GardenCuizine: Baking for a Crowd

Showing posts with label Baking for a Crowd. Show all posts

Monday, October 20, 2014

'tis the season! Get your holiday cookie recipes ready #gingerbread #cookies

Gingerbread Cookies

Last night's Calendar Party at Trinity Church launched us into the holiday spirit. My friend Audrey hosted the December table. Her theme this year was Christmas Tea with gingerbread. She served a variety of herbal teas, tea sandwiches, and scones with all the fixings. She made a gingerbread house for the centerpiece and I made and decorated large and small gingerbread cookies that she gave out at the end of the party along with a party favor of molasses.

We all loved Audrey's gingerbread house. You would never know that she was pressed for time and cheated using graham crackers instead of gingerbread for the house. Sssshhh...no one even noticed. Her mom, Helen, helped too; they both are very creative. Helen made the door wreath and garden window boxes on the side of the house. Decorating details included red licorice Twizzler windows and Necco wafer candy roof shingles. Audrey made the chimney out of gum 'bricks', which was cleaver and must have taken patience to assemble.

The gingerbread cookies were fun to make and decorate. I used raisins for the eyes and royal icing to decorate and put the first name initial of each guest on their cookie. Watch for my Gingerbread Cookie recipe post coming soon...
Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Italian Easter Bread #GardenCuizine #HappyEaster

Italian Easter Bread

Our family tradition is to bake 2 large rings of Sicilian Easter Bread on Easter Sunday. Fruit is added to the dough. This year I added chopped dates, anise seeds and candied orange. Uncooked eggs are added to the dough braid and bake in the oven. Eggs baked in the oven usually come out perfectly hard cooked. This year was the first time I ever had an egg explode during baking! Luckily, it was only one egg and it exploded near the end of baking with only a part of the shell coming off.

In trying to figure out why the egg exploded, I've concluded that in past years I have often peeked into the oven (heat escapes) to look at the bread. This year I never opened the oven at all and heat never escaped. It seems that 350° F is too high a temperature to bake eggs. I now recommend baking the bread for the first 20 minutes at 350° F then reducing the temperature to 325° F for the remaining baking time to avoid risking an egg burst.

Happy Easter!
My revised recipe for whole grain Italian Easter Bread is posted here.
Photos and blog post Copyright (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Christmas Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti recipe #GardenCuizine

Christmas Cranberry

Pistachio Biscotti

Red cranberries and green pistachios are the stars of these Christmas cookie jar favorites. I first saw this holiday combination dipped in white chocolate in Bon Appetit in 2003. Since then I've seen several variations online that seem to have dropped the anise seeds. I dropped the white chocolate instead. This is my take on a great holiday cookie with fruit and nuts that we always find time to make during the holidays. Enjoy!

Yields: approximately 6 dozen

Ingredients
1 pkg Craisins (or dried cherries)
3/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons whole anise seeds

4 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

12 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 large eggs (1 for egg wash)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
lemon zest from 2 lemons

1 1/4 cups shelled raw pistachios

Putting it all together
prepare 2 cookie sheets with foil or parchment; no need to spray
preheat oven to 350 deg. F

Roast pistachios on a baking sheet; set aside to cool.
Place orange juice, anise seeds and Craisins in medium pot and heat to boiling. Turn off heat and let sit until cool. After cool, allow to strain in colander.
Meanwhile, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In mixing bowl with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light.

Crack 4 eggs into measuring cup; add vanilla.
Add 4 eggs to butter/sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition
Slowly mix in flour mixture and lemon zest until just combined.
Fold in nuts and dried cranberries.

Divide dough and press and form into 4 logs directly on cookie sheets. Tip: wet hands under water and shake off excess to help prevent dough from sticking.
Whisk remaining egg with a splash of water for egg wash. Brush logs with egg wash and bake until golden. remove from oven and cool on counter 20 minutes before peeling off foil from bottom. Move cookies to a cutting board and slice on an angle into 1/2 inch slices.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 deg. F. Position sliced biscotti back on cookie sheets and bake again on each side for 10 minutes or until desired dryness.
Cool completely before storing in airtight containers.

Merry Christmas!
Related Links
Pistachios, small nut - Mighty Nutrition
Diana's Anise Biscotti

Recipe and photo Copyright (C)2013 Wind. All rights reserved.
Craisins are a registered trademark of Ocean Spray.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Puff Pastry Pinwheels topped with low fat frozen yogurt and Jersey fresh blueberries #GardenCuizine

Puff Pastry Pinwheels
topped with your favorite low fat frozen yogurt or ice cream
and Jersey Fresh Blueberries

Recipe yields 18 pinwheels

Ingredients

1 box frozen puff pastry dough

1 egg mixed with splash water for egg wash
large chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli 60% cacao)

colored sugar crystals (optional)
low fat frozen yogurt or ice cream

Jersey fresh blueberries

cookie sheets lined with foil and lightly sprayed with nonstick spray

preheat oven to 375° F

Putting it all together

This recipe is a fun and easy one. I just made a large batch of puff pastry pinwheels for Trinity Episcopal Church's blueberry festival that is being held tonight. Puff pastry pinwheels are fun served at summer BBQ's and picnics too.

Simply buy puff pastry dough and thaw at room temperature until workable. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this could take 15 to 30 minutes. You could also thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight. Store-bought puff pastry dough is folded like a letter in 3 parts.

Unfold the dough and cut the dough into thirds along the fold.
Cut each rectangle into 3-inch squares.
using a paring knife, make a diagonal cut from near the center to the corner. Leave an inch or slightly less in the center uncut
fold the tips towards the center to form a pinwheel. Egg wash to hold and egg wash exposed dough
sprinkle with colored sugar crystals if desired
place a large chocolate chip in the center
when your cookie sheet is full, bake until golden
continue until all your squares are made into pinwheels.
Serve topped with your favorite low fat frozen yogurt or ice cream and a generous portion of Jersey fresh blueberries!

Nutrition Data fresh Blueberries: based on USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference:
Excellent Source: Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Manganese*
Good Source: dietary Fiber
1 cup (148g) raw blueberries: 84 calories; total fat: 0.49g (0.7% DV); Sodium: 1mg (0% DV); dietary Fiber: 4g (14% DV); Carbohydrate: 21g; sugars 15g; Vitamin C: 14mg (24% DV); Vitamin K: 29mcg (36% DV); Manganese 0.50mg (25% DV).
Percent Daily Value (%DV) is based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
* Manganese aides in bone health and is part of enzymes involved in protein, fat and carbohydrate metabolism. Manganese is considered an essential nutrient. Safe levels should not exceed 11mg/day.

Related Links

Jersey Blues by Diana Wind, RD
Jersey Blueberry History Rutgers

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Antioxidant-rich Shamrock Ginger-Mesquite Cookies #Recipe #GardenCuizine

St. Patty's

~ Low Sodium, Antioxidant-rich ~

Ginger-Mesquite Cut-out
Cookies Recipe

Another GardenCuizine^TM cookie jar favorite! Antioxidant-rich gingerbread cookies inspired the recipe for these tasty year-round treats made with nutrient-dense Mesquite flour. The difference from traditional gingerbread cookie dough is that they are lower in sodium, and higher in dietary fiber from the mesquite flour, which is ground from dried mesquite beans.

Read previous blog post for more information about Mesquite

Contrary to popular belief, the flavor of mesquite is not smokey. Mesquite flour is sometimes compared to carob flour. You really have to try mesquite flour and taste it for yourself. I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor and appealing ginger color it adds to baked goods. My taste testers like it too.

This recipe yields a large batch, but you don't have to bake off all of the dough at once. Like most cookie doughs, when well wrapped, the dough stores well in the fridge or freezer.

The dough makes great gingerbread men at Christmas too!

Ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg mingle well with the unique natural flavor of mesquite, making these Ginger-Mesquite Cookies a new cookie favorite
Any shape cut-out can be used
Organic, fiber-rich, mesquite flour can be found from online sources, such as Casa deFruta

Yields: approximately 12 dozen 3-inch cookies
Ingredients
5 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup organic mesquite flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup molasses
2 eggs (cracked into a small cup and set aside)

Putting it all together
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)

Foil line a few cookie sheets and set aside
Sift the dry ingredients, except for the salt, into a large bowl.
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and salt.
Add molasses and beat until well combined.
Add eggs, scraping the bottom of the bowl if necessary.
Add dry ingredients. Mix (with paddle) on low until just combined.
Divide the dough into about 6 portions. Press the dough into 1-inch disc shapes.
Wrap dough in clear wrap. Label and date. Store in airtight freezer-safe baggies.
Keep refrigerated or frozen until ready to use.

Bring to room temperature when ready to roll out. Using about half of a disc of dough at a time, place the dough between 2 sheets of plastic clear wrap. Slowly work and roll the dough out to about 1/8-inch thick. Cut out using desired cookie cutter shapes.
Bake 350°F 7-10 minutes

Remember cookies are a treat. Enjoy in moderation!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Monday, March 5, 2012

St. Patty's Ginger-Mesquite Cookies #GardenCuizine @casadefruta

St. Patty's

Ginger-Mesquite Cookies

Another GardenCuizine^TM favorite cookie to add to your cookie jar recipe collection: Ginger-Mesquite cookies. They taste similar to gingerbread cookies with hints of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, only they are made with nutritious mesquite flour in addition to regular unbleached flour. Mesquite flour is flour ground from mesquite beans harvested from ripe pods grown on Mesquite trees.

Mesquite Pods

Mesquite trees grow in southwestern US and in the Colorado, Sonoran, Mojave and Chihuahuan deserts. The drought-tolerant trees have an incredible tap root, which allows them to survive in dry areas. Mesquite trees also thrive in areas near streams and creeks and places having a supply of ground water. The ripe pods contain the beans that are dried, roasted and ground to make a fine powder called mesquite flour.

Mesquite Flour comes from a Bean

As you may have suspected, mesquite flour contains nutrients common to legumes. Mesquite provides a source of dietary fiber (about 21%) and protein (about 19%, high in lysine) plus other important nutrients, including calcium, iron and vitamin C.

The nutrient-dense, gluten-free, flour contains anti-depressant and anti-inflammatory compounds and was historically used by Native American tribes as a medicinal food.

Mesquite flour is not to be confused with mesquite smoke flavor that comes from burning wood from mesquite trees. You and your family will find the pleasant carob-like flavor of mesquite flour to be a healthy addition to your baked goods.