Organizing a New Kitchen

Finally back after our move. I've been digging myself out from boxes everywhere for the last 2 weeks, after frantically packing for the weeks prior. Moving is stressful at best. My husband keeps asking where an item is. All I can say with any certainty is, "I just don't know!" Of course, that is not the answer he hoped for so it continues to be stressful. Such is life and moving.

I have no new photos to attach here for this blog. Maybe tomorrow, or maybe next week, but I wanted to at least write a little bit here. I am making an effort to do a little light cooking, in an attempt at "getting to know my new kitchen." It is hard to get things in an order so they are handy and useful, and every kitchen is set up differently. I have plenty of room, but things are laid out differently in each house. Yesterday I made brownies. I had been warned that the stove here runs hot, so I set the temperature 25 degrees lower. The brownies were not done in the usual time called for, so I upped the temp and they were finally done with about 7 extra minutes. They came out delightfully chewy, so that was great, but I am not sure the oven temp really runs much hotter than normal, after that experiment. Here is my recipe:

My Best Brownies

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts

In a medium saucepan, melt together the chocolate and butter (11 tablespoons). Once melted, remove from heat. Add in the sugar and mix to combine. Add the eggs and beat to combine. Add in the flour, baking powder, salt and nuts and stir until just mixed. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Do not overbake.

I made my Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham a few days ago, in the midst of complete chaos. They also turned out perfectly and it was so wonderful to have a home cooked meal again, instead of store bought rotisserie chicken, potato salad and coleslaw, or spiral sliced ham with potato salad and coleslaw. Not that I am complaining. My wonderful sister-in-law provided the foods during the move, so I didn't have to panic trying to find things to make in such a chaotic situation. I am completely and utterly grateful for all she provided. It is still nice to get back to some semblance of normalcy. This coming weekend I am hoping to make Mom Rawstern's Famous Baked Beans with the ham bone from that spiral sliced ham we have been eating for the last week.

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

Serves 6 to 8
Makes one 9 x 13-inch casserole

2 cups ham, cut in small chunks
3 - 3½ pounds russet potatoes, peeled, sliced ¼" thick
½ medium onion, sliced thinly, then roughly chopped
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, reserving ¾ cup aside
6 tablespoons flour
1½ teaspoon salt
¼ - ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups milk, evaporated milk or cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (375, if convection). Spray a 9 x 13-inch casserole with cooking spray. Divide the potatoes into three piles, making one pile of the best and most even shaped slices, and one with the smallest bits and pieces. Place the latter pile into the bottom of the casserole. Layer half the ham over the potatoes, then half the onion, and half the cheese. Sprinkle on 3 tablespoons of the flour, then half the salt and pepper. Place pats of one tablespoon of the butter over the surface. Repeat with another layer of potatoes, then the ham, onion, cheese, flour, salt, pepper and the butter. Top with the best looking potato slices.

Heat the milk to just warm, and whisk in the Dijon mustard. Pour this over the casserole, cover the casserole with foil and bake for45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for another 45 minutes. Ten minutes before the potatoes are done, sprinkle the reserved cheddar cheese over top of the casserole and allow to finish baking. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving. 


Today my husband requested my Uniquely Fine Chicken Salad. He loves it for lunch sandwiches, though it is equally good for noshing, served on crackers, tortillas or buns. It is also wonderful for appetizers. Eventually I will get some photos to put in my blog and website, but for today, at least the recipe is available. It is completely gluten free, if served on something other than wheat breads or crackers. It is delightful on a bed of lettuce or tomatoes, too.

Uniquely Fine Chicken Salad

Uniquely Fine Chicken Salad

Makes 6 to 7 cups

½ cup raisins or craisins
½ cup pecans, walnuts or almonds
3 to 4 stalks celery, in 1-inch chunks
1 carrot, scrubbed, in half-inch slices
1 green pepper, seeded, in 1-inch chunks
1 whole rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed
¾ cup sweet pickle relish
¾ - 1 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup yellow mustard

In a food processor, place the raisins and nuts and process for about 20 to 30 seconds, until in smaller bits. Remove to a large bowl. Next, process the celery in about 4 to 5 short pulses and remove to the bowl. Repeat with the carrot and then the green pepper. Do not process too fine. Repeat with the chicken in two batches and add to the bowl, along with the pickle relish, mayonnaise and mustard. With a spatula, combine all the ingredients well. 


It is good to be back!


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest. 

Delicious No Matter the Language

Stollen for Breakfast

So many cultures, and so many wonderful recipes. I have focused on my Slovak and Serbian ethnic recipes, and on Guatemalan foods I learned to love, along with Indian. When Christmas time rolls around, regardless how many other goodies there are to eat, German Stollen bread is on my list. Fruit and nut filled and rich with butter and egg, this bread is just marvelous for breakfast or brunch, with coffee or tea on a cold winter's morn. These things are food for the soul, and are made from the heart.

There are many, many Stollen recipe variations, of course. Everyone who writes a recipe declares theirs is the only "right" way. I declare there is no right way to make anything, but only interpretations. All recipes are personal interpretations. We alter a recipe to include an ingredient we prefer, or leave one out that we dislike. Then and there, the recipe is now a personal variation and no longer someone else's.

Small Stollen loaves, just baked
and glazed with a simple icing

I enjoy reading recipes, and variations on recipes. I love seeing the differences and similarities and then making them to my own taste. I rarely make a recipe as it is given. Stollen bread is basically as I described: fruit and nut filled and butter and egg rich. Amounts and specifics are left to personal interpretation. I prefer having my Stollen filled to overflowing with the fruits and nuts. Though many Stollen recipes call for citron in large quantity, I dislike citron and would never put it in anything I make. Does that make it any less good? I think not. Some recipes call for cherries, and some not. I am not generally wild about raisins when baked in a food, but I do use them in my Stollen, because it seems an integral part of the recipe. Golden or dark raisins, either/or, or both. I really love candied orange peel, so that goes in.

But have you ever tried to make such an overwhelmingly rich yeast dough? It is very hard for the yeast to have an effect on such a heavy dough, so the making of Stollen is a long process. Rising times are very long. There is a kind of yeast, available from the King Arthur flour site, called SAF Gold. It is meant for precisely this type of rich dough. Unfortunately, it is only available in 1-pound bricks. The reason behind the slow rising process, as explained in the King Arthur Flour / Baker's Catalogue is this:

“Sweet breads can be agonizingly slow risers. Why? Because sugar attracts water, and when it's in bread dough, it pulls water away from yeast - leaving the yeast thirsty and unable to grow. The special strain of yeast in SAF Gold is ‘osmotolerant’ – it requires less water. So it's able to grow happily despite sugar's attempts to leave it ‘high and dry.”

I started making my Stollen this morning at 10:30 AM. The last loaves were out of the oven at 6:30 PM. I have been working on many other things today, while waiting for the dough to rise, so its not that I had to be there attendant upon the dough. Just checking in periodically is enough. The bread is made for this year, and I am pleased. The recipe makes two quite large loaves, or three more medium sized loaves. This year I want to give them as gifts, so I made 8 smaller loaves. See the recipe for my Stollen loaves and you might be tempted to spend a nice day inside watching this marvelous bread rising, with the promise of such goodness at the end.

Dough ready to form into loaves

Stollen

Makes 2 large or 6 small breads

6 - 8 cups bread flour
2 packages dry yeast, or SAF Gold, or Instant Rise
1½ cups water or scalded milk (at 85-degrees)
½ pound raisins
½ pound almonds, blanched, peeled, chopped
½ pound candied fruits (cherries, orange peel, pineapple)
¾ cup sugar
1½ cups butter (3 sticks), room temperature
3 eggs, room temperature
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon grated lemon or lime zest
2 tablespoons brandy or cognac (optional)

Blanch almonds in boiling water until the skins soften, drain and rinse, peel and chop the almonds. Or, just use already slivered almonds.

Mix the yeast into the scalded milk, cooled (or water) to about 85 degrees. Allow to rest for10 minutes.

Chop the candied fruits into smaller bits and add a little flour, tossing so the fruits separate more easily. Add in the raisins and almonds, tossing to combine. May substitute golden raisins (Sultanas) for all or part of the total amount.

Once the yeast has bloomed, add in 1 cup of the flour and whisk well. Allow this sponge to grow until doubled in size, about ½ hour.

Cream the butter until light. This may be done in a large, heavy duty mixer, such as Kitchen Aid. Add in the sugar, a little at a time. Beat in the eggs until combined. Add in the brandy or cognac, if using. Add in the fruits and nuts, lemon or lime zest and the risen sponge mixture to combine, then add in another 5 to 7 cups of flour, as needed. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is silky smooth and elastic.

Place the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to rise until almost doubled in bulk. Once risen, turn out onto a floured surface and divide into 2 sections. Form each section into a loaf and place into greased loaf pans. These loaves may also be formed into oval or round loaves and placed on baking sheets. Allow to rise in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk. Bake the loaves in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

My passion is to teach people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. Join me at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook and Pinterest.