Baking for the week

Last night was policy prom. Oh you have to love grad school when policy kids get dressed up and drunk off of wine.

Well, besides prom, this week was fun filled with baking. I made cinnamon raisin bread, cinnamon rolls, chai butter cookies, and chocolate marble banana bread.

Yum!

I don't know if baking so much is a sign that I have checked out of school completely, that I have to much stress or free time on my hands, or just and indicator of something else.

Anyway. Everything came out absolutely delicious. The chair butter cookies were a big hit. I also think Dorie Greenspan's chocolate marble banana bread is now my go to banana bread recipe. It is just so much more moist than my other one. But they are both good. I'll have to do a comparison one day to truly see which one is better.

Pictures of the chai butter cookies and cinnamon bread/rolls are below. The banana bread is still cooling so picture will come soon.

I'll post the banana bread recipe when I post the pictures. That will hopefully be before thanksgiving. I'll also post my brine recipe in that post as I'll be brining my turkey before roasting it.

Enjoy!

Chai Butter Cookies

Adapted from Virginia Willis’ “Bon Appetit, Y’all”

Makes 48

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 to 2 teaspoons chai tea (contents of one tea bag)
* 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup shortening, preferably Crisco, at room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
* 1 egg, at room temperature
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, sift the flour, chai, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and shortening on medium until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, and beat on low speed until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, and beat on low until well combined.

3. On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Beat until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

5. Using an ice cream scoop or melon baller, take some of the dough, and shape it into 1-inch balls. (Keep remaining dough in the refrigerator.) Place the dough balls on an ungreased cookie sheet, and press with the tines of a fork to flatten. (If your dough starts getting sticky, dip the fork tines in a small dish of sugar before pressing.) Bake until pale golden, but not brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly on the baking sheet on a rack. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.

Raisin Swirl Bread

For the Bread

1 packet active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar, plus a pinch more
1 1/4 cups just barely warm while milk
1/2 stick butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 1/2 orange
Pinch of nutmet
3 3/4 to 4 cups flour

For the filling

1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1 cup moist raisins (steamed and dried if necessary)
3 tablespoons butter softened so it's spreadable.

Put the yeast in a small bowl, add a pinch of sugar and 1/4 cup of the warm milk, stir it together and let it rest for 3 minutes. It should soften.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the rest of the 1 cup milk, the butter and the 1/4 cup sugar. Mix on low speed until combine, then add the salt, egg, vanilla, zest and nutmet and continue to stir on low for another minute. Add the yeast mixture and stir for one minute more.

With the mixer off, add 2 3/4 cups flour and begin mixing again on low speed until the flour is just worked in. Switch to the dough hook and with the mixer on speed setting 2 beat the dough for a few minutes. The dough should begin coming together off the sides of the bowl. If it doesn't add up to 1/4 cup flour on tablespoon at a time until it does. Kneed the dough for 3 minutes more until it is smooth and shiny. The dough should be very soft.

In a large buttered bowl, turn out the dough and cover tightly with cling wrap. In a warm place, allow the dough to double in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Once fully risen, turn the dough out onto a large piece of cling wrap and either refrigerate overnight,

or freeze for 30 minutes.

For the filling: Combine the sugar cinnamon and cocoa powder. Remove your dough from the refrigerator/freezer and on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 12/18 inch rectangle. Using your fingers, spread the butter on the bread, then sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar mixture and finally spread the raisins in an even layer.

Butter a 9x5" loaf pan. Roll the dough snugly, beginning with a short end. Place the dough seam-side down in the loaf pan and tuck the ends under. Cover with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, put in a warm place and allow to rise for another 45 minutes or so.

Preheat the oven to 375. Once the dough is risen, brush the final tablespoon of melted butter over the top, place on a baking sheet and put on the center rack in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then place a piece of tinfoil over the loaf and continue to bake for about another 25 minutes.

Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and bring to room temperature.

Soup/Biscotti/Pie/Cheesecake

So I seriously need to get my camera fixed.

Anyway. This week has been hectic despite the fact that I have done absolutely nothing. School just seems to drain me even though I don't really have anything to do till finals. Blah. I know it must be annoying to my classmates who I bother all the time as I sit in the computer lab looking up recipes, playing with STATA, or looking at lolcatz, dogfail, or people of wal-mart.

So this week I sort of took Jacki's advice about cooking and baking to occupy myself. I seriously should have done it more. But out of my kitchen this week came another batch of chicken soup, pumpkin biscotti, and apple pie!

The soup was amazing as this week it did nothing but rain. Chicken soup when it's raining outside and while it's cold is just absolute heaven for dinner.

As for the biscotti, it didn't really come out that great. It was edible at least and went well with coffee. I'm going to have to stick to Dorie Greenspans biscotti recipe from now on though I think.

As for the pie. Yes, this was my second attempt at making pie. I think I added to many apples so it came out a bit gooey and filled. Anyway, I used Paula Deen's apple pie filling and Dorie's pie crust recipe. All I need to say is that the pie was made Wednesday night and all of it was gone. J came over last night for some and although he teasingly criticized i I know he liked it as he ate his entire piece. Oh and speaking of J, he taught me how to make cheesecake so now I just need a spring form pan and roasting pan so I can make my own. Oddly, I think J thinks I will probably fail at my first attempt. So before I go back home and make cheesecake for the fam. I will have to have him supervise me.

In other news, I'll be stewing some pork for dinner tomorrow night. I'm also thinking about doing calzone and cinnamon rolls this weekend. Banana bread is coming up soon as I have a bunch of bananas that are ripening nicely in my kitchen!

Ok...Anthony took pictures of the pie. As soon as I can get him to send me the pictures I'll post them. But here are the recipes for the apple pie. I won't share the biscotti recipe as I don't think it's worth replicating.

Paula Deen's Apple Pie Filling:
Ingredients

* 3/4 cup light brown sugar
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
* Freshly ground nutmeg, to taste
* 7 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
* 1 lemon, zested and juiced

Directions

Paula's Perfect Pie Crust, recipe follows

* 3 tablespoons butter, diced
* Egg wash, for brushing
* Sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. In another bowl, sprinkle apples with the juice of 1 lemon and toss. Stir in the sugar mixture to evenly coat the apples.

Set aside. Roll out chilled dough into 2 circles and use 1 round to line a 9-inch pie pan. Chill the other round.

Mound the apple and sugar mixture into the pie pan lined with dough. Dot with the cubed butter.

Using a pastry cutter, cut an even number of strips from the remaining rolled out dough. Transfer every other strip to the pie top and weave in the lattice by folding every other strip back onto itself and laying another strip perpendicularly. Fold the strips back across and repeat until completed.

Brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Trim the overhanging dough and crimp edges.

Bake pie for 45 minutes. Let rest 20 minutes before slicing.

Dorie Greenspan Pie Crust:

Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough

For a 9 inch Double Crust

3 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tbsp size pieces
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
About ½ cup ice water

Spices!

Needed to share this.

A Southern Season actually has cheaper spices than anywhere else I have seen. I think I just fell in love all over again!

Pumpkin Scones w/a spiced glaze

So b/c I didn't want to do any work tonight I decided to make pumpkin scones w/a spiced glaze. What really brought this on was b/c I was actually productive during the day and did a bunch of work! Sadly, I didn't get everything done that I should have, but eh...it's grad school. I'll just skim the rest of my readings for class tomorrow and rely on my my knowledge of community colleges to work on my roleplaying activity for class. Oh what fun...roleplaying! Sadly it's not that kind of roleplaying.

Ok this just shows that I have totally checked out from school. Now I just really need to edit my thesis propsal for my data analysis final, write a 15 page paper on Hawaiian sovereignty, and a 12 page paper on a policy issue. Blah. Good thing I have recipe hunting to keep me occupied. I've been looking up brine recipes for turkey. Also since I did make pumpkin scones this weekend I think I'm going to make english muffins! I wil also have banana's for banana muffins soon! And I seriously need to do something with apples. If I get some at the farmers market on Saturday I might try do mini apple pies in my muffin tin.

Anyway...J is busy at school doing work. So I brought him a scone to brighten his night. Oddly he has a final due on Saturday when finals don't even begin till after thanksgiving. Screwy professor. Can't wait till he doesn't have any work.

Ok. Here is the recipe I found for the pumpkin scone. It's starbucks pumpkin scones recipe, but I adapted it to make it my own. Sorry to make you read through my boring life.

Note: when baking, I found that 15 minutes was quite enough. That was probably because I didn't flatten the dough enough. So depending on how fat you want your scones you might want to go for 16-18 minutes. If you want them thinner go for 14-15 minutes.

Picture to come. My camer sort of broke so roommate number one had to take a picture. He still has to email me it.

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Starbucks Pumpkin Scones Adapted

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 8 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons half-and-half
• 1 large egg

Spiced Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon pumpkin spice
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.
4. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake for 14–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.
6. TO MAKE THE PLAIN GLAZ
7. Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.
8. When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.
9. AS THAT WHITE GLAZE FIRMS UP, MAKE THE SPICED ICING:.
10. Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.

Bad Blogger and Politics

Politics first:

So we lost VA and NJ. But it looks like we will win NY-23. As for ME, I don't think we are going to pull it out. In WA, we might. At least Chapel Hill is liberal and caring enough to elect an openly gay mayor.

Now Blogging:

Sorry. I've been a bad blogger. Or at least a bad picture taker.

I haven't been taking pictures of things I've made such as the chicken soup, the butternut squash bread, the butternut squash muffins, or the NC shaped shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate.

Recently I made some herb roasted pork loin w/butternut squash mashed potato's and steamed broccoli. J (aka patient zero) said I should have taken a picture of it since it looked so yummy. But alas, I didn't.

I can share what I did though, and it's below.

As for this weekend I promise I will take pictures and post. I'm probably going to be making chicken soup again. And I'm thinking of pumpkin scones, orange scones, cinnamon rolls, or english muffins. I don't know what I want to do. But I do know J and I are going to make a cheese cake together on Friday. I've never done a real cheesecake before, so he's going to teach me.

Ok off to bed now. I have to register for my last semester of classes tomorrow morning at 7! Yah for soon to being 3/4 done with my MPP and only having about 5 more months of schooling left in my life!

My Herb Roasted Pork Loin:

No secret recipe. Just got pork loin from costco and cut the huge log into thirds. Used a third of the log and let it marinate in a brine like mix i made that included salt, pepper, garlic, and a bunch of handy herbs such as rosemary, sage, parsley, etc for l3 hours.

Next I dried the log, and rubbed the same mixture of salt, pepper, and herbs onto the log with pressed garlic as well

Heated a pan with enough oil to coat the bottom and seared the pork loin on all sides till golden brown.

Next I threw it into the oven that was pre-heated to 400 degrees and let it roast for like 30 minutes. It didn't cook all the way through so I had to throw it into the oven again. I would say that you need about 45 minutes all together. But check it at the 30 mark and 40 as mine was a little dried out.