I have never liked hamentaschen. I like the idea of hamentaschen and I've always loved making them. This year I decided to try to create a hamentaschen dough that I actually liked. Since my favorite filling was always canned cherry pie filling, I figured that a hamentaschen is really just like a mini pie. Therefore, I'd base the dough on a sweetened pie dough and the filling would be real fresh berry pie filling.
They went into the oven looking very well:
Unfortunately they didn't hold together as well as they should have:
They tasted good but there's work to be done next year when I try again to try to make slightly more eye pleasing cookies. I have an idea of what went wrong so hopefully next time will go better. For a first real made up dough baking experiment I'm not displeased with the taste anyway.
I also attempted a large hamentaschen pie which sadly was a true baking failure. The berry juice went everywhere on the baking sheet, and it didn't cook as evenly as I would have liked.
I used to have store bought versions of these all the time as a child. Last weekend my family came to visit and I made them these as a Valentine's Day treat. The recipe is straight off the M&M website, with the addition of chocolate chips. We added three or four M&Ms on the top of the cookie before they went into the oven to make them pretty. It was so much easier making these cookies now that I have 2 more cookies sheets. I will never have to try to make four dozen cookies using only one cookie sheet again.
My mother also gave me a cookbook featuring 400 soup recipes since that seems to be my new thing to do to make sure I have lunches through the week. You can expect to see more soups on the blog soon.
In honor of the bit of snow that the television keeps calling the blizzard of 2010 I decided to make a pot of soup. At first I was just going to make a cream of cauliflower soup, but then I decided to use mushrooms as well.
Cauliflower Mushroom Soup
1 onion, chopped 1 package of fresh mushrooms, chopped 1 cauliflower, chopped 1 sprig of rosemary 2 bay leaves 1 tbs. dried thyme 2 tbs butter 4 cups of chicken/mushroom stock 1/2 cup of light sour cream 1/2 cup of heavy cream salt pepper
1. Saute the onions in the butter for about two minutes, then add the mushrooms. 2. When mushrooms are half cooked add the cauliflower, bay leaves, rosemary, salt and pepper cook until cauliflower begins to soften 3. Add broth and simmer until cauliflower is tender enough to be pureed. 4. Allow soup to cool and blend soup in blender or food processor. 5. Stir sour cream and heavy cream into blended soup. Serve with sliced scallions and biscuits if you want to bake them!
Tu B'Shvat is a minor Jewish holiday that is considered the birthday of the trees. By Jewish law this is important in terms of knowing when it is permissible to eat the fruit of the trees. Typically it's celebrated by eating dried fruits and nuts and is the start of spring, which was sort of funny when it was 20 degrees out yesterday. In particular I always think of almonds because of one of the more well known songs for the holiday about the flowering of the almond tree. I have always associated the holiday with eating the Shivat Haminim or Seven Species of Israel. These include wheat, barley, pomegranate, grape, dates, figs and olives. Next year I fully intend to try to make a pie or pies that incorporate all of these, but for this year I stuck with two pies: Pomegranate Berry with an almond crumble top, and Apple Grape.
Pomegranate Berry Pie Filling 3 Tbs Pomegranate Juice 6 cup mixture of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries 4 Tbs Tapioca 1 cup of sugar
Almond Crumble Topping 1 cup of flour 4 Tbs butter 1/2 cup of slivered almonds 3 Tbs of brown sugar
Normally I would melt the butter to combine but this time I just worked it in with my hands like I would the pie dough itself.
Apple Grape Pie Filling 4 Golden Delicious Apples 2 cups of sliced green seedless apples 1 cup of sugar 3 tbs of corn starch 1 tbs of tapioca (because it was all I had left!)
I started making pies regularly for gatherings to watch Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. For the final episode of Dollhouse I combined some favorites and made Peach Berry Pie. The filling includes blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and peaches. I cut the vents in the shape of the Dollhouse sleeping pods. Though the show over the last two seasons had ups and downs I will miss it and the opportunity to feed pie to people.
No, its not a lentil pie. Although that is an intriguing idea to file away. Last weekend I went to visit a friend in New Haven and we made a curried red lentil recipe that she had from a friend and it was fantastic.
Of course no weekend would be complete without making a pie. We didn't have a lot of time so went with a store bought crust and instant pudding but added a layer of melted peanut butter before putting the pudding in the crust and letting it set in the refrigerator. The lesson of the day however was that if you are going to melt peanut butter in the microwave make sure to do it in stages and mix it up. Otherwise the peanut butter will burn on the inside. Burnt peanut butter strangely smells almost exactly like burnt popcorn and that is a smell I could do without in my life.
Curried Lentils Florence Minnis
9oz split red lentils (about 1 cup) 2 medium onions chopped 3oz butter (very important for flavour) 6 cloves garlic sliced 1 medium carrot grated (though I just slice mine) 2 teasp. whole cumin seeds 1 and a half teasp. whole black or yellow mustard seeds 3 teasp. ground tumeric 1 can coconut milk 4-5 slices fresh ginger 140z chopped ripe tomatoes (or a can but some fresh tomato good for texture) juice of one large lime or 2 small ones handful chopped fresh coriander salt and pepper to taste
Fry onions in half the butter, add half the garlic, carrot and whole spices and cook for 5 mins. Stir in tumeric. Cool slightly. Tip in lentils, 10fl oz water, coconut milk, ginger, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Simmer for 30-40 mins. In separate pan, melt the rest of the butter and add the rest of the garlic, fry for a minute or two, and then tip into the lentil mixture. Add lime juice and coriander and leave to mellow for ten minutes. Remove the ginger slices. Serve warm, not hot, with rice and/or naan bread.
Apparently there is a National Pie Championship in April. I may have to attend.
It will mean a lot of practice pies and I will need some willing volunteers to consume them. Also a pie fund jar to donate to the purchase of butter. Costco flour and butter run here I come.
Also of note is that January 23rd is apparently National Pie Day, although the nerd in me rebels and says that should be March 14th.
The Duchy of Domesticity is the home of all the domestic projects that I feel like sharing with the world. Primarily at the moment this is pie. Because who doesn't like pie?
