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Sunday, December 21, 2014

The Best Biscuits

Southern biscuits finished with big green egg chicken 


We have continued to work on our biscuit recipe and this one is so different and so good that we decided to do it as an entirely different post rather than try and update the original. We also used our leftover beer can chicken that we cooked on the big green egg so let's incorporate that!

These are the ones you want to make. They are as good as any biscuit either of us have ever had. You deserve these biscuits, you really do.





Research:

While researching why our biscuits turned out bitter (self rising flour AND baking powder) we ran across another biscuit recipe. Check out The Teacher Cooks. We modified it slightly by adding lard from our farmer and reducing the butter to make up for it.

Plan:

Gather the following ingredients:




0.25 cup cold butter
0.25 cup cold lard
1.25 cups of cold buttermilk
2.25 cups of white lilly self rising flour
a little melted butter
a little all purpose flour


Preheat the oven to 450 and follow along. They cook in about 13-15 minutes.

Execution:

Cleverly plan this on the day after you made a lot of beer can chicken and have a little left over.

Cut the cold butter and lard into 1/4" slices


Sprinkle into the flour


and hand toss


Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry knife (use the knife, it is a must) - until they resemble small peas


Cover and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes

Then stir in the buttermilk. DON'T STIR TOO MUCH. work as little as possible.


Place dough on floured surface. Use the all purpose flour here to avoid bitterness.

Then knead 3 or 4 times and make 3/4" thick rectangle


Cut into squares with a pizza cutter


Then put it on a baking pan and place in the oven.


13 to 15 minutes later...


Then brush them with butter. Come on people. Melted butter.


Look at these! you can see that another key is to keep them together so that when they are done, they can be pulled apart and have soft sides.


Finally, heat up and add the left over chicken. Check out our beer can chicken recipe.



Verdict:

This was so good that we made it two days in a row just to be sure they really were that good and we could reproduce it. Run, don't walk to the store to buy these ingredients and make them.

Also, consider signing up for weight watchers and start running. You are going to need it.



Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:


So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. 

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Burgundian Gougeres

Tasty little cheese puffs straight from Burgundy --- France that is 


We spent some of our vacation time in Burgundy home of some of the finest wines in the world and the Romanée-Conti. Sacred Ground. It just so happens that one of our favorite Burgundians lives in Atlanta and gave us a great recipe for a cheese puff that is a speciality of the region. So enjoy these. Imagine a delightfully light, puffy and warm pastry that tastes like a cheez-it.





Research:

We are lucky to know the talented Adeline Borra-Aoust. Visit her on Facebook.

Plan:

Gather the following ingredients:

Butter for parchment paper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick of salted butter
1 cup of all purpose flour
4 large eggs
3 oz grated Gruyere plus 3 tablespoons
1 cup of water

Makes about 20 or more if you make them small like we did.

Pour a glass of wine folks, get a white from Burgundy and then preheat the oven to 380F and lets follow along in execution.

Execution:

First, have a daughter and then let her age for 18 years. After that talk her into grating the cheese.


Go get a medium sauce pan. Both me and Julia Child recommends e.dehillerin. You can even check out Paris while you are there.

Then bring the water, butter and salt to a boil over high heat.


When the water is boiling remove the pan from the heat and add flour all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon.


Very quickly and magically the mixture will get smooth and pull away from the sides of the pan to form a ball. This mixture is called the panade.


Continue beating over low heat to dry the mixture for about a minute


In a mixer pour in the panade and add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each egg is added.


Then beat in the cheese until the dough is shiny. It should look like mayonnaise.


Then use a pastry bag to form the Gougeres.


Spinkle a little cheese on top and bake until golden. About 25-30 minutes.

Remove one puff from the oven and let it cool for 45 seconds. If it remains crisp and doesn't deflate it is done. If not, return to oven and continue baking for a few minutes. Remove to a rack to cool and serve warm.




Verdict:

These are devilishly good and impossible to resist. Pair them with a white burgundy and close your eyes. You are almost here.

The Romanée-Conti



Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:


So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. 

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Pumpkin Tiramisu

Holiday Season Tiramisu 


I'm probably going to be fat. Our holiday season has ushered in a cornucopia of desserts and the calories that accompany them but folks this is a simple and elegant dessert that you should try and a perfect dessert to make ahead of time and take with you when you need to "bring a dessert". Here again, we are going to attempt to make something we have never made before and document the process. Fingers crossed.




Research:

We found this in Food & Wine's November 2014 issue.

Plan:

Gather the following ingredients:

1 - 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
0.5 cup of light brown sugar
0.25 teaspoon of ground ginger
0.75 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
0.25 teaspoon of kosher salt
 0.75 cup of granulated sugar
1.25 cups of mascarpone cheese
2.5 cups of heavy cream
2 cups of brewed coffee
2 - 7 oz packages of dry ladyfingers
Dark chocolate shavings



45 minutes to prep and overnight chilled. Serves about 12.

Execution:

In a large bowl whisk the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger. salt, nutmeg, and half a cup of the granulated sugar


Add mascarpone and 1.5 cups of cream beat with a hand mixer until soft peaks form



Soft peaks! Great name for a strip club.


Separately, mix the brewed coffee and 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar until dissolved.


Now assemble.

Dip both sides of the ladyfingers into the coffee mixture and place in a single layer at the bottom of the bowl. Work fast, the ladyfingers disintegrate quickly once dipped.


Use a 4 quart trifle dish


Then add 1 cup of the pumpkin mousse.



Repeat 5 times




Place in the fridge and chill overnight.

Just before serving...

Use an electric mixture to beat the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar until soft peaks form.



Dollop on top and shave some chocolate for garnish.



Verdict:

It is excellent. We used a great rich coffee so it had a strong coffee flavor that mixed well with the sweetness of the pumpkin and sugar. Try this one out because it was a big hit at our Thanksgiving dinner.

Notice that we didn't take a photo of it once served because we couldn't figure out how to get it out of the serving dish in a pretty way.





Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:


So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. 

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer


Sunday, November 23, 2014

Ginger Pumpkin Cupcakes with Butter Cream Icing

Katie's Thanksgiving Cupcake 


We've spoken previously about the joy that Saturday night cupcakes have brought to my life because of the happiness that comes from spending time with my kids. Over the years, we have made a lot of cupcakes. Many many cupcakes.

Because of my extensive experience making and eating cupcakes, I feel comfortable stating that I am a bit of a cupcake connoisseur. So, I would hope that you would take it from me that this is the best cupcake we have made. It is not subjective, it is an empirical fact.

If you only make one cupcake in your life, make this one.




Research:

We began making this cupcake years ago but limited ourselves to make it in the fall usually as a Thanksgiving treat. Honestly, I can't remember where we found it but we did find this recipe somewhere and if I can ever figure out where it came from, I'll update the site with a link.

Plan:

Gather the following ingredients:

Cake:

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 (3.4 oz) package of instant butterscotch pudding mix
2 teaspoons baking soda
0.25 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
0.5 teaspoon ground allspice
0.25 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup of finely chopped crystallized ginger (I promise you NEED this)
1 cup of butter at room temp
1 cup white sugar
1 cup of packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 can (15 oz can) of pumpkin puree



Icing:

1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of water
6 egg yokes, lightly beaten
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
1.5 cups of butter, softened
6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar





Not complicated but lets follow along in execution.

Execution:

As I mentioned earlier, my daughter and I often make cupcakes on Saturday night and have done this since she was a child. She is a senior in high school this year and we recently made our favorite together. Now folks, we worked our way up to this from buying the premixed, it is a lot of ingredients but well worth the effort.

So let's go...

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Mise en Place

Chop up the crystallized ginger. You can find it in the grocery store. I think we bought ours at Kroger.


Add the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, cloves, and crystallized ginger.


Then whisk together and set aside.


Then beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with a mixer until it is light and fluffy.


Add the eggs one at a time allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next.


Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree with the last egg.


Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until it is just incorporated. Mix this by hand so that you do not overwork the flour.



Pour the batter into muffin cups.


Place in the oven for 20 minutes.


Now let's tackle the icing.

This seemed difficult to me when I read about how to do it but it really isn't, just take it step by step.

First bring the sugar and water to a gentle boil.


It will look like this:


Then remove from heat and pour a small about (a 1/4 of a cup at a time) into the lightly whipped egg yolks until it warms them up.


Then back on heat for 2 minutes stirring constantly until it starts to thicken.

Then remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

LET IT REACH ROOM TEMPERATURE (you can put it in the fridge). Can you hear me?

In a mixing bowl, with the whisk attachment, cream the butter until fluffy, about 5 minutes.


Gradually beat in cooked sugar mixture and then add the confectioners' sugar and beat until creamy about another 5 minutes.


It should look like this


If necessary, place it in the fridge to firm up to ideal spreading consistency.

Then assemble.

After the cake part cooks for 20 minutes, pull them out of the oven and out of the cupcake pan and let them cool on a wire rack. You can't put the butter cream on them until they cool or it will melt into liquid butter.

We use a piping bag to apply the icing



Garnish with a few of the crystallized ginger chunks. Slice them up.



Verdict:

This is the best cupcake we have made. Spend a Saturday night making cupcakes with your daughter. As they say, that is the good stuff.



Please help support our site by clicking through the Amazon links next time you want to buy something and we will get a little bit of credit. I suggest this thermometer below:


Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen (Gray) Instant Read Thermometer, Perfect for Barbecue, Home and Professional Cooking


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