Baking

Steamed Brown Bread

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Steamed bread is a bit of an unusual thing, chewy texture, moist and in the case of this brown bread rich with molasses flavor. I really like molasses so I tend to keep blackstrap molasses on hand, but that can be a bit strong for this bread, use it if that’s what you have but I’d recommend the regular stuff. The other fun thing about this bread is you steam it in a can, then shake it out and slice it into rings, you can make it in a muffin tin or loaf pan, but that’s no fun. I used two 24 oz cans to steam my bread and they ended up baking right up to the top of the can so if you use something smaller split it into more cans.

 








Steamed Brown Bread


Created by on March 28, 2020

Ingredients

  • 2 -24oz empty cans for steaming the bread
  • butter for greasing the cans
  • ¾ c white flour
  • ½ c rye flour
  • ½ c cornmeal
  • ½ c quick oats or whole oats ground up a little
  • ¾ tsp. baking powder
  • ¾ tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ¾ c raisins, soaked in hot water and drained
  • ¾ c molasses
  • 1 ½ c buttermilk

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325F, heat up water to make a water bath for steaming the bread and grease 2-18oz cans with butter.
  2. Mix together the dry ingredients and then toss the soaked raisins with the dry ingredients to coat them, this will prevent them sinking to the bottom of the cans.
  3. Add in the molasses and buttermilk, mix till fully incorporated and divide between the two cans, about 18 oz each.
  4. Cover the tops tightly with foil, place in a 2-inch-deep pan and fill ¾ of the way with hot water.
  5. Bake at 325F for 2 hours and 15 minutes.
  6. Slice and serve with butter or fry in butter till crispy.

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Apple and Cheese Galette with Cumin Seeds

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Cumin and cheese is a great combination, there is even a gouda that comes with toasted cumin seeds in it, one of my favorites. Cheese and apples go great together too, they pair nicely in a pie, so why not let all three of them play together. The first rendition of this pie was good, but not great, it was in slab form so right off the bat there was too much pastry and not enough apples. It also wasn’t sweet enough, I’m always pulling back on the sugar in recipes so that things won’t be overly sweetened, but this pie needs it or it’ll end up a little savory. So now this pie is a winner with the changes I’ve made, it’s piled with fruit, minimal crust, a little less cheese and more sugar. Sweet spiced apples with a little earthy body from the cumin seeds and then a crisp cheese crust when you get to those final bites of the pie really complete it.

 










Apple and Cheese Galette with Cumin Seeds


Created by on January 2, 2020

Ingredients

  • Favorite pie dough recipe enough for the bottom of a 9” pan
  • 3 lb of apples, green and red
  • 1 c brown sugar
  • ¼ c flour
  • ½ tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
  • ½ tsp. cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • egg wash
  • 3 oz grated cheese, comte, gouda or cheddar

Directions

  1. Prepare your favorite pie dough recipe and let it chill while making the filling.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  3. Peel, core and slice the apples, put them in a large bowl with the brown sugar, flour, cumin, cinnamon and salt, toss together.
  4. On a floured surface roll out the pie dough, I like mine thin, maybe a bit too thin but it’s a lot of apples to fit in one pie. Fold the dough into quarters to help transfer it to a baking sheet before filling.
  5. Dump all of the apples into a large mound on top of the pie dough leaving 2-3 inches around the perimeter. Fold the edges up around the filling and pat down the apples a little arranging a few slices if necessary.
  6. Brush the edges of the pie with an egg wash and sprinkle on the grated cheese.
  7. Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until the bottom of the pie is brown, check it by peeking underneath with a big spatula. I recommend letting it cool a little before serving so the juices have a moment to tighten up.

For more click to continue on to http://www.seasonedatsea.com

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Pineapple Cheesecake Blondie Squares

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As a kid most birthdays were celebrated with a pineapple upside down cake, that was our go to cake; there was the occasional burnt almond cake from that bakery we loved, but that was more of a cake for my mom’s birthday. Finally, when I was 8 I had the skills to make a cake by myself unsupervised, I couldn’t find our usual 9×13 pan, but we did have two 8 inch round cake pans, in each pan I could fit 4 pineapple rings. I made a cake for my 8th birthday that looked like an 8, with 8 pineapple rings, I thought it was pretty clever and I didn’t even plan it ahead.

These cheesecake blondies with pineapple topping really taste like a pineapple upside down cake but with a creamy cheesecake layer, it might even be better than the traditional cake. The blondie, or butterscotch brownie as my mom calls them are chewy and packed with caramely flavor. The cheesecake is lightly sweetened and a soft opposition of texture to the blondie while the pineapple adds a bright citrus touch to complete the dish.

 








Pineapple Cheesecake Blondie Squares


Created by on June 11, 2019

Ingredients

Blondie base

  • ½ c butter, melted
  • 2 c packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 ½ c flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Cheesecake

  • 24 oz cream cheese at room temperature
  • 3 eggs
  • ¼ c sour cream
  • ½ c sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp. vanilla

Pineapple topping

  • ½ c sugar
  • ¼ c cornstarch
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 3 c pineapple tidbits, drained
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

Blondie base

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9×13 inch pan.
  2. Mix together the melted butter, brown sugar and eggs, add the dry ingredients on top of the wet and mix till just combined.
  3. Pour the blondie mixture into the greased pan and spread evenly to the corners, set aside and make the cheesecake.

Cheesecake

  1. In a stand mixer or food processer mix the cream cheese until smooth, scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.
  2. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between each addition, mix in the remaining ingredients and mix until fully incorporated and smooth.
  3. Pour the cheesecake mixture on top of the uncooked blondie batter and spread evenly into the corners.
  4. Bake at 350F for 30-45 minutes, until just the center is a little jiggly or the cheesecake reaches an internal temperature of 150F to 155F. Make the pineapple topping while the cheesecake cools.

Pineapple topping

  1. In a small pan mix together the sugar, cornstarch and salt, add in the pineapple and turn the heat to medium.
  2. Cook stirring frequently until the mixture has thickened. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and vanilla, let cool.
  3. When the cheesecake and the pineapple topping have cooled spread the pineapple over the top of the cheesecake. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
  4. Use a knife run under hot water to cut the pineapple cheesecake blondies into clean squares.

For more click to continue on to http://www.seasonedatsea.com

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Coffee Cake Muffins

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Some of my favorite recipes that I’ve collected on my travels have come from the people I’ve worked with and not from the destinations. My shore time was spent exploring castles, dormant volcanoes, street markets and beautiful coast lines. I ate plenty of food along the way, when I wasn’t able to pick up the recipes I just noted ideas for new things to research and try creating on my own. The recipes I did collect sometimes came from fellow crew members, mostly my cook’s mates or students who were eager for me to recreate a taste of home.

This muffin recipe comes from my first cook’s mate, Phoebe. She made them one afternoon with a student who didn’t go ashore because of an injury, she was hopped up on pain medication and acting a bit loopy. Andrea was put in charge of making the streusel topping, she dove right in to the flour mixture with her hands and started rubbing the butter in. Phoebe panicked for a moment when she recalled that Andrea has Celiac disease and maybe being around this much gluten could be bad for her. She asked if she was okay, Andrea put some thought into the question … maybe a little too much thought and the long pause made the situation seem worse. But everything was okay, she could make the muffins, just not eat them.

My favorite part of these muffins is the double topping, some of the streusel topping is put in the center of muffin and then more on top before going in the oven. The muffin cake itself is sweet, enriched with sour cream and scented with vanilla a really nice balance to the brown sugar and cinnamon topping.

 






Coffee Cake Muffins


Created by on May 6, 2019

Ingredients

Streusel

  • ½ c flour
  • ½ c brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp. nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ c cold unsalted butter, cubed

Muffin Batter

  • ½ c unsalted butter, soft
  • 3/4 c sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp. vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 c sour cream
  • 1 ½ c flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ½ tsp. salt

Directions

Streusel

  1. Mix the dry ingredients together, cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender, your fingers or a food processor until you have small pea sized lumps of butter.
  2. Set the streusel aside until the muffin batter has come together.

Muffin Batter

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together, add the vanilla, eggs and sour cream, mix well.
  3. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
  4. Line muffin cups with papers and fill each cup a little less than half way, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of streusel, add another scoop of batter and top with the remaining streusel, about 1 heaping teaspoon.
  5. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For more click to continue on to http://www.seasonedatsea.com

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9 Egg White Cake

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52 weeks of baking – Tube/Bundt Cake

I have fond memories of making angel food cake from a box with my grandma. Pouring ingredients into the mixer, letting it whip up into a big foamy batter and picking off the brown crust as it cools when no one is looking. Now a days I don’t believe in things from a box, they have served their purpose in my life and I’ve moved on to creating more complicated things from scratch. I still love angel food cake so I endeavor to make it from scratch, but I’ve had issues. The couple times I’ve made it from scratch I don’t know if I’ve over beat it or under beat it, the cake always looks great in the oven, but as soon as I take it out it collapses. The angle food cakes I’ve made have had great flavor but their texture is lacking the angel lightness you anticipate.

So I’ve moved on. I haven’t mastered angel food cake yet, but I’ve made an alternative that is reminiscent of angel food cake. Great height and flavor, just not quite the same texture, but it’s a different cake so that doesn’t matter. I like to serve this cake with whipped cream and berries, just like the angel food cakes of my youth.

 









9 Egg White Cake


Created by on July 11, 2018

Ingredients

  • 9 large egg whites (1 ¼ c)
  • 1 tbsp. vanilla
  • 2 c sugar, divided
  • 1 1/2 c flour
  • 5 tsp. cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking power
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 3/4 c butter, melted and cooled

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a bundt pan.
  2. Whisk the egg whites, vanilla and ¼ c of sugar together until almost soft peaks, about two minutes on high speed.
  3. In a large bowl sift the remaining sugar, flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt, sift again into the whipped egg whites and gently fold in.
  4. Fold in the melted butter.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350F for 35 minutes, test the cake for doneness with a toothpick, it should come out clean.
  6. Let the cake cool for 10 minute in the pan before turning out.

For more click to continue on to http://www.seasonedatsea.com

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Goat Cheez-Its

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52 weeks of baking – Copy-cat

I have a problem, I can’t follow a recipe, no matter how hard I try to use someone else’s well planned out recipe, I can’t. One of our current interns, Megan, is allergic to dairy and eggs, it’s been fun to experiment and make partially vegan food for her, sometimes people get jealous over her personal creations. Lucky for her she can still have other dairy products, just not ones that come from cows so I’ve been using a bit of goat cheese here and there to give her more cheese flavor in some foods. So if I’m going to make her Cheez-Its I might as well add some goat cheese to give them more flavor, and thus a new creation is born, goat Cheez-Its.

 









Goat Cheez-Its


Created by on July 19, 2018

Ingredients

  • 1 c flour
  • 3 tbsp. cornmeal
  • 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp. baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp. turmeric
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • ½ c goat cheese
  • 2 -4 tbsp. cold water

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking tray with parchment paper.
  2. Add the dry ingredients to a food processor and blend till thoroughly combined.
  3. Add the olive oil and goat cheese, pulse until the mixture becomes crumbly.
  4. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time until it mostly comes together.
  5. Remove from the food processor and press the dough into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
  6. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1/8th of an inch thick, use a sharp knife to cut the dough into squares and a skewer to poke a hole in the center of each one.
  7. Bake at 350F for 12-17 minutes or until puffy and golden brown.

For more click to continue on to http://www.seasonedatsea.com

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Malakoff Loaf

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52 weeks of cooking – The Alps

When cooking for a crowd I try to find alternatives to making individual appetizers, it takes too much time fiddling with small things, why not make a few huge ones and slice it up.

This week’s Reddit challenge is make something from the Alps, when you think of that region cheese is the first thing to come to mind. While searching for ideas on what to make I kept going back to these fried cheese things called Malakoff, a slice of bread heaped with a cheese mixture and fried till crispy. I really wanted to make them, but everyone would want two which would mean making at least 50 of them, no thanks. If I had a proper fryer that made it easy to control the heat and I wasn’t on a sail boat where there is the potential for the hot oil to jump out at me I’d be more willing. In these situations, I turn towards the oven, she’s always my friend.

I made two large loafs of bread with soft interiors and light crispy crusts, cut them in half lengthwise and slathered them in the grated cheese mixture and baked. They were heavenly, the bread was browned, the top layer of the cheese was crisp while the under layer was like molten lava when I cut into them straight out of the oven. Usually for hot baked goods I like to wait at least 10 minutes before serving so people don’t burn their mouths, but this has to be served and eaten right away so you get the gooey fondue effect.

 









Malakoff Loaf


Created by on July 28, 2018

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf of soft bread
  • 4 -6 tbsp. butter, softened
  • 32 oz gruyere cheese, grated (8c)
  • 6 tbsp. flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/2 c hard cider or white wine
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Slice the bread in half lengthwise, slather both pieces with the softened butter, bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes until the cut sides are golden brown.
  3. Toss together the cheese, flour, salt and nutmeg.
  4. Whisk together the hard cider, eggs and crushed garlic in a measuring cup, pour over the cheese and mix together with a spatula.
  5. Divide the cheese mixture in half and spread evenly to the edges of each half loaf.
  6. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes and then move the bread under the broiler and broil for 3 minutes or until the top is a dark golden brown and a little crispy.
  7. Slice and serve immediately so the cheese is hot and gooey.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  9. Slice the bread in half lengthwise, slather both pieces with the softened butter, bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes until the cut sides are golden brown.
  10. Toss together the cheese, flour, salt and nutmeg.
  11. Whisk together the hard cider, eggs and crushed garlic in a measuring cup, pour over the cheese and mix together with a spatula.
  12. Divide the cheese mixture in half and spread evenly to the edges of each half loaf.
  13. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes and then move the bread under the broiler and broil for 3 minutes or until the top is a dark golden brown and a little crispy.
  14. Slice and serve immediately so the cheese is hot and gooey.

For more click to continue on to http://www.seasonedatsea.com

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Almond Biscotti with Fennel and Orange

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52 weeks of baking – The Renaissance

Biscotti are really hard cookie that have to be dipped in coffee to be edible, that’s true, but more traditionally they were dipped in a sweet wine. I made these biscotti to go with a beet port that my husband made, I used a favorite beet salad as inspiration to find my flavor combination. One of my favorite beet salads is slices of roasted beets shingled on a platter with orange slices, dressed with a vinaigrette and sprinkled with fennel fronds and toasted nuts. If all those flavors go well with beets why not make a cookie to go with a beet port.

These cookies come together very quickly, mix the ingredients, shape into a loaf and bake, the only time consuming part is that they are baked twice. After the initial bake you slice them and then bake them again, half way through the baking time you flip the slices over to ensure even color and crispness. I don’t recommend eating them on their own because they are very hard, they have to be dipped in something, hot chocolate or coffee are good options, but if you have a sweet dessert wine or best of all port or madeira they really are the perfect thing to finish off your meal.

 












Almond Biscotti with Fennel and Orange


Created by on July 19, 2018

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ c flour
  • 1 c sliced almonds, toasted
  • ½ c sugar
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • zest of 1 large orange
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 tbsp. milk
  • 1 ½ tsp. sanding sugar

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a baking tray.
  2. In a large bowl mix all of the dry ingredients together, add in the wet, use your hands to knead the dough until it comes together, if it’s a little dry add a splash of water.
  3. Using wet hands shape the dough into a flattened oblong loaf shape.
  4. Bake at 325F for 25 minutes, just so it starts to pick up color.
  5. Remove the biscotti from the oven, brush it with milk and sprinkle on the sanding sugar, bake an additional 10 minutes.
  6. Let the loaf cool for 10 minutes, using a serrated knife cut long slices of biscotti, lay them back on the tray cut sides down.
  7. Bake at 325F for 15-20 minutes filling the pieces over half way through the cooking time. The biscotti are done when both sides are golden brown and dry to the touch.

For more click to continue on to http://www.seasonedatsea.com

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Pork Floss Buns

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52 weeks of baking – Local Favorites

When I was a kid and went to the mall with my friends on the weekend we’d usually see a movie, get a fancy coffee and browse through the book store. Before I left to return home I’d often stop at my favorite bakery, Bread Talk, they are known for their creative breads with cute names. Crouching tiger hidden bacon: bread spiraled with ham and cheese, buns in the shape of a face stuffed with meat and cakes decorated with whipped cream and intricate fruit. My all time favorite item was pork floss buns, fluffy, slightly sweet bun smeared with mayonnaise and pressed into pork floss. Pork floss is the cotton candy of the meat world, dehydrated pork jerky is shredded into threads and toasted with a little sugar. It has an unique texture, dry, crumbly and a little grainy at the same time, but the moisture from the mayo helps with that and it’s all apart of the experience.

 












Pork Floss Buns


Created by on July 16, 2018

  • Yield:
    6 large or 12 small buns
  • Category:
    ,

Ingredients

Sponge

  • 1 ½ c flour
  • 1 tsp. yeast
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 3/4 c water

Dough

  • 1 ½ c flour
  • ½ tsp yeast
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 c sugar
  • 2 egg
  • 2 tbsp. butter, softened

Topping

  • mayo
  • 4 oz pork floss

Directions

Sponge

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer mix together the sponge ingredients until uniform, cover and let rest for 3 hours.

Dough

  1. Add all of the dough ingredients to the sponge except the butter, add a hook attachment and turn on the mixer. Once the dough has formed into a ball add the softened butter and continue to knead for 8 minutes. Cover the dough and let rest in a warm spot for 1 hour.
  2. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and divide the dough into 6 or 12 pieces. Shape the pieces into elongated ovals and place on greased baking trays, cover and let rest for 1 hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 375F before the rising time has finished. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes depending on the size of your buns.

Topping

  1. Let the buns cool completely, make a shallow incision along the top of the bun, spread some mayo into the incision and then slather the top with a generous amount of may, not enough that it drips off. Spread the pork floss on a plate and press the mayo side of the bread into the floss, pack a little more on and tap off some the excess.

For more click to continue on to http://www.seasonedatsea.com

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Lamb, Pea and Mint Hand Pies

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A handful of years ago I had a pie like this at a farmer’s market in Eugene, I’m finally getting around to making my own version of it. I used a classic pie dough recipe for the crust but threw in an egg so they aren’t as crumbly, the pastry holds together better this way. The filling is exactly as the title says, ground lamb, peas and mint, the peas give bits of popping sweetness and the mint compliments the gaminess of the lamb adding freshness.

 


















Lamb, Pea and Mint Hand Pies


Created by on July 11, 2018

Ingredients

Crust

  • 5 c flour
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. sugar
  • 2 c cold butter, cut into cubes
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 c ice water

Filling

  • 1 large onion, finely diced
  • 3 lb ground lamb
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. salt
  • 2 tbsp. flour
  • 1/4 c tomato paste
  • 1/4 c red wine
  • 1/4 c beef stock
  • 1 c green peas
  • 1/3 c packed mint leaves, roughly chopped
  • Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp water)

Directions

Crust

  1. Mix together the dry ingredients, cut in the cold butter, stir in the eggs and slowly add in the ice water until the dough just comes together. I use a food processor to cut in the butter and do the rest of the additions by hand.
  2. Press the dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

Filling

  1. In a large pan sauté the onions in a little oil until they are translucent, add the lamb and salt and cook until the lamb has browned. I made this dish in a larger batch and cooked my lamb in the oven, I like to use a whisk to break up the large meat clumps.
  2. Add the flour to the meat and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, red wine and beef stock, simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.
  3. Turn off the heat and add the peas and mint, set the filling aside while you roll out the dough.

Assembling

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  2. Roll out the crust on a floured surface until you have an even thickness, about 1/8-inch, cut into 16 large squares.
  3. Spoon about 1/3 of a cup of the mixture onto each square, positing it on one half keeping the edges clear.
  4. Fold over your pasty square and press the edges to start to seal the dough, press around the edges again with a fork to crimp.
  5. Divide the pies between two grease trays and brush them with the egg wash.
  6. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes rotating the pans half way through. The hand pies are done when the top and the bottom of the crust is golden brown.
  7. Let cool a few minutes before digging in.

For more click to continue on to http://www.seasonedatsea.com

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