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Friday, July 16, 2010
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai MIT's Kitchen Chemistry class #3: Pancakes
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Fri, Jul 16, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Welcome to the third week of MIT's Kitchen Chemistry class, in which we learn about pancakes. After reading the seven pages of assigned reading in On Food and Cooking, I now know all about batters, flours, baking ingredients and maple syrup.
Here's what I learned:
If you are looking for a tender pancake, look for a recipe that includes soured dairy products (ie. buttermilk or yogurt). Due to these ingredients' thick consistency, it will take less flour to make the batter properly thick. With less flour, there will be less starch and gluten, which will result in a more delicate structure.
Another tip to take away: don't over mix your batter. Excessive beating causes early formation and escape of carbon dioxide gas. You want this gas because the little air bubbles it creates are what makes the pancakes fluffy. Another reason to avoid over mixing is to prevent too much gluten from forming, which will make your pancakes rubbery.
Wanna know why real maple syrup is so expensive at stores? The process to extract the sap from trees takes six weeks, and it takes 40 parts sap to boil down to make 1 part syrup. Dang.
The recipe assignment for the class this week is buttermilk pancakes, which comes from Bon Appétit. I'll make these and post pics in a few days, but here's the recipe if you want to make these this weekend.
Buttermilk Pancakes
Makes about 18 pancakes
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons backing powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups sour cream
2 large eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Additional butter or cooking spray
Directions
Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl (the dry ingredients). Whisk buttermilk, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in another large bowl. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until batter is just blended but still lumpy (do not overmix).
Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter on griddle over medium heat. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto griddle, spacing 2 inches apart. Cook until bubbles break on surface, about 3 minutes. Turn pancakes over. Cook until bottoms are golden, 3 minutes. Transfer to plates. Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter to skillet as needed.
Serve pancakes immediately with butter and syrup.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai S'more Cupcakes
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 8:00 AM
Gimme s'more of these cupcakes.
There are a variety of "s'more cupcakes" floating around the web on food blogs here and there. Most use a chocolate cake base and a meringue frosting, which is then toasted brown with a blow torch.
Too cheap to purchase a $30 blow torch, I've designed my own version of a s'more cupcake with a marshmallow fluff buttercream, graham cracker cake base, and chocolate filling in the middle (see diagram below).
What's unusual is the cake part doesn't use any flour. In place of flour, the recipe calls for graham cracker crumbs. This imparts the graham-y flavor to the cupcakes.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Recipe Coconut macaroons
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 5:40 PM
When someone says "macaroon," I always have to ask: the pretty French sandwich kind, or the coconut ball ones?
Macaroons come in a variety of shapes and styles depending on where they're from. Did you know there are Scottish, French, Indian, Spanish, and North American style macaroons? The word "macaroon" is usually used for meringue-like light confections like small cakes and cookies. The common denominators are almonds, or almond flavor, egg whites, and sugar.
Well, here we have coconut macaroons. These little snowball-looking cookies are full of tropical coconut flakes and almond flavor – not quite as colorful nor delicate as the French kind, but so tasty.
A whole package of flaked coconut is bound together with egg whites and just a few other ingredients. It's incredibly easy to make these cute, chewy cookies.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai Almond poppy seed bread
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 9:00 AM
Here's an oldie but goody. I've had this recipe for years now. And now that I think about it, I think I may have received it in home economics class back in middle school. Dang, that was a loooong time ago.
Well, this almond poppy seed bread recipe has definitely proven itself to be a keeper because I am still making it to this day. I call it almond poppy seed bread, but I guess it could be called cake too. Bread ... cake ... same thing, right?
Simple enough for a sixth-grader to make, it'll take you no time to throw together. Check out how elementary the recipe is. It's laughable.
The recipe makes two loaves – one to keep, one to give away. Or be greedy and keep both. I recommend the latter.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai Spicy baked shrimp
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 8:00 AM
It must be the end of the world. I gave my KitchenAid mixer a rest and actually made something that doesn't require beating butter and at least 1 cup of sugar.
This spicy baked shrimp is an easy summer meal. Just marinate, pop it in the oven and you're done. A short ingredient list makes it easy to put together. The biggest pain in the butt was shelling and de-veining the shrimp.
Seasoned with Cajun spices, cayenne and soy sauce, it's pretty spicy (and salty too), so be sure to serve it with lots of crusty bread or even over pasta. The sauce sopped up with bread is the best part.
For a twist, I added some crumbled blue cheese on top and it was pretty good. I guess it has the same effect as eating hot wings with blue cheese dressing. Next time I might make a "creme fraiche" type sauce using blue cheese and sour cream to drizzle on top.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai / Kitchen Chemistry Death by Chocolate Cookies
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 4:59 PM
OK, so I finally made the Death by Chocolate Cookies that were part of the MIT Kitchen Chemistry course's week #2 assignment.
I was only planning on making them and pawning them off on co-workers – not eat them myself (because goodness knows I eat way too much sugar already). But one bite turned into another, and before I knew it, the whole cookie was gone. Whoopsies.
These thick cookies have crispy exteriors and warm brownie-like middles. Containing over 8 ounces of chocolate, they live up to their name ... though it'd probably take way more chocolate than that to do me in.
They only take one bowl to make and you can bake up the entire batch of batter at one time. Too easy. Instead of chocolate chips, I used white chocolate chips for color contrast.
For the recipe, click here.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai Oreo-studded peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 7:00 AM
With a bunch of Oreo cookies leftover from the mint Oreo cupcakes I made earlier, it was only logical to throw them into my batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, right?
These suckers have peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and chunks of Oreo mixed in. Yum.
I used the recipe for Jose's Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies that I found on Epicurious.com. The cookies received raving reviews online. Well, if it's good enough for those foodies, it's good enough for me.
I omitted the grated chocolate (I hate grating chocolate because it's so messy and melts all over the dang place) and added a good helping of chunked up Oreo cookies (probably one sleeve's worth). If you wanna go crazy, throw in some nuts too. The recipe makes a few dozen cookies and they are hard to resist. You have been warned!
The cookies will be pale and slightly toasty brown when they're done baking. Don't over-bake them in the oven because they'll continue to cook while they cool on the cookie sheets.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai Mint Oreo cupcakes
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 8:00 AM
I love, love, love mint Oreo ice cream and milkshakes. Have you ever tried the mint Oreo milkshake from Cookout? It's amazing.
Well, actually, anything with mint and Oreos rocks my world. This love affair has now extended into my baking ... I created these chocolate cupcakes filled with ganache, topped with a mint Oreo buttercream.
For the base, I used Cook's Illustrated's recipe for Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes. CI never lets me down and these cupcakes were no exception. These chocolate cupcakes were delicious. I highly recommend it. What's interesting is the recipe calls for bread flour, which makes for a sturdier cupcake that can hold its own under a mound of frosting. Ahh ... those CI people are so smart! Most chocolate cakes work well as large cakes, but not cupcakes. The soft and airy texture of cupcakes made from a regular chocolate cake recipe doesn't make for a good base for all the tasty buttercream.
What's even nicer about this recipe is that it includes a dollop of chocolate ganache dropped in the middle of each cupcake before baking so you get a chocolate truffle-like surprise when you bite into a cupcake.
The frosting for the cupcakes seriously tastes like ice cream (especially if you chill the cupcakes). To make it, I whipped Oreo crumbs into a fluffy buttercream frosting and threw in a good dose of peppermint extract.
I wonder what would happen if I threw a cupcake into a blender with some ice cream and milk. Chocolate cupcake and mint Oreo frosting milkshake, anyone?
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai Mini healthy egg salad sandwiches
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 3:26 PM
Egg salad doesn't have to be a guilty pleasure. Most egg salad recipes include gobs of unhealthy mayonnaise, but I've discovered that any egg salad can easily get a healthy makeover.
The trick is to substitute the mayo with Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is the perfect sub because it is low-fat, yet the consistency is similar to mayo – thick and creamy. Don't worry about your salad possibly tasting tart from the yogurt – the flavor of Greek yogurt is subtle and the it isn't noticeable at all in the recipe.
I calculated the calories in the egg salad and it's about 37 calories per serving (recipe makes 15 servings). Add 55 calories for the roll, and a mini sandwich comes in at 92 calories. They're so cute, you might just up end popping five at once though.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Recipe / Kitchen Chemistry MIT's Kitchen Chemistry class # 2: Chocolate
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 4:05 PM
Ok, so I've been really slacking on my MIT Kitchen Chemistry course. It's been weeks and still haven't completed class #2, which is surprising, because this class is all about my favorite food – chocolate.
I've done my reading now and here are a few tidbits I learned from doing the homework questions:
* There is something common to both marijuana and chocolate. Chocolate contains "cannabinoid" chemicals, chmicals similar to the active ingredient in marijuana, as well as other molecules that cause brain cells to accumulate cannabinoid chemicals.
* Though high in sugar and fat, you can justify eating chocolate in moderation from a health perspective. The saturated fat in cocoa butter is a type of fatty acid that the body immediately converts to an unsaturated one, so it is actually beneficial to your heart. Eat up!
* The reason cats and dogs should not consume chocolate is because chocolate contains theobromine, an alkaloid and stimulant, which can be toxic to those animals.
The homework recipe for this week is "Death By Chocolate Cookie." If I get around to it, I'll try making it this week, but in the meantime, here's the recipe for those of you who want to try it.
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Priscilla Tsai
