corn tortillas

fresh, warm corn tortillas

these taste so much better than any store-bought tortillas!  you'll be hooked.

MASA =  dried corn kernels boiled with lime (calcium oxide), then ground into a fine powder.
{can be found with the Mexican foods or international aisle at most grocery stores}

2 cup masa
1 tsp salt
1&1/4 cup warm water


-Combine ingredients
-Form a ball
-Divide into sixteen pieces and roll these pieces into balls

Next, press each ball into a flat round, using either a tortilla press or a rolling pin.  But, always use parchment paper or cut rounds of plastic bag on top and beneath, so the dough does not stick to your tools.

Place tortilla into a medium hot pan and cook for 30 seconds to a minute on each side.

Enjoy these just as they are, or brush melted butter and cinnamon sugar on them for a treat.  They are perfect for an enchilada recipe, too.

  

Check out this video fresh tortillas made at home:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDegTyqL55o

CREPES

This painting from 1911 depicts a French family celebrating "Crepe Day", an annual tradition held on February 2nd.  It was believed that if you could catch the crepe with a frying pan after tossing it in the air with your left hand and holding a piece of gold in your right, you would become rich that year.

Here is the crepe batter we used in class.  Very simple to make, with very basic ingredients.  Whip these up for yourself and your family any time of day.  Fill them with fruit for breakfast, cheese and ham for lunch, or Nutella for a sweet snack.  Start flipping!

You will need:  a medium sized mixing bowl (or 4 cup capacity measuring bowl w/ pouring lip)

                          a smaller bowl (at least three cup capacity)

                          a small saute pan

                          a whisk

                          a rubber spatula which can be used in a hot pan (or improvise with a fork for lifting the side of the crepe to check for doneness, before flipping)

Stir together in a larger bowl:

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

Then, in a smaller bowl, beat together:

2 eggs

1 cup milk

Whisk the wet mixture slowly into the dry, beating constantly to create a smooth batter.

Let sit for at least half an hour before cooking.

Melt some butter to use when cooking the crepes, especially if you are not using a non-stick pan.  Try to use the clear part of the melted butter, rather than the whiter part which settles at the bottom.

If you want to make the apple filling we had in class:

Toss together some peeled and chopped green apples, with cinnamon sugar and lemon juice.

Saute in butter until soft.  

Cool before filling crepes.

To cook the crepes:

Heat the pan over medium-low heat.

  It is ready when a drop of butter sizzles and dances in the pan.

Use one tablespoon butter for initial pan greasing.

Then pour approximately 1/4 cup batter into pan while tilting and turning to thinly coat the bottom.

After a minute, check the bottom by lifting up an edge and looking for a slight browning.

Turn the crepe over, either using your spatula, or with a quick jerking of the wrist while holding the pan.

Keep practicing until you get the hang of it.  Like pancakes, the first one never turns out perfectly!

Can be sprinkled with powdered sugar and eaten immediately, or stacked and then filled with your choice of ingredients.

Last Class of Session 2-

Lemon Squares

Unfortunately,  all of the photos taken in class today to be used here for instructions are currently unavailable due to technical difficulties!  Hopefully I will get them on here soon,  but for now you will only have these words to follow......

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place the oven rack in the center of the oven.  Butter or spray an 8x8 in. square pan.  As we found today in class, the glass pans seem to work better than metal pans for this recipe.  The edges and bottom do not get as brown.

Ingredients:

Shortbread Crust:
1/2 cup (1 stick)  butter, room temperature
1/4 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar

1 cup flour

1/8 tsp salt

Lemon Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (approximately two large lemons)

1 tablespoons grated lemon zest *

2 tablespoons flour

Garnish:

Confectioner's (powdered) sugar


 { *lemon zest = the yellow outer rind of the lemon that contains the fruit's flavor and perfume.}

To make the crust:


In the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the flour and salt and beat until the dough just comes together.  Press onto the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.


To make the filling:


In a bowl, mix the eggs and sugar with a whisk until smooth.   Add the flour and mix to combine.  Chop the zest and add it to the lemon juice, but do not add these to the egg mixture until just before pouring onto crust.  When crust has had time to cool (10-15 minutes), add lemon to egg mixture and whisk.  Pour over crust and bake for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake for 10-15 more minutes, or until firm when you jiggle the pan and brown around the edges.


Cool completely before attempting to cut.  You may even refrigerate them once the pan is cool enough to handle.  Once it has set completely, use a pizza cutter or thin knife to cut around the perimeter and then cut three rows one direction and 3-4 rows the other (depending on how large you want your pieces).  It is best to periodically wipe the knife with a damp towel so that the cuts are clean.  Remember, these treats are very sweet and intense with lemon flavor.  Small pieces are preferable to large.  You can always come back for seconds.... if there are any left!

Apple-Berry Crumble

crumble

Fruity, bubbling, warm out of the oven with a sweet, buttery topping.

Add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, and you just might survive another damp February day here in the Northwest!

ingredients-

to make a 9"pie pan, serving 4-5

filling:

4 granny smith apples: peeled, cored, and cut into two-inch pieces

1 lemon: zested and juiced

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup mixed berries (or berries of your choice!)

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

topping:

1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

8 Tbsp (one stick) butter

{try substituting 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, oats, or nuts for half of the flour}

First, zest the lemon.  If you do not have a hand zester, use a fine grater.

You will not get THIS MUCH zest from one lemon.  This was the amount we used for two classes!

Next, peel, core and cut the apples

Toss with lemon zest, juice, cinnamon and white sugar

Let this sit and marinate (to dissolve the sugar) while you make the topping.

Combine dry ingredients.

Cut butter into small pieces.

Add butter to dry ingredients and cut into small clumps, using fingers, pastry cutter, or butter knives.

In a buttered baking dish, add apples and berries.   Pour crumble topping over, and bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, or until topping is brown and berry juices are bubbling.

****Special thanks to Allie and Lucie for taking fantastic photos, and providing help to us all before, during, and after class each week!!!  We couldn't do it without you.

Crackers

homemade crackers

1  cup all purpose flour

1  cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt 

3 tablespoons olive oil

2/3 cup water

Pre-heat over to 450 degrees.

Combine the flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add the olive oil and water and stir until you have a cohesive ball of dough (you’ll need to use your hands to really get it all together). 

Divide dough ball into three.  The dough can keep in the refrigerator if you wish to bake off only a third today, then make some more later.  Put one ball on a parchment-covered cookie sheet and roll it out very thin.  Sprinkle with flavorings (salt, herbs, seeds, parmesan, etc).  In class today we used SPIKE natural gourmet seasoning.

Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into squares or diamonds.  The elasticity of the dough will make the crackers shrink slightly and pull away from each other;  this makes them easy to bake without sticking together.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden and crisp.  They will get a bit crisper as they cool.

Let the crackers cool completely and then store them in an airtight container. If you don’t eat them all up, they’ll last at least a week on the counter.

Each recipe makes between 40-50 crackers, depending on how small you make your cuts.

Scones

The ideal scone should be crisp outside and flaky inside; it should not be cake-like in texture. Scones are made from a few simple, basic ingredients, but it’s the way those ingredients are worked together that separates the ordinary from the exceptional scone.  The key to flaky scones is to mix the dough as little as possible, keeping the butter in large chunks.  Using cold butter helps to keep it from blending too much with the flour, thus allowing it to melt and bubble its way through the dough once put into a hot oven.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/2 cup dried currants (optional)*
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

For finishing:
small bowl of extra cream to brush on before baking
small bowl of sugar to sprinkle on before baking

* a note about currants:

In class today, we discussed currants.  Many children were not yet familiar with them.  They are the traditional scone filling, but we talked about other possibilities such as dried cherries, chocolate chips, craisins.  The currants you will find in the store are actually dried "Black Corinth" grapes, smaller than raisins, and NOT the currants which are the berry of bushes right here in Washington.

To make the scones:

Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the currants, if using, tossing until evenly distributed and coated with flour.

Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two table knives until the largest pieces of butter are about the size of peas.

In a small bowl, stir the cream and egg yolks just to blend. Add this all at once to the flour mixture.

 Stir with a fork to begin combining the wet and dry ingredients and then use your hands to gently knead the mixture together until all the dry ingredients are absorbed into the dough and it can be gathered into a moist, shaggy ball.

Don’t overknead: This dough is sticky but benefits from minimal handling. Set the rough ball in the center of the prepared baking sheet and use lightly floured fingers to gently pat the dough into a disk about 1 inch thick and 7 inches in diameter. Do not worry if the dough doesn't look smooth- a rough, lumpy dough means tender, flaky scones.  Don’t be tempted to make the round any flatter.

With a sharp knife or a pastry scraper, cut the round into eight wedges; separate the wedges. Triangles are the traditional shape for scones, but you can shape the dough any way you please.  Use a heart-shaped biscuit cutter to make your valentine scones!

Brush the scones with the extra cream and sprinkle with the sugar.

 Bake until the scones are deep golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a wedge comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Slide the parchment onto a rack and let the scones cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

S'more Brownies

yup, I mean it.

  s'mores AND brownies.

  together, at last!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup graham cracker, roughly crushed with your hands
• 12 big marshmallows  (we also diced 6 additional marshmallows and stirred them into the batter. These marshmallows dissolve when baked, so you can leave them out, or throw them in.  Up to you!)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9x13-inch baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Stir butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl over a  heavy  saucepan of simmering water.  Stir chocolate and butter in this double boiler until melted and smooth.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend.

Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers and chopped marshmallows.

 Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 12 large marshmallows.

 Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30- 40 minutes minutes.

Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool.  Cool for at least 20 minutes.  It's tempting to cut and eat them sooner, but it's really worth it to be patient and let them cool completely.  Otherwise, you will need a bowl and spoon to eat them!  Slice with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife with hot water if it gets too messy and sticky.

Enjoy!