TWD -- Pizza Rustica

Pizza Rustica,  the latest Tuesdays with Dorie experiement, was unlike any pizza I have ever made. If nothing else, I learned about this dish and discovered possibilities to vary the recipe provided in "Baking with Julia."

The dough was different than any pastry dough I have ever made. However, it went together well and I thought the food processor directions were right on. The dough became very smooth (like a babie's bottom) once it was kneaded a little after the processing was complete.

After chilling the dough, I set it out of the refrigerator about an hour before rolling. This made rolling very easy, and I used a pastry cloth and rolling pin cover as I do for pie dough.

 I learned a tip about this at the bakery where I volunteer. Instead of washing the cloth (which will make it limp after many washings), the bakery's cloths are not washed, but scraped free of flour and stored, folded in a plastic bag, in the refrigerator. This would inhibit cupboard moths from attacking.

I decided that the filling appeared rather bland, and because we had some fresh asparagus, I chopped about a cup's worth, blanched it for about two minutes, and added it to the mix. The addition proved worthwhile and led me to believe that a number of vegetable add-ins would be welcome.

After the pie was baked, I wondered if one had to wait until it was totally cool before eating it. I decided to cut it while not hot, but warm, and that worked wonderfully. Was it good? I thought the mixture of flavors, including the sugar in the dough, were wonderful. My husband, however, thought the dish would have been improved by eliminating the sugar. He also much prefers traditioanl pizza, although I contend that comparing it to what we normally think of pizza is like comparing apples to oranges. This would be a great brunch dish.

TWD - Irish soda bread is child's play

After making rugalach two weeks ago, Irish soda bread was a walk in the park. In fact, the recipe looked so easy, that I decided to have three of my grandchildren make it. Since schools so longer offer Home Ec, it has been my goal as a grandmother to spend some time with my grandkids both cooking (namely baking) and sewing.

We started the Irish soda bread experiment with my showing the three kids (6-year-old twin girls, and their 7-year-old brother) where Ireland is located in relation to the rest of Europe, namely England, Scotland and Wales. There were pretty amazed it was so far away from where they live (Ohio). And since they had just experienced St. Patrick's Day, they were somewhat familiar with Ireland and things Irish.

From there, we measured out the flour, using a scale, and the twins scooped in flour until we got to 1 pound, 4 ounces. Using the 5 ounce per cup suggestion in "Baking with Julia," I reasoned that we should reach 20 ounces of flour to make the bread.

The twins then took turns adding the soda, salt and buttermilk. Two out of three of the kids liked raisins, so we decided to knead in raisins in half of the dough, leave the other half plain, then merge the two halves together.















 That seemed to work well and that way everyone was happy. One of the kids slashed the top, and the bread went into the oven for the 50-mintue bake.

We thought the bread looked much like the picture in the book, and all three liked the taste. It couldn't have been easier!

TWD -- Rugelach

I began my first experiment with baking rugelach for my Tuesdays with Dorie session searching for lekvar. I needed a time-saving step since I was out of town clear up until the deadline for preparing the recipe. Fortunately, I was in Pittsburgh visiting my son's family, home of many of eastern European descent. I asked my daughter-in-law's aunts if they had heard of lekvar. Sure enough, they had, and corrected my pronunciation. The "v" is pronounced like a "w," they told me, then ticked off the many recipes in which it can be used. They told me I would find it in a tube, but instead, my son found it in a jar at Giant Eagle Marketplace.

I also had the great good fortune to have purchased a bag of ground pecans from a Mennonite grocery near Shiloh, OH. This product is sold for making cinnamon rolls (who makes them better than the Amish and Mennonites, right?) I substituted this for the chopped nuts and it worked wonderfully. Because the nuts are ground so fine, it is one less chunky thing to impede the rolling of the dough process.

All went well during the dough preparation. And, rolling out the pastry was pretty easy using my rolling pin cover and pastry cloth. I next applied the layers of goodies atop the dough (I used apples, dates and Craisins for my fruits) and began to roll. I'll admit; that was somewhat of a challenge. There was a lot of filling to get around, and in the rolling process, some of the fruit came squirting out. Oh well. My pastry cloth was a mess!

On Monday, I was due at the bakery where I volunteer, so I thought, "What better audience to judge the rugelach?" So, I got up early, applied the egg wash, sliced them and rolled them in the cinnamon, nut, sugar mixture. Again, the Mennonite ground nuts were perfect for this task. After baking this trial batch, I noticed that some of the cookies unwound during the baking/cooling process. Despite that, I put them on a plate and drove north to the bakery, hoping the taste testers wouldn't mind some unwinding.

The cookies were a huge hit!! Everyone loved them. I was asked to experiment and come up with a way to make a dough that would be less expensive and this might be a product we could make to sell. If anyone has ideas on that front, I would be really glad to hear them. The dough was expensive to make for four  to five dozen cookies. To solve the unwinding problem, I cut my next three batches smaller (my daughter's suggestion) and placed toothpicks in each one. This didn't take too long, and the toothpicks did help hold the cookies together. The only thing I changed in the recipe was to cut back on the sugar/nut/cinnamon mixture used at the end.  I used only 2/3 cup each of nuts and sugar, and I had some left over. Were these cookies worth the time and effort? I'd vote yes!!

TWD -- Chocolate Truffle Tartlets

Just as I was weighing the best technique to make the chocolate dough for the truffle tartlets for my second Tuesdays with Dorie experiment, Father Paul's voice sounded in my ear loud and clear: DON"T USE THE FOOD PROCESSOR! Father Paul is the baker-in-charge at the Catholic Shrine and Basilica Bakery in Carey, Ohio, where I volunteer. He is a die-hard advocate of always working the fat and flour together with your fingers. So, following his advice, I did it his way. It wasn't hard and it didn't take any longer than hauling out the food processor and washing it up after the dough is completed.


After the dough had been refrigerated the requisite time, I weighed the entire piece of dough, divided that by 6 and found that each piece of dough should weigh 2 3/8 ounces. I then rolled the dough using very little flour and a pasty cloth and rolling pin cover. This is also a Father Paul technique and one I've adhered to for almost 50 years.

I found that you had to treat the dough with care. I moved it from the pastry cloth to the tartlet pans (I did not remove the bottoms) with a bench scraper. After baking the crusts, the rest of the recipe was easy. I had previously made chocolate chip biscotti and that was a learning experience. After making three batches (all jaw breakers), I learned from my daughter that a small amount of fat in a biscotti recipe will make it far less hard. I used an ice cream scoop to fill the tartlets, but found it took about two scoops, not one, to fill each pan. I baked the tartlets for the full time.

Now, the appearance and taste. I thought the tarts were attractive, more elegant certainly than a wedge of pie, and would be nice served for company. But, were they perhaps too big for one person to eat after a meal? My husband and I split one, and that was plenty. And, the taste wasn't quite as over-the-top as I expected. In a nutshell: I prefer my favorite chocolate pie recipe -- Aunt Catfish's Boat Sinker pie.  Here is a link to that recipe: http://community.tasteofhome.com/community_forums/f/33/t/744838.aspx

What to do with all those left-over egg whites? I am freezing some to use as "glue" to adhere seeds to whole grain breads. I am also going to make meringue cookies with four of them. There are lots of recipes for meringue cookies on the internet. I think I'll try peanut butter. And, then, of course, there is always angel food cake.

TWD- White Bread

I, confess, I am a "bread head" so make lots of bread on a regular basis. I had never seen a recipe quite like the white bread recipe in "Baking with Julia," however. I was a little put off by the way one was to add the butter, but it worked just as the instructions said it would. The results were wonderful. The bread rose well -- it worked perfectly in my 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch bread pan. The taste was awesome. I can't explain why this bread is so good -- I can only attribute it to the late addition of the butter. The bread makes wonderful toast and would be great for grilled cheese or panini sandwiches.

Since the recipe makes two loaves, I made the second half of the dough into rolls, I knotted the rolls as described elsewhere in the book, used an egg wash and added sesame seeds to the top. I froze these, so I haven't tasted them yet. I'm sure they will be good, since the bread is so tasty.