A sweet tooth's paradise - The Italian Bakery

Basically, I let it be known that the most I miss about the East Coast is the food. Roy and I have discussed the question of "would we ever go back East?" The answer is that it would have to be for a very, very good reason; and we probably wouldn't feel very comfortable. Comparing the wide open spaces of where we live now to the traffic and people congested areas of New York City, Philadelphia and Lancaster...no comparison. Our area wins. Comparing the clean air, the blue sky, the overall feel good feeling to pollution that is quite visible, smells that would make a skunk gag and overall feeling of oppression...no comparison. What did Roy say to me the other day, oh yes, "hun, you may have been a city girl because you lived there, but deep down, you ain't no city girl." He's right, I never was very comfortable living in large city areas.

We did travel up to the Salt Lake City area once, and once was enough. I have driven many of the highways of the East: Long Island Expressway, Belt Parkway, Schuylkill River Parkway, I-95; to just name a few and they didn't bother me. The highways in the Salt Lake City area are terrifying!!! Yeah, if they can scare me, then they must be bad; must be all the pollution because of the Salt Lake; it has eaten holes in the brain of the basic driver. See, that's another reason I like the area we live in now; our version of a traffic jam is three pickup trucks in front of you as you're driving down either Rte 191 or Rte 491; and the passing lane is a mile away.

So what has this all to do with the Italian Bakery, nothing really, I was just venting. Anyway, the Italian Bakery is a wonderous place to tantalize all the senses. The smell of baking, the sight of decorated cakes, the taste of crispy cookies, hearing the workers speak in a romantic language, the feel of a loaf of real Italian bread and the overall feeling of contentment. Little by little I have been learning to recreate recipes from the Italian Bakery; no folks, we don't have such a wonderland in our area. If you do, appreciate it!!!

I'm already quite adept at making Tiramisu and Cheesecakes; and finding a place in Durango, Colorado that sells mascarpone cheese is a big plus.

Now I have decided to tackle cookies, not your typical chocolate chip or sugar cookies, but Italian cookies. The first is a chocolate meringue cookie called "Brutti Ma Buoni" which translates to "ugly but good". The second is a cookie made with ricotta cheese and is basically a simple cake like cookie, not overly sweet and putting a glaze or frosting on them is optional.

Brutti Ma Buoni
(In Italian, it means “ugly but good”; this is a meringue cookie which contains nuts and Amaretto.)

Ingredients:
8 egg whites
1 tsp white vinegar
½ tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp Amaretto
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup each of chopped hazelnuts and almonds

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350F; lightly butter and flour cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites, vinegar and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Continue to beat, while adding 2 tablespoons at a time of the sugar, until stiff peaks form; beat in the Amaretto.

Gently fold in the cocoa powder and nuts, so as to not deflate the egg whites. Drop, by tablespoon, the mixture onto the cookie sheets; bake for 15-20 minutes; until cookies become firm. Remove to wire racks and let cool.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Ricotta Cheese Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
¼ unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp blackberry preserves
2 eggs
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350F.

In a small bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until fluffy; continue to beat in the preserves, then one egg at a time until all are incorporated fully.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; add the mixture from the small bowl and mix together well; add the ricotta cheese and mix in fully. The dough will be thick, so can easily be measured out by rounded tablespoons onto nonstick cookie sheets.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until tops are golden brown; move cookies onto wire racks to cool.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

The cookies have a mild sweetness at first, but intensify as eaten. However, a glaze can be spread onto the cookies and sprinkles added immediately before it sets.

Recipe for Glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 Tbsp warm milk

Mix together until it becomes a spreadable consistency.

Makes enough to cover 4 dozen cookies.

Mary Cokenour

Rewarded for doing something out of love.

This weekend I baked, not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I cook and bake out of love and passion; love for the art, love for my family and friends; passion for cooking and baking, passion for making others feel good with my successes in the kitchen. Occasionally someone has the nerve to tell me I must bake cookies for, not just themselves, but for others; and I refuse. You cannot tell someone to perform in the kitchen; you must respect their love and passion.

So tomorrow, since today is Labor Day and a holiday, others will enjoy what I worked so hard on for the past two days; cookies and cupcakes. It will make me happy, not because I had to do it, but because I wanted to do it. Roy recognizes my efforts, and he decided to reward me for them; he actually cooked dinner for me last night. I don't mean he ordered take out; he didn't take something out of the freezer and just reheat it; he didn't make something from a box or can; he actually cooked and used a recipe.

He made Nachos and with the nachos, we watched a DVD on the television, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1". Now you might be thinking that nachos are more of an appetizer or snack, but if you break them down, they are a complete meal made in a skillet. Meat, beans, vegetables and cheese; sounds like four of the basic food groups right there. The recipe I had was originally given to me by my mom, but living out in the Southwest, we made a few changes to it. Instead of red kidney beans, we used whole black beans; instead of plain diced tomatoes, we used diced tomatoes with green chilies. Might not sound like a big difference, but taste and flavor wise, it was.

So here is our updated version of Nachos; enjoy it with a movie.

Nachos

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs lean ground beef
½ cup each of diced red bell peppers and onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 (15 oz) can whole black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with chilies
1 (1.75 oz) package taco seasoning
1 (8 oz) package shredded Mexican blend or Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
tortilla chips
sour cream
guacamole

Preparation:

In a large skillet, medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and drain excess grease; set aside. In same skillet, sauté peppers and onions till soft, but not browned.

Return beef to skillet; add garlic, beans, tomatoes and taco seasoning; mix and let cook for 10 minutes; stir occasionally. Reduce heat to low; spread cheese over mixture, cover and let cook an additional 5 minutes.

Serve with chips, sour cream and/or guacamole.

Makes 6 servings.

Note: mild, medium or hot is the cook’s option for both the diced tomatoes with chilies and the taco seasoning.

Mary Cokenour

Bacon - it's "what's for dessert?"

Bacon, whether it is flavored with maple or honey, seasoned with hickory or apple wood, bacon is yummy goodness and ups the anty on taste for anything it is included in, even dessert. That's right, I said bacon for dessert; even I had my doubts about trying out dessert recipes with bacon in it, but I had to try nonetheless. I'd seen bacon cupcakes on a few shows featured on Food Network, and one of the ladies at a local bank told me about a site that had a recipe for candied bacon. Well I couldn't remember the name she had given me, so decided to search the net for recipes, and I cannot believe how many hundreds of bacon dessert recipes I found. Which one to choose was a total mystery, so I printed out a few, compared notes, and came up with my own concoctions.

Now Roy was not happy about the whole experiment thing at all...bacon is bacon and shouldn't be made into candy or cake. He still doesn't like the idea of it all, but he did have to agree that my recipes came out pretty well, and he was impressed at my accomplishment. I likened the taste to French toast in syrup, but without the bread; and it was the perfect garnish for the cupcakes.

Candied Bacon

Ingredients:

1 lb regular bacon
½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Preparation:

In a large nonstick skillet, on high heat, cook the bacon until it is browned, but still flexible; drain on paper towels.

Drain grease from skillet, set heat on low; place bacon, in one layer, into skillet. First sprinkle sugar over the bacon, then the vanilla and finally the cinnamon. Let the bacon cook for 10 minutes before turning over and let cook an additional 5 minutes.

Remove the bacon to a wire rack (paper towels under the rack to catch drippings) and let it air cool for 30 minutes before snacking on, or using for garnish on baked goods.

Alternative: instead of ground cinnamon, use ½ Tbsp of ground chipotle powder

Then came the cupcakes, the fat from the bacon gives the cake a moister and richer consistency. The meat of the bacon does cook during the baking process, and it is like a little chewy surprise within the cake...think bacon gummy bear. There is not an overpowering taste of bacon, you know it's there, but it all comes together well.

Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
6 egg yolks
1 cup milk
½ lb regular uncooked bacon, chopped

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F; line muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and powder, cocoa powder and salt; set aside.

In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Mix in half the dry ingredients with half the milk; when well incorporated, repeat with remaining dry ingredients and milk.

Add in the bacon and mix well with spoon, not mixer. Fill each paper liner 2/3 with the batter; bake for 20-25 minutes; check for doneness by inserting toothpick in center; cupcakes are done if it comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool before removing from tins and frosting.

Makes 16 cupcakes.

Alternative: divide batter in half between 2-8 inch cake pans which were sprayed with nonstick baking spray. Bake time will be the same as for the cupcakes.

Topping: Vanilla frosting works best with a garnish of candied bacon.

Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp cold milk

Preparation:

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy; add in extract and milk, continue to beat until smooth and spreadable.

Makes enough for 12 - 16 cupcakes depending upon how much is spread on each cupcake. To make enough to cover the top, sides and in-between 2-8 inch cakes, double the recipe.

Mary Cokenour

Vietnamese Dish with Antlers.

Now before you get too excited over the title of this blog post, I didn't really use antlers in the recipe, but the meat I used did have them at one time. That creature is the Elk and after getting a new supply from hunting buddy Charlie, I knew it was time to play once again in the kitchen. Originally I was going to try Philly Cheesesteak, but then I thought about a dish I hadn't tried since moving from Pennsylvania. In the Lancaster area, we had a few Vietnamese restaurants and one of our favorite meals was "Beef with Crispy Potatoes". I learned to make a version of this dish to have when we couldn't afford to go out and have a restaurant make it for us.

Now to prep the Elk, I placed the steaks in a plastic container and drizzled a little red wine vinegar over them, sealed the container and placed it in the refrigerator for 6 hours. This was to tenderize the meat and take some of the gamey flavor out of it. After that, I rinsed off the meat with cold water and cut it into strips, as the recipe required, and just followed the directions thereafter.

The conclusion? There weren't any leftovers; it was simply amazing! There was one very difficult part of the meal preparation though and that was the homemade potato chips. The problem? To not eat them all before the entire recipe was completed, they were so good and I may never buy bagged chips again. As they were draining on the paper towels, I sprinkled a little fine sea salt on them and tried one, then two, then another and another....STOP!...or there would have been none left.

So here is the recipe for "Beef with Crispy Potatoes" made with beef, but substituting another meal, like Elk, can be just as awesome.

Beef with Crispy Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 lb sirloin or round steak, cut into 2” slices, 1/8” thick
½ cup each of diced red bell pepper and onion
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp chili sauce
¼ cup teriyaki sauce
2 large red skinned potatoes; cut into 1/8” slices
Peanut oil
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ cup diced green onion

Preparation:

Place steak, red bell pepper, onion, ginger, garlic, chili and teriyaki sauces in a large zippered plastic bag; seal, mix together well and refrigerate for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, fill a deep skillet halfway with peanut oil; bring oil to 350F. Put ¼ of potatoes into skillet, fry for 7 minutes, turn slices over and fries another 5 minutes. Remove to paper towels to drain; repeat process with remaining potatoes.

After all potatoes are fried, remove all but 4 Tbsp of oil from skillet. Place marinated ingredients from plastic bag into skillet; cook steak till browned. Add fried potatoes and black pepper to skillet; mix with steak and cook another 5 minutes. Garnish with green onion.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour
September 11, 1998

Redo a Classic - the Green Bean Casserole

Holiday time is coming upon us and soon we'll be seeing the television commercials that try and define the season for us. Unfortunately the holiday season has become very commercialized, so the original true messages of the season may not get through to many.  I'm not getting into all that, but what I'd like to address is a holiday classic recipe, the Green Bean Casserole.  Now my family, and most people I know have not ever served this recipe for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's Day, so I'm not really sure why it's a "holiday classic".  I mean you never really see any commercials for it from Campbell's or French's until the holiday season, so it's, to me, a classic recipe because these companies say so.

Anyway, my hubby and his mom like this dish, so I make it for them whenever I feel like it, not just because a holiday dictates it.  I was a good girl and prepared the dish using the Campbell's recipe verbatim; nope, didn't play with it at all.; that is until now.

Here is the original recipe from the Campbell's Kitchen website:

Classic Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or Healthy Request®)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Dash ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans
1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions

Directions:
Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.

Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the bean mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining onions.

Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

Serves 6

...and now here is my recipe and my hubby says it is better than the original by far; it has a headier flavor from the Worcestershire, is creamier and just has an overall better flavor.  The French fried onions are crispier, since they are entirely on top of the casserole, not mixed inside and getting soggy. Try my version and judge for yourself, but it's ok if you still prefer the original.

Green Bean Casserole
(An old classic redone)

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion diced
1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms
3 (14.5 oz) cans French style green beans, drained
2 (10.75 oz) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp each ground black pepper and paprika
2 cups French fried onions

Preparation:

On medium heat, melt butter in small skillet; sauté onion and mushrooms till the onions just begin to soften; do not brown. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 350F; spray a 2 qt casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sautéed onions and mushrooms with all other ingredients except the fried onions. Spoon into the casserole dish and spread the fried onions evenly over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes; remove from oven and let settle for 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Lovin' from the Oven.

They're warm and comforting; moist and rich in flavor; satisfying as is, or more delicious with spread on butter, honey or jam. They are muffins and they are a treat no matter what time of the day or night they are eaten. Depending on what ingredients they contain, muffins are basically a miniature version of a bread or cake. If they become slightly stale, they can be broken up to use in another recipe, such as a trifle or bread pudding.

Besides being delicious, they are versatile; for a party, miniature muffins are cute; and folks won't think they're being little piggies if they happen to try one of every variety being served. No time for a sit down meal, a muffin on the go, since they are easily hand held. Children being difficult about eating a healthy meal...let them eat cake; that is a muffin made of healthy ingredients, but they don't know it. Back in the 1990's, I had a small business where I would cater breakfast business meetings; serving coffee, tea, juice and loads of muffins. I did well, that is until my business partner stole all my assests and equipment, but that's a whole other boring story.

The combinations for muffins are endless, so have fun experimenting and your tummy will love you for it.

Muffins

Basic Batter

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400F; spray 2-6 cup muffin tins with nonstick baking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar; add in each egg separately, continuing to mix to incorporate well. Mix in the vanilla extract and milk until smooth.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients into the large bowl of wet ingredients until all is incorporated and smooth.

Spoon the batter into the tins, filling 2/3 of the way up. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the muffins.

Let cool for 5 minutes before removing muffins from the tins.

Makes 12 muffins.

Variations

Banana Walnut
Reduce milk to ½ cup; add 1 cup of mashed banana to wet ingredients. Add ½ tsp ground cinnamon and ½ cup chopped walnuts to dry ingredients.

Berry
Into the completed basic batter, fold in 1 cup fresh or thawed berries (whole blueberries or cranberries, red or black raspberries that have been halved, diced strawberries or a mixture of berries).

Corn
Reduce the all purpose flour to 1 cup; add 1 cup cornmeal.

Fruit Preserves
Prepare basic batter; fill tins 1/3 full and place 1 tsp of jam, jelly or preserves in the center.
Finish spooning basic batter into cups to 2/3’s full mark.

Candy Chips
Exchange sugar for light brown sugar. Add ½ tsp baking soda and ½ cup of candy chips (chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch, mint, vanilla or mixture) to the dry ingredients.

Mary Cokenour
September 1997

Coffee, Sour Cream and Cake.

The UPS delivery truck just delivered my newest order from PapaNicolas.com...COFFEE!!! My favorite flavors were in the box: French Vanilla, Vanilla Nut Creme, French Caramel Creme and Toasted Southern Pecan; and I quickly filled up my Tupperware containers with this precious commodity. Now, what little tidbit can I have with my freshly brewed cup of Toasted Southern Pecan coffee? Looking round the kitchen, the answer was...nothing; no cookies, no cake for I did no fresh baking this past weekend. Shame on me, I know.

Quick scramble, what can I bake and it doesn't take a lot of work, nor time to make? Hmmm, coffee....cake.....coffee cake!!! I'm making nachos this week, so have sour cream on hand, so let's put it all together, well without the nachos and make one such sweet dish; a sour cream coffee cake.

Nirvana is now mine...enjoy yours.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups light brown sugar
½ tsp salt
1 cup softened butter
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp each ground cinnamon and nutmeg
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg, beaten

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350F; spray an 8” x 8” baking dish with nonstick baking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, salt and butter until crumbly; set aside 1 ½ cups. To the remaining crumb mixture, add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Spread mixture evenly into the baking dish; spread the 1 ½ cups set aside over top of the mixture. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly from center. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

Makes 9 servings.

Mary Cokenour
September 1997