Bake 52: Week 22

This is my week to host!

Last time I hosted I didn't really introduce myself, so I'll start with that...

A couple of (maybe) unknown facts about me:
*I grew up in Price, Utah (thus how I know Amanda and became part of this group.  Actually she, Jenn Z. and I went to school together from kindergarten to graduation!)
*I now live in Eagle Mountain and am the proud mommy of four - two boys and two girls - in that order.
*My oldest is 8 and my youngest recently turned 1.  They keep me busy! They really love being my "test monkeys" for this baking group!
*I love to shoot guns and am working on getting my Concealed Carry Permit.
*Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs) landed on my lap at a Jazz game once. Just sayin'...
*I love horror movies.
*I can never think of fun facts about myself when I am trying.
*I enjoy reading, cooking, crafts, shopping, photography, and spending time with my family.
*I have been married almost 11 years and my husband is an Illustrator.  Which is ironic, because I can't even draw stick figures.  I'm not kidding! Maybe I can't draw, but he can't bake...so... onto the recipe!

I chose to make the 

RUSTIC CARAMELIZED ONION TART WITH BLUE CHEESE AND WALNUTS.

 I'm really hoping that this sounded good to someone besides me...I know it's a strange pick in a book full of delicious baked goods, but when I came across it I knew that I simply had to try.  And I'm glad I did! I really loved the combination of these flavors together!

Rustic Caramelized Onion Tarts with Blue Cheese and Walnuts:
The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book pgs. 422-423
Makes two 14 by 8-inch tarts
Serves 6-8
These tarts are not made in a tart pan; instead they're baked free-form for a rustic appearance.  Note that the parchment paper is a must for this recipe.  You can either make your own pizza dough, use store-bought dough, or buy some from your favorite local pizzeria.  You will need about 3 tablespoons of additional oil for brushing.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2 pounds onions (about 4), halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 pound pizza dough (see note above)*
Pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse
1 cup blue cheese, crumbled (4 ounces)
2 scallions, sliced thin
*I used the Basic Pizza Dough from the book - you can get the recipe on Betsy's Blog

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position, place a baking stone on the rack, and heat the oven to 500 degrees.  Let the baking stone heat for at least 30 minutes (but no longer than an hour).

2. Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until shimmering.  Stir in the onions, brown sugar, and salt.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened and have released their juices, about 10 minutes.  Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and continue to cook, stirring often, until the onions are deeply browned, 10 to 15 minutes.

 Test Kitchen Tip:  Caramelizing Onions

The most important part of this tart is proper caramelization of the onions.  We had to take a good look at how best to caramelize them.  Most recipes subscribe to one of two methods - low and slow or fast and furious-yet neither works.  Low heat and slow cooking dries out the onions before they have a chance to darken, while cooking fast over high heat leaves the onions crunchy and burnt tasting. The solution? A combination of low and high heat.  We started the onions over medium-low heat so that they released their juices and softened and then increased the heat to medium-high until they become caramelized.  Also, a nonstick skillet works best for caramelizing-the slippery surface ensures that no caramelized bits are left in the pan.

 3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter, divide it into 2 equal pieces, and cover with greased plastic wrap.  Working with one piece of dough at a time (keep the other piece covered), press and roll the dough into a 14 by 8-inch oval on a lightly floured counter.  Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper and reshape as needed.  Gently dimple the surface of the dough with your fingertips.

 4. Brush the dough liberally with additional oil and season with pepper.  Scatter half of the caramelized onions, walnuts, and blue cheese evenly over the tart, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge.  Slide the parchment paper and tart onto a rimless (or inverted) baking sheet, then slide the tart (still on the parchment) onto the hot baking stone.

With the caramelized onions...

and the walnuts...

and the blue cheese

5. Bake until the tart is deep golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating it halfway through baking.  (Prepare the second tart while the first bakes.)  Remove the tart from the oven by sliding the parchment paper back onto the baking sheet.  Discard the parchment paper, slide the tart onto a cutting board, and sprinkle with the half of the scallions.  Let the stone reheat for 5 minutes before baking the second tart.  Serve warm.

Right out of the oven

and with the scallions, which are really green onions.  Who knew?

 Yum! I was the only one in my house that actually liked this...oh well, more for me!

Hope you all enjoyed it!

Bake 52: Week 21

This week we baked

Multigrain Bread

 Bread. Why bake bread when I know it won't turn out great? AND multigrain bread? I like to say that I like healthy bread. I figure if I say it enough I will start to like it. But it just tastes too...healthy. Not really my thing.  You could probably guess I wasn't super excited to try this bread, right?

This is why Bake 52 is genius! I would NEVER have chosen to make this bread - but I LOVED it! It didn't have that overly wheaty taste.  It was light and soft and everything that you want homemade bread to be.  Plus healthy! SO YUMMY!

The dough rose really well and I was thrilled when I took the bread out of the oven, it was BEAUTIFUL!

I tried this plain, with butter and jam, and as sandwich bread - it was perfect all three ways! I will definitely be making this again.  Thanks to Jennifer for hosting and making me try something different.

Hey, different IS good.

Check out her blog for the recipe!

Bake 52: Week 20

This week's pick was

French Macaroons

I have never made (or eaten) a Macaroon cookie that wasn't made out of coconut - I guess this is how they roll in France.  Bonus of this pick is that it is a gluten-free cookie that uses almond flour.  My husband was super excited about this!  And he LOVED these! He is already asking when I will make them again.  They are a meringue-type sandwich cookie (though not as airy) with a butter-cream frosting in the middle. I liked the nutty flavor that the almond flour gave them. I thought these cookies were really good - of course can't compare to a good old chocolate chip cookie, but for something new and different, I did enjoy them.  My kids also really liked them, so it was a great pick for my family! 

 It looks like we will be baking these again!  

Check out Betsy's Blog for the recipe!

Bake 52: Week 19

This week we baked
New York-Style Crumb Cake

This recipe looked good when I checked it out.  In my mind I thought "OK, we are going to make a coffee cake".  Then for some reason I decided to try and figure out why this is New York-Style and not just Crumb Cake.  Well, I honestly don't know, other than they say the first recipe came from Germany to an ancestor in New York and that's where it started...as you can tell I didn't research too hard.  HOWEVER, I did find out that you NEVER confuse a coffee cake and a crumb cake! Why?  The crumbs, I guess.  Apparently it is offensive.  Glad I know now!

Anyway...this cake was delicious!  Not too sweet or rich, but moist, sweet enough and seriously addicting!! I couldn't stop eating it. I really like cakes with this cinnamon flavor, but have never made a crumb (or coffee) cake.  So glad we tried this, I will definitely make again. Would be fun to take to a breakfast or brunch! 

Check out the recipe on Jenn's Blog!

Bake 52: Week 18

Classic Pancakes with Berry Maple Syrup

These pancakes were delicious.  Not one of those recipes that makes me commit to only using this recipe from now on, but they were definitely light and fluffy and delicious - enjoyed by everyone.  I did like the tips of making the perfectly cooked pancake. I also liked the syrup - again, nothing to write home about, but still very good.  I didn't get many pictures, because making them went something like this:  First off - I'm not a huge breakfast fan, I only cook breakfast for dinner. So it was dinner time, the kids were starving, I was trying to get them to do their homework and they wouldn't sit down, my baby was sitting on the floor holding my legs crying to be held, I had two pans of pancakes going (this one and another one with gluten-free pancakes) and bacon in another.  Oh, did I mention I was also cooking the syrup?  Yes, using all 4 burners at once (my pancake griddle broke).  I felt super lucky to even get a pictures of these before they were devoured!  Check out the recipe on Jesse's Blog!