Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Donuts

“Donut.” It was one of my first words, perhaps one of my most used words, definitely one of my most loved words. It’s very utterance makes my heart sing. 



There are just so many things to appreciate about them. The way that the outside is just a little crisp and underneath is moist, soft, spongy dough. Their sweet vanilla-y smell. Their whimsical round shape. (I don’t know where it comes from but it’s cute.) AND donut holes. They are the tiny magical children of the donut people. Need I say more?




Therefore,  I’m ashamed to admit that I had never made a donut before this. Hence, I can’t say how these compare to other homemade donuts -frankly mine are rather ugly but I can say that these are quite lovely to eat and were worth overcoming my fear of hot oil to make them. Here's the recipe.



Combine just 1 1/2 cups flour, yeast, and nutmeg. In a stove worthy vessel combine and heat the milk, granulated sugar, oil, and salt. Add the warm mixture to the dry ingredients and add the egg. Beat for three minutes at a high speed. 



By hand stir in the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cover it and let it rest for ten minutes. 



Roll the dough into a 18x12 inch rectangle. Cut into donut shapes and then cover it again and let them rise for thirty minutes. 




Meanwhile heat oil to 375 degrees (F). Place the donut dough in the oil and cook until golden brown, turning once. Remove the donuts and drizzle with sugar glaze.



























To make the sugar glaze combine 2 cups of powdered sugar, add 1 tablespoon of melted butter, a 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and just enough milk to make a thin glaze.





Then gobble them all up! Because they're best fresh, and so really, there's no point in saving them for later, right? 



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Donuts:

3 Cups flour
1 Package active dry yeast
1/2 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 Cup milk
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1/4 Cup cooking oil
3/4 Teaspoon salt
1 Egg
Oil for frying

Glaze

2 Cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla
Milk

Donuts:

Combine just 1 1/2 cups flour, yeast, and nutmeg. In a stove worthy vessel combine and heat the milk, granulated sugar, oil, and salt. Add the warm mixture to the dry ingredients and add the egg. Beat for three minutes at a high speed. By hand stir in the remaining flour to make a soft dough. 
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cover it and let it rest for ten minutes. Roll the dough into a 18x12 inch rectangle. Cut into donut shapes and then cover it again and let them rise for thirty minutes. 
Meanwhile heat oil to 375 degrees (F). Place the donut dough in the oil and cook until golden brown, turning once. Remove the donuts and drizzle with sugar glaze.

Glaze:

To make the sugar glaze combine 2 cups of powdered sugar, add 1 tablespoon of melted butter, a 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and just enough milk to make a thin glaze.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Greetings!

Hello! I’m Cootie. (The name is a long story, don’t ask.)
Growing up in my family we were encouraged to play with our food. My parents treasured creativity; both treating as and pronouncing it a God given gift.
Anyone creative will tell you that they never feel quite as much joy as when they are exercising their creativity and getting better at whatever it is they love doing.
This blog is the gallery for one of my many treasured arts, cooking. I’m not a professional, my training is limited, but I come from stock (see what I did there? ;-P) that is passionate about food and hospitality and instilled the same love in me. This blog is meant to capture my journey as I practice and hopefully get better at making tasty food.
You’ll find two kinds of posts here. The first is me sharing recipes I enjoyed. The second is more sentimental. Remember how I said I came from cooking stock? My grandmother was a wonderful, adventurous cook and didn't just infectiously pass that love on to the following generations of Ashworth women but also left a carefully curated cookbook behind. The second kind of post you’ll see is me testing and committing these recipes to an electronic form.
This blog would just be a pile of words if it weren’t for my lovely sister in law and photographer extraordinaire, Leah Ashworth. She really is great. (Check her other photography out here.)
I hope this blog encourages you to identify and pursue your creative passion and pass the inspiration along.