Apricot Orange Scones

My friend Darren really loves the scones I make. They are basically the classic, super-simple recipe from the Joy of Cooking. He came over and I taught him how to make them.

Darren making scones

Apricot Orange Scones
2c AP Flour
1/3c sugar
1T baking powder
1/2t salt
6 T (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 c dried Turkish Apricots, cut into raisin-sized pieces
1 egg
1/2 + 3T heavy cream
1t orange zest
3T cinnamon sugar (mix cinnamon and sugar together to your own taste. My ratio is usually around 1:4 cinnamon: sugar)

Preheat oven to 425F
Place dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor
Drop the cold butter in and pulse until mixture resembles brown sugar or bread crumbs. Do not over mix!
Add wet ingredients, apricots, and orange zest all at once (except that extra 3T of cream - reserve that for later) and pulse until dry ingredients are just moistened. Again, do not over mix!
Dump mixture into large metal bowl and knead a few times to incorporate all the crumbs together and form a nice ball of dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and pat into a disc about 8" wide and 3/4" thick. Cut into 8 or 12 wedges and place about 1/2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Brush the tops with the reserved 3T of cream and dust with cinnamon sugar.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Cabernet Spice Rub

I have been messing around trying to make some spice rubs and chocolates to go with specific varietals so that the company my husband works for can include them with larger wine orders. It's too hot to deal with chocolate today, so I gave a spice rub a try.

I decided to focus on the smoky, leathery, spicy flavors you find in a Cab and to let the Cab itself take care of the fruit part.

CABERNET SPICE RUB
2T Roasted Chili Powder
2T Smoked Sea Salt
1T Freshly cracked Black Pepper
2T Freshly ground, toasted Fennel Seed
2t Freeze-Dried Roasted Garlic, ground
1T Toasted, minced Dried Onion, ground
5pc Freeze-Dried Tomato, Frozen again, then ground in the spice grinder
1T Bamboo-Smoked Black Sesame Seeds, ground

I rubbed 1T olive oil over a tri-tip, then rubbed the spices over the entire surface. I put it on a broiling rack in a 375F oven until the meat reached 125F, around 20 minutes. I rested it for 10 minutes, then sliced it.

Hi-Hats!

Previously, I promised I'd figure out how to fix the broken hi-hat recipe that is all over the internet. Tonight, I came much further toward accomplishing my goal. I was able to fix two of the three fundamental problems and came up with some creative improvements to implement on my next attempt.

The first problem with the recipe was that the marshmallow filling turns out gritty. The recipe requires that you put a ridiculous amount of sugar into three egg whites and a scant 1/4c of water and whip them continuously over a rolling double boiler until the mixture achieves 160F. The issue seems to be that it is impossible to get to 160F, so the sugar never melts, resulting in a gritty, heavy, sticky, nasty, mess.

My solution was to take the sugar and water and create a simple syrup which I then incorporated into the partially whipped whites prior to putting them over the double boiler. I never got to 160F, but my filling was perfect.


The second issue with the recipe is that the chocolate glaze is too thick and melts the marshmallow topping and often pulls it right off the cupcake.

This one was more of a challenge and I lost a few cupcakes to trial and error. First, you need to have very cold cupcakes. I cooled mine in the refrigerator, but I think they were still not quite cold enough. In the future, I may try partially freezing a batch in the freezer prior to dipping in the chocolate glaze. Secondly, the glaze is too thick and heavy for the delicate marshmallow filling. My solution was to increase the ratio of oil to chips until I acheived the desired consistency. The third issue seems to be the method of dipping. I found I was more successful tilting the cupcakes over the glaze bowl and pouring the glaze over with a spoon than dipping them into the glaze head-first.

Additionally, I don't know that I need to mention this, but you can make pretty much any chocolate cupcake recipe you like. The original recipe has you making a sour cream cake, which would be a nice foil to the intense sweetness of the topping, but tonight I made the classic Hershey's recipe and it was just fine.

Here are the cupcakes, waiting for the goods:


The topping:


The glazing process:


Freshly glazed and into the fridge:


Cooled and complete, they look like this:



HI-HATS:

12 chocolate cupcakes, unfrosted (use your favorite recipe)
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups chopped (about 12 ounces) semisweet chocolate
4 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

PREPARE FILLING:

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is incorporated, then leave on the heat until the sugar is melted and the mixture is transparent.

In a large heatproof bowl, combine egg whites and cream of tartar. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat on high speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Continue beating and pour the sugar mixture into the egg whites 1/8c at a time until completely incorporated. Set bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Beat on high speed until frosting forms stiff peaks, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and almond extracts, and beat for 2 minutes more.

Transfer frosting to a large disposable pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain pastry tip. Leaving a 1/8-inch border on each cupcake, pipe a spiral of frosting into a 2-inch-high cone shape, using about 1/2 cup of frosting per cupcake. Transfer cupcakes to a baking sheet, and refrigerate while preparing the chocolate coating (or longer, if needed).

PREPARE CHOCOLATE COATING:

Combine chocolate chips and oil in a medium heat-proof bowl and microwave until until melted and smooth, stopping every 30 seconds to stir. Do not overheat. Transfer to a small bowl, and let cool about 15 minutes. If the glaze is too thick, add more vegetable oil, 1T at a time until the appropriate consistency is obtained.

GLAZE THE CUPCAKES

Remove cooled cupcakes from refrigerator and one at a time and while holding them at an angle over the glaze bowl, carfully spoon the glaze over the topping, letting the excess drip back into the bowl. Do this until the entire marshmallow topping is coated. Place the glazed cupcakes on a sheet pan in the refrigerator to cool and harden.

Angry Wine.

(By way of introduction, my MUCH better half has been characteristically altruistic enough to yield a little space in this blog for the rantings of her wine-deranged husband. OK. Let's proceed...)

It probably says a lot about me that my first post in this blog has a title like 'angry wine.'

Let me explain.

Have you ever thought all day about what you're going to have for dinner (you think to yourself: "Mmm, bacon-wrapped pork chops with rosemary, brussels sprouts, etc etc") and then been stopped in your tracks by one of the following?:

A) OH NO! I have nothing in my cellar that fits my mood OR this meal!

B) After spending all this money on food, I don't really want to invest in some fancy bottle of wine.

Thus, angry wine. It's what you end up with in these two scenarios most of the time. That bottle that's 'pretty good' but just doesn't live up to the idealistic imaginings you've been experiencing all day.

I must admit, being in the trade this doesn't happen to me as much as it used to. However, there are nights where the bottle just misses the target. This is usually when, out of nothing but spite, I reach for the fanciest bottle I can find downstairs as if purging from myself (and my home) some unholy spirit that has befouled us all by finding its place at our table.

In these moments, despite your wife's 'reasoned thinking', I implore you to consider that $10 or $15 extra is nothing to mourn when put toward a bottle that helps you to avoid such catastrophes. The Cabernet lovers among you must surely be nodding your heads and silently mouthing your 'amens' at this point for that bastard grape will SO RARELY put out for anything less than $35.

So, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, I now trudge down to the cellar to find something to help my palate forget the atrocities I have just subjected it to (yes Chateau Souverain Cabernet, I'm talking about you - you fruitless bastard).

RYAN

S'mores

Tonight, my family and I went to this fantastic local candy store. In the case at the counter, they had these really lovely s'mores (a sandwhich of graham cracker and marshmallow dipped in chocolate) for which they were charging $4 each. I looked at them closely and could tell that they were using coating chocolate, which means that the whole process is pathetcially easy. I decided to make my own instead.

On the way home, I stopped off at the local baking supply shop (which happens to be on the way to my house) and picked up a bag of milk and dark guittard a'peels. The two bags together came to $4.50. Then I grabbed a bag of marshmallows at the corner store, which cost $1, on sale. We already had Honey Maid Graham Crackers.

I threw my chocolate in a bowl and tossed it in the microwave, stopping it to stir every 45 seconds or so until it was entirely melted.


Then I broke a bunch of graham crackers in half and put them on a plate. I topped each one with a marshmallow and put it in the mircorwave for around 15 seconds, until it was soft and puffy.


I then smushed the other half of a graham cracker on top and made little sandwhiches.


I dunked each sandwhich in chocolate and then put it on foil to cool and dry.

The end result was delicious and my kids freaked. My husband was beside himself with glee. The quality of my end product was exactly equivalent to those in the candy store and I made 8 (plus some chocololate covered grahams) for a little more than the price of one. And yes, it really was as easy as I made it sound.

Grilled vegetables and dried apricots in a garlic, fennel vinaigrette

I had some leftover grilled vegetables (Fennel bulb, red onion, zucchini, and shitake mushrooms) from BBQing last night. I chopped them up, threw them on some fresh arugula, whipped up a dressing, and was surprised at how wonderful the resulting salad was.

Serves 2

2c grilled vegetables, medium dice
2c fresh arugula, washed and dried (if using pre-washed, a half bag will do)
1/4 c dried apricots, medium dice
1 large clove garlic, sliced thin
1t fennel seeds
1T extra virgin olive oil
2T olive oil
3T white balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

Place the grilled vegetables, arugula, and apricots in a medium salad bowl.

Toast fennel seeds in a sautee pan over medium heat until they darken slighty and release their aroma. Remove the toasted seeds from the pan and grind them.

In the same pan, add your 2T olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add your sliced garlic and fry until golden brown and crispy (beware the hot spots on your pan! Don't let any garlic burn!)

Add your hot garlic and garlic oil to the white balsamic. Add the ground fennel, and the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Toss the salad with the dressing and serve immediately.

First Corn of the Season!

Tonight, my produce guy hooked me up with the first corn of the season, sweet white corn. I whipped up a quick batch of cilantro lime butter, smeared it all over, and threw those babies on the grill. The result is, of course, resplendent.

4-5 ears corn, husked and cleaned
1 lime
1 bu cilantro
1/2 stick butter
3 cloves garlic
1t ground cumin
1/2t ground coriander
1/2 jalapeno, seeded

Wash the cilantro and place with the butter, garlic, cumin, coriander, and jalapeno into the bowl of your food processer. Zest the lime into the bowl and then squeeze the juice in after. Pulse until uniform in texture, but stop before it is a puree. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Spread over the corn liberally and wrap in aluminium foil. Place on a medium grill and turn every few minutes until the corn has roasted brown in places and cooked through.