Hostess : Daring Bakers February 2011

Nearly a year ago I was approached about hosting my very own Daring Bakers challenge. I was a little new to the game but loved it so, and there were no hosting months available for nearly a year. Sure, I thought, plenty of time. I knew immediately I wanted February. A month with a fun, colorful little holiday smack dab in the middle, the perfect excuse to challenge the bakers to make something a little dreamy, even love inspired. For the first, oh, 10 months I was set on having them whip up Charlottes. I even bought two boxes of Rose de Reims biscuits in New York for the occasion, then made, and photographed two different versions. Yet, as the challenges wore on, and my month got closer, I felt it better to give the bakers something a little lighter and a little creamier, something a bit different than what we've been baking up. It was between panna cotta & creme brulee, desserts I adore equally. After a bit of hemming and hawing I chose the panna cotta, I felt it was a bit more versatile, adaptable, and fun. Still, as I told them, we're bakers, not whiskers and chillers. So while creamy, dreamy panna cotta was divine, we needed bake something. Then it came to me, florentines, wonderous little oat cookies that spread out in a large buttery puddle upon baking, slathered with chocolate. Smooth, silky panna cotta served alongside crispy, chewy, chocolatey florentines. . . it was as if the sun shone bright and angels sang out from above. 

I'm always awe-inspired by my fellow bakers. The wonderful variations they come up with never fail to drop my jaw. Hosting this month I felt that ten-fold, what these bakers whipped together was beyond expectation, I didn't know panna cotta or florentines could be so beautiful, creative, or unique. From gorgeously tipped layers, to unique flavors and textures. To say that I was wowed does not do my amazement justice. I urge you, truly, to seek the bakers blogs out and marvel at the wonder they've created, they put my vanilla bean strawberry panna cotta and milk chocolate stuffed florentines to shame! 

Thank you everyone who participated, encouraged one another, whisked, baked and created a frenzy of beauty. I hope in the end that you enjoyed my picks, had a blast making it. Everyone was so kind, supportive, and inventive, thank you again for inspiring me and allowing me to be your hostess this February! 

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make panna cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe.

Giada's Vanilla Panna Cotta

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) whole milk

1 Tablespoon (generally one packet) (15 ml)(14.3 grams) (.5 oz) powdered gelatin

3 cups (720 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)

1/3 cup (80 ml) honey

1 Tablespoon (15 ml) (14.3 grams) (.5 oz)granulated sugar

pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigetor for a few minutes before you start making the panna cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

2. Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. (I whisk it a few times at this stage). 

3. Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin. 

5. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Add garnishes and serve. 

Hope you love it!

Chocolate Panna Cotta: 

Bon Appetit

Ingredients: 

1 cup whole milk

2 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

2  cups whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: 

1. Pour milk into a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the top, set aside for 2-5 minutes. 

2. Place a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir in cream, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a low boil.

3. Add chocolate and whisk until melted. Whisk the milk/gelatin mixture into chocolate cream mixture. Whisk until gelatin has dissolved. 

4. Transfer to ramekins, or nice glasses for serving.

5. Cover and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.

Nestle Florentine Cookies:

Ingredients: 

2/3 cup unsalted butter

2 cups quick oats

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup flour

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups dark or milk chocolate

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C) 

Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.

2. To the melted butter add oats, sugar,  flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well.

3. Drop a tablespoon full, three inches apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flaten slighty with the back of your tablespoon, or use a spatula. 

4. Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets. 

5. While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes), or stovetop (in a double boiler, or a bowl that fits atop a saucepan filled with a bit of water, being sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl).

6. Peel the cookies from the silpat or parchment and place face down on a wire wrack set over a sheet of wax/parchment paper (to keep counters clean). Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end)cookie atop the chocolate. This recipe will make about 2 1/2 - 3 dozen sandwiched florentine cookies. You can also choose not to sandwich yours, in which case, drizzle the tops with chocolate (over your wax paper).

300th Post : Glamorous Gadabout : Double Chocolate Pretzel Cupcakes

Don't these cupcakes look sinfully delicious?! They are. 

If you want the recipe, you'll need to head over to a fabulous website, Project Gadabout, published by the fantastically fun Poppy Darrington, sometime after 1pm tomorrow (Saturday). Poppy has been running a series she's dubbed 'Glamorous Gadabouts', wherein each week a blogger is featured for a week straight. When I say featured I mean this; Poppy asks said blogger to fill out fun questionnaires, treasure hunts, photograph the contents of ones bag. . . you get the idea, and features one of these items everyday for a week. This week, it was my turn! I had such fun filling out all of the questionnaires. Seven days all about me? For the Leo in me, that's quite exciting. Saturday she's going to feature this scrumptious recipe from yours truly, so be sure to head over there and check it out!

 These cupcakes were inspired by a recent day trip to Seattle. I've cut back on my cupcakes as of late, but could not resist a trip last weekend to my all time, hands down favorite shop, Trophy Cupcakes. The first thing that caught my eye was this gorgeous row of double chocolate cupcakes, tops rolled in crushed pretzel. Swoon. How can you not love that comibination? Moist chocolate cake, rich fudgey frosting, crunchy, salty pretzel. I'll say it again, swoooon. I knew I had to try these at home, and share them with you. I took mine a step further and packed the bottom of each cupcake with a brown sugar/pretzel crust, only rolled only the edges (not the entire top) in pretzel dust (and salt), finishing each one off with a whole pretzel hand dipped in melted bittersweet chocolate.

Once more for the cheap seats in the back, swoon.

ps. I simply cannot believe this is my 300th post! That's a pretty major accomplishment for this food blogger, fairly amazing!

Valentines Day 2011

I have an announcement. I'm engaged! I've actually been engaged for over a month now, but I wanted to announce it to most of my friends and family before posting anything official here on the blog. I didn't want someone to read it here without hearing it from this food bloggers mouth first. Though, admittedly I haven't necessarily kept it a secret either, as seen in the last post, the darling boyfriend is now being referred to as the fiancee, and soon enough the husband - eep! - So here I am, on the road to marriage! 

Needless to say. I'm feeling extremely lovey dovey this Valentines day. 

I also want to apologize. I've had an incredibly busy new year, I know I've been absent lately, far more than I'd like to be. But, I'll get back in the swing of things here incredibly soon. This week even. So stay tuned!

Happy Valentines Day! I hope you find time for a few special moments with your loved ones today (and don't forget to nosh on a decent amount of chocolate)!

x

Sunday Morning : Sweet Potato Kale Skillet

I woke up this morning with the Velvet Underground's 'Sunday Morning' repeating in my mind, Lou Reed's heavy voice dancing around in my brain like an old record stuck repeating the same few lines over and over. Then, I realized why. Yes, it is indeed Sunday morning, but that wasn't entirely the reason. The waves of hot steam rolling off the large cup of strong black assam sitting on my nightstand and something delicious, mixed with plenty of garlic, frying away on the stovetop had awoken me from my deep, late slumber. This is how Sunday mornings should always smell & sound. But rare is the Sunday my darling fiance isn't working, and thus able to spoil me in such a fashion. Not only did I come home last night to an incredibly clean house; floors mopped, sheets washed, counters and sinks disinfected, my piles of magazines organized into one attractive stack, bedroom free of clutter - but there I was, waking up in my clean house, the smell of a delicious breakfast slowly occupying the air. It simply doesn't get any better than that. No wonder I'm marrying this man.

Sunday Morning is still playing in brain, my belly full of this delicious skillet. Parboiled sweet and gold potatoes fried in a few tablespoons of olive oil infused with too many garlic bulbs to count, finished with slivers of sweet red pepper, torn pieces of earthy kale and a healthy sprinkle of sea salt.  Top each serving with a perfectly poached egg, serve with a giant cup of strong black tea, and you've got a Sunday Morning breakfast that simply cannot be beat.

Our Sunday afternoon calls for boots and a long leisurely stroll with our two pug-a-lugs around Lake Padden. I hope you are enjoying your Sunday just as much as I am!

Stuffed : Blueberry Vanilla Scones

 Scones. For me it conjures visions of moist, cakey, sweet biscuits, slathered with generous helpings of fresh fruit preserves and lightly whipped cream. An easy little treat I often neglect. Scones are one of the simplest baked goods you can whip up, wonderful for a weekend morning, and even tastier when washed down with a strong cup of black tea. So when I had a lonely little pint of blueberries wasting away in the fridge, and a bit of homemade lemon cream, I knew something had to be done. My first thought, naturally, was blueberry muffins with streusel topping. My second, simple scones split up the middle and stuffed with a few fresh berries, *ding ding ding* I had a winner. Less than an hour later I had these delicious little pastries. Blueberry scones, lemon cream, and black tea, an afternoon pick me up doesn't get much better than that!

Blueberry Stuffed Scones

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

2 sticks of ice cold butter - cut into tablespoons

3/4 cup buttermilk (as a substitute I generally use milk with a splash of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar)

2 Tablespoons really good vanilla extract

1/2 cup fresh berries

sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F

1. Mix flour, both sugars, and baking powder together in the bowl of an electric mixer.

2. On low, medium speed add the butter and mix until butter is incorporated and pebbly. 

3. Mix milk and vanilla, slowly add (on same speed) to your flour/butter mixture until just incorporated.

4. On a flour dusted, clean surface, dump your dough out and shape into a disc or rectangle about 1 1/2 inches thick. 

5. Cut into desired shape, move scones to a prepared baking sheet. If stuffing with berries take a small sharp knife and split the scone open down the middle, throw in a few fresh berries, gently placing the top of the scone around the berries. 

6. Sprinkle with sanding sugar and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, just until the scones begin to take on a golden hue, being careful not to overcook and dry out your scones.

7. Serve hot. I love that with berries you don't need jam, though it's perfectly okay if you want to double up on your scone accoutrements. May I suggest a dollop or two of whipped cream? Or perhaps a generous slather of lemon curd. 

Devour!

Reminisce : 2010 Reviewed

It's been quite a year. 

A wonderful, challenging year. 

A year that saw a lot of growth and a bit of change. 

In honor of that I'm going to do something I've not done in the four years I've been blogging here at A Sofa in the Kitchen, a look back on my favorite parts of the year.

Buckle up for a long one, let's review 2010, food blog style, shall we?

New Years Day 2010. 

January marked the very first Snapshot Sunday series here at A Sofa in the Kitchen.

 The month also featured one of my favorite indulgent, comfort recipes: cream of spinach soup.

February was a slow blogging month. My pick? Jello topped, strawberry heart stuffed, cheesecake bites with a chocolate cookie crust. Now that's a mouthful. My favorite part of the whole dish? Clearly, these adorable strawberry heart cutouts!

A week in March features, by far, my favorite Snapshot Sunday of the year.

It also marked the beginning of the year of pie. 2010 was pie heavy for this girl. The three layer key lime pie with it's heavenly flax granola crust was one of my favorites, and by far the best key lime pie these tastebuds have ever enjoyed.

March was also the month I finally attempted the legendary New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie.

In April, my brain concocted this insane sandwich for the annual Grilled Cheese Pageant. Homemade corn bread, jalapeno aioli, pimento studded sharp cheddar, and crispy, thick pepper bacon.

My dearest fellow food blogging friend invited the boyfriend and I over for  Easter brunch. Creme Brulee french toast was the belle of the ball, the perfect dish for this Snapshot Sunday's spotlight.

Molly at Orangette never disappoints, and these chocolate capped macaroons I baked up for my easter baskets are proof of that.

If you can't tell by the slew of pictures, May was likely my favorite month all year. Great recipes like simple smoked salmon appetizers, a wonderful sorbet champagne martini, roasted sweet potato bisque, and sweet pea pesto pasta were featured. Apparently, Spring had me inspired. Therefore, I say, May is worth reviewing all at once.

In 2010 I joined The Daring Bakers, a group of creative bakers that are given challenges monthly, that I love being a part of. My chocolate pavlova June submission was by far my personal favorite DB submission of the year.

In July our oven broke. After a week or two of strong buttermilk biscuit cravings, I broke down and sought out a neighborhood oven so that I could bake up a batch. I served them with a side of honey comb salted butter, of course.

 I also shared one of my most sacred recipes in July. A slow cooked, pulled pork recipe that really, truly, cannot be beat. It's sheer pork perfection.

In August I turned 25. Unarguably the most memorable birthday I've ever had.

Exactly a week later, one of my soul mates turned 30.

As September rolled around, I kicked off a cooler season with roasted sweet potato, pancetta & arugula penne pasta.

As the days grew shorter and colder in October, I began the month with pull apart cinnamon bread. A recipe my darling boyfriend requested I make every single Sunday (ha!)

As Halloween approched, I attempted to keep our bones warm and spirits high with a few delicious Vanilla Bean Tequila Sunrises.

And on the last day of October, we partied. We had a lot of  dry ice and a ghoulishly good time, as seen in this snapshot sunday.

Come November I shared a few of my favorite Brooklyn food spots. 

As well as a delectable fall pear martini. 

Ushering in the final month in 2010.  . .

I made a wreath out of yarn for our front door. 

Ate bowl after bowl of spicy thai curry butternut squash soup.

And finally, stuffed stockings with some old fashioned-homemade granola. 

So goodbye 2010, you were a good year. And, hello 2011. I look forward to all that this year has in store. I'm sure it will bring many new experiences, adventures and of course, good food!

Chin Chin!

Is That You Santa Claus? : Thomas Kellers Shortbread

I love the holiday season. I believe my mom and grandma are responsible for this as they were always so good about making Christmas something extra special. For me, as a child, Christmas eve was particularly exciting in our little Norwegian household. We opened our gifts from each other on Christmas eve, the only ones under the tree in the morning were the ones that Santa had snuck in and left while we slept. Each christmas eve my mother and I would finish our day by preparing for Santa an assortment of freshly baked cookies, a tall cold glass of milk, a note from me to him, and a few carrot sticks for the reindeer. I remember waking up Christmas morning, and unlike most kids, I ran to the check the cookie plate before ripping open any presents. And year after year, without fail, only crumbs remained on the plate, half the milk was gone, the carrots had been nibbled, and Santa left me a thank you note in return. I remember marveling at the teeth marks in the carrots, wondering which reindeer had left them there. This remains one of my favorite memories. So each year when the holiday season rolls around I do my best, in my own way, to keep that memory alive. 

Cookies, no matter the variety, shape, color, or texture, seem to be the ultimate holiday symbol. In honor of that, this week I went cookie crazy. It was my attempt to make the most of this Christmas season. One of my favorite baking sessions came straight off the pages of Thomas Kellers Ad Hoc at Home - I made both his chocolate and vanilla shortbreads. 

Both recipes are oh so simple and quite tasty. I have to say I preferred the chocolate (even though it was so soft it fell to pieces, unlike most traditional shortbreads) it's perfectly rich and chocolatey. Before baking I topped my cookies with large chunks of sanding sugar mixed with a bit of fleur de sel, so that each soft cookie bite was followed by a serious sweet and salty crunch. Both shortbreads got a bit of fun garnish. The vanilla cookies took a little white chocolate dip, then a roll in crushed pistachio and dried cranberry, while the chocolate was dipped in melted semisweet and dusted with coconut or white snow-like sprinkles. Along with that delicious granola, a few of each shortbread will be finding their way into my families stockings. 

While I may not leave a plate out for Santa or his reindeer pals any longer, I know he would've enjoyed these immensely. 

What are you leaving out for Santa & his reindeer?