Jelly Roll Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup sifted cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons 2% milk
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar for dusting
1 cup strawberry jam

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a 10×15 inch jellyroll pan with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and milk. Stir in the dry ingredients gradually. The batter will be thin. Pour into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until the center springs back when pressed lightly. Don’t over bake, or it may crack.
4. Generously dust a clean dish towel with confectioners’ sugar. Turn the cake out onto the towel, and peel off the parchment paper. Gently roll up the cake using the towel, and let cool for about 10 minutes.
5. Unroll the cake, and spread an even coating of jam onto the top. Roll the cake back up into a tight spiral, and remove the towel. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

   

Baking Pan Fae’s Twist & Tango

You need to know how to make jelly roll cake for this one – if you don’t, fear not, I will post a recipe shortly. But this is so pretty for a party or a birthday where you don’t want too many “candles” on the cake!

Fashion Show Features Chocolate Couture

See? Chocolate is the answer.

Oyster Pan Roast with Tarragon Toasts

 

 

Chef April Bloomfield hails from Birmingham, England, but in recent years she has risen to the top of the New York food world.

Following a stint at Alice Waters’s legendary Chez Panisse, April opened a New York City gastropub with business partner Ken Friedman, the Spotted Pig, and later, the Breslin, both of which have earned a coveted star from the Michelin Guide. Chef Bloomfield has become known for her embrace of whole-hog cooking – from pig feet to pig ears and everything in between – and also for her ability to mix high-brow and low-brow cuisine using seasonal, local ingredients. This recipe, from Bloomfield’s John Dory Oyster Bar, appears in the new book The Perfect Protein: A Fish Lover’s Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the World, by Oceana CEO Andy Sharpless and Suzannah Evans.

Oyster Pan Roast with Tarragon Toasts

Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes | Cooking time: 15–20 minutes

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1⁄4 cup fresh tarragon leaves, minced
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1⁄2 small onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1⁄4 cup dry vermouth
• 3⁄4 cup water
• 2 dozen oysters, such as Wellfleet, shucked
• 1⁄4 cup oyster liquor reserved
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 baguette slices, toasted
• 1 clove garlic

In a medium mixing bowl, mix the butter with the tarragon and 1⁄2 teaspoon of the lemon juice. Season with salt to taste. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and minced garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until translucent and softened. Add the vermouth (carefully; it may flame) and increase the heat to medium high.

Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, or until reduced by half. Add the water and reserved oyster liquor and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the cream and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon. Remove from the heat. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Season with salt. Add the oyster meat to the sauce. Cook over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, or until cooked and warmed through.

While the oysters are cooking, assemble the toasts. Lightly rub the baguette slices with the whole garlic clove. Spread each toast with the reserved tarragon butter. Serve immediately.

I have tried this recipe myself (I try all the recipes I post if they’re not mine, and give credit where it’s due) and I can tell you that, aside from raw and fresh from the water, this is the best way I’ve ever eaten oysters. There’s only 2 months left of oyster season – get your eat on!

The Epicurean On Kindle Link

This is The Epicurean on Kindle. Free 14 day trial,  99 cents a month after for a subscription. You cannot beat that.

Play with your food! Carbonated grapes.

I love playing with my food. I also love finding new blogs. This gives me both. That makes me happy.

Super Easy Sweet Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken

To give credit where credit is due, this recipe came from Robyn Markham on Facebook. A friend of mine shared it, and it is so easy and delicious that I had to share it. If you don’t have a crockpot you can marinate the chicken in the other ingredients overnight, then cook on low heat on the stove just til chicken is cooked through.

2lb. Chicken tenderloin chunks
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce

Combine all together, cook on low in Crock-pot 6-8 hours…

….that’s it! Done!

Serve with brown rice and you have a complete, easy meal!!

Serves 6-8

Kindle Alert!

I have decided to publish this blog to Kindle. So that means I’ll have to step up my game and provide more food posts. Like about chocolate. And butter. Maybe more restaurant reviews (if I can get someone to take a starving artist out to dinner). Anyway, welcome to all the Kindlers who have decided to give me a try. I will try hard not to let you down.

Chicken Cutlet w/Asparagus and Gorgonzola

I have been away from this blog for FAR too long, and to those of you still reading, I apologize. Life takes twists and turns and some of those twists and turns led me away from the internet for a while. However, I am back. And I have an AWESOME recipe for you, easy-peasy and delicious. If you don’t care for the sharpness of the Gorgonzola, you can substitute Swiss or feta. My philosophy about cooking is to go with your instincts and your taste buds. And ANYBODY can make this. And I must confess, I stole the idea from my ex-boyfriend. Let’s hope he doesn’t read my feed on Facebook.

4 boneless chicken breasts, split and pounded very thin
1 lb. asparagus, washed, trimmed of woody ends
1/2 lb. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
5 cloves garlic, minced fine
Olive oil
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Heat olive oil (enough to cover bottom of pan) in large pan over medium heat. Be careful that it doesn’t start to smoke.

3.  Turn the heat to high and quickly saute  the asparagus with the minced garlic til just greened up, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

4. Place cutlets on a cutting board, season with salt and pepper to taste. With each cutlet. place 2-3 asparagus spears (try to incorporate some of the garlic). Sprinkle with Gorgonzola (don’t overdo – a little goes a long way). Roll up and place, with the rolled side down so they stay rolled, in a lightly greased (with olive oil) baking dish. Repeat with each cutlet. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the rolled up cutlets.

4. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove baking dish from oven and place under broiler for just a few minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the chicken is brown. Remove from broiler and serve immediately.

This recipe serves 4, or more if you have light eaters. It’s absolutely delicious – I just made it last night.

See you guys around the kitchen!