Baking and Camping

                                       Baking and Camping

These two activities, both of which I fully enjoy, just don't go together for me. 
First of all, I don't bake when I am camping, having never been the A plus scout who could make a box oven really work well. 

Second, there are too many nature-filled activities to spend time at the campsite mixing batter. The trails are beckoning, and there is only so much daylight, so doing something like baking cookies seems a waste of time in the outdoors. 

Third, I never take along cookbooks or recipes on a camping trip. If I can't make it from memorization, then it isn't a "camping recipe"! Hence the plethora of sloppy joes, spaghetti, walking tacos, and pizza in a bun dinners while camping. 

Fourth,I bake BEFORE the camping trip. For instance today I am baking chocolate chip cookies, poppy seed bread, and a new dinner (for which I need to follow the recipe), for our camping trip tomorrow. After today I won't want to bake for a week! 

Fifth, baking on a camping trip would require me to pack more ingredients, utensils, and pans...and we just don't have the space for them. 

Sixth, I believe that in order to renew and recharge, it is vital to take a break, even from something you really love to do.

~Kathy~

Maple-Banana Bread Pudding #28

                                 Maple-Banana Bread Pudding  (page 426)

1 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

3 1/2 cups 1-inch cubes stale or lightly toasted brioche
or whole grain bread

1 2/3 cups whole milk

1/3 cup maple syrup

pinch of nutmeg

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups diced banana (about 2 bananas, not too ripe)

1 Tbsp. light brown sugar

3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 6-cup baking dish with 1/2 Tbsp. butter.

2. Place bread pieces in mixing bowl. 

Heat milk and syrup in saucepan until syrup dissolves into milk.

 Add nutmeg. Pour over bread and allow to sit about 30 minutes to saturate.

 Stir in eggs. 

Fold in diced banana.

3.Transfer mixture to baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar, and dot with remaining butter. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until it is starting to look crusty on top. Serve warm, with whipped cream.Serves 6.

Lemon Curd #27

                                        Lemon Curd (page 313)

 8 large egg yolks

1/2 cup lemon juice

Grated zest of two lemons

3/4 cup granulated sugar

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter


1. In the top of a double boiler, combine the egg yolks, lemon juice and zest. Add the granulated sugar, and whisk to blend. Place over simmering water. Whisk until thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.

2. Dice half the butter and whisk in, a piece at a time. Place the top of the double boiler in a large bowl of ice water, and stir frequently until chilled. Transfer mixture to a container, cover and refrigerate. It may be stored for up to 3 days. 

Sauteed Apple Pie #26

                                   Sauteed Apple Pie  (page 236)


4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

10-12 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and
sliced 1/2 inch thick

3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

pie crust pastry

1 Tbsp. heavy cream


1. Melt butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet, preferably not nonstick. (Apples will not caramelize as well in a nonstick pan.) Add apples, sprinkle with 3/4 cup sugar, and saute, turning apples, about 10 minutes, until tender and lightly caramelized. Fold in cinnamon. Spread cooked apples on a platter to cool.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divide pastry into two unequal halves; roll out larger portion on a lightly floured board, and line pie pan. Spoon in cooled apples. Roll out remaining pastry, and cover pan; seal and crimp edges. 

3. Brush pastry with cream, and dust with remaining sugar. Bake about 40 minutes, until pastry is golden. Cool briefly, then serve with ice cream. Serves 8-12.

Comment: Not too sweet, just the right amount of cinnamon, and better than Marie Calendar's!

Cream Puffs with Fudge Sauce #25

                                                  Cream Puffs with Fudge Sauce (page 528/537)

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs at room temperature


1. Place 1 cup water in a heavy saucepan. Add butter, salt and sugar and bring to a boil. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously and thoroughly with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a ball that clears the sides of the pan.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously and rapidly with each addition. 

3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a baking sheet. 

4. With two spoons, form ping pong sized mounds of batter.

5. Place in oven and bake fro 30 minutes, until the puffs are golden brown and firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Fill with whipped cream, and drizzle with fudge sauce. Makes 24-30 small puffs.

  

                                            Fudge Sauce (page 537)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup light corn syrup

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 pound unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cream, milk, corn syrup and butter. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes, until mixture reaches about 220 degrees on a candy thermometer and becomes a pale caramel.

2. Remove pan from heat, and stir in chocolate until it melts. Stir in 1/3 cup water and vanilla. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 3 1/2 cups of sauce.

Blackberry Nectarine Crisp #24

                                                         Blackberry Nectarine Crisp  (page 214)

7 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

4 cups nectarines, pitted, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup whole blackberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 2 quart baking dish with 1 Tbsp. butter.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. cut remaining butter into small chunks, add to flour mixture, and use pastry blender until mixture just comes together into crumbly clumps. Reserve.

3. In a large bowl, combine nectarines, granulated sugar and vanilla. Pour nectarines into baking dish, scatter blackberries on top and sprinkle with the crumbly topping. Bake 45 minutes, until bubbling. Serve while warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Serves 6.

Just right sweetness mixed with the flavors of nectarines and blackberries-delicious!

Cookies!

You won't be seeing any pictures of cookies in this post because I'm not baking any cookies today from the NY Times Dessert Cookbook. In fact, I have only baked two cookie recipes for this blog so far. Yet, I LOVE to bake cookies!! So, why the dearth of cookie baking? 


To be honest, most of the cookies that I bake are from tried and true family favorite recipes-snickerdoodles for instance, or the always delectable oatmeal raisin or chocolate chip. I have these recipes memorized, so there is no need for a cookbook, which makes for a more relaxed baking session. In addition, of all the baking I do, I view cookie baking as a stress relieving hobby, and nourishing to the spirit. Whenever I find myself getting out the butter to soften for cookie baking, it is driven not by a need for cookies or a dessert in the house, but by something deeper. 


As a teenager I combed through all of the cookbooks in our home for recipes to try. I tried to find those that wouldn't require a trip to the grocery store to make, and usually this translated into making cookies, as they seemed to call for the basic ingredients. 


Today I bake cookies every few weeks, and even with fewer of our family members living at home, no one has ever suggested that I stop making cookies. During my recent trip to Virginia, our grand-daughter and I baked cookies as we always do. Baking these small succulent morsels fits well with my apt moniker "Cookie".