Wendy w
07-23-2001, 01:53 PM
Hi Everyone!
Thank you again for your well wishes in one of the best moments in cooking that anyone can have. I have been on vacation for the last week and am just now getting around to answering your requests for the recipes that I used in the county fair.
Tami K's Almond Roca
(thanks again Tami, this is really easy and my co-workers loved the practice batches!)
Prepare a cookie sheet, foil, or marble slab by coating liberally with butter.
Coarsely chop (or pound with a meat tenderizer in a baggie) 1 to 1 1/2 cups almonds (or other nuts if you prefer)
Heat in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 T. water
Cook and stir until mixture reaches 300 degrees on a candy thermometer.
When mixture has reached the appropriate temperature, add the nuts and mix well. Immediately pour it out onto the greased cookie sheet.
Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Give them a few minutes to melt, then spread with a metal spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with finely chopped nuts before chocolate sets. Before serving, break into pieces.
This recipe is easily doubled.
__________________________________________________
Garlic Spread with Sundried tomatoes
(found a couple of years ago on a garlic website) BF calls it "the spread"
one cup olive oil, extra virgin (use the best possible)
5 ounces sundried tomatoes-rehydrate in hot water for 15 minutes.
4-5 green onions
10 or more cloves of garlic
handful of fresh basil (about 10-12 leaves)
Pinch of parsley (2-3 large sprigs)
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt to taste
Lots of cayenne!
Put all ingredients in a food processor and process until ingredients are chopped and combined, leave a little bit chunky. Refrigerate over night or at least 2-3 hours, making sure that it is brought back to room temperature before serving. Place 4 oz. of chevre (goat cheese) on a platter for serving. Pour sundried tomato mixture over chevre and garnish with fresh basil leaves and or parsley. Serve with a sliced french baguette.
I made the spread portion 2 days before submitting it. This is one of those things that tastes better after marinating a few days!
__________________________________________________
Fresh Rosemary Onion Focaccia
(from Lora Brody's Pizza, Focaccia, Flat and Filled Breads From Your Bread Machine-one "drooler" of a book, I may add)
Serves 6-8
Dough:
1 lg Spanish Onion (approx. 10 ozs.), peeled, cut into 8ths, and cooked in 2 T olive oil (see author's hints)
1 T yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal
3 cups all purpose flour
2 t. salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup fresh rosemary leaves
Place all ingredients excpet for the cooked onion in machine, program for dough and press start. At the end of the final knead, add the onion (but not liquid) to the machine. Restart and knead only until the onion is roughly mixed in. The dough will be wet (and how) and the onion will remain in clumps, sticking out of the dough. Turn the dough out on a well-floured board and knead briefly by hand to form a ball. This is peasant bread, and the dough will reflect this.
Oil a pizza pan or baking sheet. Place the dough on the prepared pan and pat into a 12-inch disk. Coat the top with onion juices. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise either at room temperature until doubled in bulk, or in the refrigerator overnight. A long cold rise in the refrigeraror will result in a more flavorful bread with a heartier interior (this is what I did and found it to be fool-proof).
Finishing:
1 to 2 T olive oil or garlic oil
coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 450 with the rqack in the center position. Just before baking the dough, use your fingertips to gently make indentations in the surface. Drizzle on the oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the o9ven to 350 and bake for another 12-15 minutue, or until the focaccia is golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Author's hints:
Onion can be prepared in either a microwave or on the stove top. In the microwave: place the onion and oil in a microwavable bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 8-12 minutes or until the onion is very soft and ihas just started to turn golden. Let the onion stay in the covered dish to cool. For stovetop: Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the onion and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very soft and has just started to turn golden. Allow the onion to cool in the pan. When the onion is cooled, strain off the cooking liquid into a small bowl, prssing down on the garlic to release as much liquid as possible.
This can be served hot from the oven, or at room temperature slathered with goat cheese, or it can be used to make crostini. While focaccia is best eaten the day it's made, it's fine toasted the next day. The trick is to keep it at room temperature. If you wish to freeze, cool, then wrap airtightin plastic wrap-it can be frozen for 6 months. Defrost while still wrapped.
The dough can be made up to 48 hrs ahead of time :) -I did this.
Place in a large well-oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you are ready to roll out and bake. Or, you can roll out the dough, cover it with oiled plastic wrap, and refrigerate for the final rise, or even overnight.
My notes: I rolled it out the night before and let it sit out about 1/2 hour before baking. I had frozen half of my "practice" batch and let me tell you that my BF and I had a really good picnic this weekend.
I made a sandwich with it and added olive tapanade, proscuitto, swiss cheese, artichoke hearts, dried tomato (the moisture will rehydrate it) and sweet mustard. It really filled us up as the bread is really hearty. I also made Lorelei's pasta salad (which is yummy by the way), packed some crackers and Trader Joe's roasted garlic hummus and some blueberries and strawberries macerated in lemon juice, lemon peel and mint. Yum!!
__________________________________________________
Roasted Dehydrated Garlic Powder (at Jewel's request)
About a year and 1/2 ago, my BF gave me a dehydrator that his old GF gave him. At first, I didn't want it as I didn't know what to do with it and thought it would sit around gathering dust -sort of like Mamasue's sandwich maker mentioned on an old thread.
A good friend of mine told me that I did want it so I blame her as much as my BF for my "dehydrator mania"! BF says that I dehydrate the planet.
Anyway, I will get to the point: after experimenting with lots of things in the dehydrator, I decided to try drying roasted garlic, I buy the Costco container of prepeeled garlic and roast it in my claycooker with a little olive oil. From there, I put it in my dehydrator and let it go for about 24-32 hours until it hardens and turns a golden brown (resembling dry roasted almonds) from there, I grind a few cloves at a time in the blender-voila! roasted garlic powder! Before trying this, I tried regular garlic and as with most roasted things, there is no comparason!
Anyway, I will be quiet now!
Thank you again for your well wishes in one of the best moments in cooking that anyone can have. I have been on vacation for the last week and am just now getting around to answering your requests for the recipes that I used in the county fair.
Tami K's Almond Roca
(thanks again Tami, this is really easy and my co-workers loved the practice batches!)
Prepare a cookie sheet, foil, or marble slab by coating liberally with butter.
Coarsely chop (or pound with a meat tenderizer in a baggie) 1 to 1 1/2 cups almonds (or other nuts if you prefer)
Heat in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 T. water
Cook and stir until mixture reaches 300 degrees on a candy thermometer.
When mixture has reached the appropriate temperature, add the nuts and mix well. Immediately pour it out onto the greased cookie sheet.
Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Give them a few minutes to melt, then spread with a metal spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with finely chopped nuts before chocolate sets. Before serving, break into pieces.
This recipe is easily doubled.
__________________________________________________
Garlic Spread with Sundried tomatoes
(found a couple of years ago on a garlic website) BF calls it "the spread"
one cup olive oil, extra virgin (use the best possible)
5 ounces sundried tomatoes-rehydrate in hot water for 15 minutes.
4-5 green onions
10 or more cloves of garlic
handful of fresh basil (about 10-12 leaves)
Pinch of parsley (2-3 large sprigs)
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt to taste
Lots of cayenne!
Put all ingredients in a food processor and process until ingredients are chopped and combined, leave a little bit chunky. Refrigerate over night or at least 2-3 hours, making sure that it is brought back to room temperature before serving. Place 4 oz. of chevre (goat cheese) on a platter for serving. Pour sundried tomato mixture over chevre and garnish with fresh basil leaves and or parsley. Serve with a sliced french baguette.
I made the spread portion 2 days before submitting it. This is one of those things that tastes better after marinating a few days!
__________________________________________________
Fresh Rosemary Onion Focaccia
(from Lora Brody's Pizza, Focaccia, Flat and Filled Breads From Your Bread Machine-one "drooler" of a book, I may add)
Serves 6-8
Dough:
1 lg Spanish Onion (approx. 10 ozs.), peeled, cut into 8ths, and cooked in 2 T olive oil (see author's hints)
1 T yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal
3 cups all purpose flour
2 t. salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup fresh rosemary leaves
Place all ingredients excpet for the cooked onion in machine, program for dough and press start. At the end of the final knead, add the onion (but not liquid) to the machine. Restart and knead only until the onion is roughly mixed in. The dough will be wet (and how) and the onion will remain in clumps, sticking out of the dough. Turn the dough out on a well-floured board and knead briefly by hand to form a ball. This is peasant bread, and the dough will reflect this.
Oil a pizza pan or baking sheet. Place the dough on the prepared pan and pat into a 12-inch disk. Coat the top with onion juices. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise either at room temperature until doubled in bulk, or in the refrigerator overnight. A long cold rise in the refrigeraror will result in a more flavorful bread with a heartier interior (this is what I did and found it to be fool-proof).
Finishing:
1 to 2 T olive oil or garlic oil
coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 450 with the rqack in the center position. Just before baking the dough, use your fingertips to gently make indentations in the surface. Drizzle on the oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the o9ven to 350 and bake for another 12-15 minutue, or until the focaccia is golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Author's hints:
Onion can be prepared in either a microwave or on the stove top. In the microwave: place the onion and oil in a microwavable bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 8-12 minutes or until the onion is very soft and ihas just started to turn golden. Let the onion stay in the covered dish to cool. For stovetop: Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the onion and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very soft and has just started to turn golden. Allow the onion to cool in the pan. When the onion is cooled, strain off the cooking liquid into a small bowl, prssing down on the garlic to release as much liquid as possible.
This can be served hot from the oven, or at room temperature slathered with goat cheese, or it can be used to make crostini. While focaccia is best eaten the day it's made, it's fine toasted the next day. The trick is to keep it at room temperature. If you wish to freeze, cool, then wrap airtightin plastic wrap-it can be frozen for 6 months. Defrost while still wrapped.
The dough can be made up to 48 hrs ahead of time :) -I did this.
Place in a large well-oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you are ready to roll out and bake. Or, you can roll out the dough, cover it with oiled plastic wrap, and refrigerate for the final rise, or even overnight.
My notes: I rolled it out the night before and let it sit out about 1/2 hour before baking. I had frozen half of my "practice" batch and let me tell you that my BF and I had a really good picnic this weekend.
I made a sandwich with it and added olive tapanade, proscuitto, swiss cheese, artichoke hearts, dried tomato (the moisture will rehydrate it) and sweet mustard. It really filled us up as the bread is really hearty. I also made Lorelei's pasta salad (which is yummy by the way), packed some crackers and Trader Joe's roasted garlic hummus and some blueberries and strawberries macerated in lemon juice, lemon peel and mint. Yum!!
__________________________________________________
Roasted Dehydrated Garlic Powder (at Jewel's request)
About a year and 1/2 ago, my BF gave me a dehydrator that his old GF gave him. At first, I didn't want it as I didn't know what to do with it and thought it would sit around gathering dust -sort of like Mamasue's sandwich maker mentioned on an old thread.
A good friend of mine told me that I did want it so I blame her as much as my BF for my "dehydrator mania"! BF says that I dehydrate the planet.
Anyway, I will get to the point: after experimenting with lots of things in the dehydrator, I decided to try drying roasted garlic, I buy the Costco container of prepeeled garlic and roast it in my claycooker with a little olive oil. From there, I put it in my dehydrator and let it go for about 24-32 hours until it hardens and turns a golden brown (resembling dry roasted almonds) from there, I grind a few cloves at a time in the blender-voila! roasted garlic powder! Before trying this, I tried regular garlic and as with most roasted things, there is no comparason!
Anyway, I will be quiet now!