Tiramisu Cookies

 

I mentioned these in a previous post. The idea involving these beauties had been simmering on a back burner in my mind since at least last year. It was time to bring it out into the world. I had originally planned to make a sandwich cookie version, but I changed my mind, and I'm glad I did. 

The holdup for this experiment was time, but also indecision about what the base cookie should be. I had originally planned on a nice, fat, sugar cookie. Sure, I could have made batter for ladyfingers and used that, but...nah. I wanted a cookie that could be eaten by hand and not one that required eating utensils. With ladyfinger batter they would have simply been "Tiramisu Bites." 

There are other recipes out there, and I did review them, but none of those were what I had in mind. I wanted to get as close as possible to the real thing. Then the bell finally rang. Why not make a cream cheese cookie for the base? The ingredients for cream cheese cookies mimic the ingredients for "substitute mascarpone" anyway. So, hey! This could be IT! Would the cookies be sturdy enough for the base? That was the next question for which I needed an answer. 

I made the dough, chilled it so it wouldn't spread too much, and used the Norpro 1.5 Tbsps. scoop so they would be uniform in size. The resulting cookie was soft, but not too soft. I thought they would work. 

The next component was the "coffee liqueur." I obviously couldn't dip the cookies in that. It wouldn't work. So instead, I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chips to make a coffee-flavored ganache. I had espresso powder on hand because I purchased it some time ago, when I initially had the idea. I was going to simply use the powder alone at first, but the ganache seemed like a better idea. More "oomph." I added it to the cream but ended up adding more after the ganache was finished, because it needed more. It was fine. I just stirred it in and added a bit more cream. 

For the next component, I made a white chocolate ganache using rum & vanilla. The cookies were finished with a dusting of cocoa powder. 

The result? Success! The cookies exceeded my expectations. It was like biting into the real thing, "mouth feel" and all. The cream cheese cookies complimented the other elements perfectly. The mascarpone element had been worrying me, and I had wrangled with that for a while. I thought about cream cheese powder in the ganache, etc. But it was totally unnecessary. The right flavor was in the cookie base, and the rum in the white ganache covered nicely for the coffee liqueur. All of the right flavors were there, albeit in a different order. I was very happy with the results. I was able to share with some friends for a taste test and they loved them as well. 

I will be posting the full recipe and instructions for these soon. Now on to the next experiment! 

Tiramisu Cookies

Bienenstich Cookies

Bienenstich

                Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)  is a lovely German pastry that you may have heard about or experienced. I suppose the proper title would be Bienenstich Kuchen, but if you look it up and scroll through recipes, it is more commonly referred to as simply "Bienenstich." It may be commonly referred to in Germany that way, I will have to ask someone. 

                I first learned of Bienenstich through a German friend when we were discussing cookies. If memory serves, that was in 2015. During that conversation, I was asked to make the cake. After listening to his description, I scoured the internet in search of the proper recipe. 

                The first try turned out quite well even though my filling wasn't quite thick enough. My friend deemed my version of the cake as "just as he remembered" back in Germany. That was a very high compliment for me, because if I can transport someone back in time through taste buds, it is a great accomplishment. 

                Since then, Bienenstich has been added to our list of holiday desserts at our home. I have made it many times, and everyone always enjoys it. It is a delightful combination of a yeast cake sponge, creamy filling, and an almond topping. Each element contains honey. 

                I have been intending to shrink the Bienenstich into smaller cakes that would serve one or two; or even making a bun-sized version, but I haven't had a lot of time for experimentation with those. I have also had the desire to make a "shelf-stable" version. (Bienenstich in its original form must stay under refrigeration.) 

Bienenstich Cookies

                So that brings me to the cookies. I was finally ready to make a version of Tiramisu in cookie form (after thinking about it off & on for over a year), and it suddenly occurred to me that I should do the same with Bienenstich.  It went from "thought to plate" very quickly...I believe it holds the record for that now, though I don't really keep tabs on the time things go from thought to plate (unless it's. savory dish, then the process is much faster). I have many pastry experiments to do and not enough time -- some have been in a holding pattern for months or years. This one entered the "queue" and was realized in less than 24 hours, so that's pretty good. 

                Without further ado, here they are: 

Bienenstichplätzchen 
(Bee Sting Cookies)

                This was from the second batch. I was going to use a round tip for piping so they resemble the cake even more, but a star tip made them look much more appealing, in my opinion. I will be posting the recipe, but in a nutshell I used: a modified German honey cookie recipe for the base, honey ganache, and the standard topping for Bienenstich. I used Norpro #677 scoop (1.5 Tbsps.) for the cookie dough. I measured after they were done & as luck would have it, (really, it was Kitchen Magic, not luck 😁), I had some silicone cupcake molds on hand, which were just the right size to bake the topping, so the cookies were uniform in size from top to bottom. 

                The topping was not rock hard, you could still bite through it with no issues. You could simply make some almond brittle and crumble it over the cookies, but the presentation wouldn't be as nice, in my opinion.  

                As luck.....errr....I mean....Kitchen Magic would have it, my German friend was around to sample these and give them the German Seal of Approval. The experiment was a success! 

             

Costco Product Review: Mission Hill Bistro Sliced Beef Brisket

 We recently took a trip to Costco after a lengthy hiatus. While we were there we decided to buy something for the 4th of July meal. It was an "impulse buy" that happened because the sample was so tasty, (which doesn't happen often, at least not on my part). We don't buy pre-cooked food like this on a regular basis, but once in a while it is okay. 

I am usually leery of products like this because of experience with them in the past. Sometimes you hit a winner, sometimes not. As far as smoked brisket is concerned, it's usually the latter. But we were at Costco, so the line of thought was that the product would be superior to those purchased in the past. In addition to that, in wasn't a sample consumed under duress by hunger, because we'd already had lunch. Taste buds are more objective when hunger is removed from the equation, at least to a degree, (That's just my opinion though. Your mileage may vary).

Mission Hill Bistro Sliced Beef Brisket

Here is the package of the Mission Hill Bistro Sliced Beef Brisket. I should have taken a picture before I opened it, but I didn't think about writing a review until I had already mangled it. I didn't want to cadge a photo from another website, so this is what I have. You may have seen Mission Hill Bistro products elsewhere. If I remember correctly, we purchased a beef roast dinner from Costco a couple of years ago that was the Mission Hill Bistro brand. 

This brisket is good. It's not like brisket from a BBQ joint, of course, but for a pre-cooked brisket, it is very tasty. There is no odd "aftertaste" like I've experienced from pre-cooked briskets (or other pre-cooked meats) in the past. It has a smoke ring, and the slices are very thin. It was jumbled in the package, just a big clump of meat, not neatly laid out in rows. There was solidified beef fat visible in the package, but not to the extreme. It had just the right amount, instead of being totally steeped in fat. 

I was going to put the whole shebang in the oven, but I opted to follow the heating instructions, at least loosely, because it was slightly frozen after being stored in our refrigerator's bottom bin. You can heat it entirely in a microwave, or you can heat it in the microwave followed by a stovetop visit in a pan with a tiny bit of oil. I did the latter. You don't need a lot of oil, I may have used 2 or 3 tablespoons. 

This brisket is tasty even without any adornments. I had my sauce on the side. I think it would be great for brisket tacos too, among other things. There were at least two pounds of brisket in the package and the price was reasonable. 

I was curious about the source of the beef, so I conducted a search on the company. Mission Hill Bistro is a trademark of Stampede Meat, which was founded in 1995. According to their website, they are "an innovative protein solutions company," and they have 5 facilities in the U.S. Four are in the Chicago area, and one is in New Mexico, where they converted a plant that used to belong to Tyson Foods. The New Mexico plant had its grand opening in 2018. 

Last year, the company filed a lawsuit in federal court after it was ordered to close the New Mexico facility for two weeks in November of 2020 because of the number of COVID-19 cases reported there. The lawsuit was settled in March of this year. You can read more about that here: Las Cruces Sun News. 

Stampede Meat has a blog on their website, and there's a post there from September of 2020 that is of interest. The company received an "infectious disease prevention certification" in Illinois. They were taking the proper steps to protect their employees, so I don't believe that the lawsuit they filed in New Mexico was a simple matter of greed. That is my opinion. One of the other reasons they fought against closure was the millions of pounds meat that would have to be destroyed if they closed for those two weeks, according to their pleadings in the lawsuit. I do recall reading about other companies throwing food away last year when facilities had to be closed. 

But everything "on paper" looks pretty good as far as Stampede Meat is concerned. They donated food to frontline workers, implemented a home delivery system for consumers to help slow the spread of COVID-19, and they had onsite COVID-19 vaccinations in both New Mexico and Illinois. They are taking the pandemic seriously. Kudos to them for that. 

I looked for employee reviews that were on other sites to get an idea about working conditions. The average for the company is about 3 out of 5 stars. Long hours, too cold, not enough breaks, and the need for better compensation were some of the complaints. Other former employees said there is room for advancement at the company, and there are benefits available. 

The company is also very concerned about food safety and has a program that exceeds USDA Food Safety standards. All of this inspires me to purchase their products again in the future.

As far as company sources for unprocessed products, well, they do use sources here in the U.S., and I can definitively say that they have imported beef products from Canada, Australia, and Mexico, according to the bills of lading available for view on import databases. I think we can assume they use imports from other countries as well, since the U.S. is ranked as one of the top importers in the world, and one of the main suppliers of meat in the U.S. is Stampede Meat, according to the Garay Company. If you have any insight about any of the info I posted here, feel free to share it and I'll happily add it and/or make corrections. 

Verdict: Mission Hill Bistro Sliced Beef Brisket is a good product that you can feel safe about consuming, thanks to the stringent standards of Stampede Beef, and the product has no "off-putting" aftertaste.

Mission Hill brisket, homemade potato salad, 
homemade sauce, chili beans

 

 

Texas BBQ Sauce

 

Texas barbecue sauce. What does it mean to you? If you're a Texan, what is the sauce you believe to be "The Sauce of Texas?" Same question to those who aren't Texans, I like to get every viewpoint here. 

I say, well, in the first place: Good bbq doesn't need sauce at all. It should be able to stand on its own, with sauce on the side for dipping if desired. No question about that. 

Now that that is out of the way, let's address the sauce. To me, a good sauce should also stand on its own. The sauce should be so satisfying that you can eat it with just bread and feel content. The sauce should be so good it should be in its own food group (Yeah, you know, like Aunt Meg's gravy in that movie...ha!) 

To me, a good sauce has sautéed onions, garlic, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon, red wine or apple cider vinegar, a bit of molasses, S&P, chili powder, paprika, a few drops of Tabasco...and no feckin ketchup! Tomato paste is acceptable, but it is optional. Make it, throw it in a blender (optional), and serve it. 

This is the sauce I grew up with. Every bbq event, (whether private or public), had this sauce. Maybe it was a county thing or a regional thing...I wasn't old enough to drive around and sample sauce everywhere, nor did I think about doing such a thing when I was a kid. I just knew that I could expect it no matter where we had barbecue. 

Now I am hard pressed to find it anywhere around here. Bottled sauce seems to be the go-to for many. If it's not bottled, then it is some weak, pitiful version of bbq sauce. Maybe someone around here actually has it and I missed it somehow. I don't eat a lot of bbq these days, but I know most of the places in this area just don't have it. The last few times we bought plates to support various causes in the area, the people responsible for the bbq didn't have it either. 

Sauce seems to be an afterthought most of the time. I can understand that, because if you believe you have the best bbq, why is it needed in the first place, right? Okay, I get that, but if you are going to offer it, offer a sauce that has substance, not these weak, wannabe sauces. Not these sauces that are bottled sauces thinned with water, or a sauce with ketchup, Worcestershire, maybe a little vinegar & molasses. Forget about that! Make a good "stick to your ribs" sauce (pun intended?), and you'll get even more butts in those proverbial seats. 

What the heck happened to the good sauce? I remember watching it being made so many times when I was a kid. The cooks used giant stockpots, or even the giant iron cauldrons that can be hung over a fire if needed.  That's the ticket! 

My grandparents worked with a lot of families in this area when the big events were held, like Father's Day at Millheim Harmonie Hall,  Mother's Day at Peter's Hall, and countless others. I watched Mr. & Mrs. Lux make this sauce for the Chuckwagon Cafe at the fair when I worked there during the high school years. Everyone in our family made the sauce for barbecue. Any excess was frozen for future use, because it does freeze well. I'm sure my grandma has it written down somewhere among her collection of recipes. 

Today I made it for the 4th of July with some assistance from Mom to make sure I had the proper elements nailed down. Taste test, taste test. The ultimate taste test, I grabbed a piece of bread to test it. It passed! Score one for the kid! I know it will taste even better tomorrow, just like chili & stew do. When someone tells you the flavors need to "marry," they ain't pullin' your leg, Pod'nah. 

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July! 

Brisket with Texas BBQ Sauce on the side

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