Caramel Pear Butter

I was at a local Fruit stand and decided to make some sort of Fruit butter My dad Always  makes Apple Butter, normally after going to apple orchards in Eastern WA  and getting a  box of apples

I got 8 #'s of pears  (3.5# comice, about 6 and 4.5# Green Anjou)

Due to my dad's apple butter  making we have an apple peeler/corer/slicer.

DID NOT work on the pears! the spikes that hold the fruit in place Tore out the inside of the pears,

I hand peeled and cored the pears and Placed them in water to boil them down(in hind sight I'd have used a juice  of some sort)

 Once They were boiled and I could I Pureed them With my Immersion Blender Then I Put the Puree in a crock pot on High and let it cook for about 6-8 hours (the less water you start with  the faster this step goes)

sorry I don't have a complete Picture, my camera ate it

 Caramel!
2C Sugar
.5 C Water
1 Tbsp Light corn Syrup

Mix it all together and start cooking over Med High heat

I cooked it to about 380 degrees,  then I pulled it and waited a bit for the camera to work so it went a little over(it's right on the edge of being toooo Burnt tasting)
Alton Brown said to pull it when you see the first signs of smoke

then stand back and add 2 cups of heavy cream.

When it  starts to settle down stir with a wooden spoon and return to a boil for 3 mins

In the last 30 seconds I got a 9x9 metal pan to pour the caramel into so I could rapidly cool it in the freezer

after cooling I mixed it all up and  Started to mix the 2 parts together( pear and Caramel)

I did a little test and decided 2 parts of Pear and 1 part Caramel is pretty good, Maybe up the pear to up to 3 parts instead of 2

 Finished Product, A little thicker than applesauce, a bit grainy  due to the texture of the pear

 Would be perfect on toast . or ice cream   or mixed into anything that could use a little sweetness

Cheddar Broccoli soup

Ok this is going to be a quick one. I made a lot of  soup! over a gallon for the 3 people that live in my house.  after I made It I split it in 1/3's and froze 2/3rds of it. I am all about making stuff once and enjoying it multiple times. sooo Here is the recipe I made it's mathed out to make 16 portions so  you can always tone it down by making a half or quarter batch.

"Panera Broccoli Cheddar soup"

4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 medium onion, chopped
1 cup melted butter
1 cup flour
8 cups half-and-half
8 cups chicken stock or bouillon
2 pounds fresh broccoli
4 cups carrots, julienned
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon nutmeg
32 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese


the procedure of this recipe is gonna fly by! but it's soup, Soup is easy!


Take that first bit of butter and heat it in a pan(or the pot you're gonna make the soup in )

Add The onions and sweat them down with a touch of salt

 add the rest of the butter (if you follow the websites directions they want you to take out the onions and make the rue seperate then add the onions in later... That's silly and this way works just the same )

Add the flour into the butter onion mixtureand stir , you're making a roux to thicken the soup cook this for a few minutes while you stir it

it'll look pasty  This is a light or Blonde roux it a long with the pureed broccoli and cream will be responsible for the mouth feel of the soup and the Fluidity

Add the half and half ( or half cream and half 1% milk like i did)  depending on how rich  you like your soup you can use just milk or all cream or any variation of dairy you also add the stock at this point. (I used Smoked Turkey stock

Bring the soup to a simmer so the roux can start thickening it , and after about 20 mins add the Carrots( the recipe calls for juliennes  but I just cut them into simple uniform shapes there is no point in nice knife cuts when you just puree it all!)

after the carrots have cooked for about 20 mins add the broccoli ( we got a sweet deal at cash and carry 1.97 for 2# of all ready chopped broccoli) I added 3#'s of Broccoli because I like my soup super broccoliy

Cook another 5- 15 minutes depending on how large your broccoli is cut

Next you can use a blender to blend the soup in batches , or use an immersion or stick blender if you have one. ( you should get one they are pretty cheap and awesome... plus no cleaning a huge blender or Spraying hot soup everywhere!)  there was a guy in my class at Culinary school who had a mishap with a blender and a bunch of tomatoes , that ended up with him having tomato juice all over half the kitchen

Don't be a Mark, get a stick blender (name changed for liability reasons) 

add all that Tasty cheese in there! I used a pound of colby jack  and a pound of an all ready shredded  4 cheese blend  because we had it in the fridge.

 After the Cheese has melted, Taste the soup and season it.

Eat the soup !  dip bread in it,  or a grilled cheese or  Eat it Out of a bread bowl 

Marshmallows or mellows however you roll

I have always been Curious how to make these! and last year around the holidays a classmate of mine told me it was easy , it took me a year to find out for myself but  As long as you have a candy thermometer and a stand mixer it is Easy!

I'll apologize in advance for a lack of process pictures, you have to be quick when making these and I didn't have a second person available to take pictures ( but when I cut them people flocked in!)

When I try Anything new the first place I look for a recipe is Alton Brown, so it's no surprise it is his recipe i modified for this batch of mallows

Ingredients:Altons Mallows

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup ice cold water, divided
• 12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Nonstick spray

I really like Chambord and I happened to have gotten a bottle as a gift from my old roomate so I decided to try to make some Raspberry Flavored Marshmallows. I'll tell you about the modifications as They come up in the recipe, I read of somebody using Scotch and having success so i would assume you could use most liquors.

• Take 1/2 of the water (I substituted 1/4 cup with chambord,  in hindsight I should have used a full 1/2 cup of it) place the liquid in the bowl of your stand mixer(with whip attachment) and sprinkle the Gelatin over it, this will bloom the gelatin.

• Mix the remaining water(1/2 cup) with the sugar, corn syrup , and salt
  
• Heat over med/med-hi (use a bigger pot than you think you'd need the liquid can bubble up and over flow, trust me.... i know from experience)
• Heat covered for about 4 mins then uncover and place thermometer on the side of the pot, make sure the bottom is in the liquid but not touching the bottom

• While that mixture heats to 240,

•  I mixed the corn starch and powdered sugar, I sifted it to make sure there weren't lumps of sugar

• When the mixture is at 240 turn mixer on low , remove candy thermometer and slowly pour the hot mixture down the side of the bowl.

 

 

• Once all the mixture is in the bowl turn to High and allow mixture to whip for around 10-15 mins  untill it has cooled down ( add vanilla in the last minute of whipping , I added another 3 Tablespoons or 1/4 cup of Chambord at this time)
• While the mixture is whipping  spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray and dust with some of the starch mixture 
• When the mixture is cool  take the bowl and a spatula sprayed with nonstick spray and put the mixture in the pan , flattening it with the spatula to make a smooth layer (you have to do this pretty quickly )

• Dust the top with more of the sugar mixture and allow the mallows to sit  for 4hrs to overnight.
• when you are ready to cut you should be able to just remove them from the pan lay them on a surface dusted with the sugar to be safe and run a pizza cutter through them 
• After you cut them throw them in more of the starch mixture( I put the starch in a bag and threw the mallows in after i cut each row and shook them about so they wouldn't stick together)

•  Eat em !!!!!!

 If I were to do these again, I would  just use a raspberry extract or perhaps a puree instead of the Chambord Because they aren't super raspberry tasting

Aside from that I think this was a pretty successful first batch of marshmallows.  give them a try, They are a pretty cheap thing to make and you can cut them and Give them as homemade gifts, maybe after drizzling them with chocolate or perhaps dipping them halfway in chocolate

If you make any bread EVER Make this bread!

Why that title? This bread has everything! Bacon/Caramelized onion/ Bacon Fat! Plus the bread is Super easy it doesn't require a lot of kneading like other breads

Ok Soooo Here are the Ingridents:

 1/2 cup Crumbled Bacon
1C Whole Wheat Flour
4C A.P  Flour
2 Packages Dry Yeast
2Tsp Salt
1/4tsp Ground Corriander
1/2C nonfat Dry milk
2C Hot Water (120-130)
1/4C Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 Egg (room Temp)
2Tbsp Bacon Fat

(I also added 1 Caramelized Yellow onion to the recipe because Bacon and onions are tasty)
for the onions first I melted some bacon fat in a pan

 Throw in one Diced Onion over Med Heat

 The onions will slowly cook down and start to pick up color

when They start to pic up color make sure to Watch them  so they don't burn

 And in about 10 mins  you'll have some Nice Onions,  let them cool before starting the bread

 Ok Now to start the bread  you heat up your water to about 120 degrees

 Mix together:
whole wheat flour
3 of the 4 Cups of  A.P. flour
Yeast
salt
Corriander
milk
Bacon Fat
Hot water

 After you mix the dry with the water  you add:
Brown Sugar
Bacon
The Egg
the Onions

 Mix  for 3 mins, Then add the remaining Flour(1C)

 The dough will be " too thick to pour, and  too wet to lift with your hands"

 Scrape down the sides of the bowl

 Cover Tightly with plastic wrap and let it rise 50 mins

 While the bread is rising I greased up my Dutch oven with more Bacon fat
The recipe makes 2 medium loaves (8x4 pans)
 I used a large dutch oven which  took some tweaking to get the  bread done
I'd suggest just using the loaf pans because then it'll be easier to slice and make tasty Grilled Cheeses with

 After 50 mins of rising beat down the bread and transfer it to the Pan

 the easiest way to transfer is to scrape down the bowl then get the spatula under the dough ball and Pull it from the bowl , dropping it into the pan

Next you smooth out the dough into one smooth layer on the pan(use a spatula sprayed with nonstick spray)

 next wrap the pan and allow to rise another 30 mins
OPTIONAL: ( i did this to experiment because the book suggest it helps with the crust I think it helps mostly with baguettes)
10 mins into the rising preheat the oven to 375 with an empty 9x13 in it
heat about 1.5C of water in a pot
after you unwrap the bread  in 30 mins  put the hot water in the empty pan this will create steam  in your oven

 When the dough has sat another 30 mins it's ready to go into the oven

 My loaf in the 10inch dutch oven  took
35 mins at 375
then an additional 20 at 350
If you use two 8x4's  it should take around 40 mins at 375

 After cooling the bread , Slice and enjoy!( the round loaf makes for awkward slicing)

 The morning after I made this it was half gone, I like this bread cause it's a perfect blend of sweet and Savory

I used the bread to make a turkey Swiss Melt on our Pannini Press the next day with a little bit of spicy brown mustard and it was delicious!