Penzeys Recipes

[Jasmine-Rose]

I know that Penzeys is a popular source for herbs and spices among the BBers, but I'm looking for feedback on their recipes. I want to try the Spiced Potato Salad from the Summer 2001 catalog but I recently tried another of their recipes (Curried Chicken and Pasta) and was a bit disappointed. Seemed rather bland to me. The potato salad looks wonderful and my spice order arrived today and the garam masala smells great so I'm anxious to try it. What has your experience been with their recipes?

TIA,
J-R

[luv2cook]

Wish I could help but I've never tried any altho I want to. Bumping this up to see if anyone else has tried any...

[Kelly]

Funny that you mentioned this! I received the latest catalog the other day and made the Harvest Vegetable Casserole to go with dinner. It was great! I'm not sure how it was supposed to fit into a 9X13 pan though - I put it in a larger pan and it pretty much filled it. I put grated cheese on the top & reheated the rest for dinner the next night - it was even better.

[jazzcat]

Kelly, Thanks for the review. I thought this looked good!!

[Melman]

I've made a few of their recipes over the past couple of years with good results. I've made their apple crisp QUITE a few times! Awesome. Last Christmas, they had a cocoa struesel something-or-other bar....it was AMAZING!! Wonderful! I also remember making something like a tomato tart(?) a while back that was really good. I actually like looking at their recipes ALMOST as much as picking out spices. Guess what I did last night...started my next list of purchases from them!! I need more cabinet space!

[valeriek]

I also have made a few of their recipes and they are very good (and very not low fat :eek: ). Their cinnamon apple bread is the most incredible thing I've ever eaten and it is what I bake when I need to give a food gift. I've also made their potato pancakes and although it was time consuming, they were very good. I've marked several other recipes as those I want to try (they had a tomato pie recipe last year that I've been meaning to make).

[dlhoon]

I recently made their quick cinnamon coffee cake and their chocolate ice cream and they were both fantastic (and VERY easy to make)!!

Valeriek - can you post the recipe for the cinnamon apple bread - it sounds so good!:)

[jazzcat]

Dlhoon, I went to www.penzeys.com looking for that cinnamon
apple bread recipe but could not find it. They do have a cake listed. I thought it was great they have a recipe section since I only just started to get their catalog.

[valeriek]

Here is the apple bread. I tried to post earlier but I had some difficulity! Okay, here goes:

Cinnamon Apple Bread

Bread:
4 cups apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (about 4-5 apples - they suggest McIntosh)
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp pure almond extract
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated white sugar

Topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
6 TB butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9"x5" bread loaf pans and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the oil and beat until combined. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Beat until thoroughly mixed. Next, add the flour and sugar and mix on low just to blend. Turn the mixer to high and beat until mixture is smooth. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the chopped apples, mixing by hand so the apples to not get too broken up. Divide the mixture between the two pans. Since the batter is so thick, it is easiest to spoon the batter into the pans. To prepare the topping, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut the butter into the mixture with a fork until all ingredietns are moist and crumbly. (Ed. note: CL had a thing in the cooking class section that suggested using a food processor for this. While I did not do that this time, I will try next time because it takes a little time to get it mixed until crumbly). Srnkle equal amounts of topping on each loaf. Bake for about 1 hour on the center rack of the oven. The loaf should feel fairly firm when touched in the middle, or cook an extra 5 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pans. It is easier to slice the bread if you can wait until it is all cool. Yield: 2 loaves.

This is really good! I originally posted this back in October, and since then I have made this by grating the apples in my food processor instead of having the chunks. Turned out fine.

[valeriek]

okay,

I posted the recipe, but the thread didn't bump up to the top. What is going on?

[valeriek]

Just trying to see if this will bump up.

[valeriek]

I'm trying this one more time to get this post to the top so dlhoon can see it! What is going on with these boards?

[jazzcat]

Dlhoon, Would you mind posting the quick cinnamon coffeecake?
Thanks.

[dlhoon]

Thank you so much valeriek for posting the apple cinnamon bread recipe! It sounds delicious!

Jazzcat, I will get the quick cinnamon coffe cake recipe tonight and post it tomorrow am. Thanks!

[dlhoon]

I am so sorry this took two days! I forgot the recipe yesterday and was really bummed out about it!

Here it is. It's really easy and really good! I brought it into work for a group breakfast and it was gone in 10 minutes!

Penzey's Quick Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Cake:
3/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp. butter
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon (they used Korintje)
1 cup milk

Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup vanilla sugar (I used regular sugar since I didn't have this)
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. butter (melted)
1/2 cup raisins, dark or gold (optional)
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and sugar an 8" round pan or an 8" or 9" square pan (I used a 10" springform pan and it worked great!). In a medium size bowl, cream the sugar and butter together with a mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture and the milk to the butter mixture, alternating each one. Blend thoroughly after each addition. Combine all of the streusel topping ingredients in a small bowl and stir until blended. By hand, stir half of the streusel topping into the batter. Spread the batter into the pan. Smooth the top of the dough and sprinkle on the remaining streusel topping. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. This is best when served warm with milk, coffee, or tea. Serves 6 to 8.

Enjoy!

[jazzcat]

Dlhoon, Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!