Petits Fours

With Valentines Day just around the corner, what better way to surprise your loved one with something home made and from the heart? These were surprisingly easy to make, a bit time consuming but they were not difficult. I made them for the first time this past weekend for my mom's birthday. We didn't want a cake and especially not a store bought cake either so I decided to try something new. Petits Fours! What is a petit four? Its a small, bite sized confection, in this case, a small cake layered with fruit jam and then covered with a sugar glaze or fondant.

If you are 100% prepared, then this might not be as time consuming as it was for me, I made the almond paste from scratch as well as the frangipane cake, which is the traditional cake for this nice little dessert.

You will need one recipe of cake or you could always just make or buy a different kind of cake as long as you can cut it without crumbling too much. If the cake is dry, brush on some fruit liquer or melted jam (or both!).

You will also need a fruit jam of your choice or you could make butter cream layers. I used raspberry and apricot jam since the cake was pretty rich.

Step 1. Determine the size petit fours you want. I think mine were about a square inch. I cut the first row, and then used that row as a pattern to make even squares across the rest of the cake.


Step 2: Look through your squares. If any of them are thick enough to be split, I say go ahead and split them to thin out the cake. It will be nice to have a couple triple petits fours (wow so many numbers in that sentence!)

Step 3: Start spreading the jam! Don't put too much or it will ooze out of the sides, and don't do too little, you want to be able to taste the fruit! Top the jammed cake with another cake and voila, you have a double layer petit four, or if you want to make a triple layer, try using two different fruit jams.

Step 4: Once you have all of your petits fours ready, get your glaze going. Here is the recipe I used:

• 6 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1 tsp almond extract (or any kind you like)
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• In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches a temperature of 92 F, I think mine went a little higher but it was fine.  Mixture should be thin enough to pour, but thick enough to coat . Stir in the almond extract.
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• Step 6: Place a petit four on a fork, hold it over your glaze pot and with a spoon, spoon the glaze over the cake making sure that all sides have been covered. Allow the excess to drop off and then place on a cooling rack to dry.
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• Step 7: Once the petit fours are dry, you can decorate them any way you would like, or if you are using stick on decorations, be sure to stick them to the fondant glaze while still wet to ensure that the decorations stay.
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• Use your imagination as well as what you have in your cupboard, you would be surprised at the amount of combinations and flavors you can come up with! 
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• Lastly...Enjoy!

Almond Paste for Pastries & Desserts

You might be thinking, what do I need almond paste for!? Well, if you are baking frangipane, you will need almond paste. You might now be thinking, what the heck is frangipane? Well...have you ever had petits fours? Its the cake layer, and its quite delicious!

1 3/4 cups ground almonds
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg white
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a food processor add all of the ingredients and mix. Your paste is now formed!


Because of the raw egg, I will be using this paste in a baked good, but other versions of paste that don't use raw eggs can be used for pastry fillings, cookies, cakes...you name it!

Frangipane

I've decided make this its own post, solely for the purpose of making it easier to find in the future should any of us need it for something.

This cake is so moist and buttery and is typically used to make Petits Fours. You have the choice to use pre-ground almond meal or you can grind your own almonds, in which case you might want to blanch them and remove the skins. I bought pre-ground almond meal from Trader Joes so  the cake is not purely white, which is perfectly fine!

7 oz almond paste
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup flour
Parchment paper

Now, this part is confusing because it depends on how thick you want the cake to be. I used the smallest of the cookie sheets that I had, lined it with pachment paper and preheated the oven to 350F.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Creamy Lemon Chicken "Piccata"

So as some of you know I have been following a new eating program, hoping to shed a few pounds. Yes that is right, I am proud to share that with you all :) .  Anyways , part of the program, besides eating every 2-3 hours is a 3 week "makeover" where you have to learn to eat that often and make sure that what you are eating isn't made completely of fat and makes up a well balanced meal. Tonight I challenged myself to stray away from their recipe cards and to make something that represents ME. It's actually VERY similar to my Creamy Chicken Marsala recipe, but instead this is lemony and creamy.

Also, since this recipe is so low fat I used a non stick pan which worked out nicely, and I still got golden brown chicken.


4 chicken breasts, pounded thin or butterflied
1/3 cup flour
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
1 container sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp capers
2 garlic cloves minced
1 lemon, juiced (can even use zest too yum)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp either cream cheese or mascarpone or even a splash of fat free half n half (I use low fat cream cheese)
1 tsp smart balance


1. Heat your pan and fat of choice over medium heat.
2. Pound out the chicken, salt and pepper both sides and dredge in the flour.
3. Add each piece to the pan and allow them to cook for about 3-4 minutes until a golden crust has formed. Then flip to the other side, same thing 3-4 minutes.
4. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside. Add the mushrooms, garlic and artichokes, saute. You can add a little oil or broth to saute.
5. Add the liquids, and place the chicken into the pan, juice and all!
6. Let simmer for a bit and then add the cream cheese and dijon mustard, mix thoroughly until you have a creamy sauce and chicken is cooked completely.


Serve with pasta!


*I had to thicken my sauce with arrowroot (or cornstarch) but if you follow my creamy chicken marsala recipe you can make your roux with equal parts fat and flour, and that can be your sauce thickener. 

Pork Tenderloin Three Ways!

Left: Maple, Back: Herbed, Right: Mango

My family and I wanted to try something different for a holiday dinner. Usually we would have some kind of roast (turkey, ham, pork, beef) but roasts tend to be a little dry, so I suggested we try roast pork tenderloin. You can buy a pork tenderloin at any grocery store, and they are pretty inexpensive, unlike its beef counterpart. Plus, these tender pieces of meat shouldn't be dry and tough like other meats can get.

In my photo each tenderloin is about 1 to 1 and half pounds, I am not sure if the come any larger than that and that should feed about two people, maybe even three. Once you have your loin at home, the next important step is to figure out what on earth you want it to taste like! You can be plain and sprinkle with just salt and pepper, but we wanted to try a few variations, since we had three tenderloins. We ended up with mango chutney, maple and herbed. Yum!

Herbed, Maple and Mango

For the mango chutney (or you can use ANY fruit flavored jam you you have), I mixed about 1/4 cup of chutney with a table spoon of dijon mustard and 2 tsp of oil. Easy right? Smear it on the tenderloin and voila! Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Next, the maple! 1/4 Maple syrup, 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard, 2 tsp oil and maybe 1/2 tsp dried sage. Smear again and sprinkle with salt and pepper. I'd let this one sit for a while if you have the time to let the maple penetrate the loin. This also would be awesome grilled!

The last one we did was a simple dry rub of herbs. I used 1 tsp dried rosemary, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp dried sage, salt, pepper, a little oregano or thyme and voila!

It was one of the easiest holiday meals we've made and the loins were delicious. We served them with roasted carrots, onions and potatoes, acorn squash and fresh baked dinner rolls.

The Best Dinner Rolls You will EVER Have

This past Thanksgiving I decided no more factory made crap, *I* was going to attempt to make the dinner rolls! After scouring the internet for days, I actually came across a really good and easy recipe for the best dinner rolls I think I have ever eaten. Surprisingly, it is a King Arthur Flour recipe that I found, a little hesitant because the brand is pretty commercial, I tried it and will never look back, plus their blog is really fun to read.

Keep in mind when cooking for holidays you don't want to do ALL of your cooking on that morning, actually, you shouldn't even want to do some of your cooking on that morning. I did a little experiment with these rolls by making them they day before, but I was afraid that maybe they might not taste as fresh the next day. Boy was I wrong. I par-baked these the day before, they were still snow white, but then popped them into the oven on Thanksgiving Day and 10 minutes later, perfectly golden dinner rolls.

Well, the most recent holiday was New Years Day so I decided to make these rolls again. We had pork tenderloin roasted with carrots and onions, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, acorn squash and of course my ever so fluffy dinner rolls!

This recipe makes 24, which is a lot, but they last for a couple of days I found out, however, since they are so yummy, you may not have to worry about that. I've broken this out into steps, hopefully making it a bit easier to follow and understand. You will need anywhere up to 6-7 cups of flour, even though I don't mention specifics below just yet. Just follow each step, and read ahead before you begin.

Watch how quickly the yeast activates!

RECIPE!

Step 1:

Proofed Yeast

1/2 cup warm water
2 cups warm milk
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp instant yeast (yes, table spoons!)

Mix these together and allow to sit for a couple of minutes until it becomes foamy, its now very alive!

Step 2:

Mix in 5 cups of white flour, slowly so that you don't get flour everywhere if using a stand mixer (with paddle attachment). The dough will look very sticky and not well formed, this is ok! Add 1/2 cup more flour until the dough starts to come together, switch to the dough hook and let your mixer knead for about 5 minutes. Very quickly, and lightly, push on the dough, it should spring back, this means it is done. I actually ended up kneading a bit by hand because I like the way the dough feels and I like being able to feel when its about ready.

Sticky dough, add more flour to form the ball

Step 3:

Place your dough ball on the counter and place your bowl over the dough. It will rise for only about 15 minutes. At this point you can preheat the oven to 350F if baking today. I am going to par bake my rolls and finish them tomorrow just before dinner.

This dough is very soft but not sticky

Step 4:

Test the dough. You will want to now poke your finger pretty far into the dough, and the indent should stay. Yay, next step!

Step 5:

Form the dough into a rectangle, I'd say about half inch thick and then slice into 4 strips. Cut each strip into 6 pieces....6x4 = 24 rolls!

Step 6:

Form each 1/6 piece of dough into a smooth round and place on a cooking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can put them a little close, but not too much. They will need to now rise for another 15 minutes. It is ok if they are touching, when they bake, you pull them apart and they look just like dinner rolls! You could even freeze the dough too at this point.

Step 7:

After the rolls have had their second 15 minute rising, bake them at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until just slightly golden. Since I par bake, I will go for about 10-15 minutes until they have just set and no longer doughy and then bake for another 10 minutes just before serving. 

Note: Can I just tell you how wonderful the house smelled as these were baking? I wish I could put a scratch n sniff dinner roll on this page somewhere!

The Perfect Holiday Meal: Beef Wellington

 The toughest part about making this dinner is that everyone likes their meat cooked a certain way. This is one of those times when everyone has to agree on the level of doneness and then deal with it. Some like it barely cooked to the point that its still mooing, while others like it well done. This isn't really one of those roasts for either extreme, but this certainly is a show stopper for your next holiday meal!

Also, 90% of Americans are deathly afraid (not allergic, just afraid) of both mushrooms and pate, don't be. As much as some people might like to think that they can taste the liver in the pate, or the mushrooms, you can't. The flavors blend so nicely together, just like a Caesar dressing with anchovies, you shouldn't taste an overpowerment of one over the other. This is one of those recipes where trying to substitute these items for something else just won't cut it, so friends, don't do it!

Since the beef tenderloin is the most tender part of the cow, it just happens to be one of the most expensive cuts, but if you call around to a few butchers you can find the best price. Last year we went to a local super market and paid about $11.99/lb (maybe even more), but this year I went to a butcher on Route 1, Hilltop Steakhouse (The HUGE neon cactus) and paid $8.99/lb. The roast still cost almost $60. After seeing how much this made, I would cut it down to maybe a 4 lb roast, but this did make excellent leftover sandwiches.

Beef tenderloin ( I used a 6 lb roast)
1 package white button mushrooms, chopped fine
1 large onion chopped fine
8 oz pate
Red Wine (just a splash)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 package thawed puff pastry
1 egg
Salt n Pepper

1. Heat oven to 425. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the roast and place in a baking dish. Place tenderloin into the over for about 40 minutes. You can baste the loin with the rendered fat and juices. Because my family like their meat barely pink, I left mine in the oven for much longer at a little bit lower temperature. Once the loin is cooked, place it somewhere cool to rest and go on to the next steps.

Roasted to medium rare and cooling (don't throw out the bits at the bottom!)

2. In the mean time, melt the butter in a pan and saute the onions and mushrooms. Cook these until all of the liquid evaporates. Also, this is where you will want to add your splash of wine. Season with salt and pepper. This is called "duxelles" or in my world, mushroom mixture. :-D

3. Prepare the puff pastry. Sprinkle a bit of flour over your counter top and roll out, then place on an unbaked cookie sheet. Once the meat has cooled, place it in the center of the pastry.

4.  Spread your pate evenly over the whole roast. Then add the mushroom mixture (duxelles). Roll out the second sheet of pastry and gently place over the top and crimp the edges. However! My tenderloin roast was split into two (by the butcher, I didn't know), and each roast fit perfectly inside each puff pastry, so we actually had two beef wellingtons. 

5. Brush the beaten egg over the top of the wellington and bake in the oven at 425F for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350F and bake for another 20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Pate: You can really use any kind of spreadable pate you can find. I used a delicious one that I got at Market Basket for $4.69 and included truffles (Hey no one ever said this dish was cheap!).

Mushrooms: Use any kind you like, really. You can mix and match, I am sure they would all taste great! However, the reason I used button is they are the cheapest and you don't exactly taste them since they are finely minced.