Creme Brulee

Original Recipe: Pioneer Woman's Creme Brulee

Baker: Brittany

Assessment: Amazing! (But I have made it before so I was aware) I'd gotten a creme brulee torch for Christmas so obviously I was eager to try it out.

Fixes: Make sure the sugar is somewhat evenly browned... On the left in the picture it was a little bit too done (the right side was perfection, however). Also, when adding the 2nd half of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, don't whip too hard - we did and it was a bit foamy on top (but clearly still delicious!)


Future Deliciousness:

Extra Credit: 

Cranberry-Lemon Scones

Original Recipe: Cranberry-Lemon Scones from Bon Appetit, 5/96, p. 50 (got this one from Nick back at Brown)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

¾ cup dried cranberry

¼ cup sugar + some to sprinkle on top

1 Tb lemon zest + some to sprinkle on top

1 Tb baking powder

1 ¼ cup whipping cream

½ tsp salt        

3 Tb melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F.

2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

3.  Add zest, cranberries, and cream.

4. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.

5. Knead gently, then form dough into a sheet one inch thick.

6. Cut out scones with glass or cutter; or make pie slice wedges.
7. Brush on butter, then sprinkle with lemon zest and sugar.

8. Bake 15 minutes on ungreased cookie sheets.

Baker: vitrailmiroir

Assessment: SO GOOD. These are so quick to make, and they're a favorite with the group of boys and girls I hung with at Brown. The men were the first to make them, they're so good.

Fixes: Doesn't need any. I just need a better oven, cuz mine is apparently really hot underneath.

Future Deliciousness: They would go so well with a warm beverage... Either earl grey or some creamy coffee.

Extra Credit:

They'd probably look better if I hadn't managed to burn the bottoms or if I'd used my camera for this pic rather than my phone. But I'm lucky I got the pic, they were going so quickly!

Lemon Curd (low fat!)

Original Recipe: Baking Bites - Lowfat Lemon Curd

Baker: Brittles

Assessment: Very good.  Wonderfully tart and still SUPER sweet so you really can't eat too much. As in... a spoonful is basically enough, therefore I will consider this a health food. (I also threw the ingredients into a calorie calculator and if by some unknown reason you COULD eat the whole thing, it would only be ~330 calories (about the same as a 1/2 cup of some B&J's ice cream)).

Fixes: None yet... but when it says low to bring it to a boil.... I had my stove at about low-medium and it took a WHILE, so just be patient and/or rush it a little bit by turning up the heat :P

Future Deliciousness: I baked these to put the curd into (like a sugar thumbprint cookie), but unfortunately I won't be able to do a full review because I rushed it and put two pans in the oven and the bottom pan (where i'd done all the cookies w/ the lemon curd) had the bottoms seriously burned :( .

Notes: Tried grapefruit curd.... not as good.  I ended up adding about half as much again of lemon juice..... grapefruits are good on their own for a reason I guess. Also, I added a drop of red food coloring to fix the color and it ended up not all stirring in so it has red flakes. Kitchenfail.

Extra Credit: 

Kalmata Tapenade

Original Recipe: From my head.

Baker: vitrailmiroir

Assessment: DELICIOUS


Recipe:

1. Put these in a blender: 2 cups of kalmata olive, 1 can of artichoke hearts, minced garlic to taste.
2. Add olive oil until it's the consistency you like (I like my tapenade heavy on ingredients, light on the oil.
3. Taste and adjust ingredients as necessary.
4. SO GOOD on toast.

Future Deliciousness: I like it on toast. Haven't tried crackers though.

Extra Credit: Oh... right... I ate it all... Maybe another time.

Curry Sweet Potato Fries

Original Recipe: Baked Curry Sweet Potato Fries, Joy the Baker

Baker: vitrailmiroir

Assessment: Meh. Good spice combination, but the rest of the process is unnecessary. And hers came out soggy whereas my version came out far more crisp (Yes, I did them both ways just to be sure).

Fixes:

1. Skip the egg whites. just mix the spices.
2. I do twice as much spice.
3. Cut the fries, toss in the oil, lay on a cookie sheet and  sprinkle the spices, then flip and do the same to the other.
4. This way doesn't take as long, just 10 minutes on each side.

Future Deliciousness: Needs WAY more salt. The sauce is good, though.

Extra Credit:

This is how her version came out, and they came out soggy.

Easy Egg Salad

Original Recipe: Egg Salad Sandwich, Joy the Baker

Baker: vitrailmiroir

Assessment: SO GOOD. Nomnomnommmm. I ate this for lunch 3 days straight.

Fixes: I don't really like mustard as much as most, so I left the mustard out of the mixture and just spread how much I wanted on my bread.


Future Deliciousness: I'm gonna use celery salt instead of regular salt next time just for kicks.

Extra Credit:

Ok, mine doesn't LOOK that good, but if you could just taste it... I put it on buttermilk bread.

Buttermilk Pancakes ("Clean-Your-Plate")

Original Recipe: Dad's "Clean Your Plate" Buttermilk Pancakes, Joy the Baker

Baker: vitrailmiroir

Assessment: REALLY GOOD. Best savory pancakes ever. Makes about 5/6 medium-sized pancakes.

Fixes: No fixes, but a few comments.

1. When you add the baking powder, it basically just becomes a huge ball of foam.  Don't be surprised.
2. It doesn't really spread out on the pan, so don't pour too much on.
3. I used bacon grease instead of "spray oil" .... and I enjoyed the result.

Future Deliciousness: Gonna try actually making it through the cooking process without eating each one as it's made.... So I can have eggs with it.

Extra Credit:

This is what it looks like in the pan. This pancake was a little too big, see what I mean in Fixes?

After I took this, I proceeded to scarf it down. It's fluffy and delicious.

I managed to get a stack.... a short one. Actually, the recipe makes like 5/6 pancakes of this size.