brown molasses (anadama) bread

Do you remember when bread machines were all the rage? I’m not sure that we had one at home, but my mom’s Uncle Frank had one and always had a fresh loaf waiting for us when we’d arrive for a visit. Back then I would’ve scoffed at the idea of eating anything other than paper-white wonderbread, but somehow I was talked or tricked into trying his brown molasses bread. It was dark and rich with molasses and a little bit sweet. I just couldn’t believe how delicious it was. In fact it was so good that fifteen years later I’m still thinking about it.

Last weekend I happened across a recipe that sounded a lot like my memories of Uncle Frank’s brown bread, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. The process is a little different, as it’s all hand made rather than machine, but I like a little kneading every now and then, so I was up for it.

After a bit of a work out and a few rising sessions the bread was ready to go in the oven. Almost immediately the sweet smell of molasses floated through the kitchen and into the living room. It just couldn’t smell that good and not taste the same.

I pulled the bread out a little earlier than the recipe called for because my oven is crazy and has a mind of it’s own. But I did the tap test and they sounded hollow when i knocked on the crust, so I figured that was a good sign. I let the loaves cool for a good while before actually cutting into them, but even then, they were still warm on the inside, which is one of the great benefits of baking bread at home. I gave my slice a healthy layer of butter and took a bite. Ahhh yes, Uncle Frank would be proud. The bread was full with molasses flavor, just as I remember loving so much. The crust was perfectly crisp providing a nice contrast to the dense, warm interior. This bread is really great for snacking or for toast, times when the flavor of the bread can really shine. It’s good stuff. Thanks to Donalyn for sharing such a great recipe!

Anadama Bread*
makes 2 loaves

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup of cornmeal [whole grain preferably]
2 packets of instant yeast
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups hot water
1/2 cup dark molasses
5 tablespoons melted butter

1
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, yeast and salt.
2
In a smaller bowl, combine the water, molasses and butter.
3
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk for about 2 minutes.
4
Add 2 more cups of flour, 1 cup at a time and mix thoroughly.
5
Generously flour your kneading surface with 1/4 cup all purpose flour, and begin kneading. When the first 1/4 cup is thoroughly incorporated, add another 1/4, incorporate completely and then another 1/4 cup. (3/4 cups total)
6
Another 1/4 cup flour and a couple more minutes kneading and it should look a little drier and smoother. Total kneading time is about 6 or 7 minutes.
7
Oil a bowl and place the dough in it, turning a few time to coat all the surfaces and cover with a piece of plastic wrap or small towel, and place bowl in a fairly warm spot.
8
After the dough has doubled in size, about an hour-90 minutes, turn the dough back out onto the counter [you can dust it with a bit of flour if you like, but it doesn't usually stick even without] and knead for a couple minutes until you have a nice uniform ball again. Cut it into two equal pieces.
9
Then shape into loaves. Place the half dough on the counter with the cut side up and form into an elongated oval. Fold the side farthest from you toward yourself and press along the edges to seal. The turn it around and again pull the side farthest from you into the middle and press down. Bring the ends in until the meet in the middle. Using your fingers, kind of pinch all of the edges together and roll gently to smooth it all out. Put in a well greased bread pan and press firmly all over the top to work the dough into an even layer in the pan.

Preheat oven to 350°
10
Brush the tops of the loaves with melted butter and return loaves to a warm spot and allow to rise until the dough is just above the top of the pan.
11
Once they’ve risen again you can place them in the oven. Bake at 350º for about 45 minutes, until the top is very brown and the loaves sound hollow when you thump them.
12
Remove from pans immediately and cool on a rack for as long as you can stand it and then cut into slices to serve.

* Donalyn has a nice visual tutorial that may help you with some of the steps.

Filed under bread and eat by kelly. March 17th, 2009 . 8 Comments

sugared puffs

Be prepared to run to the kitchen and make this. And when you make it, prepare to take a very, very long walk because you won’t be able to just eat one and therefore you’ll need to a little extra excerise. I flipped to the back of T Magazine looking for the weekly food column like I always do and was so excited to see that it was something sweet and even better the recipe was written by David Lebovitz, master of delicious things.

Chances are you have all the ingredients just waiting for you to whip this up. And I literally mean, whip it up. All it takes is two whizzes in the food processor and you’re on your way to something amazing. After pouring the batter into greased muffin tins, I placed them in a warm oven andlet them work their magic.

Once my timer went off, I opened the oven to see enormous golden puffs. I let them cool for a few minutes taking them out of the pan. David suggested that you may need to pry them out, but these just slid right out. Next I brushed each one with melted butter and then rolled it around in cinnamon sugar. I found that a combination of rolling and scooping the sugar mixture over the puffs worked best.

Soon enough they were all coated with a generous layer of cinnamon sugar. It took me about two seconds to take my first bite. I didn’t really know what to expect except for cinnamony goodness. My first bite revealed a hollow inside with a slightly crispy but mostly tender dough. Imagine a slightly more eggy elephant ear and that’s exactly what this is. Need I say more?

Sugared Puffs
by David Lebovitz for the New York Times
makes 9

For the puffs:
Softened unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup flour

For the sugar coating:
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1
Liberally grease a nonstick popover pan, or a muffin pan with 1/2-cup indentations, with softened butter.
2
For the puffs, put the 2 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, milk, salt and sugar in a blender and whiz for a few seconds.
3
Add the flour and whiz for 5 to 8 seconds, just until smooth.
4
Divide the batter among 9 greased molds, filling each 1/2 to 2/3 full.
5
Bake for 35 minutes, until the puffs are deep brown.
6
Remove from the oven, wait a few minutes until cool enough to handle, then remove the puffs from the pans. You may need a small knife to help pry them out.
7
Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Thoroughly brush each puff all over with melted butter, then dredge in sugar and cinnamon mixture to coat completely. Let cool on a baking rack.

Filed under eat and sweets by kelly. March 16th, 2009 . 21 Comments

happy hour!!

If you were in Brooklyn last night and saw a woman jumping up and down in a magazine store, that would be me. I wrote a little piece along with a recipe for infused vodka and a fancy little cocktail for BUST magazine and its out on newstands now. It’s the first thing I’ve had published in print and it makes me really happy.

So cheers! Have a great weekend!

Filed under happy hour and read by kelly. March 14th, 2009 . 10 Comments

tomatoes & peppers: week 2

Yess!! Look at that! I have all sorts of little sprouts in my gardening box. I’m so excited that they’re growing! Unfortunately I threw away the directions for this dang gardening box so I’m going to have to wing it from here. Fingers crossed!

Filed under gardening by kelly. March 12th, 2009 . 3 Comments

ginger tea

Were you missing ginger on this blog as much as I was? Probably not, buuuut, what can I say, I love the stuff and it has been a while. I found this recipe in my “Extending the Table” cookbook, which is a collection of recipes from around the world. The caption says “This is a rich tea with a sting. Testers report that using fresh ginger and black tea leaves makes it something out of the ordinary”. I like out of the ordinary.

After boiling the ginger in some sugar water for a while, I added a few tea bags to the pot. The recipe calls for tea leaves, but I’m not a big tea drinker so I just substituted the leaves for bags. Once the tea had seeped for a bit I added milk and the whole thing was ready to drink (although a little hot).

The tea was nice. The milk gave it a soothing quality while the ginger provided a subtle bite that I love. I imagine the final flavor would have been a little more intense had I used the actual tea leaves, but I think the end result was nice and calm… kind of what I imagine tea to be.

Asha’s Ginger Tea (from Kenya)
from Extending the Table | serves 4

2 cups water
1 T ginger root, diced
4 t sugar
5 t black tea leaves (or 4 tea bags)
2 cups milk

1
Boil water, ginger and sugar and let simmer for 10 minutes or longer.
2
Add tea leaves and simmer 3-5 minutes, stirring as needed.
3
Add milk. Heat until very hot, but do not boil. Strain to remove ginger and tea leaves.

Filed under breakfast by kelly. March 12th, 2009 . 2 Comments

chile lime tequila popcorn

Oh yeah! Put “Chili Lime Tequila” in front of anything and you’ve got my attention, put it in front of popcorn, well, let’s be friends. Popcorn is one of my favorite things ever, but it’s only in the past year or so that I’ve experimented with adding different spices to it. I saw this recipe on 101 cookbooks last week and just knew I had to make it.

The preparation is fairly simple, although a it took a little more time than I anticipated. After preparing the buttery sauce that includes the peppers, lime zest and juice, tequila and butter, you pour half of it over the popcorn, shake it up a bit and do it again. Then the rest of the spices are added and you give it another shake. Next you pour the whole mixture on a rimmed baking sheet and bake it for a few minutes.

And the result? It’s tasty stuff. It’s definitely full of flavor. Some bites you get a little lime and salt, others you get the whole explosion of flavors, spicy, salty, sour. That’s what I like best about it… it kind of keeps you coming back. I think this would be a really great party snack.

from 101 cookbooks | Make 4 quarts of popcorn

4 quarts freshly popped popcorn*
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1 teaspoon tequila
1/2 small jalapeno, seeds and membrane removes, minced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Preheat the oven to 300F degrees.

1
Line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone baking mat (hs note: or unbleached parchment paper). Set aside.
2
Put the popcorn in a large, clean paper bag (I used a ziploc).
3
In a medium-size bowl whisk together the butter, lime juice and zest, and tequila. Add the jalapeno.
4
In a small bowl combine the black pepper, salt, red pepper, and cumin.
5
Drizzle half of the butter mixture over the popcorn, fold over the top of the bag, and shake until the popcorn is coated and moist. Taste. Add more of the butter mixture if you like, and give a second shake. Sprinkle (most of) the pepper mixture over the popcorn, fold over the top of the bag, and shake a few times to coat. Taste, and if you’d like more pepper flavor add the rest of it.
6
Spread the popcorn evenly over the baking sheet and bake until the popcorn is dry, five to seven minutes.

*To pop 4 quarts of popcorn, heat 1/4 cup clarified butter, coconut oil, or olive oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Add a few kernels to the pot. Once they pop, add 3/4 cup popcorn kernels and shake the pot until they cover the pot evenly. Cover the pot and shake intermittently until the popping slows to 5 seconds between pops. Remove the popcorn from heat and transfer it to whatever bag you are going to use for tossing.

Filed under eat and snacks by kelly. March 11th, 2009 . 9 Comments

sven’s salsa

I’m always on the lookout for good salsa, whether it’s a new jarred variety or a new recipe. I love to add salsa to all sorts of dishes to add a little extra ooph. Reader Sven noticed my love of salsa and sent me his recipe, which he said he’s been making for 20 years and loves it. Well, how could I not try that out? Twenty years of making anything seems like it’s worth a try.

Every time I’ve made salsa in the past I’ve used fresh vegetables from the market, but Sven’s salsa called for a combination of canned tomatoes and chiles with other fresh ingredients, although he said you can use all fresh ingredients for a more pico de gallo version. I’m up for whatever, so I picked up a few cans of tomatoes along with a jar of jalepenos.

I ended up using half fresh jalepenos, half jarred, then tossing them along with the cilantro and onion in the food processor. In the past I’ve chopped all my ingredients separately, but now I just toss them in the food processor and chop them all at once. It does the same job, just better and quicker. I added those ingredients in a bowl with the tomatoes, and then gathered the remaining ingredients and put them into the food processor for a whirl. Once everything had been chopped I put it all in one big bowl and stirred it for a while to make sure it was well combined. As I was doing this I realized it was just a little too chunky for me (I like a more saucy salsa), so I gathered about half the salsa and put it in the food processor for one more whirl. I then added it back to the rest of the salsa and let it all rest overnight, because that’s when the magic happens.

The next evening I gave it a taste and was so happy. It was really quite delicious, with a well-rounded flavor. Even though it has plenty of jalepenos, they do more to add flavor rather than heat. I filled four pint jars so I could enjoy it for a while to come. On a chip or on a taco, it’s super tasty any way you eat it. Thanks Sven for such a great recipe!

Sven’s Salsa
makes about 4 1/2 pints

2 28-oz cans diced tomatoes, drained*
2 4-oz cans diced green chiles**
1 small/medium onion, chopped fine
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, skinned
3 pickled jalapenos
¼ c. tomato juice*
1 T salt
1 tsp cumin

1
Put the chopped tomatoes in a large mixing bowl and add the chiles, chopped onion and chopped cilantro.  Stir it up.
2
In a blender or food processor, combine the garlic, jalapenos, tomato juice, salt and cumin.  Blend until smooth.
3
Add everything to the bowl.  Stir for a couple minutes.
4
Cover and refrigerate overnight. The flavor definitely improves overnight.
5
Enjoy!

* I just used reserved tomato juice from the canned tomatos to use as the tomato juice the recipe calls for.

** I had problems finding diced chiles, so I just just a combination of the jarred jalepenos and fresh jalepenos and diced them fine.

Filed under condiments/sauces and eat by kelly. March 9th, 2009 . 13 Comments

happy hour: tuthilltown spirits


photos from tuthilltown spirits

For as long as I can remember my 91-year old grandma has ended the day with a nip of whiskey and water. Last year I celebrated her birthday with her drink of choice and it was the first time I’d attempted to drink whiskey. It’s definitely an acquired taste, but I’ve got the bug and have since been trying different whiskies thanks in part to my new love of the Old Fashioned. One of my favorite distilleries is Tuthilltown Spirits from upstate New York. Is it bad that part of the reason I like them so much is that they have possibly the cutest bottles ever? Well, if you’re in the New York area, they have three tastings this weekend that are sure to make you happy.

Maybe I’ll see you there! If not, have a great weekend and cheers to you!

Friday, March 6, 6-8 pm
Bottlerocket Wine and Spirits
5 West 19th st, Manhattan

Saturday, March 7, 3-5
Uva Wine and Spirits
199 Bedford Ave, Williamsburg

Saturday, March 7, 5-7
Fermented Grapes Wine and Spirits
651 Vanderbilt, Prospect Heights

Filed under events and happy hour by kelly. March 6th, 2009 . 3 Comments

best of new york

New York Magazine released it’s “Best of New York” issue and it’s full of new things to try. Check it out here.

Filed under read by kelly. March 5th, 2009 . 1 Comments

garlicky baked fries

It’s been a while since I’ve made homemade fries. The last time I made them I was pretty excited, because you know, even though they seem simple, they’re not always the easiest to get just right. Well, I think I’ve come across an even better recipe, one I found on lottie + doof.

There are some tricks in this recipe that I think make the fries come out just right. First, you microwave the potatoes before you put them in the oven in order to speed up the cooking progress. Second, a little cornstarch is sprinkled over them to create a nice crusty coating. And Lastly, you bake the fries in oil that’s been infused with garlic (delicious!).

After about 40 minutes in the oven your apartment will be filled with the smell of garlic and you’ll have lovely golden potatoes waiting to gobbled up. Oh man, these made me happy! The outside is nice and crispy while the inside is fluffy and soft. They’re pretty garlicky, but then again, that just adds to the goodness. The only thing that would make these better is some homemade ketchup.

Garlicky Oven Fries
via lottie + doof

6 garlic cloves, minced
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 russet potatoes (about 8oz each), each cut into 12 wedges
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 475° F. Combine the garlic and oil in a large bowl and microwave until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer 5 tablespoons of the oil (leaving the garlic in the bowl) to a rimmed baking sheet, tilting the sheet to coat.

Add the potatoes to the bowl with the remaining oil mixture and toss to coat. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and microwave on high power until the potatoes are translucent around the edges, 3 to 6 minutes, shaking the bowl to redistribute the potatoes halfway through cooking.

Combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the hot potatoes and toss well to coat. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake, turning once, until deep golden brown and crisp, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve.

Filed under eat and sides by kelly. March 5th, 2009 . 32 Comments