sweet and smoky oven spareribs

sweet and smoky oven spareribs
5 pounds should serve four people, we halved this and found 2 1/2 pounds to be generous for 2 people and might estimate 1 pound per person next time
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder (ancho is recommended) or paprika
2 teaspoons salt (see Note above about increasing it)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 pounds spareribs, cut into 4 slabs, rinsed and patted dry
2 teaspoons mild or hot pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or red or white vinegar

Heat oven to 200 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, chili powder or paprika, salt, garlic powder, cloves and cinnamon; you can do this easily with a fork. Place each slab of ribs on a piece of foil large enough to fold into a packet. Sprinkle spice rub over the ribs, patting it in generously on all sides — you’ll be glad you did. Turn the ribs meat side down and tightly fold the foil to make sealed packets.

Put a rack on a baking sheet (I needed two racks and two sheets; a cookie cooling rack works for this) and place it in the oven. Bake for 4 hours at 200 degrees, then reduce the temperature to 175 for another two hours or until a fork easily penetrates the meat. Open each packet carefully and pour the accumulated juices into a saucepan. Boil the juices and reduce them by half, at which point you will have a syrupy sauce that easily coats a spoon. Stir in paprika and vinegar.

Remove the ribs from the foil and either coat them with the sauce or serve the sauce alongside the ribs. (I have friends who consider barbecue sauce on ribs heretic, thus would give them the choice.) For extra caramelization, the ribs can be finished for a few minutes under the broiler, before being coated with sauce.

more brownies and pineapple ginger lassi

more brownies and pineapple ginger lassi

sprinkle party cake ice cream

sprinkle party cake ice cream
vanilla ice cream with vanilla icing ripple, pound cake pieces and colored candy sprinkles.

tiger tiger ice cream

tiger tiger ice cream
orange ice cream striped with licorice. sometimes found sold as "tiger tail ice cream".

@orange county county fair deep fried foods sign 2

Zooooom
Great, thanks. Yeah. That's a chicken sandwich with Krispy Kreme doughnuts instead of buns. The worst part? THEY'RE JELLY DOUGHNUTS. I saw it in person. It was terrifying.

@ orange county county fair deep fried foods sign

Sign for Deep-Fried Foods
OK, can we stop here for a sec? Completely aside from the frogs legs, Twinkies, White Castle (yawn) and the "zucchini weeni" (muh?), might I draw your attention to the TOTALLY FRIED Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwich? Can we zoom in on that?

@ chicken charlies broasted chicken

@ chicken charlies broasted chicken. totally fried frog legs (with french fries. tastes like chicken). totally fried peanut butter & banana sandwich (with honey!). garlic battered deep fried veggies (with ranch. mushrooms, zucchini, artichoke hearts). totally fried smores. krispy kreme chicken sandwich (with honey. glazed doughnut chicken sandwich). lemon garlic battered deep fried avocados (with tomatoes! ranch and pesto dipping sauces). deep fried coke. deep fried twinkies (chocolate or raspberry).

Bananas, Donuts, Ice Cream

Bananas, Donuts, Ice Cream
What to choose, what to choose? I love mini anything, and donuts are delicious. Though there's always money in the banana stand. In the end, I had to go with ice cream.

The Old Fashioned House Burger

The Old Fashioned House Burger.
made with local grass-fed beef, grilled over a live fire and topped with fried onions, Bavaria's hickory-smoked bacon, aged cheddar, garlic sauce, and a soft-cooked egg on a buttered and toasted roll.

The Old Fashioned
23 N. Pinckney Street
Madison, WI 53703

608-310-4545

theoldfashioned.com.

heart attack cafe

heart attack cafe. deep fried butter. chocolate covered bacon. triple bypass. the heart stopper. the big one. flatline. all at the orange county fair.

clever coffee dripper

Comme un lait fraise – Cheesecake à la vanille at aux fraises

Cheesecake à la vanille at aux fraises

serves 8

for the base
90g butter, melted
150g whole-wheat digestive biscuits, crushed

for the cheesecake filling
450g cream cheese
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
seeds from one vanilla pod

for the strawberries
one handful of strawberries
4 tbsp caster sugar
a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 140°C (see note above).

Place the melted butter and crushed biscuits into a bowl and mix until homogeneous. Line the bottom of a 18cm cake tin with it, gently pressing down with the back of a spoon.
Chill while you get on with the filling.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, caster sugar, eggs and vanilla seeds using a hand-held whisk.
Pour it onto the biscuit base. And bake in a bain-marie for one hour or until just set.

Allow to cool on a rack. Then transfer the the fridge and chill for at least 4 hours.

Run a hot knife around the edges of the cheesecake and remove it from its tin. You can smooth the sides by pressing a hot spatula (dipped in almost boiling water, then quickly dried) around the edges.

Dice the strawberries, and combine with the sugar and vinegar. Set aside for an hour or two until all juicy.

To serve, you can either top the cheesecake with the strawberries, or slice the cheesecake into neat rectangles, then serve it along with the strawberries and perhaps a macaron filled with strawberry jam.

precision cut

via Bride Of Awesomeness

Cherry Lambic Ice Cream Float

Lambic Float
serves one

1-2 scoops vanilla ice cream
4 fluid ounces (1/2 cup) lambic

Place a scoop or two of ice cream in a glass. Top with the lambic. Serve immediately with a spoon.

Czeky Krumlov

Czeky Krumlov

Goaßlschnoizn, whip away the winter

Goaßlschnoizn
"...Last weekend, in our very own little village (and I do mean little) The annual competition of the Goasslschnoizn, or "crack the whip" took place--and grew the population here by several hundred. This is a custom unique to Southern Bavaria (and I think part of Austria too?) Different groups compete against each other to see who are the best whipper-snappers, um..sorry, I mean whip crackers. It's a very old pagan custom to whip away the winter."

switzerland

somewhere in the alps

Sweet Constructions cookies

Sweet Constructions cookies

Wandering in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco the other day, I came across a street cart called Sweet Constructions. There, among many delicious looking delicacies (pictured above), I saw what looked like a mini cinnamon bun but the sign said snickerdoodles. How exciting! I took a sample home (along with its creator's email address) to see if I could duplicate it.

It's a good thing I got that email address. My first attempt, while not necessarily disastrous, wasn't quite as perky as my sample, which you can see an example of on the far left of the photo above. My cookies really flattened out and the spiral was barely there. So I emailed Kate, a co-owner of Sweet Constructions, with my dilemma.

I asked her if she had any tips for dealing with the spreading and the semi-spiraling. Should I roll them up in individual strips? Should I use shortening in place of some of the butter? Here's Kate's reply, which is chock-full of tips for baking cookies:

2010_07_16-snickerdoodles2.jpgYour first method of rolling out the dough, adding the cinnamon sugar, and then rolling it up is the method we use, and probably much easier than individual strips! When we make the swirls, we chill the dough, then roll it out into a rectangle between two sheets of parchment paper (feel free to use a little flour - it makes this much easier). We sprinkle all but about the bottom half-inch or so with the cinnamon sugar, gently press the sugar into the dough, and then use the parchment to help roll the dough up into a long roll. Keeping the lower edge free of the cinnamon sugar helps the edge stick to the rest of the roll. We wrap the roll in parchment and put it in the freezer to chill. (A useful tip for all roll cookies: to keep the rolls of dough from flattening on one side while they cool, we use cut-down mailing tubes to store them in the fridge or freezer.)

Once the dough is completely chilled, we cut off 3/8-inch to 1/2-inch slices, dip the slices in more cinnamon sugar, and place them on a cookie sheet to warm up a bit. If the slices aren't completely round, you can gently squish them into shape once the dough is at room temperature. Bake the snickerdoodles as you normally would.

On butter vs. shortening: I'm definitely not an expert on this since we tend to use all butter in most of our cookies. We do have one cookie where we replaced a bit of the butter with oil, which seems to help keep it softer, and we do use Earth Balance sticks (a type of non-hydrogenated shortening) to replace the butter in our vegan cookies. But our snickerdoodles use 100% butter.

From what I've read, shortening has a higher melting point than butter, so all-butter cookies will spread more before they set. Replacing some of the butter with shortening would reduce spread, and might be puffier - I'd love to hear how your two recipes compare when baked!

If you don't want to use shortening to reduce spread, some other things that might help include: letting the dough cool for longer before you roll it into spirals (we often let ours sit overnight in the fridge), putting the cookies in the oven while the dough is still slightly cool, making sure the slices are relatively thick, and reducing the amount of baking soda slightly. And of course for the second round of baking, be sure the baking sheets have had a chance to cool down before you use them again.

I also just checked one of my favorite resources for baking questions — Shirley Corriher's book Bakewise. She does recommend using half shortening, half butter to decrease spread. She also suggests using a higher-protein flour (unbleached flour or bread flour) and letting the dough chill overnight.

I hope this helps!

2010_07_16-snickerdoodles1.jpg(Let us pause here for a moment to appreciate the joy of dealing with a small local company whose owner is passionate about her products.)

So I took Kate's advice, rolled up the chilled cookie dough like a jelly roll and gave it a try. Still not puffy. But! The spiral was nice and obvious, and they tasted really good, so I'm going to declare victory. The shortening may be the solution for more puffiness but I'm actually so pleased with this cookie (pictured above) that I don't want to mess with it.

Kaleidoscope Cookies

Kaleidoscope Cookies
Adapted from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book

Makes many (like 60)

Ingredients

* 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 pound 6 ounces (about 4-½ cups) all-purpose flour
* Various colors of food coloring paste or gel
* 1 cup or so sprinkles or colored decorating sugar



Procedure

1. In an electric stand mixer, beat the butter with a paddle attachment until it is creamy. Add the confectioners' sugar and salt and beat for several minutes, until all of the ingredients are well incorporated and no lumps of powdered sugar remain. Beat in the vanilla extract, then add the flour and beat until a soft dough forms.
2. Divide the dough into 3 parts. Incorporate the food coloring or gel of your choosing into each color--be sure to make the colors quite vibrant, as they will slightly fade in the oven (not much, but a little), and knead until the color is evenly distributed. I left one part white, used a little red food coloring for a pink section, then more red for a red section for mine.
3. Roll each tinted segment into a log about a foot long. Then squish the three logs into one long log and roll until they form one roll (I got a nice wavy design when I did this).
4. Gently roll and squish the finished log until it’s about a foot long. Then cut it in half to form two logs and roll each one of those until you have a number of logs that are 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter--it will be quite a few. If desired, place the sprinkles or decorating sugar on a large, shallow plate and roll each log to coat. Wrap the logs in wax or parchment paper and chill overnight or freeze up to a month.
5. Remove the dough from chilling--if it was in the freezer, let it warm up just until you can handle it, but not until it is soft Preheat oven to 375 F.
6. Unwrap the logs and, with a sharp knife, slice them into coins about 1/3-inch thick. Place on ungreased cookie sheets (the cookies will not spread much as they bake).
7. Bake two sheets at a time for about 7-9 minutes, rotating halfway through baking, until the cookies have firmed up but are not browned. Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

bouchon tko

bouchon tko
At fancy bakery Bouchon, there is a fancy version of the Oreo called the TKO, "reinterpreted using...chocolate sable dough and a sweet white chocolate ganache filling." One cookie costs about as much as an entire bag of Oreos. I've totally bought one and had no regrets.

popsicles

strawberry banana pops
Slices of fresh banana are frozen inside these cool strawberry pops.
Ingredients:

* 1 cup strawberry juice
* 3 oz. plain yogurt
* 1 1/2 oz. honey
* 1 large banana, cut into 1/8-inch rounds

Directions:

In a bowl, whisk together the strawberry juice, yogurt and honey until the honey is dissolved.

Prepare an ice pop mold according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For 2-oz. pops, place about 5 banana slices along the sides of each slot, then insert the sticks. Slowly pour about 1 1/2 fl. oz. of the juice mixture into each slot, reaching just to the fill line. Tap the pop mold on the countertop to release any air bubbles. Freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions until the mixture is solid, 7 to 20 minutes. To test, insert a toothpick near a stick.

Remove the ice pops from the mold according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Repeat to make the remaining ice pops. Makes six 2-oz. pops.
Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

culinary obsessions (number five)

"Five. Find a watermelon, preferably ice-cold. Make sure not to drop it on the floor. Using a serrated knife, slice a big fat wedge. Allow the juices to splash on your face."

coffee granita

A coffee granita. Croissant optional. [Flickr: kochtopf]

elote

served with toppings like mayonnaise, Cotija cheese, chile powder, and lime

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 dozen vanilla cupcakes (recipe for Magnolia Bakery cupcakes follows)
1 cup Strawberry Gelée (Recipe follows)
Strawberry Mascarpone Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:

Cut a cut a cone-shaped piece of cake out of the center of each cupcake, taking care not to cut through the bottoms. Slice a 1/4-inch piece from the top of each cone and reserve to place back on the filled cupcakes.

Spoon about a teaspoon of strawberry gelée filling into each cupcake and top with the cone top.

Using a pastry bag or an offset spatula, frost tops of each cupcake with the strawberry mascarpone frosting.

Magnolia Bakery’s Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. In a small bowl, combine flours; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla, and scraping down sides of bowl in between each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about three-quarters full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool in tins for 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tins, and cool completely on rack. Once cupcakes have cooled, frost as desired.

Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes.

Strawberry Gelée

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberry puree
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 envelope unflavored powdered gelatin
1/2 cup diced, fresh strawberries

Directions:

Heat puree and sugar in a small saucepan just until it begins to bubble, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in lemon juice and remove from heat.

Put water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add fruit puree mixture to the bowl and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.

Stir in diced strawberries and chill until set.

Strawberry Mascarpone Frosting

Ingredients:

1/4 cup softened butter
1 8 ounce container mascarpone, at room temperature
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, pureed
2 tablespoons strawberry jam
4-5 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Cream butter and cream cheese in an electric mixer until soft and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the strawberries and jam. Mix until combined.

Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time until the frosting has the sweetness and consistency you desire. If your frosting is not stiff enough to pipe, add more powdered sugar.

Use right away, or refrigerate until ready to use.

Enjoy!

Read more: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2010/07/02/strawberry-shortcake-cupcakes

strawberry shortcake manse!