To Be Continued

This is the end of Sudden Cravings.

I've moved on to another publishing platform.

So if you're Hungry for More, check out www.eatdrinktravel.posterous.com where I'm seeking out restaurants that are experimenting with new techniques, flavors and presentations.

Introducing...my BeaterBlade

So I have to admit, I had some help with my red velvet cupcakes.

Help from my new BeaterBlade, that is.

Gosh, I love this thing. Who invented it? I owe her a thank you note.

I received the BeaterBlade as a Christmas gift from my sister in law.

It worked like a charm. Shaved off time during the mixing process. Not exactly cutting my time in half, but by some.

I used to have to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl every now and then. Now, I turn on the mixer and walk away. The BeaterBlade acts like a windshield wiper blade that continuously scrapes the sides and bottom of the bowl while it mixes.

Genius.

Sweets for My Sweet

Success!

My Martha Stewart red velvet cupcakes were a hit at the office and home. The  majority of them were devoured at a Valentine's social on Thursday. I brought them in because I'd already planned to decorate a couple for my husband. Since the recipe yields 24, I'm glad the other 22 had somewhere to go.

Turns out that I wasn't the only one who thought it would be fitting to bake red velvet cupcakes for the social. I heard that others (others more proficient in the kitchen than me) had hoped to bake red velvet cupcakes. I just got to the sign-up sheet first.

So the pressure was on. If my cupcakes didn't turn out, there would be several disappointed coworkers in  my midst.

I hit the market to gather the ingredients that I'd need.

I didn't have:

cake flour
unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
red gel-paste food color
buttermilk
cream cheese (for the frosting)
confectioners' sugar (for the frosting)

Which had me questioning: What's wrong with all-purpose flour? And can I substitute Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder for the Dutch-process version? What's the difference? Can't I use the red liquid food color that I already have on hand? Need I go out and buy the gel-paste version? Why is this recipe so complicated?

Once I got started, I learned that the ingredients list wasn't a reflection of the recipe itself.

In fact, the recipe was straightforward. I followed it to a tee, with one exception:

I couldn't find gel-paste food color, so I bought gel-paste icing in the hopes that it would have the same effect. I added the 1/2 teaspoon of gel-paste icing at the designated time and soon found that it did not. The color of the batter remained brown (from the cocoa powder).

In a moment of panic, I rummaged through my pantry and pulled out my liquid food color collection. I don't know why, but I apparently own a BIG bottle of red liquid food color. I held my breath and poured a generous dollop of liquid color into the mixer. Voila. The batter quickly turned a bright red. A VERY bright red. I likely even added way too much color. But, hey, a little food color hasn't hurt anyone, right?

Besides that one hiccup, all turned out fine. My cupcakes were soon in the oven for 20 minutes.

Tired, I sat on the couch to rest while the cupcakes baked.

Big mistake.

It was hard to muster the energy to get back in the kitchen for Round 2: The frosting.

But I did. Martha' frosting recipe was simple, and oh so good. I coaxed the frosting into a freezer-sized resealable bag. Cut the corner and piped the cream cheese frosting on my cooled cupcakes.

Had a bite to taste my creation: a moist cupcake with a creamy, rich frosting. It melted in my mouth.

I then proclaimed Martha's red velvet cupcakes as my favorite recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. Granted, I am still early in my journey to conquer the book. As you'll recall in my "Sunday Sweet Treats" post last September, I announced my intention to try my hand at 17 of Martha's cupcake recipes. In"A Labor Free Treat," I attempted Martha's Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes.

That's two down, 15 to go.

Does Size Matter? Part II

Exhibit A                                        Exhibit B

Last September, I posed the question: Does Size Matter?

On Sunday, I learned that it does not.

Exhibit A: Kalua pork oven baked to perfection for my post-game dinner. It was the perfect Super Bowl dish. It took just a few minutes to prep the pork shoulder and pop it into the oven in the early afternoon. I then sat back and enjoyed the game. Right after the Saints clinched the win, the pork was ready to eat. The timing couldn't have been better.

Exhibit B: Kalua pork slow cooked to a stone. I brought a petite slow cooker out of retirement in order to test my co-worker's theory about my crock pot-to-meat ratio. That is, my original 4-pound pork shoulder was too small for my 6.5-quart crock pot. With a mini slow cooker, I hoped to avoid the frustrations chronicled in What a Crock. I sliced off about 2 pounds of my 6-pound pork shoulder before I sent the bulk of the shoulder into the oven. The slice certainly filled up the little crock pot. I turned it on before the game.

Again, a disappointing result. Not sure if my setting was too high (there's only one setting on my mini crock pot) or I left it in too long (the duration of the game).

In any event, the meat was so tough that my fork didn't give when I speared it. Instead of fall-off-the-bone morsels, I found a piece of meat that shrunk into itself. Barely edible.

Contrast this to the oven-baked version. The oven-baked meat easily shredded and was savory in its salty juices.

So after some experimentation, the verdict is in.

No more messing with the crock pot when it comes to kalua pork. The oven is the way to go.

A Super Bowl of...Pretzels

I hit the kitchen this morning in preparation for the big game.

I wanted to whip up a batch of Giant Bavarian Pretzels from a recipe I saw in Every Day With Rachael Ray.

I made them (pictured at left) last September. I remember thinking that they were the best tasting soft pretzels I'd ever had. Soft, chewy dough inside. Salty crust outside. Plus, the baking soda bath lent an extra savory flavor.

The downside?

Only six pretzels for what amounts to nearly an hour of work.

But it's good for special occasions. Special occasions like the Super Bowl.

I got started on the dough. Mixed the lukewarm water and packet of yeast. Flour, light brown sugar, salt, egg yolk and melted unsalted butter went into the mixer. After 5 minutes, I added the yeast mixture.

Then, disaster struck.

I must have not given the dough my full attention. Not sure if I added too much flour or spilled a little too much yeast mixture when I transferred it to the mixer. In any event, the dough ended up flaky and dry. It barely held together. A little kneading helped to incorporate the flaky bits, but it was still tough to roll. My hands were raw and sore by the third pretzel. But I was too far into the baking process to give up on the entire batch. So I rolled out all six pretzels, gave each a baking soda bath and brushed them with egg white. I sprinkled each with salt before baking them.

The result?

Dry soft pretzels (pictured at right). A grotesque version of the batch I made last year.

Yet, count on my husband to snag one as he watched the big game.

Why?

"They're made with love," he said.

Look Ma, No Tears!

It's time to parade out the kitchen gadgets that I received for Christmas.

First up: the Vidalia Chop Wizard.

How well did it perform?

It easily and quickly diced an onion. The onion went straight through the blade and into the container below. The result: no tears were shed in the process.

The carrots were another story. It took a lot of leverage to get them through the blade. I struggled with each piece. The lid made a loud smacking sound, which made me cringe, with every chop.

But I must say, my diced vegetables have never looked more uniform. The mise en place was a thing of beauty.

Collectively, the vegetables formed the base of a vegetable gratin. The recipe, courtesty of Real Simple, is a household staple. It's my go-to dish for something warm, healthy and filling.

As for cleaning the Chop Wizard? Not the easiest, according to my husband who graciously volunteered to do the night's dishes. It took a bit of scrubbing to get the vege bits out of the crevices.

A small price to pay for swiftly diced onions. 

From The Heart

Valentine's Day came early.

In the form of a heart-shaped cake courtesy of my friend Melissa.

I shared it with my husband. We passed it back and forth. Each taking a bite at a time. It was devoured within minutes.

Had to ask Melissa how she made it.

Figured that my cake-mix-only friend had spread her wings. That she had traded in her box for real batter made from scratch.

I was fooled.

Apparently, I have Duncan Hines to thank for my fine-tasting fudge swirl cake. And a mini heart cake pan from Crate & Barrel.

Who knew?

Perhaps it was all that chocolatey goodness on the cake that masked the fact that a box mix was used.

Who cares?

Not I.