Friday, April 27, 2012


A recipe which is quite tasty


Cajeta

Goat's Milk Caramel Sauce
Makes about 3 cups

INGREDIENTS

2 quarts goat's milk or a combination of goat’s milk and cow’s milk—or even with all cow’s milk (use whole milk in all cases)
2 cups sugar
A  2-inch piece of cinnamon stick, preferably Mexican canela
1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS

1.  Simmer the cajeta.   In a medium-large (6-quart) pot (preferably a Dutch oven or Mexican copper cazo), combine the milk, sugar and cinnamon stick and set over medium heat.  Stir regularly until the milk comes to a simmer (all the sugar should have dissolved by this point). Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the dissolved baking soda—it’ll foam up if the goat’s milk is acidic. When the bubbles subside, return the pot to the heat.  
Adjust the heat to maintain the mixture at a brisk simmer (too high and the mixture will boil over; too low and the cooking time will seem interminable). Cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture turns pale golden, more or less one hour.
 
Now, begin stirring frequently as the mixture colors to caramel-brown and thickens to the consistency of maple syrup (you’ll notice the bubbles becoming larger and glassier).  Stir regularly so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. Test a couple of drops on a cold plate: When cool, the cajeta should be the consistency of a medium-thick caramel sauce.  If the cooled cajeta is thicker (almost like caramel candy), stir in a tablespoon or so of water and remove from the heat; if too runny, keep cooking.

2.  Finish the cajeta.   Pour the cajeta through a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl or a wide-mouth storage jar.  When cool, cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.  Warming the cajeta before serving (a microwave oven is efficient here) makes it extra delicious.

Working Ahead:  Cajeta keeps for a month or more in the refrigerator.  Keep it tightly covered to keep it from absorbing other flavors. 
For the crepes:
1 small cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil as needed
For the goats' milk caramel:
2 quarts goats' milk
2 cups granulated sugar
2-inch cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
For the pecans:
1/4 pound unsalted butter
1 cup pecans, chopped
For the plantains:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 plantains, peeled and sliced
For the dish:
Diced papaya
Blackberries
Raspberries
For the garnish: Mint sprigs
For the crepes, in a spice grinder, pulse the cinnamon stick and the cloves until finely ground. Transfer to a blender, add the milk, eggs, salt, sugar, vanilla, and flour and blend until smooth, about two minutes, scraping down the sides of the blender. With the motor running, add the butter and blend until the mixture has the consistency of heavy cream, about one minute. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside for two hours.
For the goats' milk caramel, in a large saucepan, bring the milk, sugar, and cinnamon stick to a simmer, stirring frequently.
Remove from the heat, add the baking soda, and stir to combine. When the bubbles disappear, return the pan to medium heat. Bring to a brisk simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to turn golden brown, about one hour. Continue to simmer until the mixture thickens to the consistency and color of maple syrup, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain through a fine mesh sieve, and set aside keeping warm.
For the pecans, in a medium saute pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the pecans and saute until toasted and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and using a slotted spoon, transfer the pecans to a medium bowl. Reserve the butter and pecans separately.
For the plantains, in a medium saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the plantains and sauce until golden brown, about five minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside keeping warm.
To finish the crepes, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat a seven-inch skillet over medium heat and brush lightly with the oil. Pour 1/4 cup of the crepe batter into the pan, swirl to coat, pouring out any excess. Cook until the edges begin to dry, about one minute. Using a thin spatula, flip the crepe and cook for one minute. Transfer the crepe to a parchment-lined sheet pan, keeping flat. Repeat with the remaining batter and set aside keeping warm. Brush the top of each crepe with browned butter and some goats' milk caramel. Fold each in half and gently press down to spread the filling. Brush with butter and fold in half again. Arrange the crepes in an ovenproof dish. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven until warmed through, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside keeping warm.
To serve, place two crepes in the center of the plate and spoon some of the goats' milk caramel on top. Arrange some plantains, papaya, blackberries, and raspberries on top, sprinkle pecans around the dish, and garnish with mint.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Wanted to show you guys/gals a good recipe for a rolled cake by Jacque Pepin in his book "La Technique"
Biscuit Roule
ingredients
3 large eggs at room temp.
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1/4 stick (2 tablespoons) butter, melted
directions-
Place the eggs, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl and let mixture get lukewarm by placing bowl over boiling water for a few seconds. Remove from the heat and beat on medium to high speed for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the flour, then butter

Butter Lightly, in 2 to 3 spots a 16-x-12inch cookie sheet and line with a piece of parchment paper or wax paper. (butter anchors paper to tray) Butter and flour the paper. Spread the mixture evenly in the tray and bake in  a 330 degree  pre-heated oven for 11 to 13 minutes

let cake set for 5 minutes. Place a piece of wax paper on the table and turn the cake upside down on top of it. Remove the paper which covered the bottom of the cake and loosely place it back on the cake.

let cake cool to barely lukewarm; then, roll between two sheets of paper. Fold both ends to enclose the cake and keep refrigerated or in a plastic bag until you are ready to use.

Chocolate butter cream
3 ounces chocolate (1 semisweet, 2 bitter)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3 egg yolks
2 sticks (1/2 pound) sweet butter, softened

Directions-
bowl of an electric mixer. Pour the sugar syrup on top of the yolks, mixing at medium speed. Put on high speed and keep beating for 5 minutes until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. add the butter bit by bit, mixing at medium to low speed until the cream is smooth. now add the melted chocolate to the remaining butter cream and beat until smooth.
then frost Biscuit Roule

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

melon bread

today i made melon bread. it took about 4 hours to make including rising time for the rolls.
i used two recipes for the melon bread.
i used this recipes techiniques of how they do everything from shaping to how long to let it rise.
http://home-baking.net/english/bread/melon-bread.php
this recipe i used the actault recipe but subistutued the dough flour with bread flour and cookie dough with cake flour:
http://ritsukakunx.hubpages.com/hub/Melon-Bread-A-Sweet-Japanese-Treat-Recipe
the only problem i had with this recipe was rolling out cookie dough long enough to go all around the roll. but i managed to do 7 of the 8 get wrapped in cookie dough.

I made candied bacon with some eggs. i used the recipe for candied bacon from

Recipegirl.com recipegirl.com

Monday, April 23, 2012

Have you ever heard of a Japanese bread pastry called melon bread? for one it doesn't have watermelon in it!
they call that mainly because they make diagonal cuts across the top, i recently just became aware of it. i observed in a Japanese anime show and i became interested in finding out how to make it and what exactly it is.

It essentially is a dinner roll dough then has cookie dough placed on top of it and it is covered in it. then the whole thing is dipped in granulated sugar. then baked. sounds tasty right? well i'm gonna use this recipe
http://home-baking.net/english/bread/melon-bread.php
and see how it turns out tomorrow after class. then i will get back to you if the recipe works out.

This week i have decided to make another batch of baklava. it will be dangerous and it will be a long journey but i will reach the end and finish this goal. i believe i will most likely make it on weds of this week since my classes for college have been cut on weds for finals.

Also if you were wondering the picture of the pizza above, is Foccia bread which i make from Mario Batali cook book Molto Italiano (327 simple italian recipes to cook at home) and i use his recipe on page 43. Which then i make a homemade red and white sauce. i sear the pepperoni to reduce fat and grease on the pizza then prepare and bake it in the oven for 14-15 minutes and it turns out great. if my mother could have her way i would be slaving over the cutting board everyday making this bread because its one of her favorite recipes i make.
Also here are some recipes i have done over the years

chocolate thumbprint cookies







This is my foccia bread with white sauce and spinach
Apple pie of course!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

well i will tell you about my cooking experience with baklava.
baklava is often a pastry that strikes fear into almost any cook and baker. i will admit it, it is a time consuming recipe and an expensive one at that (primarily because of the expensive nuts you use) baklava is a traditional greek desert. the recipe i used to make baklava was Alton brown it was the simplest yet still a very long recipe.
what i found frustrating about this recipe was that no matter how hard i tried the philo dough would stick together, not all of the sheets would just in certain places which was frustrating but i still managed to do it. but sadly during this recipe i had an incident where i was making a second batch of clarified butter i used up first batch already and i wasn't paying attention and the clarified butter caught on fire. but i was fine and managed to put it out without any damage and it was my first fire. but just if you were to make this recipe remember to work with the philo dough FAST, it sicks and becomes unusable alas for me.but i think this is one of my favorite deserts (not to make though lol)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75u6qmsVNEo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w75a_76A-No&feature=relmfu
the actual recipe - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baklava-recipe/index.html
well hello my name is Tiernan, and i will start my blog now. i decided to start it on cooking. im sure i will stray off on tangents and talk about video games, books and other hobbies but right now let me start talking about cooking.

Im not an expert on the subject i simply love doing it and especially love trying recipes from all over the world whether its trying to make baklava or something odd like Graibi (a lebanon cookie) that uses rose water which was very interesting at the time. majority recipes i try that are exotic is from my cook book a Bakers Odyssey it has soo many recipes from all over many different like a cookie i remember making calling for clarified butter which i found to be different but turned out very well. but i love making just regular chocolate chip cookies for family as well.

I often cook with my family and it is a big part of my mothers side of the family. a reason because of that is my grandmother used to own a restaurant in steamboat colorado and she has a cook book made back in the 70s we still have a few copies which we use, its called "i <3 cooking" by Barbara silva.

now that i have a slight introduction if anyone were to read this blog. now let me tell you about some of the recipes ive used and how my experience went with them


if you have any questions about me,cooking manga or video games. Ask and i will answer to the best of my ability.