Cocoa Brownie Cookies

February 9, 2015

This is an outrageously decadent recipe, that will perfume the house with a chocolate. It's no secret that I've been cooking for the gluten free crowd these days and have really been having a good time figuring out solutions in the baking department. I'm a big fan of cocoa and I sorta feel like it's a health food (if you forget about all the sugar) and these brownie cookies are a real treat. The egg whites help give body to the cookie, sorta like a meringue. Chopped nuts, a dash of espresso or chocolate liquor make these cookies simply irresistible.

Cocoa Brownie Cookies

Equipment

2 parchment lined cookie sheets

Large bowl

Whisk

Spatula

Ingredients

3 cups powdered sugar

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 egg whites

1 egg

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

3 tablespoons cacao nibs

Makes about 2 dozen

Preheat to 350°. Whisk powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a large bowl, then whisk in egg whites and whole egg; fold in chopped chocolate and cacao nibs. Spoon batter by the tablespoonful onto cookie sheets, spacing about 2” apart.

Bake, rotating cookie sheets about halfway through (back to front, front to back, top to bottom) until cookies are puffed, cracked, and set, about 14–16 minutes.

Transfer cookie sheets to wire racks and let cookies cool on pan for about 5 minutes. Enjoy on it's own or if you dare, with vanilla ice cream!

Botany in the Limelight

January 30, 2015

Design Love- Jean Tran — Design Love- Jean Tran

We are pleased to present the First Annual Peace Tree Farm Dinner! Peace Tree Farm is the largest provider of plants to the Philadelphia Flower Show and in the dead of winter they produce a bounty of flowers. A lucky few will have the opportunity to preview this awe of botany the week before they ship out to Philadelphia.

Join us for a sit down dinner amongst the flowers featuring:

Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse, Milford, NJ
Castle Valley Mill, Doylestown, PA
Owowcow, Kintnersville, PA
Ajiri Tea, Upper Black Eddy, PA
Homestead Coffee Roasters, Upper Black Eddy, PA
Blair Vineyard, Kutztown, PA

At this dinner we hope to put the spotlight on botany and local food! Chef Katie Briggs of Eclectik Domestic will be serving a menu of ingredients from farms within 50 miles of Peace Tree and telling the story behind the producers and their creations.

Reserve

Almond & Orange Tea Cake

January 27, 2015

Recipes run through my head a lot. I'll get an idea about something and then my imagination just takes over. I start thinking about all the different approaches I could take, flavors that go together and then I start looking up recipes. It's both a blessing and a curse.

This obsession, however, led me to make several different versions of an almond and orange tea cake, with the following being my favorite. This recipe also happens to be gluten-free with the use of almond meal, which is a lovely flour replacement, and it doesn't have any of those chalky flavors I find with many of the gluten-free flour replacements. A cup of almonds meal is a cup of almonds, simple as that!

Almond & Orange Tea Cake

Equipment needed:
Food processor or blender
Large mixing bowl
9" Cake pan

Ingredients:
2 large seedless honeybell oranges*
6 eggs
1 1/2 cup ground almonds*
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
whipped cream (optional)

1. Wash the oranges and cover them with water in a medium sized pot. Boil until soft, about 30 minutes.

2.Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

3. In a food processor puree the oranges until smooth, removing any seeds you may find.

4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until thick and add the orange puree, ground almonds, salt, sugar and baking power. Mix well.

5. Grease a 9 inch cake pan and pour batter into pan. Bake for an hour or until the center is firm to the touch. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Serve with whipped cream and enjoy!
*Navel Oranges or Clementines work well too! If grinding your own almonds, simply do so in your blender or food processor before you add the boiled oranges.

Venison Stew

January 8, 2015

I'm a proud Pennsylvanian, and I'm not afraid to brag about my love of scrapple, or all the wild mushrooms in our woods, or our incredible stock of free range white tailed dear meat. Its that time of year again, hunting season began with its usual bang, and I've been happy to soothe that winter chill with this simple deer stew. This is a classic and simple stew that gets better as it cooks and develops flavor. You can essentially use this recipe with any cut of meat and produce a world class stew.

Venison Stew

2-3 pounds Venison, cubed*

1/4 cup pork lard (bacon fat)

4 large yellow onions, chopped

1 pound mushrooms (I used shitakie), quartered

6 cloves garlic, minced

6 large carrots, halved and quartered

1 head celery, chopped

1 bottle red wine, I used Pinot Noir

6 red potatoes, quartered

1 bag frozen peas

1 quart stock, if needed

Salt, pepper, herbes, bay leaf, to taste

In a cast iron skillet, heat the lard until melted and add the venison. Cook until browned and add the onions. When the onions are translucent, add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until they have released their moisture. In a large stock pot over medium flame, add the venison and mushroom mixture. Then add the carrots and celery and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the red wine, potatoes, herbs, and bay leaf, then simmer for an hour or until potatoes are soft, checking frequently. If the stew is too thick, add a bit of stock. Add the bag of peas and simmer until cooked. Serve atop mashed potatoes or with plain yogurt.

*if cooking with wild game deer, be sure to trim the cut. Remove any fat, tendons, bones and 'silver'(the glossy connective membrane encasing much of the meat).

Cast Iron

December 23, 2014

A properly seasoned Cast Iron Skillet is like a badge of honor. It demonstrates that you have done your time in the kitchen, or have a lineage of cooks in the family. When I meet someone with a well seasoned skillet, I know I'm in for some good home cooking. A cast iron skillet has become far too rare in our country these days. I feel that this is in large part due to the fact that cooking, like many other hands on skills in our technology driven world, has become intimidating due to lack of knowledge.

I won't lie, it's a serious tool, but with a very brief education, you too can have access to the ancestral flavors a greasy skillet brings to the kitchen. It holds a tremendous amount of stable heat (volumetric heat capacity), but it also adds color and iron(!) like no other pan. I use my skillet for everything from searing a steak to baking a cake. Here are the simplest tricks for a well seasoned and happy skillet:

Seasoning your Skillet
When people say 'seasoning' in regard to cast iron, they aren't talking about herbes and spices, so much as they're referring to the buildup of polymerized oil bound to the pan. This is a product of frequent use of your cast iron, and heating oil in the pan. This essentially leaves a coat on the skillet. To season a new skillet or reseason a skillet that has seen better days, use a neutral oil like olive oil, or better yet a lard such as pig fat. Coat your skillet and bake it in a 350 degree oven for an hour.

Cleaning your Skillet
Never ever let a cast iron pan soak in the sink. Cleaning your skillet is serious business. You need to be quick and loving about this entire action. Everyone has their own preferences on cleaning their skillet. I personally like to scrape out as much debris as possible, and then pour a heap of salt (about 2 tablespoons) into the pan to absorb excess oil. I then scrape out any other particles left in the pan with a paper towel and trash the excess salt. Finally, I add a bit of oil or lard to the skillet and just wipe it into the pan. I like my skillets to rest somewhat greasy, but it is not entirely necessary. I try to avoid using soap on my cast iron. I really like having the remnants of old flavors like chicken or pig fat left on the skillet, but you can use soap, especially if say the farm dogs licked the skillet clean. Just be sure that you are quick about this soaping and leave the skillet dry after you're through, either using a rag or the heat of the stovetop. To prevent rusting, simply coat with a bit of oil.

Skillet Recipes