Daring Bakers – Dobos Torta

The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. 

When I was in college, I was often told to slow down and read directions better. I often missed test questions because I didn’t read the questions or directions completely. I suspect I had/have a bit of ADD – that would certainly explain a lot, however, I was completely sure that it was more important to know how to do something than to actually do it. I can almost hear my math teacher laughing as I realize the importance of reading directions carefully. What does reading math tests have to do with the Daring Baker’s? Well, for one thing, reading directions on cake is kind of like reading directions on a math test. You won’t quite get the right answer (or cake) if you miss part of the directions.

That being said, my cake was good, and I got parts of it right, so all in all, I think it was a success. Below is the recipe the Daring Bakers used:

The Dobos Torta is a five-layer sponge cake, filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and topped with thin wedges of caramel. (You may come across recipes which have anywhere between six and 12 layers of cake; there are numerous family variations!) It was invented in 1885 by József C. Dobos, a Hungarian baker, and it rapidly became famous throughout Europe for both its extraordinary taste and its keeping properties. The recipe was a secret until Dobos retired in 1906 and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners’ and Gingerbread Makers’ Chamber of Industry, providing that every member of the chamber can use it freely.

Lorraine and I would like you to make this famous cake which we chose in the spirit of being Daring and Challenging us. Variations are discussed at the end of this post and as always, if you have to make substitutions for dietary or financial reasons, that is fine.

Equipment

• 2 baking sheets
• 9” (23cm) springform tin and 8” cake tin, for templates
• mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
• a sieve
• a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)
• a small saucepan
• a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
• metal offset spatula
• sharp knife
• a 7 1/2” cardboard cake round, or just build cake on the base of a sprinfrom tin.
• piping bag and tip, optional

Prep times

• Sponge layers 20 mins prep, 40 mins cooking total if baking each layer individually.
• Buttercream: 20 mins cooking. Cooling time for buttercream: about 1 hour plus 10 minutes after this to beat and divide.
• Caramel layer: 10-15 minutes.
• Assembly of whole cake: 20 minutes

Sponge cake layers

• 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner’s (icing) sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
• pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
• 4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Caramel topping

• 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
• 12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
• 8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Finishing touches

• a 7” cardboard round
• 12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
• ½ cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts

Directions for the sponge layers:
NB. The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

1. Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).
2. Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9″ (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn’t touch the cake batter.)
3. Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner’s (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don’t have a mixer.)
4. In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner’s (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.
5. Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8″ springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:
NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1. Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.
3. Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
4. Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5. When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Lorraine’s note: If you’re in Winter just now your butter might not soften enough at room temperature, which leads to lumps forming in the buttercream. Male sure the butter is of a very soft texture I.e. running a knife through it will provide little resistance, before you try to beat it into the chocolate mixture. Also, if you beat the butter in while the chocolate mixture is hot you’ll end up with more of a ganache than a buttercream!

Directions for the caramel topping:

1. Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.
2. Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.
3. The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn’t just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Angela’s note: I recommend cutting, rather than scoring, the cake layer into wedges before covering in caramel (reform them into a round). If you have an 8” silicon round form, then I highly recommend placing the wedges in that for easy removal later and it also ensures that the caramel stays on the cake layer. Once set, use a very sharp knife to separate the wedges.

Assembling the Dobos

1. Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.
2. Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.
3. Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.
4. Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavor

So, here’s my cake:

Now, because I didn’t completely read all the directions quite as well as I could have… my caramel cookies completely broke apart. So, I ended up whirling them in a food processor and used them as a decoration for the cake… It all tasted good, so I guess it worked out. But, if you want to see what the Dobos Torta was really supposed to look like, you may want to check out the original recipe.

The kids liked this and the cake itself looked kind of pretty. Here’s a picture of a slice:

Book Club: Hungry Monkey by Matthew Amster-Burton

Noelle at simmer down! (a food lover’s blog) hosted the June book, Hungry Monkey by Matthew Amster-Burton. Make sure to check out her post and all the great discussion. And, if you love to read and eat and sometimes combine the two, why not join Chew on This! (A Food Lover’s Book Club).

I was excited to read this book for the June Book Club after reading Shauna James Ahern’s glowing review. I should probably preface this review by telling you that I’m not much a professional book reviewer, so don’t expect an in-depth analysis of the book and in-depth critique, etc… Nope, I just love to read and I love to eat food and I love anything that allows to explore both of these loves. So, my goal with this book club is to read some interesting books and then post my thoughts.

However, for those of you who haven’t read it – a quick summary. Amster-Burton has a great food blog and is a former food critic and a rock critic. His writing is quick and hip – you don’t even need to have kids to enjoy reading this book which documents the eating habits of his now four year old daughter, Iris.

I should probably also tell you that I have a two year old. You may not know this, but two-year olds are picky eaters. Amster-Burton knows this and has some great stories to tell about how his eat-everything one year old became his picky-eating two year old. I had actually forgotten about this for a while. My older son is fourteen. He’s not picky. He’ll eat everything and then some (want to see my grocery bill?) And, until this year, my two-year old was not picky. In fact, he insisted on eating everything that we were eating. Until this year of course. Now, he only wants vegetables and noodles and rice. I guess it could be worse.

I had plans about how my little one would be introduced to food. I had researched the best introduction times and orders for certain foods. I had made a calendar of how those foods would be introduced. I had his menus planned six months in advance. Turns out babies can’t read calendars – and mine didn’t seem to be too impressed with my schedule. There would be no solid food introduced until he was six months old. Um, until of course at five months old he sat at the table screaming during dinner one night. Even without words, he was able to communicate that he wanted our food. We caved. Don’t get me wrong, my little one had teeth start coming in at four months old. Even without teeth, babies have great gums for mushing up food. I was deathly afraid he would choke on the tiny piece of mushed up chicken his father finally gave him. He didn’t. And, he continued to ask for food. In fact, he wanted whatever we were eating. Until this year.

And, this is one of the points in Amster-Burton’s book. It doesn’t really matter what your plans are for your child’s eating habits. They’re going to eat the things you don’t want them to eat at age one. Then, they’re going to get picky and not eat the things you want them to eat starting somewhere around age two. I have to admit, I took great comfort in reading Hungry Monkey. Make sure to read this book and check out the other blogs participating in this Book Club.

By the way, I asked my little one what his favorite meal was… he said, “popcorn”.

Discussion Questions

1.  Both the author and myself had some pre-conceived notions about picky eaters.  Did the book change any views you may have had, or (for those of you who are parents) reinforce what you already knew to be true from experience?

Absolutely. It was actually great fun to get to read this while going through the picky eating phase. My little one often stands beside me as I cook. He’ll taste all the ingredients with me as they go into the meal. Then, when it’s time to eat, he’ll look at the food all cooked and say, “No, thank you.” I guess I should take comfort in the fact that in a way, he’s already eaten the meal – just not the way I intended. And, well, he’s polite.

2. The author confesses that he was, in fact, a very picky eater as a child, but turned out to be an avid food-lover.  Most of you reading this are probably adventurous eaters; is this something that you came to on your own, or did your parents nudge you in that direction? Do you think being a “food lover” is innate or learned?

I am definitely an adventurous eater. Now. For me, it was definitely learned. And, I started learning out of necessity. When I started cutting out whole categories of food, first with Atkins and then by going gluten-free, I learned to focus on what I could eat rather than what I couldn’t. That meant trying things I had never tried before. And, for me, revisiting some of those foods I didn’t think I liked. I made a new rule. To try each food at least 3 different ways. Turns out, that if cooked properly, there are many foods I like that I didn’t use to like. In a way, I taught myself to be adventurous and truly appreciate food.

3. The author describes being forced to try sushi as a kid and almost throwing up, but trying it again in college and loving it. He credits this to the fact that the second time he tried it, he expected to like it.  Do you agree?  Can you think of a food that you probably liked because you expected to like it, or anything you didn’t like in spite of thinking you would?

Honestly, there were a lot of foods I didn’t expect to like. And, once I challenged myself to try new foods, I found that I did like them. (I actually didn’t have high expectations for Brussels sprouts, but they’ve become one of my favorite veggies.) For me the experience was a little different.

4. Not every family can spend the time and money the author does to introduce his daughter to so many foods.  What can working parents or parents with less means do to bring cooking and diverse foods into their children’s lives?  Or do you feel this is even important?

I do feel this is important. My kids and I take a minimum of one night to cook together in the kitchen. We get to spend time together. We talk about food, ingredients, tastes, etc… and we have great opportunities to connect on other issues as well. Since I do work quite a bit, it is very important to me that I spend quality time with my kids. But, I haven’t translated that to get food on the table as quickly as possible so we have more time. I just brought the kids into the kitchen with me.

5. Food obviously plays a huge role in the Amster-Burton household.  What role does food have in your household?  Do you feel that kids need to know “where food comes from” and participate in food preparation, or is it enough just to make sure they’re eating reasonably healthy foods?

Food is pretty important in our house. I do think that it’s important for the kids to know about their food and participate. Nutrition and healthy eating is so important to me. Unfortunately, I never learned to cook growing up. My mom went into the kitchen and then some time later, we were called to the dinner table. Food was there. I never really thought about how it got there. So, when I was out on my own, I had no idea what to do in the kitchen. As I’m teaching myself now, I’m including the kids in the process. We discuss food preparation and techniques.

Thanks for hosting, Noelle! This was a great book.

Daring Bakers – Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding

The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800’s in England.

Apparently, there’s some debate over whether this dessert is a tart or a pudding. And who am I to put an end to the controversy. I’m just here to show off what I’ve learned this month!

Okay… I had never heard of a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding – but that certainly wasn’t going to stop me! I did sign up to be daring in the kitchen after all. And if you haven’t signed up yet, well… why not? Each month I definitely learn new skills in the kitchen. So if you haven’t signed up yet and would like to head on over to The Daring Kitchen.

Actually, I’ve never made a tart. The Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding has three elements and I’ve never even made one of the three elements before. The three elements are a pastry crust, a jam or curd, and a frangipane. This was going to be a learning experience. (I had to look up what frangipane is…)

You can read the original challenge here. As for what I did, read on…

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding
Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
1 Cup Cherry Jam & 1 Cup Apricot Jam
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)

Sweet shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose gluten-free flour (I used Better Batter)
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough. Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Frangipane
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose gluten-free flour (I used Better Batter)

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is light yellow in color and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow color.

Apricot Jam
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: knife

20 or so Apricots
stevia

Peel the apricots and remove the pits. Cut apricots into thin slices and put them in a saute pan. Sweeten to taste with preferred sweetener. I used Stevia. Stirring gently, allow the apricots to cook down into a sauce. Let the apricot “jam” cool to room temperature before using.

Cherry Jam
Prep time: forever
Equipment needed: cherry pitter, knife, patience

I used this recipe for Cherry Jam. It was really, really, good! In fact, even with as long as it took to pit cherries (I think it took longer because the two year old sous chef kept trying to eat the cherries as I pit them – he was doing quality control, I assume…)  I would still make this recipe again! I’ll just wait until nap time to do it : )

Assembling the tart
The fun thing about gluten-free dough is that you really don’t have to let your dough rest – there’s no gluten to get overworked. In some ways, I’m really starting to appreciate this challenge of making things gluten-free. And there are even times when I think the gluten-free version is better. This tart crust was good. Really good. Makes me want to make another tart. Once I rolled out the tart crust and got it in the tart pan, I placed it in the freezer while I got everything else together.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

After I had the frangipane & jams done, I took my tart crust out of the freezer. First I spread the cherry jam over the bottom of the crust. Then I decided it wasn’t enough jam (maybe the Sous Chef had eaten a few too many cherries) so I used the Apricot Jam as well. It looked like this:

The frangipane is spread on top of the fruit filling. The assembled tart looks like this:

This gets baked for 30 minutes according to the recipe directions. Which is actually about 5 minutes longer than my tart needed, so the frangipane got a little darker than I would have liked.

All in all, this was a great experience. I learned to make a tart crust (gluten-free even), I made jams for the first time ever, and I learned what frangipane was – and made it : )

I have to admit that my first taste of the tart didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I think I would have liked more jam layer, though apparently that’s not traditional. Still, the next time I make this, my Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding will have a thicker jam layer.

All in all I enjoyed the Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding. I would have even had a second slice… except for the fact that the older sous chef ate what was left. Hmm… I guess I’ll have to make another one.

I had actually hoped to get a better picture of a slice of the Tart…er…Pudding. But, before I had the chance, the Tart…er…Pudding was gone.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

I had so many cucumbers after getting my fruits and veggies through the co-op. Cucumbers are not one of my favorite fruits, but I have a rule about trying foods I think I don’t like in at least 3 different preparations. After doing this, I realized that I did like more food than I thought I did – it just has to be made correctly.

The same goes for cucumbers. I mean, I like pickles, so there had to be other ways to eat cucumbers (chopping them into a salad is NOT a preparation I like). Sticking with the flavors that are in pickles – onions, garlic, and dill – I made up a creamy cucumber salad. I’d seen recipes that used yogurt, mayonnaise, sour cream, or some combination of the three. I decided to go with a yogurt/sour cream base and added plenty of fresh dill and several cloves of garlic (could have used more).  To prepare the cucumbers, I peeled and sliced 6 of them and put them in a bowl. Then I peeled a red onion, sliced it and threw it in the bowl with the cucumbers. I added a Tablespoon of salt (next time I might use just a bit more) and tossed the veggies around.

I used ziploc baggies filled with water to weight the mixture down. (The cucumbers and onions were sitting in a colander over a bowl).

The bowl went in the fridge and sat there for 3 hours at which time I had a lot of water that had drained out of the cucumbers. Without rinsing the salt off the cucumbers and onions, I put them in a serving bowl and tossed with the yogurt/sour cream/dill/garlic mix.

I let the salad sit in the fridge another hour or so and then I tried a serving.

So, now I have another way I like cucumbers besides pickles. And, I still have quite a few cucumbers left. I’ll let you know what I do with them…

Daring Cooks: Chinese dumplings/potstickers (aka gyoza in Japanese)

Part of being a Daring Kitchen member is getting to try new things, learn new skills, push yourself in the kitchen. And since I love challenges, this group seemed like the perfect fit for me. The Daring Kitchen actually consists of two groups – the Daring Baker’s and the Daring Cook’s. Wanting to push my culinary knowledge to the fullest, I of course joined both groups.

The June 2009 Daring Cook’s challenge was hosted by Jen of use real butter. Jen challenged us to create chinese dumplings/potstickers (aka gyoza in Japanese). You can see the full details of the challenge here and check out Jen’s post here.

Some of the challenges are extra-intimidating for me. Not only am I just learning to cook and being challenged to make some exciting recipes, but I’m learning to do it gluten-free at the same time. Jen was thoughtful enough to include a gluten-free version of the gyoza, but I decided to stick to the original recipe and just substitute gluten-free ingredients.

A few days ago, I wrote about my Red Velvet Cake made with Better Batter gluten-free flour mix and indicated that it was my second experiment with the flour. This was my first (but I couldn’t post about it until today – those are the rules) and it was an extremely successful experiment!

Here’s what I did:

Pork Filling

I kept this pretty basic and used what I had in my refrigerator:

• 1 pound ground pork
• 4 large cabbage leaves
• 1 small white onion
• 3 T gluten-free soy sauce
• 2 T sesame oil
• 2 T corn starch

I cut the cabbage and mushrooms into nice small pieces, mixed it with the cabbage, and then added the soy sauce, oil and corn starch. Done. Simple enough. Next time I do this (and oh, yes, there will be a next time!) I will season this a bit more and get a bit more fancy with the ingredients.

Wrappers

It takes two batches of this dough for the amount of filling described above.

• 250 grams Better Batter flour mix
• 1/3 Cup water

It doesn’t get much simpler than that. Then I followed the original directions given by Jen for making the wrappers:

 Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water). Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side (see images in post for how to fold pleats). Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.

 

Rolled out wrapper

 

I should get extra points for having a two-year old sous chef!

 Jen gave us the option of steaming, boiling or pan-frying the dumplings. Since going gluten-free I haven’t been able to order pot-stickers (and I LOVE potstickers), so I went with the pan-frying method, described by Jen:

 

Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.

 

  

Yummy crispy bottoms!

  Dipping Sauce

I gave the sous-chefs the task of making the dipping sauce while I finished up the potstickers at the stove. I gave the older sous-chef the dipping sauce directions and then a quick mini-lesson about “parts”. The original recipe suggested two parts soy sauce and one part vinegar and then a variety of optional seasonings as desired. I think he came away from the experience with a greater understanding of ratio than he got during math class last year – and ended up with a mighty tasty dipping sauce.

 

Future Daring Cooks?

This was an amazing experience – and one I am eager to repeat! Much thanks to Jen for such a great (and tasty) challenge!

 

Birthday Cake

Don't bother counting candles - I didn't have enough.

For my birthday I made Red Velvet Cake. This was a definite adventure as I’d never made Velvet cake before – and making it gluten free made it even more interesting. The older sous chef said it was “amazing”.

Very pretty red!

This was my second experiment with using the Better Batter gluten-free four mix in an otherwise gluten-filled recipe. So far, I’ve been pretty impressed with the Better Batter flour mix. (I’ll be posting about the first experiment on Sunday, June 14th – I know, it seems a bit backward as my birthday is on Sunday and I’m posting the second experiment first, but… there’s a reason for this, so stay tuned…)

[06/15 Edit]: I took the rest of the cake to work to get the opinion of gluten-eaters. The cake was down to the last piece before I mentioned that there was no wheat in the cake. (I didn’t want a cake that was good for being gluten-free – I wanted a good cake.) The overwhelming response is that this was a good cake.

Atkins Friendly Lettuce Wraps

Bonnie in the Atkins forums has done it again with an interesting recipe challenge. Here was the request for recipes:

Atkins Recipe Challenge: Crock Pot/Slow Cooker

CALLING ALL ATKINS FOODIES – THIS THREAD IS FOR YOU!!! So I’ve been hearing more and more from my friends (and I agree) that with the start of summer it seems harder and harder to get dinner together – playdates, activities, less structured schedules, etc. So with that in mind, I thought we’d try an old favorite cooking method – one that lets us do the work in the morning (or night before) and reap the benefits at dinner-timer AND not heat up the house! With that in mind, this week’s theme features an appliance: CROCK POT (aka: SLOW COOKER)! So dig out your crock pot and dust it off (if it’s anything like mine) – pull out those old favorite recipes or create something new – and let’s attempt to make our lives a bit easier!

I admit, I don’t often pull out my crock pot except for March 17th (Corned Beef and Cabbage)! I’m not sure why and I’ve definitely been thinking that I should. After finding Stephanie’s site A Year of Slow Cooking, I realized that I was definitely under-using this handy kitchen appliance. So, when Bonnie chose this as this week’s recipe challenge, I realized it was time to start thinking of ways I could make use of my slow cooker to make my life just a bit easier this summer.

Chicken Filling for Lettuce Wraps

• 8 Chicken thighs – ground
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 can water chestnuts
• bean sprouts
• soy sauce
• peanut butter
• hot sauce
• grated ginger
• sesame oil

Next time I make this, I will either use less chicken or use quite a bit more veggies (I love veggies), so feel free to increase the veggies used in this.

I chopped the veggies and put them in the bottom of the crock-pot. I added soy sauce, sesame oil, hot sauce, and about 4 Tablespoons of peanut butter and stirred everything to combine.  Then I added the grated ginger. At this point I recommend tasting – and adjusting seasonings to taste. Once the raw chicken gets added, you won’t want to taste it for a while – so make sure the seasonings are bold now : )

Using my food processor, I ground the chicken thighs (maybe a bit too much : ) and added the ground chicken to the crock pot. I stirred everything together, then put the lid on and walked away…

About the time the older sous chef started saying, “what smells so good?”, it was time to make a quick peanut dipping sauce and pull some lettuce leaves off a head of icerberg to make the lettuce wraps. This was very tasty and easy.

Salad for Dinner… and Dessert!

I was never a big fan of salads until I learned that people could make their own salad dressings. It’s a little sad that my only experiences with salad dressings when I was growing up were those bottles on the supermarket shelves – often loaded with preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, and chemicals that defy pronunciation.

My first “homemade” salad dressing was just vinegar and oil – with a  variety of spices from the spice rack that I decided to toss in there – tasting as I went until I was pleased with the result. It was considerably better than purchasing dressing – and no where near as fresh tasting as the dressings I make now.

Tonight the sous chefs and I made salads. Yes – salads – two of them, in fact. We made a Build Your Own Taco Salad Bar for dinner – and then enjoyed a great fruit salad (in a pineapple boat) for dessert.

Make Your Own Taco Salad

 

We had a lot of fun with this salad. When we were done with all the components, we put them out on the counter so that each of us could build our own taco salads. Put out bowls of the following:

• Chopped Lettuce
• Grated Cheese
• Your favorite taco meat
• Sliced avocadoes
• Chunky Salsa (Recipe follows)
• Avocado Dressing (Recipe follows)

Let each diner create their own taco salads – the little sous chef certainly enjoyed making his own dinner!

Who says you can’t have a salad bar at home?

Chunky Salsa

 

• 2 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 lime
• a handful of cilantro – torn

Chop the vegetables and put them (along with any juice from the tomatoes) into a bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lime over the vegetables, throw in the torn cilantro, and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Creamy Avocado Dressing

• 1 avocado
• lemon
• mayonnaise
• tomatillo sauce (optional)

In the food processor, combine avocado, the juice of the lemon, and enough mayo to make a creamy dressing. I added a Tablespoon of the tomatillo sauce we made this weekend for the chicken and gave it a whir in the food processor until all the ingredients were combined. Right now, this is my absolute favorite salad dressing!

Fruit Salad for Dessert

We had a lot of fun with this!

Why I eat Gluten-Free

I don’t talk about it in many of the recipes I’ve posted so far - and I probably won’t in the recipes I still have left to share, but I eat gluten-free. All of the recipes I post will be gluten-free as well. That’s how I eat.

Why do I eat gluten-free? I am not currently diagnosed with Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance or even wheat allergy. So, why would I do this to myself, you might ask?

Many years ago I started the Atkins diet. I’ll leave that story to another post. The reason that this is important is that after starting Atkins, I had a revelation: I felt better than I had in my entire life! I’ve been dealing with depression, anxiety, digestive issues, reproductive system issues, weight issues and more my entire life. So, until I started feeling better, I really didn’t know how sick I had been feeling before. I had nothing to reference. That was just how I felt all the time. I was sick – and just thought it was “normal”. I actually remember thinking after a few weeks on Atkins, “So, this is how other people feel normally? You mean, they don’t have horrible stomach pains all the time? You mean, they don’t feel like they’re walking around through a cloudy haze – unable to think clearly all the time?”

Even with this revelation, it took me some time to realize the cause of this. Even with one cousin diagnosed with Celiac disease (and one who was to be diagnosed later), it took some time for me to put it all together. Eating low-carb had significantly reduced (but not eliminated) gluten in my diet.

I stopped eating Atkins in July, 2006. I had just found out that I was expecting a new sous-chef! It didn’t occur to me at the time that I could keep eating the way I was eating (with modifications, of course) while pregnant. And, my ob kept stressing the importance of eating plenty of whole grains. Well, the only whole grains I even knew about at that time were wheat So, I reintroduced wheat to my diet (much of what I introduced I wouldn’t consider whole grains, now).

It was a stressful pregnancy. I felt ill a lot. I felt tired a lot. Where was the energy I had felt during my first pregnancy? Where was the energy I had felt while eating Atkins? Why was I suddenly gaining weight at an alarming rate? My doctor didn’t have any answers for me – just kept telling me to eat my whole grains and sent me to get tested for gestational diabetes (negative, thank goodness!)

After the birth of the little sous-chef, and after he finished nursing (it was his choice – suddenly one day just before his first birthday), I decided to return to Atkins. I remembered the energy. I remembered the feeling of being in control of my weight (I was gaining even while nursing at an alarming almost 1 pound per week!)

Within a few weeks, my energy returned – my health returned – my life returned! Then, I started having strange symptoms again. Some digestive – but something new, too. There was an odd rash – mostly on my wrists and ankles, sometimes other places. I figured I had a food allergy. I dilligently recorded everything I ate and tracked the symptoms – looking for what food was causing it. It was tricky – and it took some time (and finally remembering that my cousin was diagnosed with Celiac and another cousin had just been diagnosed).

Oh! Every single food that I had eaten before the rash had occured had gluten in it. It was the only common theme. I didn’t even think twice – gluten had to go. And it did. And, I’ve never felt better.

I spoke to a GI doc about getting diagnosed. I currently have no symptoms (I haven’t knowingly ingested gluten in over a year now). The doctor thinks I should start eating gluten. I think I need a new doctor. For now, I’ll just keep myself (and this blog) gluten-free. Even when I don’t talk about it a lot : )

Book Chat – May

Last month, Noëlle at Simmer Down! (A Food Lover’s Blog) put out the idea to read a book and then review it/discuss it/make a recipe inspired by the book, etc… I feel like a bit of a slacker because I really wanted to read this particular book, but I just ended up running out of time to buy it or get one from the library.
So, next month, look for the new book and in the mean time, check out some of the other reviews of what looks like a great book: How to Pick a Peach by Russ Parsons.

Added June 2, 2009 (I’ll be answering these as I go):

Whether you’ve read the book or not, what are your thoughts?

Discussion questions: (please feel free to answer one, a few, or all!)

1. Why do you think Parsons selected a peach as his title fruit, rather than a pear, plum, or some vegetable?
2. Generations ago, a book like this probably would not have been necessary.  The smaller amount of items available would have meant that the average person would not have needed the breadth of knowledge that we do when we go to the supermarket. We now have a disconnect from many items because they are not local and thus less familiar, and therefore we find ourselves in a position of having to “re-educate” ourselves as consumers.  Is the greater variety worth the trade-off?  How much time and effort are you willing to spend to ensure that you are selecting the best possible produce?
3. One of the topics discussed in the book is the supply chain and how it affects what varieties are propagated.  How important is it to you to have a wider variety of items, some shipped from across the country or imported, versus having better quality items that can be found locally?
4. It stands to reason that if consumers stopped buying flavorless peaches, tomatoes, etc, growers would be forced to adapt.  Why and how did people become disinterested about the flavor of their food?  How much blame, if any, should be placed on the average consumer (or the farmers) for the quality of produce found in our grocery stores today?
5. What do you think the future holds for the flavor of fruits and vegetables, the way the supply chain functions, and for the overall quality of our food?