Yes. Donuts. (Dairy)

I will state for the record, I love donuts. They are wonderful fluffy bits of sweet delight. Also they are not readily available here on a regular basis. They show up around Hannukah, but then they're mostly jelly filled. Though there are ones filled with Dulce de Leche which are to die for. The bottom line is, getting a good glazed donut during the year is not a simple matter. So, with that in mind I figured it was time to make my own. It was something of a time consuming process since we don't really do all that much dairy cooking. I was only able to do three donuts at a time, so it took a while to get everything cooked. I also wasn't super thrilled with how the glaze looked. This is the second time I've made them and the second glaze I tried. Tastes good, but doesn't look so great. That said, everyone loved them.

Ingredients:
1/4 ounce dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk (brought to almost boil then cooled)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter
5 cups flour
oil for frying

Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup butter
5 tablespoons hot water

Making the dough:
Disolve the yeast in the warm water in a big bowl. Let it proof for a few minutes then add warm milk, sugar, salt, eggs, butter and then 2 cups of the flour. I'm all old school and used a fork and my hands, but if you're the fancy type you can use a stand mixer.

Once it's all incorporated start mixing in the rest of the flour until the dough is smooth. Cover it with a damp cloth, put it in a warm place and let it rise about an hour. It should double in size.

When the dough has risen, turn it out onto a floured surface and sprinkle a bit on top so you can work with it. I had to split my dough in half since our work surface is small. Also allowed us to make it over two days. The dough kept very well in the fridge overnight. Anyway, roll the dough out to about 1/2 an inch thick. Then cut out the donuts. They make fancy donut cutters. But we went old school, a wide mouthed cup for the initial circle and then a soda bottle top to pop out the 'hole'.

The first try we put the donuts directly into the oil, but the second batch I let the dough rise for about 20 minutes before cooking them and they came out much fluffier. Anyway, to the cooking. We used a pot and about half a liter of canola oil, but any deep frying technique will work. The recipe calls for the oil to be heated to 350F (175C), but we played it by ear and ended up with some donuts being darker and some lighter. I found medium low heat to be the best, then you get a nice lightly browned fluffy result. The first time I made it I took the 'holes' and made, well, donut holes. Unfortunately, they puff up unevenly and it's hard to turn them over to cook on both sides, so I just kneaded them back in and made more full sized babies.

It ended up making about forty donuts, as I said in two batches. I think it took maybe a minute or two each side to fry them.

Next came the glazing, which as I said didn't work out as well as I had wanted. To make it, melt the butter, remove from heat and then start stirring in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Then you need to add the hot water, which dilutes it to a glaze. Do this a bit at a time until you get a nice runny consistency. I tried both dipping the donuts in the glaze and brushing it on with a silcone pastry brush. Neither looked pretty, but both tasted good.

You can add sprinkles if you want. I made an attempt at drizzling chocolate over them, but my chocolate melting skills leave something to be desired. So I don't have pictures, but it did add a nice taste.
I think the whole process took about 2 1/2 hours, with actually work time being about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 depending on how many donuts you can fry at a time.

What I'm reading: Chew

Yup, it's about food. Sort of. It also rhymes with Jew. So, bonus points. And it's a comic book. That's my Trifecta. It called Chew and it is nice and twisted.

It's up to book 15, so you might have some catching up to do. It's about detective Tony Chu, a hard bitten chap with a strange talent. He's a cibopath. Yes, it's a made up word, but it is cromulent. He can 'read' things he eats. He gets the psychic impressions from everything that happened to what ever he bites into. The other major twist in the story is the world it is set in. Avian flu has killed 23 million people and chicken is illegal. America has become a police state with the FDA and USDA become militarized police forces and they're out to stomp out anybody trying to eat or cultivate chicken.
The art is quirky, the story compelling and characters well fleshed out. Scenes move quickly from the FDA offices to seedy docks and then a tropical island paradise.
It's published by Image comics, written by John Layman with art by Rob Guillory.
I'd score it 6 out of 7 Sterankos on the comic book coolness scale. 


More here: The Official Blog
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The First Recipe - Baklava

Might as well get started. The first recipe that got devoured in the household was Baklava. I ended up making it because someone on Twitter asked for a suggestion for a dessert with a Middle Eastern flare. This was the obvious suggestion. It's actually pretty easy, but a bit labor intensive.

Ingredients:

1 lb. (1/2 kg) Chopped Nuts - We used a mix of Almonds, Cashews, Hazelnuts and Pistachios
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup margarine (if you don't mind it being dairy you can use butter)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
Some lemon zest
1 package Phyllo dough (should be a pound (1/2 kg))


This makes a 9 x 13 pan (22.5 x 32.5cm)

Heat oven to 350 F (175C)
If your nuts aren't already chopped you'll need to do that in a food processor. We did in various stages to get different sized chunks.

Mix in the cinnamon, or maybe try nutmeg.
Unroll the Phyllo and cut in half so it fits easily in the pan.

You'll need to have a damp cloth to cover the dough with when you're not using it, as it dries out quickly and becomes brittle.
Next melt the margarine in a saucepan. You'll also need a pastry brush. We use a silicone one to good effect.

This is when the hard work begins. You need to layer the dough and nuts, which can take about 30 minutes. Start with two leaves of dough and brush with melted margarine, sprinkle a few spoons of nuts over them and spread evenly.

Then put down the next layer of dough. We did two layers at a time, though the recipe calls for one. This made it extra crunchy. Each layer needs to be brushed with the melted margarine. The saucepan had to be reheated a couple times during the process.

Yes, the counter is a mess.
Keep layering it until you've finished the nuts and then add on another 5-6 leaves of dough. Then you need to cut it, which is a bit tricky, I found. Cut into 4 even strips, so three cuts. Then make diagonal cuts to form diamonds.

Ours didn't come out too straight and it's a pain getting to the edges with a Chef's knife, so I'd suggest a smaller paring knife. Then it's into the over for 40-50 minutes. Should be golden crispy. If you let it go too long it will be too crispy and messy to eat. So keep an eye on it.

While it's in we made the syrup. Mixing the sugar and water in a saucepan until it starts to boil, then add vanilla, lemon and finally the honey. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. You should try to time this so you're finishing as the baklava is coming out of the oven.

Spoon the hot syrup over the baklava, let cool and then have at it!

As I said, ours came out very crunchy. And messy. Everyone really gobbled it up though. Even my wife, who doesn't particularly like baklava enjoyed it. So, score! Depending how you cut the pieces it should make about 36 servings. Probably a billion calories each.

Addendum:
Total time was about 2 hours from start to finish. About an hour of actual working time, the layering takes a while and you have to stir the syrup. Otherwise it's baking and cooling. I'll try to remember times for future reference. Thanks Phelps.

Beteavon!