with sugar beforehand and they needed to sit for 2 hours.

But I was determined not to let these fuck-ups derail my dessert. I knew I didn't have enough time at this point to make a full-size cake since I didn't want to try to assemble it after dinner. That would only lead to my guests exchanging worried glances as I cursed in the kitchen, futilely attempting to make a beautiful cake in five minutes. Then I had a brilliant idea - I could make tiny cakelets in a snap since I wouldn't have to worry about slicing large layers, placing strawberries just so, and piping intricate designs. I whipped out the cookie cutters, cut out 2.5 inch cake rounds, and set them aside in a covered container. I also mixed the strawberries with dark muscovado sugar and set them aside. (Muscovado sugar has a high molasses content and allegedly "Sugar milled in Mauritius is particularly special because it retains much of the flavor of the cane grown on soil rich with volcanic ash." Anyway, it tastes really good and has more flavor than regular dark brown sugar.) 

While the pork rested after it came out of the oven, I drained the strawberries and began reducing the liquid in my trusty Mauviel Windsor pan. By the time the pork had rested the strawberry liquid had become syrupy. I poured it into a small glass bowl and set it in the fridge until dessert time.

As my husband cleared the dinner plates and turned on the coffee maker, I quickly assembled the cakelets. I sliced each cake round in half, piped a spiral of cream cheese-enhanced whipped cream (this stuff is like heaven on a spoon), tossed on a few berries, and repeated this procedure. Then I mixed the sweet strawberry sauce with a teaspoon or so of 12-year-old balsamic vinegar and dribbled it over the cakes. They were so good I ate one for breakfast this morning.

Strawberry Cream Cakelets
Makes 6 cakelets (with leftover cake)

For the cake:
9 ounces (2 1/4 cups) bleached cake flour
12 ounces (2 1/2 cups) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon double acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 ounces vegetable oil
1 cup whole or 2% milk, room temperature
3/4 cup egg whites, room temperature (5 to 6 large eggs' worth)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the strawberries:
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
2-3 tablespoons muscovado or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar

For the whipped cream:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the strawberries and sauce: Toss sliced strawberries with sugar in a medium bowl and set aside. Stir occasionally for about 2 hours. Set a medium mesh strainer over a small saucepan and drain berries. Place berries into covered container and set aside (refrigerate if they will be out more than a couple of hours.)

Bring berry liquid to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is thick and syrupy, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir balsamic into sauce and pour into small bowl. Place sauce in fridge to cool. 

To make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 9-inch round cake pans (or 1 9x13 inch cake pan) with baking parchment or waxed paper.

Measure the dry ingredients into bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl. I highly encourage you to weigh the ingredients, but if you don't have a scale, measure the flour by fluffing it up, then spooning it lightly into the measuring cup and using a straight edge to level off the flour even with the top of the cup. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together and set the bowl aside.

Whisk the room temperature egg whites, milk and vanilla together. Put 1/2 cup of this mixture into a cup or small bowl. Set both aside. 

Add butter and oil and all but the reserved 1/2 cup of the milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Beat at low speed until dry ingredients are moistened, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high (stand mixer) or high (hand mixer) and beat for 1 1/2 minutes to aerate mixture and add structure. Turn mixer off and scrape sides and bottom of bowl.

Add remaining milk/egg mixture and beat at medium (or high) speed for an additional 30 seconds. Scrape bowl again.

Divide batter evenly into baking pans. Tap pans lightly on counter to remove any large air bubbles. Optionally, wrap pans with magi-cake strips.

Put pans in oven on middle rack and bake until light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with only a few loose crumbs, about 25 minutes. Due to variations in ovens, check at least 5 minutes before the stated time. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then invert onto cooling rack. Cool completely before assembling.

To make the whipped cream: Place softened cream cheese into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add cream and beat on medium speed until stiff, 2 to 3 minutes more. Spoon into pastry bag fitted with star tip if desired. Keep covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

To assemble cakelets: Using about a 2.5-inch round biscuit cutter, cut rounds out of each cake. (You'll get 4 to 5 out of each layer.) Slice each round in half. Place one half on small plate. Pipe or spread whipped cream onto cake; top with sliced strawberries. Repeat with another layer, topping off with a dollop or swirl of whipped cream. Dribble a couple teaspoons of sauce over the cakelets and serve immediately.