The Smells in My Kitchen

[thoughtreader]

I made a puff pancake (Dutch Baby) for the first time this morning. It was super tasty and SO easy. It may become a regular thing in this house.

All it is is:
1/4 cup butter, melted in a 425 degree oven in an oven-safe frying pan

3 eggs
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
Beat those together and pour over the melted butter, then bake about 25 min until golden.

It puffs up SO cool.

I really want to try this...

[Mich]

Oh, I forgot to say, I made one the other day! Thanks for reminding me about how delicious they are!

[Luet]

I had never heard of them but now I really want to make one also.

[Gravity Defier]

Dinner tonight was Steph's mac'n'cheese; it was a success with the Real Adultsâ„¢ of the household.

I, however, need to walk my dogs and maybe run a few miles now.

[Eaquae Legit]

In celebration of my time off, I haunted the kitchen today and made:

Dal mahkani (sorta - I fudged it a bit)
Tomato and egg curry (not from a recipe, and it was great!)
White chocolate butter pecan pie

Seriously, guys, the pie was awesome. The desserts alone are worth getting The Accidental Vegetarian for.

[Young Val]

So, my little sister has issued a challenge: make tater tots from scratch.

Naturally, I took the bait. So, I'll be spending a lot of my spare time shredding and frying up potatoes. I've looked around online and very few people have attempted this with what I would classify as success (although there are a few). Potatoes may not be mashed, breaded, and fried and still called a tot. Tots are not mashed. There seems to be a lot of controversy to as to whether or not to parboil before frying. And the question of whether or not to add egg.

Because I can be bratty about these things, I'd like to get it perfect on the first try. But I'll make tots for weeks to get 'em right if I've got to.

So, any suggestions or advice? If you were foolish enough to agree to make tater tots from scratch, how would you go about it?

[thoughtreader]

so I made my Dutch Baby for breakfast the other day and it was so yummy.
a complete success... minus the burning my had on the 425 degree cast iron pant part of it

[locke]

So, any suggestions or advice? If you were foolish enough to agree to make tater tots from scratch, how would you go about it?

1. Find out if Alton Brown has done it

if yes, do what he says.

if no, give up

[Jayelle]

So, any suggestions or advice? If you were foolish enough to agree to make tater tots from scratch, how would you go about it?

I think egg might be necessary for stickage.

I think I would go about it by checking the ingredient list of store-bought and seeing what the crap they put in it.

Some kind of mold to press them? Shredded really fine, like with a microplane?

[Jayelle]

*double post*

I'm making hypocrite burgers tonight - lentil burgers with bacon. Yum!

[locke]

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitche ... late-cake/

who knew lava cakes were uber easy? sooo delicious.

[steph]

My dad makes those all the time! He was surprised at how easy they were the first time, too. Yum!!

[Young Val]

I recently made homemade corn chowder for the first time, which was a serious undertaking--but well worth the effort!

This weekend will be full of a lot of cooking. A few tater tot trials, a tomato bisque with grilled cheese, and now that the weather has cooled off I want to get into the swing of making a weekly loaf of bread, again (in the summer it is just TOO HOT. I can't bring myself to turn on the oven).

[Young Val]

double post--sorry!

David is gone until Tuesday (and totally unreachable, which is a little sad, but that's for Bob) and he brought me a little goodbye present: HALF A DOZEN FRESH PEACHES!

As soon as they ripen up I'll be making Smitten Kitchen's crème fraîche peach pie! I've been dying to make it for so long!

[megxers]

I burnt my dinner last night. It was very smelly, and not in a good way. The last time I burnt something I could at least blame it on the fact I was trying to get the cheese to melt...and soy cheese doesn't really melt. D'oh.

Hopefully whatever I make today will be more successful. But I do have a lot of hummus I need to use...hmm..

[Gravity Defier]

I'm no Betty Crocker like everyone else in this thread but I made chocolate chip pancakes and habanero sausage. For myself. All by myself. And it was tasty.

[Young Val]

Crème fraiche peach pie! I served it with vanilla gelato. SO delicious!

[LilBee91]

I made steph's mac and cheese today! It was quite delicious.
My roommate made some Hawaiian haystacks also, which were absolutely spectacular. Basically good eating all around.

[Rei]

Mmmm... crème fraiche peach pie sounds like it would be really, really good...

[Mich]

I am so excited to be able to afford vegetables and fruit and such, you all have no idea. Spices! And green peppers! And delicious tomatoes!

My kitchen will smell like more than macaroni of various types or melting cheese. Everyone one of you will be jealous.

[Eaquae Legit]

I am so excited to be able to afford vegetables and fruit and such, you all have no idea. Spices! And green peppers! And delicious tomatoes!

My kitchen will smell like more than macaroni of various types or melting cheese. Everyone one of you will be jealous.

You could afford lots of cheese but not fruits and vegetables?

[Jayelle]

I have been reading Smitten Kitchen since so many of you referred to her in the other thread (and this one over the years), and I convinced Paul to make her Grape Focaccia with rosemary yesterday.

Oh my word. It was AMAZING. Super tasty. He made it with red grapes, since you can't get concord around here (actually, I've never eaten concord grapes).

[Luet]

Concord grapes do grow around here. My husband likes them. They actually taste like grape bubblegum/jelly/etc. I don't like them because they all have seeds, though.

[Mich]

You could afford lots of cheese but not fruits and vegetables?

Gross, processed cheese that goes onto various types of macaroni and is super-cheap.

[Jayelle]

So I have a bunch of apples (probably about 2lbs)... I don't really want to make apple crisp or apple pie, but I want to make SOMEthing.

Any suggestions?

Oh, and I don't have a 9x13 pan.

[Young Val]

German Apple Cake!

Jan, I LOVE this recipe:

2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup applesauce
1 1/4 or 1 1/2 (depending on your sweet tooth. I like it with 1/4) cups sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups apples - peeled, cored and diced


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour cake pan (or bundt pan, or glass dish--whatever. This works well no matter what).

In a mixing bowl; beat oil, applesauce, and eggs until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat well.

Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and ground cinnamon together in a bowl. Slowly add this mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the apples by hand using a wooden spoon. Spread batter into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Let cool fully, then sprinkle with powdered sugar. (Optional: serve with caramel sauce!)

This cake keeps so well, too!

[locke]

applesauce!

ginny will love it.


or my mom's apple cake:

1 cup vegetable oil
2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
2 cup sifted flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
3 cup diced apples
1 cup chopped pecans

Beat together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Sift together 2 cups flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet, beat to combine but don't overmix. stir in apples and nuts. Bake at 1 hour at 350. Let cool, spread with caramel topping

Caramel topping:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup milk

combine ingredients, bring to a boil and let boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat; spread at once over top of cake.

Note I've not made the above recipe, I just transcribed it from my sisters family recipe book, as per usual with the book, it helpfully does not say what size pan the cake is for, probably a 9 inch round cake pan. or a 9x13, which I think is what my mom uses (suddenly recipe seems less helpful)

[Luet]

How big are the pieces when it says "diced" for the apples?

[fawkes]

Tried roasting garlic in the oven tonight. Was supposed to takes 30 mins, took about an hour and 40...

[Gravity Defier]

Expecting vampires for dinner?

[Young Val]

How big are the pieces when it says "diced" for the apples?

Nomi, I just wing it. I dice until pieces look more or less bite-sized. Maybe half an inch?

[buckshot]

My kitchen smells of sauted fresh picked white chanterelles in butter and garlic and a thick t bone on the side.

[fawkes]

Expecting vampires for dinner?

Yeah, the real kind that don't sparkle.

[Eaquae Legit]

Delicious, delicious curries. Butter paneer and mushroom bhaji! I tried a recipe from the Manjula's Kitchen website Jan posted in the other thread, and I am quite pleased with the results. Into the Book it goes!

[Luet]

I made Kelly's German Apple Cake the other day and it was a big hit. I made it in a bundt pan and there was a little left over, so I made 4 muffins with the extra. I also made some cinnamon glaze to drizzle over the top. I should have taken a picture!