Buttermilk Crumb Muffins and some thoughts on chemical leaveners

Several years ago I ran across a recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Baking with Julia for Buttermilk Crumb Muffins.  I found this simple, lightly spiced muffin with its homey buttermilk and brown sugar flavors, to be very appealing.  But what really induced my to try it out was how fast and easy it is to make. The butter is rubbed into the sugar and flour—just as for traditional scones or biscuits. Some of this mixture is then removed and reserved for the streusel topping. The remaining dry ingredients are added to the bowl, followed by a mixture of eggs and buttermilk. The dry ingredients can be mixed up ahead, as can the liquids.  With this small amount of advance preparation, you can easily have warm muffins on the table within 30 minutes of when you get out of bed in the morning. What could be better?

Well, I seem to be afflicted with a desire to always try and make things better. And to be honest, for all its positive qualities, there were a couple of things about the original recipe that bothered me. For one thing, the original recipe used all vegetable shortening. While vegetable shortening has some practical and beneficial uses in baking (it is a very stable fat over a wide range of temperatures), I really do try to avoid using it in large quantities. The other thing was that the recipe seemed to have an excessive amount of sugar—particularly for a breakfast muffin. To correct these two things I substituted unsalted butter for the vegetable shortening and reduced the sugar from 2 cups to 1 1/4 cup...a much more typical amount for a recipe that produces 12 to 16 muffins.

Frankly the fact that these changes—particularly the change in the quantity of sugar—worked at all was pure dumb luck. At the time I knew very little about the chemistry of baking. In any case, I happily made this muffin, using my slightly amended version, for years. They have a soft, springy texture with a pleasantly chewy, lightly streusel-y top. They are plain enough so that everyone likes them, and are also amenable to additions of berries, dried fruits or chocolate chips—a good all-purpose, all-occasion breakfast muffin. A few years ago, when I no longer had regular access to a convection oven, I began to notice that whenever I baked them in a conventional oven that they had a tendency to sink. Even when they didn't sink, they turned out disconcertingly flat.

As I have learned more about the chemistry of baking I began to suspect that the muffins were over-leavened. It is a bit counterintuitive, but as it turns out, too much baking powder or baking soda can cause a baked good to sink. If you have ever made a cake and observed that initially it rose very quickly, only to then suddenly collapse into a dense, gooey mess, it is probable that the recipe that you were using called for too much leavener.  An excessive amount of leavener is a fairly common problem—even in otherwise reliable cookbooks.

The topic of leaveners in baked goods is a big one and I don't feel that I am particularly qualified to tackle it in its entirety. For my purposes today, I think it is sufficient to state that even though the amount and type of leavener required by a particular cake, cookie, quick bread, etc. is a function of many different things, most bakers use the quantity of flour in a recipe to estimate the necessary amount of leavener. In general, if you use 1 to 1 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder OR 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda for every cup of flour in a recipe, you will be in the right ball park.

Please notice that baking soda has four times the leavening power of baking powder. When a recipe is over-leavened, more often than not, the culprit is too much baking soda—many people just don't realize it is so powerful. The choice between baking powder and baking soda in a recipe has to do with whether or not the recipe includes acidic ingredients like buttermilk, sour cream, molasses, brown sugar, etc. A teaspoon of baking powder contains a quarter teaspoon of baking soda along with the exact amount of acid needed to neutralize the baking soda. When baking soda is used in a recipe, the necessary acidity must come from the other ingredients. (For those interested, the rule of thumb here is that for every cup of buttermilk in a recipe, you may substitute 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda for 2 teaspoons of the baking powder.)

Today's post has been a purposefully shallow discussion of chemical leaveners.  I didn't want to get bogged down in too much detail because I think most people are more interested in just making a recipe work—or in spotting one that won't work ahead of time—than they are in understanding why a particular recipe didn't (or won't) work.  For those interested in a more in-depth treatment of chemical leaveners, I particularly recommend both of Shirley Corriher's books (Cookwise and Bakewise). Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible and Madeleine Kamman's The New Making of a Cook also have very readable discussions of this topic.

Going back to my Buttermilk Crumb Muffin recipe, you will notice that the recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of flour. This means that the amount of leavener should probably be somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3 teaspoons of baking powder. But the original recipe used 2 teaspoons of baking powder and a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda—the equivalent of 4 teaspoons of baking powder. No wonder my muffins were collapsing in a conventional oven. I hadn't noticed the effects of the excess leavener when I was using a fast convection oven because the muffins were setting up before they had a chance to collapse. In a slower conventional oven the effects of too much leavener showed up immediately. From my discussion above, it should be obvious that since 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda is equivalent to 2 teaspoons baking powder that there should only be 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of baking powder in the recipe...not 2 teaspoons.

For as long as I have been making them, these muffins have been one of my favorite quick breakfast breads—even in their old, over-leavened incarnation. I particularly like them with chocolate chips and I have a good friend whose sons make them regularly with blueberries (blueberries go especially well with the nutmeg and the cinnamon). This recipe even makes a nice, everyday coffee cake—simply spread the batter in a buttered and floured 9-inch square pan and spread the streusel over the top. Whether you make them plain, with additions, or as a cake, I think this recipe could become one of your favorites, too.



Buttermilk Crumb Muffins

2 ½ c. all-purpose flour (10 oz)
1 ¼ c. golden brown sugar (8.75 oz.)
2/3 c. (10 T. plus 2 t.) unsalted butter
½ t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. cinnamon
¼ t. ground nutmeg
½ t. salt
3/4 c. buttermilk
2 large eggs, well beaten

Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter and flour, or line with muffin-liners, a 12-cup muffin tin. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the bowl. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, measure out ½ cup and set it aside to use as the crumb topping.

Add the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to the remaining flour mixture and stir to combine. Combine the buttermilk with the beaten eggs and add. Using a rubber spatula, mix until the ingredients are well blended.

Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups (an ice cream scoop works well for this). Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a rounded teaspoon of the reserved crumb mixture and pat it gently onto the batter.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Serve warm. Makes 12 muffins.

Variations:
• Add ½ cup chocolate chips along with the spices.
• Add ½ cup chopped nuts to the reserved topping mixture.
• The batter and crumb topping may be spread in a greased and floured 9x9-inch baking pan to make a coffee cake.

Winter Panzanella with Roasted Butternut Squash & Shredded Brussels Sprouts

 

In September I posted a classic version of Panzanella. Today I am sharing a favorite winter variation. As far as definitions are concerned I won't repeat myself too much from my earlier post other than to point out that it is the ability of dry bread to absorb liquid that accounts for the success of the classic version of this salad—the perfectly ripe summer tomatoes providing a particularly fine liquid. But tomatoes aren't the only source of flavorful liquid. A few moments consideration will bring to mind many others—vinaigrettes, pan deglazings from sautéed or roasted meats and vegetables, vegetable cooking liquids, etc. Once you begin to think outside the realm of tomatoes, you will begin to focus on the bread, seeing it as a great foundation upon which to build a tasty salad or side dish featuring your favorite seasonal vegetables.

My winter panzanella is a variation on a recipe in Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking. To his base of butternut squash and Brussels sprouts I have added roasted chunks of sweet-tart apple and crunchy pieces of toasted walnuts. It would be just as tasty with the addition of some roasted or sautéed mushrooms and some shaved Parmesan or diced Gruyère instead of the walnuts and apples. Or, a favorite root vegetable, or combination of root vegetables, could be substituted for the butternut squash. If Brussels sprouts don't appeal, then blanched shredded Cabbage or Kale could be used in their place.

The blanching liquid from the greens makes a good liquid for softening the bread if it is still a bit dry or crunchy after the vinaigrette has been added. But if you prefer a more salad-like version of this dish—one made with fresh greens (maybe arugula, spinach or chopped romaine or radicchio)—then you could simply use some warm salted water to further soften the bread...or maybe the deglazings from the pan-roasted chicken breast or pork chop with which the salad will be served.

In Chiarello's original recipe, the red onions were raw and thinly sliced. I chose to cut them into a large dice and roast them instead. I wanted their presence to be more in harmony with the sweet roasted squash and apples.  I used walnuts to provide the crunch that the raw onions gave to his version. How you choose to treat any onions that you add to a salad like this is up to you, but I do think they should be included. Onions provide interest and depth. And the variety of members of the onion family that would be good in a winter panzanella is considerable—poached sliced leeks, puréed roasted garlic, thinly sliced shallots, caramelized onions or shallots, glazed pearl or cipollini onions, sliced green onions, etc.  The ones you select and the manner in which you treat them is dependent on what kind of texture and flavor you want to add to your salad. 

I hope that the next time you are at a loss for what to cook for dinner and you have the remainder of a nice artisanal loaf of bread hanging around, you will consider making your own version of winter panzanella. Simply begin with vegetables that are at their peak during the winter months—mentally composing a pleasing medley of roasted/sautéed vegetables...something that would make a good side dish—and then think of the bread as an extender...or the starch component of your meal. Vary the vinegar to go with your chosen vegetables and then include herbs, toasted nuts, dried fruits, cheeses, olives or capers for added flavor and texture. You will be amazed how easy it is to come up with your own combinations. Like pizza toppings and seasonal pasta sauces, with a little creativity, the possibilities are endless.

Winter Panzanella

4 c. peeled and diced (¾-inch) butternut squash (you’ll need a 1 ½ lb. squash to get 4 cups)
1 medium red onion, cut in a ¾-inch dice (about 2 cups)
2 medium apples, peeled and cut in a ¾-inch dice (Braeburn, Jonathon or Golden Delicious)
1/2 to 3/4 c. olive oil
Salt & Pepper
2 T. Sherry Vinegar
4 c. Panzanella croutons (see below)
½ lb. Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and thinly sliced lengthwise (about 3 cups, shredded)
½ c. Walnut pieces, toasted
½ c. flat-leaf Italian parsley leaves

Toss the squash, onion & apples with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and spread on a rimmed baking sheet—the vegetables should fit the pan in a snug single layer.

Place in a 400° oven and roast until tender and nicely caramelized—about 40 minutes to an hour. When the vegetables begin to brown, start stirring occasionally. Watch very carefully during the last 5 to 10 minutes of roasting to make sure they don’t burn. Let cool. You should have 3 or 4 cups of roasted vegetables.

While the vegetables roast, make a vinaigrette with the Sherry vinegar and 6 T. of the olive oil. Set aside.

Place the croutons in a large bowl with the roasted vegetables. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the Brussels sprouts and cook until they are tender, but retain a touch of crispness—about 3 minutes. Drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Add the sprouts to the bowl of croutons and vegetables. Add the vinaigrette and toss. Taste and correct the seasoning with salt, pepper and sherry vinegar. If the salad seems dry, or the bread is crunchy, add more olive oil or some of the Brussels sprouts cooking liquid. The amount of liquid the salad will need is greatly dependent on how dry the bread is. At this point the salad may need to sit for a few moments to allow the bread to absorb moisture from the vegetables and the vinaigrette. Add the parsley and the walnuts and toss again. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, vinegar and olive oil before serving.

Serves 6 as a side or first course, or 4 as an entrée.

Panzanella croutons: Toss 6 cups of cubed (1/2-inch) crust-free slightly stale, “day-old” bread (if you are using focaccia, it is not necessary to remove the crusts) with 4 T. of olive oil or melted butter. Spread on a baking sheet and bake in a 400° oven until the bread is crisp and light golden, but still soft inside—about 10 minutes. Let cool. Store airtight. If you like, you may toss 1/2 cup of finely grated Parmesan with the croutons before baking. Makes 4 to 4 ½ cups croutons.

(Recipe adapted from Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking)

Note: When creating variations on this salad, strive for slightly more vegetables than bread. When measuring out your vegetables, remember that many vegetables shrink when cooked, sometimes by as much as fifty percent. It's best to err on the side of too many vegetables rather than too much bread.

The How's and Why's of Sautéed Mushrooms...along with a few ideas for using them

There was a moment in one of my first cooking classes that has forever shaped my approach to teaching. I was sautéing a pan of wild mushrooms. As I did so, I described what I was doing and explained the reasons for each step. It was all pretty obvious stuff from my perspective, but it is never a good idea to stand in front of a class saying nothing so I was simply talking to fill the few moments it was taking for the mushrooms to cook. A woman on the front row commented that she was amazed at how much she had learned in those few moments, even though she had been cooking for years. She then said something to the effect of "This is the kind of stuff that should be taught in cooking classes all the time—basics...how and why."

I have never forgotten that moment, or her words. To this day, when I teach a class, my goal is always to explain the underlying techniques. Of course I teach recipes, but the recipes themselves really are secondary. And why wouldn't they be? Recipes are ubiquitous...in this era of food blogs and online food magazines, you can load a search engine box with a list of the ingredients in your fridge and find hundreds of recipes in an instant. Cookbooks abound and cooking shows are on at all hours of the night and day. Lack of recipes does not appear to be a problem. Even with this abundance of recipes, people are still not cooking very much at home. And this is partly because recipes don't teach how to really cook.

I thought of all of this the other night when I was sautéing mushrooms for the pizza that we had for dinner. Since I promised a few days ago that some posts on basic techniques would be forthcoming, I thought the process of sautéing mushrooms would be a good place to start.

The French verb sauter means "to jump". When applied to cooking, the idea is that the items in the pan are "jumping" in the pan as they are tossed or stirred so that all sides of the food being sautéed are exposed to the hot fat and the hot surface of the pan. The goal of sautéing is food that is tender and moist inside and browned, or caramelized, on the exterior surfaces. Since vegetables release moisture when they are subjected to heat and moisture interferes with browning, the exact process for sautéing a particular vegetable is dependent, to some extent, on the moisture content of that vegetable.

Mushrooms contain a lot of water and give that water up very quickly once the cooking process has begun. To caramelize them properly, the pan must be hot when the mushrooms are added and must stay hot until the mushrooms are browned so that any moisture released by the mushrooms will evaporate immediately. So to begin, set the pan over moderately high to high heat (depending on the power of your cook top). When the pan is hot, add enough oil (I use olive oil, but you could use clarified butter, vegetable oil or bacon fat) to just coat the bottom of the pan. The oil should shimmer. If it doesn't, wait until it does. Add a rough single layer of mushrooms to the pan. Do not overload the pan. You should still be able to see the bottom of the pan through the mushrooms.

Overloading the pan will cause the temperature of the pan to drop. Even if there is enough power in the burner you are using to maintain pan temperature, an overcrowded pan will trap the moisture that the mushrooms are releasing. In either case, the mushrooms will quickly be simmering in a pool of their own juices rather than caramelizing in the hot fat. If you don't have a pan large enough to cook all of the mushrooms at once, simply sauté them in batches. If you do need to sauté the mushrooms in batches, it is best to use a non-stick pan so that it can be wiped clean in between each batch.

After adding the mushrooms to the hot pan, don't start tossing and stirring them immediately—they need to have a chance to brown on one side. Let them sit for a moment or two to allow this to happen. When they begin to brown, give them a toss or carefully turn them over. Continue to cook—stirring/tossing once or twice more and reducing the heat a touch if the mushrooms threaten to burn—until the mushrooms are caramelized and tender.

This should take a total of about 2 to 4 minutes. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Because salt encourages food to give up its moisture, the mushrooms shouldn't be salted until they are done browning.

There are many ways to finish the mushrooms at this point. They could be served as is or with the addition of a bit of butter, some fresh herbs and/or some minced shallots and/or garlic.  



If the mushrooms have been cooked in batches, you could sweat some shallots and garlic in a little butter and add all of the mushrooms back to the pan to heat them through. Wine, fortified wine or brandy—added to the finished mushrooms and then reduced—makes a flavorful addition. Stock or cream may also be added to create a mushroom ragoût or sauce.

Sautéed mushrooms can be served as an accompaniment to grilled, roasted or pan-fried meats, but they also make wonderful additions to many different food preparations. They make a simple and flavorful topping for crostini, bruschetta or pizza. They can be layered into a classic potato gratin or lasagne. One of my favorite pasta sauces is sautéed mushrooms finished with shallots, garlic, herbs, stock, butter and parmesan. Sautéed mushrooms can be added to rice and other grain pilafs or tossed into a salad. They can be folded into an omelet or added to a frittata or quiche. There are obviously far too many options to even attempt to make an exhaustive list. But once you understand, practice and master the basic technique, any recipe that includes them will seem less daunting. And better still, you will be comfortable making them and improvising dishes around them—at which point you will no longer be just following recipes...you will be cooking.

Sautéed Wild Mushrooms

1 lb. mixed wild and domestic mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, crimini, chanterelle, etc.), whole or cut into uniform pieces
4 T. olive oil
2 T. unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely minced
2 T. minced fresh herbs such as parsley, chives or tarragon

When sautéing mushrooms, do not over-crowd the pan. If necessary, sauté in batches. For each batch, only sauté enough mushrooms to cover the bottom of the sauté pan in a single layer.

Heat a non-stick sauté pan over medium-high to high heat. Add enough oil to barely coat the pan, then add the first batch of mushrooms. Cook, shaking the pan, until the mushrooms are browned, tender and any liquid that they have given off during cooking has evaporated. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and season with salt & pepper. Repeat with remaining batches, adding fresh olive oil each time. When all mushrooms are cooked, melt the butter in the pan; add the shallots and sweat briefly. Add the mushrooms and heat through over medium heat. Add the fresh herbs; taste and correct the seasoning.

Pasta with Sautéed Wild Mushrooms

3 to 4 T. olive oil
1 to 1 ¼ lb. mixed wild and domestic mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, crimini, chanterelle, etc.), trimmed and sliced
1 large shallot, finely minced
2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 to 1 ½ c. chicken stock
1 lb. Orecchiette, Penne, Fusilli, Farfalle or other short sturdy pasta
2 T. unsalted butter
2/3 c. grated Parmesan (2 oz.)
2 T. minced fresh herbs such as parsley, chives or tarragon

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high to high heat. Add enough oil to coat the pan, then add the mushrooms (if your pan is not large enough to accommodate all of the mushrooms in snug single layer, sauté them in batches). Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned, tender and any liquid that they have given off during cooking has evaporated. Reduce the heat and add the shallots and garlic along with a pinch of salt. If the pan seems dry, add a bit more oil. Cook until the shallots and garlic are fragrant—do not burn. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, scraping up any caramelized bits off of the bottom of the pan. Taste and correct seasoning. Set aside.

While the mushrooms are cooking, bring 6 quarts of water to the boil in a large stock/pasta pot. Add 2-3 Tablespoons of salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving some of the pasta cooking liquid. Bring the mushroom sauce back to a simmer (if it seems dry, add more stock or pasta water) and swirl in a tablespoon or two of butter. Add the pasta along with the herbs and toss to coat. If the sauce seems thin, add more butter and if the pasta seems dry, add more stock or pasta water. Add ½ cup of Parmesan, and toss again. Taste and correct the seasoning. Serve in shallow pasta/soup bowls sprinkled with the remaining Parmesan. Serves 4 to 5.






Wild Mushroom & Fontina Pizza

3/4 lb. mixed wild mushrooms, trimmed and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 T. olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 shallot, minced
Pizza dough for a 12- to 13-inch pizza, made through the first rise and rested
4 oz. Fontina, coarsely grated

If using shiitake mushrooms, cut the entire stem off--it is quite tough

Sauté the mushrooms: When sautéing mushrooms, do not over-crowd the pan. If necessary, sauté in batches. Heat a non-stick sauté pan over medium-high to high heat. Add oil to coat the pan, then add the mushrooms. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned, tender and any liquid that they have given off has evaporated. Reduce the heat and add the shallots. If the pan seems dry, add a bit more oil. Cook until the shallots are tender—do not burn. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and season with salt & pepper.

Build the pizza: On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle. Transfer the dough to a pizza pan or baking sheet that has been lightly dusted with semolina, fine cornmeal, or flour. Using your fingers, push up the edges of the dough to make a slight rim. You may top the crust immediately, or let it rest (covered with a towel) for up to 15 minutes before you add the toppings. Spread a thin layer of olive oil over the crust. Scatter with 2/3 of the cheese. Scatter the mushrooms evenly over the cheese.





Top with the remaining cheese. Place the pizza in its pan on a pre-heated pizza stone in a pre-heated 450° to 500° oven. Bake until the crust is golden brown on the bottom and the cheese is bubbling, about 12 to 15 minutes. To insure a crisp crust, after the crust has set (5 to 10 minutes), slide the pizza off of the pan to finish cooking directly on the pizza stone. When the pizza is done, transfer to a cutting board and cut into wedges and serve.





Fresh Pear Salad

Over the past year, one of the things that I have come to appreciate about food blogs is the pictures. In some respects, this has come as a surprise to me. It took the pushing and prodding of several friends to convince me of the importance of including pictures on my own blog. And I would still be the first to defend the value of good food writing and cookbooks published without pictures when it comes to really learning how to cook. But if you have a solid grounding in the basics, sometimes a good picture is all you need to motivate you to get into the kitchen and get cooking.

Such was the case for me a few days ago when I was reading a post at Baking and Boys. Katrina had posted one of my favorite recipes for Chicken and Arugula Meatballs. At the end of her post she had a picture of the pear salad she had served with them. Suddenly I was really hungry for pears...and I wanted to eat them—sooner rather than later—in a salad like the one in her picture.

Katrina had found the recipe at Suzanne Collier's blog, Thru the Bugs on my Windshield. Katrina mentions that the photographs posted there are especially nice...and they are. The salad itself was conceived of as a way to utilize an abundance of lovely pears received as a Christmas gift. Taking her inspiration from Waldorf Salad, Suzanne used pears that were still slightly crisp instead of apples. In place of the walnuts one would typically find in a Waldorf Salad, she uses almonds—which I think is a nice touch since the thin and crisp almonds probably went well with the crisp texture of her pears. She called her salad "Fresh Crispy Pear Salad".

When I made the salad, I had some perfectly ripe, buttery-textured Bartlett pears. These made me want to tone down the "crisp" aspect of the salad a bit. So instead of crisp almonds, I chose to use softer pecans. Walnuts would have been good too. I also cut the celery into very thin slices so that its contribution to the salad would be more of a tender crunch.

Waldorf Salad is usually dressed with a mayonnaise-based dressing. I substituted a simple cream-based vinaigrette. This is currently my favorite all-purpose vinaigrette.

It clings beautifully to salad greens and dresses up fruits and vegetables nicely. Its tangy, slightly mustardy flavor goes well with many things. When I make it, I only make a small batch. The presence of the cream makes it more perishable than a classic vinaigrette. Also, over time it will thicken a bit as the vinegar interacts with the heavy cream. I actually don't mind this too much—it just makes it so the dressing clings to the salad ingredients even better.

This juicy and refreshing pear salad was the salad that we had on New Year's Eve with our Wild Rice Soup. We couldn't get over how good it was. I don't know why I never thought to make a Waldorf-style salad out of pears before. Thank you Suzanne—for the inspiring recipe and the beautiful photographs. And thank you Katrina—for making it and sharing it on your blog so that more people would see (and make) this delightful salad.

Fresh Pear Salad

2 ripe, but firm Bartlett Pears, peeled and cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch pieces
4 to 6 T. dried cranberries or dried tart cherries
1/3 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely broken
1 stalk of Celery, split lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise (about 1/4 cup)
Salt & Pepper, to taste
2 T. minced Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
Creamy Vinaigrette (below)
2 or 3 handfuls mixed baby lettuces

Combine pears, dried cranberries or cherries, pecans, celery and parsley in a medium sized bowl.

Season with salt & pepper and pour enough vinaigrette over to just coat; fold gently to combine.

Chill briefly before serving—as little as 15 minutes and up to an hour.

Season the lettuce with salt and pepper and toss with some of the vinaigrette. Arrange the lettuce on individual plates (or a platter) and top with the dressed pears. Serves 4

Creamy Vinaigrette:
1 T. white wine vinegar
1 T. Dijon mustard
¼ c. canola oil
6 T. whipping cream
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Combine the vinegar and mustard in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Continue to whisk while slowly drizzling in the canola oil to form an emulsion. Whisk in the cream. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Cream of Wild Rice Soup

I thought I would begin the year with soup. At the outset I should make it clear that this is not a diet soup. I am not a fan of the annual January obsession with dieting and losing weight. I figure any weight I gained during a month of excess will soon right itself after a month of eating normally. And in the meantime, the extra padding will help keep me warm. So, instead of a "light" soup, I am posting the kind of soup I love to eat...smooth, suave and finished with a touch of heavy cream. Yes, it is rich. But its richness makes it soothing and filling...you only need a small serving.

We had it a few days ago for our New Year's Eve dinner. Along with a fruit salad and some homemade bread, I found it to be a perfect close to a month of holiday eating. When I was growing up, my mother made a wild rice soup every year on Christmas Eve. For that reason, I always think of this soup around the holidays, but there is nothing particular about it that would cause others to form a similar association. Every time I prepare it, I wonder why I don't make it more often.

If you live in the Twin Cities, you will no doubt find this soup to be familiar. It is a variation on a very popular Wild Rice Soup sold at Byerly's. My version has more vegetables and less wild rice. It is also much thinner. Since I don't believe I have done so before, I will take a moment now to state my opinion on cream soups: They should be velvet-y and elegant, with just enough body to make you aware that this is soup and not a beverage, but not so much that you might mistake them for a vegetable side dish or worse, a hot breakfast cereal. I am opposed to thick, gloppy purées masquerading as cream soups. If, after drawing a spoon through the bowl of a cream or puréed soup, a faint path or small trough is visible, the soup is too thick

Correcting the consistency of a soup is an easy thing to do. If it is too thick simply add water, stock or milk. If it is too thin, there are several things that can be done. If it is a soup that has been thickened with a roux (flour cooked in butter) and it is way too thin, then you might consider preparing a little more roux: Measure out equal quantities of butter and flour. Melt the butter over medium heat, whisk in the flour and cook until foamy and straw colored—there is a picture of what a cooked roux should look like, embedded in the recipe, in my post on Baked Penne with Cauliflower and Two Cheeses. When the roux is ready, gradually add it, a bit at a time, to the simmering soup until the soup has reached the desired thickness. Adding heavy cream is a good way to add body to a cream soup or a puréed vegetable soup that seems just a tad too thin. Finally, if it will not ruin the soup to cook it longer, simply simmer a soup that is just a bit too thin briefly and allow it to reduce.

While I am on the subject, don't overlook the fact that soups allowed to sit on the heat—even very low heat—will continue to thicken as the liquid in them slowly evaporates. If you have ever been served a cup or a bowl of soup at a restaurant that was so thick it would practically hold a spoon upright, it is because the soup has been held in a steam well where it continued to thicken. Better restaurants will either heat soups in small batches, to order, or, if they are holding soups in a steam well, they will make sure that someone is keeping an eye on them and adding water when necessary. Any time you hold a soup on the heat for a while, or reheat a soup, you will need to check to make sure that it has not become too thick. If it has, just add water to restore it to its proper consistency. It is not necessary or desirable to add stock or milk to a soup that is too thick due to over-reduction. You only need to replace what has evaporated—the water.

You will notice that my method for cooking the wild rice for this soup is a bit unusual. According to Madeleine Kamman, wild rice doesn't really have to be "cooked"—it can simply be rehydrated, or gradually softened, in successive baths of hot water. Since this process of adding boiling water, letting it cool, draining it and repeating can take several hours, I have modified it a bit. I soak it for an hour first before cooking. This one soak seems to help the wild rice cook more uniformly, producing tender grains of wild rice that are intact rather than split open and curled back. If you are short on time, you can skip the one hour soak, but you will need to increase the time the wild rice is simmered by 10 to 20 minutes.

Since I began this post with a mild rant on dieting, I'll bring it to a close by suggesting that instead of dieting, perhaps it would be a better idea to join me in enjoying all things in moderation.  Begin with a small bowl of this rich and satisfying soup.  Happy New Year.

Cream of Wild Rice Soup with Vegetables & Country Ham

4 oz. (2/3 c.) wild rice
2 qt. chicken stock
2 stalks celery, cut in 1/8th-inch dice (about 2/3 c.)
1 small onion, cut in 1/8th-inch dice (about 1 1/3 c.)
1 carrot, cut in 1/8th-inch dice (about 2/3 c.)
8 T. butter, divided
1/2 c. flour
4 oz. ham, cut in 1/8th-inch dice (about 1 c.)
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 T. dry sherry
1/4 c. slivered almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 c. sliced scallions, green only
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over the wild rice. Allow the rice to soak for one hour, then drain. Place the drained rice and the stock in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the rice is just tender—about 30 to 40 minutes. Strain, reserving the stock and rice separately. Measure the stock—add water if necessary to make 6 cups. Keep the stock hot.

While the rice is cooking, in a large saucepan set over medium heat, sweat the celery, carrot and onion along with a pinch of salt in 2 to 3 T. of butter until tender.

Add the remaining butter and melt.

Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for a minute or two—the roux will be bubbly and cream-colored.

Remove from the heat and pour in half of the hot stock, whisking constantly until smooth—it will thicken immediately. Add the remaining stock. Return to the heat and stir constantly until the soup base returns to a simmer; stir in the reserved wild rice and the ham.

Simmer for a few minutes to allow the flavors to blend. To serve, add the cream and the sherry and heat through. Taste and correct the seasoning. Serve in warmed soup bowls, garnished with toasted almonds and sliced scallions.

Makes 2 quarts soup—serves 6 to 8.

Pumpkin-Cranberry Scones

I began this month with the intention of posting a recipe for Pumpkin-Cranberry Scones. As always, December has raced by. So I thought that posting the recipe would be a good way to end the month. Admittedly it is a recipe more appropriate for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but I'm not quite ready to let go of the Christmas holiday—our decorations are still up (I always keep them up until Twelfth-Night). I also happened to have part of a can of pumpkin leftover from something else, and since the scones only use a small amount of pumpkin, they are useful (along with pumpkin pancakes and my dog) for using up the end of a can.

You may recall that I didn't post the recipe when I originally wanted to because of a sleepless night spent worrying about my cat. Even though he is still interfering with my sleep via ever new and various methods, I did manage to get all of the ingredients correctly measured and into the bowl this time. I probably shouldn't have blamed him for my original error, but it gave me the opportunity to share his picture. Who would believe this guy could ever cause any trouble?

My recipe for Pumpkin-Cranberry Scones is a variation on my Cream Scone recipe. The thing that makes the cream scone recipe unique is that all of the liquid and all of the fat are supplied by heavy cream. Since replacing some of the cream with pumpkin reduces the overall fat content in the recipe, it was necessary to add some butter to the recipe. The butter is added by rubbing it into the dry ingredients as for a traditional scone. The resulting pumpkin scones have a little less butterfat than the original cream scones.

Besides these changes to liquid and fat, I increased the sugar from 4 to 6 tablespoons—the pumpkin seems to require just a little extra sweetness. If you would like an even sweeter scone, you could add another tablespoon of sugar. I also increased the salt by fifty percent. I was surprised to discover during my testing that the pumpkin seems to demand it. Without the additional salt, the scones tasted flat and uninteresting—even with all of the spices that I added to go with the pumpkin.

When mixing these scones up, they will seem very dry. But this is deceptive. There is something about the thick pumpkin...the liquid it provides is slow to be absorbed by the dry ingredients. Once you have added all of the liquid called for in the recipe, poke the shaggy/crumbly dough that is forming. If it is very soft, there is enough liquid in the dough and it will continue to be absorbed by the dry ingredients. If the forming dough feels tight or firm, dribble in a little more cream. But be careful. It is surprising how quickly theses scones go from appearing to be dry and unmanageable to being wet and sticky and unmanageable.

Pulling the dough together is accomplished out of the bowl and on the counter. But the "kneading" process is not really a traditional knead. Because the initial dough is so shaggy, the process is really more of a gathering and pressing followed by a slight rocking motion—not the lift-fold-press-turn of a typical knead. Kneading as it is traditionally understood will overwork these scones, making them tough and dry. As soon the dough comes together in a cohesive ball, you should stop working the dough.

Finally, because the liquid in these scones is so slow to be absorbed, I like to give the scones a brief rest/chill in the refrigerator before baking them. This rest will allow the liquid to be more evenly absorbed, the developed gluten to relax and the butter to firm up. The finished scones will be more tender as a result.

I'm sorry to be so late posting this recipe, but I hope that there will be some bakers out there who, like me, are still in the mood for pumpkin baked goods. But if you are not among them, that's ok, there's always next year.

Pumpkin & Cranberry Scones

2 c. all-purpose flour (230 grams)
1 T. baking powder
6 T. Sugar
3/4 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. nutmeg
4 T. Unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
3/4 c. dried cranberries
6 T. pumpkin purée (95 grams)
2/3 c. heavy cream, plus more for brushing the formed scones
Turbinado Sugar

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices. Using your fingers, or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the dry mixture. Add the dried cranberries.

Whisk together the heavy cream and the pumpkin. Slowly stir the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula while gradually pouring in the cream-pumpkin mixture, continuing to stir until a soft, very shaggy dough is formed.

If necessary, add more cream to help the dough come together. But be careful, the dough will go from looking too dry to being too wet to handle very quickly. It is better to err on the side of too dry.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 3 or 4 times, just to bring the dough together into a soft ball. Divide the ball of dough into two pieces. Use your hands to press each ball of dough into a disc that is 1-inch thick. With a sharp, floured knife, cut each disc into 6 wedges

and place the wedges an inch or so apart on an un-greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush each scone with some cream and sprinkle generously with the raw sugar.

The scones may be baked immediately, but they are more tender and will be more well-shaped if chilled for 30 to 60 minutes before baking. This helps any gluten formed to relax and also firms up the butter.

Bake in the upper third of a preheated 425°oven until golden brown and springy to the touch—about 12 to 15 minutes.

Makes 12 small scones.


Notes & Variations:  

• For a larger scones, form all the dough into a single ball and pat out into a 1-inch thick round.  Cut each round into 8 wedges.
• If your oven has very strong bottom heat, either bake these in the upper third of the oven…or use and insulated baking pan (or two pans stacked together).  
• To work ahead...or simply have the option to bake one or two at a time...mix and form the scones, then place the pan in the freezer until the scones are frozen solid.  Transfer to freezer bags.  To bake, place the scone(s) on an appropriate-sized baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375-degree oven until golden brown and springy to the touch...about 25 minutes.  The frozen, unbaked scones will keep in the freezer for 6 weeks.
• Instead of all dried cranberries, use 1/4 c. each dried cranberries, chopped toasted pecans, and white chocolate chips

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