Apple Dutch Baby

October 30, 2016 handmadestitchbystitch Recipes american, apples, breakfast, brunch, Cast Iron, dutch baby, easy, fast

BATTER:

3 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

APPLES:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large Pink Lady apple, peeled, sliced 1/4″ thick
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 F.
Whisk batter ingredients in mixing bowl. Set aside.
Make apples: heat 2 tbsp butter in cast iron, add apples, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cook until apple is soft, around 4 min. Transfer to another bowl, set aside. Wipe down cast iron.
Heat cast iron in hot oven for 8 to 10 min. Add 2 tbsp butter, coating bottom and sides of cast iron. Add apples. Pour batter on top.
Bake until pancake is puffy and golden brown at the edges and the center is set but still custardy, 12-15 min.
Serve with maple syrup or apple cider syrup.

APPLE CIDER SYRUP:

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups apple cider
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Mix well. Let boil over medium heat in large saucepan for 30-40 min, until reduced and syrupy. Let cool, cover and chill.
Syrup can be made up to one week ahead. Let warm to room temperature before serving.

Cast Iron Cornbread

April 3, 2016April 3, 2016 handmadestitchbystitch Cast Iron, Recipes, Swati Original Recipe, Yummy Foods american, baking, Cast Iron, cornbread, easy, fast, leftovers, mashed potatoes, next day recipe, potato soup, side dish, yum

I make this in a cast iron dutch oven. It can be made in an 8 x 8 brownie pan as well.

This is my original recipe.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 c milk
1/2 c sour cream
1/3 c sugar
1/2 c mashed potatoes (leftovers work perfect)
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1 c yellow cornmeal
1 c all purpose flour

Directions:

Preaheat oven to 425 F. PLACE CAST IRON DUTCH OVEN INTO OVEN WHILE IT IS PREHEATING.
Mix wet ingredients in kitchenaid.
Mix dry ingredients in other bowl.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in kitchenaid. Mix well.
Take cast iron out of oven. Add 2 tsp of butter and swirl around until bottom of pan is coated.
Add batter to cast iron.
Bake (without lid!) for 30 min.
Cool, cut and enjoy!

Note: If you make potato soup and have leftovers, you can use that as well, or corn soup or mushroom soup. Adjust the milk content downward to compensate for the liquidity of the soup. Cornbread batter has the consistency of thick pancake batter.

Optional: Chop a jalapeno into the batter if you like your cornbread spicy.

The Guardian’s Naan Recipe

November 25, 2015February 2, 2016 handmadestitchbystitch GOLD, Recipes baking, bread, british, Cast Iron, garlic naan, indian, naan, pizza stone

They claim it’s the “best” naan. I made it and it was so good I forgot to photograph it.

INGREDIENTS:

(Makes 6-8)

1.5 tsp fast-action yeast

1 tsp sugar

150ml warm water

300g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust

1 tsp salt

5 tbsp natural yoghurt

2 tbsp melted ghee or butter, plus extra to brush

A little vegetable oil, to grease

1 tsp nigella (black onion), sesame or poppy seeds (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Put the yeast, sugar and two tablespoons of warm water in a bowl and stir well. Leave until it begins to froth.
Put the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Stir the yoghurt into the yeast mixture, then make a well in the middle of the flour and pour it in, plus the melted ghee. Mix, then gradually stir in the water to make a soft, sticky mixture that is just firm enough to call a dough, but not at all dry.
Tip out on a lightly floured surface and knead for about five minutes until smooth and a little less sticky, then put in a large, lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover and leave in a draught-free place (the airing cupboard, or an unlit oven) until doubled in size: roughly 90–120 minutes.
Tip the dough back out on to the lightly floured surface and knock the air out, then divide into eight balls (or six if you have a particularly large frying pan). Meanwhile, heat a non-stick frying pan over a very high heat for five minutes and put the oven on low. Prepare the melted ghee and any seeds to garnish.
Flatten one of the balls and prod or roll it into a flat circle, slightly thicker around the edge. Pick it up by the top to stretch it slightly into a teardrop shape, then put it in the hot pan. When it starts to bubble, turn it over and cook until the other side is browned in patches. Turn it back over and cook until there are no doughy bits remaining.
Brush with melted ghee and sprinkle with seeds, if using, and put in the oven to keep warm while you make the other breads.

NOTE: For garlic naan, finely chop 6 cloves of garlic, add a quarter spoon or so of salt, and a spoonful or two of ghee and mix. Place in center of naan dough ball and roll out. YUM!!!!!

Cream Tea (Scones)

September 20, 2015September 20, 2015 handmadestitchbystitch Recipes breakfast, british, brunch, Cast Iron, devon, scones

Bizarrely, if you go to Devon in the UK and order “cream tea”, you get scones.

INGREDIENTS:

500 g flour
15 g baking powder
pinch salt
100 g sugar
100 g butter, diced
250 ml milk

DIRECTIONS:

Mix dry ingredients.

Add butter until it is incorporated.

Add milk until a dough is formed.

Hand roll dough: 2.5 cm high, 5 cm biscuit cutter, bake 400 F for 15 min.

Cast iron: 2.5 cm high, 8 in circle cut into 8 wedges, bake 400 F for 15 min.

You can add an egg wash if you like to make the scones shiny. I omitted this step.

Enjoy with butter and jam, or clotted cream and jam.

Buttermilk Corn Bread

August 8, 2015August 9, 2015 handmadestitchbystitch Recipes, Substitutions american, baking, bread, Cast Iron, corn, cornbread

Yeah, I’m uploading a lot of cornbread recipes. Mostly that’s because I love cornbread and am still searching for the perfect recipe. I haven’t found it yet honestly. Nothing too northern (cake-ish and sweet) and nothing too southern (dry and flavorless).

INGREDIENTS

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 c self rising flour (White Lily brand)
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup cooking oil
1 egg lightly beaten

Mixins I used:

1/2 finely chopped jalapeno
1/2 c defrosted frozen corn kernals

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425º.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, add 1 cup of Yellow Cornmeal.

Add Flour, baking powder, salt.

Add Sugar.

Add Salt.

Mix all the dry ingredients well.

Add some oil to your sectioned baking pan and place it in the warm oven for 5-10 minutes.

Add buttermilk to the dry ingredients and stir to lightly mix.

Add the oil.

Slightly beat the egg and add to the mixture, stir all ingredients to light incorporate them together.

Carefully remove the hot pan from oven, spoon batter into each section until the section is full.

Place back in oven and bake at 425º for about 15-20 minutes or until lightly brown on top.

Remove to a cooking rack, brush with butter if desired.

Serve warm and Enjoy!

NOTES

Can be made with All-Purpose Flour. You just need to add 1 1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder and 1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda to the dry ingredients if you use it instead of Self-Rising.

Corn Sticks can be re-heated or baked and frozen for later if desired.

SUBSTITUTION 1:

1/2 c self rising flour =

1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

HOWEVER, with this substitution, you will need to increase your liquid quantity (no, I don’t know how much, eyeball it) to compensate for the higher protein content in the all purpose flour. And no matter what you do, your cornbread made with the above substitution will NOT be as tender as it would be if made with the White Lily Southern Flour.

SUBSTITUTION 2:

1/2 c self rising flour =

1/2 c Swan’s Cake Flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Why? White Lily Flour, which Southerners use, has low protein and low gluten content. Swan’s Cake Flour has a similarly low protein content.

NOTE: The cast iron pan making things crispy is a total scam. Nothing I made, following the instructions, has been particularly crispy. But then, my alternative is a wok and metal pan. Which work at least as well. For less money. And I already own and use them for other things. Also, I find not washing cast iron to be a really dirty habit. Cleanliness is next to godliness, ye ken?

NOTE: Needs more sugar. Way way more. Texture is too crumbly. Don’t make this again. Recipe is too southern for my taste.

Kentucky Corn Bread

August 8, 2015August 8, 2015 handmadestitchbystitch Recipes american, bread, Cast Iron, corn, cornbread, dessert, southern

INGREDIENTS:

2 c corn meal
1 c wheat flour
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 c oil
1 1/4 c buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Put 1 tbsp butter in cast iron skillet and place in oven. (butter has a low smoke point, so keep an eye on it)

Mix oil, buttermilk and eggs.

Mix dry ingredients.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.

Pour into hot cast iron pan.

Bake for 25 min.

NOTE:

This is SOUTHERN style corn bread, as it has no sugar. Texture is dry and crumbly, not soft and cake like. Be authentic at your own risk. (Yes, I am from the North. No, I’m not a fan of Southern cornbread).

Cast Iron Popovers (aka Yorkshire Pudding)

June 26, 2015June 27, 2015 handmadestitchbystitch Cast Iron, GOLD, Recipes american, bread, breakfast, british, brunch, Cast Iron, easy, fast, muffins, popovers, sandwich

Recipe for the Nordic Ware grande pan (makes one panful, six big popovers):

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix up above while preheating oven to 450 F. Let sit.

2. Pour 1-2 cm vegetable oil into popover cups. Put popover pan into oven to heat up.

3. Divide batter into cups evenly. Be neat, if the batter gets on the side, the popovers won’t rise well.

4. Bake 15 min at 450 F, then 15 min at 350 F.

5. Take out of oven, and take out of pans IMMEDIATELY or they will get soggy.

6. Stab popovers with knife to let out steam.

7. ENJOY!!

HALF RECIPE FOR SMALL SIX CUP POPOVER PAN

For a small, 6-cup popover pan (or three 6oz pyrex custard cups), you need:

½ cup whole milk
1 large egg
½ cup unbleached white flour (preferably with the germ)
1/8 tsp salt

I make it in a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup. Preheat the oven to 450°F. While that’s happening, pour ½ cup of milk into the measuring cup and crack in one egg. Beat that with a wire wisk. Add the salt and beat some more. Measure out ½ cup of flour and dump that in. Wisk it together until it’s smooth, then as soon as it’s smooth (no lumps) stop mixing. Don’t overmix it. Let the batter sit while the oven continues to preheat.

If you’re using cast iron rather than pyrex, rub flaxseed oil into the popover cups. At some advanced point when the pan is excruciatingly well seasoned this won’t be necessary, but for now it’s necessary to keep the popovers from sticking and it also serves to add seasoning to the pan. When the oven is preheated, put the popover pan into the oven to heat empty for five minutes. Your popovers will pop higher if the pan is preheated. You do this with oil rather than butter because the butter will burn.

When the hot pan comes out of the oven, put a tiny dab of butter in the bottom of each cup. This further ensures nonstickiness, adds seasoning to the pan, and adds flavor to the popovers. Then pour the batter into the cups – filling only about halfway. Don’t overfill the cups or they won’t pop sufficiently

Put the pan back in the oven, this time with the batter, and set your timer for 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 350°F (do not open the oven!) and continue baking for another 15 minutes. (If you’re making them in 6oz pyrex cups, bake for 20 minutes at 350°F rather than 15 minutes.)

As soon as they’re out of the oven, pull them out of the pan (they should slide right out), put them on a cooling rack, and stab them with a small knife to release the steam inside so they don’t get soggy.

Jamie Oliver’s Popovers

NOTES: I am going to tell you something. These popovers are so easy to make and so delicious that I am actually investing a specialty product – a Nordic Ware Grande Popover Pan (cast aluminum, max temp 450 F, proper spacing, good reviews). These are great to serve for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, with sweet foods, with savory foods, with all foods, with no food. They look SOOOO impressive, and take next to NOOOO effort.