Baked Alaska

BAKED ALASKA

We're baaack!

For several reasons, it was a "no-brainer" when Julie suggested we attempt a Baked Alaska.  What is Baked Alaska?  I had to look it up myself.  Thank you Wikkipedia.


Baked Alaska: a dessert made of ice cream placed in a pie dish lined with slices of sponge cake and topped with meringue. The entire dessert is then placed in an extremely hot oven for just long enough to firm the meringue. The meringue is an effective insulator, and the short cooking time prevents the heat from getting through to the ice cream.


We had to create a few shortcuts and found a perfect recipe to allow us to do this is one sitting.  In our shortcut recipe you can make individual Baked Alaskas which is easily done using flat cookies.  This allows you to make and bake however many you need.


Julie just so happened to have her WONDERFUL chocolate chip cookies at her house.  (However, there is a recipe associated with the recipe above that looks absolutely wonderful.)  

Savannah watched on as usual. (The more things change, the more they stay the same!)

We scooped coffee ice cream onto the cookies and placed them in the freezer for 30 minutes to solidify.

We have another guest appearance.  Actually, it is less of a guest appearance and more of an addition.  For the first time...presenting HENRY!

Henry's Dad has recently graduated from law school and is the proud owner of an iPad which makes our recipe referral much easier.

For the meringue you will need plenty of eggs.  It called for 4 egg whites.  It made PLENTY of meringue for 4 cookies.  

Beat until stiff, gradually adding 1/2 cup of sugar. (They will become shiny...)

Put meringue into a piping bag with a wide tip of your choice and pipe around the frozen ice cream.  You need to eliminate any holes or you will find yourself with an ice cream volcano.  

We piped it around the bottom as well to keep the ice cream sealed in the meringue.

Place in the freezer again for at least 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Somebody seems excited!

Bake for 5 minutes...which we found to be the perfect time.

Serve and enjoy immediately.  It really was wonderful...and a fun, easy project.  Like Julie pointed out, it could be great to create with kids.  Henry might have been a little young to enjoy it.  One day...

Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day!
 (Ironically this day last year I was at the beach with Henry's parents....little did we know what the year would bring...)


Last but not least:
THANK YOU to our soldiers who continue to put their lives on the line for our country and for those who have lost their lives in doing so.  

Katharyn's Baby Shower Cake

Consider this a picture post. The icing job above is not my best work. I transported many items to work for the shower, and, in the process, wasn't careful with the cake. Also, next time I will be sure to have extra icing to line the bottom.  You live and learn.  And I live and blog to remember these things.  :)

I tried a new recipe - an Ina Garten recipe, Beatty's Chocolate Cake.  With 1,062 reviews and 5 stars on the Food Network site, how can one go wrong?! 

I followed the recipe exactly except I omitted the egg yolk in the icing. (I was not about to feed a pregnant woman raw egg.  It can certainly be omitted.)  Coffee is the secret ingredient and, like in the reviews, even people who don't like coffee raved about the cake.  Super moist.  SUPER rich.

This is my cake topper.  I can thank google images for the inspiration.  The miniature clothespins are easy to find at Michaels.  I sketched out the basic designs myself.

Of course you will recognize the "Mother Daughter Tea" punch.  Katharyn's favorite.

 

My lovely coworker/co-hostesses surrounding the mom-to-be....

On a side note:  I often say how blessed and lucky I am.  It is true.  This week made me realize how everything can change in a matter of minutes and how quickly it all can be taken away.  Thanks to all my friends and family who checked on me and I ask you continue to keep the storm victims in your thoughts and prayers.  My heart goes out to those suffering and mourning the lost of loved ones.  No words on a blog can possibly describe how I feel....

3 Pictures Tell So Much

1. This is how I bake without Lance and Julie.  I make a MESS. I always have.  I am not sure why.  

Note: This is only one side of my kitchen.  

2. This is a glimpse into one side of my baking cabinet (yes, that is a tub of lard).  It is official I am a baker...

3. ... not a cook!  (Don't get too worried.  I have been eating out. A LOT.) 

Southern Biscuits and Gravy (OMG)

Southern Biscuits and Gravy - Alton Brown Style

Tonight we decided to start labeling our favorite recipes.  This recipe qualifies.  Keep reading.  And try this recipe.  You won't be sorry.  It doesn't take long and is worth it.   

 We wouldn't change the recipe one bit  (but if you did have less sausage, that would work).  You start by making the biscuits.  The list of ingredients for the biscuits are below. While they are baking for 20 minutes, you can complete the sausage gravy.

Southern Biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons shortening

1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine the ingredients in a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.)

Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. ("Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life," straight from Alton Brown.)

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes. 

 

 ....onto the Gravy.....

Sawmill Gravy

Ingredients:

1 pound bulk breakfast sausage (we determined this could be less) 

1/4 c flour 

2 cups milk 

Salt and pepper

Here I am hard at work cooking sausage in a cast iron skillet. When done, remove sausage from pan and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. We barely had 2 T so we added a little butter.

 

Whisk away.  Whisk flour into the fat and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk a little at a time.

Return to medium-high heat and stir occasionally while the gravy comes to a simmer and thickens. (Be sure to scrape up any brown bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan, that's where the flavor is.) Check seasoning, add crumbled sausage and serve over our WONDERFUL biscuits.

 Wallah - the final result.  This was the best recipe we have done in some time.  We will be doing it again!

Mac and Cheese

Tonight Julie and I aim to perfect a "Southern Classic"...Mac N Cheese. We scoured over many recipes and chose the two below.   I think most can agree...it is hard to mess up mac n cheese.  It depends on your preference and what you are serving at your meal. If we had to choose, I think we would prefer recipe 1. This time we split the recipes in half.  And you can, too.  It might be something we continue to do in the future.

Recipe 1:  Mac and Cheese Edna Lewis Adaption 
2 cups elbow macaroni
Salt
2 1/2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese (cubed)

2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2/3 cup sour cream

2 eggs - lightly beaten

1/3 cup grated onion

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 1/2 cups grated extra sharp cheddar cheese

It is hard to tell below but the cubed cheese along with the macaroni gives it an extra cheesy goodness.  This sharp cheddar from Cabot (Costco) was the way to go!

Nutmeg.  Labeled "for use in macaroni and cheese and quiche."  Who knew?  Ok, I believe Julie and Lance knew (but not me).

We read some reviews saying it was "soupy."

And though it appears to be...

It really was perfect...

The key is letting it sit for 10 or so minutes.  It congeals.   Does this look amazing or what?  By this time the kitchen smelled fabulous!

Recipe 2: Ina Garten Mac and Cheese

Kosher salt
Vegetable oil
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small) - PEELED ;)
1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

Julie and Lance don't just do bread crumbs.  They made their own bread (the day before) and made crumbs from that.  Things are homemade at the Smith Kitchen.

I do like the presentation of this mac and cheese.  The tomatoes are a great twist.  Due to some tomato plants Julie found at Costo this week, you may be seeing more tomato recipes soon!

Topped with bread crumbs...also another nice touch!

Walla...

Result:

We enjoyed both recipes.  Both were so different.  I personally liked the first one (and I think that was overall consensus) but Julie made a great point.  When put with the right menu, the second one could certainly be ideal.  The first recipe is cheaper due to the Gruyere cheese you have to purchase for the second recipe.   

If you have a recipe particularly dear to your heart, let us know.  We are still open to new recipes.  We may be eating mac and cheese for a few days, however.  Thanks to Julie and her salad I didn't feel TOO bad about eating it for dinner!