Purposeful Pigs

Often I deal with emotions by heading to the kitchen to bake.  For instance, when I was teaching, a snow day usually resulted in a yay-no-school-happy-dance followed by a homemade loaf of banana bread warm and ready for the kids when they awoke.  Realizing that their day would revolve around snowmen and snowballs, they too celebrated.  Mmmmmmm...buttered banana bread. To this day, all three children love bb.  Coincidence?

Fast forward.  The last nine months have been a roller coaster of emotions, mostly sad.  My sister was diagnosed with lung cancer, and has withstood procedures that have left her fatigued and foggy, nauseous and dizzy, hairless, yet hopeful..  There is a limit to what the human body can withstand in the name of "cure," and I believe my sister is at the edge of that limit.  Still, when people have asked about her cancer ultimately returning, she has boldly replied, "When pigs fly!"  She even wears a ring that displays a winged pig :)

Earlier this month our family attended the Fight for Air Walk in Philadelphia to honor my sister in her progression through this journey.  We had prepared buttons for our t-shirts, had raised quite a bit of money compared to others, and were anxious to walk historic Philly on her behalf.  Sadly, she was not able to attend due to her physical condition that day.

After the walk, we brunched at my daughter's place.  In preparation for the meal, I thought hard about what to bake for the celebration.  I decided on cupcakes with piggy adornments.  Yes, I know that the pigs are wingless, but this was my first foray into using fondant.  I used the internet for guidance and credit this site for the prototype and the frosting-as-mud idea.  Yum...wallowing never looked so good!

Purposeful Pig Cupcakes
Mentor sites:
Pigs/Pig Parts
Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Mimicking Milano

What a beeeeauuuuutiful cookie!  Kudos to Pepperidge Farm for Milano cookies in all their versions.  The oblong shape, the golden edges, and the chocolate center peeping around the perimeter guarantee visual appeal.  I don't buy packaged cookies anymore, but my memories of eating these European-style cookies lock on nothin' but happiness.

Notes:

1.  Though it looks like the process is long and involved, it's mostly just long.  So, you might want to make the cookies one day and put them together later in the day or even the next day.  Or, you could just dip one end of each cookie into melted chocolate and sprinkle with jimmies or nuts.  Or, as below, you could just savor the cookies without an embellishment at all.  I used a pastry bag and a ridged tip for the cookies below... and no garnish...still fabulous :)

2.  When I make these again, I would like to swap out some of the all-purpose flour for cornmeal to add a bit more delicate crunch.  Meanwhile, I have quite a few in the freezer calling my name.
3.  Yes, they freeze well!
4.  The recipe below is the original Food52 recipe halved.

Mimicking Milano
adapted from Food52
Yield: 50 two-inch cookies (25 sandwiches) and about 18 thin piped ribbons (pictured directly above)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened (if using salted butter, feel free to omit the kosher salt)
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
Zest from one orange

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 325º F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.
2.  Place the butter and sugar into bowl of an electric mixer.  Cream together.  Add egg and vanilla and continue to beat on high until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
3.  Lower speed and gradually add flour and salt (if using), mixing until incorporated.
4.  Transfer batter into a ziploc bag with a 1/2-inch hole snipped in one corner.  Alternately, you can snip off the end of a pastry bag (I use disposable bags), put in a coupler, and add the batter.  Twist the top to close and use a rubber band to secure.

5.  Pipe the batter onto the silpat mats into 2-inch long strips.  The cookies can be close as they do not spread much.

6.  Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the cookie edges are beginning to turn golden brown.  Remove and allow to completely cool on racks.

7.  Melt chocolate in a double boiler or microwave gently (I reduced power level to 50%).  Use
30-second intervals, stirring after each.  I stopped microwaving even when there were small bits that hadn't yet melted.  As the chocolate cools to the consistency needed, they will blend.

8.  Match up cookie pairs of the same size.  Have the melted chocolate and zest nearby.

A wet paper towel helped to keep fingers clean so no smudges went on the cookies

9.  Place a bit of melted chocolate on one cookie's flat side.  Sprinkle a bit of zest on top of the chocolate.  Then sandwich another cookie on top, pressing gently until the chocolate reaches the edges.

10.  Nothing but goodness!  Let me know what you think!

Pizza Your Way

I understand you don't particularly want to make pizza when it's so darn easy to order online and pick up.  I know there are a multitude of great pizza restaurants catering to rogue toppings, nutritional needs, and price point.  I get that there are some very fine frozen pizzas that you can bake yourself and with a side salad that you picked up from the deli, voilà!  Dinner's on the table in half an hour.

So why in the world am I going to encourage you to make your own pizza?  That's a very good question.  And some very good answers are:
A.  because you can do it
B.  because you know exactly what is going into the crust and toppings
C.  because you can make it your way
D.  because homemade pizza tastes way better than anyone else's

But maybe the best answer is E., you will not have to deal with fitting those pesky cardboard boxes into your trashcan.

I'm not even going to ask you if you are convinced.  I'm just going to get on with the business of show and tell.

Pizza Your Way
Yield:  3 10-inch pizzas adorned as you see fit

Crust
adapted from a recipe in this cookbook

1 package dried yeast (I used Fleischmann's Rapid Rise)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 scant cup warm water (or 7 ounces)
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Cornmeal

Topping example

1 lb. broccoli rabe, rinsed and trimmed
1 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes
Salad olives, chopped
Roasted red peppers (from a jar)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. For the topping, cook the broccoli rabe as you would spinach.  In a pan that you've drizzled with a bit of olive oil and water, sauté the broccoli rabe until it wilts and softens.  If you like it spicy, add in a 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  After it cools, chop roughly.
2.  Open the can of whole tomatoes and pour the contents into a sieve.  Save the liquid for some other purpose.  Take the tomatoes and roughly chop.
3.  Chop one or two peppers roughly.
4.  Chop 20 salad olives roughly.
5.  Set prepared toppings aside while you tend to the crust.

1.  For the crust, open the yeast package and sprinkle into a large bowl (I used the bowl of my electric mixer).
2.  Add 2/3 cup of the warm water on top of the yeast and stir in the sugar.
3.  Leave this mixture alone until frothy (5 minutes or so).
4.  Pour the flour, salt, and olive oil into the mixing bowl with the yeast.
5.  Add the remaining warm water (a scant 1/3 cup).
6.  Attach the dough hook.
7.  Turn your mixer on low and allow ingredients to combine.
8.  The dough will begin to adhere to the dough hook.  That's what you want.
9.  When all the ingredients have been incorporated and embracing the dough hook, turn off the mixer.
10. Peel the dough off the hook, place it onto a lightly floured countertop and knead until it is pliable, but not sticky (about 10 minutes).
11. Shape the dough into a ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl, turning over once so that the entire ball is greased.
12. Cover the bowl with saran wrap (or a clean dish towel...or both!) and place in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
13. After the dough has risen, punch down, divide into 3 portions (or whatever you like).

       

14. Press each ball of dough into a circle with your hands on a cornmeal dusted surface.  Then, roll out into a thin crust with a rolling pin, adding more cornmeal to prevent sticking.  Add your toppings- tomatoes and rabe first, then the olives and peppers, and topped with cheese shreds.
15. Crimp the sides by folding over the edge of the dough while finger-pinching.
16. Set your gas grill on high and preheat for 15-20 minutes.  Then place prepared pizza onto cornmeal dusted peel and slide directly onto grill.  Close lid and grill until golden brown with a little char on the bottom (about 7 minutes).
17. Alternately, preheat your oven to 475ºF.  Place pizza on a baking sheet and bake, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or  until golden brown.
18. Cool slightly before cutting.  Serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

Note:  If you don't have an electric mixer, disregard steps 6 - 9 and mix everything by hand until all ingredients are combined and you can move the dough to your countertop to knead.