Stovetop Popcorn

When I think about kitchen appliances, I still don't own nor use a microwave for cooking; mostly because microwaves (and dishwashers) are energy hogs. Making popcorn this way is not any healthier than preparing that microwavable stuff. A quarter cup of coconut oil has roughly 470 calories. This recipe ratio makes about 5 quarts of popped corn.

Stovetop Popcorn: what you see is what you get

I used an 8 quart stockpot with its lid to make this. I suppose you could use Alton Brown's method and use two heavy gauge metal mixing bowls instead.

Ingredients

1/4 c organic coconut oil
2/3 c organic popping corn kernels

Directions

0. Add coconut oil and 3 corn kernels to a stockpot and cover with its lid. Heat on stove over medium-high heat until the kernels pop.

1. Remove popped corn from pot. Add remainder of corn kernels. Cover with lid. Occasionally shake the pot (side-to-side, or in a swirl motion) as the kernels are popping.

2. Turn off heat as soon as the kernels slow down to one or two pops. Use a measuring cup or shake popped corn out into a serving bowl.

Kitchen Notes:

• the popcorn has a lightly greasy feel to it (from the coconut oil)
• eaten plain, popcorn can make you feel hungrier
• there are 1-2 tablespoons of unpopped kernels leftover

Kitchen Notes: Measuring Flour

All this time I've been using the scoop+level method for measuring flour, meaning getting a cup of flour at a time from the container of flour then leveling it off with a straight edge. The alternate way, as suggested by most baking sites is to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level it off. And, if you are a master baker like Martha Stewart, you can just eyeball it with the scoop and shake method (no leveling off). Food Network suggests to scoop then level off dry ingredients. Local IoT app maker, Perfect Company, combines a digital scale with Bluetooth technology that walks users through guided measuring and baking steps. The rationale against the scoop+level method is that the flour gets compacted. Is an extra 20 g of flour that big of a deal?

Visually it all looks the same. Though, when weighed, it's not all the same. Today's measurements with a digital kitchen scale (100% humidity outside):

1 cup of all-purpose flour =

Sample		Scoop+Level		Spoon+Level
1		153 g		139 g
2		149 g		129 g
3		156 g		136 g

I have noticed over the years that when making cookies, I often have a lot more flour leftover in the mixing bowl; though this was more prevalent in southern California where the air is dry nearly year-round.

But, when looking at online recipes by others, the dry ingredient units vary--even from the same author.

AB		measure		suspected
sugar cookies		3 cups AP flour		volume
oatmeal cookies		16 oz old fashioned rolled oats		weight
lentil cookies		9.5 oz whole wheat pastry flour (about 2 c flour)		weight
vanilla wafers		7 oz AP flour		weight

Apple Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Sauce

This year I planned to do a pumpkin bread pudding, but alas, had no pumpkin puree to work with. I also didn't get around to the store to pick up bread, so I made it that morning using the no knead dutch oven bread recipe (a basic bread). The custard part of the bread pudding came out fine; but the exposed part of the bread above the custard seemed dried out.. like I should not have tried to dry out the bread before adding the custard by baking it for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F. Twice baked bread doesn't quite make the texture of dry, stale bread. Anyhow, onto the recipe...

Bread Pudding Ingredients

1 load white bread, cubed
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced + 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 1/2 c whole milk
1 c raw apple cider
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla extract

Bread Pudding Directions

1. In a nonstick skillet, heat apple with ground cinnamon. Cook over medium heat until the apples are tender.

2. Butter a 9" x 13" glass baking dish. Add apple and cubed bread, distributing both evenly in a single layer.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, apple cider, brown sugar, vanilla extract and eggs. This is the custard base. Pour it over the cubed bread. Be sure to dunk all the bread into the custard mixture. Refrigerate dish for 1 hour before baking. This will help to flavor the milk and eggs with the apple cinnamon.

4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 45-50 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and drizzle on apple cider sauce.

Caramel Apple Cider Sauce - this was the sauce I made for the bread pudding; and the ratios seemed off. One, the caramel part of the sauce was too watery and I never got to the dark amber part. The heavy cream and the caramel separate if you let the sauce sit to cool down from the stove to room temperature. Two, the sauce was ridiculously sweet; and three, it made too much. To keep myself from re-making this awful sauce, I am posting an alternate Apple Cider Sauce recipe to pair with the bread pudding.

Apple Cider Sauce:

1 c apple cider
1 tsp cornstarch + 2 tsp cold water
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp bourbon (or apple schnapps), optional

In a small prep bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water before adding to the apple cider. Bring cider and butter to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the cornstarch and let the mixture thicken. Stir in bourbon (if using) and cook for an additional 30 seconds; remove from heat and pour on top of bread pudding.

The recipe ratio of the cider sauce can be doubled, if necessary.

Olive Oil and Rosemary Dinner Rolls

Seems like the amount of bread that goes into turkey stuffing is one of those "invisible" carbs. These rolls went quickly. I only made one batch (a dozen) for a T-Day gathering of twice that. While the rosemary shrub is winter hardy in the Pacific Northwest, I'm glad that the house where I made these rolls has their rosemary potted and on the patio. I used a stand mixer to bring all the ingredients together; though I didn't use it to knead the dough. Maybe that's why the dough really didn't start to double in size until the second rising. And, the rolls didn't rise again after being formed and rested on the baking tray before going into the oven. As for the amount of unsalted butter that is melted so that it can be brushed on top of the rolls, well. it is too much for what the original ratio calls for. I ended up with a lot of leftover butter. 

Also, there wasn't any bread flour so I used all-purpose flour, substituting out 3 tbsp flour for 3 tbsp vital wheat gluten. Bread flour plus yeast makes your rolls rise higher. The vital wheat gluten adds more wheat-based protein to all-purpose flour.

Ingredients

1 c warm water (about 100 degrees F)
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast + a pinch of granulated sugar

3 1/2 c all-purpose flour (minus 3 tbsp)
3 tbsp vital wheat gluten
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped, divided
1/4 c unsalted butter, melted (for brushing tops of rolls)
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions

Personally, while dinner rolls typically don't call for sugar, I think adding a pinch of it to the yeast helps the yeast bloom faster. You'll see if your yeast is still alive if it starts to foam and bubble in the warm water.

0. Take half of the prepared rosemary and let it steep in the olive oil for at least 30 minutes.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer: add the yeast water (after bubbles appear, 5-10 mins). Mix in the flour, half cup at a time until it is all incorporated. Add the vital wheat gluten, the oil+rosemary, and salt. Mix until the dough gathers into one mass. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula.

2. Add the other half of the rosemary and knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball. Either use the stand mixer to knead the dough for 2 minutes, or work it by hand for 10.

Empty the dough into a resealable plastic bag, close, and let it sit in a warm place in the kitchen. Let the dough double in size twice (check each hour for two hours). 

Divide dough into equal pieces. You can make a dozen small rolls with this recipe. Roll the dough into balls and place onto a baking tray. Cover with linen (lint free) kitchen towel until ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Brush tops of rolls with the melted butter. Bake rolls for 10 minutes. This gives the rolls a nice golden brown color.

Reduce heat to 350 F and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and place in a kitchen-towel lined serving container (maybe a bread basket?).

Enjoy.

Mulled Wine Cranberry Sauce

This may be the second time I've made it, though perhaps the first time documenting it as a blog post. The recipe ratio comes from Bon Appetit November 2005 issue. The amount of wine was too much; the end result tasted too much like boiled wine with cranberries. Also, the amount of sugar was too low; this made the sauce not only taste like wine, but like wine with sour cranberries. And, the orange fruit segments did nothing for the sauce; and added too much texture. My corrections are noted below. I wouldn't necessarily say that I have adapted the recipe, more like I am fixing it's glaring mistakes. I'm not sure that the variety of dry red wine has anything to do with the flavor; after all, this is just a condiment the roast turkey. Cranberry sauces are typically pumped full of sugar (to balance the tartness of the fresh cranberries). I am ambivalent about how this sauce came out. The wine drinkers that sampled it on T-day were pleased with how it tasted and there was a lot of it leftover.

The additional sugar depends on how sour/tart the sauce tastes to you. It may need more or none at all.

Wine used: Woodbridge Merlot

Ingredients

2 navel oranges
One 12-oz bag of fresh cranberries, washed and picked over
6 oz dry red wine
2/3 c brown sugar + up to 1/3 c granulated unbleached cane sugar
2 tbsp crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmet

Directions

1. Zest oranges with a fine grater, then juice the oranges.

2. In a medium-sized sauce pan, combine whole cranberries, orange juice, orange zest, wine, sugar, ginger, and spices. Bring to a boil then simmer over low-medium heat until most of the cranberries burst, about 20 minutes, and the sauce has thickened slightly.

2a. Taste the sauce. It is too sour, add more sugar.

3. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Cool to room temperature. Cover and chill until ready to use; or serve warm.

Kitchen Notes:

• This ratio is terrible. Came out tasting very sour and winey.
• The original 1 1/2 c dry red wine was too much liquid.
• Do not make again (note to self).