Porter House

Croissants

 

I cannot explain how happy I am about finding this croissant recipe. I have been impressed with Jeffery Hamelman ever since I first saw his book at a King Arthur class years ago. I believe though, that this is the first time I have baked anything of his. Well, I am impressed. This recipe went very smoothly and you cannot deny the results...

The crescent shaped ones are plain while the straight ones are chocolate. They were exactly what you look for in a good croissant. (I guess. The most authentic ones I have ever had have been my own. :)

The laminating process is just like for puff pastry. The only real difference is that the dough is yeasted. You make a dough square. (I rolled out the edges to aid in the closing process.) Then you place a square of pliable butter in the middle and close like an envelope.

You repeat the rolling and folding process twice, placing it in the freezer in between. Then it refrigerates overnight. This morning I had to roll it out to 44 inches. I had to turn it diagonally to fit it on my island. After that, you trim the edges and cut the shapes. Their description on cutting the triangles worked perfectly. They all came out the right size.

They rise for about an hour and a half, and then they get baked off. You really should let them get really dark. I probably took them out a tad early. My oven tends to burn the bottoms, so I got worried. They were SO wonderful. Super flaky and buttery. The chocolate ones were great as well. They were Ryan's favorite. I really hope some of you will try these. They are well worth it.

Finally! A Rainbow Jello Mold Demo

I promised when I first got my camera to do a demo of the making of this Jello mold. I even bought the Jello. After I missed making it in time for Easter I just kept putting it off. Last night, months later, I finally decided to tackle this project. It is difficult to do a demo like this without a cameraman, but I did my best.

I discovered the recipe on this eGullet thread. It is an adaptation of Jello's Rainbow Ribbon Mold, done by Rachel Perlow. She took their recipe and made it more rainbowy. Her avatar is a section of this mold and I have always been fascinated by it. I knew the kids would love the real thing so I followed her recipe for Easter year before last. It was a hit.

Rachel's recipe is wonderful, so I am posting a link to it along with some of my pictures from last night.

You use seven boxes of Jello. The bottom layer, the top off the mold, is made of two boxes of your favorite color. Rachel uses red and so do I because it is my favorite color/flavor. Then you have the other 5 colors, remember ROY G BIV?  First you place your Jello in separate cups and prepare your pan.

Then you add boiling water to the cups and take advantage of child labor to do the stirring.

Now you get to add your first layer. You add half the purple to the pan and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.

You add yogurt, cool whip, sour cream, etc. to the other half of your purple. The last five minutes or so before the first layer is ready you place the light purple in the fridge to thicken.  When the first layer is set but still tacky you pour the light purple over the dark purple. It is important not to wait too long. If the layers are too set they might separate later when you cut into them.

You can use a spoon to deflect the stream of Jello when you are pouring on a new layer. This helps it not break through the last layer. I usually do not bother though, I just hope for the best. Now you continue with this process, working your way through the colors.

After the light red layer you are done! Now you just need to refrigerate it over night. The next day fill a bowl with hot water. Carefully dip the pan into the hot water for about 10 seconds. Do not let any water get in the pan, and do not hold it too long or you will melt too much of the outside. Place a platter over the pan and flip. You will hear it release. If it does not, dip it in the water for a few more seconds.

Then you get to admire your handiwork.

This one isn't quite as pretty as my last one. I think I was a little more relaxed. Oh well, the kids still love it!

Pie Making!

I am feeling better today. I celebrated by making a pie. My husband requested a peach pie, so I found a recipe for  Lemonade-Peach Pie in my Pie cookbook. It uses 1/3 cup lemonade concentrate to add a really summery flavor. I added a little fresh lemon juice for brightness as well. It is thickened with quick-cooking tapioca. I used the recipe for Basic Flaky Pie Pastry out of the book as well. It uses half butter/half shortening. Instead of shortening I used leaf lard that I ordered from Deitrich's Meats . Cooks Illustrated and I both highly recommend them. The top of the pie was supposed to be streusel but I wanted a double crust for the demo. First I made the pastry dough:

I cut up my butter and leaf lard into small pieces, and placed them in the freezer while I got together the dry ingredients.

I processed in the butter first, about 10 one second pulses. Then I processed in the leaf lard, 8-10 one second pulses.

I stopped when some of the fat was completely cut in, but some pieces were still as big as small peas. Remove the lid and check with a fork to be sure.

Transfer to a large bowl, and drizzle in some ice water. I never measure, I can tell you that I use much less water with a leaf lard crust. It just doesn't need as much water. You want all the crumbs to be evenly moistened. You do not want it too wet or too dry. It is ready when it will hold together in clumps when you squeeze it.

I use a one cup measure to divide the crumbs onto two large sheets of plastic wrap. You want to make one slightly bigger than the other.

Then use your rolling pin to form one solid even piece of dough within the plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for one hour. You can refrigerate it up to 1-2 days, but you may have to let it warm up a little before you roll it. You can also soften it by banging it with your rolling pin, but it tends to upset husbands :).

Now you get to roll out the dough. I really love my tapered french rolling pin. I got it for $5.00 from the Le Creuset outlet. Parchment paper makes this whole process simple. Use the larger portion of dough for the bottom crust.

Flour your paper lightly. Roll out your dough evenly from middle outward. Rotate your paper frequently to maintain the round shape. Yes I have unnaturally long fingers, it's probably a side effect of being 5' 11". It's a shame I quit taking those piano lessons...

About half way through rolling, use a large pie spatula or the bottom of your springform pan to loosen underneath and sprinkle on some flour. This picture isn't really shot properly. My husband/cameraman turned out to be really bad at his job so I let him go and did it myself.

Now for the magic. Turn the whole shebang over your pieplate. Center it using the parchment paper as support. It should still be half-stuck. Then gently peel off the paper. Pulling at a sharp angle helps prevent tearing the pastry. If you do get to a spot that sticks a bit, just dip your finger in flour and ease it loose.

Use scissors to trim the edge to half an inch.Then fill with your filling. Place in the refrigerator while you roll out the top.

Roll out the top as you did the bottom.  Remove your pie from the fridge and dampen the edge of the pie with water. Place the top crust over the pie, center, and peel off paper. Trim the edge to half an inch. Fold the edge under and crimp. Brush lightly with milk and sprinkle with sugar, (I love turbinado on pies, it's sparkly!). Cut in a few decorative vent holes, using a thin blade knife. Bake according to your recipe, you know a pie is done when the filling is bubbling out of the vent holes.

The finished pie makes it worth the trouble don't you think...Here it is bubbling over with goodness.


-Becca

Pizza!

I got a gift card for The Baker's Catalogue, from my sister for my birthday. I used it to get this. I make pizza pretty often. Ever since I found American Pie by Peter Reinhart I have not lacked inspiration. Tonight, I just made pepperoni pizza. For anyone with the book, I used the Americana Dough and Crushed Tomato Sauce. Then some whole milk mozzarella, (not pre-shredded), pepperoni, and parmigiana reggiana. First I made the dough:


Then I preportion it into oiled Glad Bags. I let it rise 1 hour at room temperature, then I refrigerate for at least two hours. Then I take it out and let it rise two hours before working it.

With this particular dough it works best to roll it instead of stretch or throw it. It is pretty moist. If I can teach anyone 1 thing it is this : Use Parchment Paper! It allows you to work with wet dough, apply your toppings, and move it to the preheated stone with absolutely no trouble. Water still gets wicked into the stone, and the crust still gets perfectly browned and crisp.


Here is the lovely finished product...

I really hope you'll consider getting the book, pizza stone, and a peel. If anyone knows bread it is Peter Reinhart. He has created the best recipes. Enjoy!
-Becca