Homemade Wheat Thins and French Onion Potato Cheese Soup

Okay kiddos. Chef Tess is here. We're doing some crazy cool stuff today. When was the last time you made homemade crackers?! You've never made crackers?! What?!

Every other week, I do some cooking classes with my sweet Bakeroose. Class is starting to grow. Any kids who cook at home are welcome to join the fun here on Bakeroose. A group of Home school kids and their moms along with my two sons (Little Man and Face) are in on the group for Friday classes. I don't know about you, but it seems a cryin' shame to me that Home Economics was ripped out of school curriculum. Far too many are growing up with absolutely no idea how to cook even basic meals. That will not be the case with these little dolls. No way. Meet my girls...(If I could adopt them all, I totally would!) Notice the sweetie on my left doing the exact same thing I am with my arm on the table. Seriously...I almost cried seeing how much she wanted to be like me. It's a great responsibility and honor to have someone try to emulate you isn't it?


There are a few posts here on this blog that were written and submitted by some of our little chefs. I'm open to any new posts by kids. I can be contacted here: chef-tess@hotmail.com so if you and your family cook and want to add your adventures...I'm happy to look at your ideas and add them if I like what I see. Hint...I usually like what I see if it involves kitchen math and some basic skills for kids.

We started with the Homemade Wheat Thins from here on my blog.The real trick was not making the crackers so much as getting enough rollers to do the job right.

Mix in a large bowl:
3 1/4 cup whole wheat cake flour (50% barley 50% hard wheat if grinding your own flour).
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt.


whisked well :
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water
2T honey

Add liquid to dry ingredients, mixing well, but as little as possible.

Divide into 2 balls. Totally non-rocket-science, right?

Roll them out really thin. This is enough dough to make two pans of crackers. If you roll them thick they will be more like a teething biscuit, but I don't have any babies who would appreciate that anymore.

Oh my gosh! She could not be any cuter if she tried! Look at that...

Cut and bake. 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. That's perfect time to make the soup.

Now for the French Onion Potato Cheese Soup of glory. Pause for effect. Kids will eat onions. Mind you...they can't be toxic overpowering onion. So we had a lesson on how to make them edible-happy. Caramelizing them makes them sweet and amazing. Believe it or not, the kids actually really liked the soup.

Chef Tess' French Onion Potato Cheese Soup

2 large yellow onions, sliced thin
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 large shallots, peeled and sliced thin
2T butter or olive oil
3/4 cup flour
9 cups good beef broth or stock
1 tsp each: thyme, dill
1/2 tsp each: celery seed, fresh ground black pepper
zest of 1 lemon, micro grated
8 oz. cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat)... soft and chunked
4 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
2 oz Parmesan or asiago cheese, shredded

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley


Okay...I have to say...this sweetheart is one of my favorite people. Love you Dolphin Girl! This was her first time using a micro-plane zester. I know it won't be her last. She measured, cut, chopped...and well, was an excellent right arm. I'm keeping her.

Now kids...this is how to cut an onion.

Cry it out. Emma Bug was laughing so hard that her eyes were watering...and tearing up because of the onions. It was so funny to watch.

Oh the vision of love.

In a 2 gallon heavy pot melt butter over medium heat and add the onion and shallots. Slowly cook until very dark brown but not burned.

Add a little broth and scrape the pan clean. Simmer until broth is evaporated and onion begins again to stick to the pan and get dark. Add a little more broth and scrape pan again. Add the potatoes.

This little doll worked very hard to cut all the potatoes. We need to think of a blog nick-name for her. She's been to all my classes...

In a separate container, whisk the flour into the remaining beef broth. Pour the beef broth into pot with the onion and potato. Your onions should be very dark colored.

Stir in the seasoning: thyme, dill, celery seed, pepper and zest. Simmer this 15-20 minutes until the mixture thickens and no starchiness is detected when tasted.

TURN OFF HEAT. This ensures your soup will not get a "grainy" texture. Add cream cheese, cheddar, Parmesan and parsley and stir until cheese is melted and Incorporated.

Enjoy this with someone you love. There you go.

Basic Crepes for Bakeroose

Okay Bakeroose. This is Chef Tess. I wanted to share a new something fun you can make with your mom and dad. We made them for dessert tonight for our Monday night "Family Night" after family games. Sometimes we make pancakes or biscuits for breakfast. Some times we make crepes. They are pretty awesome. This week's our wedding anniversary. We wanted to share something fun. I made crepes on the first date I went on with my husband. So...this seemed perfect for anniversary week.

Basic Crepes

4 eggs

1 cup water

2 tsp vanilla

1 c. flour
1 T. sugar
1/3 c. instant powdered milk
1/2 tsp. salt

to that ad Blend in blender or really well by hand.

Now...for those who want the play by play on how to cook these little cuties. Combine the dry ingredients. I added a grate of fresh nutmeg.

In a separate container, combine the wet ingredients very well. Add the wet to the dry and mix until all the lumps are gone. You may have to use a stainer. The batter should be just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Use a very small amount of oil in a non-stick skillet. I use an 8 inch skillet...and

Medium low heat. If your pan is too hot the crepe batter will start to cook before you can coat the pan with it. Little Man said, "Mom, you're famous for gas." I know he meant using a gas stove...but then he said, "Oooo. The eternal blue flame." I'm still laughing thinking about it.

I use 1/4 cup batter and just roll the pan around until the batter lightly coats the bottom of the pan. Cook 2-3 minutes on one side and then gently turn over.

Usually you'll have one side that gets a little more brown than the other. Look at these though!

Now, on our first date, We filled the crepes with cottage cheese and some fresh fruit the first time I ever had them. They're awesome with cheesecake filling (you can get that already made if you want)
We then had to drizzle something. Drizzle is not optional in my family. We drip. We drizzle. We enjoy the food experience. Especially this one.
We used homemade sauce, but you can very easily make your own by adding a few tablespoons of juice to 1 cup of seedless jam.

There you go. Crepe away!

Did You See us On Fox 10 for our Christmas segment?!

Making Ornaments With Chef Tess: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

Edible Stained Glass Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments

Are you ready to make some cool cookies for the holidays? It's Chef Tess here, wanting to add a little fun to your days. Here's a great idea...

We've been making some Edible Stained Glass Gingerbread Ornaments Friday in preparation for the next segment we'll be doing on Fox 10 this upcoming week with Face and Little man. I first saw these Stained-Glass Ornaments on Epicurious.com. So we spent Friday morning crushing candy in the food processor and making the cookie dough.

Stained-Glass Ornaments

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (I used white sugar)
3/4 cup unsulfured molasses ( I used maple syrup)
1/3 cup water
6 ounces translucent hard candies in colors of choice, crushed (in a food processor)

Preparation1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar and molasses and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in the water. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture until a soft dough forms.

3. Gather the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

5. Divide the dough into thirds. Divide each third into 10 equal pieces. Using your palms, roll each piece on a lightly floured work surface into a rope 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter. Gently trace the design of your choice onto the prepared cookie sheets (a wooden spoon handle or chopstick works well for tracing on foil). Outline each design with a rope of dough, pressing the ends together to seal securely.

6. Sprinkle the inside of each design with the crushed candies, dividing the candies evenly among the outlined designs and creating an even layer.

7. Bake in the center of the oven or until the edges of the cookies are golden and the candy has melted, 6 to 9 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets on wire racks until the candy hardens, about 5 minutes. Gently peel the parchment away from the cookies and transfer to the racks to cool completely.

Cookie Exchange Tip:
To make this cookie into a tree ornament, attach a loop made from the dough to the top of each cookie before baking. After the cookie is baked, thread a piece of ribbon through the loop and tie the ribbon in a bow. To make these ornaments at a party, prepare the cardboard patterns in advance.

There you go. I'll add more pictures soon on the process, but couldn't resist sharing the recipe quickly. Most likely you'll need adult help with this project. But have fun, we sure did!

Christmas countdown

Okay everyone, it's Little Man here. Hope you enjoy our Christmas countdown! I'm getting so excited for Christmas!!

Good luck troops

Christmas is coming!

Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies

Hi it's Dolphin Girl here,
One day we had to make some cookies for this dinner at a friends house and we wanted to use the new cookie press that I got for my birthday a week ago, and so we looked at the website that was on the box. And it came up with some recipes that we could use, And we all liked the "Cream Cheese Spritz cookie" one and when we tried it, we liked it a lot, so Here it is.
Cream Cheese Spritz cookies.
Makes 4 dozen cookies.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients:

(mind you when we made them we did a double batch so don't be confused when you see the pictures)

1 cup softened butter

1 (3 ounce) pkg softened cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp Madagascar Pure Vanilla Extract (you can use plain vanilla extract too)

1 tsp grated lemon peel ( and if you don't have any you can just use some lemon juice too)

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and cream cheese together.

Add sugar and mix well until light and fluffy.

Add egg yolk, vanilla and lemon peel. Mix well.

Gradually add flour and salt to cream mixture.

Shape dough into small logs and place in cookie press
(or in stead just roll out the cookie dough, cut, and put onto cool ungreased cookie sheet)

Press cookies onto cool ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Store in an airtight container at cool room temperature for several weeks or freeze for 2 months.

Enjoy :)

Perfect Freezer Friendly Dinner Rolls

Hi it's Dolphin Girl here! :)
This is a recipe from our nice friend Chef Tess. Here is the recipe from her blog, Perfect Freezer Friendly Dinner Rolls.

Dinner Rolls

Combine:

1 1/4 cup water (no hotter than 110 degrees)

2 tsp yeast (1 packet) rapid rise

2T sugar (1T honey)

4 1/4 cups all purpose flour (whole wheat works too)
1 1/2 tsp salt

6T oil (original recipe called for 12T of melted butter)

1 egg

2 egg yolks

Combine everything in one large bowl or mixer. I like that. Knead 5 minutes by hand or 3 minutes in a mixer on medium setting. This is a less developed dough as far as gluten is concerned.



Form into a ball and place in a bowl covered with plastic or a lid for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.






Punch down dough and divide into 2 pieces. I kind of put them in a log form. this helps to keep things pretty even. Divide the two logs in half again, so you have 4 logs. Each one will get cut into 6 pieces.

Now, lightly (I do mean lightly) dust the counter top with a little flour...just a little. We don't want the rolls sticking too much. On the other hand, we don't want so much flour that they just roll all over the place. The point is, we want a little tacky stuff so they form correctly. Take the dough piece and pinch the sides together...

You want the dough balls to look like they have a skin holding them together. Place the rolls on a pan lined with parchment paper (or a freezer friendly pan for easy make and bake). If you use metal pans, you don't have to worry about the glass shattering going from the freezer to the oven.

Allow to raise at room temperature, uncovered for 35-40 minutes, until the rolls are touching if originally placed 1/2 an inch apart. Bake 375 degrees 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Chef Tess’s Blog. And here are pictures of us eating them:

I Like my rolls plain, they are fine just plain and with nothing on them and are pretty good too :)

My sister has butter on her roll.

My other sister licks up the rest of her stew with her roll. And my brother does the same thing with his roll too.

One time we used the same recipe but we made them into hot dog buns instead :) And here is my other brother with his hot dog.