... epiphany? Revelation? Awakening? However you choose to file it, here's what I discovered today: The Pantry. I've lived in Maine for thirtysomething years. I've been in plenty of good old New England houses. But until today, I had never seen a real, live Pantry. I'd certainly heard tell of such wonders, but the closest thing I'd ever seen was a large cupboard within the kitchen, intended for dry goods, canned goods, crackers, cookies, spices, boxes of Kraft Cheese and Macaroni, etc. In greater Boston, however, many of the apartments have Pantries. From what I've seen, it's more uncommon for a Boston kitchen to not have a Pantry! And just in case you were wondering, I know that "Pantry" shouldn't really start with a capital "P...." but The Pantry is such a beautiful thing to me, I think it should. And doesn't the word "pantry" start to seem very strange after it's been used a few times?
Guess what? It snowed here today. Again. It feels like it hasn't stopped snowing for two months. So in between shoveling snow and apartment hunting, I felt the need, of course, to bake something. Here's another recipe from my NordicwareBundt Cookbook...
Spicy Mandarin Muffins
1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges (cut each slice into 3 - 4 pieces)
1-1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 cup sugar
1-3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp allspice
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted
Drain mandarin oranges thoroughly. In large bowl combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk and egg; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently stir in oranges. Divide batter evenly into a greased Bundt Mini-Muffin or Bundt Muffin Pan. Bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes. Turn out on wire rack. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. While hot, dip tops of muffins in melted butter, then roll in sugar mixture.
For excellent eating and keeping qualities, keep dough as soft as possible, just so you can handle it.
Unfortunately, this recipe didn't show off the pretty shapes my Bundlette pan makes nearly as well as my Mini Spice Cakes did. My apologies for the crappy picture, but I didn't have much to work with. Not to mention the fact that the muffin-cakes were a huge disappointment! They seriously lack flavor. The spices were un-detectable, the cakes weren't as sweet as I like my muffin-type-foods to be, and the oranges could barely be tasted! The texture was nice... light, moist, and fluffy... but it didn't make up for the other shortcomings. This isn't a recipe I plan on making again. That does't happen to me very often! I guess I'm just having a bad Karma day or something.
Damn that Brattle Book Shop. I just can't be anywhere near the city of Boston without going in there and spending money. The last time I was there, about three weeks ago, the cashier noticed I was buying two cookbooks, and she told me they were expecting more soon. She was right. Their cookbook inventory has increased by at least half since then!
I can usually get out of there with a couple books for $10 to $15, and this time was no exception. I got a copy of "The Cornell Bread Book" by Clive M. McCay and Jeanette B. McCay. Mr. McCay was a professor at Cornell University in the late 1930s, and invented "The Cornell Bread." If you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up. It's pretty interesting. The book has 54 recipes, all based on McCay's "formula" for healthier baking. And his middle name is "Maine!"
I also bought my first James Beard book:
And yes, of course it's about bread! I've only skimmed through it, and it has some great recipes, techniques, and "observations," but I find, as I expected, that Beard's writing is a bit pretentious. His Cheese Bread has "an intriguing cheese bouquet and flavor," he bakes his Pizza Loaf "in a souffle mold," and he feels that "sourdough bread is much overrated." I really have to disagree with his assessment of sourdough! But it's a neat book, with lovely sketched illustrations and quite a few recipes that I will definitely try. I'll just have to overlook his precious little recipe introductions.
1/3 cup sweet butter, softened
1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup dried coconut
Preheat oven to 325.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then fold in the flour and coconut. Drop by the teaspoonful onto greased baking sheets and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
I also added a dash of vanilla extract for good measure (good measure! ha ha ha! a little baking humor there.). The only other change I would make to this recipe would be to chill the dough before scooping it out -- the cookies spread a bit too much for my taste when I baked them. That said, they're very nice cookies... chewy, sweet and buttery, with a little coconut kick. And they're so quick and easy!
