My fix for the French Pastry Workshop...

I bought this book because it had a starred review in Booklist.  I enjoy baking and I am interested in learning more about it and hopefully, progressing to more difficult pastries.  The review said this would help with basics and that it would teach me how to make some pastries at home.  It was written by a renowned French pastry chef, what could go wrong?  Well, I'll tell you. First, the good points.  The photos are great!  However, the book was obviously rushed to the American market without consideration for the home cook or how someone needs to be able to read a cookbook in order for it to actually be a "workshop" and teach anything. The ingredients lists mostly do not follow the conventional form of a list.  They are written mostly, though not consistently (which is another problem) in sentence form at the top of the recipe.  The print is pretty small and the color is pale, so it is difficult to read and then to get your ingredients together quickly or determine whether you will need to make a trip to the store when they are printed in this way.  Far worse, though, is the fact that whoever converted these recipes from metric measurements or possibly weight measurements did not bother to really convert them.  So you end up with amounts like this:  1 stick plus 1 3/4 tsp. of unsalted butter, 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of confectioner's sugar.  Are they kidding?  I was, to say the least, extremely disappointed.  But, like I said, the pictures were fabulous and the titles sounded so good!  So, I decided to work my way through the recipes and fix them for the American home cook.  This is the first one that I am completely satisfied with, there are more to come.  I present you with Lime Poppyseed Loaf.  I have tested this several times and made adjustments until I am satisfied that you will get the same results I did and that your cake will be delicious, moist, and wonderfully limy.

Hachette Books if you're listening, please hire me or someone like me to convert your next European cookbook for the American market.

Fig and Rosemary Bread

I have been working on this recipe for a while, along with a bunch of others.  I plan to update and add recipes more frequently beginning this fall.  This is an original recipe based on one I found online and tested until I know it will turn out if you follow the instructions.  Enjoy!

Click HERE for a printable pdf.

Pecan biscuits...even if you don't live near the Pecan Capital of the World!

These biscuits are always a hit at the Manor.  We get our pecans from San Saba, the pecan capital of the world, but I think you can make them with other pecans and they will taste just fine. :)

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 t. salt
4 t. baking powder
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 c. cold butter (unsalted)
~2 c. whipping cream (scant)



Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Mix the dry ingredients, including the pecans using a stand mixer.  With the mixer running, add the butter in 1/2 inch pieces and continue mixing until it resembles cornmeal. Add the cream and mix until just combined.
Working with half the dough at a time, knead gently for 2 minutes or so, using just your hands and folding inward--do not flatten on the counter or knead too firmly.  Roll out the dough about 1 inch thick and cut into desired shapes.  When you cut the dough, it should have layers butter and flour that are visible.  Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-16 minutes--until slightly brown and puffed.
If you want them to be shiny, you can brush with cream or butter before baking.

Tips for great biscuits:

• Don't overwork the dough, unless you want hockey pucks.
• Make sure to get them into the oven as quickly as possible after you have kneaded and rolled; the rising agent is activated by moisture so delay can deflate.
• Don't try to make low fat biscuits.  Just take a couple extra laps or something.

Wildflowers are here and Blackberry Gingerbread is back!

The Manor is in bloom once again!  We have added a few new varieties--bluebonnets, larkspur, and phlox to our usuals of salvia, coreopsis, verbena, and lantana. The salvia is just beginning to get really thick and the others are coming along nicely.  We should have more as April progresses.





Blackberry Gingerbread is back!  This is one of my personal favorites and our guests enjoy it, too.  We'll be serving it as long as blackberries are in season.  Want to make your own?  The recipe is here.

Time for some Banana Muffins...

It can be a little harder to use fresh ingredients in the winter, but bananas are available year round, thankfully.  Try a muffin with your morning coffee to put a smile on your face for the day ahead.  

Banana Muffins:

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs

3/4 c. milk

2 t. vanilla

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 medium)

1 c. diced banana (1 medium)

1 c. chopped pecans

1 cup granola

1 c. unsweetened coconut flakes

Dried banana chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray 12 jumbo muffin cups (2 pans) with non-stick spray.   Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment.  Add melted butter and blend. Combine eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed banana and add to flour/butter mixture.  Scrape bowl and make sure the ingredients are combined, but be careful not to overmix.  

Fold in diced bananas, granola, nuts, and coconut into the batter.  Spoon batter into the greased muffin cups.  Top with dried banana chips.  Bake for 25-35 minutes--until tops are slightly brown and a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan.

A couple of notes to help your muffins be the best:  

1.  The worst thing you can do is over mix the batter.  Muffin texture depends on the reaction of the wet ingredients with the rising agent (baking powder and soda in this case).  When you mix the batter too much, the reaction plays out before baking and your muffins will be flatter and heavier--not optimal.  Best to mix the dry ingredients well before adding the wet--the rising agent is activated by moisture.

2.  Be sure to remove the muffins from the pan after the 5 minutes they have cooled.  If you wait a lot longer, the sides will not have the crispy texture you want.  Muffins are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  If you leave them in the pan too long, they will have a soggier texture on the bottom--also not optimum.

We are so excited to be on the National Historic Register...

That was a BIG hurdle. Don't worry, I am still cooking, but I haven't posted recipes lately.  I will try to make up for that over the holidays.

Here are some of the recipes we have been testing:

• Plum cake--a definite winner and guest favorite.  This was a great addition to the August menu, when plums are in season.  We managed to keep making it through most of September with a bumper crop of plums to choose from.
• Baked eggs with bacon and hash browns.  Another crowd pleaser, and not really too difficult.  I had to play around with how to get the egg to come out the way I wanted, but I got it figured out.
• Holiday pumpkin cake with apples and cranberries.  This cake is not too sweet and not too pumpkiny, which Lee appreciates.
• Apple cake with cardamom.  This is one of Lee's favorites, along with the baked eggs.

Still to be tested this month:

• Avocado toast.  Yes, it is a food fad, but where would you serve avocado toast if not in Texas?
• Bacon and egg casserole with cream sauce.  It looks promising, but needs a little tweaking.
• Lemon raspberry tea bread.  The first go at this was a little dry.  The flavor was good, so I will adjust the proportions and have another stab at it.
• Upside-down cranberry cake, and that is all I have to say...

As always, when we test, there are some recipes that do not make the cut. Some of the ones that have not made it onto the B&B menu:

• Sausage rolls--the idea was like a savory cinnamon roll with sausage/cheese filling using a biscuit dough.  It was just blah, likewise the sausage apple quiche. Back to the drawing board on both these ideas.
• Beignet muffins--we visited New Orleans this summer and I thought it would be fun to make a muffin that tasted like a beignet and add a coffee glaze.  Not so much.  Here's the thing:  beignets are fried, that's why they are good.  Back to the drawing board on this one, too.

Summer Projects coming to a close...

My list was so long and I did not get them all done. Progress!

1. When your mother tells you not to put tape on the wall, please listen to her.  There was a wall in the kitchen that had tape and other adhesive products on the wall.  To make it even more of a challenge, some of the tape and other sticky stuff had been painted over.  It took a while, but I did manage to get the tape off and prime and paint the affected walls.  I am still working on the hinges and cabinets--I am expecting some soy stripping gel in the mail and I will let you know how that goes.
2. Laundry room, primed and painted--no more water stains!  New lights in the kitchen and laundry room coming soon...
3. Patio furniture repaired and painted.  Mostly done--I have one bench and one arch left to sand and paint.  The patio at The Manor is a very popular sitting area for guests and owners alike, so we are trying to keep it special!  We did have one setback when our porch swing suffered a fatal error.  Lee is working on it.  :)
4. Okay, so I tried waxing the wood floor in one area to test out the idea of waxing.  We have decided against it.  Both of us almost bit it multiple times.  Slick floor=bad idea.  I will continue to look for some way to improve the look of the floor and protect it that does not involve possible broken limbs. 
5. Finished cleaning hallway light globes, transoms, and paneling.  Perhaps finished is not the right word.  I did clean them, but as you know, they will need it again.  The transoms and hallways were part of the BIG summer clean.  As soon as it cools off, I am planning to do the windows--on the outside.
6. Best for last--Lee fixed Winged Victory and she is now in her forever home (we hope) in front of the Manor.  In the Spring, she was injured in an auto accident and one of her wings broke off.  She had now been restored to her former glory.  Big Thank you to Clarke and Lee.  :D