March Madness...again

     March is upon us once again, seems I always get back here for March.

      Instead of complaining or giving you 1,000 reasons why I have been MIA, how about we just pick up where we left off and just get on with this?

      In a previous post, I am sure, I began telling you about the food celebrations for the month, and because there are so many I probably skipped a few. Maybe I can fix that.

     March is National Celery Month and while I am not a huge fan of straight up celery it is indispensable when it comes to cooking especially when it is combined with onions, and bell peppers in the "holy trinity" of Louisiana Creole and Cajun cuisine. Celery, onions, and carrots make up the French mirepoix, often used as a base for sauces and soups. I certainly use celery in cooking, however, I dice it up very small, because I do not like to bite into a piece of celery. The flavor it brings to the party, however, prevents me from altogether omitting it from my cooking.

     March is also National Flour Month; I have a very strong attachment to flour; unbleached flour is my personal favorite, and I admit I am a big fan of King Arthur Flour. Until I find a way to grow, harvest and mill my own wheat I am stuck buying commercial flour and that's the way it has be.

     Flour, like celery,is not a stand alone ingredient, but there would be far less food products in the world without flour. No cakes or cookies or pasta or bread. Heaven forbid.  Seriously.

     The next food celebration for March is Frozen Foods, so important are frozen foods that not only is March the month they are celebrated, but frozen foods also has a special day, March 6th. With the current trend to go all natural and fresh its a wonder why this is being doubly celebrated, unless, of course you consider Ice cream, sorbet and gelato. Those are frozen foods to be celebrated!

   March also is the National Nutrition Month which highlights First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative to raise a healthier generation of kids, and No Kid Hungry which the entertainment industry has embraced.  Raising children to eat properly and teaching as many people as possible how to eat properly is a cause near and dear to my heart. Coming from an immigrant family learning how to stretch the food dollar with nutritious and delicious foods is a combination of skills which need to be handed down to each generation. Our forefathers immigrated here for a better life for their children, feeding them was one of the top priorities on their list. 

  Moving along, March is also National Noodle Month, which goes hand-in-hand with National Flour Month. Noodles offer so many options it boggles my mind. Noodles can mean almost anything, and now with the invention of the Spriralizer® you can make "noodles" or noodle-like foods out of just about anything!

 Moving along, March is National Peanut Month, National Sauce Month and National Caffeine Awareness Month, the latter being one that many of us will sigh and roll our eyes, "they're going to tell us all the evils of caffeine". Yeah, I will have to investigate that one before I weigh in on it. I had to mention it, however, otherwise I would be remiss.

     March also has a few week-long celebrations: the second week honors Chocolate Chip Cookies and National School Breakfast Week, the third week is American Chocolate week.
     One special celebration is Maple Syrup Saturday observed on the third Saturday of March; and who could forget the most famous Irish celebration of them all? March 17, St. Patrick's Day- also known as Corned Beef and Cabbage Day?

      Sadly, very sadly, our Irish ancestors did not really enjoy corned beef much before they settled in America, escaping their homeland due to poverty and starvation spurred by the failure of the potato crop for a few years. Of course the reason the peasantry was so reliant on potatoes is regrettable, as well, due to some competition between Catholicism and the Church of England the English stripped the Irish Catholics of their lands and forced them into the position of tenant farming, and setting up an entire people to nearly starve to death as a result of the potato blight. One thing affects the other on a grand scale. It always amazed me that the strain of potato that was susceptible to the blight that caused the tubers to rot in the ground was not the only species of potato, just the one that flourished in the Irish climate and eventually nearly caused the demise of an entire class of people; the entire country of peasants put their lives in one basket, so to speak.
     Moving back on track, we start with the daily celebrations and as every month's celebrations March's are just as diverse as any other month's. A few years ago I made a Frozen Coconut Torte on March 13 for that day's celebration, and unfortunately working full time out of the home and more appropriately, out of the kitchen, it is indeed difficult to post my personal forays into the food celebrations; most of the time I hand off cooking duties to my right hand, the Big E, and he's done great with cooking for the family. I greatly miss cooking all day and posting photos of my creations, perhaps in my next life, or after I retire, whichever comes first I will be able to indulge myself. In the meantime, I have to make do with what I have "Bloom Where You Are Planted – 1 Corinthians 7:17-24. Okay I hear ya.
     This year we get to observe Good Friday in March, as it is a movable holy day, that coincides with the full moons in spring, if I remember correctly, and Easter, as well; Good Friday is also National Hot Cross Bun day.

     This year I think we will tackle Hot Cross Buns, which will also honor National Flour Month and I will get to work with a sweet dough, which I don't get to work with very much. I am getting excited!
    The following recipe is courtesy of King Arthur Flour:
Hot Cross  Buns:

• 1/4 cup apple juice or rum
• 1/2 cup mixed dried fruit
• 1/2 cup raisins or dried currants
• 1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature
• 3 large eggs, 1 separated
• 6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 4 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Topping

• 1 large egg white, reserved from above

• 1 tablespoon milk

Icing

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 4 teaspoons milk, or enough to make a thick, pipeable icing

Buns

• 2 ounces apple juice or rum
• 2 3/4 ounces mixed dried fruit
• 2 3/4 ounces raisins or dried currants
• 10 ounces milk, room temperature
• 3 large eggs, 1 separated
• 3 ounces butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 7/8 ounces light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 19 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Topping

• 1 large egg white, reserved from above
• 1/2 ounce milk

Icing

• 4 1/2 ounces confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 4 teaspoons milk, or enough to make a thick, pipeable icing

Buns

• 57g apple juice or rum
• 78g mixed dried fruit
• 78g raisins or dried currants
• 283g milk, room temperature
• 3 large eggs, 1 separated
• 85g butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 53g light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 539g King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Topping

• 1 large egg white, reserved from above
• 14g milk

Icing

• 128g confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 4 teaspoons milk, or enough to make a thick, pipeable icing

Instructions

1. Lightly grease a 10" square pan or 9" x 13" pan.
2. **Mix the rum or apple juice with the dried fruit and raisins, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave briefly, just till the fruit and liquid are very warm, and the plastic starts to "shrink wrap" itself over the top of the bowl. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Note: If you worry about using plastic wrap in your microwave, simply cover the bowl with a glass lid.
3. When the fruit is cool, mix together all of the dough ingredients except the fruit, and knead, using an electric mixer or bread machine, till the dough is soft and elastic. Mix in the fruit and any liquid not absorbed.
4. Let the dough rise for 1 hour, covered. It should become puffy, though may not double in bulk.
5. Divide the dough into billiard ball-sized pieces, about 3 3/4 ounces each. A heaped muffin scoop (about 1/3 cup) makes about the right portion. You'll make 12 to 14 buns. Use your greased hands to round them into balls. Arrange them in the prepared pan.
6. Cover the pan, and let the buns rise for 1 hour, or until they've puffed up and are touching one another. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
7. Whisk together the reserved egg white and milk, and brush it over the buns.
8. Bake the buns for 20 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool.
9. Mix together the icing ingredients, and when the buns are completely cool, pipe it in a cross shape atop each bun.

**  Being microwave-cautious I will, instead, warm the liquid and soak the fruits until they are plump.

  I have been doing some research on Hot Cross Buns and was a bit surprised to find they have been around since pre-medieval times, although probably not the same, exact recipe, however the tradition of sweet bread with dried fruits and a cross across the top, sometimes made into the actual dough, sometimes an icing. Here's a link to a very interesting piece about the history of Hot Cross Buns: Hot Cross Buns  Who knew?

     Now that my mouth is watering, I am going to go start collecting what I need to attack this recipe.


     

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