tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49139179558238429842024-03-12T18:23:06.780-05:00Confessions of a Penguin ChefBaking and Food InsanityPenguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-3431064261051378102010-06-22T09:53:00.010-05:002010-06-30T12:45:49.191-05:00Blue Blue Blueberry PieOmg. This pie was amazing. Beautiful colour, yummy fresh berries (handpicked!), fabulous pie crust... what could be better? :)Some friends and I went to pick blueberries just north of Houston last week and in about 4 hrs of picking, 4 of us combined diligent effort and ended up with approximately 53lbs of berries. It was crazy. So now I'm back in Dallas with about 35lbs stashed in the freezer Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-83966719813644433262009-08-28T21:06:00.002-05:002009-08-28T21:20:21.441-05:00InsanitySo, you've probably wondered why I haven't blogged in a long time. Well, I have new photos and recipes to blog about from July, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. I meant to, I really did! Except that life pretty much went to hell in the beginning of August, and I'm finally starting to get back on my feet again.I put the BBA Challenge on hold for now, as the other challengers have already beenPenguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-45125194704434933742009-07-09T21:05:00.005-05:002009-07-09T21:19:29.713-05:00Chocolate Almond BraidOk this guy was amazing. I started drooling when this came out of the oven, and had to remind myself to wait until DF got to the apt. Chocolate and Almond Filling rolled inside a delicious, flaky, buttery crust?? The house smelled incredible.Definitely use semisweet chocolate, as the bittersweet was actually a little too bitter? Strange, I know. There's no sugar in the puff pastry, and only a Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-57844433570906126622009-07-09T11:24:00.006-05:002009-07-13T10:40:29.353-05:00Pinwheel PastriesI can't stop eating this. It's ridiculous! While it's not nearly as bad as gnawing a stick of butter, sometimes I almost feel like I should just do exactly that :) Ok maybe not, but it'd be darned good!King Arthur Flour came up with a really interesting recipe for Blitz Puff Pastry recently that I tried and really really enjoyed... Enough to make it twice in the past few days and eat it all!! Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-92198506247464553772009-06-25T22:07:00.003-05:002009-06-25T22:38:32.184-05:00BBA Challenge #7 CiabattaSo for the purposes of this challenge, I'm doing everything by the book and as it's written. I'm not tinkering, even when I really really want to fix something. I did the poolish version out of the book, and I've made ciabattas before, so I knew pretty much what I was looking for. Having read several threads on TFL in the past when I was looking for recipes and research, I knew that this Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-2693741326602830902009-06-25T21:37:00.006-05:002009-06-25T22:03:41.732-05:00BBA Challenge #6 ChallahNote to self: do NOT get distracted in the middle of braiding loaves! Hence the funny looking skinny spot in the middle of the 6-strand braid. My bad. I was juggling the Casatiello, Challah, and the Ciabattas at the same time and got lost in a blizzard of dough. That's how I'm justifying it.I couldn't decide if I liked this one or not. I gifted the 3-strand braid to a friend at the local dive Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-40381769310093444892009-06-25T20:40:00.003-05:002009-06-25T21:36:02.446-05:00BBA Challenge #5 CasatielloI LOVED this bread! I'd been waiting and waiting for this one to arrive in the lineup, and it lived up to the dream. Light and fluffy, so buttery but packed with flavour. I used pastrami and sharp cheddar (can we get a T for Tillamook!), and because I was only doing a half recipe, I baked it in a 6" cake round, and added a tall parchment collar. Thank goodness I did, because this baby rose so Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-87175057149704201292009-06-16T11:28:00.004-05:002009-06-16T12:00:00.711-05:00Flaky Fudgy Cakey BrowniesThese brownies are amazing. I love them. They're incredible! That flaky top that brownies should have, kinda fudgy and a little cakey with just a little chew to them even though your teeth sink right through them... How can they miss? Honestly, if I want to eat fudge, I'll make fudge! When I want a brownie, it needs to be more than just fudge. Recipes that call for no baking powder, just don'tPenguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-60523427251038650102009-06-04T13:30:00.004-05:002009-06-04T13:57:19.114-05:00Chocolate Almond Brioche Bread PuddingAfter a weekend of open water diving, I'm sunburned to heck and back, and just wanting something light and sweet to celebrate the month of June! No more no-sweets May :) I had made the brioches a tete earlier in the week, and was surprised they hadn't molded yet, so I stuck them in the fridge over the weekend knowing I was going to make bread pudding.I looked at a ton of recipes online, didn't Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-32174432186390930422009-06-03T09:32:00.004-05:002009-06-03T09:42:51.302-05:00BBA Challenge #4 Brioche (Brioches a Tete)BBA Challenge #4 was Brioche, and we could choose any of the 3 classes (Rich, Middle, or Poor Man's) and since I had made the Poor Man's version before, I decided to go with the Rich Man's version this time. I made just a half recipe, since I planned on making the Middle Man's version later in the week, but unfortunately ran out of time before scuba certification weekend took over!I was using Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-35558054598796768652009-06-03T09:09:00.002-05:002009-06-03T09:28:36.715-05:00SourdoughHave I mentioned lately how much I love sourdough? Really sour sourdough, where it makes the back of your teeth tingle because you can taste the acid. I'm also learning that I prefer my sourdough with a little bit of enrichment, so using milk instead of water, and adding a couple tablespoons of butter to this really does it for me. It's quickly becoming my go-to recipe for sourdough and Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-80830743190233005422009-06-02T13:54:00.004-05:002009-06-03T11:20:20.149-05:00Cuban BreadI love this stuff. Can't get enough of it :) It is quickly becoming my go-to bread dough for making hoagie rolls, hamburger buns, hot dog buns, everything under the sun. It's really versatile, so soft and fluffy but still sturdy enough for angus hot dogs... And it has tremendous keeping power due to the addition of starter discard. I keep starter discard in a container in the fridge, since I Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-62515009528420016182009-06-02T13:48:00.003-05:002009-06-04T13:29:11.118-05:00Baguette and a BouleThe baguette was bred from roughly the same baguette dough as before, but without the addition of the starter and with a little extra rye flour. I'll put the formula below, since it's pretty easy to remember. I think we ate the entire first baguette before they finished cooling completely! The crust was very thin and turned out kind of chewy but still a little crisp. It was really Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-76798995955570948542009-06-02T13:30:00.003-05:002009-06-04T13:29:37.733-05:00All White BaguettesI'm so proud of these baguettes. I've discovered lately that while I previously thought that baking bread on a baking stone was just not worth the extra effort, it does tremendously improve the oven spring! This is definitely the way to go for getting the nice round (tall!) baguette shape. I also proofed these in my couche, instead of straight on the parchment paper as I had previously been Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-22312899800709833042009-06-02T13:18:00.005-05:002009-06-03T00:08:20.982-05:00BBA Challenges 1 and 2I decided last month to join the BBA Challenge that has been going around TFL, mostly to make myself follow a recipe exactly since I'm guilty of tinkering where I think it could be better :) This has been especially hard for me, but it's interesting to hear about other people's thoughts on our forum. That being said, I won't post the recipe because I don't think Reinhart would really appreciate Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-50641400244541267392009-05-04T11:13:00.004-05:002009-05-04T11:33:47.627-05:00Chicken and 40 ClovesI've been talking about this dish for months - about how I wanted to make it, but 40 (FORTY!) cloves of garlic?? That sounded like overkill to me... However, I picked up 3lb of peeled garlic cloves from where else but my beloved Sam's Club, and thought to myself: what on earth are you going to do with all of that garlic?Duh.So there it stood: me with company coming over and tons of garlic in my Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-19665444483784109302009-04-24T23:26:00.006-05:002009-06-04T13:56:59.979-05:00Mock Hostess CupcakesI randomly crave chocolate. Given a choice of dessert, I'll generally go after the vanilla or fruity option simply because I feel like chocolate is so overpoweringly....chocolate. It covers the taste of anything else that tries to play sidekick, and thus is pretty forgiving. Vanilla or fruit has so much possibility, and so I feel it takes that much more talent and creativity (not to mention Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-9982138529237853792009-04-20T13:34:00.007-05:002009-06-04T13:57:46.261-05:00Turtle Brownies with Caramel SauceKinda fudgy, a little cakey, dry flaky top with a moist center... sounds like the perfect brownie to me! Adding some chopped pecans, chocolate chips, and caramel make these Turtle Brownies pure decadence. I needed to satisfy a chocolate craving yesterday, and these sure did it!Next time, I might try cutting down on the amount of actual solid chocolate or adding a touch more flour for structure.Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-56118734392193017832009-04-20T13:16:00.005-05:002009-06-04T13:59:10.591-05:00BaklavaI've never made Baklava before. Mamoun's baklava (when I was in New Haven) was the best I'd ever had and I still miss it. DF had a recipe he'd used before and we gave it a shot, with minor adjustments. We also cut the recipe down so that it fit in an 8x8 pan, and cut the stack of phyllo in half so we weren't trying to layer a long sheet. We placed each sheet touching a different side of the Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-11563433288169573862009-04-10T11:57:00.004-05:002009-06-04T13:58:14.121-05:00Buttermilk Cupcake and Chocolate FrostingI'm still searching for the perfect chocolate frosting. Chocolate frostings made with only powdered cocoa somehow taste a little....raw to me. Using only solid chocolate makes it hard sometimes to get the right chocolate taste - it usually turns out sort of mocha to me. Chocolate frosting just never tastes chocolate enough! I can't figure this out.While pondering and studying a bunch of Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-80716949512312417132009-04-08T22:19:00.005-05:002009-04-08T22:23:36.436-05:00Sourdough French BreadI love sourdough. It is quickly becoming one of my favourite things to make because it DOES take a long time and it leaves me tons of time to practice in between ferments and folds. This particular loaf of bread was intended to be plain old french bread, and I was going for a nice open crumb on it (see the big holes?). The crust was a little lighter than I wanted it to, but it had already Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-73212166776158455282009-04-08T12:39:00.005-05:002009-04-08T13:07:36.239-05:00Chicken and BiscuitsSometime last week, I needed to make something for dinner and I just wasn't inspired to make anything. I was in a rush, was prepping for an audition, and didn't want to have to waste time making something extravagant. Told DF I was going to make some kind of chicken and biscuit bake thing so I could stick it in the oven and warm up for the audition, and I think he almost jumped up and down and Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-76216501402889245812009-04-08T12:17:00.005-05:002009-04-08T12:37:21.895-05:00TortillasI made tortillas once while I was in Connecticut. That was bad news. Somehow, the dough keep sticking to the cast iron, never cooked right, and flaked and broke every time I tried to move it! Definitely a FAIL.After reading a post from EvilShenanigans on the bread forum I'm on (Fresh Loaf), I was inspired to try again. I confessed to my best friend that I had succumbed to my artery clogging Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-76791755638047180622009-04-08T11:09:00.007-05:002009-06-04T13:58:38.091-05:00Croissants and Pains au ChocolatWho doesn't love a golden brown and delicious, flaky, buttery pastry? Maybe if you're in line for the next heart attack, it isn't the best, but this recipe from Le Cordon Bleu's Professional Baking book really did turn out pretty amazing. This was a first try at any of the recipes out of this book, after I've studied it for the past few months. Not so bad!The daunting thing about croissants Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4913917955823842984.post-20811363714612947532009-04-07T22:46:00.009-05:002011-02-01T21:17:58.190-06:00Red Velvet Penguin Cake Last week, DF and I once again taunted the temper of the nefarious Kitchen God. Several months ago, I swore off baking cakes and decorating in DFs kitchen (and the rest of the house!) because of several failed cakes. Layers sliding off one another, fillings leaking out, frostings falling apart... It was horrible! We contrived to bake two layers of cake and after filling the cake (standard Penguin Chefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524408833801605424noreply@blogger.com2