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Wednesday, February 29, 2012 – Daily News 5A County Fare & fresh By Lauren Chattman Newsday (MCT) All of a sudden, cake pops are everywhere: Online, at Starbucks, in the Neiman-Marcus catalog. Late-night infomercials hawk countertop appliances for baking tiny spherical cakes. Angie Dudley, the food blogger also known as Bakerella, who is widely acknowledged with popu- larizing the bite-sized treats, has a bestselling cookbook ("Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats") devoted to teaching home bakers how to make cake pops resembling pumpkins, sheep, and Kermit the Frog. They're a fad, yes, but also the most recent itera- tion of a snack category popular since prehistoric times: Food on a stick. Real- izing that cake pops, like shish kebab and corn dogs, are here to stay, I decided to give them a try. Most cake pop recipes call for baking a cake from a mix, crushing it into crumbs, and mixing it with a can of frosting before rolling the mixture into balls and impaling the balls on sticks. I instantly rebelled against this method because baking a cake, even one from a box, only to have to pulverize it, seemed like a waste of time. Also, canned frosting? Really? There had to be a better-tasting, more wholesome way to get the crumbs to stick together. I considered several fill- ing options, before settling on a mixture of Oreo cook- ies and cream cheese devel- oped by Kraft Foods to make Oreo "truffles" and recommended by many lazy cake pop chefs includ- ing Bakerella. It gave me a tasty Really good cake pops made simple 8-ounce package cream cheese, cut into pieces Vanilla, peanut butter, and/or mint chocolate-fla- vored wafers such as Wilton Candy Melts (a 12-ounce package will coat 24 pops) Additional crushed Oreos, Reese's Pieces Can- dies, and/or green sprinkles for decorating MCT photo Chocolate centers can be dipped in vanilla, mint- chocolate, or peanut butter candy coating to cre- ate a variety of flavored cake pops. filling with the same consis- tency as the cake crumbs- and-frosting combination, without any baking. And the cream cheese balanced the sweetness of the crumbs (a common complaint about cake pops made with canned frosting is that they're too sweet). I placed my filling in the refrigerator and headed to Michael's Crafts for the sup- plies required to complete the project. I marched directly to the baking and candymaking section of the store, where I picked up lol- lipop sticks and a circle of Styrofoam, which I'd need to stand the pops upright after decorating them. It was my lucky day, because Wilton candy melts, the easy-to-use candy coating that gives cake pops their smooth and pretty surface, were on sale for $1.99 per 12-ounce bag. I walked out the door with bags of chocolate, mint chocolate, peanut butter and vanilla- flavored wafers in white, yellow, lavender and pink. Finally, it was time for the fun part. I used a small cookie scoop to make uni- form balls of filling, rolling the balls briefly between my palms to round them com- pletely. Freezing them for half an hour helped them keep their shape. The candy melts became smooth and creamy in the microwave and coated the chocolate filling without streaking or bubbling. I had to work quickly to apply my decora- tions _ cookie crumbs, Reese's Pieces candies and sprinkles _ because the coating set up quickly on the frozen balls. I debuted my cake pops at a recent party. People raved about them _ how cute they were, how fun to eat, how delicious. One svelte partygoer said she appreciated the petite por- tion size of her pop. A burli- er guest enjoyed trying pops in every flavor. POPS OREO CHEESECAKE Create a variety of fla- vored pops by using several different candy melts.1 (15.5-ounce) package Oreo Cookies 1. Combine the cookies and cream cheese in work bowl of food processor. Process until smooth, scrap- ing down sides of bowl sev- eral times as necessary. Scrape mixture into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until well-chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. 2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a small ice cream scoop to form cookie mixture into balls, rolling them between your palms to make them perfectly round. Place on baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. 3. Place candy melts in microwave-safe bowl and microwave on medium, stirring every 30 seconds, until just melted. Dip end of lollipop stick into candy coating then insert into a cheesecake ball. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining sticks. Place baking sheet in freezer for 10 minutes to secure sticks to balls. 4. Carefully dip balls into chocolate to cover com- pletely. Rotate stick, tapping it gently on edge of bowl, allowing excess coating to drip off. Apply Oreo crumbs, Reese's Pieces, or sprinkles as desired. Insert ends of lollipop sticks into a piece of Styrofoam. 5. Refrigerate pops until ready to serve, up to 1 day. Makes about 24 pops. Cookbook stresses technique, not recipes (MCT) — Whoever thought this was a nation of non- cooking Food Network-devotees may want to rethink that notion _ at least in places like the Bay Area, where culinary schools are booming and cookbooks have become so popu- lar, they've spawned their own book club genre. The renowned French Culinary Institute launched its West Coast campus in Campbell, Calif., last year with a star-stud- ded chef roster, including dean Jacques Pepin. A new home- cooking school is opening in Lafayette, Calif., this spring. And at Berkeley's Kitchen on Fire, the cooking classes were selling out so quickly, owners Olivier Said _ the former co- owner of Berkeley's Cesar tapas bar _ and chef MikeC. opened a second KoF school in a massive warehouse across town. It was those filled-to-the-brim cooking classes _ and Said and MikeC.'s culinary boot camp in particular _ that inspired their new cookbook, "Kitchen on Fire: Mastering the Art of Cooking in 12 Weeks (Or Less)" (Da Capo Press, 442 pages, $35). It's a book that is rich in technique and light on the recipes, MikeC. says, because chefs don't use recipes and nei- ther, he promises, will you. Naturally, we had questions. Q: A cookbook without recipes? A: That's what we were going for. (Laughs) We do have recipes and exercises, but one of the biggest things we've seen is people get addicted to recipes. They think they need to find more recipes, the "best" recipes, instead of how a chef approaches it _ by the technique and method behind it, so you understand what you're doing. Q: But how does a newbie even know what he's doing? A: It's not hard to learn the basic techniques, to invoke those really simple principles most of us know _ and the sci- ence we learned as kids. Q: Can you give us an example that does not involve sci- ence fair volcanoes? A: Remember osmosis? The idea that we could fall asleep on our books and the knowledge would transfer through the permeable skull? (Laughs) That's how brining works: all that flavorful liquid on the outside gets pulled to the inside to make it more juicy and tender and delicious. The more con- centrated the brine solution, the faster that works. Q: So why is a specific recipe a bad idea? A: You have to work around work and kids and your life. If you know how (the brine) is going to affect the meat, you can adjust a great recipe out of a cookbook. By grasping what's under the hood of the recipe, you can troubleshoot a lot of things. Q: Tell us about the new digs. A: It's awesome. It's huge with the same hip, loft-type feel. It's this beautiful old warehouse, where Whole Earth's catalog offices used to be, attached to Rocket Restaurant Resource and around the corner from Berkeley Bowl West. It expands the dynamic of what we offer. We can do longer workshops, more advanced bread, butchery. Lentils (and other legumes) for a meatless Lent (MCT) — If you're look- ing for an alternative to fish for meatless entrees during Lent — or for that matter, all year round — how about building some meals around beans? Crescent Dragonwagon has been evangelizing about bean cuisine for 40 years, dating back to "The Bean Book," published in 1972, when she was just 18. Her new book is "Bean by Bean: A Cookbook" (Workman, $15.95 paperback). LEMON AND GINGER SPICY BEANS Yield: 4 servings 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh ginger 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil, such as sunflower oil 1 large onion, thinly sliced 1 jalapeno or other fresh chile, seeded and finely chopped ⁄4 1 teaspoon ground red (cayenne) pepper teaspoon ground turmeric 2 tablespoons lemon juice ⁄3 1 1 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground corian- der ⁄2 cup chopped cilantro 3 (14- to 15-ounce) cans of beans, preferably three dif- ferent types, drained and rinsed Freshly ground black pep- per cup cold water in a blender; process until smooth. Salt, optional ⁄4 2. Heat oil in a medium or large pan over medium heat. Add onion and chile and cook gently for 5 min- utes or until softened. Add cayenne, cumin, coriander and turmeric; stir-fry for 1 minute. 3. Stir in the paste from the blender and cook for another minute. Add lemon juice, cilantro and1 ⁄2 cup water. Stir well and bring to a boil. 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MIDDLE EASTERN LENTIL PILAF Yield: 4 to 6 servings ⁄2 1 cup brown or red lentils, picked over and rinsed 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 large onion, halved verti- cally and thinly sliced cross- wise 2 carrots, chopped 1 rib celery, with leaves, finely minced ⁄2 1 teaspoon whole or ground cumin 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 cup long-grain brown rice ⁄2 1 small dried red chile, stemmed and broken in half 1 1/2-inch piece of cinna- mon stick Seeds from 2 to 4 whole cardamom pods Salt Freshly cracked black pep- per 1. If using brown lentils, soak by bringing 2 cups of water to a boil in a large pot, adding the lentils, turning off the heat and letting the lentils soak for a few hours. If using red lentils, pour 41 ⁄2 cups water into a pot (do not heat) and add the lentils. 2. At least an hour before serving, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute, stir- ring, for 4 to 5 minutes. Add carrots and celery and saute for 3 minutes. 3. 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Prop Code 4229 TEHAMA COUNTY REAL ESTATE TEAM • OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK www.redbluffcoldwellbanker.com See All Tehama County Listings at Tehama County Businesses! Online Ballots Only at www.redbluffdailynews.com Five Lucky Voters will be selected at random from all eligible ballots on March 1. Each will receive a $100 Shopping Spree at the Tehama County business of their choice! Vote for your favorite lentils. If using the pre- soaked brown lentils, add 3 cups water. Add rice, cumin, garlic, chile, cinna- mon and cardamom seeds. 4. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a sim- mer and cook, covered, checking occasionally and adding water as needed, until lentils and rice are ten- der, about 1 hour. The result should be moist but not soupy. Pour off excess water, if necessary. 5. When lentils and rice are tender, add salt and quite a bit of pepper to taste. Remove the chile and dis- card, or chop it finely and return to the mixture for a spicier dish. Remove the cinnamon stick. Serve immediately or refrigerate covered overnight, then reheat. LAST CHANCE TO VOTE! FINDERS Served with