I'm Really a Blonde...

Oh, happy days! After trying to post for 8 loooong hours yesterday, Blogger finally let me on to post! I even have a window of time on my Sunday to write one, too. How did that happen?

A little under a week ago I mentioned that I was doing a whole slew of baking for the latest CAFP fundraiser at my school. Well, that was on Friday, and out of everything we brought in to sell, three things went like wildfire: Christie (our president's) walnut and raisin baklava, my Oatmeal Brownie Truffle Balls (I'll share soon, I promise!) and these beauties:

See that ooey, gooey "eye" of caramel peeking out from the rich, fudgy goodness that is a dark chocolate brownie? Well, that is pretty much all that remains as a homage to the original recipe I used. You see, I made these not from a brownie recipe, but from one of the best blondie recipes I've ever seen! I found it over at Smitten Kitchen (even before my blogging days), and having made it verbatim once I was more than willing to give it a go as it's darker sibling. Out came the cocoa powder, as well as canola oil for the butter and some barley flour for nutrition and flavour. I had some leftover caramel squares from the last bake sale's apples, so I tossed those in too to mark each portion. They sunk in slightly and turned the pan into a minefield of gold nuggets!

I intentionally underbaked these slightly, just to add to the "goo" factor. I wasn't disappointed, either: even after having the pan in the fridge for a full day, they still stuck to the knife and (as you can see in the photo) were just on the dry side of molten! It's no wonder they sold as they did, and if I could have eaten one of these babies, they would have ALL been mine!

Caramel - Fudge Brownies
Makes 16
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp canola oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
1/3 cup cocoa powder
Pinch salt
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup barley flour
8 vanilla chewy caramel candies, cut in half horizontally

1. Preheat oven to 350°F, lightly grease a 9" pan.
2. Mix oil and sugar until smooth.
3. Add egg and vanilla, beating well.
4. Sift in cocoa powder, followed by salt and flours.
5. Pour into prepared pan.
6. Place one half-caramel square on each sixteenth of the batter in the pan (4x4).
7. Bake 25 minutes.
8. Chill completely before cutting and serving.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 125.4
Total Fat: 5.9 g
Cholesterol: 13.6 mg
Sodium: 20.9 mg
Total Carbs: 18.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.0 g
Protein: 1.4 g

Time (Un) Management

If you know me, you know I'm probably the world's worst planner. I double and triple book myself into every possible corner that exists in the world, and usually don't realize it until it's way too late! Case in point - I bought my pasta machine weeks ago to finally slake the longing I had for the home-made dough of my childhood (I had a cheap plastic pasta roller that my parents bought me) and made this dough almost immediately, but did I do anything with it then? Did I blog about it? Did I even remember the dang stuff? Noooo... until now, that is. Long after it's been eaten and (somewhat) enjoyed, this pasta makes an appearance on the blogosphere. Not that anyone's really going to see it all that quickly, it is only the major holiday in the U.S.! By the way, Happy Thanksgiving!

It wasn't that this wasn't a blog-worthy recipe either. I have so much stuff in the backlog right now that it's crazy, I have post fodder for ages! In fact, just because tomorrow is Presto Pasta Night (hosted by Daphne of More Than Words), you'll get two goodies for the price of one... the fresh dough and a great use for it!

We try to avoid anything overly "white" in our house these days, what with the diabetics and weight-watchers running around. I made this dough up to satisfy everyone, and it did! I love Kamut for both it's taste and nutritional value - buttery and vitamin-packed - and my family loves the texture of spelt too, so the combo works well! This mixes and kneads easily by hand, and you can keep the dough in the fridge for a couple days if need be. I'm going to try ravioli next!

Multi-Grain Fresh Pasta
Serves 4
1 cup Kamut flour
1 cup spelt flour
1 tsp vital wheat gluten
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup water

1. Combine flours, gluten and salt in a large shallow dish.
2. Make a well in the centre, add olive oil and water.
3. Stir with a fork to incorporate the wet and dry ingredients. When mixture becomes too stiff, switch to hand mixing.
4. Knead dough until it is not sticky at all (this will take time... and muscle!) - it should be stiff but have all the flour mixed in evenly. Add water a couple drops at a time if necessary.
5. Wrap dough in Saran wrap and let rest for 30 minutes - 1 hour at room temperature, or up to 36 hours in the fridge.
6. Roll dough through pasta machine settings to make the thinnest sheets you can, or roll by hand in sections with a rolling pin before cutting.
7. Cook pasta 2-3 minutes (no longer) in boiling, salted water if using immediately.
8. If drying pasta for later, hang cut sheets or noodles on the backs of chairs or drying racks for 12-24 hours, until completely dry, and store in covered containers up to 2 weeks. Cook time will be 3-5 minutes.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 221.1
Total Fat: 2.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 1.9 mg
Total Carbs: 45.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 7.5 g
Protein: 8.8 g

So, what exactly did I do with this newfangled pasta dough? Well, inspiration credit goes to Heidi for this one, and it's being passed to Bookmarked Recipes at Ruth's Kitchen Experiments because of it! Like many a blogger before me, I have finally embraced the goodness that is the Thousand-Layer Lasagne, and changed it up to make it my own. You will never believe the complexity that the paper-thin layers paired with a savoury tomato sauce give to an otherwise "plain" lasagne recipe. Just like baklava, it gets a central thick layer too - pureed cottage cheese that I strained to almost a custardy consistency. I found that when I chilled this before baking it (like I usually do for my lasagnes) it got kind of "gummy" (to quote my mother) - I'd bake it ASAP next time. You will also need every bit of counter space you own, especially if you're making your own pasta! If that's not your thing, use 1 lb fresh lasagne sheets from the grocery and roll them out with a rolling pin as thin as possible.


Baklasagna
Serves 4
All the pasta recipe (above)
---Filling---
1 cup low-fat (1%) cottage cheese
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp black pepper
---Sauce---
28 oz crushed tomatoes
2 oz red wine
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dry basil
1/2 tbsp dry oregano
1/2 tsp lemon juice

1. Pour cottage cheese, lemon zest and 1/2 tsp pepper into a blender and puree until completely smooth.
2. Line a strainer placed over a bowl with cheesecloth, pour cottage cheese puree into it and allow to stand covered in the fridge for 8-12 hours.

---Sauce---

1. Combine all ingredients but lemon juice in a saucepan, bring to a simmer.
2. Cook 5-10 minutes, until hot, bubbly and fragrant.
3. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Set aside.

---Assembly---

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9" square pan.
2. Spread a very thin layer of sauce onto the bottom of the dish.
3. Layer over 3 sheets of pasta, then another thin layer of sauce.
4. Repeat until half the pasta sheets are used up, rotating the direction of the pasta sheets each layer (you want it to look almost "woven").
5. Finish with a layer of sauce.
6. Spread all the strained cheese mixture evenly over the bottom layers of pasta.
7. Resume layering dough sheets and sauce until the rest of the ingredients are used up, again finishing with a layer of sauce.
8. Bake lasagne, covered, for 35 minutes.
9. Uncover and continue baking another 5-10 minutes.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 386.1
Total Fat: 3.1 g
Cholesterol: 2.3 mg
Sodium: 1,052.0 mg
Total Carbs: 71.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 9.0 g
Protein: 19.6 g

What's Winter Without Chestnuts?

There's something about chestnuts that just screams "Winter" and "Christmas". I mean, come on - there's a reason it's called "The Christmas Song"! It just so happens that we also have a chestnut tree in our backyard, though it isn't producing quite yet... it's only a baby, so we're still buying ours (albeit locally). While I'm not a huge fan of nuts myself, my stepdad loves them and when chestnut season rolls around you had better have your share under lock and key, because he'll sniff them out in a heartbeat! His birthday falls on Christmas Eve, which is also the Feast of the Seven Fishes for the Italian clan, and it was up to me to make the dessert (mostly because I knew that if I didn't, it would be storebought and impersonal, and come on, it's an excuse for me to bake!). Because of his insatiable love for roasted chestnuts and citrus, I knew they would have to find their way into the dessert. Anything whipped-cream was out due to most of the family's loathing for the ingredient, but if it was Italian in any way... well, I'd be pretty much awarded the Nobel Prize from them.

My secret weapon was the fact that I knew almost everyone in the family likes loves cheesecake... of any kind. Chestnuts... citrus... cheese... I had an interesting project! I scouted around the internet and through my cookbook library, and came across a rich, decadent cheesecake made with ricotta, rum and caramelized chestnuts in Lynne Rossetto Kasper's The Splendid Table (and huzzah, found it online too!). Buuuutttt... I can't leave anything well enough alone. Instead, I used the recipe as my diving board and began to play with this "tester cake" (I didn't want to get to the big day without a bang-on recipe!).

Rum morphed into Grand Marnier, some of the ricotta changed into mascarpone, and even the candied peel became fresh-grated. I even dropped one of the four eggs from the custard, replacing it with a cornstarch-water slurry (like I use in cookies). After sticking it in the oven, I crossed my fingers and waited. And waited. And smelled... And I was not disappointed! The results looked divine, and I couldn't wait to serve it to the intendeds. The first round of slices had a good third of the cake gone in a flash - and my mom had to stop Cel from taking a second huge slice! Even Andrew (who normally eschews chestnuts) had a piece, declared it awesome, and took two more slices home! I think I'm in the good books... don't you?

I can't eat nuts of any kind anymore because of the fat content, though chestnuts in general are a good choice for dieters because they are fairly low in oils (but high in starch, if you're watching carbs there are 12.5g / oz!). Per 1 oz of raw chestnuts, there's only 55 calories and 1/2 g of fat, but also 19% of your RDA of Vitamin C! Of course, covering them in sugar and alcohol before baking them into high-fat cheese kind of negates any health claims, but it's good to know nevertheless!

You can see from the photos that this is a full-of-stuff kind of cheesecake... a chunky one, if you will. Lucky for me, that's exactly the theme of the November Cheesecake Challenge at Life's Too Short For Mediocre Chocolate. It's a little unconventional, but that's what makes it fun! Thanks also to Kevin from Closet Cooking for the roasted chestnut tutorial!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and may we all find things to be thankful for in the coming year.

Candied Chestnut Christmas Cake
Serves 16
*Note: This cake should be served room temperature, never cold, so when you've just served dinner pull it out of the fridge to warm up*
1 pound fresh, in-shell chestnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups smooth, whole-milk ricotta
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tbsp grated orange zest
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cold water
1 tbsp cornstarch

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Score the shell of each nut halfway around and spread in a deep roasting pan.
3. Roast 25 minutes, until tender.
4. Peel away the shells and the inner skin, chop roughly and set in a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
5. Add sugar and Grand Marnier.
6. Bring to a brisk simmer and cook 12-15 minutes, stirring constantly, until very thick. Add 1-2 tbsp of water if required to prevent burning.
7. Remove from heat and beat in 1 tbsp vanilla, then allow to cool 15 minutes.
8. Mash the nuts slightly against the side of the pot until they are the consistency of chopped peanuts. Set aside and cool completely.
9. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 10" springform pan and line the bottom with parchment.
10. In a large bowl, using electric beaters, combine cheeses, brown sugar, eggs and orange zest until fluffy.
11. Combine vanilla, water and cornstarch in a small dish until smooth, then beat into the cheese mixture.
12. By hand, using a spatula, slightly fold in the candied chestnuts. Do not mix thoroughly, it should look like a ripple.
13. Scrape mixture into the pan and smooth the top.
14. Bake for 45 minutes, then cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake a further 15 minutes.
15. Turn off oven, leaving cake inside, and let sit 1 hour.
16. Remove from oven, run a knife around the edge of the cake, and chill completely before unmoulding.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 253.1
Total Fat: 13.7 g
Cholesterol: 77.4 mg
Sodium: 67.7 mg
Total Carbs: 20.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
Protein: 7.9 g

Gettin' My Groove Back

Ahh... I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I may not be finished my first semester yet (it's only the first semester?!?) but things are finally starting to wind down, and my heart rate is returning to normal after last weekend's ohmygodwhydoIhavefourpeoplesworktodoandnohelp stint. To avoid doing my work along the way (and celebrate once I finished!), I baked. A lot. So stay tuned - December's almost here too, which means Christmas baking season is nigh! In fact, today's cookies will be my first contribution to Food Blogga's second annual Eat Christmas Cookies event. You'll remember that I participated gratuitously last year... I promise there will be (slightly) less cookieage this time, but only because I don't have the time to do it all!

Of course, I say that fully knowing that I've done a mass of baking for this Friday, when we have another CAFP bake sale findraiser at my school. Nothing as fancy or decorated as the Hallowe'en treats I made will be coming in from me, though... but I did make chocolate and vanilla sables and some other snackish things that I'll share over the next couple days.

So yes, these cookies... I didn't realize it at the time, but they really are a good "Winter" flavoured snack, since they've got not only chocolate (good all year round, of course!), but cranberries, pumpkin seeds and orange extract too! Cream cheese in place of more traditional butter gives these a great "body" without the grease, which was definitely appreciated by the cookie monsters my mom works with. These cookies are so varied in texture that you'll be reaching for another before you know it... and if you really need to justify it, think of the cookies as protein! Cream cheese is good for you... right?? Ladies and gentlemen... stop your diets!

I called these "Cupboard Cookies" simply because I was in another one of those cleaning moods (again, avoiding the devil homework)!

Cupboard Cookies
Makes 40
1 cup flour
1 cup spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp custard powder
2 tbsp cold water
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1/ tsp orange extract
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Combine flours, baking soda and salt in a small bowl, set aside.
3. Separately, combine cheese, shortening, and sugars until fluffy.
4. Whisk together custard powder, water and extracts in a small dish, beat into cheese mixture.
5. Gradually beat in flour mix.
6. Fold in chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds and cranberries.
7. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet 8 minutes.
8. Cool 2 minutes on sheets, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 86.0
Total Fat: 4.2 g
Cholesterol: 4.6 mg
Sodium: 14.6 mg
Total Carbs: 11.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.5 g
Protein: 1.1 g

Sigh...

Sorry, guys... until I get 4 people's worth of schoolwork done (grr...) I'm off on hiatus. Well, that or until Monday, when it's due. But I'll be bringing stuff, I promise!