Have a Red, White, and Green Holiday with Pretty Party Pinwheels

by Amazon al Dente at 12:43 PM PDT, July 2, 2009

I think it’s un-American to have a Fourth of July weekend shindig without good snacks. And sorta sad, too. Especially when the below recipe for Pretty Party Pinwheels (from Party Snacks, 2008, Harvard Common Press) is darn easy to make, scrumptious, and colorful, with its combination of cream cheese, spinach, tomatoes, and some spices to ensure your party isn’t tasteless. Of course, it does flip in green for blue in the traditional fourth color scheme, but maybe you can serve it on a blue patter? One thing that’s for sure--your guests will love these, and you don’t have to stress out much when making them. That’s a step on the road to party success on any weekend.

Pretty Party Pinwheels
Makes about 70 pinwheels

Ingredients:
2 jalapeño chilies, quartered (leave the seeds in if you like it hotter)
4 green onions, coarsely chopped
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 of a 0.4-ounce package ranch dressing mix
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 large flour tortillas
5 cups loosely packed fresh spinach, washed and dried
5 to 7 Roma tomatoes, seeded and very thinly sliced
Salsa or Louisiana-style hot sauce, for serving

Directions:
1. Put the jalapeño and onions in a food processor, and process for 3 to 5 seconds, until well chopped. Add the cream cheese, dressing mix, and pepper, and process again until all is well mixed.

2. Using a spatula or butter knife, spread the mixture evenly over one side of each flour tortilla. Add 1/2 cup spinach and a few tomato slices on top of the mixture on each tortilla.

3. Roll up each tortilla, making a tight roll. Once all are rolled and stacked on a plate, cover with plastic wrap or foil and put them in the fridge to chill for about an hour.

4. Using a sharp chef’s knife, slice each rolled tortilla into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Arrange attractively on a platter. Serve with salsa or a bottle of Louisiana-style hot sauce on the side.

--A.J. Rathbun

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Three Kitchen Gadgets That Work

by Amazon al Dente at 8:11 AM PDT, July 2, 2009

Of the roughly 100,000 kitchen utensils and gadgets we sell at Amazon, there are always some that don't work as well as they should, or even though they're nifty, get relegated to the junk drawer. You know the one. With the extra keys don't seem to fit any lock in your house. So it's always a delight to find gadgets that work--really work! Recently I've added a few essentials to my ever-growing repertoire of culinary odds and ends.

Last month when I discovered that one of my favorite brands, Built, now makes oven mitts, I may have actually squealed with excitement. I tote their stylish and practical lunch bag back and forth every day and am always on the lookout for what cool things this brand is going to do next. Their new line of oven mitts and pot holders is made with the same colorful and fun material as the rest of their products (plus, Built uses wetsuit material, which somehow makes their products extra cool). And, while I do like to look fashionable while taking cookies out of the oven, the best part is that the oven mitt is the best I've found in years. Built smartly designed it to hold the shape your hand is in when grasping a pan. No longer do I have to contort my wrist and hand to make those old-style quilted mitts actually grip a searing hot pan. Also, and I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but those classic mitts have seams right where you hold the pan and the heat seeps through after just a few seconds. No more! Now I'm protected and prettified!

My next find of late is not exactly an essential, but it's a fun tool that gives your plating of meals and desserts a little special flair. If you've been to "fancy" restaurants, you've probably noticed that the mashed potatoes don't come heaped on the plate. No, the kitchen takes special care to dollop them on in perfect ovals. And ice cream or gelato? You know it tastes better when presented in smooth ovals rather than commonplace spheres. Piazza's oval gelato scoop comes in handy for all these instances. While I do primarily use it to fancy up ice cream for dinner guests, it's also fun for artful presentations of wilted greens or pretty mounds of rice. Again, not exactly essential, but definitely fun for the home gourmand.

The last gadget I added to my arsenal recently is the Contigo double-wall travel mug. I first saw it in an industry magazine where it touted a lid that is "100-percent leak-proof and 100-percent spill-proof." Now that I had to try! I bring my coffee to work every day and generally have too few hands for all the work necessities and toddler paraphernalia (and toddler) I need to lug out the door. I'd been dreaming of a mug I could fill up and just throw in my bag without worry. THIS is the mug. Not only has it never leaked even a single drop, even when laid horizontally in my Built lunch tote and jostled for miles, but it also has kept my hot coffee hot and my cold coffee cold for hours on end. I've noticed when I make iced coffee at 8 a.m. that when I leave at 5 p.m. the ice isn't even melted. But still, the tumbler had me at "leak-proof"...

Got any essential kitchen gadgets that have recently come into your life? Add a comment and let me know!

--KitchenMaus

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NOT Your Ordinary Breakfast Roll

by Amazon al Dente at 11:17 PM PDT, July 1, 2009

Popovers have made the move from the breakfast nook to the dining table, so it's no surprise then that traditional breakfast rolls are eyeing similar opportunities.

A recent lunch at Bourbon Steak, Michael Mina's steakhouse at the Four Seasons in Washington, D.C., began with what looked like a buttery cinnamon bun, but was in fact a glorious breakfast roll made with black truffle butter. Pure decadence.

If you love to bake and entertain, this recipe will no doubt surprise and delight your guests. In true baker's fashion, it is written in grams for accuracy. If you don't already have a kitchen food scale, inexpensive versions are easy to find.

Truffle Butter Rolls

Ingredients:
1628 grams bread flour
1136 grams whole milk
16 grams instant yeast (not active dry yeast)
36 grams fine sea salt
196 grams unsalted butter, softened
36 grams brown rice syrup or honey
Truffle butter

Directions:
1. Combine the flour and the milk in a mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix for about 1 minute, just until the dough comes together. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 20 minutes.

2. Remove the plastic wrap and add the yeast. Mix on medium speed until the yeast s absorbed, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the salt and continue to mix on medium speed for several minutes until gluten is well developed and 'window panes' is achieved.

4. Add the butter and brown rice syrup and mix until all of the butter is incorporated and the dough is homogeneous and smooth.

5. Place the dough in a plastic container lightly sprayed with canola oil spray and cover with a lid. Move to the refrigerator and allow the dough to retard proof overnight.

6. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature - about 30 minutes.

7. Uncover the dough and gently remove from the container onto a work surface.

8. Roll dough down to 1/8" thickness and cover with fine layer of truffle butter.

9. Roll up dough like a cinnamon bun and cut into 1-1/4 inch slices.

10. Arrange into truffled butter cast iron pan giving enough room for bread to double in size.

11. Proof in a warm moist place until doubled in size.

12. Bake in a hot oven 400 degrees F until bottom of buns are golden brown. Slather on more truffle butter and serve.

--Tracy Schneider

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