Thousand Island Salad Dressing

Thousand Island salad dressing: ubiquitous, popular, familiar, most purchased. I'm not embarrassed to admit that it's my first choice to dress a garden salad. Now that I know how easy it is to prepare it fresh at home, I won't need to purchase it.

This recipe tastes exactly like store bought. If I had to come up with one thing that would give away the homemade factor, it's the consistency - commercial salad dressings contain xanthan gum, a thickening agent, which in my opinion is unnecessary here. Otherwise, no difference. I promise.

Thousand Island Salad Dressing
Recipezaar
Makes 3/4 cup

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish or chopped pickles
1 teaspoon finely minced white onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
few grindings black pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Stir well to combine and refrigerate several hours, stirring occasionally, to allow sugar to dissolve and flavors to marry.


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The End but also The Beginning

You may have noticed a few changes around the blog. There was a need to start fresh, to wipe the quintessential 'slate' clean.

If you've arrived here at Little Space through a link from sites such as Tastespotting, FoodGawker, StumbleUpon etc, the post you are seeking may not be available and for that I apologize. In time, I plan to re-post certain articles in a manner more reflective of who I am instead of what I thought may have been expected of me.

The only advertising from this point on will be through Foodbuzz - two banners; one in the right column and one in the left. Foodbuzz is a well-known community who "aggregate, organize and curate nearly 3.3 million blog posts from 15,917 food blogs worldwide." I am proud to be a featured publisher with them. I do receive a small compensation per certain number of click-throughs so if you are at all interested in supporting Little Space, that's the best, easiest, and no-cost way to do so!

Another somewhat noticeable change will be a discontinuation of posting at Suitable For Consumption. I've asked the readers there to come on over and I truly hope they do; the blog will remain live but I won't be posting there any longer.

It was a difficult decision, to essentially start over. I want to thank all of you - your support, encouragement and interest has kept me writing, taking pictures and improving upon these skills daily. It is my hope that you'll continue to visit here and also, that these changes will make Little Space a better place!

Last night I wanted something comforting, something chocolatey and delicious. So I'll leave you with a recipe from the archives - chocolate pudding. Its terribly easy to whip up and after you've tried it you'll not buy the packaged pudding powders again, I swear.


Chocolate Pudding
Martha Stewart
Serves 6

6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
pinch salt
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt. In a 4 cup measuring cup combine heavy cream with milk and vanilla. Whisk 1 cup of cream mixture into the dry ingredients until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Whisk in remaining cream mixture until smooth.

Place saucepan over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Whisk in butter until melted.

Using a ladle, pour pudding into six dessert cups. Refrigerate till set, about 1 hour.

Serve with softly whipped cream.


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Daring Bakers October '10 - Doughnuts!

I'm back with Daring Bakers after my hiatus and this month's assignment meant another project crossed off the 100 Things To Make list - doughnuts!

Must admit I was a bit fearful of the challenge and nearly chickened out to wait for November's challenge but I am very glad I grabbed the bull by the horns - I'm so happy with my results and so was anyone who tried them. Don't tell but I've got one or two hidden deep in the freezer, triple-wrapped and ready for any doughnut emergency that might pop up. What, you don't have those?

I went with the raised yeast doughnut recipe provided by our hostess after a sour cream cake doughnut batter flopped miserably. For the toppings I wanted to try both a vanilla and a chocolate glaze. Some were given colorful nonpareils, others remained with just the glaze itself. My personal favorite...well, to be honest, I liked them both.

The doughnut itself is a twice-raised yeast dough that, straight out of the hot oil and barely cooled, tastes just like bread. I was disappointed. After they had fully cooled, the flavor changed and developed into the doughnut taste and texture I had been expecting.

I'll make these again. Looking forward to experimenting with both the batter and frostings.

Yeast Doughnuts
Alton Brown
Makes 20-25 doughnuts

1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup shortening
4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/3 cup warm water
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
4 2/3 cups flour
canola oil (enough to fill your frying vessel 3 inches deep)

Heat milk in a medium saucepan till warm enough to melt the shortening. Turn off heat and add shortening to milk Ensure shortening is completely melted.

In a small bowl, proof the yeast by sprinkling it over the warm water and allowing to dissolve for 5 minutes. Pour into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture.

Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg and half the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon or use the paddle attachment of your mixer and combine until flour is incorporated. Beat till well combined. Add remaining flour slowly and then beat well.

Knead until the dough is smooth or switch to dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat till dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth.

Transfer to a large, well oiled bowl. Cover and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.

On a well floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8 inch thickness. Cut out dough using a glass, doughnut cutter, pastry ring or cookie cutter. Using a smaller circular object, cut out doughnut holes. Set both doughnuts and doughnut holes on a floured baking sheet, cover and let rise 30 minutes.

Preheat oil in a deep fryer or large heavy bottomed pot to 365F.

Slip doughnuts into the oil 2 or 3 at a time, without crowding the pot. Cook till golden brown on each side (you'll have to flip). Transfer to a cooling rack placed in a baking pan, allow to cool 15-20 minutes before glazing.

Chocolate Glaze
Alton Brown
Makes enough to glaze 20-25 doughnuts

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 ounces chocolate
2 cups icing sugar

Heat the butter, milk, corn syrup and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Add the chocolate and whisk till smooth. Remove from heat. Gradually add the icing sugar and whisk till smooth. Place pan over bowl of warm water to keep it fluid while dipping doughnuts.

Vanilla Glaze
Alton Brown
Makes enough to glaze 20-25 doughnuts

1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups icing sugar

Heat milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Sift icing sugar into milk mixture and whisk till combined. Place pan over bowl of warm water to keep it fluid while dipping doughnuts.

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

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Oven Roasted Potatoes

So, roasted potatoes. I've never been able to make really delicious roasted potatoes - you know the ones: a bit crispy on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside and absolutely ridiculously good in the flavor department.

Last week we barbecued a couple of steaks that my mother in law had slipped into our freezer. Somehow it felt wrong not to up the fancy factor of the side dishes considering that it might be the last barbecue of the season.

I broke out a few cups of the summer sweet corn I'd frozen not too long ago (which I tend to hoard throughout the winter) and then, (duh duh dummmm) The Potato Dish.

Thankfully we have fantastic resource websites out there like Food.Com and AllRecipes - both of which allow a person to sort the recipes by rating - ratings which are given by regular people in their home kitchens feeding their families and friends. If 703 of Jane Doe's say that a particular recipe is 4+ stars, its worth a try, in my opinion.

And you know what? They were fabulous. Utterly ridiculous deliciousness. I'm contemplating making them again today, just because. I might even make them with breakfast, because how good would tasty roast potatoes all flavored up with herbs like marjoram and oregano and thyme and garlic be when chopped up into hashbrowns? Goodness.

Oven Roasted Potatoes
AllRecipes
Serves 4-6

olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 potatoes, peeled if desired and chopped into large dice

Preheat oven to 475F.

Toss potatoes with oil and herbs; arrange in single layer on parchment covered baking sheet. Bake approximately 30 minutes or until a thin sharp knife passes easily through potato indicating it is baked through.

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Fruit Pastry Cake

This cake reminded me of a Raspberry Buttermilk Cake we made in June. For this recipe we used apple chunks, blueberries from our yard and cherries from the Okanagan. It was delicious - a tender crumb, good flavor and the fresh fruit puts it over the top. This sort of cake is meant to be eaten the day of baking though, the fruit will cause the cake to become soggy if left to sit overnight.

Yes, the recipe is by weight. I dug out my scale to give weighted measurement baking a try seeing as it's become the trendy way of doing things. I found an inexpensive scale at a local store and have been using it more often than I thought I would be!

Fruit Pastry Cake
Makes 1 - 9 inch round cake
Happy Home Baking

100 grams butter, room temperature
200 grams caster sugar (I know it as berry sugar)
50 grams sour cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest
210 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
500 grams fruits (you can use strawberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas, oranges, pears, apples, pineapple, or any other fruits that are not too juicy)

Preheat oven to 350F. Wash, slice or chunk and drain fruits. Set aside. Butter and flour a 9" round or 8" square cake pan.

Cream butter, sugar and sour cream till light and fluffy. Add eggs gradually and beat till fully incorporated. Add vanilla and citrus zest. Mix to combine. Sift the flour and baking powder into the batter and mix till smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula. Arrange fruit on top of batter and do not press fruit into batter. Bake 60-70 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cover top with foil if necessary to prevent over browing.

Leave cake to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes. Unmold and transfer to wire rack to cool completely. When ready to serve, dust with icing sugar if desired.
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Daring Bakers June '10 - Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

This month's Daring Bakers challenge was Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse or, put simply, a meringue with chocolate pudding and pastry cream drizzled on top. It sounds more difficult than it actually is, really.

There are a number of steps to this recipe so plan accordingly. Mascarpone, if I can find it, is fairly pricey in my grocery store, so I made my own the day before. The meringue bakes for two to three hours and the crème anglaise needs to chill for at least two hours.

Overall, good recipe. Turned out delicious, and as an extra bit of flavor I added fresh raspberries from my garden.

Chocolate Meringue

3 large egg whites
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon white sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200F. Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside. Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tabelspoon at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.) Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder over the egg whites and fold the dry ingredients into the white. (This looks like it will not happen. Fold gently and it will eventually come together.)

Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into whatever shapes you desire. Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
grated zest of 1 lemon
9 ounces 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups mascarpone
pinch of nutmeg
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or orange juice

Put 1/2 cup of the heavy cream plus the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.

Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)

Mix about 1/4 of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse.

Mascarpone Cream

1 recipe crème anglaise
1/2 cup mascarpone
2 tablespoons Sambucca (optional)
1/2 cup heavy cream

Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and the Sambucca and let the mixture cool. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.

Crème Anglaise

1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons sugar

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat. Pour about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs.

Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.

Assembly:
Pipe the mousse onto the pavlovas and drizzle with the mascarpone cream over the top. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and fresh fruit if desired.

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

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