Bawlmerese for Enjoy Your Meal
In the world before Facebook, Anne was one of the few people from my days as an awkward adolescent that I kept in contact with. She introduced me to Jane’s Addiction and Kudos Chocolate Chip Granola Bars and I introduced her to driving a stick shift. I’d say that was a pretty even exchange. Here’s her food memory, which shows that not all our food memories are old and dusty sitting on a shelf in the back of our minds. Continue reading “Food Memories – Anne’s Birthday Butter Cake”
The following originally appeared on 5/28/08 at Exit 51
Win Some, Lose Some
Try as I might, not everything that goes on in my kitchen can be considered successful. And I can’t figure out where I go wrong. Am I missing some critical gene in my DNA to produce flawless results every time I put my apron on? Or do I just get ahead of myself and miss steps along the way?
Take this past weekend for example. On Friday we had a lovely dinner of Tenderloin with Chocolate Wine Sauce, Roasted Asparagus, and Mushroom Risotto. Not one bad dish in the group. And very few leftovers…only a few slices of beef which quickly got polished off as lunch the next day. It truly is one impressive dinner. Continue reading “Flashback Friday – Win Some, Lose Some”
Don’t you just want to reach out and grab one of those cookies up there? I really wish you could because they are freaking fantabulous. Chocolaty, but not overly sweet, with a nice hit of spicy heat. In a moment of either sheer genius or outright madness, I dug into the spice cabinet and pulled out a secret weapon to really turn up the heat because I’m a sweet/spicy freak. How else would you explain that I used a Chili Spice Rub in cookie dough? Continue reading “Chocolate Double Spice Cookies”
The following originally appeared on 5/13/08 at Exit 51
David Lebovitz Trifecta
I thought I would round out my homage to DL with his take on Frozen Yogurt which just so happens to be the only project which fit into my busy weekend. Unlike ice cream, frozen yogurt doesn’t need a cooked base. No fiddling or fussing necessary. Just find some lovely berries, sugar them up a bit, go do something else for two hours, mix in plain yogurt*, process, chill, and churn. This recipe could not be simpler. Continue reading “Flashback Friday – David Lebovitz Trifecta”
The following originally appeared on 5/8/08 at Exit 51
Ice Cream Man
Spring will soon give way to summer and nothing says summer quite like ice cream. I’m continuing my David Lebovitz thread with a modified version of his recipe for Coffee Ice Cream. Feel free to use whole milk instead of half and half. Either way, be prepared for some mind blowing, brain freezing, good ice cream. Continue reading “Flashback Friday – Ice Cream Man”
My photo mojo has been disappointing me lately. Fortunately, my cooking mojo seems to be getting back into a groove. Don’t be fooled by the wonky focus and general boringness of that picture. What you see is a delightful, versatile cake, perfect any time of the year. It’s gently sweet with a light, airy crumb. Continue reading “Upside Down”
Dara Bunjon is the woman behind the Baltimore Dining Examiner and Dara Does It. She’s got her finger on the pulse of the food industry from PR to food styling to cooking instructions. This post originally appeared on the BDE. Many thanks to Dara for sharing…although I still don’t know what I would say to get the last brownie.
What Would You Say Or Do To Get The Last Brownie?
I don’t know why but my post have been a bit, not earth shattering thought provoking of late with Sandwiches cut diagonal or across – point and counter point, If you could choose just one cookbook and today’s question, What would you say or do to get the last brownie? I’m not sure what has sparked my introspective meanderings but alas they are here.
To answer the question proffered, I go back to the scene in the movie Notting Hill and think a group of friends around the table, and then I think about the friends. Recently I have been dining a lot with media folks so these are who I first pictured in my scenario and think no, they are very cognizant of their weight and would split the brownie equally or just manage one bite each.
Time to picture another group of friends and these friends are ones who are indulgent when it comes to food. I would have to be clever, manipulative and sharp – traits not high on my skill level but let’s give it a go. I will blame it on my dear mother, may she rest in peace, who would bribe me as a child with $10 if I could gain 10 pounds in a year. That this brownie will bring me to the 10 pound mark for the year and with my ten spot I would make them my delicious five spice brownies for the next gathering. Option 2: As a child being vertically challenged I always had difficulty reaching the counter top to get the cookies and brownies and my arms weren’t long enough to reach them on the table – I was deprived as a child. Hell, I’m just not that clever. Why don’t you have a go at it! ( Related Story: Memories from my yout )
Five Spice Brownies
BAH Note: These are some powerful brownies. I made them to thank our neighbors who had come to our rescue with candles and dry ice during a power outage. Of course, having to test them for quality control, the first batch never made it out of the house. So a second box of Ghiradelli brownie mix was picked up at the store and transformed with a bit of orange zest and five spice powder. It just so happened to be a snowy Saturday when batch number two finally made it next door. And would you believe that when The Mistah and I went outside to shovel, the neighbors had already cleared the sidewalk in front of our house. Now, I can’t guarantee that these brownies will have the same power with your neighbors, but it can’t hurt to try. As Dara said when I related my neighborly story to her, “Simple is good at times.” I couldn’t agree more.
Add all the ingredients to a bowl and follow the box directions.
Pies, y’all. Wannabe Whoppie Pies. But that’s not what I started out to make. Nope, not in the least. I set out to make a Retro Recipe for Vanilla Wafers. I’ll admit that maybe my attention was spread a little too thin. I had orange chicken going in the kitchen, was stumbling my way through a sewing project in the dining room, and really wasn’t paying attention to Vanilla Wafers. I creamed the butter with half of the sugar called for and didn’t realize it until all the eggs and half the flour and milk had already been added. I then spent a good five minutes trying to figure out which would be a worse way to break the recipe – by having not enough sugar or by adding more sugar too late in the process. I decided to gamble and see what would happen if I added the rest of the sugar along with the flour. To say that what I pulled out of the oven was not what I was expecting would be an understatement. Continue reading “Wannabe Making Whoopie”
Do you ever step back from something only to find patterns or themes emerge that you hadn’t expected? Like not seeing the forest for the trees, sometimes the patterns in my cooking don’t become obvious to me until I’m at the computer to give them virtual life here at BAH. And then I’m all, oh, what a coinkydink. Of course, the Universe being what it is, it’s not a coinkydink at all. It’s the Universe giving me an opportunity to compare and contrast. And Universe, may I gently remind you that those compare and contrast essays were my least favorite writing assignments in school? I’m just saying, maybe you could throw a little something different my way? For now, we’re going to work with what we’ve got and talk about Inspired Taste’s Apple Almond Coffee Cake. Continue reading “Apple Almond Coffee Cake”
My father got remarried when I was about 12. When he introduced my brother and I to his girlfriend, we called her Miss Jan. Then, after they got married, I just called her Jan. I think it was the first time that I called an adult by their first name. Everyone was always Mister or Miss. To this day, I still fall into that habit.
When I sent out the request for Food Memories, Jan said:
It has to be a cheesecake from me. I have baked them for years for anyone’s birthday where I worked. At Stryker, Michael & Bill fought over them. They didn’t want to share them with anyone. Michael didn’t. Even jerky Scott loved them. At Tri-County Gas, Gary drooled over them. At Garrison Forest School, they fought over them.
I often say that you don’t need a special occasion to make special recipes. But sometimes, you really do. Like Jan’s Cheesecake. Because if you’re going to bust out the cream cheese, eggs, and sour cream, you better have a bunch of people helping you to polish off the results.
Like Jan said, I love them………but my hips don’t!
Jan’s Cheesecake
BAH Note: When you add the melted butter to the graham cracker crumbs and sugar, it will seem dry, like it won’t hold together. I promise you it will. If you don’t believe me, I’ll give you Jan’s phone number and you can call her like I did just to make sure. You’ll want to use your fingers to really combine the butter with the crumbs. Sometimes it’s nice to get your hands dirty.
Also, when you press the crust into your pan, use whatever method you are most comfortable with. Some people use the bottom of a glass. I used the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan. So what if the bottom of my crust was stamped with Calphalon? It was a perfect fit and gave me a nice, even crust.
Finally, Jan mentioned not to overmix the batter or else the cake is more likely to crack. I think I should have mixed the cream cheese and sugar a little better before I added the eggs because there were a number of cream cheese lumps in my final batter. The top still cracked on me anyway so what’s the difference?
Crust
Filling
Topping
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Combine crust ingredients in a medium bowl until moist and press into the bottom of a 9” spring form pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce your oven temperature to 300 degrees.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine your softened cream cheese, sugar, juice and zest, mixing until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Pour mixture over crust. Bake at 300 degrees for 55 minutes.
Combine sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Carefully spread over cheesecake. Continue baking for 10 minutes. Take a knife and go around the edge of the cake. Then let it cool before removing the rim of the pan.
Refrigerate overnight and it is ready to serve!
Bon Appetit Hon by Wendi Mosteiko is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Bon Appetit Hon 