…from the Perspectives’ KitchenHow you doin’? Get ready to wow your Valentine’s taste buds with this delicious Red Velvet Cake Roll! In the 19th century, "velvet" cake, a soft and velvety crumb cake, was introduced and served as a fancy dessert. Up to that point a coarser-crumbly cake was a much more common dessert. Around the turn of the 20th century, Devil's Food Cake was introduced, which some believe is how the Red Velvet Cake came about. The key difference between the two cakes is that Devil's Food Cake uses real chocolate and Red Velvet Cake uses less expensive cocoa. Adams Extract Co. is credited with bringing the Red Velvet Cake to kitchens across America during the Great Depression, by being one of the first to sell red food coloring and other flavor extracts. They advertised by using point-of-sale posters and tear-off recipe cards. When food ingredients were rationed in the US during World War II, bakers used boiled red beet juices to enhance the color of their cakes. Even today, I often use minced red beets in my chocolate cakes for the red hue and to retain moisture. The cake was originally made famous at New York City's famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, known as the Waldorf-Astoria Cake, however, it is widely considered a Southern recipe. Red Velvet Cake may also have roots in black culture and is sometimes considered to be a soul food in the South. The cake is often used in Juneteenth celebrations to honor the fight against slavery. Traditionally, Red Velvet Cake is iced with a French-style butter ermine icing which is very light and fluffy, but time-consuming to prepare. Cream cheese or buttercream frostings are variations that have increased in popularity and complement the cake. Similar to Hershey’s Red Velvet Cake, this cake roll recipe also calls for cocoa powder to produce a moist, chocolaty flavored cake tightly rolled into a Swiss log with rich cream cheese filling. Follow my easy step-by-step instructions below on how to make a perfect Red Velvet Cake roll from scratch to impress your friends, family, or maybe even that very special person. Prep time: 30 minutes Bake time: 12 minutes Cool time: 1 hour 30 minutes Chill time: 1 hour Yield: 1 cake (10 to 12 servings Ingredients 1/4 cup powdered sugar 4 large eggs, separated 1/2 cup granulated sugar plus 1/3 cup, divided 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 tablespoons red food color (1-ounce bottle) 1/4 cup water 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 2 teaspoon powdered sugar (for dusting) 1/2 cup chocolate syrup (optional) raspberries or strawberries for garnish (optional) Directions
ChefSecret: To make the Cream Cheese Filling, beat the following ingredients together:
Quip of the Day: My relationship status? In a committed relationship with red velvet cake! ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross. #Dessert #ValentinesDayDessert #Valentine #RedVelvetCakeRoll #RedVelvetCake #RedVelvet #Hersheys #Cocoa #JellyRollCake #JellyRollPan #2024 #T2T #URM #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2024
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…from the Perspectives’ KitchenHow you doin’? Growing up in my house my mother seldom fried any food. She just didn’t think the prolonged “aroma” of the grease and the waste of oil was worth it. So, we would go out to a restaurant or would order Chicken Delight for delivery or send my dad out to pick-up a box of Pioneer Crunch or a bucket of the Colonel’s best—KFC. The fact of the matter is, I’m not that squeamish about frying food in my kitchen and I do love my fried foods—French fries, fish and chips and definitely fried chicken. It’s not so much the flavor but I love the crunchy texture—flavor is 50% and texture is the other 50%. So, when I find a simple new recipe for crunchy chicken that doesn’t have to be fried, I get all excited. A few weeks ago, I found a recipe in Allrecipes that made me stop and focus on this neat dish. There are few things more thrilling than finding out a secret ingredient that will make your oven-roasted chicken taste more like fried. If you’re like me and want to create a little magic, take a load off because this chicken dish has two special tricks that will make it one the most popular dinner recipes for your family. Abracadabra Encrusted Crunchy Chicken is always incredibly juicy, flavorful, crunchy and picky-kid eater pleasing. It takes just six ingredients to create a little Penn and Teller chicken magic and they are probably in your snack cupboard right now, but just two important secret components are the key to crunchy breading and tender, juicy chicken breasts. The ingredients include mayonnaise and Cheez-It crackers. I’ve talked about using mayo on oven roasted potatoes before, so it should come as no surprise that mayonnaise is more than just a binder for tuna salad. The mayo holds the breading on the chicken without the gummy interface you usually get with a coating of flour. The remainder of my secret ingredients are the chicken breasts, of course, which are coated in a thin layer of mayo dredged in breading mixture, which is a combination of Cheez-It crackers, canned French-fried onions, Italian breadcrumbs and toasted sesame seeds. The mayo not only helps hold the breading in place, so you won’t lose it on the sheet pan in the oven, but it also keeps the chicken moist and tender. The Cheez–It crackers, French-fried onions, and Italian breadcrumbs together pack a flavorful punch and will create a crunchy breading when baked, not fried. Together, the breading creates a unique flavor that everyone will love. Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: 35 minutes Yield: 4-8 servings Ingredients 2 cups crushed cheese flavored crackers (I prefer Cheez-It) 1 cup crushed canned French-fried onions 1/2 cup seasoned Italian breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly- ground black pepper to taste 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut in half 4 tablespoons mayonnaise Directions
ChefSecret: If you prefer dark meat use 8 boneless skin-on thighs. Quip of the Day: Q: What do chicken families do on the weekends? A: They have peck-nics! Have you ever wondered what the big 11-spice secret is to making KFC fried chicken? It is a combination of salt, thyme, basil, oregano, celery salt, ground black pepper, dried mustard, garlic salt, paprika powder, ground ginger and white pepper. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your favorite recipes, pictures or thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. Recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #ChristmasRecipes #Entrees #CrunchyChicken #OvenFriedChicken #Cheez-It #Mayonnaise #Chicken #Holidays2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #RedCross #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023 From the Perspectives’ Holiday KitchenHow you doin’? Aren’t Cream Puffs a scream? You’ll yell with pleasure with each delightful, indulgent bite. You will enjoy flavors of a light, eggy pastry with a delicate crunch, plus, a luscious, subtly sweet creamy custard filling. For this recipe I have used a vanilla-infused custard pastry cream. It’s part whipped cream and part pastry cream—the perfect balance of airy and rich. Finish them with a drizzle of bittersweet chocolate, as we did, and you find yourself with a truly luxurious treat. Of course, the Holiday Cream Puff could not exist if it weren’t for wonderful choux pastry, or pâte à choux as the French call it. It may sound highfalutin, but it’s actually quite simple to make. There’s a little boiling, stirring and mixing with a short list of ingredients: butter, flour, eggs, salt and some liquid. What kind of liquid? Either milk or water, depending on what you’re making. For gougères, those amazing French cheese puffs, we like to use milk to get a more custardy center. For cream puffs (and éclairs and croquembouches), we like to use water for the choux — as well as bread flour. The combination makes the puffs firmer and sturdier, so they hold up longer against the slow migration of moisture from the cream custard and whipped cream filling. Prep time: 35 minutes Bake time: 30 to 35 minutes Custard cook time: 15 minutes Yield: 2 dozen Ingredients For the choux pastry 1 cup water 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, rough chopped 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 3/4 cup bread flour 4 large room temperature eggs For the custard cream filling 1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided 2 cups whole milk 3 large egg yolks 2 whole large eggs 2-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste 1 cup heavy whipping cream For the cream puffs 2 dozen baked cream puffs 5 oz tempered dark chocolate (68%) or compound Directions To make the choux pastry
ChefSecret: To help you get positively perfect choux pastry puffs, dip your fingers in water so you can move and adjust the piped mounds as needed or dab out any imperfections. Baking the choux puffs at two different temperatures is the secret. Baking at 425° for the first half makes the puff glorious; baking at a cooler 375° for the second half creates that beautiful golden brown exterior. And you’ll wind up with light, pillowy puffs that won’t have any major cracks. Serving Suggestions: Puffs of choux are good for more than just cream puffs! We sometimes fill them with a mini scoop of our favorite ice cream, or a mound of chicken salad or smoked salmon mousse for party appetizer. Quip of the Day: I have a lactose intolerant friend who sells cream puffs for a living. He can’t take it, but he can dish it out. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #ChristmasRecipes #Desserts #HolidayCreamPuffs #Holidays2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #RedCross #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023 … from the Perspectives Kitchen How you doin’? Are you a bread lover? I am! I know for some people it has been popular to skip the carbs and go right to the meat on the plate, but that breadbasket on the table in restaurants serves an important purpose. One of the symptoms of low blood sugar is hunger—that’s when people go to restaurants, right? Hunger signals to the brain, feed me! When you are hungry you can get a bit grumpy and short-tempered. That’s why so many restaurants like to get some food in their guests while they are having their first drink and looking through the menu. You’ve seen it—chips and salsa at Mexican cantinas, Chinese crispy noodles at Asian restaurants and the proverbial breadbasket at Texas Roadhouse. Today many restaurants skipped the table starters to save a few pennies… that’s so wrong. Well-fed guests are happy guests. If you’ve ever been to Texas Roadhouse you know how addictive their pillowy soft, honey baked rolls are. These guys are smart to let you fill up on bread long before any of the other food arrives to the table. You are fulfilled, relaxed and as contented as a pig in mud. Guests may not remember the steak, but everyone talks about the rolls! Richard, my Long Island bakery client, was approached by Texas Roadhouse to make a frozen knock-off of their tasty little squares—that’s when Sweet Yeasties were invented, and they were so good and a dead-on match. What we found is they were simple to make, and everyone loves them. So, here’s my hack for Sweet Yeasties. As with most of my recipes, you already have a lot of the ingredients on hand in your pantry—water, eggs, flour, butter, sugar, honey and, maybe even a fresh package of active dry yeast. I love this recipe and I bet you will, too. Prep time: 20 minutes Proof time: 2 hours Bake time: 12 to 15 minutes Yield: 24 rolls Ingredients 2 cups whole milk 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided 1 package active dry yeast 1/2 cup warm water, not over 105⁰ F 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided 3/4 cup honey 7-1/2 to 8 cups all-purpose flour 2 eggs, lightly whisked 2 teaspoons kosher salt Directions
ChefSecret: In a recent email from Richard he reminded me that we sold the roll at a client’s restaurant FRIED and jelly filled! So, make them either way or both ways for a real restaurant-quality treat right in your own home. Quip of the Day: Q. What is it called when you steal a rich person’s dinner rolls? A. Highfalutin gluten lootin’! ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #ChristmasRecipes #SweetYeasties #YeastDinnerRolls #TexasRoadhouse #Holidays2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #RedCross #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023 … from the Perspectives Kitchen How you doin’? This recipe was lifted from the pages of my book Choclatique—150 Simply Elegant Desserts. I love working with chocolate. I could sing the praises of cookies all day long. They’re easy to make, easy to serve, and tasty, too! There are a zillion different options. There is nothing better that Italian Christmas cookies. Sarno's Hollywood was located on Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, just about a half mile west of the old ABC Television Center. It was the first place that I knew of that served real espresso in the 1970’s. You could go there at any time of the day and see many of your favorite Italian heart throbs on break from the soap opera taping at the studio--General Hospital, The Young Marrieds or Day in Court. Aside from real espresso and great potato gnocchi (not chocolate) they had a fantastic array of Italian bakery delicacies and Italian cookies. My choice was always the Chocolate Crackle Cookies. These soft and crackly cookies were rich, with a deep chocolate flavor accented by the espresso which was the perfect ingredient complement to raise the level of chocolate flavor. There was also a touch of almond extract. While the almond is not completely authentic for this traditional cookie it adds an additional layer of flavor. Prep time: 30 minutes Chill time: 2 hours (or overnight) Bake time: 30 minutes Yield: 30 cookies Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I prefer Guittard) 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 4 ounces chopped dark chocolate (72%) 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I prefer Plugra) 1 cup packed light brown sugar 3 large eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract 1 cup confectioners' sugar Directions
ChefSecret: Make sure to let the melted chocolate cool so you don’t scramble the eggs. Quip of the Day: Today we will live in the moment. Unless it’s unpleasant in which case we will eat a cookie. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #ChristmasRecipes #Christmas #ChristmasCookies #ItalianChristmasChocolateCrackleCookies #Chocolate #Cocoa #Cookies #Dessert #Holidays2023 #BeThankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #RedCross #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023 |
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