PASTA MACHINE UPDATE

I have been trying out various fresh pasta recipes and I thought I would give you a brief report. I have found that, no matter what recipe you use, it is absolutely necessary for the dough to rest after it is kneaded...at least 30 minutes, wrapped in plastic at room temperature. I have also learned that you have to be flexible when it comes to moisture amounts in the recipe. Some flours hold more moisture than others, so when a pasta recipe says xxx tablespoons of oil or xxx eggs, you might have to adjust a little, depending on the stickiness of your dough. If you are rolling by hand, it is not quite as crucial. If you are using a pasta roller/cutter, stickiness is your enemy

This is my latest attempt at making fettuccine with a new flour combo. It was quite good and worked fairly easily. The key is to knead it long enough and then let it rest.
CLICK ON PHOTO
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups semolina flour
1 pinch of salt (see note)
6 extra large eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil

Sift (or whisk) the flours together. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and oil together until smooth. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients in your stand mixer. Here is where you might have to make some moisture adjustments because no two eggs have the same amount of moisture in them. If you mix for a few minutes and the dough still seems sticky, add another tablespoon of flour. If it seems dry and shaggy, add another tablespoon of water (or oil). When the dough starts to come away from the sides of your bowl cleanly, set your timer and knead the dough for about 8 minutes. After it has kneaded, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let it sit, at room temperature, for at least 30 minutes to an hour. This will make the dough much easier to handle.

Pinch off pieces of dough and flatten it just a little in your hands. Dust it with flour before you run it through your pasta roller on the widest setting. Each time you run it through, fold the dough over onto itself, a couple of times and run it through again. Do this about three times before you start to reduce the thickness setting on your roller.

Now that you have run it through the widest setting a few times, reduce the thickness setting and run it through again. It will take about 3-4 thickness reductions to get it to a commercial thickness. Finally, dust it with flour (brush off excess with a pastry brush) and run it through your pasta cutter. Place pasta on a baking rack (or pasta rack) so that air can get to all sides of it.

If you cook it right away, it will take about 3-4 minutes in boiling salted water.
If you dry the pasta, it will take 8 to 10 minutes to boil.
NOTE: This recipe calls for a pinch of salt in the dough; however, my pasta roller (in big bold letters) says never put salt in the dough with this cutter. I'm not sure if it is harmful to the machine or what, but I don't want to take a chance, so I skip the salt and just boil the pasta in salted water, it seems just fine.
NOTE: If you are rolling this dough by hand, flour your counter and roll the dough out with small strokes in one direction...rolling it as thin as you can get it. Cut pasta with a pizza cutter. Use a pastry brush to dust off excess flour before you cut it.

LEMON POUND CAKE ( 5 STAR)

I don't give out 5 stars for a recipe very often and certainly NOT the first time I try a recipe. However, this recipe received my 5 star rating immediately! It is, by far, the best pound cake recipe I've ever tried. It's texture is smooth, moist and velvety, with a hint of lemon. The recipe makes one 10" tube pan or two loaf cakes. I hope you try it.

(1) 8 ounce cream cheese (room temperature)
6 eggs (room temperature)
1½ cups butter (room temperature)
3 cups white sugar
3 cups CAKE flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon extract
zest of two lemons (chopped finely) Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour a 10" tube pan or 2 large loaf pans.

In a stand mixer (using whisk attachment), cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth and silky. Slowly add the sugar while the mixer is running, and beat until very fluffy (it will look like whipped cream and may take as long as 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between each egg. Add the extracts and the lemon zest and mix well.

Replace whisk attachment with paddle attachment. Sift the cake flour into a one cup measure and level off with a knife. Add flour to butter mixture, one cup at a time, mixing just long enough for the flour to disappear.

Pour batter into prepared tube pan (or two large prepared loaf pans). Hold the filled pan about 6" above your counter and drop it (this will dislodge any big air pockets). Bake cake for 1 hour 20 minutes. Test for doneness with toothpick test. Let the cake cool about 10 minutes then remove from pan.

NOTE: The butter, cream cheese and eggs must be at absolute room temperature (I leave mine on the counter overnight). If you don't have these ingredients at room temperature, they will not mix correctly and your cake will not bake properly...very important.

NOTE: Don't try this recipe with all purpose flour. Cake flour really makes a difference.

NOTE: You will know you have beaten the butter-cream cheese - sugar mixture enough when your stand mixer bowl is about 2/3 full and is the consistency of whipped cream.

NOTE: When zesting the lemons, be very careful not to get any pith (the white part under the yellow part) into the cake (it's bitter). You want just the very outside of the lemon peel. After you zest the lemons, run your knife through the zest a little bit to make it smaller.

This is my 3 year old grandson, Steven, I think he liked todays lemon pound cake!

OVEN BARBECUE STEAK

I had big plans to barbecue outside today, and then Mother Nature decided to rain on us all day, I went for plan B (the oven). The outcome was not as good as grilling outdoors, but an excellent alternative, for sure. Cooking "low and slow" in the oven, gives you a steak more tender than you could ever get on a grill.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup beef broth (or water)
1 cup favorite barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon DRY mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 pound chuck steak (1" thick)

Cut the chuck steak apart, into serving size pieces (cutting out some of the obvious fat lines). Brown the meat in the olive oil until it gets a nice crusty brown surface, then put it in a 9x13 baking pan.

In the same pan you browned the meat in, saute the veggies until they wilt. Add the rest of the ingredients (not the meat) and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Pour sauce over meat and cover the baking pan with foil (tightly). bake at 300 degrees for 2 to 2½ hours or until "fall apart" tender. Thicken sauce if necessary.

NOTE:  It is VERY IMPORTANT to bake at 300° to get the MOST TENDER steak........anything higher than that, will not work.

NOTE: It is also VERY IMPORTANT to brown the meat well before you bake it to get the maximum flavor.

PEANUT BUTTER CANDY (sort of like a Pay Day candy bar)

If you like Pay Day candy bars, you will love this recipe. It tastes very similar, but SO much fresher and better. This recipe makes a 9 x 13 pan of candy, which would be an excellent addition to your children's birthday party menu! They take just a few minutes to put together and then an hour or so in the fridge, to "set".

 4 cups honey roasted peanuts
(1) 10½ ounce bag miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup butter (melted)
(1) 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
(1) 10 ounce bag peanut butter chips
1/2 cup peanut butter

Line a 9 x 13 dish with foil and spray it with cooking spray (I spray my foil with cooking spray then blot it with a paper towel so it doesn't make the candy greasy). Set aside.

In a large (heavy bottomed) saucepan, mix the marshmallows and melted butter. Heat over medium-low heat until completely melted (you do not want the marshmallows to boil, but you want to see a little bubble now and then). Keep it at this temperature for about a minute.

Stir in the sweetened condensed milk, peanut butter chips and peanut butter. Stir until everything is melted and smooth.

Pour this mixture over the peanuts in the pan and spread out evenly. Sprinkle the other half of the peanuts over the hot mixture and press the nuts into the surface of the hot mixture (with your hand). Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours or until firm. Cut into pieces and serve. Store covered in fridge. Makes 60 pieces of candy.

BREAD MACHINE CINNAMON ROLLS (and a Thank You)

Until I started digging through my old recipes for this blog, it never occurred to me how many recipes I have for hubby’s sweet tooth! It has been quite an eye opener. Here is yet another favorite. I tried to make cinnamon rolls out of bread dough for years with minimal success. They were always tasty while still warm, but got “tough” when they cooled off. The addition of egg, makes all the difference. This recipe is very good (warm or cold) and it’s made in a bread machine, so it is as easy as it gets.

¼ cup water
¼ cup butter, melted
(½) of a 3.4 ounce box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup warm milk
1 egg room temperature
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour
1 packet of yeast (I use 1 tablespoon)

FILLING
¼ cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon
¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

FROSTING
½ of an 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ teaspoons milk

BREAD MACHINE INSTRUCTIONS: In pan of machine, mix water, melted butter, pudding mix, warm milk, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, flour and yeast. Set machine on dough cycle and press start. When dough cycle has finished, turn dough out onto lightly floured counter and roll 17” x 10”. Spread with soft butter. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon & nuts and sprinkle over dough. Roll dough up (start with long side). Slice into 16 one inch pieces and place in 9x13 buttered pan. Let rise in warm place until double (about an hour). Bake in 350° PREHEATED oven for 15-20 minutes. Take out of pan and frost with cream cheese frosting.

NOTE: I don’t own a bread machine, so I do this the old fashioned way and it works great. I don’t cut 16 one inch pieces, John likes thicker rolls, so I cut about 8-10 of them.

FUDGESICLES (and some questions for you)

With warm weather approaching and kids already out of school, it is time for kid friendly recipes. These fudgesicles are not only tasty, but they are inexpensive to make using every day ingredients from your pantry. If you do not have Popsicle molds, just use 3 ounce waxed paper (bathroom) cups and popsicle sticks.

In heavy bottom, medium size saucepan, mix:
3 cups milk
¼ cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup corn syrup (light)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring to gentle boil on medium high and boil 1 minute (make sure you stir constantly). Remove from heat and add 1 cup of milk chocolate chips, stir to melt.

Pour into Popsicle molds (or 3 ounce waxed paper cups). Freeze overnight.
NOTE: About an hour or so after you put the paper cups into the freezer, insert a Popsicle stick in the center, and return to freezer.

TROPICAL FRUIT QUICK BREAD

This tropical quick bread was still too hot to cut when I photographed it, so I don’t have a photo of the inside of the bread, but trust me, it is excellent. To give you an idea of what it tastes like, it has bananas, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, vanilla & rum extract in it.

1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup butter flavored Crisco
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed RIPE bananas
(1) 8 oz. crushed pineapple, well drained
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
2 eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon rum extract
Cream the butter and sugar together, then add everything else and mix until smooth. Place in a greased 8½ x 4½ x 2½ loaf pan (the bigger loaf pan) and bake at 350 for one hour. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

NOTE: Some people in my family complain that coconut shreds get stuck in their teeth, so I run the coconut through the food processor just for a few seconds to make the shred a little finer.
NOTE: It is my cardinal rule that you never eat quick breads like this on the first day. Always wrap them tightly while hot and do not unwrap them until day two. If you do this, the flavors develop AND the bread will be much more moist.