TWD: Popovers

We're not new to popovers. This breakfast has become a once every couple months delicacy.  My husband had popovers for the first time when he was not much older than our son, Nate.  In his family, baking popovers was a birthday tradition.  For years as a couple we've been making the popover recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.  Over the years we learned that a high temperature for a shorter period of time gave us the texture that we like in a popover; slightly crunchy on the outside but eggy yumminess on the inside. I immediately noticed the 425 degree instructions and felt secure that this was going to make great popovers. 




So easy to put together.  Sarah and I whisked the ingredients together; there is really no need to put in a blender.  I also totally ignored the idea of straining the lumps out.  I hope no one bothered to do that. 






Popover perfection.  If you like this recipe, get a popover pan, they work great!




Nathan caught in the act.



Empty plate and my husband. 

Jason thought this recipe was superior to the New Cookbook one.  I totally agreed.  Only one criticism was that we did not make a double batch.

Cheers,

Broad Brook Bakers

TWD: Berry Galette

A week late on our galette post but we did not want to miss the opportunity to make this recipe.  I've made this dough before for the tomato galette which is fantastic.  This time instead of using corn meal, we used masa harina. The masa provided that nice corn texture but there wasn't near as much tooth as the corn meal has in the past.



We used sour cream and doubled the recipe so we could make the tomato galette later in the month.




We opted to make the dough by hand which in the end I think prevented over-working.



Sarah was great at folding up the sides of the galette.





We used blueberries, raspberries and blackberries and served slightly warm as recommended with whipped cream. With peach season right around the corner, it's going to be hard to choose how to use that extra dough.

Happy Baking!

Broad Brook Bakers

TWD: Blueberry Nectarine Pie

This is the only pie that my husband will eat.  His uncle made this years ago and he remembers it fondly; I was a bit intimidated because of that but with great ingredients how could we go wrong.  We picked the blueberries about two weeks ago at a farm right down the road.  We froze lots of blueberries for the winter.  The nectarines were grown in New Jersey so they were about as local as we could get this time of year in Connecticut.  The pie crust is one of the best recipes that I've ever worked with.  I would use for any kind of pie and have even used for our family's holiday french meat pie.  The combination of the blueberries and nectarines is wonderful.  I might use a slight bit less sugar next time as our blueberries were incredibly sweet on their own.  


Short post this time.  I just found out tonight that all that gardening has one slight downside.  I have Lyme Disease so I'm a bit achy and sleeping.  More next time.  Sarah and I promise. Check out our soon-to-be onion harvest at the end of the post.


Warmly,
Broad Brook Bakers

TWD: Semolina Bread

I mentioned in an earlier post that we moved right before TWD: Rugelach.  One of the reasons we are so happy in our new home is that we have central air conditioning. It was very hot in Broad Brook, CT already when we began preparing the yeast, but so comfortable inside. Thanks to AC it was a great baking day.




I love the smell of yeast. It's also pretty fun to watch. In about 5 minutes the yeast was blooming.





The dough was soft and sticky.  Nathan enjoyed stretching it after the first rise.




We went blueberry picking early the same morning.  Combine that with zucchini my brother shared from his garden and behold - blueberry zucchini bread.   We froze over 10 lbs of blueberries for future baking.  Blueberries are so easy to freeze.  We just placed the cookie sheet with them (see above) right in the freezer.  Wait for the blueberries to be fully frozen which takes about 1 hour and then pop them in a freezer bag.




This bread was incredible.  We should have doubled the recipe.  My KitchenAid could have easily handled it and one loaf was not enough.  The semolina adds a wonderful nutty flavor and texture. We ate it right out of the oven with grilled chicken seasoned simply with herbs and lemon and local corn on the cob.  It was a wonderful summertime meal.  We had a little bit of the load left over and so we each had a slice the next day out of the toaster.  I'm not sure which was better!

TWD: Hazelnut Biscotti

With July 4th tomorrow I could not get in a hazelnut mood.  I do like them but the taste reminds me too much of the December holidays.   So I opted for what a co-worker said was as American-as-apple-pie...peanuts and chocolate.  I also added Kahlua and the vanilla extract. I only had a bag of Red Sox peanuts so it took a few minutes for us to shell about 2/3 of a cup.  I then roasted the peanuts in a 300 degree oven for about 10 minutes.




I like using my Kitchenaid mixer if I can.



Sarah and I ate the extra crunchy parts left on parchment paper.



Sarah thinks they are very hard and crunchy. She says they taste like chocolate and smell like fresh peanuts.


This is a great and easy recipe that we will do together again.  I almost did a trail mix version adding in raisins.  Next time.


Happy 4th of July!


Warmly,
Broad Brook Bakers

TWD: French Strawberry Cake

Starts out all innocent.  This cake lures me in.  If you follow the directions, it will not go wrong it says. 



Melted butter. Check. Sifted flour. Check.




Apron time.  Sarah helped cut the strawberries with her kid's knife.



She did an excellent job.  She's a real chef so she tries the strawberries as she works. Checking the quality of course. These were native strawberries from Dzen's in Ellington, CT. Peak of season.




Loves to crack eggs, my Sarah.  Not too many shells this time.



I probably beat for about 7 minutes in all for the egg to get to the ribbon stage.



Poured in the pan.  At this point, I'm getting nervous.  My cake appears deflated and I did have a considerable amount of trouble incorporating the flour with the beaten eggs. 



Out of the oven and cooling.  My nervous has given away to deepening disappointment.  The time has come when I've not successfully pulled off a TWD recipe.  My cake is dense. Dense to the touch and then when I cut in half it reveals much of what I expected.  I did not incorporate the flour mixture and possible the butter properly.  I did not take a picture of the gory details.



I whipped up the cream which is incredible.  My husband said that this was the best whipped cream he's ever tasted.  He does not care for sour cream and could not believe that this was the secret ingredient.  He wants this to be our go-to whipped cream for berries recipe.


Just because I messed up the cake does not mean that I can't make it look good.  I cut off the very top of the cake and cut it with a biscuit cutter.  This part of the cake was light and fluffy, so I made four individual desserts.



Nathan had four helpings of just the strawberries and cream.  He made a whipped cream goatee. 



Had to show off the raised beds Jason built this year.


The mint leaf was straight from our garden. The mint is called Mojito Beverage Mint.  Nathan used the mint as a spoon for the cream. The taste of mint with the cream was great.


Until next month.

TWD: Oasis Naan

TWD: Oasis Naan


We made this recipe on June 2, Sarah's 6th birthday!  It was a family affair because Sarah's great-grandmother, Polly  was here, also great-uncle Mike, Gramma Ginny, Uncle Chris, Nathan, Dad and me, Mom.




The dough was really easy to put together.  The simple ingredients reminded me of the Irish Soda Bread. 



And so did the stirring.  Sarah liked counting to 100.  Always a fun math game to be found!



I used a lot of flour during the kneading.  The dough was so soft and a pleasure to work with. Wonderful yeasty smell.



Our dough rose more than double in less than an hour and a half.  It must have been that perfect temperature and humidity in the house.




I divided the dough into eight pieces and we all took at least one to prepare how we wanted.  A few were made using the exact recipe.  We harvested fresh red onion from our garden.   Polly added poppy seeds to the mix.  Grandma Ginny and Uncle Chris enjoyed theirs dipped in olive oil and hummus.


I made a cinnamon and sugar naan.  I had some left over cinnamon and sugar from the Rugelach recipe!  The sweet naan was a treat.  Out of the oven it had that sweet fried dough from-a-county-fair kind of taste.


Jason and I favorite was one topped with olive oil, thinly sliced onion with fresh thyme.




Fresh red onion, cumin, salt.



Nathan and Sarah made a pizza with their naan. 

The Broad Brook Bakers are particularly excited about June's next recipe because it includes strawberries.  Strawberries are Sarah's all time favorite food.


Until next time.