TWD: Rice Pudding

Excuse me waiter, there's pudding in my rice! That's how I felt about this week's TWD recipe selection (chosen by Isabelle). I don't know if I have ever had rice pudding before but I don't think it is my kind of dessert. I love rice, especially arborio rice (which is used to make risotto) but, I'm not a big pudding fan.

However, I know that rice pudding is loved by many many people so I figured I would give it try. Thankfully, I checked out the "problems and questions" post and found out there was a typo in the book. I needed to basically double the cooking time.

Overall, the flavor was delish but I just couldn't get past the standard rice pudding texture. Hubs agreed.

I know my cousin is anxiously awaiting the results of the recipe because she is looking for a good rice pudding recipe. I'll give this one a thumbs up for her since it is probably the best rice pudding could taste.

Now, go check out the other bakers. Some of them made a chocolate version!!.You know I'm all vanilla at heart.

PS You know I get inspired by cheesy songs. This week's was:

"Rice Rice Baby"

All right stop, collaborate and listen

Rachel's back with old time tradition

Pudding grabs a hold of me tightly

It flows like a harpoon daily and nightly

Will it ever stop? Yo I don't know

Turn up the amps and I'll go

To the extreme I rock the mix'r like a vandal

Plate up the stuff, serve it classy with candles

Chillin' with my apron low,
Got my do-rag on so my hair won't blow
Hubbys on stand by waiting just just to taste. why?
Do you let him? Nope, I just stroll by
To the extreme my pudding's all ricy
Stick it in the fridge but it's gonna taste dicy.

If there was treat, you know I baked it

Check out the hook, while I put my cake in.

Rice, rice baby!

and Beka makes three...

My sister is coming to live with us. I am so excited! She graduates from HS in June and will probably move out in July so that she has time to get settled and find a part time job before school starts in the fall. I think this will be a very good thing for her (and me). I've been living 1,500 miles away from her for the last six years and I am looking forward to getting to know the (sort of) grown up version of my baby sister.

We still have some details to work out but the decision has been made. Hurray!

TWD: Kugelhopf

Pronounced: coo gull hoff

I don't know why but that song by Olivia Newton John "Physical" kept running through my head while I worked on this week's recipe. And changing the words to "Let's get kugelhopf, kugelhopf, I want some kuglho-opf, let me see your kugelhopf, your kugelhopf.Let me see your kugelhopf." Just sounded so fun to sing while mixing, rising, slapping, rising, and baking.

The results were OK but in my opinion, not really worth the effort. It was too bread for cake and too cakey for bread. I'm glad I made it and it turned out gorgeous (if I do say so myself) but ::shrug:: it was just meh.

I made mine in a bundt pan since I don't own the turban kind so my kugelhopf is a bit shorter than some people though it totally rose, a lot! I'm a fan of the oven light trick for getting yeasty dishes to rise. For those of you who don't know, you put your pan in the oven and turn on the interior light. The light heats things up just enough to facilitate an excellent (and timely) rise.

Head over to TWD and the results of the other 350 kugelhopf. Yes, we are now nearly 400 strong. CRAZY! Oh, and thanks a bunch to Yolanda for a fun a different pick.

A delicious trifecta

I was looking for pork chop inspiration when I came across a recipe for Italian pork chops. Thinking along those lines, I figured that I might give risotto a shot. I rounded it out with some broccoli. A really long time later, I had one of the best dinners I have made in a while.

I've never made risotto before and I was nervous because I've heard it is a picky dish. It did take some time, but I was really patient with it and it was SO GOOD. Seriously, I might have eaten until I exploded but thankfully, the hubs staged an intervention and saved me from death by cheesy rice. Totally worth the nearly 40 minutes of constant stirring.

The pork chops were basically a version of garlic cheddar chicken but with crackers (not breadcrumbs) and pork. They also look giant because they had a bone in them. But, OMG were they good!

The hubs said this was the best dinner ever. And, I believed him.

Italian Pork Chops (allrecipes.com)

2 cups crushed saltine crackers
1-1/3 cups grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons Italian-style seasoning
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2/3 cup butter, melted
4 pork chops

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, combine the crushed saltines, Parmesan cheese, Italian-style seasoning and garlic powder and mix together well.
Dip the chops in the melted butter and then dredge each chop in the cracker mixture, coating all sides thoroughly. Place the chops in a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until internal pork temperature reaches 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Parmesan Risotto

5 to 6 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, minced

1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Salt and pepper

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

Heat the olive oil in a 3-quart saucepan and cook the onion over medium heat, stirring until the onion is golden but not brown--about 3-5 minutes.Add the rice and stir to coat the rice.

Turn the heat to medium-high, add about 1/2 cup of the stock and keep the mixture boiling, stirring constantly. As soon as the stock has been absorbed, add another 1/2 cup of stock and stir. The risotto must keep boiling, but it must not stick to the pot. The whole cooking process may take 25-30 minutes. Once all the stock has been absorbed, and the risotto is tender, remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the butter and Parmesan.

Steamed broccoli

Get some broccoli and steam it until it is tender but still crisp. Yum!

Rugelach - an update

::sigh:: There is no rugelach. It won the battle and the war. I made the dough twice, following the instructions explicitly and I still had goo dough. It was ridiculous. No one else had that problem. Do you think it is too humid in SD for the dough? WTH?!

I'm wondering if it was my flour? I really really want to make this again but I'm taking a cream cheese dough vacation. I'll post about this again once I've succeed.

I'll get you next, Rugelach, next time!!

TWD: Rachel vs. Rugelach - Round 1

My rugelach dough chilled in the fridge for 24 hours. I've been trying to get it to roll out for 2 hours and it's just a sticky, gooey mess.

Baking Battle Score:
Rachel-0
Rugelach-1

Stay tuned! This is going to be a nail biter.

(If you want to know what the heck I am talking about, visit the TWD site and get an education on life in the bake lane.)

Sad

As someone who was very close to their grandparents, my heart breaks for BARACK OBAMA whose grandmother has passed away.

I know his grandmother will watch his acceptance speech with pride from heaven. Take comfort Mr President, you will need an angel with you as you lead our country.

Sad.
-Rachel

TWD: Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

This week's selection for TWD came from my BBB (best blog bud) CB. She's a cupcake freak and I knew this one would be a natural choice for her. I also wasn't surprised when she asked everyone to decorate their cuppys for Halloween since she's so timely and what not.

At first, I was stumped. Then, when watching the news, it came to me! Halloween = scary, right? What is the scariest thing right now? Check out my cuppies to see...

Seriously, I'm freakin' scared about our economy, housing market and stock market. My retirement account is the toilet. Thank goodness I don't need it for 30 years! And I can't even think about Prop 8 passing and a McCain/Palin administration.... ::shudder::

These cupcakes scared the bejebus out of me so much so that I had to hide under my desk, in disguise, so the scary economy monsters couldn't find me.

However, while taking solace in the delightful frightfuls, I was busted...

Oh well. I guess it was worth it. Now if only my IRA retirement account was as rich as these cupcakes, things would be allllll riiight.

About the cuppys: This wasn't my favorite chocolate cuppy recipe but I like it OK and the chocolate lovers at work thought it was delish. But, you all know I'm a vanilla girl at heart.

Check out my other TWD bakers and see all the boo-tiful treats.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

TWD: Pumpkin Muffins

Excuse any typos; I'm typing with my toes. My hands are too busy shoving pumpkin muffin in my face to actually type out this blog. I pulled the muffins out of the oven 8 minutes ago and DANG they are delish. The recipe called for sunflower seeds on top but I couldn't find unsalted ones so I skipped them. Also, because my can of pumpkin was giant, I double the batch last minute which required a hodge podge. I used half walnuts and half pecans. I was 3 tablespoons short on the unsalted butter so I subbed 2 tables of regular butter and went 1 tablespoon short. The result? AMAZING, especially with butter on top. Yummola.

Head over to TWD to see how all my other baking buddies fared.

TWD: Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake

Hi. My name is Rachel and I ate way too much of this week's recipe. I mean, seriously. Wouldn't you want to eat this:



I'm not even much of a chocolate fan but D-A-N-G was this cake good.

The cake was easy peasy and I can't believe I actually made homemade caramel. I mean, hello homemade caramel! I should at least get some kind of award for this.

My hubs and I ate all we could without exploding. I gave a hunk to my neighbor and took the rest to work. It's another winner, for sure and WAY easier than it sounds. You should make this cake now. DO IT!


Major love to Tammy of Wee Treats by Tammy for this week's selection. You can find the recipe on her blog. Also, make sure to check out the baked concoctions of my fellow TWD friends, all 300+ of them.

Side note about Tammy. She's is on the other side of the world from me and I remember when she first commented on my blog. I couldn't believe that anyone besides my Mom was reading what I wrote and I did a happy dance in my chair knowing I was connecting with someone so far away. She rocks!

PS I still have to write up last week. I'll do it when I can. TIA for your patience.

Pot Roast Disaster

Tonight, I made my first pot roast. I wasn't exactly sure how to do it and nothing I found online seemed like the way my Mom made it so I called her up. I followed her directions to the "T". I browned the roast in the oven for 20 minutes. Then I put it in the slow cooker with pearl onions, baby carrots, the little potatoes cut in half, some garlic and a cup or so of water. Four hours later, it smelled heavenly and looked like this:

Too bad the meat was like leather. Seriously, it was very very tough. The veggies were delish, though. What did I do? Maybe it was the cut of the meat? Who knows! I may just have to wait until I'm in Big D again to have a decent pot roast. :'(

Twd rewind soming soon!

I got home super late from work last night so my write up will be done tonight, just under the wire. Stay tuned!
-Rachel

TWD: Dimply Plum Cake

This week's recipe was chosen by Michelle of Bake-en. You can find the recipe oh her site.

I have to say that I was really, really looking forward to this cake. I followed the directions perfectly, though my plums were a tiny bit large so I needed fewer of them.


I mixed and poured. I baked and tested. The knife came out clean. Time to cool... 15 minutes later, I unmolded and flipped onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.


About 20 minutes later, I see that there is GOO underneath my cooling rack. I investigate and realize that my entire cake middle has goo'd out of the cake! It was totally raw in the center!!! WTH?!


I double checked all the steps, oven temp, etc and cannot figure out what I did wrong. I was so disappointed as the properly cooked corner tasted delicious and the plums were probably the best I've ever tasted.

What could I have done wrong? :( Here are the pics for your inspection.

before the oven

golden and delicious looking

mmmmm

boo! it's goo!

The only underneath photo I could get before being attacked by goo.

Boo. I hate wasting food, especially nearly $10 in plums! (I did eat some of the baked plums but they were a bit weird with out the cake).

Go check out the other TWD bakers and see how they fared this week.

Three cheers for cheese!

Have you seen this?

Hey you -

Things have been hectic for the last few day. But, thankfully... well, this song says it all.



Love you!

Oh man, I'm the worst

Hubs took my car to get washed on Saturday because I was busy getting ready for house guests. He's such a sweetie. Today he asks if I noticed that the huge paint scrape down the side of my car had been buffed off. I didn't notice. *gulp* However, in my defense, I try not to look at that side of my car because the paint scrape made me feel bad about driving into the side of the garage. (oopsie!)

I feel terrible for not noticing. My car looks so purdy now. Isn't my hubs so sweet!?

An Irish Tale

So, the hubs and I got back from our European vacation about a month ago and I still have so many stories to share. One of my favorites is the story of our first day driving in Ireland.

Hubs and I arrived at Cork airport and retrieved our bags by 5:30 pm. We had to pick up our rental car and drive about 10 miles to our bed and breakfast. We were supposed to check in by 7pm or else. Or else, what I have no idea. Needless to say, we were determined to make it there by 7 pm.


We get to Hertz counter and check out our car. We paid extra for the navigation system and additional insurance (hubs insisted),but decided not to put me on as a driver. In the US, spouses are included free as a driver but apparently that isn't the case anywhere else.

So, we get to our car - a lovely Fiat Punto, and hubs spends about 15 minutes giving himself a pep talk. I didn't blame him one bit since he had never driven on the left. Thankfully, his daily car has a stick shift so that part didn't seem to daunting. After a third damage check (and I think a tire pressure calibration) we were off!




As the navigator, I decided that the directions the B&B emailed us were rubbish and that we should use the navigation. A lovely British accent told us which way to turn and a "bing bong" signaled when do so. We got turned around a few times but didn't worry . We had plenty of time. We handled the highways pretty well and figured out how to deal with round abouts. Things were moving along.






We were with in a mile or so of the B&B when we things went awry. The navigation insisted that we turn left onto a ridiculously tiny road (driveway, more like). The problem was that the road was closed. Bummer. We figured we'd just turn around and try a different way.

Well..hubs shifted the car into reverse. Nothing happened. He tried again. We heard only grinding of gears. He pulled up, he pushed down. Nothing worked. Meanwhile, I'm getting quite nervous as we are in the middle of the street and could get smacked into at any point! After what felt like forever I very calmly said, " Honey, why don't we just turn right into that parking lot and figure out what's up."

He turns right into the lot and proceeds to spend endless amount of time trying to get the car into reverse. It will not go! I'm really starting to sweat (a rare thing for this laid-back lassie) and realize that it is now 6:50. We have to get to the B&B, we can't get into reverse AND we are sort of lost. This is not good. I mention how important it is to get to the B&B and that once we are there, we can call Hertz and let them know our reverse is broken.

I suggest putting the car in neutral and we push the car backwards so that we can turn around. Hubs agrees. I get out and walk around the front to get behind the wheel so hubs can push. That's when hubs reminds me that I am not on the driving account. I start to negotiate with him but can tell by the look on his face that I should just do some pushing.


So, he puts the car in neutral and I start pushing the car backwards so we can get out of the tiny lot. At this point I notice the elderly gentleman in a robe (and nothing else, it appears). I look around and realize that we have pulled into the parking lot of a mental hospital! The pantless gentleman says something about wanting to help us but being too tired. I silently thank the Lord for sedatives.

Finally, after a good work out, the car is facing the proper direction and we try to find our B&B. We turn and our moronic navigation screams "When possible, make an authorized U-turn." It says that about 20 times before I think I hear it sigh. It says "Recalculating route." I seriously want to tell this Mary Poppins lady in my navigation to shut the F up but I don't because I really want to get to the B&B and I think she might be my only hope.

Finally, we take a random turn and end up on the right street. Huzzah! Success at last.!We won't be sleeping in the world's tiniest hatchback tonight!

I can see the B&B. It is seriously the cutest ever. Hubs pulls up to the Fernroyd House. Damn! Parallel parking...I hop out and push the car into the spot. (Wish I had a picture of that one!)





Our hostess pops out and inquires "Are ye staying with us?" We say yes and explain our car issue. She hops in and in about two seconds, shows us what we've been doing wrong. Apparently, there is a tiny tiny ring that you must lift on the stick to get the car to go into reverse. Why the heck no one told us? Who knows! At least it makes for a good story and a good work out. :D

I leave you with a few pictures of Fernroyd House. It was so lovely and the owners Avril and Tony (and their dog, Chippy) were our favorites of the whole trip. It's no wonder they are rated #1 on Trip Advisor for Cork.

Our room

The garden

Chippy!

TWD: Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops

Get a load of this:


Drooling yet?

You should be. It was my turn to choose for TWD and I spent hours flipping between a few key recipes before I finally decided on this one. I'm not a huge chocolate fan but I LOVE malt and thought this would be a totally different yet fun recipe to try.

I actually made these twice. The first time, I was determined to take amazing pictures so I could showcase my awesome baking skills, superb photography talents, and really clean (for the photos) kitchen. However, after the cookies were gone far, far away to a potluck in the sky, er, at hubs school, I realized that there was no memory card in the camera. I raised a fist and decided that I'd have to make them again. So I did. The second time around, I made a few adjustments:

1. I got to bake with a good friend I rarely see.
2. I was a little short on chocolate chunks (semi-sweet) so I supplemented with mini chips which gave a fun texture.
3. I used a bit more than 2 cups of whoppers chopped (by my pal) into halves and thirds. I figured, the bigger, the better.
4. I also used regular flavor malt powder and not chocolate like some bakers did. That would have been way too chocolatey for me.



I really liked these cookies. I thought the chocolate flavor was pretty mild and the malt ratio was perfect. However, I got mixed reviews when I took them to work on Monday. Some people said they were too malty. Others said they needed more malt powder. I guess it all depends on how much you like malt. Hubs didn't care for them. Apparently, he doesn't like malt. Yeah, that would have been nice to know 3 weeks ago when I chose the recipe. Oh well, I liked them and that's good enough for me!

I loved how some of the whoppers caramelized, some were in whopper-y and some were in between. They final results were chewy, with a slight crunch and that soda shop taste. DELISH!

Thanks to my fellow TWD folks for baking my choice this week. And a bigger thanks to the blogger who figured out the temperature was to be 350 due to an omission in the book. You rock!

Next week - Claudia from Fool for Food has chosen Chocolate Chunkers. I leave you with some yummy pics and the recipe. Have a great week, all!





Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops
1.75 cups all purpose flour
1 cup malted milk powder
.25 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
.25 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temp.
.66 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
.25 cup whole milk
2 cups (6 ounces) chocolate-covered malted milk balls, coarsely chopped
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped or 1 cup store-bought choc chips or chunks

GETTING READY: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
Sift together the flour, malted milk powder, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until very smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about a minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don't be concerned in the mixture looks curdled - it will even out when the dry ingredients are added. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear in the the batter. Mix in the milk, then the remaining dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. The batter will look more like fudge frosting than cookie dough - and that's fine. With the mixer on low, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the malted milk balls and chopped chocolate.
Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls on to the sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between spoonfuls. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 6 minutes. When done, the cookies will be puffed and set slightly but soft to the touch. Let the cookies rest for 2 minutes before using a wide metal spatula to transfer them to the racks to cool to room temperature.
Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

La Palette's Tart - A TWD tale

In June, the baking group I belong to, TWD, baked up a tart inspired by a restaurant in Paris. It was one of my absolute favorites that we'd baked so far. Later that week, Dorie blogged about the restaurant and my ears perked up. I decided that hubs and I absolutely had to visit La Palette on our trip to Paris.

It was our last full day in Paris and I was determined to eat lunch at La Palette. I'd found the restaurant the day before while on our bike tour. The group stopped for lunch just a few blocks from La Palette and when we rode by, I screamed "There it is!!" and got a few strange looks from the Parisians standing nearby. I was so stoked to actually eat at the restaurant where this tart was born.

The next day, we headed over to the 6th arrondissement to La Palette. Look how excited I am!

We ordered lunch. I had a croque monsieur (on farmhouse bread) and salad:

Hubs had some other sandwich but I can't remember what it was exactly. I could barely contain my excitement and when the waiter came by and asked if we'd like dessert. I grinned and said "strawberry tart, s'il vous plait." The waiter replied, "We don't have that today." I think I stared open mouthed and shocked for a full minute before he said he had a lovely peach pie instead. I wasn't too happy but I said OK.

But, what he called a peach pie was very similar to the strawberry tart. A crust, graham I believe, with a thin layer of jam, covered in perfectly ripe and delicious peaches with a glaze on them. Oh man, was it ever delish!

At the end of the lunch, I left with a happy tummy and a funny story. It was a great day. I really wish I had that peach pie recipe. It was super super good - just not as good as I bet the strawberry tart would have been. If I ever make it back to Paris, I'll have to try the strawberry, or anything else they serve. It's all yummy to me!

TWD: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

This week's TWD recipe was easy peasy and super fun. I actually made these twice over the long weekend.

My brother was in town from Texas helping my stepsister (who lives in San Diego) move back to Big D. She's been out here for a few years and was ready to head back home. All our family is in TX and I don't blame her one bit for wanting to go back. Aren't we cute:

Anyway, back to cookies.

I made these treats for the sibs to eat and they enjoyed them so much that I packed up the leftovers for use as road snacks. I think I scored some awesome-ness points for that.

I also whipped up another batch Monday night to take to work and for hubs to take to his Tuesday night soccer game. I can't help it. I'm a giver.

With regard to the recipe made a couple of changes. I used less nutmeg and I used whatever choc chips I had in my cupboard. So I ended up with some milk, semi, and bitter sweet chips in my cookies. Next time, I may add heath pieces.

Overall, these cookies were super yummy and totally easy. Hubs game 'em A. That's pretty huge.

Thanks to Stephany for choosing this week's recipe. Yummy, chewy, chunky deliciousness. Head over to Tuesdays with Dorie and give our other bakers some love.

Next week, it's my turn to choose! Stay tuned. :)