Crêpes

I have very fond memories of walking the cold, damp streets of Paris with a warm crepe enveloped in my hands.

I explored with all types of fancy toppings until I settled on my personal favorite--"beurre et sucre" (butter and sugar).  A "crepe Suzette" (butter, sugar and lemon juice) is a close second.  And I can't leave out nutella!  My favorite crepe stand in Paris was across the street from the Centre Pompidou Museum and Library.  The guy making the crepe would paint my nutella on, as if it were a work of art..    

There is a restaurant in Los Angeles that makes wonderfully authentic crepes--Creme de la Crepe.  My favorite location is their Hermosa Beach one.  The owner is a young French guy who has been so successful because the food is so good and the service is so French.  I often go to brush up on my French, as all of the waiters are native French speakers.  My favorite is the "crepe splendide"--a crepe with strawberries, honey, whipped cream, and vanilla ice cream.

All of this leads me to my recent endeavor--to make crepes at home. I found a wonderfully simple recipe, and the crepes came out rather good.  

Recipe: Crepes

1 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk, room temp.

3 large eggs, room temp.

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl.  Whisk together milk and eggs in a medium bowl. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture, whisking to combine.  Whisk in butter.  Strain mixture into a medium bowl, and refrigerate for at least two hours (or up to one day).

2. Heat an 8" or 12" nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Brush with butter.  Ladle 3 tablespoons batter (for smaller crepes)  or 1/3 cup batter (for large crepes) onto the skillet, turning and tilting the skillet to coat the bottom evenly with the batter.  Cook until the tops of the crepes appear set, about 1 minute.

3. Run a spatula along the edge of the crepe to loosen.  Slip the spatula under the crepe and gently flip in one swift gesture.  Cook until the bottom is firm, about 45 seconds.  Transfer to a plate.  Repeat with remaining batter. Serve immediately.

Banana Bread French Toast

Looking for something to do with that leftover banana bread?

Try this twist on your classic "french toast."  Just make sure you baked the banana bread in a 9x5 loaf pan instead of muffin tins.  My banana bread loaf was short in height since I halved the recipe.

Just slice your left over banana bread (banana bread recipe). My slices were about a 3/4" thick.  The thicker the slice, the lower the heat you should use when making the french toast.  I then whipped one egg with 2 tablespoons of milk, a dash of nutmeg, a dash of cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.  (I only made one serving).  Next, I dipped the slices of banana bread in the egg mixture.  After a couple of minutes, I turned them over.  While the banana bread was soaking up the egg mixture, I put a skillet on the range on medium-low heat.

I then transferred the slices to the skillet (you may want to use some form of grease--butter, veg. oil--if your skillet is not non-stick).

 After a few minutes, I turned the slices over and waited for the other side to brown.  After they were cooked, I dipped each slice in a cinnamon/sugar mixture (1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoons sugar).  I then topped it with butter and syrup.

Delicious and easy!

Rugelach

I'm not the only 3L at USC Law that has time to bake.  In the past week, there were multiple occasions when homemade goodies were being passed around the classroom.  From homemade shortbread, to Rugelach (a Jewish pastry).  I didn't even know what rugelach was--I just knew that the texture of this cookie/pastry was incredible, and I had to try to replicate it.

"Tom" baked them.  I don't know who Tom is, but whoever you are, thank you for introducing me to these delicious treats.  The texture is so flaky and soft.  I ate several of these for breakfast this morning with a latte.  It was one of those surreal, I'm so thankful moments...

Here is the recipe and some photos of the rugelach-making process...

Recipe- Rugelach.  Yields 48 cookies.

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1" squares
1 8oz. package cream cheese, cut into 1" squares
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
8 tablespoons apricot preserves (optional)
OR mini chocolate chips (optional)


1. In a food processor (or stand mixer), pulse flour, salt, butter, cream cheese, and sour cream until crumbly (like pie crust).  Shape the crumbly mixture into 4 equal discs, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until the dough is firm.  It should chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.
2. Once chilled, roll each disc into a 9" round on a lightly floured surface, keeping the other discs chilled until you are ready to roll them.

3. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, chopped nuts, and finely chopped raisins.  You may substitute mini chocolate chips for raisins.  Sprinkle the round with the sugar/nut mixture.  
4. With a sharp knife, or pizza cutter, cut each round into 12 wedges.  Roll the wedges from the wide end to the narrow end, and place on ungreased baking sheet.  Chill for 20 minutes before baking.

5. Preheat oven to 350.  Bake on the center rack for 22 minutes, until light golden.  Cool completely on wire racks.  Store in airtight containers.  
VARIATIONS: Before putting the filling on the dough, use a pastry brush to layer 2 tablespoons of apricot jam.  Then add the recommended filling.
Enjoy!

Croissants

This is quite possibly one of the most challenging things I've ever made. My mom, sister, and I joined forces in this attempt. It took us three days before they were finished. We also ended up throwing out the first batch! My mom and sister quit on them after the first "turn." I persevered and saved them. Good thing I did cuz these were the flakiest, butteriest croissants I've ever had outside of Europe!!!

One reason they were so challenging is because not only have we never made them before, but we have never seen anyone make them before. The unknown was part of the frustration. Also, the dough is a "sticky dough." I had never worked with sticky dough before, and let me tell you, it was sticky--and not easy to work with.

First, we made the sticky dough and we beat the butter into a rectangular sheet. We then wrapped the dough around the butter, and started the process of "turning" the dough. This was the confusing, time-consuming part. You have to "turn" the dough--roll it out, and fold it in thirds, about 5 five times, letting it rest in the refrigerator 30-45 minutes between each "turn." After the last turn, the dough needs to cool in the refrigerator between 4 and 8 hours. Lastly, you roll the dough out, cut it into triangles, shape the croissants, and let it rise for about 2 hours. The dough will rise once it is out of the refrigerator. After it rises, glaze it with an egg wash, and bake until golden brown.

It was all worth it when they came out of the oven! I definitely give them an A. And the next time I make them, it will probably take more like 1 day instead of 3 days.

Apple and Pecan Cookie-Muffins

I haven't baked a quickbread in a while, and I wanted to practice my "dicing" and play with my new vegetable peeler. So, I chose this apple and pecan muffin recipe. It's a pretty standard quickbead recipe--flour, buttermilk, egg, sugar, etc.

About dicing: Dicing is a knife skill that requires practice! The first apple quarter took me a really long time to dice, but by the time I got to the last one, I had a system down. (Dicing is cutting something into small cubes).

Like everything in life, baking takes practice! If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. I know that it can be disheartening when you put money, time, and effort into a project, and it turns out awful! But, things are pretty much always better the second time around. It's a learning process.

I'm gonna actually call these muffins "cookie-muffins." The brown sugar carmelized and hardened around the edge of the muffin top, and they are suuuuper sweet. This is a recipe that I am going to play around with (maybe add less sugar, more apples, and some spice--maybe cinnamon). I'll update the recipe after I play around with it. Enjoy!

Recipe- Apple and Pecan Cookie-Muffins

Yield: about 18 muffins

2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 and 1/2 cups peeled, cored and diced apple

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp. salt

1 large egg

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk

1 and 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract.

1. Position rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 375. Line a 12-muffin tin with baking cups.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda, apples, pecans, and salt in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, beat the egg until foamy. Beat in the buttermilk, brown sugar, oil, an vanilla extract. Combine the two mixtures, blending until the dry ingredients are just moistened.

3. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack 5-7 minutes. Serve warm, or take muffins out of the pan to cool completely.

Biscuits

There are three reasons why I chose to make biscuits. First, my favorite biscuit in a can has 3.5 grams of trans fat--per biscuit. Trans fat comes from overly processed fat--it's not that fat is bad in itself--it's that overly processed fat is bad. Second, I wanted to use my rolling pin. I've never used a rolling pin before. If you don't have a rolling pin, you can still make these biscuits--just use a straight-edged wine bottle. The third reason why I chose this recipe is because I had all of the ingredients already--and I wanted to get rid of this heavy whipping cream that I purchased for a different project.

Kneading the dough and using a rolling pin was so much fun. I've never done either before, and trust me, it was super easy. The key is to not overwork the dough. I think this is a great beginner recipe for anyone who wants to play with dough. My goal is to eventually make my Great Aunt Hesther's roll recipe. My older sister and mom make it EVERY Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is a complicated recipe, so I am practicing skills I'll need to make it. (And the biscuits tasted pretty good too!)

Difficulty: Easy

Prep time: 10 minutes

Bake time: 10-12 minutes

Servings: 6

Recipe- Biscuits

1 and 3/4 cups all-purose flour

2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Place rack in center of oven. Preheat to 450.

2. Combine all of the ingredients and stir just until the dough holds together (don't over mix!) I used the dough hook attachment on my kitchen aid mixer for this part.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 7 or 8 times. (if NOT using the dough hook) (Ladies, you may want to take your rings off for this part). Using a rolling pin (lightly flour the rolling pin or wine bottle), roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/2 inch. (You may want to use a ruler). Tip for using a rolling pin: You roll out from the center. Put the pin in the center of the kneaded dough, and work your way out. (Center of the clock to 12, center to 3, center to 6, center to 9--you get the picture). Using a 4-inch diameter cutter (I used a cup), cut out as many biscuits as possible. Place the biscuits 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet. Take the scraps and roll out and cut more biscuits, until all of the dough is used.

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes (until the tops are golden brown). Serve warm.

***IF you overwork the dough, your biscuits will be hard! Making breads takes practice. Try, try again! There is definitely a learning curve for kneading and rolling out dough.

Zucchini and Walnut Bread

I baked this bread because a friend of mine asked me to. I'm really glad I did because it came out so good! And, the oil from the zucchini means less oil you have to add. Also, this recipe called for vegetable oil (which is cholesterol free), instead of butter.

The bread has a great spicy flavor because of the cinnamon. It's also really moist. It's better the second or third day.

Sweet Potato Pie Muffins

An instant classic..

I first baked these about 2 weeks ago for our book club meeting. It was right in the middle of my baking frenzy, so I actually baked two different types of muffins for the meeting--sweet potato muffins and parsley parmesan muffins. The parsley parmesan muffins were probably the grossest muffin i've ever had. But, the sweet potato muffins were a real hit. An instant classic.

I've been in Baton Rouge for the past few days. I found a bag of unshelled pecans in the kitchen pantry, so I decided to make these muffins. Also, I wanted to share my new find with my family. So, i got to shelling pecans and boiling sweet potatoes so that I could use the absolute freshest ingredients.

They were DELICIOUS. I renamed them sweet potato pie muffins because I used all the spices that my mom uses in her super-popular sweet potato pies.

Banana Bread

Banana bread that actually tastes like banana...

Yes, I made banana bread just last week. But, I had some overripe bananas that I never got around to eating. And the recipe that I tried tonight was slightly different than the one I used last week. This one is healthier because it calls for wheat flour.

What I like about this recipe--or pretty much any recipe for homemade banana bread--is that it actually tastes like banana. This is not the case for banana bread in a box. Boxed banana bread is missing that authentic banana flavor. It's a flavor that you may not even realize is missing because you've been eating banana bread from a box since childhood.

Do yourself a favor and try making real banana bread! Or, come over to my house (if you live in L.A.) and try some. I've been baking faster than my roommate and I can eat...

Prep time: about 30 minutes
Bake time: 30-45 minutes (depending on size of muffin cups)
Servings: 6 big muffins; 12 normal size muffins

Recipe- Banana Bread

1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
4 overripe bananas (if they're not ripe, they won't be sweet enough)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup cold milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) OR 1 tablespoon poppy seeds (optional)

1. Make sure the oven rack is in the center. Preheat to 400. Smear muffin tins with butter
2. Measure the all purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Mix in nuts or poppy seeds (optional).
3. Using a stand mixer (preferable), hand mixer, or sturdy whisk, whisk the butter and sugar until fluffy and light yellow--about 5 minutes.
4. Add the bananas and continue mixing at a high speed until the bananas are blended with the butter and sugar. With the mixer speed on low, beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the milk and vanilla.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, using the paddle attachment of your mixer on low speed. If you don't have a mixer, use a wooden spoon. Mix until there is no trace of flour left, but do not over mix.
6. Scoop batter into muffin tins. Fill each tin to the top. Bake on the center rack 35-40 minutes (for big muffins). Less time if you are using a 12 muffin cup tin. Remove as soon as a toothpick inserted deep into the center comes out clean.
7. Remove the tin and place it on a wire rack for a few minutes. Then, remove the muffins from the tin and let cool on the wire rack. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Scones

I recently baked pumpkin scones with fresh cranberries and pecans. I was not too excited about the idea of nuts and berries in my scone, so I baked the first half with no nuts or berries. They came out really yummy, but I felt like my taste buds were searching for that burst of something. So, I went to three different grocery stores and finally found fresh cranberries! The recipe called for walnuts, but I had pecans left over from something else, so I used pecans. The recipe also calls for raisins, but I hate raisins and will never put them in anything I bake.

The scones came out incredibly moist--like, about to fall apart moist and delicious! The key to their perfect texture and moistness is: Don't overwork the dough! For scones to have a flaky texture, you've got to keep the dough cold--as in use really cold ingredients. COLD butter--right out of the fridge. COLD milk. The butter should melt in the oven--not in the mixing bowl! Don't open the oven door during the first 10 minutes--you will interrupt the baking temperature at a crucial time. Also, if you don't want to invest in the 4 spices needed in this recipe, you can substitute the cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and ground ginger for 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice; however, it will have a slightly different taste.

Preparation Time: about an hour
Cooking Time: about another 30 minutes to an hour if you've only got one baking sheet and one oven!
Difficulty: Medium

This recipe makes 12 huge scones or 24 small scones.

RECIPE-Pumpkin Scones

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup sugar
2 and 2/3 sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
2 large eggs
3/4 cup cold buttermilk (or sour milk)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1. Position an oven rack in the center. Preheat to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Measure the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor (with blade attached). Pulse to mix.
3. Add the butter all at once. Pulse until there are no chunks of butter and the mixture looks like moist crumbs (see pic). Don't overwork the flour and butter.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs to break up the yolks. Whisk in the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla. Stir in the cranberries, walnuts, and raisins.
5. In a large bowl, combine the wet and dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture just comes together. Again, you don't want to overwork the dough!
6. Scoop even amounts of batter onto the baking sheet. Use a 1/2 measuring cup for large scones, or a 1/4 measuring cup for smaller ones. Leave 2 inches between each scone.
7. Bake of 12-17 minutes for smaller scones. 20-25 minutes for larger scones. Remove as soon as a toothpick entered into the center of one of the scones comes out clean.
8. Place baking sheet on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove the scones with a spatula and transfer the scones directly to the wire rack, or directly to a serving dish. Serve hot or at room temperature.