Welsh Lamb and Mint Pie

Another bake-along-with-GBBO success! I think that I am through to the finals, so to speak. Biscuit week was dodgy, but my cookies were good, just not as special as I wanted them to be-- and it was, after all, early.

S01E05 was pastry, and the signature bake was savory pies. I happen to love meat pies, and when I visited Wales the summer before last, I sampled several. I had some middling ones and at least one bad one (at the nicest restaurant of our visit)-- it was stringy, soupy, sour, tomatoey, and the little puff pastry lid was difficult to eat and not very satisfying. But in Hay-on-Wye we stopped in a tiny little bakery and I got a lamb and meat hand pie ("oggie"), then carried it around in my bag the rest of the day before eating it for dinner that evening. It was perfect, and I made special note of its attributes and have been brainstorming a re-creation ever since.

It had big chunks of lamb, and little chunks of potato-- but really, mostly lamb. There were leeks, but no peas or tomatoes. It was entirely savory. I've found a few recipes that call for mint jelly, but this one did not use mint jelly. I noted that the use of mint was almost like spinach-- it was used abundantly, as a leafy green. I don't even like mint in sweets, but I found it really worked in this savory pie.

So for my signature bake, I did some research and pulled together a recipe. I think it made a very good pie, and one that almost matches my sense memory. It's delicious hot but too stodgy cold, and it turns out it's hard in a practical sense to replicate "room temperature" in a full pie rather than a hand pie. I'll try hand pies next time, maybe!

Happy St. David's Day!

2 lb lamb, trimmed, 2.5 cm pieces--  toss with ¼ c AP flour; brown in batches (4-5 min) in olive oil over high heat-- set aside.

In butter over med high—2 garlic cloves, crushed, 3 fat leeks, chopped, fresh thyme, salt, pepper.--> Cook, stirring, till soft. 

Return lamb to pan and stir in 1/2 oz fresh mint leaves, chopped, 3 sprigs rosemary, 1.5c beef stock, and 1 huge or 2 normal russet potatoes (peeled & cubed). Bring to the boil and reduce to med-low. Simmer 35-50 min till lamb is tender. (Thicken with flour if needed-- I threw in a bit near the end.) 

Remove rosemary; season to taste. Stir in another  1/2- 1 oz fresh mint,* chopped. Bake in pastry case, sealed/glazed with egg, topped with pepper.

**Over the two additions, somewhat more than 1 1/2  0.75 oz clamshells of fresh mint, and I think it's just about right. Although it could probably absorb the full 2 clamshells.

Miso Walnut Bread

For GBBO series 1 biscuit week, I made the almond cookies (elsewhere on this site) by the pastry-blender method, and prepared them as icebox cookies. I put in orange zest and dried cherries.  They were good, but they were not an improvement on the original. I didn't expect them to be an improvement-- I think almond cookies are perfect already-- but I was disappointed nevertheless. They were just too sugary. I'd like to try it again, perhaps with just the orange zest and sliced thinner to crisp up. Or maybe with toasted coconut and dark chocolate? Chopped almonds or pistachios? 

The third week was bread week, and the inspriation that came to my brain was "miso walnut." I based my recipe off of a FloFab recipe with Julia Thiel's advice for miso incorporation. And this time, I was satisfied-- the bread smells and taste parmesany and nutty. Yum!

2 1/2 c chopped walnuts, toasted, cooled.

2 t (7 g or 1 packet) active dry yeast

2 t salt (I actually don't remember. Did I do a T?)

2 T miso (I used yellow)

3 T (45 ml) maple syrup (I used grade B)

2 T (60 ml) sesame oil

extra veg oil for later

2 c (250 g) whole wheat flour

3 c (375 g) bread flour

Coarse cornmeal, for dusting baking sheet

Yeast in large mixing bowl. Mix salt and miso into 2 c lukewarm water. Stir into yeast. Stir in maple syrup and 2 T oil.

Measure 1 c of the toasted walnuts. Process with 2 T of whole wheat flour until finely ground. Add to bowl along with remaining whole-wheat flour. Stir.

Add bread flour ½ c at a time until dough forms and leaves the sides of the bowl. (You can mix w your hands now). Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Continue adding bread flour, kneading as you go, until you have a dough that’s a bit on the soft side, only slightly sticky, and easy to handle.

Clean out your bowl, coat it with 1 T oil, and place dough back into the bowl, turning it so it’s oiled all over. Cover w a cloth and set aside for a leisurely proof.

Punch down, add remaining toasted walnuts, and lightly knead them into the dough. Dust baking sheets w cornmeal. Divide the dough in half, shape into 2 balls and place on the baking sheet. Cover loosely and let rise for an hour.

Place the oven rack in the lowest position and heat to 375-400-425. Slash the tops of breads with a razor. Don’t be tentative! Slash ½ inch deep.

Place in oven. Throw a handful of ice cubes on the floor of the oven to create steam. Bake 20 min. By this time the breads should be a nice honey-brown. Brush them with remaining 1 T oil, reduce heat to 350, add more ice cubes and bake about 30-35 min longer, until well browned and hollow sounding.

Epiphany Drizzle Cake

The morning of Epiphany, I had a vivid dream about a cake-- a lemon drizzle cake with bitters. In the dream, I called it "M----- Drizzle Cake" (my surname). After watching the very first episode of GBBO (Series 1, episode 1!) with my sister T, I finally made the cake as my "signature bake."

I was first introduced to bitters over a decade ago on a visit to Palo Alto to visit my sister R. We went with some friends to a little restaurant with an even smaller bar up front, and I ordered a "nonalcoholic juicy blend" from the cute bartender. He got really excited and explained that he himself didn't drink, and felt like his best creative efforts were the nonalcoholic drinks he invented for himself. And friends-- the juicy blend was delicious. I asked him what the secret was, and he said it was a splash of bitters-- it rounded out the other flavors, polished the sweet and tart edges, and added floral complexity.

It's easy to keep a little bottle of Angostura bitters around-- just like a bottle of vanilla extract-- and I quite like a splash in lemonade. It's recently become somewhat hip to use bitters as a flavoring in a variety of fruity things, like pies. So when I had my dream, I figured that someone online would have certainly combined the idea of Angostura lemonade with lemon drizzle cake.

I was surprised to find only one recipe-- and amused that it was from Ayesha Curry (Steph Curry's wife). Of course, I could have just found a reliable lemon drizzle cake recipe and added Angostura to the drizzle, but I wanted guidance on proportion, and I was pleased that the Curry recipe also included it in the cake. I adapted it only slightly, using sour cream instead of whole milk plain Greek yogurt (which the rather lowbrow store I went to for supplies didn't have), light brown sugar for dark (I was worried about overwhelming the other flavors), and almond extract for the amaretto.

I had a slice while it was almost-- but not really-- cooled, and it was good, but too novel to really comfort. But after I let it cool overnight, the flavors had become friendly with one another and now I think it is just wonderful. I might try the idea with one of Maida Heatter's lemon cake recipes but I really quite love my cake as it is.

1 1/2 c AP flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 c light brown sugar
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 c sour cream
1/2 c oil
1/3-1/2 c lemon juice
1 t almond extract
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 t Angostura bitters (maybe I did 1 1/2?)
2 T lemon zest

Heat oven to 350; prep an 8 inch springform pan. Whisk the dries. Whisk the wets. Gently fold dries into wets. Bake 60 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes; then on rack. When just somewhat warm, set the rack over a sheet and poke the cake all over with a toothpick. Pour a glaze of whisked:

1 c powdered sugar
3 T lemon juice
3/4 t Angostura bitters

Try to get it in the edges on the sides and down the holes, but some quantity (several tablespoons?) will run off onto the tray-- that's fine and as it should be, I think.

Pepper Poppers 2

Earlier in my recipe collection is my friend Amy's barbecue pepper popper recipe. I'm quite fond of it, but I wanted a low-carbohydrate recipe and that one has all the sugar from the barbecue sauce. So here is a second version.

Per 1 lb peppers, halved and seeded (I like it with jalapenos, but you can also use small sweet peppers):
4 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 oz shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
6 rashers of bacon, crisped and crumbled
1/4 t salt, or to taste
1/4 t chili powder, or to taste
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
garlic powder or ranch mix powder, to taste
optional: panko

Mix the filling up and stuff the peppers generously; roll in panko if desired.

Bake at 325 for 15-35 minutes. A shorter bake will preserve the heat of the peppers more; a longer bake will temper it.

I served it with an avocado crema: a dip of sour cream, avocado, lime juice, chives, and salt-- a concept I keep trying but am never quite satisfied with.

R Family Couscous

Modified from a Tyler Florence Food Network recipe

olive oil
1 small red onion, small dice
1/4 c dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/4 c almonds (I'd use slivered)-- toasted, or pistachios
1 c couscous
3/4 c chicken stock, warm
3/4 c coconut milk, warm
1/2 t lemon zest
2 green onions
1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
salt, pepper

Warm chicken stock and coconut milk together. Heat a glug of olive oil in medium saucepan. Saute red onion, apricots, nuts gently over low heat until translucent, fragrant. Add couscous, warm broth/coconut milk, zest-- stir and cover. Let sit for 10 minutes. Uncover-- add green onions, cilantro. Fluff and season.

shoestring onions, sauteed mushrooms, wedge salads, lemonade

For Mother's Day I planned a menu of steaks and (mostly) classic steakhouse sides. I thought it turned out pretty well, if not perfectly. Brother I was right that I made everything a little too salty.

The lemonade recipe I made was too sweet (lemonade recipe, you say? Yes-- I was trying a method that uses the whole lemon, macerating the rinds with the sugar). The "keto" version of creamed spinach didn't work at all. The recipe claimed that the coconut cream would thicken when heated-- it didn't. I already knew how to saute up some nice mushrooms and cook steaks (the key to cooking steaks is being ok with the fire alarm going off).

The two new recipes that I really liked, actually, were the ones I entrusted to brother I for final preparation. That means he did a good job, and also that they were the ones I was most confident would work anyway.

Brother I brought some rolls and sister S brought a mixed berry cobbler that finished off the menu nicely.

Wedge Salads
modified from Cook's Country August/September 2012
to serve 6

6 slices bacon
Panko
1 large shallot, cut in 1/3" rings
1/4 c red wine vinegar
6 oz crumbled blue cheese (recipe says Stilton)
1/3 c mayonnaise
1/4 c sour cream
3 T milk
1 garlic clove, minced
salt, pepper
1 head iceberg lettuce,
       most of core removed but enough left to hold together; and cut into 6 wedges
12 oz cherry tomatoes, halved

Crisp bacon, drain.
While bacon fat is hot, toss in a big handful of panko. It will seem to foam. Fry it until it is fragrant, crisp, and bacony.
Combine shallot in vinegar, let sit for at least 20 min.
Remove shallot from vinegar-- reserve both.
whisk 3 oz blue cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, 2 T reserved vinegar, garlic together in a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.
Arrange lettuce wedges on platter. Top with dressing, shallot, tomatoes, bacony panko. Each gets 1/2 oz blue cheese and 1 slice bacon, crumbled.

Shoestring onions
from Cook's Country, Aug/Sep 2011

2 qts vegetable oil
1 1/2 c AP flour
salt and pepper
3/4 t cream of tartar
1 lb onions, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rings
1/2 c apple juice
1/4 c apple cider vinegar.

Rack to middle, oven to 200.
Heat oil over medium high heat to 350.
Combine flour, 1 t salt, cream of tartar, 1/2 t pepper. Toss onions in juice and vinegar to coat in another bowl. Drain onions and transfer to flour mix, tossing to coat.
Fry half of onion rings, stirring occasionally and maintaining oil temp between 325 and 350, until golden brown and crisp-- 3-4 min. Drain on wire rack set in baking sheet in oven. Bring oil back to 350 before frying second batch. Season, if desired, with salt and pepper before serving.

Sauteed mushrooms

4 T butter
1 shallot, sliced thin
32 oz mushrooms-- cremini or white or part shiitake
  cut them as makes sense. Little mushrooms in half. Larger ones in quarters. Shiitakes in 1/2" slices
2 t minced fresh thyme
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 c white wine for cooking

Melt 2 T butter in big skillet over med heat. + shallot, cook until softened (2 min). Add mushrooms, 3/4 t salt, and increase heat to med-high. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have released their moisture. 8-10 min.

Remove lid, add 2 T butter. Cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown and tender, 8-10 min. Stir in thyme, garlic, cook ~30 seconds. Add wine to deglaze and scrape up browned bits, until liquid is nearly gone-- ~1 min. Season.

Whole lemon lemonade-- adjusted from when I made it

5 lemons
1 c sugar? -- recipe called for 1 1/4 c, but it was too sweet
1 1/4 qts water
dash of salt

Peel rinds, cut into 1/2" slices. Put in bowl, toss thoroughly with sugar. Stand 1 hr +. Sugar should soak up skin oils.
Bring water to boil, covered. Pour over sugared rinds. Cool 20 min. Remove rinds.
Squeeze flesh into another bowl, strain into sugar mix. Stir well. Chill.

1.7 g Net Carb Peanut Butter Cookies

Credit to my dad!

1 cup peanut butter 

1 cup carbquik 

1/3 cup each of polydextrose, sucralose, and erithytol 

1/6 cup butter

2 eggs. 

Made 28 cookies. Each cookie has a little less than 2 grams "net carbs"