Chicken and Salad from Jamie Oliver

I received 'Jamie's America' for Christmas - just a beautiful book. The photos of not only the food but also the places visited are spectacular. I haven't spent a lot of time with this book yet, but 2 recipes jumped out at me and demanded to be made- Southern Pecan and Apple Salad, and Competition Chicken.

I have a weakness for bbq - good bbq, real(ish) bbq, and this chicken is definitely the best bbq chicken I've made. That didn't use a bbq.

Southern Pecan and Apple Salad

So delicious. I was really pleased with this. Super easy and very tasty. And if you click this link here, you can see the nutritional info courtesy of Health.com (although they've scaled it down to 6 servings and in the book it's 4).

How to Eat for $7 or Less a Day

Welcome new readers! If you found my blog in the US News & World Report story about living on a budget on Yahoo! Finance and are looking for budget shopping and cooking ideas, please check out my Hunger Challenge posts. You'll find recipes, tips and more.

Thanks!

Amy

DO NOT REPRINT WITHOUT PERMISSION! ©2011 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy, the Oyster Local blog or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

Grocery Shop, July 10

Bought at DeMille's Farm Market in Salmon Arm.

Corn, kale, leaf lettuce, 2 kinds of apples, blueberries, cherries, carrots, potatos.  Missing: loaf of cheese bread.

Filled Chocolate Cupcakes - The recipes - revised January 2011

This is an update to this recipe which was put up in September. I was making them again recently (January '11), and realized that there was an error in the ingredient section (probably, because as you can tell from the following text and photo, I had trouble reading my soiled recipe copy).  The gram weight of flour was correct, but the corresponding cup measurements were not.  If you have printed out this recipe, please check the updated ingredients. 

In addition to this, if you read the prior post, you might have noticed that I wasn't happy with how tender the cupcakes were.  This time around, I did some more experimenting and found that using bread flour instead of all-purpose made for a sturdier cupcake, and, I added another egg.  This made the cupcakes firmer, also helped them rise higher and allowed me to get the cupcakes out of the liners more easily.

The following is the original post, with the appropriate corrections made to the ingredients.

----------------

I've been trying to get this post done since the summer, but I had to grab a few minutes late at night to write up my recipes, because the days were filled with BCC Rally auction stuff.  Now that the auction is over, I finally have time to post.  But when I go back to see what I've done, I can hardly read the recipe because it's covered in chocolate! 

That's why you need a CD-rom cookbook (mine, of course).  Because instead of having a cookbook that's covered in chocolate, you can have a few recipe pages that you've printed off, and when you're done, you toss the messy things out!  But now, on to the recipe!

The Cake
The first time I made the cupcakes with Veronica and Jasmine (see Filled Chocolate Cupcakes, Part 1, I used a light version of my Chocolate Layer Cake.  They were delicious, but a bit too tender.  I think they were so tender because we used the maximum amount of milk (3/4 cup) and because we mixed them by hand.  When I made them again, I used just a bit more than the minimum, and they came out much better - a little denser, which held up better for a pick-up type cake.

Makes 42 mini-cupcakes or 12 regular cupcakes

2-1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon oil

1 cup minus 1-1/2 TB (122 grams) bread flour, measured by fluffing, scooping and levelling*
2 tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons (2.5 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons and at room temperature
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sour cream, room temperature

1/3 cup cup milk (skim or regular), room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. with an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Line muffin pans with liners.

You can see that they sort of pop up and don't stay down in the cups.  Just give them a good shove from above, and let the sides pleat.  When you add the batter, they will stay down.
Place the chopped chocolate and the oil in a microwave-safe container. Micro-cook on medium (#5) for 1 minute. Stir and then reheat in 15-second increments on medium power until the chocolate is melted.

In a small bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set it aside.

In a mixer bowl, combine the butter and both sugars. Beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is uniformly smooth and creamy, and well aerated. Beat in vanilla. Add the eggs, beating for 1 minute after the addition of each egg, and scraping down the bowl a few times.

On low, beat in the sour cream and chocolate. On low, in 4 additions, beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. (This is actually easier to do by hand, because the batter doesn't tend to separate when you do it by hand, but it does make the cake more tender when done by hand).

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, using one spoon to scoop up the batter and the other to push the batter into the pans. Fill the cups 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Bake for 8-11 minutes for the minis, or 15-20 minutes for the full-size cupcakes, until a tester comes out clean. Set the tins on a wire rack until the cupcakes are cool, and then remove them from the pans.

The Filling
I used whipped cream to fill the cherry-topped cupcakes, and Simple Vanilla Buttercream for the ones that look like Hostess cupcakes.  The cream was easier to make, but the buttercream tasted far better. I've been making my buttercream a little thicker and sweeter lately, by adding a little powdered sugar to my basic recipe, but for this I wanted a filling that was very creamy - again so that it would be reminiscent of Hostess cupcakes. To do this, I used less than half of the powdered sugar as usual.

It's ultra important that the butter be at the right temperature for this recipe to work, AND THE ROOM!  If the room is too hot, the buttercream will never form.  The room should be no warmer than 74 degrees - and colder is even better.

To get the butter the right temperature, cut it into tablespoons and let it stand on a cutting board until barely soft. Using your thumb, push down on each pat to flatten it into the board (it will still be very firm, and will split when you press down on it). In 3-5 minutes the butter should be ready. If you press down on it with your thumb, it should yield readily, but should not be soft and melty. If the butter is a little firm, it can always be beaten a little bit more, but if too soft, you'll have to refrigerate it, and start over. I always aim for a little bit harder, rather than too soft.

2-1/2 sticks (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
1 pound jar Marshmallow Fluff (this is a natural product containing only eggs, corn syrup and flavoring - so don't use another brand unless you check the ingredients)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons sifted powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons corn syrup, to taste
2-3 tablespoons milk to soften the buttercream, optional

Now that the butter is at the proper temperature, scrape the butter into a mixing bowl and beat it until creamy (1 or 2 minutes.) Scrape down the bowl. Beat in the powdered sugar until fluffy. Add half of the Fluff, and beat on medium high until blended. Add the remaining Fluff, and continue to beat, on medium-high, for 2-5 minutes or until the frosting is fluffy and light and no longer marshmallowy.
This is what it should look like.

If the buttercream, does not form after beating for 5 minutes, place it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, and then try and beat it again. After the buttercream forms, beat in the vanilla, corn syrup and milk, to taste.

If you put a coupler in the pastry bag before filling it, you'll be able to try tips to find the one that works best with the size cupcake you are making.  The piece on the left goes into the pastry bag, and then the tip gets put on, and the nut, in the center, keeps the pastry tip tight.

Choose the tip that fits the size of the cupcake  (I used Magic Tip #8 for filling, and Wilton #21 star for filling)

Stick the tip into the bottom or top of the cupcake, depending on how you finish them (if you plan to add chocolate icing instead of having the frosting come out of the top, fill from the bottom, otherwise you will see the dimple where the frosting went in.  It's easier to fill them from the top.  For one thing, you don't have to take them out of the wrappers, which give some support to the cupcake so it doesn't split as you fill it.  You can also feel when the cupcake is filled with the buttercream, and can stop before the cupcake starts to split.

You can see they look great with nothing more than some frosting coming out the top.  But they're also fantastic, and  look like mini Hostess cupcakes if you frost them with chocolate icing and vanilla icing decoration.

Chocolate Icing

My notes didn't say if the following recipe is  the right amount to frost all of the cupcakes (sorry - I either post it now, or you have  to wait another year until I make them again!)

3/4 cup whipping cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons hot water

Heat the cream in a small microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds. Stir in the chocolate.  Let it stand for a minute and then stir.  If the chocolate isn't completely melted, heat in 10-second increments on power 5, stirring between each, until the chocolate melts completely and the mixture can be stirred into a smooth glaze.

Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Stir the chocolate into the powdered sugar. Stir in half of the hot water.  The mixture should be thin enough to fall off of the spoon in a steady stream.  If it isn't, add the remaining hot water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

Dip the cupcakes into the glaze.  Turn the cupcakes right side up and let the glaze firm up a little.

 In the photo below you can see that I filled the cupcakes from the top, and I wasn't able to get the top level, so that the chocolate dips down  in the center.  You can add a decorative design, as I have here, to cover the dip, or you can add the vanilla glaze

Vanilla Glaze

1 cup  powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons whipping cream

Sift the powdered sugar into a mixer bowl.  Whisk in the vanilla and the cream.  The glaze should be thick enough to pipe.  Add a little more sugar or cream, if necessary to get the proper texture.

For this amount of glaze, you'll need a very small piping bag.  You can make one out of a plastic storage or zip-top bag.  Cut the bag in half, horizontally.

Put the bag into a small glass, and then fill the bag

Hold the bag closed at the top, with the filled part resting in your palm, and your thumb and index finger holding the top (you can put a rubber band around the top if it is easier).  Gently squeeze the filling toward the tip.  Make a very tiny cut in the tip with scissors.  Pipe on the decoration, and then refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving.  

  

  





All about Scones Part 2 - Making scones in the U.S.

Sarabeth's Bakery Currant Scones with homemade strawberry jam

In part 1,  my friend, Ann, and I tasted scones at Brown's Hotel, in London, and then made them with some friends in an English kitchen.  When I got home, I wanted to see how well the recipe would work with American ingredients and equipment.  I wasn't surprised to find that the recipe did not work well, as Ann had told me that she hadn't had much luck using her American recipes in Britain.  Most likely, the recipe didn't work well because the flour is different, but the butter and milk might have contributed too.  I was a little surprised that the scones didn't brown in my oven at home, but then the temperature that Brown's scones cooks at is much lower than any other recipes I've seen, both English and American. 

For my first try, I used my everyday flour, King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour.  I found that the dough was so dry that I had to add an extra 2-3 tablespoons of milk to even get it to come together.  For the second attempt, I used Pillsbury bleached all-purpose flour, which has less protein in it than the King Arthur flour.  I did find that switching to this flour worked better.  At least I didn't have to add so much extra liquid to get the dough to the proper texture. However, the scones rose much higher than Brown's scones, and because of this they didn't look as pretty (bleached flour is probably the cause of this).  I also think I overkneaded this batch of dough in an effort to get the dough 'smooth', an instruction in Chef Ecuvillon's recipe (which I didn't do in London).  Although they weren't tough, they didn't have the delicate texture found in the original Brown's scone.  If I made these scones again, I would probably try them with biscuit flour (White Lily, Southern Biscuit, or King Arthur Perfect Pastry Flour), and would knead them lightly, as I had done in London.

For my next experiment  I tried  America's Test Kitchen Dreamy Cream Scones.  This recipe is very similar to the Brown's recipe except that the butter doesn't get cut in as finely, it has more baking powder and cream instead of milk.  The disadvantage to having more baking powder is that the scones rise higher and don't look as pretty.  The texture is quite different because of the handling of the butter and the larger amount of baking powder.  These were delicious but tasted more like ordinary biscuits, rather than th emore exotic scone!

Next, I tried Sarabeth's Bakery Currant Scones.  These are extremely different from the two above, because they contain eggs and they have very little sugar in them.  They were quite flaky and they cooked perfectly, with the oven starting out very hot, and then being reduced when the scones were in.  The only problem with these was that they weren't sweet enough to suit my husband.

The last batch that I made, was from the Joy of Cooking.  I made their classic scones, but instead of  using egg I used double the amount of cream (as per variation in the Joy).   This was the scone that we liked the most.  These were the flakiest of all, crusty on the outside, yet moist within, and sweet enough to suit my husband's tastes.  You'll see that they're not as shiny as Sarabeth's because the glaze is just a light brushing of cream, rather than the shine of an egg.  Although they're not as pretty, we liked the taste of the crust better without the egg wash. 

For the original Joy of Cooking recipe, please see The All New Joy of Cooking Classic Currant Scones.  The recipe below has been slightly altered by me. Brown's Hotel Scones (adjusted for American kitchens) follows.  For Sarabeth's, go to http://www.epicurious.com/ and look for the recipe that was printed in Gourmet Magazine in 2010.

The All New Joy of Cooking Classic Currant Scones, edited by Penny Eisenberg
Makes 8 wedges or about 20 round scones

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour, fluffed scooped and levelled
3-5 tablespoons sugar, to taste
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder (can use up to 1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cold
1/2 cup dried currants or raisins

1 cup heavy cream + 1 tablespoon, divided, cold

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Either cut the butter into small pieces, or grate the butter on the large grate of a box cutter.

 Toss the butter into the flour mixture to separate the pieces.  If using cut butter (rather than grated) you will need to rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips or use a pastry blender to cut the butter in until the largest pieces are the size of peas, and the rest looks like breadcrumbs.  Work quickly and lightly. 

Stir in the currants or raisins.  Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the cream, all at once.  Mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened.

 Knead the dough, lightly,  turning the dough and pressing it  until everything adheres together.  Gently roll the dough into an 8-inch round, about 3/4-inch thick.

Cut the dough into 8 wedges, or cut out rounds with a 2t o 2-1/2-inch floured biscuit cutter.  Place the scones on the parchment paper, at least 1/2-inch apart. Brush the tops of the scones with cream.  If desired sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Place in the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees. F.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.  Let cool on a rack, and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Brown's Hotel Scones adapted for the American Kitchen

Makes 16 wedges or 20 small round scones

4 cups minus 2 tablespoons (500 grams) lower-protein all-purpose (such as Pillsbury or Gold Medal), fluffed, scooped and levelled (if using biscuit flour, you might need 1/4-1/3 cup more flour)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup raisins or sultanas

1 cup whole milk + 2 tablespoons, divided

For egg wash

2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon whole milk
pinch sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.   Either dice the butter, or grate it on a box grater (see above).  Add the butter to the flour mixture, and using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it is no longer visible. Stir in the sugar.

Toss the sultanas into the above mixture. Make a well in the mixture and pour in all of the milk. Stir with a spoon until the mixture starts to come together.

Turn the mixture onto a lightly floured surface, and knead gently, 5 or 6 times, until it forms a smooth, soft dough (add a little more flour or milk to get the texture right). Form into a round, wrap in cling wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough gently on a floured surface to about 1-inch. thick. Dip a 2-inch round cookie cutter into flour, and then cut out the rounds, dipping the cutter as needed. Press together scraps and re-cut. Place the rounds on the parchment paper.  Alternatively you can shape the dough into two 8-inch rounds and then cut each into 8 wedges.
Make the egg wash, by mixing the ingredients together in a small bowl. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the scones are golden brown and look and feel cooked on the sides. Let the scones cool until just barely warm or completely cooled, and serve with fresh strawberry jam.  You probably won't be able to make Clotted Cream because you need  unpasteurized or lightly pasteurized cream to make it, but you might be able to find jarred Devonshire Cream in a specialty food store.

Filled Chocolate Cupcakes.\, Part 1

I'd been thinking about making some cupcakes for a party, when I got a call from a friend asking me if her daughters could come and learn how to make cupcakes with me.  Little did they know that I had never made chocolate cupcakes before!  But, I thought it would be a great learning experience for us all.  When the girls came, I learned that they, like me, had  reservations about cupcakes  because there's usually a mound  of frosting glopped on the outside and too much dry cake underneath.  We all thought it would be fun to try and fill the interior of the cake with some frosting  and I decided on cherries for the top ( I had been invited to a party and was asked to bring something chocolate with fruit).

I would say that the morning was not a success, although we did have fun and learned what to do when you have a failure.  The first problem was that the cupcakes (we made minis and regular) stuck to the pans.  We hand anticipated some trouble and had greased and floured some of the cups, and just greased the others, but ALL of the cupcakes stuck.

But the cake tasted great -  so we certainly didn't want to throw it away.  Now was the chance to think creatively.  Veronica thought the cupcake remnants looked like muffin tops (they did) and in keeping with our idea of having filled cupcakes, we decided to cut off the tops and sandwich two together with frosting and filling inbetween.  Here are my two helpers, Jasmine and Veronica.

I had planned on using simple meringue buttercream and cherries for the filling, but Jasmine wanted to know if I could make some ganache, so we made some of that, too.  The buttercream never really firmed up the way I had hoped (the kitchen was WAY too warm), so eating the cakes right away (no refrigeration) was perfect with the soft buttercream, cherries, chocolate cake and oozy ganache (like hot fudge!).

The ganache went on top and we ended up with something looking like a moonpie, which tasted great!  Another idea for when things don't work out is to do a trifle sort of dessert.  In this case I used real whipped cream instead of buttercream (it's quicker to make and  the dessert can be eaten straight from the refrigerator).

Next post, look for the recipes for chocolate cupcakes, frosting and icing that works!

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