Stork Club Cocktail #PartyLikeAMadMan

I made this Stork Club Cocktail to celebrate the opening of the final season of Mad Men, which begins April 5. I've been watching the show since the beginning, and have so enjoyed the historical stories in the background.

The setting is a Madison Avenue advertising agency. The series begins in 1960, and ends in 1969. Many of us "of a certain age" know what pivotal years those were.

For those of you who haven't indulged in watching the show, the themes include drinking at work, alcoholism, smoking, adultery, sexism, and racism. Fun, right? It's actually a pretty amazing period piece.

If you haven't watched the show yet, I highly recommend binge watching it this week in preparation for the final half of the final season.

The Stork Club was described by Walter Winchell as New York's "New Yorkiest" place. Don Draper, the show's main character, visited the Stork Club in Season 2, Episode 7, with his former model wife Betty to celebrate a client's new television show. The relationships in the episode are, as they say, "complicated."

This cocktail was supposedly enjoyed by New York City's rich and famous.

To honor the period, I also made the daiquiri featured in Season 3, Episode 3. Evidently it was President Kennedy's favorite cocktail, and became all the rage. It consists of 1 1/2 ounces of white rum and 2 tsps of limeade concentrate.

The stack of coasters on the right are my mom's crystal horoscope coasters. How 60s is that?

Stork Club Cocktail

Ingredients

Dash of lime juice

Juice of half of an orange 

Dash of triple sec

1 1/2 ounces of gin

Dash of Angostura bitters

Instructions

1. Add all of the ingredients to an ice filled shaker.
2. Shake, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

This cocktail is from The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook.

The book is filled with retro recipes, including cocktails, appetizers, salads, main courses, and desserts. Besides the great retro cocktails, some of my favorites include deviled eggs, rumaki, the wedge salad, and beef Wellington.

Check out the Mad Men Finale Party for more ideas!

Granary Style Loaf.... sort of....

This granary style loaf is super soft and perfect for sandwiches. The flavor is faintly whole wheat, and slightly sweet. This might be the perfect way to introduce whole wheat to white bread lovers.

Time for truth in advertising...  this should probably be called Oatmeal Bread... or Toasted Oats Bread. That sounds more glamorous, right?

The Bread Baking Babes made a granary style loaf with malted wheat flakes, an ingredient I did not have in my pantry ("Hard to believe, right?" says the champion ingredient collector). I still wanted to bake along, and Tanna, of My Kitchen in Half Cups, who is Kitchen of the Month, gave us permission to play around with the ingredient list.

Malted wheat flakes are supposed to give your bread a sweet nutty flavor, so to try and approximate the flavor and texture, I toasted some rolled oats and substituted them for the wheat flakes. They pretty much disappeared into the bread, unlike the malted wheat flakes. It probably has something to do with how they absorb water.

To toast rolled oats, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and spread the oats in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, stirring the oats periodically.

Making this bread was really easy, and the dough rose very high in the oven,  just about 6 inches tall!

There actually is a is a granary style flour which you can order on Amazon from Great Britain. Tanna actually bought some! You can read more about it on Tanna's post.  This recipe is adapted from her post, which she found on King Arthur Flour.

Granary Style Loaf or Oatmeal Bread Recipe

Ingredients

Soaker

1 Cup rolled oats, toasted

2 Tbsp barley malt syrup

2 Cups (8 1/2 ounces) white whole wheat flour

2 Cups warm water

Final Dough

All of the soaker 

1 scant Tbsp instant yeast

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp salt

3 cups (about 13 1/2 ounces all purpose or bread flour

Instructions

1. Mix the soaker ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for about 20 minutes.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl, holding back one cup of the flour. With the dough hook, begin kneading the dough until you have a shaggy mass. Slowly add more flour until the dough is tacky, but not too sticky. 
3. Knead on the second speed for 10 minutes.
4. Place the dough into an oiled bowl, and let rise until doubled, about 60 to 90 minutes. It will start slow, and then gain momentum.
5. Divide the dough in half and shape into sandwich loaves. Place them into two 8 1/2 inch by 4 inch loaf pans. 
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let them rise until about 3/4 the way to doubled, 45 to 60 minutes. Mine rose very quickly. 
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the loaves for 35 to 40 minutes until the interior reaches about 190 degrees F. 

No Knead Ciabatta

This No Knead Ciabatta Bread is so easy to make. You stir the flour, water, salt, and yeast together in a bowl before you go to bed, and shape and bake the loaves in the morning. It's pretty incredible.

The most difficult part of making this bread is getting used to working with super wet dough. The trick is to use a wet bench knife and wet hands... and just go with it. Have faith. It works.

The overnight rise is a wonderful way of developing flavor and the gluten in the dough. The technique is pretty effortless.

This recipe calls for a pizza stone and some sort of cover for the bread while baking. If you don't have a baking stone, a baking sheet should work well.

No Knead Ciabatta

Ingredients

400 grams (3 cups) bread flour

8 grams (1 1/4 tsp) table salt

1/4 tsp instant yeast

1 1/2 C cool water

Instructions

1. Mix all of the ingredients in a medium bowl for about a minute. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 12 to 18 hours, until more than doubled and bubbly on the dough's surface. 
2. Flour your work surface and scrape the dough out onto it. 
3. With wet hands and a wet dough scraper, shape the dough into a 14 inch square. 
4. Using the wet dough scraper and your wet hands, fold the dough over itself, and then over itself again, so you have a 7 inch square. 
5. Cover the dough with oiled plastic wrap, and let it rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until almost doubled. 
6. Preheat the oven, with a baking stone on the center rack, to 475 degrees F. 
7. When the dough is ready, slice it in half with a bench knife and place each piece, stretched out, on a parchment lined peel. Dust with flour. 
8. Transfer the dough pieces to the stone, and cover with a large disposable foil pan or roasting pan cover. 
9. Bake, covered, for 20 minutes. Uncover, and bake for an additional 10 to 20 minutes, until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 200 to 210 degrees F. 
10. Cool on a wire rack. 

Questions about alternative ways to make this bread? Just ask.

Recipe adapted from My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method.

Stir-Fried Napa Cabbage with Prosciutto | Wok Wednesdays

This Stir-Fried Napa Cabbage with Prosciutto was so simple to make. Napa cabbage, ginger, chicken broth, corn starch, Chinese rice wine, salt, sugar, and prosciutto. After you've chopped and prepped the ingredients, the dish only takes a couple of minutes to prepare, and the cabbage is "crisp-tender."

The Wok Wednesday group is stir frying this dish from Grace Young's Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge. It is a take on the Chinese American dish made with Smithfield country ham, which is similar to a famous Chinese ham. Grace's mother preferred using prosciutto, because it doesn't require soaking to remove extra salt.

The recipe can be found on page 199 of the book. If you'd like to Wok along, check out our recipe schedule and Facebook page. Grace Young is a regular visitor and advisor to us all.

Potato Leek Pie

Potato Leek Pie! With a puff pastry crust and Gruyere cheese. I had a slice for lunch, but I think it would also be perfect for a Sunday brunch or a meatless dinner.

It's Secret Recipe Club time again, and this time I was assigned Christie's blog, A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures. She has an amazingly extensive collection of recipes on her blog, and I had quite a few picked out to consider for this month's post... until she posted this potato pie recipe just two weeks ago. Thank you Christie. I needed this potato pie in my life!

According to Christie, the kitchen is her zen place, to which I can totally relate. She's also been on Emeril Live!! How cool is that? Please visit her site for lots of tasty looking recipes.

This Potato Leek Pie is really, really good. It's kind of like potatoes au gratin, but with a puff pastry crust and sautéed leeks.... and Gruyere. The best cheese ever.

Leftovers of this pie are also delicious.. in fact, maybe even better than when freshly baked. The crust is extra crispy the second time around. If you are planning a brunch, you can bake this in advance and refrigerate it. Once you are ready to serve the potato pie, slice it and reheat the slices in the oven at 350 degrees F on a foil lined baking sheet, preferably with convection heat.

This pie disappeared pretty quickly in our house.

Potato Leek Pie

Ingredients

One sheet of frozen puff pastry, defrosted, or make your own as I did here

1 tsp butter

1 C thinly sliced leeks

2 pounds of Russet potatoes

3/4 C half and half

1 large egg

1 T chopped fresh thyme

1 heaping tsp garlic salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 C coarsely grated Gruyere cheese

Instructions

1. Line a deep dish pie pan or nine inch springform pan with the puff pastry. Cut off the corners and patch the sides that are missing crust so that you have a round pastry crust. 
2. Saute the leeks in the butter over medium heat for about five minutes. 
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Peel the potatoes and slice them very thinly by hand, with a V-slicer,  or with a mandoline. 
5. Whisk the half and half with the egg. 
6. Layer 1/3 of the potato slices in the pie pan. Top with 1/3 of the leeks. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the thyme and 1/3 of the garlic salt and pepper mixture. Top with 1/3 of the cheese.
7. Repeat with the potatoes, leeks, thyme, salt and pepper, and cheese. 
8. Layer with the final third of the potatoes, leeks, thyme, garlic salt, and pepper. Pour the half and half/egg mixture over the potatoes and top with the final third of the cheese. 
9. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Vanilla, Currant, and White Chocolate Cookies #CreativeCookieExchange

Can you believe that these Vanilla, Currant, and White Chocolate Cookies are made with bread flour? How cool is that? I'm not sure I understand the chemistry? Maybe it's because the dough is refrigerated for 48 hours before baking? Did you notice that I just ended every sentence with a question mark? I am a Californian (flips hair)?

Refrigerating (not freezing) the dough for 48 hours (not 24, not 64) actually gives the cookies a sort of caramel flavor, which neutralizes some of the sweetness of the dough.

My husband, kids, and grandsons all loved them... so much so that I was not allowed to take them to work. This cookie jar pretty much emptied out in a couple of days.

These cookies are packed with white chocolate chips. The dried currants add just a bit of color and flavor. If you want to go all decadent, substitute some bittersweet mini chocolate chips for the currants.

My daughter was visiting and found a package of chalkboard paper I bought on a whim. She drew this for me, so I had to take a photo of the cookies on the paper!

After the recipe, check out all of the wonderful recipes created for this month's Creative Cookie Exchange theme, White Chocolate.

Vanilla, Currant, and White Chocolate Cookies

Adapted from King Arthur Flour. Makes about 56 cookies.

Ingredients

6 T room temperature butter

3/4 C sugar

2 large eggs

1 T vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

202 g (1 2/3 C) unbleached bread flour

2 cups (340 grams) white chocolate chips

1/4 C (30 grams) dried currants

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar. A hand or stand mixer are both fine. 
2. Add the eggs and beat until smooth.
3. Beat in the vanilla, salt, and baking powder.
4. Add the flour and mix until just incorporated. You can use the paddle attachment or a rubber spatula. 
5. Fold in the white chocolate chips and dried currants. 
6. Refrigerate the dough, covered, for 48 hours. 
7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
8. Portion the dough into 1 inch balls (I used a teaspoon scoop)
9. Bake the cookies on parchment lined baking sheets, one sheet at a time, for 8 to 9 minutes. Do not over bake. 
10. Cool on the baking sheets. 

The theme this month is White Chocolate! White chocolate is seriously underrated as a baking ingredient--it complements so many other flavors so nicely, like citrus, spices, berries, winter squash, etc. So if you want to see all the ways white chocolate can be used to make terrific cookies, you have come to the right place! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links. You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes--be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made:

• Cashew and White Chocolate Chips Cookies from SimplyVeggies
• Citrus Olive Oil Biscotti with White Chocolate Chunks from The Spiced Life
• Cookies and Cream Blondies from Sidewalk Shoes
• Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies from Magnolia Days
• Japanese Yuzu Citrus Biscotti from NinjaBaker
• Key Lime White Chocolate Chip Cookies from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Liquid Cocaine (Espresso-White Chocolate) Cookies from Food Lust People Love
• Matcha and White Chocolate Cookies from Spiceroots
• Oatmeal Cookies with White Chocolate Chips and Toffee Bits from A Bakerís House
• Vanilla, Currant, and White Chocolate Cookies from Karenís Kitchen Stories
• White Chocolate Lemon and Oats Cookies from Bakingyummies
• White Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake Cookies from Made With Love
• White Chocolate Snickerdoodles from Our Good Life
• White Chocolate Pumpkin Bars from Upstate Ramblings

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

This vanilla bean ice cream was made at the request of my oldest grandson. When his birthday was coming up, I asked him to tell me his favorite kind of cake. He immediately figured out my modus operandi, and told me he wanted vanilla ice cream for his birthday.

That I can do!

While vanilla ice cream might be sort of, "vanilla." this ice cream is extra special. It's flecked with vanilla seeds too, which gives it an extra amazing specialness.

It would be delicious on a piece of pie.

It's also awesome with a birthday candle in it.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp cornstarch

3 tbsp cream cheese, softened

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

2/3 cups sugar

2 tbsp corn syrup

1 vanilla bean, split with the seeds scraped out and reserved

Instructions

1. Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch to make a slurry. 
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese and the salt.
3. Fill a very large bowl with ice and water and set aside. 
4. Combine the rest of the milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla bean, and vanilla seeds in a four quart saucepan. Bring to a boil, and cook for four minutes. 
5. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch and milk mixture.
6. Bring the mixture back to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula for one minute, until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat. 
7. Slowly whisk the milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until thoroughly combined. 
8. Pour the mixture into a one gallon freezer zip lock bag and submerge it into the ice and water mixture. Let stand for 30 minutes. Add more ice if necessary. 
9. Remove the vanilla bean from the mixture, and freeze it in your ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer's instructions. 
10. Once the ice cream has thickened, scrape it into a container and freeze overnight. 

Serve! 

Recipe adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home

Beef Chow Fun | Wok Wednesdays

Beef Chow Fun is a Cantonese noodle dish with haw fun, noodles made in broad sheets from a rice batter that is steamed on lightly oiled sheet pans. They are sold at room temperature on the day they are made, and are best used the same day. I know this to be true because I read it in Grace Young's Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories.

I wasn't able to find the haw fun uncut, but my local Asian market had packages of fresh cut noodles. Score! I was so happy to find them, that I immediately bought them and ran to my car to head home, satisfied that I had hunted down the coveted ingredient. Then I realized I forgot the bean sprouts. Doh!!

When you are in an Asian shopping center on the weekend in southern California, parking is at a premium. Sometimes I'd just rather not go. I felt terrible walking to my car, deceiving the woman slowly following me into thinking I'd be leaving my prized parking space. I apologized profusely with many self deprecating gestures, she smiled (no Fried Green Tomatoes moment, fortunately), and I ran back into the store to pick up a bag of sprouts. I also decided to hit the soy sauce aisle (yes, a whole aisle) to pick up a bottle of Pearl River Bridge dark soy sauce. The section was empty but for two bottles! Even though I didn't really need them, I scooped them up like they were gasoline in the Jimmy Carter era!

Step one: Assemble all of your ingredients. Flank steak, soy, cornstarch, sesame oil, fresh broad rice noodles, oyster sauce, Shao Hsing rice wine, ginger, garlic, fermented black beans (if you can't find them, try a tablespoon of black bean garlic sauce), bean sprouts, scallions, and white pepper.

Step two: wash and dry the bean sprouts.

Step three: Painstakingly separate a pound of haw fun into a snowy pile of noodles. It's a fun job for kids!

Step three: Mise en place.

The beef is marinated in the soy, corn starch, and sesame oil. The ginger and garlic are minced. The fermented beans are smashed, and the wine and oyster sauce are mixed together.

First you briefly stir fry the garlic and ginger, then you sear the marinated meat, add the the fermented beans, stir a bit, and then remove the mixture from the wok. At this point, you cook the noodles.

There was a lot of chatter on the Wok Wednesdays Facebook page about how the noodles stick, and indeed, mine did too, but not too badly. Mei Chau, whose amazing Malaysian style shrimp recipe knocked my socks off, weighed in on how to avoid too much sticking by stirring the noodles.

(By the way, it wasn't a big deal to get the stuck noodles off of the wok. A five minute soak in hot water was all it took. Woo hoo!)

Once the noodles are a bit crusty, you add the meat back in, as well as the bean sprouts and scallions and stir. Dinner for two!

Verdict? We devoured it. I really loved the added crunch from the bean sprouts.

P.S. In the book, the scallions are shredded rather than sliced. I also added some crushed red pepper to my half.

And we have steam!!!

To find the recipe, check out Grace Young's wonderful cookbook. The recipes are authentic and delicious. I've been at it for about two years, and it's an amazing adventure.

Multigrain and Seed Bread Extraordinaire | #BreadBakers

This Multigrain and Seed Bread Extraordinaire is a variation of one of my all time favorite breads. The dough is great for rolls, traditional sandwich loaves, and boules. It starts with a cornmeal, oats, wheat bran, flax meal, and flax seed soaker that you mix the day before. 

Prior to baking, the top of the loaf is generously sprinkled with lots and lots of poppy seeds. 

Oh, and a half a cup of cooked wild rice is kneaded into the dough. Isn't it gorgeous in that lacy bread? 

This is a hearty bread that is wonderful buttered, toasted and buttered, and my favorite way, toasted with a sunny side up egg on top for breakfast. I like to break the yolk and spread it over the bread. I like lots of pepper too... the slice underneath has butter on it....

Back to the bread.... even though my hobby is trying new bread techniques and recipes, I always seem to come back to a variation of this bread. This time the recipe was inspired by combining the different techniques from four of Peter Reinhart's bread books.

In every bread book he has published, Peter Reinhart has included a formula for Struan, which he also calls Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire. In each book, the formula is slightly different. I pulled out my copies of Artisan Breads Everyday, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, Whole Grain Breads, and Crust and Crumb.I played around with the recipe and baked this loaf.

I LOVE how this turned out, especially the addition of the flax seeds, the extra sourdough starter (if you don't have any starter, that's okay, you can still make this bread), and the extra wild rice. This is a bread that you can play with and make your own. The bread stays fresh for days. You can also slice it, freeze it, and then pull out slices to toast for breakfast. Play with it and let me know your variation!!

Other Struan breads I've previously posted here include Struan: A Multigrain Bread and Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire.

After the recipe, check out the 21 (that's twenty-one!) amazing bread recipes using seeds from the #BreadBakers.

Multigrain and Seed Bread Extraordinaire

Ingredients

Soaker

1 ounce (3 Tbsp) coarse grind cornmeal (polenta)

3/4 ounces (3 Tbsp) rolled oats

.25 ounces (2 Tbsp) wheat bran

.25 ounces (2 Tbsp) whole flax seeds

.25 ounces (1 T) ground flax seeds

2 1/2 ounces water

Final Dough

13.5 ounces unbleached high gluten or bread flour, plus extra if needed

1.5 ounces (3 Tbsp) brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp instant yeast
All of the soaker

3 ounces (about 1/2 C) cooked wild rice

1 1/2 Tbsp honey

1/2 C buttermilk (or milk)

4 ounces (by weight) of sourdough starter, fed or not fed (optional)

6 ounces (3/4 C) water

Lots of poppy seeds (for topping)

Instructions

1. The day before baking the bread, mix the soaker ingredients in a small bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit overnight at room temperature.
2. Whisk all of the dry ingredients, except the poppy seeds, in the bowl of stand mixer. 
3. Add the soaker, rice, honey, buttermilk, starter, and water, and mix by hand with the dough hook until all of the flour is moistened. Scrape the bowl with a bowl scraper, and attach the bowl to the mixer. 
4. Knead with the dough hook on low for about two minutes, adding more flour by tablespoon, until the dough is tacky, but not too sticky. Don't add too much flour... just enough. 
5. Knead the dough on medium low for about 6 to 8 minutes. 
6. Turn the dough out onto lightly floured work surface, and knead a few times by hand. 
7. Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 90 minutes. 
8. Flatten the dough on the counter, and roll into a loaf. Place it into an oiled 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. 
9. Sprinkle the top of the loaf generously with poppy seeds, and cover with oiled plastic wrap or a towel. 
10. Let rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until the dough his crested about 1 to 1 1/2 inches above the top of the pan. 
11. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 20 minutes, reverse the pan, and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the interior registers 185 to 190 degrees F. 
12. Remove the loaf from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. 

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. This month's theme is Seeds, and is hosted by Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories (I know her!). Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com Don't forget to check out the rest of the delicious breads with seeds:

• Amaranth Banana Nut Quick Bread from Magnolia Days
• Bird Seed Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Crunchy Seed Braid from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Everything Dutch Oven Bread from Chef Mireille's East West Realm
• Hearty Seed Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Khobz Mzaweq - Moroccan Decorated Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Lemon Curd Poppy Seed Bread from A Baker's House
• Lemon Poppy Seed Bread from The PinterTest Kitchen
• Makowiec - Polish Poppy Seed Bread from Sweet Cinnamon & Honey
• Multigrain and Seed Bread Extraordinaire from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Multigrain Bread with Flaxseeds from Cooking Club
• Pain Petri (Moroccan Challah) from Passion Kneaded
• Seeded Club Soda Bread from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Sesame Studded Grissini from Ruchik Randhap
• Simit - Turkish Ring Bread from Spice Roots
• Six Seed Soda Bread from Bakers and Best
• Sunflower Seed Bread from My Catholic Kitchen
• Sunflower Seed Bread from Kids and Chic

Little Lemon Loaf

This little lemon loaf is about as lemony as a lemon loaf can be. It's loaded with lemon zest and lemon juice. It also gets its yellow color enhanced by yellow corn meal.

This cake is so citrusy and refreshing. AND, I was able to use lemons from my very prolific Meyer lemon tree. Woo hoo!

I made this cake twice. First I made it with coarse cornmeal, but the grittiness of the cornmeal distracted me from the tastiness of the cake. The second time, I ground the cornmeal in my food processor. Much better (for me). If you like a "bite" to your lemon loaf, there is no need to grind the cornmeal.

This cake stays fresh and moist for a long time, and the lemon flavor is very pronounced. The cake is not overly sweet, so you can actually serve it for breakfast with jam. Cake for breakfast? I'm in!

The Avid Bakers Challenge for this month was to make this Lemon Loaf from Scientifically Sweet. Some of my Avid Baker pals glazed their loaves. Others dipped theirs in chocolate. Do check them out. They look seriously tasty.

Little Lemon Loaf

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups (5 1/3 ounces) all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup yellow cornmeal, left "as is" or finely ground in a food processor or blender

2 large room temperature eggs

1 large room temperature egg yolk

1 T lemon zest

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 C granulated sugar

1/3 C vegetable oil

1/4 C lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Spray a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan with spray oil. Line it from side to side with parchment paper, with an overhang on each side. Spray the paper with spray oil. 
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and corn meal. 
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and egg yolk, lemon zest, and the salt on medium high for about a minute. Continue beating while gradually adding in the sugar. Increase the speed to high and beat for five minutes. The mixture will be very pale. 
5. Combine the oil and lemon juice in a small bowl or measuring cup and mix with a fork. 
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixer and fold it in. 
7. Add half of the oil/lemon juice mixture and fold the batter. 
8. Add the second third of the flour mixture and fold just until incorporated. 
9. Continue with the second half of the oil/lemon mixture and then the final third of the flour mixture until just incorporated. 
10. Pour the mixture into a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan, smooth the top, and bake for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. 
11. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. 

Italian Margarita

My new favorite cocktail is this Italian Margarita. 

It is a combination of tequila and lime, with a combination of Italian liqueurs (Aperol and Luxardo) to substitute for the triple sec. 

Aperol is an Italian light herbal aperitif with a light alcohol content. 

Luxardo cherry liqueur has been produced in Italy since the early nineteenth century. 

The resulting cocktail is fruity fresh, with a little bit of bitterness, but not too much. It's very easy to drink, yet herbal and not overly sweet. 

Italian Margarita

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces tequila blanco
1 ounce Aperol
!/2 ounce cherry liqueur, such as Luxardo
The juice of a lime
Lemon twist to garnish

Instructions

1. Add the tequila, Aperol, cherry liqueur, and lime juice to an ice filled shaker. 
2. Shake the ingredients for about 30 to 60 seconds, until fully chilled. 
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 
4. Garnish with a lemon twist. 

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup

This slow cooker loaded baked potato soup is so creamy and flavorful, and tastes just like a twice-baked potato.

Sliced red potatoes are simmered in the slow cooker in a mixture of sautéed (in bacon fat!) onions and chicken broth for several hours, and then pureed with an immersion blender. Sharp cheddar cheese, cream, and chives are stirred into the hot soup. Just garnish with sour cream, bacon, and a few scallions, and you've got a loaded baked potato in a bowl.

I cooked and pureed the potatoes, onions, and chicken broth a day in advance, and then reheated the mixture in a Dutch oven and then added the cheese and cream the next day. Leftovers refrigerate and reheat very well too.

Totally comforting. Totally delicious.

Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

8 slices bacon, chopped

2 large onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

5 1/2 Cups chicken broth

3 pounds red potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick

1 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp pepper, plus more to taste

8 ounces white sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 Cup heavy cream

1/4 Cup minced chives

Sour cream

Thinly sliced scallions

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, cook the bacon until done, but not too crispy. Move the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve the soup. 
2. Pour the bacon fat out of the pan, reserving two tablespoons. 
3. Add the onions to the fat and cook for about 10 minutes over medium low heat. Add the garlic and thyme and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the broth and deglaze the pan. Bring to a boil. 
4. Combine the sliced potatoes and the 1 1/2 tsp salt in a 5 to 7 quart slow cooker. Pour the hot onion and soup mixture over the potatoes and stir. 
5. Cover and cook on high for about 7 hours, or on low for about 8 hours. 
6. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until completely smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, blend the soup in batches in a standard blender. 
7. Stir in the cheese and cream until smooth. 
8. Add the pepper and chives. Add more salt and pepper to taste. 
9. Reheat the bacon in the microwave for about 20 to 30 seconds, until hot. 
10. Garnish the soup with sour cream, scallions, and the hot bacon.  

Ah-maze-ing!

Adapted from the December/January 2015 edition of Cook's Country

Pane di Genzano

Pane Casareccio di Genzano

Pane di Genzano is a wonderful soft country bread, ideal for a picnic with cheese and salami. The bread comes from a town in the province of Rome, located about 20 miles south of the city of Rome, in the Lazio region of Italy. It is the only bread in Italy that has been given the IGP, Indicazione Geografica Protetta. This certification, usually reserved for cheese or wine, means that no bread may be called Pane di Genzano unless it has been produced within the geographic region.

Oh man! I could be in BIG trouble if the bread police show up.

Pane Casareccio di Genzano

In Genzano, the dough for the "real" Pane di Genzano was traditionally prepared at home, using a lievito natural (starter) and grano tenero (tender wheat), and then taken to a public wood fired brick oven to be baked. In addition, the crust was coated with wheat bran prior to baking. The loaves were very large, up to eight pounds, resulting in a very dark crust. Every September since 1989, the town has a festival to celebrate its bread tradition.

My loaves are only about one and a half pounds, and were baked in my home oven. I used a mixture of all purpose and pastry flour to simulate the Italian type 0 or 00 flour that is usually used to make this bread.

The dough is very wet and sticky, and almost impossible to shape. I placed the "shaped" dough in a metal pie tin to keep it all in one place as it rose (more like spread). Slashing the dough is not necessary, and would probably deflate it. Fortunately, the bread rises up in the middle the minute you put it on the baking stone in the oven, creating an airy, soft loaf. The bread stays fresh for days, perhaps from the high percentage of water in the dough.

Pane Lariano di Genzano

I made two loaves, one with white pastry flour, Pane Casareccio di Genzano, and one with whole wheat pastry flour, Pane Lariano di Genzano (which I baked in an oven proof skillet). Both versions will definitely be in my bread baking rotation.

Pane Lariano di Genzano

Please don't tell the bread police... I also used yeast instead of the lievito natural to make these loaves, but I let them rise in a cool place to proof very slowly and develop flavor. The bread was amazingly tasty, and the bran added such a wonderful aroma and a nutty flavor.

After the recipe, check out the links for more wonderful Italian bread recipes from my #TwelveLoaves friends.

Pane di Genzano

Ingredients

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1 2/3 cups minus 1 T / 385 grams water

14 ounces / 400 grams unbleached all purpose flour

3.5 ounces / 100 grams white or whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp salt

1/2 cup / 25 grams wheat bran

Instructions

1. Add all of the ingredients except the bran to the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix with the paddle for about two minutes.
2. Switch to the dough hook, and knead for three minutes at low speed, and three minutes and medium speed. 
3. Pour the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place it in a cool place to rise until tripled, about 3 to 5 hours. 
4. Lightly oil the bottom of a pie pan and sprinkle the bottom with some of the bran. 
5. Sprinkle a work surface with flour, and turn the dough out onto it. With floured hands and a dough scraper, shape the dough into a round, as best you can. Place the round, seam side down, into the pie pan. Sprinkle the top of the dough with the rest of the bran and gently pat it to make sure it sticks. 
6. Cover the loaf with oiled plastic wrap or a towel and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours. The dough will be very jiggly. 
7. Preheat the oven with a baking stone (if you have one) to 450 degrees F. with an optional metal bowl, cloche, or foil baking pan on the stone (you don't need the cover, but it helps a lot with oven spring). 
8. Place the pie pan on the stone and invert the bowl, cloche, or foil baking pan over the loaf. 
9. Close the oven and turn it down to 425 degrees F. Bake for 30 minutes, remove the cover, and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 200 to 210 degrees F.
10. Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe adapted from The Italian Baker: The Classic Tastes of the Italian Countryside--Its Breads, Pizza, Focaccia, Cakes, Pastries, and Cookies.

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess and runs smoothly with the help of Heather of girlichef, and the rest of our fabulous bakers. Our host this month is Rossella from Ma ch ti sei mangiato, and our theme is Italian Breads. For more bread recipes, visit the #TwelveLoaves Pinterest board, or check out last month's mouthwatering selection of #TwelveLoaves Olive Breads!

• Calzone from A Baker's House
• Ciabatta from Ma che ti sei mangiato
• Italian Easter Cheese Bread from Kudos Kitchen By Renee
• Lemon Brasadella Italian Coffee Cake from NinjaBaker.com
• Pane Bianco Filled with Tomato, Basil, and Garlic from Never Enough Thyme
• Pane di Genzano from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pane di Pasqua (Italian Easter Bread) from Cake Duchess
• Pane Toscano (Tuscan Bread) from girlichef
• Parmesan Garlic Grissini from From My Sweet Heart
• Rosemary Red Onion Beer Bread from Shockingly Delicious
• Tuscan Lemon Quick Bread with Limoncello Glaze from Rhubarb and Honey