Oven Dried Blueberries

Yesterday Forrest harvested over a quart of blueberries from our bushes.  In a wonderful twist of fate, this morning I came across an article in Whole Living on what to do with those fresh berries!

Oven Dried Blueberries
Adapted from Whole Living


Makes 1/2 cup

Heat oven to 225 degrees F.  Toss 1 cup blueberries with 1 tsp honey in a bowl.  Bake berries on a parchment-lined baking sheet until shriveled but still supple, about 2 hours.  Let cool.  Berries will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

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Chocolate-Raspberry Layer Cake

Raspberries aren't quite in season in Tidewater yet, but this cake was too tempting to wait.  It was a beautiful presentation and overall a great cake.  The actual cake recipe was pretty basic and nothing extraordinary.

Chocolate-Raspberry Layer Cake
Adpated from Bon Appetit


Cake
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs

Chocolate ganache and raspberry topping
18 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped
2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam, stirred to loosen, divided
2 6-ounce containers fresh raspberries


Preparation

Cake

Position racks in top and bottom third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Coat three 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with parchment paper rounds; spray rounds. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl; whisk to blend and form well in center. Whisk 1 cup water, buttermilk, oil, and eggs in medium bowl to blend. Pour wet ingredients into well in dry ingredients; whisk just to blend. Divide cake batter between prepared pans (about 2 cups each).

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. (If cakes form domes, place kitchen towel atop hot cakes, then press gently with palm of hand to level.) Cool completely in pans on cooling racks. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover cakes in pans and let stand at room temperature.

Chocolate ganache and raspberry topping

Place chopped chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream just to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Pour over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute, then stir until ganache is melted and smooth. Transfer 1 1/4 cups ganache to small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ganache is thick enough to spread, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Let remaining ganache stand at room temperature to cool until barely lukewarm.

Place rack inside rimmed baking sheet. Carefully run knife around pan edges to release cakes. Invert 1 cake layer onto cardboard round or bottom of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Peel off parchment paper. Place cake layer on round on prepared rack. Spread 3 tablespoons jam over top. Spoon dollops of chilled ganache over, then spread evenly. Invert second cake layer onto another cardboard round or tart pan bottom. Peel off parchment paper. Carefully slide cake off round and onto frosted cake layer on rack. Spread remaining 3 tablespoons raspberry jam over top of second cake layer. Pour half of barely lukewarm ganache over cake, spreading over sides to cover. Freeze until ganache sets, about 30 minutes. Pour remaining ganache over cake, allowing to drip down sides and spreading over sides if needed for even coverage and to smooth edges. Freeze to set ganache, about 30 minutes.

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Roasted Corn

The first truck of freshly cut corn pulled up at the farmer's market on Friday and brought one of my favorite summer dishes.  I decided to try oven roasting the corn, to avoid the heat of the grill on a 95 degree day.  It was delicious!

Roasted Corn
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cooking School

Slit husks and peel back to remove silk.  Fold husks back around corn, tucking in a few springs of fresh thyme, oregano, & marjoram, a sprinkle of salt and fresh ground pepper and a pat of butter.  Tie with kitchen twine to secure and roast in a baking pan at 450 until tender, about 20 minutes.

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Roast Duck with Pomegranate Molasses

Despite the fattiness, I love duck.  I found that BJs carries whole duck for a very reasonable price.  Martha's recipe called for 4 hours of roasting time.  After 3 hours, my duck was overdone.  I also wasn't a fan of the sauce, but my dinner guests were. 

Roast Duck with Pomegranate Molasses
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cooking School


5 pound duck
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses (recipe follows)
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
Pomegranate Molasses (recipe follows)

Heat oven to 300.  Remove any extra pieces from the cavity and rinse thoroughly.  Lightly score the duck breast skin in a crosshatch pattern, being careful not to pierce the flesh.  Season with salt and pepper inside and out.

Roast duck breast side up for 1 hour.  Remove from oven and prick skin all over to ensure the fat is rendering.  Turn the duck breast side down and roast another hour.  Turn duck over again and prick any fatty spots that aren't rendering.  Roast for 30 minutes, or until browned. 

Meanwhile, prepare the glaze.  Combine honey, molasses, and juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, and cook until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. 

Increase temperature to 400, brush the duck with the glaze and roast 10 minutes or until the skin is crisp and brown.  Let rest for 10 minutes.  Serve duck with a side of Pomegranate Molasses.

Pomegranate Molasses
Adapted from Simply Recipes

4 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

In a large, uncovered saucepan, heat pomegranate juice, sugar, and lemon juice on medium high until the sugar has dissolved and the juice simmers. Reduce heat just enough to maintain a simmer. Simmer for about an hour and a half, or until the juice has a syrupy consistency, and has reduced to 1 to 1 1/4 cups.

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Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake

I am a huge fan of CakeLove, so when I was looking for ways to use a bag of frozen cherries, I knew Warren wouldn't let me down.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the ingredients on hand for the matching butter cream, so I decided to try a bundt cake.  Which, the chocolate chips sank to the bottom of and stuck to the pan.  It was a mess, but it was delicious.

Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake
Adapted From CakeLove by Warren Brown

For the Chocolate Cherry Cake:
Dy:
5 oz or (1 cup) all purpose flour
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
¼ unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Liquid:
½ cup whole milk
¼ cup cherry puree (recipe to follow)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Creaming Mixture:
3 oz. unsalted butter
1 ½ cups extra fine granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 egg yolk

Make the Cherry puree first—see recipe below.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Sift together flour and cocoa powder into a medium sized bowl. Whisk in the baking soda and salt. Then add the dried cherries and chocolate chips and whisk to combine. Set aside.

3. In a large liquid measuring cup mix together the liquid ingredients until combined. Set aside.

4. In a large mixing bowl using the paddle attachment (if you are using a stand mixer), add butter and beat until smooth. Then add the sugar and beat on medium low to incorporate. This may take 5 minutes so be patient. You want to get air in the mixture but you don’t want to beat all the air out of it…so don’t put this on high.

5. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture, followed by the yolk.

6. Then add the dry and liquid mixtures by alternating between the two in 3-4 additions. Starting and ending with the dry mixture. You don’t have to wait for the wet or dry ingredients to be completely incorporated before adding the next. If you do that you will overwork the batter. This process should take you only a minute.

7. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and make sure you don’t have any clumps at the bottom that haven’t been mixed in.

8. Thoroughly spray pan and bake about 30 minute or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cherry Puree
1 16 oz. bag of frozen cherries, pitted
½ cup superfine sugar

Defrost cherries, keeping the juices.  Put in a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a sauce pan and add the sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer, do not boil, and let reduce by half (25 minutes). Remove from heat and cool completely.

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Homemade Yogurt

Thank goodness for Two Peas and Their Pod!  This is the first yogurt recipe that I have found that actually turns out like I'd hoped.  I'm thinking I'll just use this as a base for the flavors I'd like to have.

Homemade Yogurt
Two Peas and Their Pod

42 ounces fresh milk
6 oz. plain yogurt

1. Pour milk into a high-sided saucepan. Place a candy thermometer on the side of the pan. Heat the milk until 170 degrees. This will take about 1-2 minutes. The milk will start to climb the side of the pan.

2. Remove pan from heat and allow the milk to cool to lukewarm-110 degrees. To speed up the process you can place the pan in cold water.

3. In a bowl, add the yogurt and stir in some of the milk. Whisk well. Make sure the yogurt is dissolved. Add the rest of the milk and whisk until smooth.

4. Pour the mixture into the jars of the yogurt maker. Follow the yogurt maker’s instructions. It typically takes 10-12 hours, the longer it matures, the thicker it is.

5. When the yogurt is done resting, chill it in the fridge with the lids on the jars. The yogurt will stay good for 10 days.

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Vanilla Bean & Bourbon Bundt Cake

This cake was fantastic.  Forrest has already requested a repeat appearance.  The flavors seem to improve overnight, but the cake is fatastic served warm.

Vanilla Bean & Bourbon Bundt Cake
Adapted from Craving Chronicles &  Bon Appetit, April 2010

3 tablespoons bourbon
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup milk

Glaze Ingredients

2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons skim milk
2 teaspoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray regular 10″ bundt pan with baking spray.

Measure bourbon into a small bowl. Slice vanilla bean in half and using the back of a knife, scrape out the seeds. Stir vanilla bean seeds into bourbon and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, stir together yogurt and milk. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition. Beat in bourbon vanilla mixture and optional vanilla extract, if using. Add half of the flour mixture, beating until combined, then add yogurt mixture. Once incorporated, add remaining half of flour mixture and mix just until combined.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and using a spatula, smooth top even. Bake at 325°F for 45-55 minutes, or until lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. If needed, add milk in 1/4 teaspoon increments until glaze is thick but pourable. Drizzle glaze over cake and let stand at room temperate to set, about 15 minutes.

Store cake covered at room temperature. To serve, cut cake into wedges and serve topped with strawberries and fresh mint.

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Vanilla Yogurt

Since receiving a yogurt maker for Christmas, I've been searching for a go to recipe.  This one is pretty close to what I'm looking for.  This is great on top of granola with fresh fruit!

Vanilla Yogurt

4 cups milk
1/2 cup powdered dry milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup plain yogurt with active cultures

Set yogurt starter out to warm to room temperature.

Heat the milk to almost a boil- about 180 F.  Remove from heat and cool the milk to 110 F. Add dry milk, vanilla and sugar; stir well.   Stir in yogurt starter.
Pour yogurt into jars and incubate for 12 hours.  Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

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Sausage Making

Last week I took another fantastic class at the Culinary Institute of Virginia's Casual Gourmet.  The class was How to Make Mozzarella & Sausage.  I was on the phone early the next morning in search of hog casings to make sausage for the holiday weekend.  I lucked out and found 2 local meat packers that carry them in stock! 

The recipes from the class can be found here.

The at home sausage making experience was shockingly simple, although messy.  Make sure you have assistants, as you need a lot of hands to stuff the sausage using the KitchenAid attachment.

Jenny's Sausage
2 lbs pork butt, cut into 1 inch cubes
garden fresh herbs--marjoram, parsley, basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage
1 tsp chipotle powder
freshly ground salt & pepper
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 green bell pepper, diced
hog casings

Rinse casings in fresh water and soak for at least 30 minutes.  This helps dilute the salt coating. 

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Using KitchenAid meat grinder, pass mixture through the large disk first, then the small disk.  Let fall into a bowl surrounded by a bowl of ice.  This keeps the mixture very cold and makes it easier to work with.

Slowly feed casing onto large KitchenAid sausage stuffer tube, minimizing air pockets.  With KitchenAid running, slowly pass ground meat mixture into the tube, working quickly and efficiently to minimize air build up in the sausage.  Allow sausage to lie on flat surface and section into ideal sizes. 

Bake sausage in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 145.  If needed, prick air pockets.  Finish sausage on grill or open fire. 

Important Notes

• Keep meat cold!  Do this by working quickly and keeping your bowl nestled in a bowl of ice.  If you have a fine enough ice crusher, add crushed ice while you are grinding the meat.  This adds moisture and keeps it super cold.  Be careful, though, my fridge crushed ice was not fine enough.
• Pricking the sausage is the last think you want to have to do.  Minimize air pockets and do not use a fork to handle the sausages.  Holes cause the juices to run out and the sausage to become dry.
• Before feeding onto the tube, find the end of the casing and allow water to run into it.  This helps untangle the casing.

The one disappointment of the class was that we didn't make our own curds for the mozzarella.  I have unsuccessfully made mozzarella twice, so I was really hoping this class would help me.  The Chef teacher said that I probably didn't let the milk sit long enough to fully curdle.  So, I will be tackling the recipe again later this week.

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