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Recipes are a pattern you can customize to fit youRecipes are a pattern you can customize to fit you Cooking is both an art and a science. The art part of it is a lot more fun than the science, which for the most part is connected with baking. Not that baking isn't fun. Cooking meat, vegetables and fruits falls into the art of cooking and flavoring foods to taste. Baking a cake, making quick breads like muffins and biscuits, and even making cookies--anywhere you are using chemicals, like baking powder and baking soda, to create gas and leaven a product your best bet is to follow the basic recipe the first time around. You can however add nuts or dried fruit to almost any recipe, just don't toss in anything wet, like berries unless the recipe calls for them. Thank heaven we all have creative urges and change the basic blueprint. Here are examples of how you can put your stamp on recipes and make them uniquely your own. This interesting recipe appeared in a national magazine. Because there is no leavening involved, you can make almost any changes you wish but don't touch the egg yolks, butter, nor heavy cream (the ratio of wet ingredients to dry). Crack the Giant Cookie This recipe makes 2 large cookies that you can break by smacking with a spoon at the table for a rather unusual presentation. Kids love it. Or you can pass the giant cookie and let everyone break off a piece. 2 tablespoons soft butter for the pans
Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter the bottoms and 1-inch up the sides of 2 springform pans. Chop the almonds coarsely into chunks the size of chocolate chips. In a bowl stir together flour, sugar and salt; toss in chopped almonds. Beat yolks together and drizzle all over dry ingredients. Toss with a fork to blend. Drizzle cream over the mixture one tablespoon at a time, tossing and stirring to moisten the nut mixture evenly. It should be crumbly but not floury; add a tiny bit more cream if necessary. Pour half of the crumb mixture into each buttered cake pan. Spread and press the crumbs down lightly in an even thick layer covering the bottom of the pan. Bake 25 minutes or more, until cookies are nicely browned and starting to shrink from the edges of pan. Cool, then remove springform side rings and bottoms. To serve, set the cookie in front of guests with a whole almond underneath it. Smack in the center with the back of a spoon and serve the crunchy pieces as you would any cookie. Makes enough to serve 12 to 14 nibblers or dunkers. Cookie Crumble optional changes: Ideas for changing the making of these giant cookies that go with everything from a cup of coffee or wine to fruit salads or berries or baked pears. The cookies keep for days. 1. Use a buttered cookie sheet instead of a springform pan. Spread the dough into a rough circle being careful to press the edges toward the center so that the edges will be the same thickness as the center. 2. Cut into wedges while cooling. You can still let people break off their own rough pieces if they wish, or you can serve each guest a wedge. 3. Toast the almonds for a few minutes and then let them cool before chopping for a nuttier flavor. 4. You can reduce the sugar to half a cup without hearing any complaints. Apple Pie made with Puff Pastry Crust This is a time-saving idea for any pie maker and a great idea for anyone dissatisfied with frozen pie crusts but afraid to make a pie crust from scratch. Granny Smiths are the very best variety for this pie; they almost turn into applesauce. 3 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch wedges
Toss the apples with combined sugar and flour. On a floured surface, roll out each piece of puff pastry to 1/4-inch thick, or less. Ease one pastry square into a 9 1/2-inch pie plate. Scrape apples and their juices into the shell. Lay the second rolled out layer of puff pastry on top. Press the edges together to seal and trim the overhang to 1-inch. Crimp edge decoratively and cut a few slits on top for venting. Freeze the pie for 1-hour. Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake for 30 minutes, until crust is lightly golden. Reduce temperature to 375 F. and bake for 40 minutes longer, until top is deep golden brown. Cool slightly on a wire rack before serving. Variations: You can use puff pastry rather than a regular piecrust for any fruit pie. Use your recipe of choice for the filling: rhubarb, strawberry, plum, blueberry, etc. 1. Open the package and let the puff pastry completely thaw, about 45 minutes, before attempting to roll it out. Use plenty of flour on the rolling surface, as it tends to stick a bit. 2. Since most of us prefer a little cinnamon and perhaps even nutmeg or ginger in our apple pie, this is an easy change to make: with a fork stir the spices into the combined sugar and flour. You may want to add a pinch of salt as well. Then add your apples and stir to coat all of the fruit. 3. As you are rolling out a square of puff-pastry you will have some corners which can later be trimmed and used to expand the sides a bit if you find it difficult to get the pastry a good size for a round (especially for the bottom crust). The mends or joining will hang together perfectly if you use your finger to brush a bit of cold water on the bottom edge where you overlap the pieces. Then roll them to make them adhere. 4. I found the recipe a bit skimpy for 8 people but if you make the following changes it will still work using the amount of puff pastry called for. 5. To make a bigger pie keeping the ratio of apples to the dry ingredients use: 4 pounds of Granny Smith or other pie apples, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or to taste), 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or ginger. 6. Use the scraps from the corners and trimmings to make cheese or herb straws. Lay the scraps out on a floured surface and join together by wetting surface before laying an adjacent piece into place. Roll out and sprinkle with grated cheese, coarse salt, sesame or poppy seeds, herbs d'Provence, or any herbs you like. Roll the pastry again to help the dough and the seasonings or cheese to adhere. Cut into 1/2-inch strips and twist; place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 400 F. until golden brown. Delicious with soups or salads or with a glass of wine. Infuse your cooking with your personality. 3/3/08 Date: 2/26/08
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