Cottage Cheese Pufflets

I'm not really all that fond of cottage cheese. I can remember my mother eating it, a big pile of white looking goo . . . sprinkled with salt and pepper and sitting on a bed of lettuce. It did not look all that appealing to me and I got to taste it once and . . . suffice it to say, I didn't like it . . . not one bit.



I did happen upon some in Tesco, several years back when I was doing The Food Doctor Diet. It was made of full Jersey Cream and had sun dried tomatoes and black olives in it. I bought some to have on my baked sweet potato and it was quite delicious actually . . . so must have been the cream. And . . . I seriously doubt that it was diet food, but I did enjoy it . . .



Which brings us to today. Tuesdays With Dorie. That tasty baking group that bakes together, once a week, one delicious recipe from that equally delicious baking book, Baking, from my home to yours, by the also equally delicious baking authoress, Ms Dorie Greenspan.

This week's recipe was Cottage Cheese Pufflets, on pages 148 and 149, as chosen by Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes .



Cottage Cheese pastry, wrapped around tasty little bits of jam. Hmmm . . . I wasn't quite sure about the pastry bit, but Dorie hasn't failed me yet, so I went for it. Besides . . . it would be a great way to empty all those little bits of jam left in the multitude of jars sitting in my fridge.

As usual, what with making dolls and such . . . I left it to the last minute and thought I would have plenty of time to do them during my two hour break on Monday afternoon. Alas, when I read the recipe it said that you needed to refrigerate the pastry for several hours . . . bummer. Anways, I made the dough, popped it into the fridge and crossed my fingers that I would get home from work early enough to make them last evening.



Well, I got home a bit later than usual, but no mind. I rolled them out while I was watching Coronation Street. (Oh that Molly, wouldn't you just like to shake her!! Along with a few other's of course) I cut them into circles, filled them with bits of jam and then waited while they baked, which didn't take long by the way . . .



OH MY GOODNESS!!! These are fabulous! Beautifully tender pastry, wrapped around tasty jam, and dusted with some icing sugar! Just look at how tender and puffy that pastry is . . . and how glorious that jam looks just peeping out!!



Of course I had a few blowouts! All the better!! I love tasty bits of oozing jam. Who doesn't??



Make these NOW. Hop on over to Jacque's page and grab the recipe, or better still buy the book. It's worth every penny. Thanks so much Jacque, for picking a fab recipe for us to bake!




In fact . . . jam for breakfast is good right? I think I know what I'll be chewing on shortly.



Don't forget to check out the blog roll and see some of the other lovely creations! Jam and cottage cheese . . . who knew??? Well . . . actually Dorie did! Thanks Dorie!

Next week, Carla of Chocolate Moosey has chosen Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart, pages 355-357.

Hmmmmm . . . sounds a bit dangerous!



If you are in the mood for a delicious stew, why not pop on over to The English Kitchen to see what's brewing up over there! A French Daube, that was fab, Fab, FABULOUS!

Flaky Apple Turnovers . . .

My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
~Robert Frost, After Apple Picking

Welcome to the Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 edition of Tuesdays With Dorie, that fantabulous baking group which gets together each week and bakes the same fantastic recipe from that totally delightful baking book, Baking, from my home to yours, by the equally as fantastic Ms Dorie Greenspan. We each post our results on the same day . . . Tuesday . . . hence the reason it's called Tuesdays With Dorie!

If you have sussed that this week's recipe has something to do with apples, then Bingo! You are right! This week Julie of Someone’s in the Kitchen picked Flaky Apple Turnovers, pages 316 and 317. Yay Julie, something that isn't chocolate and that uses one of my favourite ingredients! Not to mention something that is very dear and close to Todd's heart . . . apples and pie (or close enough to at any rate), for what is a turnover except that it be a baby pie just for you!

You can't beat that.



I have a confession to make right up front. I made my own pastry because like a dummie I left this to the last minute I was short on time and only had a couple of hours to get this done in yesterday. My pastry recipe is not flakey like puff pastry or anything, it's just plain old pastry. But it works and is quick and easy. So there you have it, confession number one.




I have another confession to make. I kicked these up a notch. Dorie said something in the playing around column about making them with berries or other fruits and jam . . . I thought jam . . . why not . . . and so I added a couple of spoons of Ginger conserve to my chopped fruit, with a most delicious result! These were fabulous!



Confession number three. I was in a rush and so I didn't faff around with folding pastry over and making traditional turnover shapes. I just made these tiny double crust pies, but cutting my pastry into rounds, plopping some of the filling down onto half the rounds and topping it with another round. I crimped it all around the edges and then brushed with some milk and sprinkled some demerara sugar on top after I had pricked them with a fork. Yummo!



They may not be pretty, but they sure be some good!



Thanks so much Julie for picking such a delicious recipe. I will make the pastry one day but I just didn't have the time yesterday to be faffing about! If you would like to have a look at the recipe please pop on over to Julie's page. Also if you'd like to see how all the other ladies did then make sure you check out the Tuesdays With Dorie Blog roll!



Next week Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes has decided on Cottage Cheese Pufflets, on pages 148 and 149. Sounds interesting to say the least!!

Here's my pastry recipe if any of you are interested. You can't beat the old Purity Flour Cookbook for good and simple recipes. I know many a Canadian cook that has cut her teeth on this one!



*Plain Pastry*
Makes 1 - 9inch double crust pie, or 2 - 9inch pie crusts, or 12 to 14 medium sized tart shells
Printable Recipe

From the good old Purity Flour Cookbook.

Blend together
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 tsp salt

Using a pastry blender or two knives cut in
3/4 cup vegetable shortening

Sprinkle with
4 to 5 tablespoons of cold water

Add the water one tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with a fork until all the flour is dampened. Turn dough onto a piece of waxed paper and form into a ball. Chill if desired.

Using a lightly floured surface, preferably a pastry cloth, divide the pastry into two pieces and shape each half into a flattened ball. Roll lightly from the centre to the edge each time, until the pastry is about 1 inch larger than an inverted pie plate. If making tarts roll to 1/8 inch thickness.

In my case I just rolled it out to 1/8 inch thickness and cut out circles for the turnovers.



I didn't have time to make a regular dinner for us yesterday either. Poor old Todd got Beans on Toast, but done my way. Check it out on The English Kitchen.

Chocolate Souffle, of a most delicious persuasion . . .

Hello all. This is Tuesday and as we all know, when I can get my act together most weeks I participate in a lovely baking group known throughout the Web as Tuesdays With Dorie. Yes, we are a wonderful group of ladies that set out, a year or so ago now, to bake every single recipe from that delicious baking cookbook, *Baking, from my home to yours*, by the grande dame of baking herself, Ms Dorie Greenspan. What a delicious time we have had so far!! It's been a most wonderful experience. I've gotten to eat some really good food, stretch my baking skills, and I've made some lovely friends through the group along the way.

If you are like me, obsessed with cookery books, you probably have tons of books that are lovely to look at, but you rarely use. Belonging to this group means that I use this book, a lot. It's a good thing, not to coin a phrase from Martha or anything . . . and I know . . . I just did.




This week Susan from She's Becoming Domestic selected Chocolate Souffle, on page 406. I was really tempted to pass this one by, as my Todd is not a real chocolate lover and I adore it, but really . . . did I want to eat this one all on my own . . . .

Let's pause while I think about that . . . .

hmmm . . . .



DOH! I decided a bit of sacrifice on my part was due for this one, and so I jumped in and made it. What the heck, in for a pound, in for a penny is my motto! Not only did I end up making it once . . . but the photos the first time around were so crap, I made it twice . . .



Sometimes you just have to do what you just have to do.

This was fabulous and so easy. Don't let Souffle's scare you. They're not all that hard to do, really. They do fall right away though so eat them up as soon as you can.



Not a problem.

If you want the tasty recipe you can find it on Susan's lovely page. Her pictures are fabulous, simpley fabulous! Thanks so much Susan for picking a fantastically delicious recipe! (I haven't eaten a Dorie recipe yet that I didn't adore and obsess over really like!!!



Next week Julie of Someone’s in the Kitchen picked Flaky Apple Turnovers, pages 316 and 317. My sweet Todd is gonna love that one. He adores apples and apple pies. What's not to adore about a turnover . . . it's a baby pie that you can hold in your hand, just for you! In the meantime, why not hop on over to the blog roll to check out what all the other ladies have done!



If you are in the mood for a delicious and easy soup, pop on over to The English Kitchen to see what's cooking over there!

Come back tomorrow. I have a huge confession to make. Yes . . . I'm coming clean. *wink*

mmmm . . . applesauce, spice and bars . . .

As most of you know, I live in a country cottage, here in the rural countryside of the United Kingdom, surrounded by beautiful fruit orchards. In the springtime it is a beautiful sea of apple blossom and in the autumn the air rings out with the sound of the apple pickers busy at work, and is heady with the scent of fresh apples.



I can tell that the crop is almost ready to pick now . . . the tell tale sign of big wooden apple crates has appeared at the end of every odd row of trees, and the branches are hanging low and heavy with delicious fruits of many colours.



One nice thing about living surrounded by Orchards is that we are free to pick up the windfalls and bring them home to use . . . autumn for me, is filled with apple pies, apple cakes, apple sauce . . . apple anything! We love apples here at Oak Cottage, we really do.



I have had a bit of a summer hiatis from the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group but am happy to say that this week I am back in the saddle and what a delicious week I picked (no pun intended) to start back up with the group! I just love the TWD baking group and so does Todd. I love it because I happen to love Dorie Greenspan's recipes and the Baking, From My Home to Yours, is my favourite one of all her books . . . and I am happy to own all of them. Todd loves it because he knows that at least once a week, he is going to be treated to something totally delicious and freshly baked.



This week's recipe thrilled us both on several levels. Karen, of Something Sweet by Karen, chose the Applesauce Spice Bars on pages 117 and118 of the book. We were both happy about that, because . . . we both love applesauce and the warm spices that go along with it . . . we both love cake . . . and we have a ton of apples just waiting to be made into someting deliciously scrummy!



Dorie, Dorie, Dorie . . . I don't know why you and your family are not all as big as barns . . . these easily have to be the most delicious bars ever!!! Are they a bar, or are they cake??? It doesn't matter . . . the only thing that counts is that they are I R R E S I S T A B L E!!! We just LOVED them!!! Thanks so much Karen, for picking out this recipe. It was the most delicious way to jump back into the saddle, and . . . I think . . . this has been my most favourite recipe thus far.



Imagine a moist, delicious cake . . . redolent with warm baking spices . . . flavours like cinnamon, allspice and cloves . . . not to mention applesauce and delightful little chunks of tart apple, combined with sweet and sticky raisins. Are you there yet? Are your toes curling up and tingling with pure and absolute pleasure??? Ok . . . now top it off with a buttery and creamy brown sugary glaze . . . Doesn't that sound to die for???

It does. They were. Make sure you check out Karen's page to scoop this fantastic recipe when she posts it. You won't be sorry you did. In the meantime . . . you'll just have to content yourselves with licking your screens.



Thanks so much, Karen, for picking such a scrumdiddlyumptious recipe for us to bake! Next week, Linda of Tender Crumb has chosen, Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie on pages 337-339. Sounds mighty tasty to me! Make sure you check out the Dorie Blog roll as well. I am sure the other ladies all have some wonderful pictures to drool over!



By the way, I did bake The Brownie Buttons last week, as chosen by Jayma of Two Scientists Experimenting in the Kitchen, but, what with my birthday and cake, and all the other activity that was going on here at the cottage, I just didn't have enough time to post about them. They were really scrummy though!




Speaking of scrumdiddlyumptious . . . I made the most scrumptious Tomato Pie for our dinner yesterday. This too, is to die for. Check out my recipe on The English Kitchen.

I Scream, You Scream . . .

We all scream for Ice cream!

I know, I know . . . so predictable . . . but I just could not resist saying it! When I was a kid, everytime there was ice cream involved in anything my mom always chanted that little ditty. It's deeply ingrained in my psyche! I have fond memories of driving in a hot car in the summertime, on our way to the beach and an ice cream treat on the warf at some point during the day, and chanting that little verse all the way! Rainbow ice cream for me, double scoop please . . . is there anything tastier on the earth on a hot summer's day???? but I digress . . .

Welcome to Tuesdays With Dorie, the international baking group, which bakes together each week, one recipe from the wonderful baking book by Dorie Greenspan, Baking, from my home to yours! My most favouritest baking book of all time!

This week Tommi of Brown Interior selected Honey-Peach Ice Cream on page 437. Just the perfect recipe for these warm days we have been having!



I confess though . . . I did not use peaches. They're not in season over here. I didn't want to use peaches that have been shipped thousands of miles and are a tasteless fascimile of what a peach really should taste like. I'd rather eat a canned peach. But one thing we do have plenty of right now, is strawberries, . . . beautiful, fresh, sweet English Strawberries!

And so . . . you guessed it . . . I made English Strawberry Ice cream.



Making Ice Cream is not such a daunting task these days with the modern Ice Cream makers that are available. When my kids were small it was a different kettle of fish. My sister in law and her husband gave us an ice cream maker one year for Christmas and it was this huge wooden bucket thing that required dry ice and all sorts. Can you guess how many times we used it? That's right . . . ZILCH! Nada! Never! I know . . . darn shame, but it was just too complicated and way too much work.




With these new modern machines, it's just a matter of making your custard up, adding your fruit and then letting them do all the work. No ice required, dry or otherwise. Only a cold freezer to freeze your insert ahead of time.



Instead of the peaches I used 2 cups of fresh berries, which I crushed along with 2 ounces of sugar and then added as per the recipe requirements.



It was good . . . very . . . very . . . good.



If you would like the recipe please hop on over to Tommi's page, and while you're in a visiting mood, please be sure to check out the Dorie Blog Roll and see what the other ladies/bakers got up to! There are sure to be some really tasty looking versions!!

Next week Andrea of Andrea In The Kitchen has chosen Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise on pages 293-295. Now that sounds really challenging!




If you are curious and you'd like to see what I did with these fresh radishes from our garden tubs, hop on over to The English Kitchen. You won't be sorry that you did!