FR Weekly Cooking Thread *Recipes* Nov 12, 2011

FreeRepublic Cooks | Nov 12, 2011 | libertarian27

[libertarian27]

Welcome to the 49th installment of the FR Weekly Cooking (Recipes) Thread.

Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or nine- for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites!

Here's the place to share and explore your latest and greatest favorite recipe.

[magslinger]

"...you cannot kill a carrot.

Sure you can. To make sure it stays dead, bury it at a crossroads at midnight with a steak through it's heart.

[ClearBlueSky]

I hope you enjoy them. I’m making them for Thanksgiving too. So fast and relatively inexpensive! You could even add some seafood if you like.
Let me know how they turn out!

[sneakers]

Good luck to the Packers Ladysmith! I like my banana bread with black walnuts - mmmmmmmmmm!!! And a good cup of coffee!

[elli1]

I use bread flour for pizza crusts, French bread and other artisan type breads. It’s higher protein so has more gluten; it’s the gluten that helps gives you the great crusts & chewy texture. Use the all-purpose for when I want soft breads like dinner rolls. I have bought only one bag of self-rising flour, ever. Not all that long ago & because it was marked down. Struggling to use it because I don’t have any recipes that call for it and it’s way too salty. Have to cook low-sodium for the hubster.

BTW, you can add ‘vital wheat gluten’ to all-purpose for making the artsy type breads or when you’re baking with flours (oat, rye, etc.) that are low in gluten.

I’m really just learning a lot of this stuff myself so I’m far from being an expert. ‘Breadtopia’ is a good website if you’re wanting to learn more about making breads.

[Ladysmith]

I have a brother who is very finicky, so no nuts of any kind in the breads. Because of that, banana bread (or most anything baked) with walnuts is a bit foreign to me.

[Ladysmith]

Oh, I didn’t know about the sodium in self-rising flour! eek! I need to avoid it, too. Thanks for the heads up. Would have never occurred to me to check for it.

I’ll check out the Breadtopia. Thanks again!

[aruanan]

Do you ever toast your banana bread? The high sugar content leads to a little bit of caramelization, which is quite nice.

[Ladysmith]

No, never considered it! I might nuke it to warm it up a bit. Will have to try toasting it. :o)

[Bizzy Bugz]

When you proof the yeast in the warm milk or water add a little sugar. If it does not bubble up a little when proofed, it is not good. Do not use it.
I test the water on my wrist. That is the best place to test if it is just warm.
Hope this helps

[libertarian27]

Do you ever toast your banana bread? The high sugar content leads to a little bit of caramelization, which is quite nice.

Holy Smokes I never thought of that! I bet it's wicked yummy!

I only eat pound cake toasted - that rules!
Toasted Pound Cake, some ice cream and hot fudge on top....I'm there

[texas booster]

With Thanksgiving Day coming quickly, I remembered all of the great cooking threads from the past 15 years or so.

The resident guru for at least a decade was Carlo Morelli, FReeper carlo3b. He combined with other excellent FReeper chefs to bring a touch of professionalism to me.

Here is his last link to cooking threads:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2061523/posts?q=1&&page=44

A search of responses by Carlo:

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:carlo3b/index?brevity=full;tab=comments

A long list of links back to the original Clinton Cookbook.

[ccmay]

Even better, stick an almond inside each date, smear some soft goat cheese on a slice of prosciutto, and wrap.

[Netizen]

I was going through my stored recipes in Publisher and came across one that I thought you might be interested in as a possible on the go breakfast type thing.

Apple Pockets
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided 1 package (1/4 ounce) quick-rise yeast 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup water 1/4 cup butter FILLING: 4 cups thinly sliced peeled	tart apples (about 2-3 medium) 1/3 cup sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon TOPPING: 1/4 cup milk 4 teaspoons sugar
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt. In a saucepan, heat the water and butter to 120°- 130°. Add to the dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.   Divide dough into four portions. Roll each portion into an 8-in. square. Cut into four 4-in. squares. Cut apple slices into thirds; toss with sugar, flour and cinnamon. Place 1/4 cup filling on each square; bring up the corners up over the filling and pinch to seal. Secure with a toothpick if needed. Place 3 in. apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.   Brush with milk; sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375° for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Discard toothpicks. Yield: 16 servings.   Nutritional Analysis: One pocket equals 136 calories, 3 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 8 mg cholesterol, 105 mg sodium, 25 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 2 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 fruit, 1/2 fat.

[Netizen]

Couple of questions.

What ever happened to Carlos?
Do they still make the cheddar cheese soup?
Has anyone tried the sweet potatoes with the buttermilk in them and if so, what were your thoughts?

Thanks for posting those links.

[La Lydia]

I found chocolate mousse, reindeer-shaped Peeps at Target yesterday. Bought them all. Very tasty. Will look pretty cute on top of a chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

[aruanan]

It is a very different taste from untoasted banana bread and has the benefits of a different, more pleasing texture, and the heat. And butter on it is REALLY nice. Yes, I’ve toasted pound cake. It’s very good.

[Flamenco Lady]

My oldest daughter was in the mood to bake today, so she was looking at the various apple cake recipes all of you had posted as well as a recipe she had saved for Chocolate cheese danish she saw Giada make on TV this past week. She decided to make Giada’s pastries for dessert with our dinner tonight and the Easy Apple cake for a breakfast coffee cake.

She substituted pears for the apples since we had 4 large pears we needed to use up. The easy apple cake recipe worked perfectly with the sliced pears instead of the apples and was a real big hit at our house. It was absolutely scrumptious!

Here is the link to the Chocolate Cheese danish she made today:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chocolate-and-cheese-danish-recipe/index.html

We tasted one of the extra danish and thought they were so chocolatey that they needed to be topped with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and a dollop of whipped cream. At they very least they need a big glass of milk with them! They are delicious too!

I guess we better be on diets for the rest of the week!

[magslinger]

The easy apple cake recipe worked perfectly with the sliced pears instead of the apples and was a real big hit at our house.

I never thought of that and I have been making that cake since mom showed me how over forty years ago! I will, though.

I should have thought of that, I have made pearple pie. (Didn't have enough pears or apples for a pie...)

I dunno, just use your own favorite apple pie recipe but decrease the sugar a little and increase the lemon juice.

[texas booster]

Last I heard Carlo was in bad health. He hasn't posted here in two years, but that doesn't mean much. He still owns a home in the Houston area.

Which cheddar cheese soup were you looking for?

Haven't tried the sweet potatoes with buttermilk. We usually bake them but I am the last in our home that really liked them.

[Flamenco Lady]

All the talk about banana bread reminded me. Our $1 Halloween pumpkin that my daughters wanted to cook up after Halloween turned out great. We drew the face on this year instead of cutting it into a Jack O Lantern, so we could still cook it up later. The pumpkin yielded us 3/4 cup of roasted pumpkin seeds and 21 cups of pumpkin puree to use toward our pumpkin bread, pumpkin pies, etc., for this holiday season.

I haven’t checked the prices on pumpkin puree this year, but I am certain we wouldn’t be able to buy 21 cups worth of pumpkin puree for anywhere near $1, and roasted pumpkin seeds are really expensive here considering how easy they are to cook.

I posted how to roast pumpkin seeds on an earlier thread, so I won’t repeate that here. I will tell you all how we made our pumpkin puree. It is really easy to make yourself. While there are several ways you can make it, I think the roasted version has more flavor.

Homemade Roasted Pumpkin Puree

Cut pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and the strings, reserving the seeds to roast. (For a large pumpkin you may want to cut it into four chunks instead of two.) Place the pumpkin on a cookie sheet skin side down and sprinkle with salt. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes until fork tender.

Remove from the oven and let cool. Peal the skin off the outside, and cut the pumpkin into small chunks. Use a food processor to process the cooled pumpkin in batches into a puree.

I package up any of the pumpkin puree I am not going to use within the week in pint size freezer containers (about 2 cups each) and freeze them, so we have it to use for any recipe using pumpkin puree.

If any of you have any great recipes using pumpkin puree to share, please do so as I have lots of it to use! I would especially like to find some recipes for pumpkin muffins or cupcakes.