RS Cooking Class 9

We had another cooking class last week. We focused on Thanksgiving Desserts.

I did a quick demo on my mom's Pumpkin Pie Cake, which is already posted on my blog. [As a side note: the Pretzel Salad and the Pumpkin Pie Cake are holiday traditions in my fam.]

In addition, Jen taught Tarheel Pie, Pumpkin Pie and Better Pecan Toffee Pumpkin Pie. I'm a huge fan of the Tarheel Pie and we will be making it as part of our Thanksgiving Dinner.

Butter Pie Crust
2 1/2 c. flour
1 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 c chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
6-12 Tbsp ice water

Combine flour, sugar and salt. Add butter cubes. Pulse in processor or mix with hands until coarse meal forms. Gradually blend in enough ice water to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball. Divide in half. Form into 2 balls, flatten into discs, wrap each in plastic and chill 2 hours or overnight. Makes 2 crusts, either 2 bottom crusts or a bottom and a top crust.

Tarheel Pie
1 c chocolate chips
1 stick butter, melted (and still warm)
1 c chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
9" unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 350. Mix butter and chocolate chips in saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Blend all remaining ingredients, then stir in chocolate mixture. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream

Perfect Pumpkin Pie
1 (15 oz) can pure pumpkin
3/4 c (packed) golden brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of ground cloves
3 large eggs
1 1/4 c heavy whipping cream

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 375. Spray 9" diameter deep-dish glass pie dish with nonstick spray. Roll out dough on floured surface to 13" round. Transfer to prepared dish. Fold edges under and crimp, forming high border. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans [for weight]. Bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until edges are light golden, pressing crust with back of fork if bubbles form, about 7 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350. Reposition oven rack to center.

Puree pumpkin in processor. Mix in next 6 ingredients. Add eggs 1 at a time, pulsing after each addition. Gradually add cream, processing, just until blended. Process 5 seconds longer.

Pour filling into warm crust. Bake until edges are puffed and center is set, about 1 hour. Cool completely on rack. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Butter Pecan Toffee Pumpkin Pie
Perfect Pumpkin Pie filling (recipe above)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 c pecan halves
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp water
1/4 c toffee bits or chopped toffee bars (such as Skor or Heath)

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pecan halves, brown sugar, and water; stir until sugar forms glossy coating over pecans, about 4 minutes. Transfer to sheet of foil; cool. Chop 1/3 c pecans and combine with 1/4 c toffee bits or chopped toffee bars. Sprinkle over baked crust. Pour in Perfect Pumpkin Pie filling; bake and cool as directed. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. cover; chill. Sprinkle 1/4 c toffee bits or chopped toffee bars around edge of pie. Garnish with remaining pecans.

RS Cooking Class 5

I still have a few classes I haven't posted. I'll get to it eventually!

Jon actually taught this one (back on the 1st of October). I appreciate him being willing to do this. Unfortunately I was watching Taelyn and couldn't really help. I did try to keep him mindful of the time every chance I got.

These recipes are Jon originals. Getting him to measure everything out so I could write down a recipe was like pulling teeth. If anyone ever does try any of these, I would be very interested in your feedback.

Stuffed Pork Chops

½ tsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp rosemary
5 pork chops
2 tsp water
¼ cup craisins
2 tsp olive oil
½ cup diced green onions
¼ cup chopped pecans
½ box PORK Stovetop Stuffing
1 Granny Smith apple

Heat garlic and 2 Tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. Add rosemary and cook until mixture smells roasted. Brown both sides of pork chops in mixture. Set pork chops aside.

Plump craisins by putting 2 tsp water and craisins in microwave for 30 seconds and set aside. Grate apple and set aside.

Heat 2 tsp. olive oil, green onions, and pecans in frying pan until it smells roasted. Remove from heat and add stuffing, craisins and apple. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Cut pork chops to form pocket (Note: can also cut down side and hold together with toothpick, if needed). Stuff stuffing mixture into pork chops. Place pork chops on a pan and broil for 7-10 minutes (until top quits juicing). Turn pork chops over and broil for an additional 7-10 minutes.

Highly recommend serving with sauce recipe below.

Sauce (optional)

¼ c craisins
2 tsp water
3 tsp olive oil
½ tsp minced garlic
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 dashes nutmeg
2 dashes cinnamon
1 Tbsp brown sugar
½ Tbsp water
1 cup apple sauce

Dice craisins. Place in microwave safe container and plump by adding 2 tsp water and microwaving for 30 seconds. Set aside.

In frying pan, heat olive oil and garlic until smells roasted. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar and water. Stirring constantly, heat until caramelized (be careful not to burn it). Add craisins and applesauce. Serve with or over pork chops.

Santa Fe Stuffed Chicken Breasts

2 cans Rotel Tomatoes
3 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp minced garlic
chili powder (if desired)
1 ½ cups black beans
1 cup corn
1 ½ cups prepared rice
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
5-7 chicken breasts

Completely drain moisture off of tomatoes into a separate container and set juice aside. Spread tomatoes in an oven safe pan, and broil until most of the moisture is gone (~10 minutes). When done, they will look dried out and there will be no remaining moisture on the bottom of the pan. Jon claims this condenses the flavors.

*In a frying pan, cook olive oil, garlic and a few dashes of chili powder (optional-to increase spiciness) until smells roasted. Add a few spoonfuls of broiled tomatoes and tomato juice that was set aside. Drain moisture off of black beans into sauce. Cook for one minute and remove from heat.

In separate bowl, combine black beans, broiled tomatoes, corn, rice, salt, and pepper. Add additional salt and pepper, to taste, if needed.

Cut chicken breasts to form pocket (Note: can also cut down side and hold together with toothpick, if needed). Stuff stuffing mixture into chicken breasts.

Pour sauce in pan and place stuffed chicken breasts in sauce (ugly side up J). Broil. Watch closely-whenever chicken begins to look dry, use spoon to drizzle sauce over chicken. Repeat drizzling until chicken breasts have broiled 8-10 minutes. Turn chicken breasts over. Repeat drizzling process until 2nd side broils for 8-10 minutes (or until chicken is completely cooked).

Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese.

Santa Fe Stuffed Portabella (an adaptation of the recipe above)
Broil tomatoes, as described above. Remove stems from mushrooms, dice stems, and set stems aside. When sautéing garlic and olive oil, *as described above*, sauté cap side of mushrooms for 1 ½ minutes, then set mushrooms aside. Finish sauce and rice stuffing, from recipe above. Add diced stems to rice stuffing. Stuff mushrooms and broil mushrooms in sauce for 5 minutes, drizzling sauce, as described above. Remove from oven and sprinkle generously with cheese.

RS Cooking Class 3

So this happened back on the 10th of September, and I'm just now getting around to posting the recipe. I wish I had an excuse, but I really don't.

One of the reasons I started this class is because there was a lot of interest in learning to make K's bread. For our 3rd class, that is what we did. Wouldn't you know it, K and I were the only ones in attendance. Goes to show you never really know if anybody is going to show up.

I did learn some tips from K that I never knew. If you place plastic wrap over your dough when letting it rise, it actually helps the yeast. Also, if you like a crispier crust, remove bread from pan immediately after baking; if you like a softer crust, leave it in the pan to cool.

Basic White Bread

1/2 c low-fat milk
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter or margarine
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 c warm water (105-115 degrees F)
5-6 c all-purpose flour

Place milk, sugar, salt and butter in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. DO NOT let it boil! Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour. Mix about 1 minute. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix about 2 minutes or until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead about 2 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in greased bowl. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down and divide in half. Roll each half into rectangle, approx. 9x14 inches. Starting at a short end, roll dough tightly and pinch dough to seal seam. Pinch ends and turn under, then place, seam side down in greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

[K rolls hers out because that is what the recipe says. I'm not a fan of the extra work, so I just formed it the way my mom does basic dinner rolls, except on a much larger scale.]

RS Cooking Class 6

I just realized that I have still not posted classes 3-5. I've fallen behind and let my blog go! In an attempt to remedy that, let me post this. It was last night and I actually have the 'recipe' still in my purse.

The recipe is for Tapioca Cake, a traditional Micronesian dessert. We were all a little confused when the women (mother and daughter) teaching weren't sure on the cooking temperature or time. They explained (the daughter translated) that they make it in the community 'oven' that the men made with stones. I can totally understand how converting the recipe from the traditional method was a little difficult. This dessert was a hit and everyone in attendance enjoyed it. I highly recommend trying it sometime.

Tapioca Cake
1 bag Frozen Grated Cassava (They couldn't find a Micronesian store, but they found this at the Asian market around the corner. This is the tapioca-that they usually grate and make from scratch)
1/2 cup water
1/2 can condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cream cheese frosting (they used Pillsbury brand. Strawberry frosting is also often used)
1 cup coconut milk
Start with the Cassava in a bowl. Stir until smooth. Add one ingredient at a time and stir until creamy before adding next ingredient *. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a metal cake pan.

*If you double the recipe, add sugar to taste (up to 1 cup)

RS Cooking Class 2

So we had our second class. We started off with Nancy and I. Yup, you heard me right. Two of us. I was sad. Then people started showing up. And more people. We ended up with 7, besides me, and only 2 of them had been there for the first class. I know it is still a small turnout, for a normal ward, but for an inner-city ward...well, I'm pretty excited. I'm still hoping to get more as this thing progresses.

Anyway, we made Chocolate Cake Parfait and German Chocolate Cheesecake.

CHOCOLATE CAKE PARFAIT
(from my Aunt Mavie)

1 Chocolate cake mix from a box, plus ingredients to prepare
2 pkg. Instant chocolate pudding (1 Large pkg and 1 Small pkg)
2 8-oz containers of cool whip
LARGE bowl (clear is best so that you can get the visual affect of the parfait)

Bake cake according to directions. While cake cools, mix up your pudding.

Layer 1: Cut entire cake into 1 inch squares (doesn't have to be exact). Put half the cake, breaking up squares, in the bottom of your bowl. Make sure your bottom layer is even.

Layer 2: Pour half your pudding over the top of the cake. If you are using a clear bowl, be careful around the edges so that you keep your layers even and don't make a mess on the side.

Layer 3: Carefully add 1 container of cool whip. Be careful to layer on top of pudding, and not mix it into pudding. Again, be careful around the edges if you are using a clear bowl.

Layer 4-6: Repeat layers 1-3 in same order, using the remainder of your cake and pudding.

If desired, you can sprinkle chocolate shavings or crushed toffee on the top.

Refrigerate overnight before serving. This step is not required, but it sure makes it taste better. It gives the pudding time to sink into the cake AND it tastes much better when it's cold.

A variation that Jon and I like is using a white cake, vanilla pudding, raspberry pie filling and cool whip is optional. Also very delicious-especially after chilling overnight. Note: even more care must be taken when putting the pie filling on top of the pudding.


GERMAN CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE
(From Fig)

1 German chocolate cake mix from a box, plus ingredients to prepare
2 8-oz packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Beat cream cheese and sugar until soft and combined, blend in 4 eggs.

In separate bowl, mix up German chocolate cake according to package directions.

Pour a little more than half of chocolate batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Carefully pour all of cheesecake mixture over. Even more carefully, spoon remaining chocolate batter over the cheesecake.

Bake at 325 degrees for 65-75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost completely clean (a few moist crumbs are good; it's a cheesecake after all).

While cake is cooling, make frosting.

Whisk together the egg yolks, milk, and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add cubed butter and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook several minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, coconut, and pecans. Allow frosting to cool until it is thick and spreadable. Add to top of cake.

Store refrigerated. Pic also from Fig.

Jon was a little disappointed by this recipe because he was expecting it to taste like cheesecake. It doesn't. It tastes like an incredibly moist chocolate cake, with a slight hint of cheesecake and an amazing, not too sweet frosting. Of course, that is just my opinion.

RS Cooking Class

So I'm heading up a Relief Society cooking enrichment activity. We meet twice a month. Or that is the plan anyway. The first class was on the 6th. We focused on bread. I was sad that only 5 ladies showed up...but I am so grateful those 5 showed up. For a few minutes there, it looked like no one was going to show.

We made a garden herb loaf. It was amazing. The recipe is from Fleischmann’s Yeast Best-Ever Breads. It is my favorite bread book EVER. It is the book we used the year we focused on bread for 4-H. Even though the book is by Fleischmann's, I don't use their yeast. I finally found out that my stuff never turns out like my mom's because she uses Saf's. Lesson learned. I now only use Saf Instant Yeast also. Now that I've gone off about yeast, here's the recipe for the garden herb loaf.

GARDEN HERB LOAF
Makes 1 Loaf

4 to 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
4 ½ tsp instant yeast
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp dried majoram leaves
¾ tsp dried thyme leaves
¾ tsp dried rosemary leaves
¾ c milk
½ c water
¼ c plus 1 Tbsp butter
1 egg
additional majoram, thyme, and rosemary (optional)

In large bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, salt, majoram, thyme, and rosemary. Heat milk, water, and ¼ cup butter until very warm (120 to 130F); stir into dry ingredients. Stir in egg and enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 to 6 minutes. Cover; let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece to 30-inch rope. Braid ropes; pinch ends to seal. Tie knot in center of braid; wrap ends around knot, in opposite directions, and tuck under to make round loaf. Place on greased baking sheet. Cover; let rise in warm, draft free place until doubled in size, about 20 to 40 minutes.

Bake at 375F for 30 to 35 minutes or until done, cover with foil during the last 10 minutes to prevent excess browning. Melt remaining butter; brush over loaf. If desired, sprinkle with additional majoram, thyme, and rosemary. Remove from sheet; let cool on wire rack.
Our next meeting is this Thursday. We are focusing on desserts. I'm hoping a double feature of Chocolate Cake Parfait and German Chocolate Cheesecake will be enough to draw a bigger crowd. If not, here's hoping for at least 5.