The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Week 12-Italy

 

The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Week 12-Italy

(Source: Britannica.com)

Well, here we are, at the very end of this Christmas food blog project. Twelve weeks turned into fourteen weeks! I started this back in October and now it's January!! Italy showed up as a very small percentage on one of my two DNA tests when I was planning this project, but by the end of October, it had updated and Italy was no longer on the test results. Because it was there when I planned it, I decided to keep it because I really, really wanted to make this recipe. It's one of my favorite Christmas foods and I always buy it because I didn't think I could make it myself. Luckily, it worked out really well! So, I decided to think of this week as the honorable mention. I'm also thinking of it as the beginning of my next food blog project. More on that later...

Today's recipe was panettone. Every year I buy a mini panettone from Trader Joe's because most of the ones you find in the stores are gigantic and would go bad before I could eat it all. They're also really expensive. The mini ones are a bit more affordable. It always seemed like a really fancy and tricky bread to make, and I never bothered looking into making it for myself. They are made in special paper molds and I had no idea how to get my hands on one, so I just never considered it. But as I researched it for this project, and talked with one of my Twitter friends, I was inspired to track down the papers and just order them online, which I did. I now have enough molds to make one of these every Christmas for the next ten years probably!

This bread is way easier to make than I thought it would be. It was ridiculously easy. And I think it turned out really well. I am extremely excited to end this project on this note. I purposely didn't buy a mini panettone this year, so I finally got to enjoy it, at long last!

Here was my baking experience:

 

So, the recipe calls for this to be made entirely in a mixer. The mixer does all the kneading for you. But I think bread is better when you mix and knead it yourself. It might sound really hippie dippie of me, but I think when you make bread with your own hands, you pour your energy into it. The love and enjoyment of making it affects the food, and there's just something missing when you let a mixer make it for you. But if a mixer is a better option for you, by all means, go for it!

This is what the dough looks like after you add all the water. It's gloppy and really weird-looking and the recipe doesn't say to, but add more flour and keep kneading, and it'll be just fine. I added about a half cup more flour.

This is what it looks like once you finish kneading it. You want to keep adding flour and kneading for several minutes, until it's really too tough to knead any longer.

Here is the paper mold. You've probably seen the commercially-made versions in the store with this type of paper mold. It turns out you can just by them online!

Here is the dough, after I added the fruit. I used half raisins that I soaked in hot water, and a blend of diced candied orange peel, lemon peel, and citron, and the smell was amazing! I know a lot of us think we don't like this candied fruit in baked goods, but it's really delightful. I quite enjoy it!

Post first rise, post second rise. I find that turning my oven on a low temp and setting the bowl or whatever the dough is in over the vent on the stove is the best way to let the dough rise.

The mini version I bought at the store doesn't have this topping. It's basically a crumble topping.

I was also unsure about adding the powdered sugar before baking it, but I followed the recipe exactly and hoped for the best.

And as you can see, it turned out perfectly! I did it for 40 minutes, then put it back in the oven for a few more minutes for good measure.

Here is what it looks like from the side when I tore open the paper mold to get a good look at it. It's just perfect!

And here is a slice of the finished product. The texture is great, very much like the panettone I used to buy. The flavors were a bit muted, but it was still too warm to really be eating yet. I wanted to get a picture of the final product, and a taste so I could write this up tonight. Otherwise, I would have waited longer. This didn't come out of the oven till 6pm.

I am so happy with how this turned out! I don't think I'll ever need to buy one again. I have ideas for how to add even more flavor next year. Soaking the raisins in orange juice, or brandy will definitely add more flavor. It's not typical, but I could see adding diced candied cherries to this too, but that might make it lean too fruitcake-like. If we're able to get together as a family again this next Christmas, I might have to make one for Christmas Eve!

Well, if you have read along with me this whole time, thank you for sticking around! I have had a lot of fun with this project. I have a few recipes that I might incorporate into my Christmas traditions. I had several total fails that probably won't become tradition! But it was all fun, regardless of success or failure. I even have an idea for another addition of the project later this year!!

And that leads me back to what I was saying earlier about this recipe being the segue from this Christmas project, to my next project. I have decided to do a winter baking project that will focus on bread! I'm calling it The Baker's Dozen. This is the "bonus" week, so starting next weekend, I will be beginning a 12-week project that focuses on different bread recipes from my files. Not just yeast breads. There will be scones, muffins, and quickbreads as well! So, make sure to keep tuning in each weekend to see what I make next!!

Buon Natale!

The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Week 11-Western Europe

 The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Week 11-Western Europe

(Source: mapofeurope.com)

General Western Europe shows up on my DNA tests, and it makes sense when I have mostly English, French, and German in my tests, that there would be a blend of other nearby places. I chose two countries that my bff and I have found evidence of in my family tree: Austria and Holland. One recipe from each was selected. Sadly, only one turned out, so I'm only going to share that one. I had a recipe in my collection for a Linzer Torte, a classic Austrian dessert, but the recipe was badly written and it turned into a huge hot mess. I highly recommend Linzer torte, but look around the internet for a good recipe to try out because you don't want to try the one I had!!

The recipe from Holland turned out great. It was my dinner and will be tomorrow's dinner as well! The recipe is called Boerenkoolstamppot, which basically means, sausage with mashed potatoes and kale. I used this recipe.

Mashed potatoes are made just like any other mashed potatoes, except you add a bay leaf to the water. Just make sure to remove it before you mash them after the potatoes are cooked and you drain them. It's just like normal, with butter and milk, though you also add a small pinch of nutmeg too.

Here is the kale and shallots. The shallots are already cooking and I just added the kale but not the water. The water helps it start to steam, but it will cook down and more of its own water will drain out of the kale. In the front is the kielbasa I used. I had no way of getting the special Dutch sausage, though I'd love to have tried it if I could. I at least found a fancy holiday kielbasa to make it special.

This is what the kale and shallots cook down to. You start with a huge pile, but it really gets down to so little by the time it's over!

The sausages fry up really nicely. I have a lot leftover for tomorrow and to freeze for other uses.

Typical mashed potatoes, as you can see.

But it really looks amazing when you mix in the kale. There's something fancy about it.

All the elements arranged on the plate.

And I made some chicken gravy to put on top because it was easy. It was really satisfying as a meal. The kale mixed with the mashed potatoes is a really great way to eat the kale. The texture just blends into the mashed potatoes. The shallots are always delicious. This is a really good comfort food meal, which makes it a great Christmas dish! I can see myself making this throughout the winter. Change the entree for variety maybe, but I really like mixing the kale with the mashed potatoes. And the dish ultimately came together relatively quickly, which is also nice. You can pretty much prep it as you go, if you want. I will definitely be doing this again!

Well, Christmas just keeps on going here! I have one last week next week, but it will also segue into my next food blog project. I'm going to start a winter bread baking project, and next week's item will fit right into that! So, enjoy that Christmas spirit for another couple weeks, at least! Merry Christmas!

The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Week 10-England

 The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Week 10-England

(Source: Britannica.com)

England is a giant part of my DNA. By far, the majority. I have some family rituals we grew up with at Christmas that are British, courtesy of my paternal grandmother, who hails from Canada, with a very English family. She put coins(foil-covered to keep from getting dirty) in cakes, and it wouldn't be a Christmas without the Christmas crackers with the toy, a joke, and a tissue paper crown. I never knew that was an English tradition growing up, I just knew I was the only person I knew who did this. It always felt so special. 

One of the problems with finding a dish to make for a project like this, is that so many of America's Christmas traditions come from England, so I've eaten a lot of their Christmas foods already. Except for one dish: mince pies. Those never truly made their way across the pond, did they? So, since I have never made them before, I knew that was the dish to make. 

I tracked down a recipe, which turned out to be Paul Hollywood's recipe, from The Great British Bake Off, which is one of my favorite shows to watch at the end of a long day and just need something to relax to. Here is the link to the recipe.

I bought a jar of mincemeat before this project started and have been waiting to use it. I really like the idea of doctoring the jarred stuff with fresh fruit. It's pretty sticky sweet and not much texture because it's already cooked, so the fresh fruit adds some nice texture.

Here is the filling all mixed together. The smell is incredible! I'd never had mincemeat so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Here are all the elements for the pies, before they're put together.

This is the butter and flour mixed together. It's almost like shortbread dough at this stage.

Here is the dough with the egg mixed in. I thought it was too dry, but it held up pretty well once I mixed it for a while. I tried not to over mix, it is pastry, after all.

Ready for the chill step!

Mine made nearly twice as many as the recipe said it should, so it's possible that the dough was too thin. The recipe doesn't say how thin the dough should be, so I was just doing what looked good to me.

The filling looks very nice in these little pies!

I don't know what went wrong with these. The pastry cooked, and the pies taste great. But the sides don't want to stick together, and the bottoms, are very crumbly. Paul Hollywood always talks about how much he hates "soggy bottoms" in pastry, and he definitely doesn't need to worry about that with these. They're a great size though.

The pies made a huge mess and stuck to the muffin tin and I just didn't feel like cleaning it before making the second batch, so I just decided to throw it all in a pie dish and call it a day. So now I have an actual mincemeat pie, as well as the tarts. It all tastes really good, it just isn't very pretty. I might cut up the pie and freeze the slices to enjoy throughout the year and give some to my parents. I gave them a bag of goodies from the blog project at Christmas so they can enjoy what I've done so far.

I can see why mince pies are so popular in England at Christmas. I wish that tradition had made its way over here so I could have enjoyed eating these my whole life! I think I need some more practice with them, and I might just go with pre-made dough in the future, but I think mincemeat pie will be part of my Christmas tradition from here on out!

The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Eastern Europe

 The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe shows up as a very small part of my DNA test results, and doesn't break it down into individual countries, so I just picked two Eastern European nations at random and found recipes that worked for this project. I am happy to say that both of them turned out really great!

This weekend's recipes were: Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and Albanian Baklava. 

I made the baklava yesterday, since it needed a long time to sit, and did the cabbage rolls tonight. Both of them were a bit labor intensive, but so worth it in the end!

First up, the cabbage rolls.

I did a half recipe since I'm just one person and don't need to eat all that the recipe makes. It's very easy to cut in half though, so that was nice. Blanching cabbage is not very hard, just make sure to turn it over a couple times so the water gets into all the creases.

Here are several of the elements lined up to go. I had canned diced tomatoes that I added a can of tomato sauce to and some water. Then I used a hand-held blender to try to puree it and it exploded all over, including on my pink pants, so that was fun to clean up. At least I managed to get it out of my clothes without staining them!

The sauteed onions with paprika mixed in. Paprika is a must for Eastern European cooking.

Here is the filling all mixed together. I didn't feel like getting my spice grinder so I just used whole caraway seeds instead of ground. It's harder to taste when it's whole, so if you can grind it, I recommend it.

I used about half the cabbage for the rolls and shredded the rest like it tells you to. I followed the instructions exactly as it told me to.

The cabbage leaves were a little small so I wasn't able to fold them quite like little burritos, but they still worked just fine. And yes, that's my foot at the bottom of the picture!

All the rolls ready to cook!

Topped with the rest of the shredded cabbage.

Topped with the tomato sauce and some water to cover the cabbage. Bring it to a boil, stick the lid on, and turn it down to simmer for about an hour. Just enough time to get a baked potato cooked for the side. Since I made less, it didn't take nearly the two hours the recipe calls for.

Here is the finished product.

You can see the texture of the interior. It's really soft and tasted like other cabbage rolls I've had before, so I must have done it right! I was really happy with this meal! And I had to have a good dessert to go with it. I love baklava, but have never actually made it before. Here is my experience with it!

I was worried that with honey and sugar in the syrup, it would make for an overly sweet baklava. Luckily this turned out not to be the case at all. This cooks for a while until it turns into a clear syrup.

I ordered honey from the honey shop at the Pike Place Market, and was really impressed with it. If you are a honey fan and want to support a small local business, check out their website here and order some of their products for delivery!

The ground walnuts with the cinnamon mixed in. The walnuts are slightly bitter, but the syrup blends well with it so they both mellow each other out.

On the left is the syrup, on the right is the butter. Don't believe what the recipe says for butter, you will need two whole sticks of melted butter to do this right!

This is a labor-intensive process. Each sheet of phyllo has to be cut down to fit into the 9"x13" pan and you're left with a bunch of scraps you have no idea what to do with. I'm probably going to get creative if they're still good in a couple days.

Each layer of phyllo gets buttered. Then you layer the walnuts throughout it. This took at least 45 minutes to assemble.

Here is the final layer. It's worth cutting the sheets down because it wouldn't have fit into the pan otherwise.

You cut the diamonds before it's baked, or it will never cut afterwards.

Freshly baked baklava right out of the oven! Pre-syrup.

And post-syrup. You need to let it sit at least four hours, or overnight for it to truly soak in properly. It really does blend well. The phyllo is buttery and crispy all the way through. It's amazing! My sister, who doesn't like baklava gave it a try and is now a baklava fan! 

I have to say, this is the best baklava I've ever had. Most stuff I get from restaurants is overly sweet or too chewy. This is light and crisp and hard to stop eating. 

This meal was festive and amazing! It's not a traditional Christmas meal for me, but I can see why it's popular in Eastern Europe. It's hearty and filling. Just really good comfort food. I highly recommend both these recipes if you like these types of dishes!

Merry Christmas!