Baking Powder

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 1/2 cup pastry flour 1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer (available at natural food stores) 2 tablespoons water 3/4 cup soy milk 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon rosemary, minced 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper Zest of 1 lemon, orange, or Meyer lemon 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9-inch cake pan. 2. In a medium bowl, mix flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Q: I made some lemon and basil biscuits by using a basic biscuit recipe and adding lemon zest and chopped basil from my garden. The problem is that they came out tough and dry. Is it because I added the zest and basil? Also, could you send me some foolproof biscuit recipes? Looking for help. - Dana K. A: Last part first: If you get a good recipe from a fool, does that make it a foolproof recipe? Just a question. As for your first question, I would think that adding lemon zest and basil to a good basic biscuit recipe would produce good lemon-basil biscuits.

Dear Anne and Nan: I have been looking for what we always called huck toweling. I used to get it as tea towels or by the yard in colors. I have been unable to find any of this material, which you sew designs on as they make beautiful gifts. - Dolores Wallace, Ponca City, Okla. We haven't been able to find you huck toweling (also called "flour sacking") in any color but white, but 15-inch-wide white huck can be purchased for $1.59 a yard, plus shipping and handling, from Gohn Brothers, Box 111, 105 South Main, Middlebury, Ind. 46540-0111 (219-825-2400)

Now that the excitement of the holidays is dying down, it's time to get back to basics - which is not to imply that the fundamentals of life are synonymous with boredom. A hearty breakfast is always a good idea, and winter is a particularly good time for it. Banana-Bacon Pancakes are a nourishing way to start the day, and also make an attractive presentation for that special breakfast. The pancakes are easy to make. It's a perfect one-dish presentation because the entire breakfast - including fruit and meat - is in one dish.

Blueberries put the blue in a July 4 barbecue. This cobbler recipe, from 'Something Sweet" by Jack Bishop (Simon & Schuster/$15), is a fine way to welcome summer. Choose blueberries that are plump and taut. Avoid wrinkled berries; they're past their prime. BEST-EVER BLUEBERRY COBBLER 3 cups blueberries 1/2 cup sugar, plus 3 tablespoons 1/3 cup orange juice 2/3 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder Pinch salt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 large egg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

This Apple Crisp was a big hit at the first Philly Stake dinner. Most of the ingredients can be locally sourced. APPLE CRISP 9-10 apples (3 pounds) peeled, cored and sliced thick 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 3/4 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 3 cups flour Pinch of salt 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Immediately after slicing, put the apples into a bowl with a mix of lemon juice (1 lemon)

Super Sunday arrives this weekend, an event that is inseparable from funnel cakes. We have a family joke that Super Sunday is "90 funnel cake trucks. " It is much more than that, but it is also true that if you crave funnel cake on Super Sunday, you will not have to walk far to find it. Most of us tasted funnel cake for the first time at an amusement park or traveling fair. The free-form fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar was originally a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty.

I'd like to create a national movement to make pancakes an official dinner food. Not that I would discourage anyone from serving the Sunday morning stack, but I would make it respectable to cook pancakes after 2 p.m. To argue my case: Have you ever noticed how relaxed, even lazy you feel after eating pancakes? It makes more sense to enjoy this sensation after dinner than after breakfast when you have things to do. And what about effort? Pancakes are no more time-consuming than a plate of pasta.

Dear Polly: How can I clean dull pewter? - Mrs. R.S. Ordinarily, pewter needs only washing in mild suds, such as dishwashing liquid, rinsing, and drying with a soft cloth. However, if pewter is old, very dull, and unattractive you may use silver polish on it. For homemade pewter polish, make a paste of whiting and denatured alcohol (both available at hardware stores). Coat the pewter with the paste, let it dry, then polish off the dried polish. To clean really tough spots, you may rub them very carefully with 00 steel wool dipped in olive oil. The olive oil prevents the steel wool from scratching the pewter.

I wasn't quite ready for it so soon, but the annual trickle of mail and phone calls asking for holiday fruitcakes has already started, reminding me that the holidays are just around the corner. If you want to allow a mellowing period, which is necessary for some of the cakes, it's not too early to begin working in the kitchen. Time's a-wastin' - set aside an evening or two or a weekend morning or afternoon to get into your baking act. When shopping for fruitcake ingredients, keep in mind that a pound of raisins, dried apricots, prunes, dried peaches or dried figs will measure about 3 to 3 1/2 cups, while a pound of fresh dates or cut-up candied fruits and peels will yield about 2 cups.

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 1/2 cup pastry flour 1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer (available at natural food stores) 2 tablespoons water 3/4 cup soy milk 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon rosemary, minced 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper Zest of 1 lemon, orange, or Meyer lemon 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9-inch cake pan. 2. In a medium bowl, mix flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

This Apple Crisp was a big hit at the first Philly Stake dinner. Most of the ingredients can be locally sourced. APPLE CRISP 9-10 apples (3 pounds) peeled, cored and sliced thick 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 3/4 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 3 cups flour Pinch of salt 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Immediately after slicing, put the apples into a bowl with a mix of lemon juice (1 lemon)

Nigella, Jamie, Martha et al. get most of the attention when it comes to talking about recipe expertise. But for many Americans, there's no higher authority than the back of the box, and food-trend observer Phil Lempert says more producers should be taking advantage of that. "Companies should be changing up their recipes on the back of packages," says Lempert, known as the "Supermarket Guru. " "So many consumers are bored with their food. They're trying new recipes. " Still, with customers often wildly loyal to old favorites, companies tend to proceed cautiously.

Editor's note: Here are two recipe excerpts from The Essential New York Times Cookbook , including the lively commentary and recipe history from author Amanda Hesser that make this book both a joy and an education to read. Purple Plum Torte is both the most often published and the most requested recipe in the Times archives. By my count, Marian Burros (who was given the recipe by Lois Levine, with whom Burros wrote Elegant but Easy ) ran the recipe in the paper twelve times.

Kate Jacoby vowed she would not try to recreate classic egg/dairy treats such as cheesecake or crème brûlée when she became dessert chef at Horizons vegan restaurant in South Philly. But she found herself tinkering with those very recipes to create vegan versions that satisfied her demanding tastes. Here are two of her desserts, including the crème brûlée. That cheesecake? It's still a secret. TAHITIAN VANILLA CRÈME BRÛLÉE Four 13-ounce cans coconut milk 1/2 vanilla bean 1 tablespoon vanilla extract Dash salt 1 tablespoon agar 1/2 cup agave syrup About 1/4 cup white cane sugar 1/2 pineapple, chopped Combine all ingredients except the cane sugar and pineapple in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.

Everyone has a favorite recipe for Passover brisket, passed down through the generations or discovered online. But dessert is another matter. Dietary laws forbid the use of yeast, flour and baking powder at Passover. It's a restriction that stumps beginning bakers and challenges even the most experienced. That explains why nearly 45 women (and three men - two husbands and a son) signed up to sip wine, sample hors d'oeuvres, and learn from the James Beard-award-winning chef and cookbook author Aliza Green, who conducted a class on baking for Passover last month at the kosher restaurant Max & David's.

Q: I made some lemon and basil biscuits by using a basic biscuit recipe and adding lemon zest and chopped basil from my garden. The problem is that they came out tough and dry. Is it because I added the zest and basil? Also, could you send me some foolproof biscuit recipes? Looking for help. - Dana K. A: Last part first: If you get a good recipe from a fool, does that make it a foolproof recipe? Just a question. As for your first question, I would think that adding lemon zest and basil to a good basic biscuit recipe would produce good lemon-basil biscuits.

Is your belly built Simpson-tough? Try a few of these recipes created by local chefs who are also fans of the cartoon. Or - if you dare - sample recipes created by the characters themselves. First, Vesuvio chef Louis Mosca combines Homer's fave food groups: doughnuts and beer. Then - Mmmmmm! - breaded pork chops the way only Marge would make 'em, from Greg Salisbury of Rx restaurant. Finally, a simple, healthful salad that a local fan says Lisa would love. HOMER'S BEER-BATTERED DOUGHNUT HOLES 3 1/2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup sugar 4 eggs 1 cup beer Vegetable oil for deep frying 1 cup sugar or confectioner's sugar In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, spices and half-cup sugar until blended.

Here's an intriguing idea: Master one recipe, make 100 desserts. Food writer Keri Fisher was introduced to the notion by Boston-based pastry chef Greg Case, who said he uses just one basic cake recipe as the starting point for the many elaborate desserts that made his G. Case Baking Co. such a hit. Case, 45, met Fisher, 32, when she too was Boston-based - working at Salamander restaurant. Fisher, who trained at Johnson & Wales, and her husband, Matt Murphy, also a chef, have since moved to Villanova.

For a show-stealing appetizer or hors d'oeuvre, cook up a batch of savory cheese fritters and serve them piping hot. Unlike sweetened fruit fritters, savory types are boldly flavored - like the two recipes here, both using full-bodied cheeses, fresh herbs, and other assertive seasonings. Savory or sweet, unfilled or stuffed with meat, cheese, vegetables or other fillings, fritters take many forms. But all of them begin with a thick batter based on flour and eggs. When cooked in hot oil at the right temperature, the batter crisps beautifully and turns golden-brown.