Artisan Mini Donuts and a Tea Party

September 25, 2011Carroll 8 Comments

Artisan Mini Donuts and a Tea Party!

Today I felt like I stepped back in time to my childhood bedroom. There is a small table set up with miniature china plates, teacups and saucers and a lovely host is asking how many lumps everyone will take. The chairs are filled with dolls and stuffed animals with one petite chair waiting for me to sit…… Are they familiar memories? Do you ever look back at moments like those?

There are a few loves that a girl takes with her from childhood to adulthood. No matter how old or how busy life gets, girls just can’t resist “cute”; we adore things like scissors and construction paper, and there are never too many sprinkles, never. I suppose this lends a hand in our obsession of cupcakes, the adorable cookies, donuts and popsicle that are so popular right now.

I’ve seen Donut Makers in the stores lately and was recently inspired to make artisan donuts myself. They are just so darn cute, I could not resist. Cute Tea Party would meet sophisticated, grown up treat, that was the goal. I made 3 flavors; the machine is great- so easy to use. They really did not take much time at all, and would be perfect to take to a tea party or more likely in my world, an early tailgate….

Can these get cuter? Little girls are screaming in delight over these!

Recipes adapted from Bella Mini Donut Instruction Manual

Pumpkin Latte Mini Donuts

Batter

1 cup flour
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
3 tbsp pumpkin puree
1/3 cup milk
½ tsp vanilla
4 tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

Glaze

4 tbsp confection sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 teaspoon pumpkin puree

Garnish

Instant Espresso Powder, sprinkle lightly

Pumpkin Glaze and Instant Espresso Powder- Lightly sprinkle the espresso, trust me....

Makes about 20 mini donuts

Rocky Road Mini Donuts

Batter

¾ cup unbleached, presifted flour
½ cup sugar
1 (1.4 oz) package Jell-O Instant Sugar Free Fat Free Chocolate Pudding mix
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp chocolate syrup
3 tbsp water
3 tbsp vegetable oil

Glaze

4 tbsp confection sugar
1 tbsp milk

Garnish

60 mini marshmallows, cut in ½
2 tbsp toasted chopped nuts

Creme Glaze and Marshmallow Halves, ready for toasting!

Combine all dry ingredients and stir well. Add remaining ingredients and beat until batter is mixed well. Follow directions of donut maker. Allow donuts to cool. Combine glaze ingredients in microwave proof bowl, stir well. Heat in microwave for 15 seconds and stir. Dip donuts into glaze and allow excess to drip off. Garnish with the mini marshmallows before glaze sets. With a creme brulee torch carefully toast the marshmallows (if you don’t have a torch, no worries, they still taste great).

Makes about 20 mini donuts

Torching marshmallows. If you don't have a torch, put it on your christmas list. It is use full for so many things, meringues, melting cheese, blistering tomatoes and a ton more.

The last donuts are Peach Cobbler, feel free to substitute the preserves with what is in season, or what you have in the pantry!

Peach Cobbler Donuts

Batter

¾ cup unbleached, presifted flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp peach preserves
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp vegetable oil

Glaze

4 tbsp confection sugar
1 tbsp milk

Garnish

1 tbsp butter, softened
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp sugar
¼ cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon

Creme Glaze and Cobbler Crumbles. Save any left over crumbles for muffins, pies, greek yogurt or even ice cream topping.

To make the Cobbler Crumbs, preheat oven to 350. Blend all ingredients with fork until crumbles. Spread evenly onto parchment lined baking sheet and cook for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and break into crumble topping.

While the crumble is baking combine all batter dry ingredients and stir well. Add remaining ingredients and beat until batter is mixed well. Follow directions of donut maker. Allow donuts to cool. Combine glaze ingredients in microwave proof bowl, stir well. Heat in microwave for 15 seconds and stir. Dip donuts into glaze and allow excess to drip off. Garnish before glaze sets.

Makes about 12 mini donuts

Pumpkin Latte, Rocky Road, and Peach Cobbler Mini Donuts

Lesson learned, you are never to old to have a tea party.

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream- Top Chef Nitro Style!

September 18, 2011Carroll 10 Comments

There are a ton of cooking shows on television today. Some I love, some are just “ehh”, and some are just garbage. The shows I don’t like are the ones that make professional kitchens and chefs look ridiculous. Many of my friends and family ask me after seeing Hell’s Kitchen, “Is that what you do?”…So I’d like to say to everyone, while there are times when chef is screaming in our kitchen, there is no Gordon Ramsey running around yelling at seemingly inexperienced “chefs” that don’t know how to saute a piece of fish. It just isn’t reality….

I am a Top Chef fan, I think Bravo does a great job, capturing the energy and vibe of a kitchen. When my friends and family chat me up about cooking, our conversations often lead to Top Chef. I love the creativity of the chefs, the familiar competition amongst them and the accurate portrayal of the stress all kitchens have. The producers really capture it well, so I love for friends outside of food and beverage world to watch, so they can understand the day to day life in a kitchen.

We have a lot of kitchen “toys” at work, some of which are used by the chefs on Top Chef. The one fault I see in the show, is that the contestants use new, cutting edge cooking techniques, equipment, presentations and ideas, but don’t give a clear explanation for the viewers. (Perhaps they need a 2 hour time slot). We recently had a “teach and learn” at work using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream, a method I have seen on Top Chef fairly often. So I thought I would share the process, while you might not have a liquid nitrogen tank at home, you can at least know what the heck Richard Blais is doing!

The Tank! Saftey first!

Transferring the Liquid Nitrogen

We used Paula Deen’s recipe for Key Lime Pie filling, which is delicious! Of course we used liquid nitrogen, but if you can make it at home in your ice cream maker too!

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 (12-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cups key lime juice
1 tablespoon key lime zest
1 pint half-and-half

Some of the Mise en Place for the Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat cream until slightly thickened. Gradually add the sugar, beating until soft peaks form. Add condensed milk and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in lime juice, lime zest, and half-and-half. Now you are ready for the ice cream maker, they all have slightly different directions, follow the method of the maker you have at home. OR…go get yourself a liquid nitrogen tank, and do not forget the saftey mask and gloves!

Pour the liquid nitrogen into a manageable pitcher.

The Key Lime Pie filling is freezing in the mixer!

It's so cool to have the "smoke" blowing all over the place. They should do this in high school science classes!

I am refilling the pitcher, it takes a little more than I thought.

A little more and it should be nicely frozen. It took just minutes!

Voila, Key Lime Pie Ice Cream. Now I need a Graham Cracker Cone!

Now you are ready for the next Top Chef Auditions 🙂

Buffalo and Blue Flat Breads- Game Day Fever!

September 11, 2011Carroll 6 Comments

Buffalo and Blue Flat Breads!

Sir Wes has huge affinity for wings…he loves them and would like to eat them every day if he could, especially during football season. It’s not just NFL Days either, he is a HUGE Alabama fan too, so his appetite for wings is frequent….and it is our waistlines that pay the price. To protect our waistlines I try to answer his thirst for wings in a healthier manner- as long as the flavors are there, he is satisfied.

Sir Wes and Sir Duke- Even Duke has Bama Fever, see his collar!

These flat breads are quick and easy, some days I make my own pizza dough, but I like the ease and low calories of “Flatouts”, most grocery’s have them close to the deli counter. I grilled the chicken the night before while I was using the grill so it was even easier, just putting them together took me about 10 minute. These can also be assembled at your tail gate parties and cooked on the grill, a great alternative to burgers and brats!

Mis en place, simple and easy!

Ingredients

3- Flatouts
3 tsp olive oil
kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
2- 5oz chicken breasts, cooked and sliced
1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
3 tbsp blue cheese crumbles
3 tbsp sliced green onions

Flat breads are ready for the oven!

Preheat the oven to 375. Spread a teaspoon of olive oil on each flat bread and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Gently spread 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese over each flat bread. In a bowl toss the slice chicken with the buffalo sauce and spread evenly over the flat breads. Spread the blue cheese and green onions over the flat breads. If you have a pizza stone, bake directly on them, other wise place flat breads on a cookie sheet and place in oven for about 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Cut, serve and enjoy!

Buffalo and Blue Flat Breads!!

Satisfying to the wing cravings and keeping your waistline in check!

Raspberry Lemon “Pop Tarts”….From Scratch!!!!!!!!

September 7, 2011Carroll 8 Comments

Homemade Raspberry Lemon "Poptarts"

WHAT??????? Homemade Pop Tarts? Awesome… That was our reaction when we passed by the bin that housed these nifty cutters at William Sonoma this summer. We spent the rest of the evening deliberating which flavor we loved best, and what flavors would be fun to try. The good old brown sugar was a contender for sure, and smores too. Sir Wes wants to see a savory play on Quiche and he tells me, “please add bacon”! This pastry cutter is a childhood throwback for sure, but how can you go wrong with a “Poptart”?

While I have plenty of pie crust and pastry dough recipes, I like to consider the recipe given with the product. With the logic that the company is the expert of their product, one would assume, the recipe they provide is a good one. I adapt the method to suit my kitchen equipment and the flavors to fit my preferences.

The following recipe was adapted from William Sonoma.

The dough mis en place!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
16 Tbs. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
6 to 8 Tbs. ice water
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Colored sprinkles

The butter is icy cold!

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt and granulated sugar until combined. Add the butter and crumble with hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 6 Tbs. of the ice water and mix again with hands. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it is crumbly, add more water 1 tsp. at a time, mixing after each addition. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, divide in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap the disks separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.   

Hand mixing is a great way to learn about dough consistency!

The desired cornmeal consistency!

Dough discs, ready for refrigeration.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 dough disc into a rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Using the outer ring of a toaster pastry press, cut out 8 pastries, rerolling the scraps as needed. Using a small offset spatula or a butter knife, spread 1 Tbs. of the jam onto each of 4 pieces of dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Brush the edges with the beaten egg mixture. Top each with a plain piece of dough. Place the 2-piece press on top and press the inner ring down to seal the edges. Remove the mold. Transfer the pastries to a prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough disc.  

Flour coats the dough, the surface and the rolling-pin!

Dough is rolled!

Dough is cut!

Filled, Topped and Pressed!

Position 1 rack in the upper third and 1 rack in the lower third of an oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  

Bake the toaster pastries until golden, about 30 minutes, reversing the positions of the baking sheets on the racks and rotating them from front to back halfway through the baking time. Let the pastries cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer the pastries to wire racks and let cool completely.  

Golden brown, fresh out of the oven!

In a bowl, stir together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until well combined. Using a spoon, lightly drizzle the icing onto the toaster pastries and shake sprinkles over top. Let the icing harden completely before serving. Makes 8 toaster pastries.  

Homemade Raspberry Lemon "Poptarts"

I think these turned out perfectly, the dough was perfect. I put them in the toaster oven the next morning to warm to serve. I see many warm “Pop Tarts” in our future! Chocolate Hazelnut, Heirloom Apples, Pumpkin Latte, ….plenty of options!

Watermelon Cocktail Sauce with Spicy Creole Grilled Gulf Shrimp

September 3, 2011Carroll 5 Comments

Here’s a little secret amongst chefs…we are always looking for something new. I gotta say, new ideas are hard to come by, as there is not too many original ideas. So we take to tweaking, swapping, deconstructing and reconstructing, anything we can do to maintain our hunt to be inventive and creative. Like most chefs I have a pile of food magazines, some cookbooks, and a ton of websites I pour over weekly looking for inspiration. While some people might see this as unoriginal, I believe it’s more of a catalyst to my own work; after all, it’s the hand of the chef that makes the flavors sing.

During the weekly voyage thru those piles of magazines and multiple websites, I came across, what I thought was a homerun! It would be perfect for a southern Labor Day cookout. When we entertain at home, we like to have simple, easy and tasty food, along with a few surprises for our guests to enjoy. Watermelon Cocktail Sauce would do just that, refreshing, zippy and quite the “A- ha”.

Watermelon Cocktail Sauce Mis en Place- Perfect for end of summer cookouts!

Watermelon Cocktail Sauce

2 cups seedless watermelon, diced
1 tablespoon yellow onion, rough chopped
3 tablespoon fresh grated horseradish
1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons prepared cocktail sauce/ketchup

The method is pretty simple…put all of the ingredients except the cocktail sauce or ketchup in a food processor and puree. Once all the ingredients are puréed smoothly, transfer into a mixing bowl. The cocktail sauce or ketchup is there to thicken the sauce if necessary. Add a tablespoon at a time and stir well until the sauce is thick enough; this can vary depending how juicy your watermelon is. The watermelon cocktail sauce can be made in advance and refrigerated.

Fresh Grated Horseradish- peel it like ginger and then grate.

Fresh horseradish is stronger than the prepared type you can buy in the store. Peel the root and grate it; add more or less depending on your taste.

Marinated Creole Gulf Shrimp

Creole Grilled Shrimp

2 pounds peeled tail on large shrimp
4 ounces olive oil
4 tablespoon creole seasoning

Marinate the shrimp for an hour or so with the olive oil and your favorite creole seasoning before you skewer them. A great tip if you use wood skewers is to soak them in water for a few minutes before you put food on them, this will make sure the skewers don’t burn on the grill.