Jamming With Bacon

The old adage that everything is better with bacon holds true.  In my quest for new bacon related recipes I stumbled upon this one from King Arthur Flour.  Because it is made in a crock pot, the hands on time for this dish is minimal and your entire house will be filled with the sweet and salty aroma of this jam before you are done.  I was initially taken aback by the ingredients, which individually I love but I just couldn't fathom being put together as a single dish (maple syrup mixed with coffee???), but the results surprised me........after all everything is better with bacon.  Whether served on bread slices and paired with a salad for a light dinner or paired with bread and goat cheese as part of a buffet table, this jam is a hit.

Not having boiled cider on hand, and being unable to have it shipped to me, I improvised by making a reduction of apple juice cooked with a whole cinnamon stick and five whole cloves.  The result isn't quite the same but the resulting syrup seemed to do the trick.

BACON JAM

1 1/2 pounds bacon

2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup boiled cider

3/4 cup strong brewed coffee

2 dried bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1)  Slice the bacon into 1" slices and cook in a large skillet until well browned.  Drain the fat and reserve the bacon.

2)  Place the cooked bacon and all other ingredients into a 2 quart or larger crock pot.  Cover and cook  on high for 3 to 4 hours.

3)  Remove the cooked jam from the crock pot, remove the bay leaves, and carefully transfer to a food processor or blender.  (I used a bowl and my trusty stick blender).  Pulse until the consistency is to your liking, a soft, spreadable jam.  You can leave the bacon in larger bits or pulse until very small, your choice.

4)  If you find the jam too liquid for your taste, transfer to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the liquid has evaporated and the jam is thick and syrupy.  Adjust the seasonings and serve warm.

5)  Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  Warm in the microwave before serving.

Yield:  2 cups

Pumpkin Donuts

Cooking with Mamma

In celebration of fall, and in preparation of a postponed Embassy-wide Halloween celebration, Sidney and I made homemade doughnuts this weekend.  I dipped into my precious stash of imported canned pumpkin puree and broke out my new mini doughnut pans in order to make this super fast and easy pumpkin cake doughnut recipe from King Arthur Flour.

If you don't have a doughnut mold- and how many of us really do- you can use a muffin pan which would probably be easier to fill.  The results will be the same; a light and richly flavored pumpkin morsel to help celebrate this autumn season.

BAKED PUMPKIN CAKE DOUGHNUTS

DOUGHNUTS

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

COATING

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1)  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease two doughnut pans.  (I used miniature ones and
      reduced my baking time but standard sized ones or even muffin pans will also work).

2)  Beat together the oil, eggs sugar, pumpkin, spices, salt, and baking powder until smooth.

3)  Add the flour, stirring just until smooth.

4)  Fill the wells of the doughnut pans about 3/4 full.  Bake for 10 minutes for miniature doughnuts, 15
      minutes for standard sized ones, and 25 minutes for standard sized muffins.

5)  Remove the doughnuts from the oven, and after about 5 minutes loosen their edges, and transfer
      them to a wire rack to cool.  Repeat the baking process until all the batter has been used.

6)  Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a pie plate.  While the doughnuts are still warm, roll the
     doughnuts in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

7)  Cool completely, and wrap airtight; store at room temperature for several days.

Double Corn and Thyme Cornbread

The only cornbread my family
will eat

I love to serve a good cornbread as an accompaniment to a bowl of chili but have never been able to find one that is moist enough to satisfy my finicky boys (yes, both of them).  This one, from Joanne Chang's Flour Cookbook, turned out to be a winner.  (In fact, every recipe I have made from this book has been a success.  As an added bonus, ingredients are listed in both standard American measurements as well as by weight which saves those of us in Europe from having to do those painful conversions).

The recipe called for creme fraiche but lacking both the creme fraiche and my usual substitute of sour cream, I made my own substitute of 7/8 cup of buttermilk (re-hydrated buttermilk powder from King Arthur Flour since we also don't have fresh buttermilk in Albania) and 3 tablespoons of melted butter.  This substitute seemed to do the trick but I am looking forward to making this again using creme fraiche.  I think that will take the bread from very good to outstanding.   The recipe also called for baking the bread in a 9-by-13 inch loaf pan. Preferring to serve the bread in wedges, I used a 10-inch round cake pan instead and this worked out well.

DOUBLE-CORN AND THYME CORN BREAD

1 cup (200 grams) coarse yellow cornmeal
2 1/2 cups (350 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup (56 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup (50 grams) canola oil
1/4 cup (55 grams) packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (240 grams) milk
3/4 cup (180 grams) creme fraiche
1 cup (160 grams) fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme


1)  Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C.  Butter
      a cake pan.

2)  In a large bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until
      combined.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, oil, and brown sugar until a thick
      slurry forms.  Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, and then whisk in the milk and creme fraiche.

Dry ingredients

3)  Pour the egg-sugar mixture into the cornmeal mixture, and then, using a rubber spatula, fold together
      until all of the cornmeal is completely incorporated.

Egg mixture

4)   Fold in the corn kernels and the thyme until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.  The batter will be thick and pasty.  Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Corn and thyme

Ready for the oven

4)  Bake for 40-50 minutes (mine baked for 45 minutes in the round pan), or until the top is a light
     golden brown and the center springs back when you poke it in the middle with a fingertip.  Let cool
     completely in the pan on a wire rack, then cut into 12 wedges.

5)  The corn bread can be stored, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 2 days
      or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.  If frozen, thaw at room temperature for 3 or 4 hours and refresh
      in a 300 degree F /150 degree C oven for 8 minutes.

Apple Cinnamon Scones

This one can be added to the nothing is easy in Albania files...........I woke up the other day craving scones.   After digging through my recipes I came across a recipe for Fresh Apple Cinnamon Scones from King Arthur Flour.  These would be the perfect goodie to fulfill my breakfast treat craving while getting in a dose of fruits (the apples of course).  Plus the recipe called for the inclusion of cinnamon chips and surprisingly enough, I had two whole bagfuls in the pantry.  So what was the problem?  The recipe also called for apple sauce.

Apple sauce is one of those surprising foods you just can't buy here in Albania.  Yes it is simple enough to make your own but not having any on hand and not being able to run out to the grocery store to pick some up, suddenly turned my simple morning treat plans into something that wasn't so simple any more.  I wouldn't be deterred though and with the scones still on my mind, I set about making a small batch of apple sauce.

Start with some apples

Ready to be pureed

As a baby Sidney was a huge fan of applesauce so for a period of time it felt as though I was making batches on a weekly basis.  I don't follow a formal recipe for applesauce; rather I use what is on hand.  For this batch I peeled, cored, and chopped up five medium sized red apples, added them to a pan with about a half cup of water and threw in a cinnamon stick. I let the mixture simmer over low heat for about twenty minutes.  What resulted was a slightly tart and cinnamon infused puree.  I could have eaten it as it was but that would have defeated the whole purpose for making the sauce.  At last I could finally move on to my primary cooking project.

KING ARTHUR FLOUR'S APPLE CINNAMON SCONES

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tsp apple pie spice or ground cinnamon (I used ground cinnamon)

1/2 cup cold butter

3/4 c chopped fresh apple, cut in 1/2 " pieces (peeled mine but you can also leave the skin on)

3/4 cup cinnamon chips

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract (I make my own)

TOPPING

3 tbsp coarse white sparkling sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1)  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and spice.

2)  Work in the butter just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly; it is ok for some larger chunks of

     butter to remain unincorporated.

Flour and butter

3)  Stir in the chopped apple and cinnamon chips.

4)  In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and applesauce.

5)  Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together.

6)  Line a baking sheet with parchment; if you don't have parchment, just use it without greasing it.

     Sprinkle a bit of flour atop the parchment.

7)  Scrape the dough onto the floured parchment paper or pan, and divide it in half.  Gently pat and

      round each half into a 5" to 5 1/2" circle about 3/4" thick.

8)  To make the topping:  stir together the course sugar and cinnamon.  Brush each circle with milk, and

     sprinkle with the topping.

9)  Using a kitchen knife that you've run under cold water, slice each circle into 6 wedges.

10)  Carefully pull the wedges away from the center to separate them just a bit; there should be about

       1/2" of space between them, at their outer edges.

Ready for the oven

11)   For the best texture and highest rise, place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes,

        uncovered.  While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. (Do not skip the

        freezer step).

12)  Bake the scones for 18 to 22 minutes, or until they're golden brown.

13)  Remove the scones from the oven, and cool briefly in the pan.  Serve warm.

Yield:  12 scones

Ready to eat

Apple Skillet Cake

Fall is apple season and during a recent trip to the market I scored several varieties of red, yellow, and green apples.  I'm not sure what types they were- the green ones looked similar to Granny Smiths, the red ones Macintoshes, and the yellow ones Golden Delicious.  All of the apples were grown in the Korce  region of southeastern Albania.  Korce is also home to an annual apple festival held each October and if you ask most Albanians, they will tell you that Korce apple are the best.  At least this is what my nanny and the woman and the local market assure me.

Spiced apples ready to go

With an abundance of fresh apples in hand, I set out to bake a sweet that featured this fall fruit.  Opting for easy, I selected King Arthur Flour's Apple Skillet Cake.  This being Albania, however, I had to make substitutions with the ingredients I had on hand.  The first was with the flour.  I'm a huge fan of King Arthur Flour--it is the only brand I buy in the States-- but after receiving several powdery filled shipments in the mail, I'm resorted to buying flour locally.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing but I find that I have to read the labels -whether they are in Albanian, Italian, or Greek- carefully since many flours have baking powder mixed in.  The recipe called for green apples but since I had a variety of types on hand, I went for a mixture.  I do this when I make  apple pies as well and personally prefer the different tastes and textures.  I compensated for the sweetness of the apples by reducing the amount of brown sugar slightly.  

Apples and batter ready to bake

While the types of apple juice available in the stores is numerous, I have been unable to find anything that even closely resembles the apple cider called for in the recipe.  Thanks to Sidney's love of all things juice, I had a carton of green apple juice on hand. I doubled the 3 tablespoons the recipe called for and boiled it down into a reduction.  The resulting syrup lacked the depth of flavor found in cider but I think it did the trick of adding moisture to the apples nicely.  To compensate for the lack of spices in the juice, I also increased the amount of apple pie spice the recipe called for.  I don't usually use pre-made spice mixtures and think my own combination of cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg and a dash of ginger is far superior to any store bought mix.  As part of my last spice shipment from Penzeys Spices, however, I had received a complimentary sample of apple pie spice so I decided to thrown this into the mixture. 

I love any recipe that calls for using my big heavy cast iron skillet so was especially excited when I saw that the recipe suggested using one for baking.  Fortunately, my finicky, European sized oven is just large enough to hold the skillet.  On this day the oven decided to run hot so I knocked 15 minutes off of the baking time and the cake emerged sweet, moist and golden brown with that crust you can only get from cooking with cast iron.  After allowing the cake to cool slightly I had a slice with a cup of tea. The verdict:  easy and good and the perfect treat for a cool autumn afternoon.

Of course, a slice eaten with coffee for breakfast the next morning was also good.

With a bit of whipped cream, ready to eat!