What About Those Poppy Seeds?

Buchta

I grew up loving poppy seed. My Czech grandmother made kolache on a regular basis and we all clamored for the yummy poppy seed kolache. Sometimes she would make them open-face with posipka, but most often she enclosed them in the dough and made a poppy seed roll, and brushed them with butter when they came out of the oven. Once in a while she would glaze them with a simple glaze, but they didn't need any adornments. They were good just as they were. 

That wasn't the only time she used poppy seed. She also made buchta, which is a giant poppy seed roll. It was usually consumed in less than 24 hours. Lemon poppy seed cake was another favorite. She made that one in a bundt pan and glazed it with a lemon glaze. 

She was a purist about her poppy seed filling, and that rubbed off on me. No canned poppy seed. Never, never, never. No way, no how. She had a grinder and would grind it herself, and if we were around we'd help her grind it. Then she would make the filling on the stovetop. 

Sometimes we would try someone else's kolache, but they just couldn't hold a candle to Nan's, and most of the time they were filled with canned filling. The canned version was terrible--too sweet and tasted "canny." I could always tell when someone used the canned filling, and it was always a disappointment. That hasn't changed. There have been no improvements to the canned version after all these years. 

I'm very fortunate because I have her dedicated poppy seed grinder in my possession and that is what I use when I make poppy seed filling. 

Nan's poppy seed grinder,
made in...you guessed it,
Czechoslovakia! 

One thing I never had to worry about, (in fact, I never even heard about until years later), was the issue with the opiate content in poppy seeds. My grandfather and one of my uncles were both engineers with the Santa Fe railroad, and I remember that my uncle wouldn't eat poppy seed kolache unless he was on vacation. (Of course, the rest of us weren't bothered by this because there were more for us.) If he ate poppy seed, it might show up in a drug test. I don't really know when they started doing drug tests, but I don't think they  became standard until after my grandfather retired, or maybe shortly before then. I could be wrong, though, since it wasn't something I had to worry about personally. (Except for the extra kolache factor, that is.)  

I wanted to address it on this blog because I think some people might think that poppy seed will make you high if you eat enough of it. The poppy seeds themselves do contain a tiny bit of opium, but the majority comes from the sap in the pods which house the seeds. There is a chance that the poppy seeds will come in contact with the sap when they're harvested, but the poppy seeds that are available for purchase are normally washed before they go on the market. Still...traces of opiate might remain on the seeds after they're cleaned, and there's also the minute amount that the seeds themselves contain, but it is nothing to worry about.  

In the past, anyone who worked for a company that required regular blood tests could end up with a pink slip. Luckily, the federal government raised the acceptable level from .3 micrograms to 2 micrograms, so it's not really as much of an issue now. Just to be on the safe side though, if you have to have a drug test and have consumed anything with poppy seed, mention it to the tester. 

As far as getting high? No. You would have to consume an insane amount of poppy seeds for that to happen. Many pounds. You won't get a buzz from eating a poppy seed kolach. Well, maybe a sugar buzz, but that's it. 

There are some great articles in Google Scholar that discuss the opiate content of poppy seeds and information related to that if you are interested in learning more. 

I started thinking about poppy seeds because it is about time to make some kolache again. I don't make them nearly as often as my grandma did. I also like to make Mohnkuchen (German Poppy Seed Cake), which has a layer of poppy seed...a "mother lode" of a layer about an inch thick or more. (Still not enough to get a buzz, but the point of eating poppy seed is to enjoy the wonderful flavor. If you need a buzz, break out the wine. I don't know what wine pairs with poppy seed desserts though. You're on your own with that.) 

Thinking about that led me to thinking about some poppy seed loaded treats I made a few years ago. I brought them to a party, and believe it or not, there were leftovers. Leftovers? The poppy seed kolache and the Mohnkuchen were barely touched, but the other kolache were consumed. Hmm. It didn't occur to me at the time that no one wanted to eat the poppy seed because of the rumor of the buzz. It did hurt my feelings a bit. I spent a lot of time and love making the kolache and the Mohnkuchen, so when it was largely ignored, it hurt my heart. It was really my fault because I should have remembered that the attendees were people who eschewed alcohol, so I should have known. It didn't cross my mind though, because I never viewed poppy seeds as drugs or thought about them in that way at all, except for my uncle's drug tests. But there was a bright side. Leftovers! More for the true poppy seed kolache hounds. 

Here is a pic of a Mohnkuchen at a different party. This Mohnkuchen was consumed. 

So rest easy, Poppy Seed Lovers. You can enjoy your favorite poppy seed treats without fear. Be sure to hit me up for all your poppy seed needs, if you're local. Here is a fancier version of poppy seed kolache for your viewing pleasure:

Poppy Seed Kolache Deluxe

You Did WHAT With The Bacon???!!!

Do I have a rant for you? Do I ever! 

I was reading a comment section regarding bacon from Costco and I found myself flabbergasted because...because...someone actually threw useable bacon in the trash! What the...???!!! 

Image Courtesy of: Barry Langdon-Lassagne, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

It went something like this: 

Poster 1: "Oh yeah, I just throw it out. We only use it for bacon and eggs and it was just too thin." 

Poster 2: "Yeah, I usually end up throwing at least one of the packages in the trash." 

Me: "Wait...people actually throw bacon in the trash? Doesn't anyone eat baked potatoes with all the trimmings? WTF???!!!" 

Believe me, I exercised great restraint when commenting about their bacon disposal habits. It took me a few minutes to calm down and pick my jaw up off the floor before I could even post any kind of reply. 

I was completely floored to hear this, especially after the food shortages & delivery disruptions experienced in 2020, which really haven't completely ended yet. We are still having supply chain issues. 

I was under the mistaken impression that most people had learned to be careful and less wasteful regarding food. You know, just because and item is on the shelves today, well, that doesn't mean it will be there tomorrow. I don't shop every day, but when I do shop, I notice that temporary shortages are still occurring with different items. Bacon is one of them. Eggs, various dairy items, chicken, canned goods, etc. It is still happening. (As an aside: There are sites that list what shortages to expect and you can hop on a search engine to check them out.)

Frankly, I was highly offended by the blatant waste of perfectly good bacon. There are people who are struggling to get food for their families, struggling to survive, and these privileged jerks are throwing bacon in the trash! Really? On top of that, an animal unwillingly gave its life to put food on YOUR table, and you're going to show that much blatant disrespect to that (or any, really) animal's unwilling sacrifice? Really???!!! 

It brought to mind the memory of the last time we ate at an independently owned pizza joint in a town not far from here. They have an "all you can eat" buffet for pizza. It's not bad pizza, I've had better, but I've certainly had worse. It's a buffet, that is their selling point, so of course you would expect that it is not going to be stellar pizza. But it is not bad, and they have other pasta dishes there and a salad bar. 

The last time we ate there, we were so disgusted by the food waste that we haven't been back. People would load up their plates, take one bite of a piece of pizza, and discard the rest. There were literally plates left on tables that were piled up with pieces of pizza that had one bite taken out of them, or were only partially eaten. Now, not everyone was doing this, but there were far too many instances of it. It was disgusting. We haven't been back since that night, and that was several years ago. So that was one of the first thoughts I had -- these folks must be some of the ones who operate on the "I got mine, F everyone else" mantra. 

What a terrible example they are setting for their children. Teaching them how to waste food. Maybe they could start a new organization at their schools, like the FFA, but call it the FFWA instead. Future Food Wasters of America. 

A true bacon lover would never, EVER throw perfectly good bacon in the trash, thin or not. (Am I right? You know it!) I can think of many ways to use bacon that is "too thin." 

How about:

• (aforementioned use) Make bacon crumbles for baked potatoes
• Make bacon crumbles for salads 
• Wrap asparagus spears and roast in the oven
• Make stuffed jalapeños & wrap with bacon before roasting
• BLTs
• Use on bacon burgers
• Garnish for baked potato soup
• Chop it up and use it for fried rice
• Make frijoles charros
• Breakfast burritos
• Wrap a boneless chicken breast before roasting
• Use if for "barding" with any other meat
• Pancakes with bacon bits 
• Jambalaya
• Bacon wrapped shrimp
• Bacon-cheddar biscuits
• Use in place of pancetta in Spaghetti carbonara
• Make bacon jam
• Bacon & onion potatoes! 

That's just a short list. There are so many uses! 

But, you know, if you ONLY use it for bacon and eggs, well...how about just doubling up on pieces if it is too thin? Seems like that would be a "no-brainer." I guess that's too much to ask of those who have no vision. 

Food waste is a problem. We all do it. I do it. Things get lost in the refrigerator, things expire, bread gets away from you and gets moldy (especially in warmer weather), etc. Still, I try my best to minimize waste. But, I'll tell you what...Never have I EVER taken a perfectly usable food item and thrown it in the trash. 

Those bacon-tossers should hang their heads in shame. They should just stop purchasing the bacon in question & choose another brand that suits them. Hello? Oh yes, another obvious thing that goes right over their privileged heads. That's just pitiful. There is NO excuse for such wasteful behavior. 

What are some of your favorite uses for bacon? I don't eat it as often as I used to, but it does make an appearance on our family menus from time to time. Here is a pic of some fried rice I made with calabacitas, bacon, onion, bell pepper, & egg, (pictured with leftover roasted summer squash with onions & peppers).

All kinds of YUM! 

French Pastry Update

Photo Courtesy of demi, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A Toast to Success! 

I have decided to postpone any further testing for the French Pastry experiment, and will instead focus on presentation. Yesterday when I opened the storage container with the remainder of the experiment, I was immediately alerted by the enticing aroma of French Pastry and transported back in time. It was as if I had an original French Pastry in my hand and had just opened the package. 

So, to test this out, I had to try another piece. It was stellar! I wasn't even thinking about "cure time" for the pastries, but that is exactly what they needed. I am over the moon about this. I hope it will bring others joy too, and soothe the palates of those who adored these sweet treats as much as I did. 

I'll post the exact recipe I used for each element in a future post, as well as the method & equipment I used. This is IT! My taste buds never fail me (except when they are knocked off the grid on occasion when I get a cold or flu). 

This is fabulous news for French Pastry lovers! I know they are out there because I have found posts lamenting the fact that they are gone and sadness because no one can find a decent recipe. 

I'm hoping to have some time this weekend to work on presentation. I wish I could email samples of these so people could try them. 

Wouldn't it be funny if Bimbo took the old recipe out of the "Mrs. Baird's Vault" and started churning them out all of a sudden? That would be pretty hilarious. 😂

On another note, there is at least one other food item I would love to conquer. Enchiritos. No, not the ones they put back on in recent years, (and I don't know if they are even still on the menu because I never go to Taco Bell anymore). I'm talking about the original Enchiritos from way back. They had a hybrid tortilla. Then they took it off the menu, and years later, when they brought it back, they used a boring, crappy flour tortilla. So that was a disappointment. Anyway,  the rest of the Enchirito ingredients aren't hard to emulate, but that hybrid tortilla...well, that's the holdup. But that is for another day. Today we enjoy French Pastry and celebrate a success! 

Photo Courtesy of Jackie RGarcia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Recreating Mrs. Baird's French Pastry - Who Remembers This Delightful Snack Cake?

 I certainly remember. This is a discontinued dessert that still haunts my dreams sometimes. I consume it in the dreams, and I can taste it. Then I wake up and curse at Mrs. Baird's for discontinuing it. 

I remember when I used to ride my bike to the small convenience store we had in town, (one of the only ones, if not THE only one at that time), to buy a French Pastry and a comic book. I didn't do it every day, but I did do it pretty frequently. 

My grandma even attempted a recreation before. She knew how much I liked them. Her version was very good, but not the same.  

I still remember when I bought the last one. 1990. I was living in Houston at the time and not enjoying the city. I had no idea I'd be buying the last French Pastry I would ever buy. I would have bought a few more to enjoy, had I known. 

Mrs. Baird's discontinued the French Pastry long before Bimbo bought the company. I don't know what the reason was, but I used to bug the bread man about the recipe when he brought deliveries to the store where I was employed for a while. I even wrote the company years back, but no dice. 

Here is a pic of the original French Pastry. It was the only pic I could find on the internet. It is a little grainy, but it is all I could find after using many different key words & search strings. If you have a better pic, let me know, or please share it in the comments. 

Mrs. Baird's French Pastry

I have been trying to find time to experiment with recipes to recreate this fabulous snack cake. Yes, I can "throw down" and make an "adult" version with real cream, extra layers, and fancy new-gaws, but I'm looking for the authentic Mrs. Baird's French Pastry flavor. So I finally took the plunge, after hemming and hawing about it for some time. 

My experiment turned out to be VERY close to the right flavor. I believe I can nail it with just a bit more tweaking. Once I get that down,  I'll work on the aesthetics. The ones I constructed can be politely labeled as "rustic." 😂 If I had the nifty machine with a conveyer belt to run the things through a chocolate waterfall...hey, no problems then! But I don't, so I'm working with what I have. I'm posting my version below with different sizes and shapes. Go ahead and laugh. I did. 😂

Chocolate Coating: Too Thick!!!

For this one I simply spread the chocolate coating to harden 
on parchment paper and then broke it into pieces. It's a good 
version because the chocolate coating is thin.

Round version with crumbled chocolate & nuts

This round version has a "chocolate cap." It wilted a bit
overnight so it looked a little more authentic this morning.

The Baird's version was about 4" in diameter & covered with a chocolate "shell" topped with chopped pecans. I want to get as close to that as possible, not just the flavor, but the right texture. Biting into a French Pastry was a delight as well, with the chocolate coating crumbling into the creme as you took a big bite. I will probably end up just piping the tempered chocolate on & then adding the nuts. I didn't hollow the cakes either. I might do that next time. They work pretty well as-is. The closest to correct was actually the rectangular version above with the crumbled chocolate & nuts. It had the right balance of creme, nuts, coating, and cake. 

The "creme" filling was spot on. The coating is just a shade too sweet...I will have to use a different brand of chocolate for that. The base would benefit from a little less sugar too. The texture of the base was about right. It was "Devil's Food Cake." I always thought they used devil's food cake for the base, but I'm planning to try a couple of other versions for the base that use the foaming method. (It needs to be light, but not too light.) Devil's Food Cake might be the ultimate winner in the end. We shall see. I just have to make sure. 

It ended up being pretty darn close though, closer than I expected, so I can't complain too much. 

Hummingbird Cake - Taste the Fruity Fusion

 Who loves Hummingbird Cake? 

I remember that this particular cake made a lot of appearances in many different places when I was growing up. I remember that it would show up at the county fair when we worked at the "Chuckwagon Cafe," (operated at that time by Jody Mazac). People would bring cakes in and we'd slice them up and put them in the cake safe to sell during the day. So I would have a piece now and again. Cake sampling! Perks of that job were great! Giant vats of "old timey" bbq sauce made by Eddie Lux's parents (the kind almost everyone used to make that's so hard to find now, unless you make it); Sausage (they usually boiled it, but the brisket was totally legit...and delicious!); steam table with side orders; loaves and loves of bread to soak up that great sauce; BBQ sandwiches...it was a great place to be during the fair, even with all of the clean up when the day was done. We worked really long hours, 6am through 8 or 9pm, but it was temporary, so it was easy to recover once the fair was over. 

This cake was also a frequent visitor at potlucks. My grandma used to make it now and then too. I've even made it at least a couple of times. So...great cake! But...sugar overload!! Even back in the day when calories weren't an issue, it was still too sweet. 

So this time, I made a tweaked version, and baked it in a 9x13 pan because it needed to travel out of town. You can totally get away with omitting some sugar in a cake. It is great for crumb structure, but there's no need to go overboard. I also omitted a great deal of the oil that's called for in the recipe. Guess what? It was still wonderfully moist. I'm posting the recipe now before I forget. And please do make note of the frosting recipe. I tweaked that too, and it was totally bomb! 

Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients: 

3 cups AP flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I prefer Zulka, it's minimally processed & no bone char is used)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 pinch of nutmeg

3 large eggs (at room temperature), beaten

3/4 cup light olive oil (coconut or vegetable oil will also work)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. rum (optional)

1 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple with juice

2 cups chopped ripe bananas 

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (but toasting is optional)

Method: 

(You can use a mixer, but it's not necessary. I used a Danish whisk, but a regular whisk would work fine too.)

Set oven to 350° & coat 9x13 pan with cooking spray. 

1. Sift flour into mixing bowl. Add sugars, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix well. 

2. Add the oil to your beaten eggs & mix until incorporated, then add to flour mixer & mix until just combined. (Don't worry if it seems thick, the pineapple & its juice will take care of that.)

3. Add crushed pineapple & juice; vanilla; and rum. Mix until incorporated. 

4. Fold in bananas & nuts. 

5. Pour into prepared 9x13 pan. 

6. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes. If you bake a lot, you know your oven, so adjust as necessary. Test middle with toothpick or thin knife after about 25 minutes. If it comes out clean, take out the cake. Also check to see if cake has pulled away from the sides. That's another good "tell." 

7. Let cool completely before frosting. 

8. Garnish  with additional toasted nuts, if desired. 

You can also use this recipe for 3 9" layers or even cupcakes, if you prefer. 25 to 30 minutes for the layers, 15-18 minutes for cupcakes. 

Totally Bomb Frosting Recipe! 💣

Ingredients:

12 oz. white chocolate chips (I actually used Ghirardelli baking chips in this recipe. The bag is 11 oz. and they do not contain any cocoa butter, but they will still work. If you can find chips with actual cocoa butter in them in your area, well...even better.)

4 oz. heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. rum

2 Tbsps. unsalted butter, cubed

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, room temperature (the brick kind, not the whipped version)

Method:

1. Make ganache. (You can use a bain marie if you like. I made this one using a 1200w microwave.)

2. Pour cream into microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 30-45 seconds. 

3. Add chips to bowl & stir a bit, then set aside for a few minutes. After the wait, continue mixing. Microwave another 10 seconds if necessary to make sure chips are melting. If it seems grainy, add more cream in small increments until it is smooth (you might need to hit it once of twice more with the microwave). 

4. Once the chips are completely melted and starting to look glossy, add in the butter a couple of cubes at a time & stir until well incorporated. It's okay to place in microwave for 10 seconds if needed. 

5. Add vanilla & rum & stir until well combined. 

6. Place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the ganache & put it in the refrigerator until completely cooled. It's fine if it hardened. I actually did mine the night before I made the frosting, but overnight refrigeration isn't necessary.  

7. Take the ganache out of the fridge & let rest on countertop for 30 minutes to an hour. 

8. Using a spoon, stir the ganache & scrape the sides to make it easier for the mixer. If you have a stand mixer, just scrape it into the stand mixer's bowl. 

9. Whip the ganache until light & fluffy. Add cream cheese in 3 portions, whipping well after each.

10. Try not to eat it all before you get it on the cake. 😆

Just One More Thing...

*Some like to use a 50/50 ratio for ganache when making whipped ganache. That's fine if you're planning to use it to pour ganache on a dessert, or to use for dipping other yummy things like cream puffs, but stick to 1:3 for this ganache. (1 part cream, 3 parts chocolate.) This way you won't have to add anything else in to thicken the ganache, like powdered sugar. This version was smooth, creamy, and divine! I didn't try to use it for piping since I was making a 9x13, so I can't speak to that. I will do a test on that in the future.  

Shout-Out to Zulka! Keep Rockin' It!