Ausytes | Lithuanian Onion and Bacon Buns

Ausytes are considered a special treat during Christmas in Lithuanian homes. they are small, about three bites, with a center of an onion bacon mixture. They are passed around as an appetizer accompanied with the salutation, "Linksmu Kaledu," which means Merry Christmas! I found this recipe in Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads, and the author credits the recipe to a home baker whose family is from the steel mills in northern Indiana.

Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese, and Balsamic Tartlets

These little tartlets are comprised of a combination of pretty amazing ingredients: Caramelized onion jam. Goat cheese. Puff pastry, Balsamic syrup. Thyme. Seriously good. While they are fabulous as an appetizer or part of a lunch paired with a great salad, I've actually reheated the leftovers for breakfast. 

This recipe makes 4 four-inch rounds, but I am thinking that it would also work scaled down to mini appetizers or even baked in a mini muffin tin.

Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese, and Balsamic Tartlet Recipe

Adapted from the gorgeously photographed and exquisite What Katie Ate. 

Ingredients

1/2 C balsamic vinegar

2 T brown sugar

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed

1 egg yolk, beaten with a bit of milk

6 to 8 T caramelized onion jam (from this post) 

4 slices of goat cheese, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick

Thyme leaves from about 4 sprigs

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Prepare the balsamic vinegar syrup: Simmer the vinegar in a small saucepan until it has been reduced by half. Add the brown sugar and simmer until you have syrup that coats a spoon. Cool and refrigerate to thicken. 
2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
3. Cut the puff pastry into four 4-inch rounds and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. 
4. Using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut 1/2 way through the rounds, creating a 1 inch border. Do not cut all of the way through. 
5. Pierce the center of the rounds (inside the 2 1/2 inch border) several times with a fork. 
6. Brush the outer 1 inch with the egg yolk.
7. Spread the onion jam in the middle of the pastry inside the cut border.
8. Top the center with a goat cheese round and sprinkle with thyme leaves and black pepper. 
9. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until golden and puffy. 
10. Drizzle with the balsamic syrup.

Enjoy!

Homemade Flour Tortillas

I have always wanted to make my own flour tortillas, but I thought I needed a tortilla press (the one kitchen gadget I do not own). Then I started looking through Tara's blog, Tara's Multicultural Table, and I came across this "how to" post and recipe about making your own tortillas. No fancy tortilla press needed. All you need is a rolling pin, a food processor, and a hot skillet. What a revelation!

The only changes that I made to Tara's recipe are that I made six inch rather than eight inch tortillas (as a newbie tortilla maker, I wanted to make it easier on myself, plus it gave me some room for error), and I used (gasp!) lard for the fat. A box of it jumped into my cart at the Mexican market the other day, and I needed an excuse to use it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I mean we eat bacon, right?

As serendipity would have it, a colleague gave me some of her stash of roasted Hatch chiles that make a brief appearance this time of year, so I made some Hatch chile quesadillas with these tortillas.

This is is my first time participating in the Secret Recipe Club, and I was assigned Tara's blog Tara's Multicultural Table. Tara is adorable, and her blog has so many fabulous recipes for foods from around the world. I will be visiting her blog often. Thank you Tara for inspiring me to finally make my own tortillas.

Flour Tortilla Recipe

Adapted from Confessions of a Foodie Bride

Ingredients

3 C unbleached all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 heaping tsp salt

5 T lard, shortening, unsalted butter, or vegetable oil

3/4 C warm water plus more if needed

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a food processor, using the dough blade, add all of the dry ingredients and pulse a couple of times to evenly distribute.
2. Add the fat and pulse until crumbly. 
3. Slowly add the water until the dough just comes together. 
4. Remove the dough from the food processor and knead by had to create a smooth dough.
5. Cut the dough into 12 pieces for eight inch tortillas, or into more or less pieces, depending on how brave you are. 
6. Roll the pieces into balls and cover with plastic wrap and let rest for about 10 minutes to relax the gluten. 
7. Heat a dry skillet or comal (I used a cast iron skillet) over medium heat and, one at a time, roll out each ball (keeping the others covered) into a very thin round (or amoeba in my case), and cook about 30 seconds per side, until lightly browned. Place in a tortilla warmer or stack on a plate and cover with a towel. 
8. Continue rolling out and cooking each tortilla until done. 
9. Serve immediately or wrap with foil or plastic and refrigerate. 
10. To reheat, microwave two at a time or reheat in a skillet one at a time. 

Enjoy!

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

This whole wheat bread is so great for sandwiches. While it definitely has a whole wheat taste, it is still soft and moist and easy to slice. The secret ingredients? Orange juice to mellow the flavor (you can't taste it at all), and potato flour, to absorb and retain moisture.

Caramelized Onion Jam

This sweet onion jam is made by taking four large onions and cooking them down for about 90 minutes until you have this caramelized jammy sweetness that even onion haters would love.

The Yale Cocktail

This is the Yale Cocktail. It has a lovely flavor that isn't girlie at all, blue color notwithstanding. 

It's back to school time! Because this cocktail is named for one of the Ivy League colleges, I thought I'd make it in honor of the start of the new semester.

There are several versions of this cocktail, and evidently the original recipe involved creme de yvette, a liquor that is a blend of berries and violets. I guess for years creme de yvette was not available, so variations of this version with blue Curacao became the standard formula.

For the rest of the country, summer is usually winding down right about now. For those of us in southern California, there are still a few more weeks of heat left... pretty much until Halloween. September can be pretty brutal. One of the last college football opening games I attended, several band members were carried off of the field on stretchers due to the heat. I guess I'm saying that it's really difficult to get into the "back to school" spirit here.

Therefore, to toast back to school, I offer my take on this refreshing cocktail, Ivy League name and all that. While it's not quite Yale blue, here's a toast to the annual back to school routine.

Yale Cocktail

Ingredients

2 1/2 ounces gin

1 1/2 tsp dry vermouth

1 1/2 tsp blue Curacao

dash of orange bitters
Optional: a squeeze of half of a Clementine orange

Instructions

1. Chill a martini glass in the freezer or fill a cocktail glass with ice. 
2. Fill a glass or martini shaker with ice and add the ingredients.
3. Shake or stir and strain into the chilled or ice filled glass. (In the summer, I will sometimes allow some of the ice pieces slip into the cocktail glass. Purists will object, so it's up to you whether or not you want to let some of the ice shards into your cocktail.)
4. Toast to back to school. 

Sourdough Rosemary Bread with Olive Oil

This sourdough rosemary bread with olive oil is made with both natural and commercial yeast. If you'd like to skip the commercial yeast in the final dough for a stronger sourdough flavor, just allow for a longer rise time.

This bread is wonderful dipped in olive oil and balsamic with some ground pepper, or even made into garlic cheese toast. It also makes excellent garlic croutons. The crust is super crunchy, and the bread itself is so full of the flavor of rosemary.

If you don't have a sourdough starter, you can substitute a poolish. Mix about 7 ounces of water with 7 ounces of flour, add a 1/4 tsp. of instant yeast, stir, cover, and let the mixture sit for about 8 hours at room temperature and then overnight in the refrigerator.

Sourdough Rosemary Bread with Olive Oil Recipe

Makes two 20 ounce loaves

Adapted from Amy's Bread, Revised and Updated: Artisan-style breads, sandwiches, pizzas, and more from New York City's favorite bakery

Ingredients

2 ounces warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)

1 tsp active dry yeast

14 ounces 100% hydration sourdough starter

8 ounces room temperature water

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 C fresh rosemary, chopped

15.3 ounces unbleached all purpose flour

2.8 ounces whole wheat flour

1 T plus 2 tsp Kosher salt

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm water and yeast and let it sit for about 5 minutes until foamy.
2. Add the starter, the water, olive oil, and rosemary and mix with you hands, a dough whisk, or the paddle attachment for a couple of minutes. 
3. Add the flour and salt and mix on low with the dough hook until it comes together. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a bowl scraper and adjust the hydration with extra water or flour. 
4. Knead on medium low for about 7 minutes. Let the dough rest, covered with plastic wrap, for 20 minutes. Knead for another couple of minutes. The dough should be soft, tacky, and not very stiff. 
5. Put the dough into an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket and let it rise, covered with plastic wrap, for one hour. After and hour, deflate the dough by folding it over itself from all four "sides" and then placing it seam side down in the oiled bowl. Cover and refrigerated the dough for 8 to 16 hours. 
6. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature, about 2 hours. 
7. Flour two nine inch brotforms/bannetons (see the photo in this post) or bowls. 
8. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and gently form them into boules. Be careful not to deflate the dough too much. Place them seam side up in the baskets/bowls and cover with plastic wrap. 
9. Allow to rise for about 75 to 120 minutes, until doubled. 
10. In the meantime, place two cast iron Dutch ovens into the oven and preheat it to 450 degrees F.
11. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pans from the oven, turn the dough out into the pans, slash, cover, and return them to the oven. 
12. Bake, covered, for 20 minutes, carefully remove the lids from the pans, lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees F, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer, until the bread interior reaches 200 degrees F. (Note: Sometimes I will move the breads to a sheet pan at about 25 minutes to prevent burning of the bottom of the loaf.)
13. Cool on a wire rack. 

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