Crazy Englishwoman Cooks!

This will be my last post of the year so I shall leave you with something festive: a cranberry upside-down cake. Cranberries are full of wonderful vitamins and antioxidants, and in this recipe the sugar forms a sweetening syrup to counteract their sharp tang

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 sticks (14 tbs) butter
1 cup minus 2 tbs sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups cranberries
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Put a round pan on a baking sheet. If you're using a springform pan, as I did, the baking sheet is necessary to catch any syrup that leaks out.

Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Melt 6 tbs of the butter in a small pan. Sprinkle in 6 tbs of the sugar and cook until the mixture comes to a boil. Pour this into the bottom of the pan then scatter over the nuts and top with the cranberries.

Beat the remaining butter until smooth. Add the remaining sugar and beat until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating one minute between each. Pour in the vanilla. Add half the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear. Mix in the milk, then the rest of the dry ingredients. Spoon the batter over the cranberries, and smooth the top.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Carefully turn out onto a serving platter and there is your very pretty cake.

Enjoy, and have a very merry festive season.

Yes, you're being spoiled to another recipe today since my OCD is insisting I organize my desktop and get rid of the photos waiting to be published.

This recipe comes from the now sadly defunct Gourmet magazine. Last year, they ran a special with some of their most popular Christmas cookie recipes from the past 50 years. These little glittery treats looked so delicious I had to make some. They were surprisingly simple too and are definitely a keeper.

For cookies

* 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
* 2/3 cup cornstarch
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
* 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
* 1 tbs grated lemon zest
* 1 tsp vanilla
* White or colored sanding sugars

For filling

* 1 cup confectioners sugar
* 1 tbs grated lemon zest
* 1 tbs fresh lemon juice
* 2 tbs light corn syrup
* 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Beat together butter and confectioners sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in zest and vanilla. At low speed, mix in flour mixture just until a soft dough forms.

Put sanding sugars in different bowls. My advice here is to not use the ultrafine sanding sugars. I used some gold and silver that I had but it was much too fine and the resulting cookies looked oddly grubby. Those made with the coarser sugars from the grocery store looked much more festive.

The recipe calls for a tsp of dough but I found it easier to use my melonballer because you really do want teeny little balls of dough. Roll the dough into a ball and drop into sugar, turning to coat. Reshape if necessary and transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat, spacing balls 3/4 inch apart, until baking sheet is filled. Having now tried this recipe, I would also suggest pressing the balls ever so slightly to flatten them a little.



Bake until tops are slightly cracked but still pale (bottoms will be pale golden), 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to a rack to cool completely.

Form and bake more cookies on second baking sheet.

Beat together filling ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until combined well. Spread a small amount on half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing gently.

YUM!!!

The great thing is that you don't have to make these lemony. Next time I think I'll try peppermint flavor ones instead.

To be honest, when I made these it was because they were quick and easy, and I needed something to take with me to a Christmas gathering. I had no idea that they would be so popular, or that everyone I mentioned them to since then would be so disappointed that I hadn't made them any.

Pear and Parmesan Stuffed Mushrooms:

* 1 package (16 oz.) white mushrooms
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 large pear, peeled, cored and finely chopped
* 1 small onion, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1/8 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 400° F. Remove and finely chop mushroom stems; reserve mushroom caps.

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and cook chopped stems, pear and shallot, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until tender.

Stir in cheese, salt and pepper.

Evenly stuff mushroom caps with pear mixture, then arrange on baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Garnish, if desired, with Parmesan cheese shavings.

Christmas parties and cookie swaps this past weekend so I'll be sharing a few of the goodies I made, starting with these chocolaty Yule Log Cookies:



You need:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup butter softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chocolate sprinkles or jimmies

Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, and salt. In another bowl, beat the butter
and vanilla together, until fluffy. Beat in the flour mixture until it's
very well-blended. Cover and chill the dough for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Roll the dough into one-inch balls and then roll
them into logs, set 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.



Bake about 12 minutes (or until they're set), and let them stand on the sheets for a couple minutes before transfer to wire racks for complete cooling.

Microwave the white chocolate chips and stir them, then pour some
jimmies into a bowl. Dip each cooled log first into the white chocolate,
then into the jimmies. Let them sit until the chocolate hardens, about half
an hour.

Ever since I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I feel the need to emphasize the word "bundt". I"m also strongly tempted to stick some flowers in the middle but I digress....

This is the story of how to rescue a cake that goes wrong and still have a good final result.

I decided it had been a while since I had made a cake for hubby's coworker Bruce, so yesterday made a Lemon Cornmeal Cake. The picture in the magazine showed a very nice bundt. It didn't mention the possibility of the cake sticking in the tin! Read on.

To make the cake, you need:
Baking spray
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tbs grated lemon zest (optional)
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt.

Sugar glaze:

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 325F and spray a Bundt pan.

In one bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

In another bowl, beat the butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Alternate between adding the flour mix and the buttermilk, beating as you go. Mix until smooth, then pour into the cake tin.

Bake for about an hour. Cool the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes.

Now you can make the glaze - simply mix the sugar and lemon juice together.

Turn the cake out of the pan and this is where the best laid plans went wrong. The nice tips of my cake stayed firmly in the Bundt pan. If this happens, DO NOT PANIC. Turn your cake back over (CAREFULLY) and you still have a very nice looking ring cake.

Brush with the glaze and leave to cool completely. The result is a cake with a wonderful lemony glaze and a very happy Bruce.

Today I share a news story from the Wall Street Journal:

STILTON, England -- This small hamlet shares its name with a famous curd. But under European Union law, it's illegal to make Stilton cheese in Stilton.

The bar on producing Stilton cheese here is a curious consequence of EU efforts to protect revered local foods by limiting the geographical area where they can be made.

To read the full story, click here.

This is what happens when I give my husband options for dinner:

"Would you prefer meatloaf or Spicy Thai Burgers?"

"Spicy Thai Meatloaf."

And thus it was created. Actually it was a pretty simple adaptation of a burger recipe I'd been dying to try.

For the meatloaf, you need:

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup bottled Thai sweet chili sauce
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 cup Spicy Thai Kettle Chips, placed in a bag and smashed slightly

For the Thai sauce, I decided to go less for sweet, more for heat. With this in mind, I used Sriracha, a spicy red sauce that can be found in most grocery stores.



Since our grocery store had no Kettle Chips in, I used Chili Doritos which, by the way, are yummy.

Mix everything together, slap in a loaf pan and bake at 350F for about 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, whip up some Cilantro Lime Dip:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbs lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Serve the meatloaf with the dip on the side and a salad and you're ready to go. Be warned - if you use Sriracha, be prepared for fire breath! Plus we have enough for leftovers tonight!

PS. We found it actually had a better taste and consistency when we ate it as leftovers so I recommend making it one day in advance and letting it sit.

If you have soup, you have to have good crusty bread, so in a fit of Martha Stewart craziness, I made whole grain bread on Wednesday to accompany my Butternut Squash Soup. Complete with oats, wheatgerm, and sesame seeds, it is wonderful on its own with just a sliver of butter. The recipe is from Pauline & Dan Campanelli's book Ancient Ways: Reclaiming Pagan Traditions.

Whole Grain Bread

In a large mixing bowl combine:
2 cups milk (warm to the touch)
2 packages of dry baking yeast
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup dark brown sugar

Cover this mixture and set aside in a warm place until it has doubled (about half an hour). Add to this mixture:

3 tbs softened butter
2 eggs
1 cup of unbleached white flour

Stir until bubbly. Now mix in:

1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup of rolled oats
2 cups stone ground wheat flour
2 tbs sesame seed

You are now supposed to turn this out to knead but I found it needed another cup or so of flour before it was sturdy enough to do that.

With floured hands, turn this dough out onto a floured board and gradually knead in more unbleached white flour until the dough is smooth and elastic and no longer sticks to your fingers. (If you're a bit on the OCD side, like me, the doughy fingers is the worst part).

Place this dough in a greased bowl, turning it so that the dough is greased. Then cover it with a clean cloth and keep it in a warm place to rise until it is doubled (about an hour).Then punch it down and divide it into two or more elongated loaves, and placed on greased cookie sheets. Cover these and return them to a warm place until they double again. Bake the loaves in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until they are done and sound hollow when tapped.

Delicious.

Never one to give in to a challenge, I gave the failed Butternut Squash Soup another try (with the correct type of molasses) and I'm pleased to say it was a success. So now I can share the recipe with you all.

* 2 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2" pieces
* 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2" pieces
* 2 cans (13 3/4 oz each) chicken broth
* 2 tbs light molasses (REMEMBER: this can make or break your soup)
* 2 tbs chopped fresh tarragon or sage
* 1 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1 apple, sliced
* 2 cloves garlic, sliced
* salt
* ground black pepper

Cover the squash and sweet potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook for 25 to 35 minutes, or until very soft. Drain and return the vegetables to the pan. Stir in the broth, molasses, tarragon or sage, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Remove from the heat.

Spray a medium no-stick skillet and place over medium heat. Add the onions, apples, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until soft. Add to the squash mixture.

Working in batches, puree the squash mixture in a blender or food processor. If you have an immersion blender, even better! You can puree the whole amount or do as I did and puree most but still leave a few nice chunks. Season with the salt and pepper.

Heat through until warm.

I recommend serving it with a hearty crusty bread. I made a wonderful wholegrain bread which I will share with you tomorrow.

It is inevitable when you like to experiment with recipes that there will be mistakes. I've had a few doozies that were so bad they had to be thrown out. The lemon curry when we were first married - I halved everything except for the amount of lemon juice. Ouch! The banana bread I tried making a few months ago that had far too much clove in it.

And then there's last night's disaster. Butternut Squash Soup. It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Fresh butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apple. All blended into a delicious, creamy soup. Not at all like the dark, bitter concoction that ended up in the waste disposal as Nic took over cooking (ie. ran for take-out from Cracker Barrel).

So what was the problem?

Molasses.

I was not familiar with molasses until I moved to the US. I always keep a jar in the cupboard for gingerbread.

Guess what? There's more than one kind. Who knew? It turns out that the dark, unsulfured type I used was not the right one. I should have used light instead. Apparently there's quite a difference!

So last night I dined on chicken fried steak and fried okra instead of butternut squash stew. I still have half a squash left so I may try again tomorrow. Either way, check back later for the recipe.