Open Window

Ginger Snaps

Who doesn't like the gingery flavor of a good old-fashioned ginger snap? If you answered "I don't" you might as well move on for now. However, if you answered with a resounding "I do!", you will love this recipe.

We stumbled across an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats that was all about ginger, and lo and behold he included a recipe for Ginger Snaps which included the use of fresh ginger! This, my friends, is what makes all the difference in this recipe - by making it truly gingery! Yes it still uses the ground variety too, but the true ginger flavor is provided by none other than true ginger!

Peter likes his cookies a bit chewy so we cooked these for only 12 minutes, but if your childhood memories are like mine and you recall the "snap" being crisp, then cook them slightly longer - say 15 minutes.

Now you'll notice something a little different in this recipe ... at least I did. Measurements are not by volume but rather are by weight. Everyone knows that precise measurements are not critical to most cooking .... with the exception of baking - this is a science. Wondering whether weight vs volume makes a real difference, I conducted a test and found that a cup of flour scooped out of the canister and leveled off with a dinner knife weighed 5⅛ ounces which is ⅞ of an ounce more than it should, according to King Arthur Flour. They have a fantastic Master Weight Chart converting the volume of common ingredients to weight, and they say a cup of all-purpose flour should convert to just 4¼ ounces. So if baking is a science and demands accuracy - weight trumps volume any day.

Ginger Snaps
(About 4 dozen)

9½ ounces all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons Baking soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon kosher salt
7 ounces dark brown sugar
5 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
3 ounces molasses, by weight
1 large egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
==================================

Preheat the oven to 350℉.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and salt.

Place the brown sugar and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and bear on low speed until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and fresh ginger and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined.

With a 2-teaspoon sized scoop, drop the dough onto a parchment lined half sheet pan approximately 2-inches apart. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes for slightly chewy cookies and 15 minutes for more crisp cookies. Rotate the pan halfway through cooking.

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to stay on the sheet pan for 30 seconds before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all the dough. Store in an airtight container for up to 10 days. If desired you may scoop and freeze the cookie dough on a sheet pan and once frozen, place in a resealable bag to store. Bake directly from the freezer as above. 

P.S. Alton also stirs in 4 ounces of finely chopped candied ginger just before adding the dry ingredients. We don't particularly care for candied ginger so I've left it out here, but you can always add it if you have it on hand.

Mushroom Barley Soup for a Rainy Day

It's another gray, raw day here in the northeast and it's also the weekend ... time to cook something soul-satisfying. To me nothing is quite as satisfying as a piping hot bowl of homemade soup. I'm hooked on making and eating homemade soup and will never return to the land of canned soups.

Peter and I are trying to incorporate more whole grains and beans into our diet and to that end, I've been scouring the internet and my cookbook library for soups incorporating barley and any sort of beans. When I ran across this recipe for Mushroom Barley Soup, it reminded me that I enjoyed the canned kind when I was young, so why wouldn't I like this homemade kind.

Well, my pleasure with this recipe far exceeded my expectations. It's easy and takes not much longer than an hour and a half to make from start to finish. The result is the most wonderful bowl of mushrooms, vegetables, and barley in a divine broth that is laced with the smoky flavor of porcini mushrooms. This is truly soul-satisfying in my book and a great way to warm the cockles of your heart.

Mushroom Barley Soup
(8 servings) 

1/3 cup pearled barley
3 cups water
1/4 oz dried porcini (1/4 cup)
1 large leek (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, cut into 1/3-inch dice
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 lb fresh shiitakes, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons medium-dry Sherry
1 3/4 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Garnish: chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
==================================

• Prepare the pearled barley according to the instructions on the package. Cook until almost tender, about 45 minutes. Drain in a colander.
• While barley is cooking, soak porcini in ½ cup water in a small bowl until softened, about 20 minutes. Drain in a sieve lined with a dampened paper towel set over a bowl, reserving liquid. Rinse porcini to remove any grit, then coarsely chop. Wash sliced leek in a bowl of water, then lift from water and drain in sieve.
• Heat oil in a large soup pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion and celery, stirring occasionally, until golden, 10 minutes. Add carrots, shiitakes, leek, and porcini and sauté, stirring frequently, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms are golden, 8 to 12 minutes.
• Stir in tomato paste, Sherry, beef broth, mushroom soaking liquid, barley, salt, pepper, and remaining 3 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until vegetables and barley are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper, if needed.

 

 

The Dirty Old Meat Grinder

When we broke up the family home many years ago, one of the kitchen devices that I got was the cast iron Universal meat grinder. This piece of equipment always fascinated me from assembly to operation. The parts could be selected for the task at hand and each had it's place and a screw or bolt to hold it in place. As the handle turned, the meat would be fed by the threaded worm through the chamber to the cutting wheel and forced out into the bowl below by the persistence of the turning handle. It's truly a classic and in my eyes, a real work of functional art.

I mentioned recently that we were given a grinding attachment for our KitchenAid mixer for Christmas - a replacement for my classic, or so one would think, but if you know anything about me, I let go of the old with great difficulty. So when we recently set out to grind pork for homemade pork sausage, I decided the two should meet - the old and the new - the self-confident workhorse and the sleek aggrandized prima donna. Well, several hours later, the rest is history ...

If I've told you once, I've told you several times ... we are never bored. I started to photograph both devices with an eye toward the photography composition class I've been taking - wondering what I could do with the lines and light, and if I could tell a story. Peter quickly joined in and what fun we had. This slide show is the result.

You tell us, is there a story here ... one you find engaging and just a little entertaining? Does the narcissistic old meat grinder succumb to the charms of this buff, new beauty?

 

Photos & Slide Show ©2012 Claudia Ward & Peter Tooker
Music: The Euphonium from the soundtrack of "Mr. Majorium's Wonder Emporium" by Aaron Zigman & Alexandre Desplat 

 

You're probably thinking that we have way-too-much-time-on-our-hands, but trust me we don't .... we'd like to do more.

Stuffed Green Peppers

What to do with leftover ham? Stuff peppers!

For Christmas our nephew gave us a grinder attachment to our KitchenAid Mixer, which has made grinding meats of all sorts a breeze! It attaches easily, grinds beautifully (coarse or fine), and everything except the knife and grinding plates is dishwasher safe. It also comes with a specialized plastic tool that is a pusher at one end (to help coax the meat into the grinding chute) and a wrench at the other (to help unscrew the ring that holds the grinding plates in place). You've just got to appreciate the mind that created that piece of useful art! 

Grinding the cooked ham was easy; we then mixed it with some cooked rice, stuffed parboiled peppers, placed them snuggly together in a casserole, sprinkled bread crumbs on top, and drizzled beef broth over each pepper to ensure that they remain moist. Heat and serve. If you prefer you could always mix the ham and rice with some tomato sauce, and if green peppers are not to your liking, mix it up ... use sweet red peppers, the variations are endless.

Stuffed Green Peppers
(4 servings)

4 green bell peppers
2 cups of ground cooked ham
2 cups of cooked white rice
Bread crumbs
1 cup beef broth
=================================

Bell Peppers

• Core the green peppers - remove the stem by cutting a circle around it, remove the seeds and cut out the white ribs without cutting through the pepper wall
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, drop the peppers in and parboil just until a fork can easily pierce the pepper wall
• Drain the peppers and drop them into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking

Ham and Rice

• Grind ham and place in a bowl
• Cook the rice according to the package
• Add cooked rice to ham and mix well

Assembly

• Preheat oven to 325℉
• Place the green peppers in a casserole dish that will hold them snuggly
• Fill each pepper with the ham and rice mixture
• Sprinkle the top of each with bread crumbs
• Pour 1/4 cup of beef broth over each pepper
• Place the casserole in the center of the preheated oven, cook until heated through, approximately 20-25 minutes.

 What do you do with leftover ham?

 

Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Puffs

Food52 is the best food website I have yet to stumble upon. It's really a food community, where people share recipes and tips, cooks can follow one another, and cooking contests result in the creation of "crowd-sourced" cookbooks. Check it out, it's wonderful. 

Recipes on Food52 are organized in the usual way, by food categories like "Appetizers, Entrees, Cookies, Soups, etc." but they also are sorted by "Top Recipes", "Community Picks", "Contest Winners", and "Genius Recipes". These Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Puffs were the winner in the "Best Holiday Breakfast" contest. The picture was so alluring, I could practically taste the cinnamon sugar and I decided then and there that I had to make these puffs.

Well I made the puffs Sunday morning and they are pure ambrosia - the aroma of cinnamon wafting through the air was intoxicating but the flavor of these mildly spiced light little puffs covered in cinnamon sugar was sublime. Neither Peter nor I could resist having two and had to exert real self-discipline not to have even more. According to fiveandspice, the source for this recipe, these freeze well, can be defrosted overnight and then warmed up in a 200℉ oven, and that's exactly what we're going to do - with the next batch!

Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Puffs
(Makes 12 regular muffin-size puffs)

The Breakfast Puffs
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground ginger
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature

Cinnamon-sugar Coating
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
=====================================

• In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the 1/3 cup butter, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until browned and nutty smelling. Pour into a mixing bowl and allow to cool completely to room temperature.
• Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease and lightly flour a 12 cup muffin tin.
• Add the sugar and egg to the cooled butter. Beat with an electric mixer until all creamed together.
• In a separate little bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and zest. Add the dry ingredients in increments to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating with the milk and beating well after each addition.
• Divide the batter evenly into the cups of the muffin tin. Pop into the oven and bake until golden brown and fragrant, about 20-25 minutes.
• While the puffs are puffing, put the melted butter in one shallow bowl and combine the sugar and cinnamon in another one. When the puffs come out of the oven, use a knife to gently pop them all out of the muffin tin.
• One by one, dip each puff in the melted butter - get it all over it - then roll it in the cinnamon sugar. Transfer it to some lovely, festive serving platter, and continue until you have rolled all of the puffs. Serve warm - they are by faaaaar the best when they are still warm - with coffee, and mimosas, and other goodies.

 Note: These can also be made into bite-size puffs too - that's next.

Open Window's Second Year

It's official, Open-Window is now two years old. I can hardly believe I began this blog on a cold January day, sitting at the island in my kitchen, 730 days ago. In the past two years, Open-Window has focused my days on creating stories, snippits, and photographs that I hoped you would find entertaining, sometimes informative, and maybe even amusing. We've covered a lot of ground and many diverse topics over this time ranging from Hawaii to Paris, Hamburger Relish to Caviar, Horse Racing to Airshow Acrobatics. As time has passed, we increasingly focused on the images and slide shows that would accompany a post, and have worked diligently to improve the quality of all that we delivered. Peter has continued to emphasize wide-angle HDR (high dynamic range) photography whether on his DSLR (digital single lens reflex-camera) or his, ever-handy, iPhone, and I have continued with my love of all-things-macro, although we each dabbled in the other's specialty just to keep it interesting.

Mexican Train Tiles and Turtles
Photo © 2011 Claudia Ward 

Over the past twenty four months, we've made 388 postings to Open-Window which is an average of almost 4 per week, nearly every one containing at least one photograph and 60 of which included a slide show with music. When we embarked on this endeavor, we expected to focus on travel, food and photography. As it's turned out, the focus has been just that ... but in reverse - photography, food and travel. See, we'll photograph nearly anything - food that we eat, games that we play, children at the beach, machines of any sort, flowers and their residents, landmarks and landscapes, moon-rises and sunsets, and even light itself. 

The Outer Banks of North Caroline
Photo © 2011 Claudia Ward taken with the iPhone using the Pro HDR App

This year has been quite a journey photographically as well as geographically. Peter and I traveled over 14, 500 miles. We drove the entire east coast from the east end of Long Island to Orlando, Florida, traversing Florida, and turning north to reach Memphis Tennessee. We crossed the states of Tennessee and North Carolina end-to-end (west to east), photographing some of this country's most beautiful scenery in the Great Smoky Mountains. When we reached the Atlantic Ocean, it felt like we'd returned home, for tidal waters are in our veins, and the days on the Outer Banks are now cherished memories. Early morning sunrises over the ocean, wild horses on the beaches, hang gliding from the dunes, and fish tacos are just a few of the things we captured in-frame. With tornadoes nipping at our heels from western Florida, to Memphis and eventually to eastern North Carolina, we headed home just hours before their destruction hit the locales we'd come to know and love. Atlantic City was our refuge from the storms, before returning to the calm, untouched East End.

Spanish Mustang on the Outer Banks
Photo © 2011 Claudia Ward

Thirty days and thirty nights, and 4,000 miles on the road gave us a tremendous, renewed appreciation for the beauty and diversity of this country we live in. A couple of hundred more miles were covered seeking out horses at Saratoga Springs in August. For one who isn't known as an animal lover, I do love photographing them. Whether in their stance or stride, they speak volumes to me and hopefully that is being captured by the lens. Finally, the balance of those miles (nearly 10,000) were accomplished by a trip to The Big Island of Hawaii, where we were able to photograph the incredible diversity of this island's landscape and all of its beauty from a helicopter. 

Antique Hood Ornament
Photo © 2011 Claudia Ward 

More locally, we visited Belmont Park just a week before the Stakes were run and attended the Hampton Classic Horse Show every single day it was held over Labor Day weekend. There were at least three Antique Auto Shows, one Road Rallye and a Mini Cooper Scavenger Hunt that we shot as well. Our beaches on the east end of Long Island are some of the most breathtaking in the country (right up there with North Carolina's) and we spent many happy hours either hip deep in snow in January or ankle deep in sand in August, capturing the undulating shapes of their dunes draped in snow or the power of their seas after a storm.

Light Painting for New Year's
Photo © 2011 Peter Tooker 

The holidays that dot our calendars were also not ignored. Memorial Day is always an homage to the "Opening" of the Hamptons season. Flag Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the Christmas season were all duly noted and celebrated with photographs too.   

Meaty Tomato painted by Barbara Andolsek

Let me also add, ever so humbly, that I have once again been thrilled that Barbara Andolsek continues to make paintings based on some of my photographs. Barbara and I have yet to meet but feel a friendship beyond pen-pals. Nearly 3,000 miles apart but with a shared appreciation for the beauty of the world around us, Barbara and I have forged a friendship that could only occur in this wonderful 21st century. It still astounds me at how incredibly open and selfless so many people are using the internet to connect, communicate, and share. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to be a part of it.

The word "blog" is derived from the expression "web log", which originally was an online journal of sorts and has morphed, over time, into a platform for communicating and exchanging information and ideas. I want to thank you all for your enthusiasm and support over the last two years but more importantly for your participation - "communication and exchange" are exactly what has occurred when you've left comments for us, and you've made it just that much more fun and interesting.

So here is a slide show which represents a snapshot of Open-Window's second year. It's shorter than last year's and yet still longer than most at just under 10 minutes. Perhaps you can set aside a little time next Sunday morning. We've made this for you, to enjoy and remember a year that we shared, and for that I want to say with great sincerity "Thanks for the memories". 

  

Photos & Slide Show by Claudia Ward & Peter Tooker © 2011
Music: Concerto in E-flat Major for Trumpet & Orchestra: 1. Allegro Con Spirito by Wynton Marsalis, National Philharmonic Orchestra & Raymond Leppard 

 

P.S. Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you thought of year two and if there is something you'd like to see more of in the coming months.

 

 

Dungeness Crab Cakes

Dungeness crab inhabits the waters on the west coast of North America and every time we pass through Seattle, Peter and I always pick up a couple of crabs at Pike Place Market to bring home. The fish markets all pack the crabs, or fish for that matter, in traveling boxes that are acceptable to the airlines, so we can savor the flavors from the Pacific Northwest even after we return home.

Pike Place Seafood Market - Seattle, WA

It's amazing how much wonderful crab meat Peter can extract from two Dungeness crabs. This time Peter made a crab meat dip that we enjoyed as appetizers and snacks several days in a row. We also made a delicious crab salad but our particular favorite was these crab cakes, the recipe for which was derived from the one posted earlier this year for Trout and Crab Cakes. What we especially like about this recipe is that the crab meat is the center of attention with little else holding them together. We did serve them with a chipotle sauce but found that it was just too overpowering for the this delicate Dungeness crab, a squeeze of lemon was all that we wanted.

Dungeness Crab Cakes
(Makes 4 servings of 2 Crab Cakes Each)  

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
2 green onions (scallions), white part only, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
10 ounces fresh Dungeness crab meat, picked over for shell
Flour for dredging
2 tablespoons olive oil
====================================

• In a medium bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, egg. mustard, Old Bay seasoning, onion, cilantro, and bread crumbs. Gently mix in the trout and crab. Shape the mixture into 8 patties, each about 2½ inches in diameter. They will barely hold together. Spread the flour on a plate and lightly dredge the patties, coating evenly. Place the patties on a plate, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• In a large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat and cook half the trout cakes until golden, about 3 minutes on each side. Repeat for the remaining cakes. Arrange 2 trout cakes and a wedge of lemon on each of 4 plates and serve immediately.

Tomatoes - Can You Ever Like Them?

iPhone photo © Peter Tooker

Tomatoes were a real challenge for me to eat when I was a child - perhaps it was the acidity, perhaps it was the 1960's "hot house" tomatoes which were hard as rocks, barely red, and absolutely flavorless. Whatever the reason, I didn't like them and I avoided them at all costs ... until one summer day, when my mother brought a fresh tomato home from a farmer's market. She cajoled me into trying this one, one she promised would be different. She also knew she was working with an impressionable child and "a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down".

I watched her slice into this incredibly beautiful, bright red, juicy tomato and could hardly believe this is what a tomato was supposed to look like. She placed a slice each on two plates. She walked me to the living room (where we were never allowed to eat anything), invited me to sit cross-legged on the floor, handed me a napkin, sprinkled each tomato slice with a dusting of granular sugar, and, by example, picked hers up with her fingers and began to eat this wondrously special fruit. 

I was mesmerized by this special moment with my mother and the fact that we were breaking "the rules", but I have to say I fell in love with the tomato that day ... the real ones, the ones that grow in your own garden or at least one in your own town.

My younger sister is still, to this day, trying to find a way to eat tomatoes that she will like. The Tomato and Mustard Tart last summer "sorta" worked, for all the wrong reasons, but I now submit this recipe to her for a sincere "try". This Roasted Tomato Basil Soup is so wonderful, with a medley of flavors that features the tomato but isn't "all about the tomato". Please little sister, and any one else listening, you should try this recipe. Full of flavor with just a touch of heat. I truly believe a doubting-tomato-eater, could become a convert.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
Serves 6-8

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1½ teaspoons freshly ground pepper
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
28 ounces canned plum tomatoes with their juice
4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken stock
=================================

• Preheat the oven to 400 ℉. 
• Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes. 
• In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.