OlyveOyl

I make frangipane fairly frequently and I’ve found toasting before grinding the nuts is a definite plus taste wise. This is a ( toasted) hazelnut, pear mini cake that definitely benefits by toasting the nuts. I agree that in most cookies, sufficient toasting is achieved while baking.

Thanks Heidi for the additional information. I see that Kenji says to equal the taste of oven roasted nuts to add a little oil. I’ve been roasting/ toasting nuts in the microwave since before Kenji was born! 😂 For my baking purposes, I find toasting is sufficient without the oil, I would imagine for eating out of hand, the oil would enhance the taste. The article was informative,thank you again!

Would you consider “toasting” them in the microwave? I use a Pyrex container, heating in one minute intervals, stirring each time. When the oil in the nuts starts to rise to the surface, it usually doesn’t take very long after that point , I taste as it progresses.

Expecting to be snowed in today, I decided to make our corned beef for lunch. Mashed potatoes, cabbage and scallions was our side for the CB. The corned beef was from Aldi and it did not disappoint, it was very moist and tender. Cooked in the Instant pot, for about 22 minutes per pound, finished temperature was just over 200*. Looking forward to sandwiches tomorrow.

Lunch today was a farro/barley pilaf with mushrooms and finely diced veggies. We also had duck legs with the pilaf which was a tasty accompaniment.

Lunch today was a Great Northern bean salad, Italian tuna, fennel, shallots, capers and black olives. A spritz of lemon, lemon zest plus a vinaigrette were the dressings. Ciabatta on the side was a welcome addition.

Red cabbage, walnuts and apples are a favorite combination in this household. The dressing is sherry vinegar, walnut oil and a wee bit of lingonberry jam. I vary the nuts with hazelnuts and use hazelnut oil or pistachios and pistachio oil.

Three layers of berries with crème patisserie. This is an Alice Medrich recipe for the pastry cream. It uses rice flour and so is gluten free. The recipe is from her book “Flavor Flours” pg. 342. It only makes a cup, so just perfect for two (generous) servings. I’ve also used this successfully for fruit tarts. The eggs are added with the other ingredients and all are cooked simultaneously. The rice flour makes for a very silky pastry cream.

Plum tart, because I couldn’t resist the large bag at Costco by way of South Africa. This is a six inch tart which took about thirty minutes to bake, the juices had bubbled up nicely when I removed it from the oven. In addition, I made some plum sorbet with the remaining plums, a small sample prior to freezing tasted pretty darn good. The plums are reasonably tasty as long as you are cooking them with a little sugar. Will tide me over until July/August when local plums become available.

I remember the end cap as well. There was a wide variety of cookies, anise toasts being one of them. There were probably a dozen different cookies.

I clearly remember that they had a cult following. My memories of them are more sensory. My grandparents lived about ten minutes north of the plant. There was a viaduct that you exited nearby and the aromas of the cookies wafted over the entire area. I always knew that we were almost there even with the car windows closed! ETA… I understand they no longer taste the same 😄

The cookies, Stella D’ Oro are no longer made. At one time they were made in The Bronx, N.Y. They were popular with the Italian American community and also the Jewish community as they were considered Pareve, and therefore, they could be eaten after most meals.

I think it implies that it’s a favorite food at a diner but probably not eaten at home.

Sneaking this into the small batch desserts although not baking. This was adapted from Jody Adams, Boston restaurateur. This is her mother’s recipe for retro Pots de Crème made in a blender. I found the blender to be unnecessary if using finely chopped chocolate. When I switched from TJ’s 72% chocolate to an 85% thin bar, just broken by hand was sufficient. To six oz. room temperature chocolate, along with (room temperature) one beaten egg, slowly pour over 8oz. scalded milk. I usually dissolve the 2T. sugar in the hot milk first. Mix gently to melt the chocolate and add 1 t. of vanilla. This makes six servings, although I generally reduce the quantities and make four using just the yolk. This is rich and dense, I have upped the quantity of the milk a bit to make it a little less intense. Nice with cream or raspberries , a raspberry placed halfway into the crème is also very pleasing. (If you like, you can add the beaten egg following the hot milk, which is easier to incorporate.)

Lunch today was a Swiss chard tart along with sautéed onion and sausage. A few golden raisins, oil cured black olives and some Gruyère cheese were also included. Mixed green salad was the side.

Pasta with a bolognese sauce and a small scoop of ricotta. Followed by endive salad, pea shoots, a vinaigrette dressing.

Thank you Kim, about half way through I switched to a smaller crepe pan and they were considerably easier to flip!

Apple crepes for breakfast today. Very thinly sliced apples in a crepe batter which turned out to be a little trickier than I anticipated. This might be a one and done although they were very tasty. We were first served these in a restaurant with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert and I’ve been thinking about them for a very long time.

Toasted sourdough bread, local ricotta, spritz of olive oil, radish slices, pea shoots and nigella seeds. This is something I make frequently with different toppings atop the ricotta, a drizzle of puréed preserved lemon in oil is lovely for a simple topping. This is a larger one requiring a knife but smaller slices of toasted baguette are easier to eat by hand.

Thank you heidih, the jam is homemade from Meyer lemons. The recipe is adapted from Food in Jars website. I pressure cook a pound of whole lemons in water for 7/10 minutes. Let cool, remove to Vita Mix, add one cup of the cooking water and one cup sugar. Purée and then process as you would for jam.

Hello everyone, new member here and happy to be able to join you in baking, cooking and equipment. These small cakes, cupcakes, are adapted from a Rachel Roddy recipe called Marmalade Cake. My cakes use lemon jam and olive oil rather than butter and also include chocolate shavings and a little chocolate topping. They are tender and fine crumbed and stay moist for several days if they last that long!