Baking – Page 3 – Jen Maan in Amman

Homemade Membrillo or Quince Paste

While scouring grocery stores last week in search of pumpkin puree and figs (to make jam, but I’m too late; they’re gone), I came across quinces. Had these quinces not been labeled, I would have walked right past them, as I’m oft to do with some of the other exotic and puzzling produce that I come across. My only familiarity to quince is from membrillo, or quince paste, which often accompanies cheese boards. I love membrillo and have bought it from gourmet grocery stores, but it’s extremely expensive for a small container. I had no idea how to make quince paste from these large, lumpy, and furry massive fruits, but figured I’d find a recipe online.

I bought four quinces, figuring that would be enough to make something and headed home to my computer. I found hundreds of recipes, all slightly different. Some called for peeling, then poaching the fruit, while others recommended roasting it. From what I read, the fruit is quite worthless unless you cook it first. I opted for the roasting method, hoping to avoid the peeling step, and modified a recipe from Gourmet (January, 1998).

My only alteration to the recipe below is that in step six, you wait until the liquid has turned a deep reddish hue. My quince paste is a little on the pinkish side as opposed to the deep, dark red that it should be. Regardless of the color, it tastes fantastic and was a hit at our Thanksgiving.

In addition to finding lots of recipes, I also found the history of quinces interesting. Here’s a snippet of quince trivia, which might come in hand if you’re ever playing the game Foodie Fight.

http://stores.renstore.com/-strse-template/0810a/Page.bok

INGREDIENTS

4 medium quinces (about 2 pounds total)
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
2 to 3 cups sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly oil a 1-quart terrine and line with buttered parchment. (I used a mini loaf pan instead.)

Mini loaf as a terrine (I only needed one)

2. Scrub quinces and pat dry. (My quinces had a strange, furry coating that I rubbed off). In a small roasting pan bake quinces, covered with foil, in middle of oven until tender, about 2 hours, and transfer pan to a rack.

3. When quinces are cool enough to handle, with a sharp knife peel, quarter, and core them.
4. In a food processor puree pulp with 1/4 cup water until smooth (if mixture is too thick, add remaining 1/4 cup water a little at a time, as needed). Force puree through a large fine sieve or cheese cloth into a liquid cup measure and measure amount of puree.

5. Transfer puree to a 3-quart heavy saucepan and add an equivalent amount of sugar.

6. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Cook quince puree over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened and begins to pull away from side of pan, about 25 minutes. (Keep stirring until the liquid has turned a deep reddish color).

I should have waited until the color was a deeper reddish

7. Pour puree into terrine, smoothing top with an offset spatula. Place in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes to further dry the quince paste. Cool and chill puree, loosely covered with plastic wrap, until set, about 4 hours.

8. Run a thin knife around sides of terrine and invert quince paste onto a platter. (Quince paste keeps, wrapped well in wax paper and then plastic wrap and chilled, 3 months–I’ve also read that it keeps indefinitely. The sugar works as a preservative).

9. Slice paste and serve with cheese and crackers.

Makes about 2 1/4 pounds quince paste.

Baking

Fall Baking, Part II: Pumpkin Walnut, Chocolate Bread

Pumpkin bread, like banana bread, is one of the simplest and least fussy recipes I know. You basically ‘dump’ and mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, place the loaf pan in the oven, and an hour or so later, you’re treated to a delicious smelling kitchen and a rich and spicy piece of heaven. However, when you’re in Jordan (and let’s not forget there’s always a snag or else this blog wouldn’t exist) finding canned pumpkin puree (even during the Thanksgiving season!) is near to impossible.

[Note: I’m sure some random person will comment that they’ve found it at such and such a place, but I’m telling you, I’ve now been to THREE large grocery stores in the area and cannot find it ANYWHERE!]

Lucky for me though (and Raj), I planned ahead in the event something like this were to occur–I packed (way back in April) one 28 ounce can of leftover pumpkin puree. Knowing now that I cannot find canned pumpkin anywhere else, pumpkin pie is off the Thanksgiving menu this year. I need to save the remaining leftover from the can for the next (and sadly) last pumpkin loaf we will eat this fall.

[This recipe is modified from The Art and Soul of Baking, by Cindy Mushet]

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position rack in the center. Lightly coat a 9-by 5-inch loaf pan with Pam or other oil spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, and salt until thoroughly blended. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and water. Add the sugar and blend well. Add the pumpkin puree, canola oil, and vanilla extract and blend well.

2. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until blended and smooth. Add the walnuts and chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed. Use a spatula to scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and level the top.

3. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until the bread is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Baking

Fall Baking (Part I): Scottish Oatmeal Bread

In an attempt to properly align myself with the seasons (even though it still feels like summer here) I sought out a hearty bread to bake from my still favorite bread cookbook, Kneadlessly Simple. It’s incredibly easy to make and tastes good enough to be considered dessert. It’s great with a dab of butter, jam or served as French toast.

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour, plus 3/4 cup, plus more as needed
scant 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon instant, fast-rising yeast
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing pan and oaf top
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, plus 4 tablespoons for garnish
2/3 cup boiling water
6 tablespoons packed light or dark brown sugar
2/3 cup dried currants, rinsed under hot water, then thoroughly drained and patted dry (optional, I didn’t use any)

First Rise: In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together 2 1/2 cups of the flour, the salt, yeast, allspice, and nutmeg. Vigorously stir the ice water and orange zest into the flour mixture, scraping down the sides just until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. If too dry to mix, a bit at a time, stir in just enough more ice water to blend the ingredients, but don’t over-moisten, as the dough should be fairly stiff. Stir in more flour to stiffen it if necessary. Brush the top with softened butter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. If desired, for best flavor or for convenience, you can refrigerate the dough for 3 to 10 hours. Then let rise at cool room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.

Second Rise: In a medium bowl, gradually stir the oats into the boiling water until well blended. Let stand for 5 minutes to partially cook. Stir in the butter and sugar until the sugar dissolves and let cool thoroughly. Vigorously stir the cooled oatmeal mixture into the dough until thoroughly incorporated. Add in 3/4 cup of the flour and the currants until evenly distributed throughout, then as needed, enough more flour to yield a very stiff dough, scraping down the bowl thoroughly. Using an oiled rubber spatula and working all the way around the bowl, fold the dough in towards the center.

Generously butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Add 2 tablespoons of oats to the pan: tip it back and forth to evenly distribute them. Invert the dough into the pan. Smooth out the top and press the dough evenly into the pan. Brush the loaf with melted butter. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons oats over the top pressing down to embed them. Using an oiled serrated knife of kitchen shears, cut a 6-inch long, 1/2-inch-deep slash down the loaf center. Cover the pan with nonstick spray-coated plastic wrap.

Let rise using either of these methods: For a 1 3/4- to 2 1/2-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; for a 1- to 2-hour accelerated rise, let stand in a turned-off microwave along with 1 cup boiling-hot water. Continue the rise until the dough nears the plastic. Remove it and continue until the dough extends just to the pan rim (it will rise a lot in the oven).

Baking Preliminaries: 20 minutes before baking time, put a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 375 degrees F.

Baking: Bake on the lower rack for 65 to 75 minutes, until the top is nicely browned and a skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out with moist crumbs on the tip (or until the center registers 204 to 206 degrees on an instant-read thermometer). (As necessary to prevent over-browning, cover the top with foil.) Then bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer to ensure the center is baked through. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the loaf to the rack; cool throughly.

Baking

Super Easy & Delicious Homemade French Walnut Bread

It’s been awhile, I know. I’ve missed blogging and feel as though I’m just coming up for air after a long stretch of weekend teaching (just the last two weekends). As a result of ‘working,’ something that I haven’t done for a while, I’ve been neglecting my domestic duties (as Raj points out every time he opens the refrigerator door). What better way to jump back into the swing of things than with home-made bread. Want to be a hero or a goddess in your home? Bake this bread NOW. There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through out of kitchen and into the rest of the house (apartment in our case).

Now you may be thinking that bread is for bakers (which I aspire to be) and a baker you are not? Never fear! This fabulous book that I’ve just recently cracked open (one of the few to travel with me) makes baking fuss-free and requires no-kneading. Is that even possible? Yes. The secret to this book is through letting the dough slow rise, which allows it to knead itself (it’s magic!). Additionally, most of the recipes are made in one bowl with one spoon–a dream come true for those unfortunate few like myself who lack domestic help (alright, I do have help, but only one day a week) or a dishwasher (I’m still dealing with this one).

For this particular loaf, I used a large Le Creuset pot. I was worried about placing the lid in the over (it has a plastic knob) because the manufacturer claims it can only be heated to 350 degrees and this recipe requires 400 degrees. I’m happy to report that the knob was fine, so you needn’t worry about ruining your $250 pot.

French Walnut Bread from Nancy Baggett’s, Kneadlessly Simple:

2 cups whole wheat flour, plus extra if desired
2 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour
1 tsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. table salt
3/4 tsp. instant, fast-rising, or bread machine yeast
2 cups ice water, plus more if needed
Walnut oil or flavorless vegetable oil for coating dough top and baking pot
1 1/2 cups fresh, fine-quality walnut halves

First Rise: In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together the whole wheat and white flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Vigorously stir in the water, scraping down the bowl and mixing until the dough is well blended and smooth. If the mixture is too dry to incorporate all the flour, a bit at a time, stir in just enough more water to blend the ingredients; don’t over-moisten, as the dough should be very stiff. Brush or spray the top with oil. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap. If desired, for best flavor or for convenience, you can refrigerate the dough for 3 to 10 hours. Then let rise at cool room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.

Meanwhile, reserve 4 perfect walnut halves for garnish. Spread the remainder on a baking sheet and lightly toast, stirring several times, in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until fragrant and just lightly browned. Let cool. Chop finely (in a food processor, if desired).

Second Rise: Vigorously stir the cooled walnuts into the dough. If it is not stiff, stir in enough more whole wheat flour to make it hard to stir. Using an oiled rubber spatula, lift and fold the dough in towards the center, working all the way around the bowl. Invert it into a well-oiled, then flour-dusted, 3-quart (or larger) heavy metal pot (or use a flat-bottomed round casserole with a lid). Brush or spray the top with oil, then smooth out the surface with an oiled rubber spatula or fingertips. Cut 1/2-inch deep slashes to form an X in the center top; well-oiled kitchen sheers work best. Put the 4 untoasted walnut halves in the angles of the X for garnish; press down very firmly to embed them. Cover the pot with its lid.

Let Rise Using Any of These Methods: For a 1 1/2 – to 2 1/2-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; for a 1 – to 2-hour accelerated rise, let stand in a turned-off microwave along with 1 cup of boiling-hot water; or for an extended rise, refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours, then set out at room temperature. Continue until the dough doubles from its deflated size.

Baking Preliminaries: 15 minutes before baking time, place a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 400 degrees. Lightly dust the dough top with whole wheat flour.

Baking: Bake on the lower rack, covered, for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top is well browned and a skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out with just a few particles clinging to the bottom (or until the center registers 207 to 210 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer). Then bake for 5 minutes more to ensure the center is done. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the loaf to the rack, running a knife around the edges to loosen it, if necessary.

Serving and Storing: The loaf tastes and slices best at room temperature. Cool completely before storing airtight in plastic or foil. The bread will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days, and may be frozen, airtight, for up to 2 months.

Baking, Cooking, Living in Amman

Pop-Quiz: How Do You Convert a Stick of Butter to Tablespoons?

Pop quiz of the day:

Background to the problem

You’re living in Jordan. You like to bake and are used to using unsalted sticks of butter like the one below. Notice anything different about the stick of butter? The size? The width? The package?

Say you want to make chocolate chip cookies for your STARVING and sweet-deprived husband. You need 10 tablespoons (or 1/2 cup of butter, plus 2 tablespoons). Normally, you’d use one stick of butter (equalling 8 tablespoons) and cut two additional tablespoons from another stick, right? You buy what look like ordinary sticks of unsalted butter at the grocery store, but…there’s always a but here….you open up the packaging and are puzzled. There ARE NO TICK MARKS on the packaging to indicate the measurement of butter. What do you do?

a. You get out a tablespoon and manually measure the butter (all 10 of them, what a waste of time and end up making a BIG mess–remember, you don’t have a dishwasher, either).

b. You make an estimate, knowing full well that you may have wasted PRECIOUS ingredients that are hard to come by here (chocolate chips) and are insanely expensive (pure vanilla extract–kept in the safe next to the salami).

c. You attempt to get resourceful and create your own measuring device.

d. You cry and get upset that your husband made you come here to the land of butter without measurement.

e. You _______________ (fill in the blank with your own response).

I’m sure there’s some logical explanation for how people here measure butter here, but I’m fresh out of ideas…

My answer?

Here’s my first attempt at creating my own measuring guide. It worked for the single-wide sticks, but threw me off on the BIG-DADDY, double-wide sticks.

The next conundrum: how to measure a double-wide stick of butter.

Luckily for me, my sister had forwarned me prior to moving (and based on her experiences cooking in Italy) that I’d need a scale for measuring ingredients. I bought the scale a while ago, threw it under a cabinet, never to be seen, until the butter threw me for a loop! As I was unpacking the scale I discovered, to my utter delight, a conversion booklet for all sorts of things. I flipped to the page titled “fats” and hit pay dirt. OMG! Hallelujah! Now I’m able to accurately measure my butter (along with other “fats” using the scale).

Problem solved, for me at least, so I suppose the real pop-quiz here is: How do Jordanian’s convert their sticks of butter into tablespoons?

Baking

Boredom Baking: Fat Free Banana Bread

I was desperate to cook something, anything yesterday, but I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store and I had only limited items in my larder. I had two rotting bananas sitting on the counter, so I thought I’d make banana bread, but when I looked for the rest of the ingredients, I was VERY limited. I didn’t have any yogurt (to replace the butter) and I only had egg beaters; no eggs. I could have gone to the store, but why bother? I’ll be going there this weekend anyway and it’s never pleasurable shopping, so I made do. I looked for recipes in my favorite go to baking cookbook, America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book, but didn’t have half the ingredients so I went online and searched for fat-free (euphemism for tasteless) banana bread. I found hundreds of really boring, flat recipes, so I synthesized a few and came up with this one. [Note: Since I didn’t want to use butter (remember, I’ve gained weight) and I had an apple in the refrigerator, I decided to make my own (sugar-free) applesauce. I peeled the apple, cut it up, and placed it in the microwave for one and a half minutes until it was soft enough to mash. I pulverized it with an immersion blender, which successfully mashed it up to the right consistency of applesauce. This was probably more work than would have been to go to the grocery store(or even than it was worth), but I have the luxury of time.]

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 egg whites
1 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
about 1/8 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
about 1 tbl. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray nonstick spray into one loaf pan, or two little one’s like I used. Place flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Whisk to blend. Place bananas, apple sauce, sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a separate bowl and mix until well combined. Gradually combine the dry ingredients into the wet, until well combined. Fill the pan loaf or the two mini pan loaves with mixture. Add a sprinkling of chopped walnuts and chocolate chips to the top of loaf or loaves. Bake approximately 50-55 minutes, until browned on top. Check for doneness by testing with a toothpick.

I thought the banana bread was great, but maybe that was because I was so proud of myself for being so resourceful. Raj wasn’t impressed. You be the judge.

Baking, Cooking

Cooking & Living on a Deserted Island

I realized yesterday that I’ve been here now for TWO months (and only have 20 months left of my sentence, j/k) and have cooked only a handful of meals. Why? I’ve determined this is for three reasons:

Firstly, Raj severely limited the number of cookbooks (ANY books for that matter) that I could bring with me. He scared me into thinking that my books would fall off of a container and into the water, never to be seen again (where is the water he was speaking of?). Back in February when I was struggling with which books to bring, Raj asked, “How would you feel if your signed books were lost, or stolen, or fell off a ship?” (Note: most of my books and cookbooks are signed by the authors and have been collected over years and Raj was playing on my sentimentality.) Can you believe this logic worked on me? (What’s worse, this logic worked for just about every item in the house, which is why there’s so little sense of home here.) I remember thinking that this all sounded logical, as if book bandits would be searching though our containers for autographed Brian Selznick books or Julia Child’s cookbooks. He had me so concerned that I agreed to his mandate, which limited me to TWO boxes, which is NOTHING and I’m realizing that I’m not very fond of many, strike that, ANY of the cookbooks that I’ve brought. (I’m making a case to buy more cookbooks.)

Here are what the contents of two boxes of cookbooks look like on my sad and lonely bookshelves.

Secondly, I HATE grocery shopping here! The stores aren’t that far away, but with the few cookbooks that I have, I can’t find the ingredients that I’m looking for. Yeah, I know, the solution is to improvise, explore the local foods, but I don’t feel like it…not now anyway. Further complicating matters right now is that it’s Ramadan for the entire month of August. What does this have to do with anything? Well, since everyone fasts all day, they feast at night and pillage the grocery store shelves leaving little by way of stock.

Lastly, as I’ve complained all along, my kitchen is not functional. I was making pizza dough last weekend and plugged in my Kitchen Aid to the electrical circuit, which is an extension cord that goes up to the converter box (you know the 1970s contraption that I had to hide from my line of sight?). (FYI, in case you’re worried, pizza night has not suffered. It’s still going strongly, every Friday, despite the cooking downturn.) As I was adjusting the speed, I kept feeling a tingling sensation. It took me a few more adjustments to realize I was getting shocked. Now, in order to use ANY of the small appliances that I brought, I have to disconnect everything in order to plug one thing in at a time. You’re thinking ‘what’s the big deal,’ right? The big deal is that the plugs are ALL above the cabinets so that I don’t have to see them. The issue is that unplugging everything requires me to get out the step-ladder, adjust the cords, re-hide the cords after I’m finished…it’s too much work. Did I mention that I’ve gained weight since I’ve gotten here too? Another reason not to cook!!!

So what’s my point? Long story long, I have a question to pose:

If you were moving abroad and were told that you could only bring ONE cookbook with you, which cookbook would it be and why?

When answering this, don’t take into account any of my gripes. Assume you don’t know what type of kitchen you’ll be cooking in and you’re not sure what types of food are available. Just choose your favorite, most indispensable cookbook and tell me why it’s so wonderful. Let’s see how many of your suggestions I’ll be placing in my next Amazon shopping cart.

Prior to arriving, my go to book was this one:

I still love this book, just not here. Most of the ingredients of my favorite recipes are nowhere to be found.

Baking, Cooking

When Life Gives You Lemons (or there are protests going on so you can’t go out), Make Non-Fat, Greek-Style Yogurt in a Crock Pot

For weeks now, I’ve been pestering Raj to take me to the Citadel. Unfortunately, due to protests going on downtown, we were unable to go (safety first), again, resulting in house arrest. What else is there to do when you’re out of Netflix DVD’s, it’s too hot to lay out, and there’s nothing to eat? Make yogurt.

Now you might be wondering why I’d bother to make yogurt when it’s so plentiful in grocery stores, right? Around here, yogurt is NOT real yogurt, at least not by my standards (Raj might disagree with me and he’ll point out that I’m petrified of FULL-FAT anything, so the real challenge, I suppose, is finding HEALTHY, nonfat yogurt). Dairy products here (yogurt, eggs, whipping cream, heavy cream, milk, etc.) are bought on shelves, not refrigerated,
and mostly U.H.T., or ultra pasteurized. The shelf life of these products is YEARS (I find this frightening and disconcerting to see milk and eggs in the aisles of the stores!!!). Ultra pasteurization essentially kills everything, leaving the these products less than nutritional. It’s just not right, so I sought out an alternative to the tasteless yogurt that I’ve been eating.

I scoured the Internet for recipes to make my own yogurt, which wasn’t difficult given the ‘slow’ food movement of the hour. I found a lot of recipes calling for the use of a crock pot, which I didn’t have, but quickly ordered on Amazon. When the crock arrived, I thought I was set to venture into the world of homemade yogurt until I realized that in order to make yogurt, I’d have to find milk that was pasteurized, not ultra pasteurized. Raj and I spent a couple of days in the dairy sections of the grocery stores looking for REAL milk and finally hit pay dirt.

Here’s the recipe that I followed. It’s a synthesis of of the recipes that I found online. They all varied a little, but I had great success with this one.

Ingredients:

8 cups (1/2 gallon) non-fat (skimmed, as it’s called here) milk
1/2 cup yogurt (with active, live cultures) [After this first batch, you save 1/2 cup of your own yogurt to put into each subsequent batch]
optional: vanilla extract for flavoring

Make sure the milk is pasteurized, not UHT or Ultra

Directions:

Place the milk into the crock pot, cover with lid and set on “Low” for 2.5 hours.

2. Unplug the crock after 2.5 hours and let the milk sit in the crock for 3 hours.

3. Take 2 cups of milk and stir in 1/2 cup of yogurt with ‘active/live cultures.’ Stir back into milk mixture. Replace lid on crock.

Add 1/2 cup of yogurt with 'active/live cultures'

4. Wrap the crock (still off and unplugged) in a large towel to insulate it from drafts and leave overnight (at least 8 hours, untouched).

5. Place cheese cloth over a colander and drain for a couple of hours in the refrigerator, to the thickness of your preference (I was going for Greek-style thickness).

It's the thickness of regular yogurt now, but I want it THICKER

6. Optional: Add flavor and/or sweetness.

Adding vanilla extract and honey for flavor

7. Don’t forget to save 1/2 cup for your next batch.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this yogurt. It was thick and tangy. It didn’t even need the vanilla extract. I served it with walnuts, honey and a banana. It’s so worth the effort, even if you have Greek yogurt readily available to you because it’s so cheap (okay, maybe not, but I’ll pretend that I’ll keep making this when I go home. The truth is, I can’t wait to get back to Whole Foods to buy my favorite brand, but meantime, it’s a good replacement).