fleur de sel

a quick story

2010-10-05T21:55:00.000-05:00

in the picture you can see all the stuff i received after winning a giveaway on one of my favorite blogs. surprising factors: i won - i never do - and also, this is a romanian blog. you don't see that many giveaways on romanian blogs, especially not ones that allows u.s. residents to participate. cristi's bucatar maniac, which translates to maniac cook, has been gathering momentum for a while now and i'm besides myself to see his talent validated. if you don't speak romanian, there's the google translator in the sidebar. but seriously i doubt you'll need it, because cristi's shots are so incredible, they don't require explanation. you'll find lots and lots of stuff - jams and preserves (wait until you see those pics - if that won't make you crave jam, nothing ever will) a big dessert category, and an amazing savory section. what i really love about it though is that cristi will post every now and then about a simple, peasant dish or a very traditional pot, or better yet, snacks we all grew up on that i'd forgotten about. it takes me back and it warms my heart. lastly, cristi has a daughter. how is that relevant? pony cakes. cakes with ponies on them! multicolor, psychedelic ponies!!
about a month back i went over on my regular round, to find him hosting this giveaway for a $100 csn store gift card. can't hurt, i thought, and i left a comment, although i've never won anything before. well, won i did and i got a pasta machine, a silpat and a dough mat. and even though i had to chip in a bit to get the rose muffin pan, i couldn't resist. you see how cute it is! the dough mat - the yellow roll - is wonderful. it stays into place on your counter, and its easy release helps tons when you work with difficult dough. it's also big enough to roll a 16 inch pie. i've been using it intensely. the silpat works exactly like you'd expect. nothing ever sticks to it, so it's a great piece to have around, especially as i've been baking some meringues. the pasta machine has yet to meet pasta dough. i've been busy, but apparently not sufficiently so that it would keep me from spending half the night trying to roll chocolate plastic through it. i've discovered it works good and dandy, but it helps to have another set of hands. it's not the kind you screw to the table, and it tends to get a bit hairy when you're trying to hold up a sheet in the air, crank the machine and hold it in place at the same time. i'm keeping my fingers crossed, waiting for the magical intersection of enough time, husband home, and husband willing to make fresh pasta. finally, look what the muffin tin produced, much - much - to my daughter's delight:

edible roses. i had picked up a delicata squash, and made it into a side dish by braising it in apple cider, with pineapple sage and rosemary until the cider reduced into a glaze. she did not eat it. (i've given up wondering why she doesn't like foods kids usually fight over). anyway, i refused to end it there, and as the squash was quite perfumed and sweet i pureed it with some ricotta and used it as a filling in these. i made a regular vanilla muffin batter, filled the tin half-way, spooned some squash in each and topped with more batter. did i mention the rose shape? zhara begged for more. if your picky eater might like these, please leave a comment for details.

um, i don't have a title for this.

2010-09-27T23:24:00.000-05:00

what i've been up to, or why i've fallen off the face of the earth sound like reasonable enough ones, or please, lost routine come back and suffocate us with your monotony, we miss you! seriously, i've missed you. i missed this space, and seeing what everybody's been doing. first zhara got sick, her entire preschool class got knocked out. when she got better, hubs collapsed, and when he was fine, it hit me. i haven't been this sick in years! it was truly horrible, but i have to admit it was nice to be taken care of, for a change. (not that i was able to enjoy any of it, but husband did bring me toast and chicken broth to bed. and he was on toddler patrol the whole time so i could rest). then i got better and went back to work and the day-to-day. and i never resurfaced... i have packed what feels like a million lunches and snacks. i have made enough laundry to have some sort of softener overdose. (i'm all for the arts and such, but could we use a bib when we're glueing glitter to dry leaves?! i swear she messes up three outfits a day.) work has been beyond exhausting. draining. and it seems more complicated than ever to divide the day into more bits than the mandatory stuff. get the kid dressed and fed, and to daycare. get to work. breathe, don't blow a gasket. get dinner on the table. get tomorrow's lunch packed up. get the kid bathed and kissed and tickled. get to bed. repeat. at the end of the day, when i'm showered with never ending requests for 'just one more story' i have to make a very conscious effort to be nice to my kid. i have to pace myself so i can patiently explain yet again why it's night and therefore, bedtime. this kid never wants to go to bed. i could sleep standing, like a horse. it was an intense couple weeks, and i felt like i could talk about nothing else. i can also see very clearly that it would bring everybody down if that was the whole story, but it's not! because every now and then i remember why we do it. we're building a business, and that's never easy for anybody. every beginning implies lots and lots of legwork, and it's unrealistic to expect anything else. no one gets the red carpet from day one. (unless you're gwyneth paltrow.) everybody pays their dues. i decided to simply stop feeling so tired, or more precisely, that being tired is the end of the world. tired doesn't have to equal mean cavewoman. it doesn't have to mean that right now, your bones are mush. tired can mean you've tried your best. tired can mean you're on your way. so you can feel tired and content. they're not mutually exclusive notions.
in between, we have managed to get out and pick raspberries. zhara had a grand time rolling in the grass like a dog, and eating raspberries straight off the bush. i made the best jam ever. and cake, and cupcakes. we had regular plum fest, with jam, compote, pie and ice cream all out of italian plums. we made zacusca. this is a traditional canned veggie spead. i'll do a post on it as soon as i get around to taking some pictures. we made a batch of roasted tomato passata with all the heirloom toamtoes we've been picking from the garden. (speaking of which, i have a lot of green ones that i doubt will ripen with this cold weather - does anyone have a nice recipe for canned green tomatoes?) we've made pear compote. the sourdough starter is still alive, i'd say despite me. we've had some very good sourdough waffles, but the bread is not working out the way i'd hoped. i'm not giving up.
the liquor up there is good stuff. you take a bunch of sour cherries, and you mix them with half their weight of sugar. let them sit overnight to form syrup. then you add alcohol 3 to 1. and then you wait around doing nothing for two weeks. and then you bottle up the liquor, and use the cherries in truffles or something. this is a sweet drink, very fragrant and fresh. a shot before or after a nice meals round things up like nothing else.

these are the tomatoes that got roasted for passata. there's shallots and garlic and all those herbs (all from the garden), i can't begin to tell you how good this is! each time i open a jar i feel i'm making a sacrifice, and i ponder whether the dish is worthy. silly, but it can't be helped.

look at this treasure. they really were so delicious! and the jam is incredible. it's a low-sugar recipe from pam corbin. they also made a delicious mousse in a dark chocolate cake. it got wolfed before i even had a chance to put it on a cake plate.

over the course of my absence, i've won a giveaway hosted on a wonderful blog. i'll tell you all about it tomorrow. (i really, really, hope i do). i was supposed to post about it as soon as i got my loot, and then it all got away from me. in all honesty i haven't had a chance to use half the stuff, and so there wasn't much to say about it...
next weekend we plan to pick some apples. jelly is not my thing, but i'm thinking some more jam can't possibly harm us. tomorrow i'll take a pic with all the canned stuff sitting pretty on a shelf. i want to go pet them. and if that's me plain and sober... maybe i'll drink some of that cherry liquor and take a bath in raspberry jam.

peach ice cream

2010-08-24T21:56:00.000-05:00

i know that increasingly this place is turning into a shrine for all things lebovitz. it's just the natural effect of buying his book, let it run its course and don't complain - you're ruining my mood. and in a mood i am! my job is very stressful. i make it a point of not bringing it up here, lest it take over the place and suffocate everybody, the way it did my friend this afternoon (sorry!). some days can get truly hectic, and when you couple that with the rigors of potty training and the general toddler discourse, you're in for a treat. and not the kind you bake. it's too hot for baking anyway. hence all the ice cream, because making ice cream is relaxing and fits the schedule. i make the custard in the evening, chill it overnight and then churn it before dinner. this one is the easiest ice cream you'll make - no egg tempering required. matter of fact, no eggs required. just peaches and cream, slap me if this combo ever gets old!

what's that it sits on? old habits die hard, that's what. it was 10 PM and i had a ridiculous hankering for mom's apple tart. did the filling before discovering i had nowhere enough white flour, so i used whole wheat pastry flour in an inordinate proportion, and it's not the best crust ever. don't worry, the ice cream made it all better. see how it keeps saving the day? told you it's worth keeping around.

peach ice cream

from david lebovitz's the perfect scoop

4 large peaches, pitted, peeled and cubed

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 ts vanilla extract

a few drops lemon juice

cook the peaches with the water over medium heat, covered, until the fruit is cooked through, about 10 minutes. remove from heat, mix in the sugar and let cool. puree the peaches and their juices with the sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla and lemon juice to a consistency you like. refrigerate the mixture until it's very cold, then churn in your ice cream maker.

it's a divine clean taste. goes with everything, on everything. apotropaic treat, promptly ends toddler meltdowns. the apotheosis of summer's end. somebody stop me or we could be here awhile.

my beautiful heirloom tomatoes, and the delicious soup they make

2010-08-14T22:56:00.000-05:00

remember these guys? well, it's payday. all the fuss planting the tiny seeds, making sure they got enough sun and water those critical first six weeks, then transplanting them in the garden, the constant weeding and watering, staking poles to give them support as they grew - it's all paid off. i now have red, yellow, purple and green heirloom tomatoes ready for picking every day. they are very juicy and sweet, and i can tell each variety by taste alone. i love them all, but my favorites right now are those green-yellowish ones. they have a pale green flesh that is a bit more tart than the others. it's lovely in salads. the purple ones are good slicers for sandwiches. the tiny yellow ones are sweet and flavorful, but soft, so they're harder to slice. they are going to get roasted for passata.
(and by the way: this post is a long time coming! every time i went in the garden, at any hour, i was assaulted by a gazillion blood thirsty mosquitos and it was impossible to stay longer than 30 seconds. today i braved it and i am ravished beyond repair. it's like the 11th plague is ongoing in my backyard. anyone know why they're so vicious this year?)
anyway, they're still worth it.

big gal on the left clocked in 1 lb 13 oz, or 835 gr.

and the best part yet: there's more to come!

the first thing i always make after eating a few of them raw, in salads, is cream of tomato soup. it's as comforting to me as a giant hug, if hugs were filled with summer and sun. it's a very simple thing. these tomatoes are so tasty they require little intervention. i like it with croutons, and i've been know to bake meatballs in it once i've had my share.

summer cream of tomato

2 tb olive oil

2 cups onion, julienne

1 cup carrots, thinly sliced

1 cup celery, diced

4 pounds heirloom tomatoes, roughly cubed

1/4 cup lightly packed basil, chiffonade

2 ts coarse sea salt

1/3 cup half and half

saute the mirepoix in the oil over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent, but not browned. add the tomatoes and the salt and cook on medium hight heat, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have given off their juices. do not add water. when the tomatoes start to boil lower the heat to low and simmer partially covered 30 to 40 minutes. stir in the basil. remove from heat and go at it with your immersion blender or puree in batches in a food processor. stir in the half and half (or cream, milk, sour cream) and correct seasoning. you're done, enjoy.

lemon cherry cheesecake

2010-08-14T00:04:00.000-05:00

i love cherries. each june i tre-pi-date with anticipation. i eat pounds after pounds and i'm unable to cook them, no matter what great recipes i have stashed. nothing beats a bowl of chilled cherries, crisp and plump and so juicy all the t-shirts i own bear the proof. i think their short season is one of nature's meanest way of reminding me who's in charge. local cherries are long gone, but i can still get good washington ones. the monster craving is appeased, so i finally got around to trying this cheesecake that's been on hold long enough.

my husband loved it, and he's not much for cheesecake. i was very pleased with the taste, especially starting on day four, but the texture i think could be improved. it all depends on which side of the camp you reside: if you like fluffy, airy, light, sort of moist, you'll not be head-over-heels for this. if you think cheesecake by all means should be firm and intense, you'll think this is perfect. (and i'd say it kinda is, if i weren't too polite for such tasteless vaunt).

i had a single meyer lemon, incredibly perfumed and sweet, and i used both juice and peel. you'll want to reduce the juice by half if using a different variety. the cherry topping is better than this picture may lead you to believe. it only has one prerequisite - use fresh fruit. it's easier to make then opening a can, anyway. and lots tastier. no goop. this cheesecake is based on an old raspberry white chocolate recipe i have, but heavily adapted to accomodate the lemon and the cherry topping. don't forget to take the cream cheese out of the fridge a few hours beforehand. i left it out overnight.

for the crust:
9 graham crackers, or 5 oz, or 145 gr;
1 cup or 4.2 oz or 125 gr toasted blanched almonds;
4 1/2 tb or 2.1 oz or 60 gr butter, melted.

for the cheesecake:
2 x 8 oz packets or 450 gr cream cheese;
2.8 oz or 80 gr white chocolate, melted;
2/3 cup or 5.4 oz or 150 gr sugar;
2 ts pure vanilla extract;
2 eggs;
juice and zest of one lemon.

for the sour cream topping:
8 oz or 225 gr sour cream;
3 tb or 45 gr sugar;
1/2 ts vanilla extract.

for the cherry topping:
3 cups or 450 gr cherries, halved and pitted;
1 tb cornstarch;
1/3 cup or 75 gr sugar.

preheat oven to 325F. get your 8 inch springform out. grind the grahams with the almonds and when they're pulverized add the butter and mix. line the pan with this mixture, pushing it all the way up the wall. (this is my personal preference, if you like your crust on the bottom only, or half-way up the wall, that's your business. you can freeze leftover crust mixture.) when you have an even layer (some plastic wrap helps) bake it until golden, about 10 minutes. maintain oven temp.
melt the chocolate in the microwave, in 10 second bursts, mixing after each one. mix cream cheese with the sugar, lemon juice, the lemon peel (very finely grated), and vanilla. then add the eggs, beating well after each one. mix in the white chocolate. pour in the crust and bake 40-45 minutes, until the edges are set but the middle still jiggles when you give it a shove.
prepare the sour cream topping by mixing all ingredients together. let sit on the counter while the cake bakes.
pit and halve the cherries. sprinkle the sugar over them and let sit a few minutes. mix every now and then and the juices will melt it. sprinkle the cornstarch through a fine sieve and mix. put the pot on the stove and cook over medium heat just until the juices thicken some, about 5 minutes. the cherries will not be cooked through. you should still have a bite to them. the point is only to tie the juices. set aside to cool.
when the cake is baked, remove from the oven but maintain temp. let it cool 5-10 minutes, then pour the sour cream and spread it in an even layer. return to oven and bake 5 minutes more. let cool until the topping is set. then arrange the cherry topping all over the cake. refrigerate overnight. heads-up: pace yourself, because it peaks on day 4. believe me, you want to still have a slice on day 4. you're welcome.

seared mahi mahi with green tomato-pineapple sage sambal

2010-08-07T21:01:00.000-05:00

in thai and filipino cuisine a sambal can designate a multitude of sauces or sides. usually it's gonna be a scorching red sauce, but it varies greatly in components and there's green sambals too. the usual suspects are peppers or chillies and shallots. they can incorporate tamarind, fish sauce, mango leaves, all sorts of unexpected ingredients, depending on region. mine was gonna be a casual pineapple salsa, but i had this green tomato that had fallen to the ground during the last storm. (i think one more of those and my garden is going to rot from the roots up, jeesh). maybe it's a bit improper to name it sambal, because i can't add any heat to stuff i feed my daughter, but the methodology is the same - you chop up whatever you want in, and then you stir-fry it quickly on high heat.

the fish is a very simple story - you just rub some coarse salt on it, you heat up a tiny bit of oil in a pan, and when it's very hot you sear the fish about 2 minutes on each side. done. the sambal has a bold profile, so to avoid conflicting flavors we season the fish simply.

for the sambal:

2 shallots, or 1 onion, chopped finely;

1 green tomato, cubed, about 1 cup;

1 cup pineapple, cubed;

1/4 cup packed fresh pineapple sage leaves, minced, about 10 to 12;

1 hot pepper, finely chopped, optional;

2 ts sugar;

2 ts sherry vinegar.

once you have everything cubed bite-size, heat up two teaspoons of olive oil and saute the shallot. when it's soft, add the green tomato and the sugar. once it's melted stir in the vinegar, then add the pineapple and mix. finally, stir in the chopped sage and remove from heat. if you wish to add heat, use your favorite pepper - a mild poblano or a gutsy habanero - throw it in after softening the shallot. the whole thing will take you about 5 minutes, and it should all be done on high heat. spoon over the fish and serve.

this was a big hit over here. my daughter eats fish pretty well, but the great thing about this was that she ate the side rice, too. the rice had green beans, carrots and mushrooms, and she really doesn't like the green beans, but when i perched a piece of pineapple on top it had a whole new allure, and for once there was no drama.

cold cucumber-avocado soup with beet mousseline

2010-07-27T21:50:00.001-05:00

i wonder if the comments you leave for me count as social interaction. perhaps if i responded promptly, like i used to, it would. the thing is, i'm ready to move someplace secluded, deep forest, forgotten island, if it will get me some quiet. if it's not some horrible thunderstorm - seriously, did anybody sleep saturday night? - it's neighbours having parties - and when did i turn into the jerk who blows the whistle on party folk? geez, i don't even recognize myself anymore. and it's all from lack of sleep. hence the moving-away-contemplation-thingy. i'm wondering if what we do here counts for human contact. the days i'm not wandering around forgetting what i set out to do, like an old geyser, it does. i can't wait to see what you think. if you replied to my messages. while i take every comment seriously, there's a few people out there whose opinion really matters to me, people i'm not likely to ever meet, but people i've connected to, despite that. so if i take my sweet time responding to comments and emails, it's not because i don't appreciate you. it's because of my drunken-pothead-neighbouritis, okay? it's a serious condition, there's no cure, and the only way to manage it is, well, if you can't beat them...ahem.

luckily, there's this soup. if you've been trying to induce sleep, by methods unnamed, you'll be patting your own backs the next day when this just needs to be poured. you don't even need a spoon, (god knows how people put up with that racket anyway.) it's great if you can chill it overnight, but two to three hours will do. room temp will do. it's delicious, a lot more delicious than i ever imagined cooked cucumbers could be. you can even dispense with the whole mousseline affair, which is just a puree with some whipped cream folded in. if you have the time, though, it's worth it, i've been eating the leftovers on tortilla chips - it put a lot of dips to shame.

cold cucumber-avocado soup, with beet mousseline

adapted from epicurious

for the beets:

4 small to medium red beets

1 tb balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

preheat oven to 400F. wrap each beet in aluminum foil and roast about 1 hour. let cool and rub off skins. pulse in food processor or blender until very smooth, then mix in vinegar, cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. refrigerate.

for the soup:

4 seedless cucumbers, or 8 short stubby ones, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 avocado

1 tb lemon juice

2 tb oregano, finely chopped

1 tb olive oil

2 cups stock or water

1/3 cup sour cream

pinch of white pepper

heat the oil and sweat the onion until translucent. add the oregano and the cucumbers and saute 2 minutes more. add the stock or water and bring to boil. season, then simmer 20 minutes. let cool a few minutes, then blend it up or puree it with an immersion blender. cut the avocado and remove the pit. add the flesh to the soup and douse immediately with lemon juice. blend again til smooth. mix in the sour cream, correct seasoning - salt, white pepper - and you're done.

when you're ready to serve, ladle the soup in bowls and top each serving with a dollop of beet mousseline. garnish with herbs and perhaps a few crushed pistachios. i was out, and just so you know: the original recipe which doesn't contain avocado asks for dill, not oregano, which i think would still work very well here, try it if you have it on hand.

when you mix the two the entire bowl takes on a crazy, completely crazy fuchsia shade, and you think you're still having side effects from the unnamed methods, but then you take a slurp and somehow it makes sense.

roasted grouper with mushrooms and asparagus

2010-07-24T14:30:00.001-05:00

yesterday i had to drive all the way to springfield, so i got up extra early, dropped off my daughter to daycare and by the time i returned my back was hurting, my legs were cramping and i was starving. the traffic was horrible getting back, but i didn't want to stop to eat fearing i wouldn't make it by the time the daycare closed. i realized the fridge was mostly empty and there it is, an unpleasant day all-around. we're all busy. we have long, exhausting days, kids who never tire and zero time for slaving in a hot kitchen. even if we enjoy cooking, there are days when everything seems dead set against a hot meal. i have a few go-to menus set aside for that kind of days. they're not take-out menus. they're dishes you can cook blindfolded and faster than delivery. a lot of them involve pasta, which is fine on a rainy day, but with these insane melting temps i wanted something lighter. in the morning you move some fish from the freezer to the fridge. that's your prep work. when you get home you season it and you put it in the oven. by the time you've washed up, dinner's ready. afterward, you can have one of the lovely peaches you can find now. the day has just gotten better.

this is all you do: preheat the oven to 400F. line a big tray with aluminum foil. trim the asparagus to get rid of the woody part. use a moist paper towel to gently wipe the mushrooms, and halve them if necessary. toss them with a bit of oil and vinegar. i use more than one combo, sometime hazelnut oil/sherry vinegar, sometime olive oil/balsamic, depending on mood and availability. use whatever you have on hand. you need just enough so that everything is coated, but there's no liquid pooling around. season with salt and pepper and lay in a single layer on the baking sheet, leaving room for the fish. put it in the oven. get the fish out and rinse it in cold water if needed. i found a very fresh grouper that still had bone fragments from hasty filleting. dry it on paper towels, then sprinkle evenly with salt, pepper, sweet paprika, garlic powder and dried basil. pour about 1 ts olive oil and work it with your fingers all over. squeeze a few drops of lemon juice and again spread it with your fingers. if your fish still has skin on one side, that's the side you lay it on the sheet, don't bother removing it. the mushrooms and asparagus should have a five-minute head start when you put the fish next to them. cook an additional 15 minutes.

my daughter loves this dish. she gets very excited every time because she gets to do all the sprinkling of condiments on the fish. she's very proud when she eats something she helped cook. the mushrooms absorb a lot of flavor, and they're plump and very juicy, and she likes to mop up the juices with bread. the asparagus is crisp and nutty and it all works together. delicious, efortless and healthy. and because you lined the sheet with foil, you have no pans to wash. it all sounds good to me.

lemon rabbit ragout

2010-07-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

my aunt and uncle have been keeping rabbits ever since i can remember. my aunt cooks it like no one else. she makes unbelivable stews and roasts after marinating the meat for days. her recipes always yield a moist, lean meat, juicy and so flavorful. and i haven't had any since i switched continents. deciding enough is enough, i got one, proceeded to hack it in pieces, and called my aunt to ask what next. of course that's the moment my service provider must act up and refuse to connect anywhere in europe. delightful. no biggie, says i, i'll just marinate it according to julia, and in those 3 days i'll reach my aunt. after 3 days of futile dialing (and the destructive behaviour my phone has had to endure as a result) i switched providers. went over to an uk based company. it works just fine now, but of course by the time the change took effect the rabbit had to be cooked. did not really have a choice but to continue with julia child's recipe.

i adore julia, but this dish cannot hold a candle to my aunt's stew. the meat was juicy and tender, no doubt, but see those lemon slices in the pot? they lend a bitter theme to the dish. if you enjoy a salad of endive and radicchio this will be right up your alley, but for me it lessened the experience. i'd have enjoyed a clean citrus tone a lot more. easily fixed if next time i leave out the lemon slices.

ragout de lapin au citron

adapted from julia child

for the marinade:

one rabbit, cut up

8 garlic cloves, peeled and quartered

3 medium onions, finely sliced

2 medium carrots, sliced

1/3 cup olive oil

1 ts whole-grain mustard

1 lemon, zest minced and juice strained

2 bay leaves

1 rosemary sprig

2 thyme sprigs

1/2 ts salt

mix everything up in a bowl or ziploc bag, then add the rabbit pieces and turn them around so they're covered in the marinade. refrigerate for up to three days, turning them over several times each day. when you're ready to cook it, scrape the marinade off, give it a quick rinse in cold water if it's stubborn and then dry it with paper towels.

for browning and roasting:
2 slices pancetta, cubed (julia says salt pork, but who has that on hand?)
about 1/2 cup flour
2 cups veal or chicken stock

preheat oven to 375F. in a wide, tall skillet heat up a bit of oilve oil. fry the pancetta until crisp, then remove to paper towel to blot excess fat. dredge the rabbit through the flour and sear it on both sides in the rendered fat. be sure it's very hot before you put it in, and don't crowd the pan. remove to side dish. strain the marinade - reserve liquid, and add the vegetables to the hot fat. brown veggies lightly. turn them in a sieve to discard excess fat. now put veggies, rabbit and pancetta in an oven-proof skillet. add the marinade liquid. (at this point you're instructed to lace the dish with one thinly sliced lemon, to each his own!) pour enough stock to barely cover the meat. bring to simmer, taste for salt and put it in the oven. when it's happily bubbling away reduce heat to 325F and let cook about 1 hour, maybe up to 1 1/2 hours. turn and baste every now and then, and do check the meat 50 minutes in. you want tender, but not so much that it falls apart. you can also simmer this on the stove the same amount of time. skim any accumulated fat off the surface.
according to julia, you're supposed to have sauce in the pan by this time. my veggies remained surprisingly intact, so i removed the herbs and the lemon slices and i gave it a go with my immersion blender, then cooked it a little longer with a knob of butter before returning the meat to it. not a bad dish, but my rabbit craving is still unscathed.

blueberry hazelnut muffins & fromage blanc

2010-07-13T12:44:00.000-05:00

i started this post a bunch of times, but didn't have the stamina to finish it. things have conspired to keep me away, but not all of them work-related. we had a nice weekend in the wisconsin dells and we went to michigan to get a bunch of sour cherries. i made jam and liquer and ice cream and i can't wait to tell you all about it. but in my last post i said i would talk about the fromage blanc i used to make the chocolate mousse for the pavlovas. most of the leftover cheese was just slapped on these muffins and eaten together. it was a great flavor combo, if somewhat heavy. the muffins, tolerant enough to accept company, are no push-overs. they know they're not cupcakes. they don't need the frills. they have enough bang on their own, and in this case my beautiful fromage blanc was as superfluous as a frothy ballerina dancing to firecrakers. take off your slippers and enjoy the pretty colors, lady. tomorrow you go back to work, but you're not needed right now. that, and the fact i've lost all but one of the photos, makes me redirect your attention to this artful presentation of fromage blanc. it's a slight adaptation of the recipe i used, from emeril.

it really is a delightful fresh cheese. a lot of people liken it to cream cheese, but i don't think that's quite right. and i certainly don't think them interchangeable in recipes. i find it closer to a very fine-grained ricotta. an improved ricotta al latte, if you will. i like it more than mascarpone. it's not as smooth, and that makes it more versatile. it's spreadable, and you can use it as you would mascarpone, but you can also pile it on toast with a drizzle of warm honey for a great breakfast. it's my favorite for desserts. ever try to make gateau au fromage blanc using cream cheese? don't bother. it's just not the same.

the muffins are a simple affair. what set these blueberry apart for me was the toasted hazelnuts. especially the topping, without it they would be plain, but with that crunch they don't need anything else.

blueberry hazelnut muffins

10 oz or 275 gr fresh blueberries

4 oz or 100 gr chopped toasted hazelnuts

10 oz or 275 gr all-purpose flour

1 tb baking powder

1/2 ts salt

2 large eggs

3 oz or 75 gr caster sugar

6 oz or 170 ml milk

2 oz or 50 gr butter, melted and cooled

2 oz or 50 ml roasted hazelnut oil

1 ts vanilla extract

for topping

4 oz or 100 gr hazelnuts

4 tb turbinado sugar

preheat oven to 400F or 200C. toast all the hazelnuts about 5 minutes and let cool. maintain oven temp. remove skins form hazelnuts and chop finely. sift the flour with the salt and baking powder. in a large bowl mix eggs with sugar, milk, butter and oil. add the vanilla extract. mix to combine well. sift once more the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and fold quickly. fold in blueberries and 4 oz nuts. try to keep stirring to a minimum. spoon in muffin tins just enough to fill. pulse the rest of the nust with the turbinado sugar until finely chopped. divide evenly between muffins - you may not use all of it. bake on high shelf 20 minutes for minis and up to 30 for big ones. remove to rack to cool. yields 24 minis and 6 jumbos.

daring bakers: chocolate pavlova

2010-06-27T22:17:00.000-05:00

i had long wanted to try a chocolate pav, but as usual i procrastinate until the daring bakers make me do it. only one thing to say about it: if ever i make another pav, it'll be a chocolate one. i find it vastly superior to the original white one. once again, i will not transcribe a long story, when you can see it with a click.

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

the meringue part of the equation went without a hiccup. easy-peasy. cockyfied by the success, i take on the mascarpone mousse, only to wreck the chocolate. i honestly don't know what i did to it, but it separated and i had to toss the whole lot. this greatly diminished my modest chocolate stash. and obliterated the mascarpone supply. so i set to remake it, this time aiming for half the quantity - and even so i had left-over mousse! i have no clue how high it was expected to be piled on... anyhoo, i used fromage blanc instead of mascarpone, which i made myself, yay, and i'll tell you all about it tomorrow. it worked flawlessly, i think.

once that was done the mascarpone cream still loomed ahead, and while usually i think anything that lists one recipe creme anglaise as an ingredient is pure ~~evil~~ genius, i simply did not have it in me to add six egg yolks to this dessert. wimp, i know. instead i pooled strawberry coulis underneath. (or, as it was known in its former life, left-over cobbler sauce). to my taste, this was far better than the creme anglaise thing. before you tell me what an arogant prick i am, let me say i know on whose recipe i'm making notes. and i'm not, really - it was just incredibly hot today and the strawberry lent a tart finish that was refreshing, as did the fruit on top.

this was a great challenge. it got me very excited, and even with the mousse fiasco i enjoyed making it. i can't decide if i like the shell or i'm only eating it to get to the fluffy interior, but either way, this is a great recipe to have in my arsenal. and these individual pavs are very elegant, and don't require slicing, which may a considerable plus during a dinner party.

strawberry cobbler

2010-06-22T22:22:00.002-05:00

this past weekend we went strawberry picking at a small organic family farm. it was late in the season, already second pick, which means the fruit is not as big, and i was worried we wouldn't find enough. but there were plenty, and we were enchanted with the quality of it. it didn't look like much when you first looked at it, just rows of plants, not a spot of red in sight. strawberries like to hide, you have to wave your way between the leaves to find them. you couldn't smell them either, the way you can when you go to the market and a smart salesman has placed boxes of them right by the door, to entice you. you can't eat them in the field, either. so you start picking and the first thing you notice is just how much deeper the red of their juice is on your fingers. it stains, so right away you look like you're trying to get away with murder, squatting in some bushes to avoid detection. then you start to smell them. it's sweet but mild, more a memory than an actual olfactory sensation. that's until you load up the car and start back, and the perfume floats around you like thick ropes, forcing you to pull over to get some in the front. you bite, and there's a surprise. there's pure flavor in your mouth. a simple, unadulterated strawberry, becomes so difficult to describe. a lot of supermarket fruit makes me think green. or grass or watery sweet reminiscent of fruit. all i could think when eating these, was red, red all the way back to my fertilizer/pesticide-free childhood.

zhara had a lot of fun. she did some picking, too, and did not discriminate against under-ripe fruit. she got to feed the rotten ones to the chickens, and she was very proud of herself. i was proud of how seriously she took the whole thing, taking great care to not step on any plants, doing all that was asked of her immediately. she was very taken with the resident cats, more than any other animals. i think pretty soon we'll start hearing pleas around here to get a pet. the self-proclaimed strawberry superbaby ate a lot of fresh strawberries, strawberry pancakes, strawberry jam on coconut waffles, and strawberry ice cream - including on top of this cobbler.

i found the recipe for this on the whole foods website. it is delicious, the flavors very well balanced, with just the right amount of sweet. served with ice cream it is downright sinful. the only mandatory observation is this: the 13x9 dish you use better be a tall one, cause this will bubble over with the wrath of hades. and have the sense to put a baking sheet underneath, unlike this idiot here. also, i used turbinado sugar on top instead of brown, and that's the only thing i changed. it makes a lot, serves 10 easily, so you may want to halve it. i'll let you know how it freezes!

p.s.: do not get me started on the eggs we got at this farm. husband thought i lost my head, the way i was fawning over a raw egg in a pan. he said i spent half that time figuring out the new ice cream maker.

p.s.s.: we plan to go back next year.

coconut ice cream

2010-06-19T23:15:00.001-05:00

meet my newest bff. it's the first ice cream i made myself, and to have such success means only one thing: my ice cream maker is going to see a lot of action this summer. this is a very refreshing dessert, with a really nice mouthfeel that will never make you think it's homemade. my machine is not high-end by any means, and still it produced a lovely texture, very creamy with no ice crystals. i am a coconut fanatic. i love it in any shape or form, so this had to be the first thing to try in my brand new ice cream maker.

this recipe comes from bruce weinstein's the ultimate ice cream book, a wondeful collection that includes sorbets and granitas, drinks, toppings, homemade waffle cones and even some savory concoctions. it's one of my favorite cookbooks at the moment. you can also find more ice cream on mark and bruce's blog, real food has curves.

coconut ice cream

featured with permission

1/2 cup toasted shredded sweetened coconut flakes

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 ts cornstarch

1/4 ts salt

1 cup half and half

1 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup heavy cream

2 ts vanilla extract

beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and thick. beat in the salt, cornstarch and vanilla. mix the half and half with the coconut milk and heat until just below boil. temper the eggs with half the mixture, then return everything to the pot and cook until it coats the back of the spoon. strain to get any cooked egg bits out. let cool 5 minutes, then add the cream and mix. add the coconut if using, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate until cold, at least 5 hours or up to overnight. churn in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. [these are not bruce's instructions. i find retelling a recipe helps me memorate it, and i really like knowing the recipes i use so i don't always have to look them up. and i don't have the patience to copy something down word for word.]

i did not have shredded coconut on hand, so i added 1/2 ts coconut extract, fearing it wouldn't be coconutty enough. i did have some quality coconut milk, so it would have been okay without. cornstarch is in there to help the texture. if you have a performant machine you may omit it.

it's a great ice cream, i hope you'll all try it.

eat real food

2010-06-15T22:36:00.001-05:00

it's not easy to buy food anymore. i remember having no choice at the market. there was one kind of sugar, one kind of eggs, and you could only find whatever fruit and vegetable were in season. not once during my childhood have i eaten strawberries in december. today i go to the grocer and there's seven kinds of eggs. conventional, organic, antibiotic-free, no added hormones, free range, and on it goes with everything until i feel like i'm recovering from a vertigo spell. then you hit the meat counter and the implications run deeper than i had imagined.

do you know where your meat comes from? in sweden they've added a second bar code, that brings up images of the farm where the animal was raised, genetic information, health history, what it was fed and other such details. chances are if this were done here you'd loose your appetite. i simply can't believe we've reached a stage when talking about the origins of our food has become inappropriate dinner conversation. salmon farmed like chickens, fed on grain, like chicken. cattle pumped full of antibiotics every day, as preventative measure. the corn they eat mixed with their own fat, which led to the outbreak of mad cow's disease, and has since been replaced with chicken and/or pork fat. add to that some nice feather meal. add to that chicken litter, growth hormones and antibiotics. this is what happens today in industrial cattle feedlots, and it's all deemed acceptable by the FDA and USDA. a cow grows from 80 pounds at birth to 1,100 pounds in 14 months. it used to be at least 3 years before they headed for the slaughterhouse. in 'the omnivore's dilemma' michael pollan recounts how during a visit on a feedlot he asked a manager why they don't liquefy the enormous quantity of manure to spray it on the neighbouring farms. it's because the farmers don't want it: it's so toxic the crops would die. there's more: of the cattle reaching the slaughterhouse, 30% to 70% have abcessed livers. this is the meat we eat, from animals with shot livers and toxic shit.

there's still more: ever give your kid a chicken nugget? me, too. but never again, and here's the many reasons why not: it's 54% corn. of the 38 ingredients, 13 can be derived from corn. on top of those, there's several completely synthetic ones, obtained not from chicken or corn, but from petroleum in a chemical plant. leavening agents, anti-foaming agents, and preservatives, including dimethylpolysiloxene, a suspected carcinogen and an established mutagen, tumorigen and reproductive effector. worse still, 'to help preserve freshness' nuggets are sprayed directly with tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ. this is a form of butane, and according to FDA standards it can comprise up to 0.02% of the oil in a nugget. says pollan, 'which is probably just as well, considering that ingesting a single gram of TBHQ can cause nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation and collapse. ingesting five grams of TBHQ can kill'.

what's with the junk in the picture? it's proof that not all processed food is junk. i bought the pizza dough at trader joe's, and it's done essentially as i would do it. the pizza sauce i got from a can. to those tomatoes only herbes were added, not high fructose corn syrup or thickeners and emulsifiers. the vegetables are organic, and they are local, which means they're as fresh as they come. the goat cheese is a processed food, but only contains goat milk, herbes, garlic and a cheese culture. no exotic molecules. and if you're wondering if it tasted better than its frozen/delivered counterpart, consider this: those veggies, fresh and crisp do not require much intervention. but i did toss them in a bit of cold-pressed olive oil, mixed with a bit of walnut oil, and a splash of toasted sesame seed oil. serve it on a bed of spicy, tender arugula, and this pizza is as far from junk as cake is from cauliflower.

this was brought on by mark's recent post on how to distinguish real food in the sea of processed food. my theory is this - since none of us carry mass spectrometers to the market to analyze the chemical signature of foods, simply and carefully read the ingredient list. do not be duped by flashy 'heart healthy', 'fat-free', 'all-natural' boasts. just look at all the ingredients, and if there's anything in there that your grandma would not recognize, find an alternative. it may be convenient to buy processed foods. but convenient for whom? i think it's more so for the food industry than it may for the consummer. food is my passion, and my absolute priority is my child. and i refuse to feed her stuff that will endanger her health. read 'the omnivore's dilemma' if you haven't already, and read 'real food has curves' by bruce weinstein and mark scarbrough, which is a practical seven step plan to get off processed foods. i can't commit to fully organic, i simply can't afford it. but i can avoid those products so laden with chemicals they can't be called food anymore. and i can look up a near-by farm and sign up for their CSA program, which will provide me with fresh veggies every week, and will at the same time support local agriculture. convenient. and healthy, too.

summer squash oreganata

2010-06-11T14:52:00.000-05:00

this little dish has become a staple in my kitchen lately. it's very simple, but incredibly versatile. so far i've made a bed of it for a white, meaty fish. then i've used it as a spread - i was actually considering naming this squash jam/marmelade, it's so inspired as spread! if you add a bit of heat it can put a salsa to shame. it makes for a great base on pizza, under some goat cheese and olives. finally, i used it as garnish on pork chops, just as i would onion marmelade.

this is based on a traditional transylvanian dish i ate frequently growing up. though for some unexplained reason my mom didn't make it, i always found it at friends' houses. it's a delicious puree that uses either leeks or green onions, the squash, and some cream and thyme to finish it. i love it, but my daughter wouldn't go for it. i had to tweak it to make it more attractive for her, and as she likes tomato-based dishes, this is what resulted. she ate it twice already, it's a resounding success!

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, finely sliced

4 medium sized summer squashes, grated

3 tb butter

3/4 cup tomato sauce

1 tb fresh basil, chiffonade

2 tb fresh oregano, minced

salt, white pepper to taste

first heat up the butter and saute the leeks over low heat until they are soft, about 10 minutes. grate the squash - i do it on the coarse grater, because i like some texture. add the squash and raise the heat to medium high. give it a stir and once everything is heated through lower the heat to medium low and cook it down until most squash juice is gone, about 15-20 minutes. add the tomato sauce (i like to simmer mine to make it thick and pulpy, and i take care to season it well) and cook a few minutes more. add the herbs, season, and done. good hot or room temp. try using half squash, half eggplant, or add mushrooms or beans. any way you take, it will lead someplace delicious.

how to make your own rose water

2010-06-07T23:49:00.000-05:00

in a pinch i suppose you could pour hot water over petals, let it infuse, then strain it, and there. you will get rose water, but you'll also get a coloration ranging from pretty pink to murky yuck. it also goes bad very fast, within a few days. the alternative is a bit more elaborate, but totally doable. and it yields a clear liquid, perfumed with all the promise a rose carries, and a floral-sweet taste. while not shelf stable, it will keep in the fridge for about a month.

first get out the tallest stockpot you have. then put in a tall heatproof dish, like a ramekin or a souffle dish. put the rose petals all around it. you want 6-7 cups, they'll come higher up than the ramekin, so press them down gently. then start adding water, until the petals are loosely packed in it. you don't want them floating atop an ocean. the water must not be higher up than three quarters of the height of the ramekin. set the pot over medium heat. then get a glass bowl that will fit snugly on top of your stockpot, so you'll have a double boiler. no steam must escape. the bottom of the bowl must not touch the rim of the dish inside. fill the bowl halfway with ice. place it on top of the stockpot: you've created a still. bring the heat to medium high and watch how all the condensed rose water will drip back in the ramekin. don't remove bowl to see how much you have. don't let it boil more than 45 minutes to 1 hour, you'll only dilute the stuff. let cool, pour into clean bottles and refrigerate. if anyone knows of a non-chemical way to make it shelf stable, i'd appreciate the heads up.

if this post is alambicated, please leave a comment and i'll try to offer a clearer explanation.

berry cherry rose crostata

2010-06-05T20:45:00.000-05:00

these are my favorite fruits, all on one pie. maybe cherries would not be quite so special if they had a longer season. things being what they are, as soon as they appear i eat giant heaps, fresh, every day. only towards the end of the season i get around to cooking them. this year i finally beat the odds. though they're featured with strawberries and raspberries, it's a start. a very delicious, tart-sweet start. zhara, still in love with everything lemon, and very much into cherries and berries, was over the moon for this. this dessert just flies off the plate, so i always make two. for a single pie halve the ingredients, but the pastry freezes nicely, so you might as well.

first you make the pastry:

3 cups or 420 gr all-purpose flour

4 tb or 60 gr granulated sugar

2 1/2 sticks or 282 gr unsalted butter, very cold, cut in small pieces

5-6 tb rose water, recipe follows

1/2 ts salt

mix the flour with the salt and sugar in your food processor. add the butter, a couple pieces at a time, and pulse until you have that wet sand look. add the rose water, one tb at a time. you may need less, depending on your butter and the weather. you want to stop when you have moist clumps forming. form a mass with your hands, divide it in two, gather each into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour. it's best to be a bit compulsive about these things and weigh your pieces to make sure they're equal.

for the fruit you need:

4 cups/about 375 gr fresh strawberries, cherries and raspberries

1 tb cornstarch

1/2 cup rose jam + 2 tb for glazing

4 tb lemon curd

egg wash

preheat the oven to 375F. wash, hull/pit and slice your fruit. sift the cornstarch over it and toss gently to combine. let sit while you roll out the dough. i recommend you do that directly on a sheet of parchment paper, as it's a delicate pastry and will most likely tear when you try to transfer it. if you roll it out directly on parchment it's easy to slide it on a cookie sheet. i use my biggest one, and a big sheet of parchment so i can bake both crostatas at the same time. once you have the dough rolled out into 10-inch circles, transfer them to the baking sheet and begin assembly: smear 2 tb lemon curd on each. then gently toss the fruit with the rose jam, taking care not to crush it. divide equally between the two crostatas. spread the fruit leaving a 1-inch border. turn the edges over the filling, pleating and pinching any cracks. paint the border with egg wash and bake in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry is nicely golden. when it's almost done, take them out and paint a thin layer of jam over the fruit. only one is glazed in the second pic, see the difference? let bake 2 minutes more. remove from heat and let cool on baking sheet.

this is a very fragrant dessert. it's floral, but with a pronounced lemon backbone, a nice play on the sweet/tart combo. you could always sprinkle some demerara sugar on top before baking. adding sugar to the fruit will only cause more juice that's likely to spill out.

as far as the rose water is concerned, i feel this post is long enough, so we'll talk about it in the next one. it's not that i don't want to tell you now, but i have one last piece of this crostata in the fridge, and i take that very seriously. seriously wrong. needs to be fixed.right.now. that reminds me: serve it with strawberry ice cream or lemon gelato. yum.

candied rose petals

2010-06-01T23:00:00.000-05:00

if you're anything like me, your cakes don't look exactly like those on tv. ok, nothing like those. when zhara turned two and asked for a spongebob cake i wanted to try a 3D thing, with figurines made out of fondant and all that glee, but what resulted was a flat sheet cake, covered in fondant, made into spongebob's face, with only his nose sticking up. i'm not saying candied rose petals would help us out of that lurch, but: those of you whose daughters are into the whole princess scene, you're golden. you can just smear pink frosting on a yellow cake, scatter a few of these, and done. high tea fancy.

you won't believe how easy it is. i always imagined making candied roses or violets is some painstaking horror trial. all you need is patience. the smaller the flower, the more patience you need. large petals are a breeze, but i wouldn't want them on a cupcake. smaller petals are required for such treats.

anyhoo, the process is the same no matter what type of flower you're setting out to crystallize. all you need is an egg white, some caster sugar, a pinch of food coloring and a small paint brush. you want to color the caster sugar to match as closely as possible the color of the flowers. you could use white sugar, but the finished petal will not look quite as pretty. beat the egg white a few times with a fork. you don't want foam. you just want the albumen to relax a bit. older eggs work better than very fresh ones. then you brush each petal with a very thin layer or egg white, and you dredge through the sugar, taking care to shake off any excess. lay the petals to dry on waxed paper. turn them a few times in the first three hours to ensure even drying on both sides. leave to dry for a couple days. keep air-tight forever. or until princess cakes are needed.

minted rose jam

2010-05-30T23:26:00.001-05:00

apparently i'm on some kind of flower jam bender. after all the fun with lilac, and with the collaboration of my garden, ta-da. rose jam. (if i wasn't so very tired, i'd put a few exclamation points after that ta-da, but in my current state the sight of a cold cosmo appearing out of thin air couldn't provoke a tingle of excitement, and that's all i have to look forward to momentarily). of course the most fragrant of them, the red, velvet ones died away as i was looking for recipes. and while we're here, let me tell you: i couldn't find one i liked. this jam is a dessert in itself, the old-fashioned preserves served with a tall frosty glass of water. i want jam. jam i can spread on toast on copious amounts, that won't make my teeth fall out the next day. that won't make me feel there's not enough water in the world to quench my thirst. those preserves - together with the green walnut preserves - were a thrill when i was six. now, not so much. so i've pretty much had to wing it.

don't ask what kind of roses i used. i'll say pink. i'm as clueless as they come, i have no idea about species. i used some orange and red ones that were very fragrant. but i didn't have a lot of those, so i bulked it up with some pink ones. thankfully you don't need their latin names to make them into jam.

one important thing is to use flowers that have not been sprayed. you also need to cut the lower white part of each petal, as it can render your jam bitter. you can snip the whole flower with scissors, you don't have to do it petal by petal. (i only thought of it rather accidentally, towards the end. sigh.) that's why it's not recommended to work with white roses - you'll never know where the white spots begins.

as i wanted something that's not terribly sweet, i used the zest of two lemons, in addition to the juice. it's not tart, but it has a nice acidity to it, and the zest only enhances the fragrance. i also added some mint, not enough to make a statement, just enough to bring another note, to make you wonder. i considered adding a few white peppercorns to the mix, but look at it. it's the uber princess treat. no way my daughter would not pierce my eardrums if she couldn't have it.

so here's how you get four 10 oz jars of this amazing jam. get 5 cups, packed, of petals into a pot, and pour 5 cups of water over them. then add 2 cups of sugar, the juice of a lemon, the zest of 2, finely grated, and a ts of vanilla extract and stir. bring to boil and then simmer for 20 minutes. add 4 sprigs of spearmint. simmer 10 minutes more. remove mint and discard. add 2 pouches liquid pectin while stirring constantly. bring to a rolling boil - one that no amount of stirring can simmer down - and cook one minute, stirring the whole time. remove from heat and pour into clean, hot jars. sterilize or keep refrigerated.

as it often happens with me, as it was time to add the pectin i find there's not enough powdered stuff, and not enough fluid stuff either. so i used 1 liquid pouch, and 1 tb powdered, dissolved in the juice of a small lemon. probably 2 tb should suffice, if you're using dry pectin. if you're very cool, you can make your own like celia, and never have to use cheap tricks like that. you can also put the petals with the sugar and a bit of water in the food processor before cooking. but you should know the petals melt down and add nice texture, so it's entirely not necessary.

those petals strewn about? we'll talk about them tomorrow.

p.s.: that label on the jar, that looks like it might've been made by a blind bat (which i am, but nevermind)? actually made by my daughter. pretty cool, huh. not bad cursive for 2 1/2. of course, by 'made' i mean she was having a taste test right next to me while i realized i didn't have my glasses on, immediately after sticking it on the jar.

strawberry apricot cake with lemon lilac mousse

2010-05-24T15:24:00.001-05:00

last night hubs and i were talking about our favorite dishes. his are etched in stone. mine change with the seasons, with the discovery of new ingredients. he's got one breakfast, a couple soups, a couple mains, and one dessert. i could stand here all day and prattle on about mine. then we got to talking about the ultimate meal. the one you ordered if you knew you were going to die. his last bite on earth is one of his predictible favorites. beans and sausage. beef soup. corned beef hash and eggs. apple pastries. i will never be able to pick a definite, durable winner. but this cake is as good as anything, today.

after all the fuss with the lilac jelly i had to come up with stuff to use it in, other than eating it out of the jar with a spoon, at 11pm, when i went to the fridge to get 'water'. mousse was the first thing that crossed my mind. but there's something you should know about this cake: its name is albie and it's a frequent visitor. it's got a picture on the wall, like any dear relative. i make it all the time, year-round, with all sorts of fruit, fresh or frozen, and we have it with just a sprinkling of powdered sugar. it's awesome on its own. when you add that mousse you're just going overboard. in a really good way, that will never attract the dissaprovement of the clan.

for the cake:
4 eggs, separated
1 scant cup or 215gr granulated sugar
1/2 cup or 113gr unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 tb or 60gr walnut oil
3/4 cup or 185ml milk
1 3/4 cups or 240gr all-purpose flour
1 1/2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts vanilla extract
2 cups chopped strawberries and apricots, about 325gr

sift the flour with the baking powder and a pinch of salt and set aside. beat the 4 yolks with the sugar and the butter. then add the oil and the vanilla. (if you don't have walnut oil, which is wonderful and you really should try it, you can use all butter or canola oil). alternate the flour and the milk in two additions. with clean beaters, beat the whites to stiff but not dry peaks. gently fold the whites in the batter and pour in a 13x9 pan lined with parchment. toss the fruit with 2 ts flour and place evenly over the batter. bake at 350F about 35-40 minutes. let cool in pan a few minutes, then turn unto rack and peel off parchment.

for the mousse:
1 cup prepared lilac jelly
1 oz or 28 gr gelatine
2 cups heavy cream
3 tb lemon juice
3 tb powdered sugar
pinch purple coloring, optional
2 oz chocolate, shaved, on top

sprinkle the gelatine over the lemon juice and let sit to soften. gently heat up the jelly on low heat. right below boiling, when you see little bubbles forming on the sides of the pan, add the lemon juice with the gelatine and stirr constantly until dissolved. remove from heat and let cool, stirring occasionally. you don't want to let it jell, it will be hard to work with. beat the cream to soft peaks. add the powdered sugar and continue beating until stiff. gently fold in the cooled jelly. the mixture will be soft. add the food coloring if desired and mix well.

line the same pan with plastic wrap. put the cake back in it and pour the filling over it. smooth the top and refrigerate for at least a couple hours, up to overnight. before serving top with chocolate shavings. bittersweet works best. it really does add one more dimension, don't skip it.

the picture above is the shining example of 'do what i say, not what i do'. i am gluttonous and impatient, and that's why this cake here isn't as fluffy as usual. i made the mousse while the cake cooled, then assemble it right away. this does not work. you must allow the cake to be completely cool, at least 4 hours, before you pour the mousse. also: this will be quite a lemony mousse, which i thought ideal in the 86F we had yeasterday. it was very refreshing! but taste as you go, and either sub some of the juice with water, or add more sugar...

what's your last bite on earth?

la-la-la... lilac jelly

2010-05-21T15:47:00.002-05:00

it will make you sing, too. next year it will, unless you're very lucky. lilac season is over and i feel criminally neglijent posting this now, but i discovered this little miracle very late myself. a facebook friend pointed me to makka's kitchen, and as soon as i read it, i marched in the back yard, just in time to pick the last viable flowers. they were right at the top, and i had to pull at the branches like a savage, much to my daughter's delight. the bush was wet after the rain, but it was all worth it. the never ending plucking of tiny stems. worth it. next year said daughter will be doing the grunt work, nothing like little fingers for this job, if you ask me.

4 cups lilac flowers

3 cups water, boiling

1/2 ts vanilla extract

1 scant tb or 12,5 gr pectin

4 tb lemon juice

1 cup sugar

first take a deep breath and pluck all flowers clean off the stem. they come off easily, but you must be patient because there are so many. absolutely no green parts. reject any blemished or discolored flowers. then put them in a big jar and pour the hot water over them. cover and let it infuse 6 hours.

strain the infusion. press the flowers to be sure you get every drop. discard the flowers. put the infusion in a stainless pot, and add the lemon juice and vanilla. mix the pectin in the sugar and then add this mixture to the infusion, mixing constantly. bring to a rolling boil and cook 2 minutes. turn off the heat. lilac can turn bitter very easily, do not overcook. skim the surface and pour into little jars.

beside those two 8 oz jars i got a bit over 1/3 cup which dissapeared immediately.

this recipe is shown as featured on makka's blog. i had a bit of a problem: the jelly did not jell properly. some take longer than others, so i patiently waited a few days, but there was no improvement. the way to fix a stubborn jelly is this: pour it back in the pan and add 1 1/2 tb sugar per cup of jelly. heat it up. in a small pan mix 1 tb water/cup with 1 ts lemon juice/cup with 1 1/2 ts pectin/cup and bring to boil. pour this mixture in the hot jelly and bring to a rolling boil. cook 30 seconds. remove from heat and pour in clean jars.

even though it's not a big deal to fix, i don't really know why it refused to jell, and i think next year i'll just use the entire packet of pectin to avoid this situation.

as for the taste: if you ever had rose jam, or any flower jam, you know that delicious, incredible perfume they carry. it really does taste as i imagined a thousand times while smelling the flowers. i always thought, oh, if only i could eat them! it's floral, and sweet, with a lemon note at the end. absolutely delectable!

stay tuned for its first application. well, the second, if you count all the buttered lilac toast we've eaten.

hazelnut butter cookies

2010-05-20T00:51:00.002-05:00

or, the easiest, speediest, tastiest 4-ingredient cookie ever.
a lot of people i know don't like making cookies. it's not because they're difficult to make. they're not. but they are time-consumming, and messy, if they're the kind you roll out. what drives me up the wall is the way a cookie dough will turn into unworkable mush the second it detects the smallest amount of warmth. then you gotta chill it, and then it's hard to work with because it's cold. within a second it's mush again. make up your mind, cookie! what do you want to be?!
well this cookie wants to be a pillow. a pillow of buttery, feathery awesomness. i think they actually floated out of the oven, they're so light. you can't touch them at all those first few minutes. one finger poke and they disintegrate, like a dream you can't hold on to when you wake up.

you do need a food processor to make these, or something to grind up the hazelnuts. although i guess if you had to mix them by hand, they wouldn't be quite so easy peasy.

hazelnut butter cookies

recipe from epicurious.com

1 cup or 150 gr hazelnuts

1/2 cup or 110 gr granulated sugar

1 1/2cups or 210 gr all-purpose flour

2 sticks or 226 gr butter, cold and cut in pieces

a couple squares of chocolate, melted, optional

preheat oven to 350F or 170C. toast the hazelnuts 6-7 minutes, until frangrant and golden. let them cool a minute, then put them in a kitchen towel and rub the skins off. pulse the nuts with the sugar in the food processor until finely ground, don't let them go to paste. then add the flour with a pinch of salt (no sifting needed, thank you very much) and pulse to mix well. add the butter, all at once, and pulse a few times, until you get that wet sand look. pinch it with two fingers - if it stays clumped you're good to go. gather into a ball and turn onto a floured surface. split the dough in two equal pieces and roll into logs about 1 inch thick. wrap in plastic. chill at least one hour, up to overnight. or place in the freezer for 10 minutes, if you can't wait. or chill one and freeze the other. anyhoo, when you're ready simply slice crosswise into 1/3 inch or 1 cm thick slices. it's a good idea to put your baking sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes. then line it with parchment, and slice directly on the sheet. arrange cookies 1 inch apart and bake about 15 minutes. oven temperatures vary, be sure to watch them 8-10 minutes in. the edges will be barely golden. the middle will look just set, but not wet. do not touch - your imprint will stay there. let cool a few minutes on the sheet, then pull the entire parchment onto the rack. they're very delicate while they're still hot. when they're cool you can drizzle chocolate on top.

there are two things i messed with. first, i doubled the recipe right off the bat. that part was a bit compulsive. then, the recipe instructs you to wait 2 minutes after taking them out of the oven, and dip tops in sugar. this i find uninteresting and somewhat unappetizing, not to mention completely impossible to do. these things crumble if you frown in their direction. i drizzled some milk chocolate instead - would've gone with dark, but that's not in my toddler's top 10. delicious the first day, even better the second. one log yields 16 cookies.

asparagus beef roll-ups

2010-05-14T14:26:00.001-05:00

hello. my name is dana and i'm an addict.

some while back i noticed a cookbook called 'vegetables for vitality' on a friend's shelf. i thumbed through it, all the while telling my friend how my vegetables are so lame, how my range is so limited because with us it's always about the protein, veggies are most often side dishes, stuff i don't pay much attention to. i decide then and there i must cook more vegetables. i must try new stuff. i must make more salads. she very kindly lends me the book, to assist me in my new resolution. i promise to return it soon. i'm pretty sure that was happening almost a year ago. i cannot return books. that's why i seldom borrow them from the library, it's always so hard to give them back. i love the content, sure, but i also love the book itself, the idea of the book. and cookbooks are a great weakness of mine. i love the new, glossy one with pretty pictures, just as much as i cherish julia child's black-and-white, or my grandma's old notebook. so i guess what i'm trying to say, dear friend, is that i'll keep dodging you until you forget it's me you lent it to. (and don't think you can hold the rushdie i gave you hostage because seriously i will climb up your balcony at night and break it free).

in my defense, i have been cooking quite a lot from it. i have eaten more vegetables. in fact, this whole week i've been perfectly content with tomatoes and feta as dinner, or radishes and cucumbers with goat cheese. not even a dressing on them. really. and after a row of simple snacks like that, this thing tasted like ambrosia.

with some prep work done ahead of time, this plate can hit the table in ten minutes. plenty to get addicted to.

asparagus beef roll-ups

adapted from vegetables for vitality, the reader's digest, 2004

1 lb sirloin steak, thinly sliced

1 bunch asparagus

1 bunch scallions

1 tb olive oil

3 tb teriyaki sauce

1 tb sesame seeds, lighlty toasted

cut the beef so you have rectangles 1 inch wide and 3 inches long. pound them so they're very thin, about 1/8 inch. season with salt and pepper. cut the asparagus in 3 inch long pieces. i like to use only the tips for this. reserve the rest for another use. trim the green part of the scallions to the same size. reserve the white part for another use. blanch the asparagus for one minute. meaning, throw them in boiling water, and after one minute drain and plunge into an ice bath to stop cooking. do not overcook. take 3 asparagus tips and 1 scallion piece and form a bundle. roll beef around middle of veggies. at this point you can refrigerate the whole deal for a couple hours, but be sure to let it come back to room temp before cooking.

heat the oil and sear the beef on all sides, on high heat, about 3-4 minutes. add the teriyaki sauce, lower the heat to medium, and cook 2 more minutes, shaking the pan to get everything glazed. plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds. (this is also when you'd sprinkle some chopped cilantro, if you were so inclined). spoon pan juices all over.

in case anybody cares, the stuff underneath is lemon thyme orzo, which also cooks up in ten minutes and goes with it like a baby with his mama. it has a subtle flavor, with no acidic background because only the zest is used. there's also a bit of parmesan added at the end, which makes it creamy and risotto-like. it soaks up the pan juices and becomes an impossibly delicious sidekick. that's all, folks. eat asparagus roll-ups and don't lend me your books.

cheesy bacon tomato strata

2010-05-11T14:45:00.000-05:00

my friends - real life and virtual - who have kids have been taunting me with stories of breakfasts in bed, of coffee drunk while taking in the bacon smells filling the house, of kiddies invading the bed while their husbands presented them with flowers. it's not that my bed doesn't get invaded. it does, whether i want it or not. but my husband is as ineffectual in the kithchen as the proverbial elephant. he doesn't even like to reheat leftovers, let alone cook from scratch. the only way i'll ever eat breakfast in bed is if i cook it in my sleep. so cook it in my sleep i did.

stratas are very smart dishes, very easy to prepare and so tasty. even people who don't really like eggs enjoy them. plus, the strata is infinetely variable. it's a great way to clean out the fridge. it's slices of bread, layered with meat and/or veggies, then drenched in a milk and eggs mixture, and baked. the trick is you can prepare it the night before and let it sit overnight. the bread will soak up the liquid and bake up wonderfully moist and fluffy. (in a hurry, it still must rest one hour).

4 big slices of bread, or 8 square sandwich slices, day old

4 eggs

1 cup milk

2 tomatoes, thinly sliced

2 slices munchee, or provolone, or swiss

5 oz feta, crumbled

4 slices turkey breast, or ham, or salami

1 ts dried oregano

4 slices turkey bacon

salt, pepper

in an 8 inch square dish place two slices of bread - or as many it takes for the bottom of the dish to be completely covered. trim to size if needed. then layer two slices of turkey, two of munchee, half the feta. then arrange one sliced tomato on top and repeat. only this time finish with the munchee on top. beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper. mix in the milk and the oregano. pour over the layers. now cover the dish with some aluminum foil, placing it directly on the cheese, and put some weight on it - a pan with a big can or jar, something to keep it pressed. refrigerate overnight.

in the morning, fake a bout of somnambulism and preheat the oven to 350F. uncover the strata, put it in the oven and sneak back to bed. or make coffee and set the table, i'm not forcing you to sleep. after 30 minutes remove from the oven and place the bacon on top, and bake until it's nice and crispy, about 10 minutes more. i did not have turkey bacon, and i had to blot out a lot of excess fat. entirely not recommended before the second coffee cup. so use the turkey bacon and save yourselves the trouble.

do you see how moist it is? it was incredible, light and fluffy, but very, very filling. we had a late breakfast and didn't need anything until dinner. we spent the day working in the garden, mowing and pulling weeds. it's too cold to plant! my tomatoes are ready to go outside, but the outside is not ready for the tomatoes. how lamentable. the best part of it was that zhara kept yelling 'happy mother's day!' because she saw i was getting a kick out of it. that, and all the hugs and kisses.

laura's orange poppyseed cake

2010-05-09T01:22:00.002-05:00

and happy mother's day, too! i made this cake yesterday, after seeing it on laura's blog - boy, i'll never say i don't believe in love at first sight anymore! - and it'll be the stand-in for the usual mother's day cake, which this year will not be happening, as the husband is dieting. i'm not dieting (mind you, not cause i wouldn't need it, but i'm simply, completely incapable). either way, who needs to have an entire cake for themselves in the fridge?! especially when there's still two generous slices of this bundle of sunshine in this house.

for the cake:

2 cups or 270 gr all-purpose flour

1 cup packed or 175 gr dark brown sugar

3 eggs

14 tb or 2 sticks minus 1 tb or 200 gr unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup or 185 gr milk

1 1/2 ts baking powder

2 oz or a scant 1/2 cup or 60 gr poppyseeds

1/2 cup or 125 gr orange juice

zest of one orange, finely grated

for the syrup:

1 cup or 250 gr orange juice

1 cup or 235 gr turbinado/white sugar

zest of one orange, pith removed and thinly sliced

1 vanilla bean

preheat the oven to 325F or 160C. sift the flour with the baking powder and a pinch of salt and set aside. cream the butter with the sugar and zest. when it's fluffy add the eggs, one at a time. mix in the flour, then add the milk, the orange juice and finally the poppyseeds. pour the batter in a buttered and floured 9 inch cake pan, and bake about 50 minutes, unitl it's nicely golden and it's beginning to pull away from the edge.

for the syrup, remove the zest with a potato peeler and julienne it. laura says to blanch it first, but i completely spaced out about it and it was just fine. blanched or not, mix it with the sugar and the juice. split and scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean and put them in, with the pod. boil gently until syrupy, about 10 to 15 minutes. this happened much faster for me, 5 to 7 minutes. don't let it thicken because it will thicken some once it cools.

when the cake is ready let it rest a few minutes in its pan. invert to plate and pour 1/2 the syrup all over. serve with extra syrup on each plate.

i love poppyseeds, and i'll always leap at a chance to use them that doesn't involve a yeasted dough that takes several hours to make. this cake is sweet, sweeter than i generally like my desserts, but somehow i found myself wanting a second slice. i think it's the candied orange that did the trick - it balances the syrup, giving it the faintest bitter atfertaste, a whisper, really, but that's all that's needed. loved it, thank you laura!

and, happy mother's day to you all. zhara and i picked these lilly-of-the-valley from the spread alongside the garage. their perfume is intoxicating, right now they're my favorite flowers.

green goddess salad

2010-05-06T23:12:00.003-05:00

before you all gang up on me and tell me this is not how green goddess is done: i know. this is my green goddess. i don't like anchovies, especially not without the pretense of having cooked them. so there are none of those in this dressing. but you might like the rest...

green goddess is one of my favorite dressings. it occured to me it has no standing salad recipe. so why should cesar feel so superiour? especially when it's spring, and there's bountiful asparagus, and bright radishes and yay, spring mix that actually tastes like it should.

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut in inch pieces

1 cucumber, peeled and cut

1/2 zucchini, cut

5 red radishes, thinly sliced

4 scallions, white and green part separated

3 handfuls spring mix

4 oz feta cheese, preferably an aged one, crumbled

sliced almonds, toasted

1 tb sesame seeds, toasted

to trim the asparagus you hold each end in one hand and you bend it. it'll snap, and that's where you cut the rest of your bunch. save the trimmings for soup or stock. blanch it and set it in a strainer. cut the cucumber and the zucchini to the same rough size as the asparagus. thinly slice the radishes. cut the green part of scallions to size. mix all the veggies and the cheese with the spring mix. if you're reluctant to use raw zucchini, you can always blanch it with the asparagus, or you can roast both at 400F for 15 minutes.

now for the dressing:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup mayo, preferably homemade

3 tb lemon juice

1 tb fresh tarragon, finely chopped

1 tb fresh parsley, finely chopped

4 scallions, white part only

1 tb tahini

1 tb extra-virgin olive oil

salt, pepper to taste

put everything in a blender and give it a whirr. if you have to do it by hand, be sure to mince everything!

you won't need all of it for a single salad. put the rest in a lidded container and keep for a week in the fridge.

when you've tossed the salad with the dressing, toast some almonds and some sesame seeds and sprinkle them on top. serve at once.

i absolutely love the asparagus - sesame seed flavor combo. nut on nut, like tone-sur-tone of the same color. after i took this photo i actually went back and sprinkled twice as much on. please, believe me: homemade mayo tastes nothing like the stuff you buy jarred. all it takes is one sampling to know the difference. it's easy to make, and maybe it's a minor detail, but if you have food on the brain, it will rock your world. go see what posessed nancy of roving lemon's big adventure to make her own. there's reasons beside taste to make mayo at home. (but if you do it just for taste, that's ok too.)

p.s.: this is the first salad i've included on this blog. part of it is, i don't think we really need recipes for salad. part is, salad is not my thing. i don't fawn over salad. it doesn't stay on my mind for days. i don't quiver with anticipation of the first bite. this, however, got me pretty excited. i'd been thinking about it the entire afternoon. in the 2 minutes between putting down my daughter for the night and grey's anatomy starting on tv, i assembled it, top speed and fork in hand i got to the table as my show started. it really was everything i had hoped. and then enters the patient. if tonight's episode didn't spoil my appetite, nothing will. i think maybe i would have stopped eating if i wasn't enjoying it so much. besides, i grew up with my cousins, all boys, and i think i've seen far more disgusting things at the table. anyhoo, long live salad! and spring!

peaches'n'cream lemon braid

2010-05-03T21:58:00.000-05:00

i spotted this little wonder on the king arthur flour site. all i did was add peaches to the mix, i found a bag in the back of my freezer while the dough was rising and i couldn't resist. these are best served the same day. if you must store them keep them on the counter, covered with a kitchen towel. do not wrap in plastic. don't refrigerate, and only sprinkle confectioner's sugar the day you serve them. oh, and i also added citrus zest to the dough. one lemon and one orange. i honestly don't think the lemon would have come through without it. and i mixed the lemon curd in the cream cheese filling, i was pressed for time and did not need two separate layers. and i used sourcream instead of yoghurt, you know how i get if i have to go to the store for a single ingredient. and i sprinkled some sliced almonds on top. other than that, i followed te recipe to the letter and it was very good, especially with fruit. went great with coffee. zhara loved this one!

lemon pineapple biscotti

2010-04-27T22:13:00.003-05:00

these things have tortured me since sunday night, when the idea of lemon-pineapple biscotti first occured. first thing monday morning i rush to trader joe's, but they had no pineapple (and no hazelnuts, incidentally, which i needed for another project) and as there was no time to go to a different store they had to wait until today. or, i had to wait, and i don't do patient. not with a craving the size of montana.

it was a rough night, but here we are. zhara got very excited at the prospect of cookies, and she yelled 'me too' after every single gesture of mine. not to mention i had to measure the pineapple three times cause some of it kept dissapearing. (one mangled piece mysterioulsy reappeared in her hair.)
this recipe is featured in the recipe booklet that came with my food processor. the other morning i was de-junking my flyer drawer when i found the booklet. it's been sitting there for the past two years. there's more to come from it, a great little recipe for banana bread. anyhoo, this biscotti recipe originally had a lot more sugar and ginger, which i don't particularly enjoy, but i loved the lemon part so i started from there.

3 oz or 87 gr white chocolate
2 oz or 58 gr crystallized pineapple
12 oz or 2 1/2 cups or 345 gr all-purpose flour
2 ts or 10 gr baking powder
1/4 ts salt
zest of 3 lemons
3/4 cup or 158 gr sugar
1/2 cup or 113 gr unsalted butter, room temp
2 large eggs
1 tb brandy or grand marnier
1 tb vanilla extract

preheat oven to 325F or 160C.
chop chocolate so no piece is larger than 1/4 inch. if you have chips you're all set. do the same for the pineapple and reserve. sift together flour, salt and baking powder and reserve. using a vegetable peeler remove the zest from the three lemons in strips. process the zest with 1/4 cup of the sugar until minced. add the remaining sugar and the butter and process until smooth. the mixture may look curdled. with the processor running, add the eggs one at a time. and the grand marnier or brandy and the vanilla. scrape the bowl. add the flour, chopped chocolate and pineapple and process to incorporate. turn out to a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball. the dough will be rather sticky, be sure to flour your hands too. (when zhara saw this, she started again with the me toos, so i pulled the salt dough and talked sweetly about her having her own work station on the other counter. really i was thinking i'd rather be dragged around by wild horses than let her schmear that stuff all over the kitchen. cooks with toddlers, be warned.)

so once you have it into a ball, divide in two and shape into logs. you can make them as wide as you like, they won't spread too much. they will rise to about double. put them on ungreased sheets bake for 22 minutes. remove from the oven, let them sit for 5-10 minutes or until you can handle them, and slice using a serrated knife. place them back on the sheets, cut side up, and bake another 20 to 25 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like them. 20 was plenty for me. when you take them out they will still be kinda soft, but that's no indication. they will harden as they cool. once they're cooled you can drizzle more chocolate on top, they really are not that sweet and can easily afford another layer. store airtight for 6 weeks. they freeze well, too. they're my number one cookie.

later update: it's been 36 hours since they're out of the oven. they're firm, no doubt, but not hard. they don't really stand up to repeated dunking. it suits me fine cause zhara has taken quite the liking to them, but if you like yours good and sturdy consider adding 1/4 cup fine cornmeal when you mix in the flour. that way you'll get more crunch.

in the garden

2010-04-27T15:07:00.000-05:00

i've been spending a good amount of time weeding and planting lately. i'll never be a passionate gardener. those weeds grow too fast and do there really have to be so many worms and bugs in the ground?! fortunately, i like herbs more than i dislike bugs. and once i decided to grow herbs, the rest just followed. i planted onion, carrots, and parsley. i have heirloom tomatoes growing on the windowsill, and when it's warm enough i'll also put in green beans, cucumbers and bell peppers. perhaps corn, just two or three so we can boil it young and have it with herbed salted butter. i haven't photographed all of it, but here's a few...

cake poire belle helene

2010-04-26T23:47:00.001-05:00

there is no such cake. this is simply what happens when you get crazy excited about a dessert and you must make a ton of it. the poire belle helene is a pear poached in syrup infused with vanilla bean, lemon zest and cinnamon stick. and then drenched in a ridiculous chocolate sauce. how could i resist? of course the whole thing was too much for two, so i decided to dress up the leftovers.

first i made the pears according to tyler florence's recipe. sadly, it's not one i recommend. the pears are magnificent, yes, but the chocolate recipe is off: it produces a much larger quantity than what is needed for 6 pears, and it's too thin for my taste. next time i will use the recipe on delia online.

the next day the sauce had hardened and so it was impossible to use as intended. i whipped it up, as you would a ganache, and used it to fill a red velvet cake, along with my go-to lemon whipped cream, and the perfumed pears atop. for the cake i followed paula deen's recipe. the only modification i made to it was to replace two tablespoons of the sugar quantity with cocoa. i like that it has a whole cup of buttermilk, it's a fluffy cake with a tender crumb. for the lemon whipped cream all you need is 2 cups heavy cream beaten stiff, then 2 tb confectioner's sugar, then 4 - 5 tb lemon curd mixed in, according to your taste. check out celia's microwave lemon curd, it's bound to make your life easier. to assemble the cake i doused it well and good with poaching syrup, then filled it. then i ploped the pears on top and so i stumbled unto a great dessert. it would have been even better to have more pears under the whipped cream. i think next time i'll skip the first scenario altogether and go for the cake straight away. the photos are half-assed because i didn't think i would actually use them. i honestly did not expect it to be so good, it was just leftover pears, for crying out loud. i love it when a shot in the dark pans out.

red wine red beet barley risotto

2010-04-23T14:33:00.000-05:00

i have a bit of a fixation on beets. nothing dangerous, if you ask me, but if you met my husband, he'd tell you to run for your life. i do this thing, every now and then, where i get completely obsessed with an ingredient and then it'll show up in everything for the next two weeks. the polenta episode was most unfortunate for my husband, as he's not a fan. the goat cheese phase meant dozens of tartlets, mousses and salads. the caramel thing is ongoing, i never seem to forget about caramel. the beets, my husband doesn't dislike. he put up with it, until this dish, the last of the series. i thought it was the culmination, the crown jewel of the beet week. he said it was rubbish and refused to eat it. i ate it for three meals in a row. i loved it, but god! i'm done with beets for a while.

1 cup pearl barley

2 tb olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cups grated beets, 4 to 5 baby beets

1/4 cup red wine (or pomegranate juice)

5 cups stock

1/2 cup parmesan

6 oz baby spinach

salt, pepper

goat cheese or feta cheese, optional

heat the stock and keep it hot on low heat. in a saucepan, heat up 2 tb olive oil and saute the onion. when it's translucent, add the barley and toss to coat. cook for about 5 minutes to toast, then deglaze with the wine or juice. then ladle in about a cup of stock and stir. when it's absorbed, add another. when the second cup is absorbed, add the grated beets and cook a couple minutes. add all the remaining stock and simmer over low heat, covered, for about 40 minutes, until the barley is soft but still has a bit of bite. add the spinach and the parmesan and mix well. season to taste. remove from heat and serve immediately. top each serving with a few crumbles of goat cheese or feta, and a few chopped chives.

i had it both with goat cheese and feta, and i couldn't say which i liked best. the goat cheese melts on contact and when you stir it in it makes it impossibly creamy, like no other risotto i ever had. the feta melts well, too and provides an extra salty delicious undertone. try it both ways or without any cheese at all, it will still be creamy. as a bonus, it's quite decent reheated. most risottos don't fare well if not served immediately, but as i was the only taker i had to refrigerate it. on my next beet binge i'll try it cold, or room temp, with a handful of pomegranate seeds mixed in. just a hunch i'm having.

hazelnut tart cherry tartelettes

2010-04-12T22:21:00.001-05:00

pie dough is much blogged about, and very controversial. i side in the butter camp. i do have a bucket of lard in the house, and i'm not afraid to use it, especially in savory applications. when it comes to pie crusts, however, i don't like the aftertaste of lard in there. there's a greasy mouthfeel that joe pastry doesn't like either. have you met joe pastry? it's a great resource for any beginning baker. there's recipes for every dough on this earth, and detailed instructions for the techniques used in all of them. how's about pie dough in a ziploc bag? it's the first i've heard about it! of course, true to form, i remain faithful to my food processor, but go here to see this interesting approach. and even if i scorned the bag, i tried the recipe, which is lard-free and boasts a combo of butter and cream cheese, and it is very good.

for the crust:

12 tb unsalted butter, very cold, in 1/2 inch cubes

10 oz all-purpose flour

4.5 oz cream cheese

1/4 ts salt

1/4 ts baking powder

1 tb cider vinegar

2 to 3 tb ice water

either you do it in the bag like joe, or by hand like grandma, or in the food processor like me. i am very happy with the result, i see no reason to waste time, so i pulse it start to finish. first combine the flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of your processor. then add the cream cheese to the flour and pulse a few times to get a coarse meal. then add the butter - very cold, frozen even - and pulse a few times more, until you have butter pieces the size of peas. then add the vinegar and ice water by the tablespoon and pulse just until it comes together. refrigerate for at least 2 hours to overnight.

when it's ready, split the dough in 2 equal pieces. while the second piece waits in the fridge, roll out the first one in a 10 inch circle. then you want to cut to size circles to fit the mini-muffin tin. none of my cookie cutters worked, so i've had to improvise. a circle of about 2 1/2 inches diameter is required. line all the muffin spaces with dough and refrigerate. proceed to the second one in the same manner, or make a tart using a removable bottom quiche pan. refrigerate that one, too.

for the filling:

a half recipe of hazelnut frangipane

1 1/2 lbs tart montmorency cherries/ 5 cups/ 680 gr

3/4 cups sugar

1/4 ts orange extract (almond extract works equally well)

3 tb cornstarch

i used frozen fruit. it is impossible to get fresh sour cherries in chicago. last summer i found some at trader joe's, but they were so puny looking i didn't even bother. anyhoo, if frozen defrost in a colander. if from compote, drain well. mix the sugar with the cornstarch. put the cherries in a pot, add the extract, then the sugar mixture, and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 10 minutes. the filling will thicken as it cools.

for the pastry cream:

4 egg yolks

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup cornstarch, sifted

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean

1 ts orange extract

heat up the milk, the heavy cream, the extract and the sugar. split the bean and scrape up the seeds. put everything in the milk to infuse. mix the yolks with the sifted cornstach until smooth and pale. when the milk is just below boiling fish out the bean and pour 1/4 of the mixture on the yolks, while whisking constantly. pour it back in the milk and stir like yout life depends on it. keep stirring until in thickens, about 5 minutes. set aside to cool.

to assemble, take out the muffin tins. put 1 ts hazelnuts in each, then top with a cherry and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. let cool a few minutes and fill the remaining space with pastry cream.

the pastry is sufficient for two 10 inch tarts, or 48 tartelettes. i made one 10 inch tart and 24 little ones. the cherry filling fits those. if you want to make 48 tartelettes, probably half the recipe will be enough. those are great for little kids. they are a little labor intensive though, and i was short on time, hence the 10 inch shortcut. i do prefer the little ones, there's more crust, it's crispy and flaky and a great contrast to the creamy filling.

gratinee lyonnaise

2010-04-11T12:46:00.000-05:00

recipe from emeril

or, as it's known in our house: man, that's good onion soup! it has an interesting finish that further enriches an already excellent dish. there's no doubt you have to make your own stock to get the full experience, but it's completely worth it. you'll have sweet caramelised onions in a buttery, beefy broth, topped with croutons smothered in bubbly gruyere. if that's not a cure for a rainy day, i don't know what is.

first, to make beef stock, you'll need 3 pounds of neck bones and/or ox tails, and whatever scraps you have on hand. bring the meat to boil and remove foam. when no more foam is forming, add the veggies: 4 large carrots, 3 parsnips, 6 celery stalks and a few garlic cloves. i also have a large onion in there, because i make a big batch of stock, and only part of it will end up as onion soup. sometimes i'll add a bell pepper if i have it. you also need 2 bay leaves, 10 peppercorns, a bunch of thyme and 2 tb tomato paste. bring everything to boil, then simmer for 2 hours partially covered.

once you have the stock ready, finely slice 3 pounds of yellow onions. spanish onions also work well. this is one of the two modifications i made to this recipe: it calls for 4 tb unsalted butter to sautee the onions and i thought that is too little. i used up an entire stick, and i'm not sorry about it. also, 3 pounds of onion will not become golden in 15 minutes. closer to 30 will be needed. then you add the stock, and simmer for 45 minutes to one hour. i let it go to one hour, and it reduced some, it was a very rich broth. the egg yolk and port wine (or marsala wine) finish is an inspired twist, try it! i won't copy down the recipe, the link is right at the top. and the parting note: 1 pound of gruyere is a lot of cheese, especially considering my market charges $15 for it. i used half and it was entirely satisfactory. there, we made up for the extra butter.

mushroom toast with shrimp and peas

2010-04-06T22:43:00.001-05:00

these mushroom toasts are one of my favourite snacks. they're quickly made, but have a bit of fancy feel to them. this time i paired them with shrimp, but usually an egg, sunny side up or poached, takes first place. i made this for lunch today, deadly tired of pasta or rice or soup, which in zhara's book seem to be the only acceptable choices. she likes mushrooms, but for this meal she had soppy toast. that's right, i drew my line in the sand, and refused to negotiate with the little terrorist. [can you tell i'm hooked on 24?] no mushroom toast, no food at all. i made pasta for dinner. again.

1 french demi-baguette

6 oz mixed wild mushrooms, (shiitake, oyster, crimini)

4 slices gypsy bacon

2 tb butter

2 tb cream

12 shrimps

handful of peas

fresh parsley

gypsy bacon is a roulade. it's just bacon rolled up with herbes and red pepper flakes. you can substitute pancetta, and add some heat to it. start with an empty cold skillet -the widest one you have. line up the bacon, then place on medium heat. the bacon will curl less this way, you'll be left with crisp, beautiful slices. turn once, and when it's evenly browned remove to paper towel to blot excess fat and tent with foil to keep warm.

add 2 tb butter to same pan - you'll have almost no fat if using gypsy bacon; if using pancetta discard all but 1 tb. when the foaming subsides add the mushrooms, roughly sliced. give the pan a shake and cook undisturbed for 5 minutes. you want a wide pan so that the mushrooms are well spaced out, so they can sear. shake the pan to turn them and cook 2 minutes more. add the cream, the parsley, and season with salt and pepper. within a minute the mushrooms will be moist, but no liquid is visible in the pan. remove to hot plate and tent to keep warm. in the same pan, add the shrimp in a single layer. these go very fast, 3-4 minutes on each side should do it. sprinkle the peas around them and cook over medium high heat. while the shrimp cook, split and halve the baguette to obtain four equal pieces. toast them in the toaster oven or under the broiler. put one slice bacon on each, then divide the mushrooms. place 3 shrimps on each toast, and sprinkle with peas. in our house my husband gets most of them, he's the only fan. i always want to cheat and give him less mushrooms, since he gets more peas, but i restrain myself. i'm a martyr, i know.

cozonac, or hazelnut frangipane babka

2010-04-04T22:58:00.002-05:00

cozonac is the romanian babka. it's traditionally made for all the big holidays. usually it's filled with walnuts, raisins, cubed turkish delight or cocoa. this past christmas i filled one with walnuts, and one with nutella and dried sour cherries. i wanted a new flavor for easter, and after some pondering i chose a hazelnut frangipane for one, and a drunken fig filling for the other. this was inspired by mark scarbrough's fig cookies. i used a mix of black mission figs, dried apricots and golden raisins. it's a great filling, but one that works best on a sturdy dough such as mark's biscotti, not on something that needs to rise and puff. it's a heavy mix, so i ended up with air pockets in the cozonac. not the most desirable effect, but still tasty. everybody loved the hazelnut frangipane, no flaws there.

this is not a spur-of-the-moment thing. you need to plan for it. it requires a half hour of furious kneading. (if your kid doesn't run in the kitchen all horror-stricken, you're not pounding hard enough). but once you got that part done, you can crack open a celebratory beer: prevailing wind is blowing. the recipe is here, and the only note is about the flour: the better the quality of it, the better your finished product will be. i typically use king arthur bread flour, even though some recipes call for plain flour.

i think the hazelnut frangipane recipe belongs to jacques pepin, but i'm not quite positive. i remember it was used in an apple tart, but where, i can't recall. you need one pound shelled hazelnuts, that's 454 gr. if you're lucky enough to find blanched ones, hooray for you, but if you don't it's really not a problem. toast the hazelnuts in a single layer, for 7-8 minutes at 375F. the skins will come off easily when you rub them with your fingers. it doesn't have to be perfect, you don't have to drive yourself crazy about it.

put the nuts in the food processor, with 3/4 cups sugar, 3 eggs, 3 tb butter and a ts vanilla. whizz until pulverized. i like a bit of texture, so i don't let it go to paste, i stop when it's still grainy. that's it. it's ready to be spread in the dough. i had a little bit left over, about 3/4 cup, but i promptly wrapped it up and put it in the freezer. it has aspirations of becoming the base lining in a sour cherry tart.

this is the fig filling. maybe it would have worked better had i used less, and i nearly wimped and did, but i had finished the celebratory beer by then, and i was feeling mucho macho.

the hazelnut one. very well balanced, the filling just a notch sweeter than the dough. this is exactly the kind of thing that pops into my mind when i hear the term 'home cooking'. it's comfort food, if not all desserts are comfort...

i love the crust. a lot of people sprinkle extra sugar or sesame seeds on top, but i like mine plain, with just the sheen given by the egg wash. what's more: cozonac makes a mean french toast or bread pudding when i have leftovers, which is rarely enough. not a bit goes to waste. i love food that permits a second shine.

easter lollipops

2010-04-03T13:33:00.000-05:00

i've been away for a week, but it feels more like a month! it's very difficult to catch up with everybody who stayed busy, i still have some reading to do, but i hope to get back on track soon. i wanted to do a quick how-to-dye-your-eggs-with-onion-leaf, but about half the bloggers i read already did, in one form or another, so instead i'll show you the candies i made last night for zhara. she still hasn't seen them, i can't wait for her reaction! happy easter everyone!

artichoke beet pizza

2010-03-25T21:26:00.001-05:00

i haven't cooked beets in a long time, and i don't even know how it's possible they slipped my mind. i saw this beet risotto on jessica's blog, apples and butter, and the beet invaded my mind like aliens taking over a host body. i made the risotto immediately, but it was so quickly polished off, there was no time for pictures. i'll make it again, it was kinda brilliant. the thing is, i got a bit carried away and i roasted a whole sheet of baby beets, a lot more than i needed for one dish. that's how this one got to be - a cross between the leftover beets and my daughter whining for pizza. the combo of beet and marinated artichoke is surprisingly good. it's excellent.

initially i didn't want to cook it, i was afraid these two have too much moisture and i'll end up with a soggy pie. it's all good as long as you keep them in a strainer for 15-20 minutes. as an alternative to roasting the beets, you can steam them. get small ones if possible, they cook faster and they're easier to peel. be careful with them, that juice staines right to the bone. once they're cooked and cooled, slice them thinly and put them in a mesh with the artichokes.

stretch the dough to the size and shape of your baking vehicle. spread with tomato-based pizza sauce. sprinkle a good handful of grated parmesan over it. then alternate slices of beet, artichoke and mushroom. don't overcrowd it. then take 4 or 5 springs of thyme and run your fingers against the stem to get the tiny leaves off, and sprinkle them evenly. i also used some chopped sage, but that's not as vital as the thyme. give it a grind of pepper and bake at 425F for 15-20 minutes.

it's the best of both worlds. your kid gets pizzzzaaaaa! and you get a few veggies in her, and a grown-up lunch. the spinach is dressed simply with olive oil, champagne vinegar, dijon and honey. it makes a great companion for the pizza but doesn't steal its thunder. i think it would be lovely with a few dots of goat cheese, and/or a few asparagus tips. i plan to turn all these ingredients into a panzanella, stat. the aliens are still eating my brain.

creamy coconut rice

2010-03-23T20:51:00.006-05:00

we had a wonderful morning today. it was sunny and warm, so we went out right after breakfast. we planted 30 gladioli, we covered the driveway in abstract chalk and we played ball. the crust of dirt on zhara's hands when we walked inside was like the fur of a bear, only petrified. the bulbs require a good drench when they're planted and she took that to heart: dirt, water. dirt, water. let's wash your hands, babe. here's the pickaxe. i was going to stop her, but she saw it coming, and she did the bit that always reduces me to a puddle of touchy-feely goop. she says i love you, i say i love you, too; then she says, i love you tutu. sure you can water the flowers, clean is overrated, and anyway you're too cute for boundaries.
we got inside in a fantastic mood. the risotto i had planned seemed lackluster - zhara likes a reduced number of dishes, as many toddlers do, and i'm dead bored with the stuff. i've never made this before, but it's in the circuit now, because she loved it so much she asked for it at dinner, too. i've seen a lot of coconut rice done with peas, but in our house they take the stage only as villains in a play where the villains never win. the villains are promptly booed off the stage in shame.

1/2 cup pearl rice, or basmati, or brown

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 1/4 cups unsweetened coconut milk

1 1/4 cups water

1 cup frozen soybeans, or peas

1 inch piece ginger, quartered

2 lime leaves

1 ts orange zest

pinch nutmeg

salt, pepper

crushed peanuts, optional

heat a little olive oil and saute the onion until translucent. add the rice and and cook a few minutes to toast it. pour in the milk and water, add the leaves and ginger root and bring to boil. cover and reduce to a simmer. after 10 minutes add the frozen peas. we used this mix from trader joe's that has corn, soy beans and red pepper. it's zhara's favourite. cover again and cook until the rice is cooked and the liquid mostly gone, about 8 minutes. remove and discard the leaves and the ginger. add the citrus zest and season to your liking. garnish with peanuts on amenable plates.

the coconut taste is mild, like a lazy afterthought, and the citrus punch brightens it up. i love how creamy it is, and i'm already thinking what a great dessert this will make in its sweet incarnation. but until dessert, next time i'll treat it with some shrimp for a delightful one pot meal.

serves two.

sundried tomato zucchini pasta

2010-03-22T15:35:00.002-05:00

a dish as bright as the day outside. thankfully, most of the snow has melted, and though it's not warm, it's sunny, and the heavy clouds that were forcing lassitude on me have cleared the sky. i'm starting my tomatoes today. i found some great heirloom tomato seeds, and decided to give them a shot. i don't much like to use seeds for tomatoes, i always buy small plants that i can put directly in the ground. seeds are fussy, they need at least six weeks inside, but i'm determined to follow through. ever had cream of heirloom tomato soup? it's worth every bit of impatient gardening i can muster. at least until those hang on the vine i have sundried tomatoes, the next best thing. they can brighten up the blandest of dishes, plus i love the color they give to sauces. this is a 15 minute lunch for zhara. let's just breeze over the inordinate quantity i consumed, it's not healthy to dwell in the past.

1 lb pasta

2 large zucchini, grated

8 sundried tomatoes packed in oil, finely sliced

2 large roasted red peppers, finely sliced

4 oz bulgarian feta cheese, crumbled

a few parmesan shavings, optional

boil the pasta according to package instructions. prep the vegetables while that's happening. drain the pasta but reserve 1 cup of the water. stir in all the veggies at once, and let it cook together for a few minutes. the zucchini will give off their juices, as will the peppers and tomatoes. add the cheese and mix well. the cheese will melt to form a wonderful sauce, and everything will take on a pale golden colour from the tomatoes. you may need a bit of pasta water, it all depends on how much juice the zucchini gives off. thin it to your preffered consistency, season with salt and pepper, plate and garnish with parmesan. enjoy at once.

fried bay scallops

2010-03-21T21:51:00.000-05:00

i honestly thought i was done with food braised, fried or sauced. we had a few warm days, very conducive to light fare, salads dressed brightly in lemony vinaigrettes, grilled fish and vegetables. zhara welcomed the absence of scarfs, mittens and winter boots, and the arrival of the first spring flowers. which were promptly burried in snow yesterday.

yet even before the weather turned, i only cooked comfort food. matzo ball soup, hungarian goulash over spaetzle and these cheese pastries with plump raisins that zhara loves. we did have fish one night, but pan-fried with vegetables drowned in balsamic buttersauce. perhaps it's understandable, considering the week we had. and speaking of which: thanks again to everyone who called or wrote, it was all very kind of you.

tonight i'll try to keep things light, but first these scallops: sweet and crunchy, with a slight kick. we absolutely loved them.

1 lb bay scallops

4 tb all-purpose flour

1 ts ground ginger

1/2 ts smoked hot paprika

1/2 ts garlic powder

salt, pepper to taste

1 egg

2 tb milk

1 cup panko, possibly more

heat oil in the widest pan you have. no olive oil, something neutre like canola, sunflower or vegetable oil. mix the flour with the condiments. beat the egg with a glug of milk and a pinch of salt. line up the plates of flour, egg and panko. pat the scallops dry. put them all in the flour at the same time, but only lift a handful at a time and shake them well to remove any excess. put them through the egg, roll around in panko and fry till golden. they go very fast, about 3 minutes on side one, another 2 after they're flipped. you want the oil to come up half-way around them so you only have to turn them once. do not crowd the pan - you have to be able to see it in between the scallops. you shouldn't fry more than two batches in the same oil, panko will fall behind and burn, so use your widest pan. remove to paper towel. they're absolutely delicious, great hot or room temp. goes great with baked fries or rice. plum sauce really puts it in context. when you dip, you get a layer of crunchy spicy sweet panko, then mild scallop, almost creamy against the breading, it's a great contrast and a nice pairing of tastes.

counting my blessings: there are many.

2010-03-16T15:42:00.000-05:00

we got up today to a beautiful morning. a true, it's-really-spring morning, sunny, incredibly warm, that made me open windows immediately and skip about the house - well, at least in my head i did, we all know i'm not that much of a morning person. it gave me a mad craving for a citrus dessert, as cheerful as the weather. i poured a cup of coffee, gave zhara her milk and made some waffles. i was having trouble deciding if i should clean the house and bake bread or dump it all and just go for a walk in the forest preserve. that's when the phone rang. my husband called, using someone else's phone, to tell me there had been an accident. he's fine. but he did not sound fine. my sunny disposition evaporated, knees made out of playdough, i told him i was on my way. oh, god, please. the prayer of all wives, even a wife without a god. his phone had shattered, so i grabbed an older one we hadn't tossed. i had so many questions, but he could only talk for a minute. he had borrowed a phone from someone, and i could hear the clammoring of cops? doctors? in the background. never before have i resented every single car on the road like i did today. i wanted to roll down my window and shout. i'm a bit uncomfortable recalling how the speed limit signs were blurring past, seeing i had zhara in the back. though it's not even close to how fast i used to drive, before i had her. it was never supposed to be him, the one to get in an accident. he's the calm, patient one. he's the one who drives for a living. i couldn't believe it happened, really, all winter long i worry about ice on the road and blizzards and today? seriously?

i got there. it happened, allright. all 18 wheels up in the air. cabin smashed, windshield crushed some 15 feet away. our livelihood a big blob of scrape metal on the side of the road. him, whole. thank god, not a scratch. it could have been so much worse. he was transporting a big coil of industrial chain. luckily the whole thing went down on a ramp, and when the coil got loose it rolled off onto the empty patch in between the two highways. and not in the traffic behind. it could've been disastrous.

it's been hours, but clearly i need a shot of get-it-together-you-damn-fool in the coffee i'm drinking, cause i can't stop obssesing about might've happened. if his seatbealt weren't buckled. if other cars were closer. this week we were going to finally launch our own business. we only needed some numbers from the DOT, we had a charter almost set up, we've been working so long for this. this is not a setback, it's possibly a deal-breaker. and still. he got away intact. we're all healthy. we're not in haiti. we'll be fine.

i drove back, zhara singing 'twinkle, twinkle little star' all the way home. i asked her if she wanted to bake with mommy, for what else could i do? she was enthuziastic as always. we also made a quick risotto while the apple cake was baking. she's such a blessing.

unvelibable! onion has a fever!

if you're as indispensible to your resident as i am to mine, you can cheat on the constant stirring. let it simmer covered instead. no one will know. or care. follow the recipe for risotto milanese, but add the chicken broth right away, bring to boil and after 10 minutes of simmering, add frozen soybeans; after another 5, the asparagus and 1 tb chopped sage.

the asparagus needs 3 to 5 minutes, depending on its thickness, then stir in the cheese and you're done. meanwhile panfry a few sage leafs, 30 seconds, if that, don't carbonize it. serve at once, with a few leafs on top. maybe skip those on the doctor's plate.

the cake really is amazing, i've made this a lot since seeing it at smitten kitchen, it's very moist and the outside gets almost caramelized. wondrous, but the dessert to restore my appetite today has yet ot be invented. so i don't have a picture of a slice, or not a slice of the one i made today. it will probably go to my neighbours, but baking it has calmed me, to way it always does.

these were taken last september? october? or around there; zhara had a grand time stealing cake, she was walking around on her tippy toes trying to look innocent, with crumbs everywhere around her mouth and on her shirt.

cabbage soup on a smoked turkey drumstick

2010-03-15T16:31:00.003-05:00

another soup that wafts memories of home and childhood. my mom made it often, with or without meat, smoked or not, but always tomato-based. this is the soup i ate on the evening of my first culinary disaster. or rather, couldn't eat because anything remotely sour was too raw on my wounded taste buds. it was a few days after the beginning of first grade. mom was at work. i got home from school, and even though i had prepared food in the fridge, i wanted fried eggs. so i cracked two in a pan, and fried them over easy, still in my uniform. then i seasoned them with salt and pepper. i got a napkin out - one of the 'good' ones, which i wasn't supposed to use - and wanting to be fancy through and through, i used another condiment on the eggs. quite a bit of it, and it was white vinegar. i swear it hurt to even smell the stuff for years afterward. i chucked the foul dish, pushing back the guilt of wasting food, put back the unused napkin, and went to diligently pursue homework in lieu of penance.

even now i only use white vinegar for cleaning and for the rare poached egg. for cooking i have red, rice and champagne vinegars that i find less aggresive. happier memories are tied with this soup, too, like the time we made it out of scraps leftover from canning cabbage-stuffed peppers all day long, and that we ate at 1 am after a couple hours of board games. bad puns were made about me being as sour as the soup. (i lost every single game, what are the odds?! and to be gracious about it? hardly in my nature...at least i admit to being a sore loser, which my mom will never do, even though she's worse than i am.)

turkey legs did not exist in my childhood, that is a new addition, and i think an improvement. this is a far better choice than any smoked ham hock i could find, and i'm sure i'll come up with other uses, we loved this meat! so first you bring the leg to boil and then add root vegetables - carrots, parsley root, celery, and onion, a couple bay leaves, a few sprigs of thyme, and simmer until the meat is easy to pull apart with a fork, about 1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of your drumstick. in the meantime finely chop a cabbage of decent size. when the meat is ready take everything out using a spider and throw the cabbage in the broth. discard the vegetables and pull the meat from the bone, cut it bite-size and put it back in the pot. slice a couple carrots and add them to the cabbage. simmer gently for another 10 minutes, then add 6 to 8 oz tomato sauce/juice and 1 tb tomato paste. simmer 5 minutes more. correct seasoning, add 3 tb chopped dill and a squeeze of lemon juice and turn off the heat. serve with sour cream and hearty bread.

zhara loved it and had it for lunch on three consecutive days. i usually don't make soup in industrial quantities, but that was one big leg, so i had to pull out the big pot, and didn't have the sense to freeze half the stock for another use. so even with a portion sent to the neighbors, and my husband's appetite at the ready, the soup lasted three days. not a bad thing if you have a crowd - the turkey leg was $3.50, the cabbage $1.20, so the whole thing costs about $7 to make.

caramel coconut flan

2010-03-13T23:51:00.000-06:00

i made this especially for a friend who was going to visit today. after stuffing her full of flan we were going to see 'alice in wonderland', but yet another migraine made the whole plan go down in plumes of dissapointment. i simply couldn't face 2 hours of blaring sorround and flickering lights, not if johnny depp was signing autographs at the door. [not the time to call me on it!] so no movie for me, and no flan for my friend obviously translates into double flan for both me and my husband. sweet mother of consolation!

the recipe i used comes from a restaurant in philadelphia, azafran - i'm pretty sure that's the name, i've never been there and i got the recipe from a friend who swears 'it's the best'. i really did love the consistency, but as far as taste goes, to me it seemed more creme brulee than anything else. you couldn't really taste the coconut, i definetely recommend adding finely grated coconut or extract to it to perk it up. probably extract though, i wouldn't want to mess up a perfect texture.

5 eggs

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

1/8 ts salt

1/2 ts vanilla

1 ts coconut extract

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

1/3 cup water

mix the sugar and the water in a heavy-bottomed pan and place on high heat to caramelize. stir until sugar is dissolved, then continue boiling on high heat, tilting the pan occasionally, but no more stirring. use a wet pastry brush to brush down the sides of the pan. when you reach a deep amber color pour immediately into 6 ramekins, twirling each ramekin to get the caramel in an even coat on the bottom and on the sides. drizzle the rest of the caramel on wax paper to use for decoration.

preheat the oven to 350F. beat the eggs with the salt until well combined. add the condensed milk and the coconut milk and mix well. divide equally between the six ramekins. place them in a roasting pan and pour enough hot water to come up half-way around the ramekins. bake until just set but still jiggly in the center, 35 to 40 minutes. do not overcook.

the good news is, this stuff can be prepared three days in advance. when it's time to serve put each ramekin in a bowl of hot water for half a minute to loosen the caramel, run a knife along the side, then invert on a plate. you can also make it in a pie dish if you can't be bothered with individual flans. i have yet to meet someone who doesn't like this, even my creme brulee-hating husband is a convert! it has the smoothest texture, and it tastes like love: warm even when served cold, moist and airy, buttery light, sweetly overwhelming everything else as long as you have a spoon in hand.

scallop gratin

2010-03-08T15:16:00.000-06:00

this is a dish fancy enough to entertain, but is remarkably easy to prepare, especially if you have a two year old to do all the sprinkling for you. it's a barefoot contessa recipe that i've been meaning to prepare for ages. it looks very pretty in individual dishes, but the taste won't be in any way diminished in a larger dish.

i had to adapt the recipe to fit what i had in the fridge, which did not contain pernod - nor will it ever, because i don't appreciate anise-flavoured beverages - and so i used only a demisec romanian white wine, which worked quite well. i don't believe it suffered at all. also omitted the shallot and substituted the fresh parsley with dried herbes de provence. and i don't like to dirty up the mixer when the job is easily done by hand. the official dishwasher isn't home.

please use the link above if you care to see the recipe. scale it, adapt it, do what you like but do not give up the garlic, the prosciutto, the lemon, and do use panko. regular breadcrumbs will never work as well. i skipped the wine on the bottom, and i added an extra layer of panko mixed with parmesan on top. zhara had a ton of fun, and once the gratin was in the oven she refused to get down, saying she's not done cooking. so i finally could take a few pictures of her.

lemon veggie orzo

2010-03-07T14:02:00.002-06:00

ever since she managed to land a sprinkle on a cookie and not on the floor, zhara has become very interested in what goes on in the kitchen. at first it was just about decorating, then also the making of cookies. after a while she demaned to attend the preparation of all desserts. now it's simply understood that we cook together. whenever i announce i'll be making lunch, or dinner, she pushes up a chair by the counter and gathers her plastic cutlery. then she asks what we're making and immitates my every gesture on her set of pans (aka spare measuring cups).

today we made this orzo, it's one of her favourite dishes and i'm sorry i don't have an extra hand to photograph her while she's working. she gets very focused, narrates everything she does and when she's pleased she smiles and her eyebrows go up in wonder of what she has achieved. i write off the state of my kitchen as collateral, and enjoy her having fun. plus she's more inclined to eat something she helped prepare.

i make this more than one way, sometime with pancetta or sausage, or maybe corn instead of zucchini. the method stays the same, the meat would be pan-fried first and the rest is the same. first sautee the onion and when it's soft add 3/4 cup orzo and cook, stirring often, until it's starting to color. add finely chopped red bell pepper, just a half if it's huge, and sautee a couple minutes. add 2 cups water, bring to boil and throw in 3/4 cup frozen shelled edamame. bring to boil again, cover and simmer 6 minutes. add one grated zucchini and cook another 2 minutes. the water should be almost absorbed, only a couple tablespoons left. add 1/3 cup grated parmesan, the zest of one lemon very finely grated and mix well to combine. correct seasoning. turn off the heat, cover and let it sit five minutes. serves 2 as an entree or 4 as a side.

zhara loves everything lemony, and while you can always add a squeeze of lemon juice to give it a more enhanced flavour, i like it with zest only. there's not a sour note, only wonderful perfume, a subtitle, an afterthought. and it's creamy, but not overly cheesy, and the orzo spends 10 minutes in the pan. sold.

baked potato millefeuille

2010-03-06T23:10:00.001-06:00

i'm the kind of person who finds comfort in certain routines. our nights are set in stone: dinner, play/read, bath. one final cartoon. then zhara goes to bed, at eight. and then i have a few hours just for myself, even if sometimes that just means cleaning the house or other chores. i try hard to have dinner with zhara at 5:30 and to not eat late, but i rarely succed. today what did me in was these insane baked potatoes. i remember seeing them done on some show - tyler florence? emeril? - a while back, but i managed to get it out of my mind, until today i saw them on alina's blog.

i have a terrible weakness for baked potatoes of any kind, little wonder i couldn't resist these! while zhara watched her cartoon i got them ready for the oven, and then no other chore for momma but to chow these down while watching a movie. as usual, i couldn't resist tinkering with the concept, so my version involves a sage garlic cream glaze and a topper of parmesan and chopped sage. i used prosciutto, both crudo and cotto to stuff these, and the only cheese i had - munchee, but i recommend something sharp(er). i believe firmly in using what i have on hand, so it's not a big deal. i wanted to try bacon as well, but by the time my excitement for the prosciutto-sage combo wavered down i was out of potatoes.

preheat oven to 400F. line a tray with foil. peel the potatoes and slice them thinly three quarters down so they're still attached at the bottom. fill the gaps between the slices, alternating, with pieces of cheese and meat. season with salt and pepper. place two thin butter pats on each potato and wrap thightly in foil.

bake 45 minutes. in the meantime, finely chop fresh sage - 1 leaf per potato. finely grate parmesan cheese - 1 tb per potato. measure 1 tb cream per potato and steep it with more sage and a crushed garlic clove. when the potatoes are ready, open the foil packets and paint cream all over the top. use a pastry brush to ensure you get every slice. sprinkle parmesan and chopped sage and bake again until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown. serve hot with a dollop of sour cream.

by 20 minutes in the oven, your house will be filled with the most tempting aroma. by 40, you'll be patrolling the kitchen, patience nearly gone, exhausted with the anticipation of the first bite. or at least i did. i did not have enough restraint to wait for them to brown, so i put them under the broiler. i burned my tongue. it was worth it.

p.s. in case you're less ocd than me: you don't have to alternate the meat/cheese, you can put both in each slice, or just cheese (i'm going to have to try that) and if you're going to try prosciutto cotto use oregano on top, i find that sage works much better with the prosciutto crudo. either way, but try it!

cauliflower mac and cheese

2010-03-04T14:55:00.000-06:00

picky eaters or not, children have such an instinctive distaste for this vegetable and its relatives, it's like an international conspiracy is imbeded in their genetic code. i am one of the few spared. as i kid i loved it fried, in a light batter of egg and flour, and my mother's cauliflower gratin qualified as holiday. i tried them all, plus soups and stews for zhara, but i can beg till the cows come home. she just says no, in a voice very much prophesizing the teenager she'll be. well, she may be stubborn, but i have decades of practice on her.

the ideea is to make a fine cauliflower puree which then goes in your kid's favourite pasta sauce. i've made this a few times to get it right, and for zhara it only works if i use a sauce mornay made with munchee - it's the only cheese she'll eat. we also use miniature pasta, she's just more amenable especially if they have cute shapes, like animal or letters.

i don't know if you can tell looking at the picture, but it's all bite size, the penne are less than 1 inch, and the meatballs are barely the size of a quarter. so first you break the cauliflower into small florets and you boil it until easily pierced with a fork. while it boils, prep your sauce and boil the pasta. you can either do a bechamel, by making a roux out 2 tb each butter and flour and then streaming in 1 cup milk, or you can use jarred alfredo sauce. either way, add to it 1/2 cup packed grated cheese. when it's melted add the cauliflower puree, season with salt and pepper and pinch of italian seasoning. i have to use equal quatities of sauce and cauliflower puree, any less sauce and she won't eat it. one cup sauce plus one cup puree is sufficient for 3/4 lb pasta.

zhara enjoys it very much. she ate so much of it for lunch that she couldn't touch her usual second course of fresh fruit. the meatballs didn't fly, but i don't care, this is still such progress for her!

osso bucco with sour cherry gremolata

2010-03-03T15:31:00.000-06:00

recipe adapted from tyler florence.

this is hands down one of my favourite comfort foods. i have made it with veal shanks for a long time, until one day my butcher only had beef shanks. nice guy, my butcher, thoroughly competent except for his tendency to ma'am people without cause. yes, ma'am. here you go, ma'am. a good day to you too, ma'am. what the heck?! made me feel like the patron saint of mothballs and wooden walkers. i smiled back and said nothing, cause he always cuts my meat exactly the way i ask for it, he trims everything, he even deveined shrimp for me. a good butcher is priceless.

4 beef shanks

4 tb all-purpose flour

2 tb butter

2 onions

1 carrot

2 celery stalks

3 garlic cloves

1 cup red wine

zest of one lemon, finely grated

2 bay leaves

1 14oz whole canned tomatoes, preferably san marzano

beef stock

gremolata:

3 tb chopped parsley

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tb orange zest, finely grated

2 tb dried sour cherries, diced

let the meat sit on the counter for half hour so it can come to room temp. give it a quick rinse in cold water to remove bone splinters and pat dry. season the flour generously with salt and pepper. heat 2 tb oil with the butter in a large pan. dredge the meat through the flour, on all sides. shake off excess flour and sear the meat until good and brown, on all sides. do not crowd the pan, do it in batches if you have to. remove the meat to a plate and add onions to same pan. saute a couple minutes and add carrots, celery, garlic, lemon zest and bay leaves. cook another 5 minutes, then pour the wine - whatever red you have, so long as it's good enough to drink, never buy those labeled 'for cooking'. nest the meat back in the pot and cook the wine until reduced by half. crush the san marzanos by hand and add them to the pot, with enough beef stock to just cover the meat. [i've done it using water a few times, and it's just as good, so if you don't have stock it's no biggie.] bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently, partially covered for 2 hours. check every now and then, and taste the meat after 1 1/2 hours. you can also braise it in the oven, once you've got it boiling cover it and put it in at 375F.

for the gremolata simply mix all the ingredients together. serve the osso bucco hot over mashed potatoes, and about 1 1/2 ts gremolata sprinkled over the whole thing. it really is a thing of wonder how such a humble cut of meat becomes nothing short of exquisite, because that great marbling of connective tissue breaks down into sweet, melted comfort. the sauce has amazing depth thanks to the reduced wine and the quality tomatoes. eat, enjoy, loosen belt. do the dishes in the morning.

zucchini stuffed mushrooms

2010-03-01T22:23:00.000-06:00

lately dinner with the princess involved games and tricks, begging and imploring, threats and tears, and enough bribery to make the sopranos look like innocent kittens. i'm concerned she's not getting enough nutritive elements, since all she wants to eat is yoghurt and fruit. and crackers. so i do what any good mother does: find a weakness and exploit its full potential. as it happens, my daughter has three: pickles, mustard and tortilla chips. and it turns out, she'll eat anything if it's perched on a chip or pickle slice or it's sitting in a blob of mustard. i made these stuffed mushrooms and she wouldn't even look at them, but when i put them on tortillas, that was a new story entirely.

typically i make these with spinach, but i wanted something new. i used zucchini instead, finely grated. you end up with about the same texture. first i panfried some bacon, and in the fat rendered i sauteed a mountain of onion. then i added a bit of garlic and some red and green peppers.

my mushrooms were medium sized portobellos, which seemed thick to me, so i parbaked them while this was happening. when the pepper was slightly softened i added the finely grated zucchini, gently drained, and seasoned with white pepper and very little salt. off heat i crumbled in the bacon and some feta.

i mixed in chopped parsley and after i stuffed the mushrooms i sprinkled grated parmesan over the top. since everything was half cooked it took no time at all to finish in the oven. and i must say, they go well quartered and balanced on tortilla chips. now the drama accompanying the dish, not so good for the digestion.

dark chocolate cake with goat cheese mousse and raspberries

2010-03-01T21:10:00.001-06:00

a few nights ago i watched 'chocolat' again. it's one of my favourite movies, and each time i see it it puts me in a good mood. the actors are all among my faves - juliette binoche, judy dench, alfred molina. a village in southern france and all the chocolate you can carry makes for good entertainment in my book. not to mention the tastiest morsel - johnny depp and his chocolate skin. now i'm not the kind of gal who indulges idle infatuations on distant characters, real or imaginary, but when it comes to johnny depp i think everybody is entitled to a healthy dose of fanatic adoration. well. let's put that particular pot on the back burner so i can tell you about this cake.

i can't post the recipe yet cause it's not quite perfected and i know how dissapointed i am when i try to make a recipe and it's not all it promises. but i was so excited with the idea and the taste of it, i simply couldn't wait. i'm very happy with the cake, it's very moist, did not need any syrup, and i thought the taste very well balanced. the filling is a goat cheese-white chocolate mousse, and it requires some further tinkering, cause it was kinda soft set. now my fridge has been acting up, and it doesn't seem as cold as it should be, so i really must remake it to see where the problem is. but i was very excited with the taste. i simply love it. the dark chocolate isn't overpowering, its bittersweet works great with the raspberries and the mousse! the mousse is lovely, not too sweet, with just a bit of tang from the cheese, very delicate and in total harmony with the dark chocolate. i tossed the raspberries in a little hot jam to coat, and i poured a thin layer of dark chocolate glaze over the top.

i'm happy to say it keeps well, even in my questionable fridge. the first picture was taken when the glaze was barely set, but by the time we cut it the light had gone, so i took the picture of a slice the next day. i didn't even cover it, and it was just as soft and moist as the day before, so it's perfect to make ahead.

only thing left to do is see if i need more gelatin in the mousse or a new fridge. either way, something tells me this will need several batches to perfect... and possibly new pants.

zhara loved it, today she got up from her nap and demanded it right away. and well, it's got cheese and fruit! so it counts as a snack. and dark chocolate has antioxidants. so there.

well, i've joined the daring bakers: tiramisu from scratch.

2010-02-28T22:51:00.001-06:00

because it pushes me to try stuff i'd never consider in different circumstances. i tend to stay in my comfort zone, make a little cake, maybe a tart sometime, but nothing very elaborate and the daring bakers' challenges are nothing but. this is the first challenge, and it was done for the same party as the dobos torte and a bunch of other dishes. i have one pic of the finished dessert and it's post-party slop, but seeing as you get removed if you don't post the challenges... better a sloppy one than none at all.

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

now this is supposed to be a classic tiramisu, with all the components done from scratch. you see what i mean - when would i ever make mascarpone at home?! i wouldn't, i would just sit here and complain it's gotten pricey, and it's so easy to make! and i've always purchased ladyfingers, but i don't think i will again... the homemade, which haven't been sitting on some shelf for decades, are much superior. nothing out of the ordinary with pastry cream and chantilly. this recipe also calls for a marsala zabaglione. now zabaglione - or sabayon - of any kind is simply not one of my faves, but mixed in with the rest i have to say you couldn't really identify it. i didn't want to change anything, i've followed the recipe to the letter, and while it was fine and all my guests seemed to enjoy it, i felt it was a bit lackluster. maybe my espresso wasn't strong enough. it didn't boost me. i would have liked a stronger flavor. i also thought the proportions a little odd, there's very little mascarpone in there... anyhoo, here are the some pictures. i forget: if you want to check out the recipe, please go here, it's really a lot of talk and it feels silly to transcribe it.

perhaps it's all just a matter of personal taste... i just don't like tiramisu especially, i would never order it in a restaurant and for that reason i doubt i'll make it again. but this challenge was great. i loved making the savoiardi. a lot of desserts i truly love have ladyfingers as components and i'm sure now i'll be able to improve them. the cheese making was not without its troubles, as the first time i bought cream i neglected to check it wasn't ultra-pasteurized... but very rewarding when i got it right. all in all, a good experience for me. can't wait to see what's next.

orange vanilla mini brioches

2010-02-24T21:11:00.001-06:00

to say i'm not a morning person: the understatement of the week. even after a good night's sleep, first thing in the morning i look like i'm suffering from a collossal hangover, and i feel like a bear too soon awakened from its hibernation. each morning i do a very realistic zombie impersonation nearly crawling from bed to the coffeepot. takes two cups for me to become human. moreover: nothing good ever happened to me on a morning. seriously, ever. all my jump-for-joy stuff occured mid-afternoon, or in the evening. that said, the early morning coffee cup has a completely different allure when paired with these brioches. a robust orange flavored dough, filled with lemon curd or nutella. or homemade strawberry jam. so long, briocheless mornings. i'll remember you all in therapy.

i saw these on fimere's blog, and i had to make them right away. hers turned out much prettier, but with two toddlers undefoot i'd say mine aren't all that bad either. zhara's best friend, genevieve was over here on a playdate and i only had so much time before sesame street was not the greatest thing ever.

fimere made this orange curd that sounded lovely to me. what's more: you make it in the microwave, in 3 minutes. but my microwave decided to act up, and i got very unappetizing orange omelet, which joined raw eggs and beer from milwaukee on the list of foods not to be consumed. (just kidding: got nothin' against raw eggs.) this was happening late last night, and after that episode i called it in. put the dough in the fridge and went to bed.

which made things great in the morning when all i had to do was fill and bake.
for the dough:
3 3/4 cups/500 gr all purpose flour
1 1/2 ts salt
2 ts dry active yeast
3 tb sugar + 1 ts for the yeast/ 50 gr
zest of one orange, finely grated
1 egg
1/2 cup/120 ml orange juice
7/8 cup/ 1 cup minus 2 tb/ 200 ml heavy cream
vanilla bean, optional

first bring everything to room temp. if you forget to take it out in advance, put the egg in some warm water and leave it a few minutes. the juice you can warm a few seconds in the microwave. steep the cream and infuse with the split, scraped bean. let cool to 115F and dissolve the yeast and 1 ts sugar in it. place flour, salt, sugar and zest in the food processor and pulse once or twice to combine. add the juice and the beaten egg and pulse a few more times. with the processor running slowly stream in the cream. add a tb or two of milk if it's stiff. run it 15 seconds more to knead, then turn it into an oiled bowl, oil the top, cover and set in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. (or you can put it in the fridge overnight.)

preheat oven to 390F. split the dough in half. roll a rectangular 1/4 inch thick sheet. then cut inch wide strips lenghtwise. crosswise cut 2 inch pieces to form rectangles. spread nutella, jam or lemon curd on them and stack three or four on top of each other. fold each stack in half and place in buttered muffin tin. let rise another half hour. brush with egg wash if desired. bake for about 20 minutes, until nicely browned on top.

they taste wonderful, i suspect even plain they would be a great treat, though i'd probably use an extra tb of sugar, and more orange zest. i loved the ones filled with nutella, there's just something about orange and chocolate - and so did zhara. the ones with the lemon curd could have used a bit more of it... i was afraid they'd be too sweet so i smeared it sparingly. the strawberry jam was great cause it had a lot of almost-whole fruit, it went great with the orange flavor. definetely a treat that makes the shortlist. merci fimere!

monkey bread

2010-02-21T23:16:00.001-06:00

i saw this over at smitten kitchen. i have instantly ~~fallen~~ somersaulted in love with it. i had never heard of monkey bread before. i looked at the pictures and i felt like a kid who found proof santa is real after all. i simply can't understand how this is not something everybody knows about. [insert choice profanity here.] i think we shouldn't be allowed to graduate from childhood without having had a taste of this.

it's the perfect lazy sunday project. the dough needs to rise twice. we had a grand production tea during the first, me drinking my ubiquitous coffee, zhara her juice, and all her dolls were treated to crakers and dried apricots. when it was time to roll the monkey bread, i set up a playdough station for her so she could work, too. she loved that i kept saying monkey bread and demonstrated very noisily what it'd be like if we had an actual monkey in the kitchen.
as it always seems to happen with me, i started gathering my stuff and realized i didn't have enough all-purpose flour. i also didn't have any desire to change my fluffy fleece for freezing sleet, so i replaced half with whole wheat pastry flour. i only had dark brown sugar, and altough the original recipe advised against it, i decided to take my chances. finally, deb did a cream cheese glaze, but we ate the last of our cheese for breakfast, so i had to improvise and did a simple melted chocolate glaze instead. the rest of the recipe is unchanged.

4 tb/56 gr unsalted butter, 2 tb softened, 2 tb melted
1 cup/250 ml milk, warm
1/3 cup/90 ml water, warm
1/4 cup/55 gr granulated sugar
1 pk/ 2 1/4 ts dry yeast
3 1/4 cups/435 gr all-purpose flour,
2 ts/10 gr salt

for the brown sugar:
1 cup light brown sugar, or dark, it will be equally good
2 ts cinnamon
8 tb unsalted butter, melted

heat oven to 200F/100C. when it's warmed turn it off.
mix flour with salt in the food processor. in a separate bowl, mix milk, water, 2 tb melted butter, sugar and yeast. with the motor running slowly stream in over the flour. if it's too wet sprinkle some 2 tb additional flour, until the dough comes together into a ball, cleaning the sides of the robot. knead 15 seconds then turn into oiled bowl, cover with an oiled wrap and place in the warm oven to rise, about one hour, until doubled in size.
coat a bundt pan with the 2 tb softened butter. set aside. mix brown sugar with cinnamon. melt 8 tb of butter. now flip the dough onto a lightly floured counter and pat into 8 inch square. cut in 64 equal pieces, separating them as soon as they're cut. they'll morph back into a square if you don't. roll each piece to make it round. put each ball through melted butter, then sugar, then place it in the buttered pan. be sure to stagger the balls at the seams where they meet. cover tightly with wrap and put it back in the oven for another 50 to 70 minutes until puffy.

take the pan out and preheat the oven to 350F/177C. bake until the top is deep brown, 30 to 35 minutes. cool in the pan for a couple minutes and invert to a plate - any more and you'll have trouble getting it out. allow to cool for another 10 minutes, then glaze with whatever strikes your fancy. cream cheese is probably a good pairing and i might've tried it had i any cheese... even my chocolate supply was kinda low, so i combined 3 parts butterscotch chips + 1 part white chocolate chips + 1 part bittersweet 70% chocolate. melted those with a glug of milk and poured it all over. i should've probably thought ahead and put it on a rack, but i was already late and it didn't seem like such a big deal that some of it pooled in the inner circle. i ended up piling all of that on the last few pieces. i liked it very much, and i thought the whole wheat imparted a wonderfully subtle nutty background to it. the caramelized exterior would've been enough to convince me, glazed or not. to say it was good would be to trivialize things. so i'm not going to.

smoked white bean soup

2010-02-20T14:53:00.001-06:00

lately i've come to rely more and more on the food blogs i read for new ideas and recipes. it used to be my cookbooks reigned supreme. and the occasional cooking shows. but now i have a whole list of favourites and i really trust them to feature tested, tasty recipes. what sends my bloodpressure skyrocketing like nothing else is bloggers who have categories titled 'easy' or 'quick' or both and then include recipes with ingredients that require six hours prep time. even if the final assembly is quick, if it takes you a day to get there, it shouldn't get billed as easy. and dear god, people: nothing with 'confit' in the title is ever going to be quick. [feels good to have gotten that off my chest. pffffuh.]

this soup is easy. like most soups are. in the interest of full disclosure, it may take up to three hours, depending on the beans you use. there. easy. not quick. mighty tasty. so tasty in fact, that the resident princess ate that entire bowl in 5 minutes flat. sans the meat, of course. don't push it, now.

get two smoked pork hocks. wash them in cold water and set them to boil with a bayleaf, a whole peeled onion, a few peppercorns, the stringy part of the celery stalks you'll use in the finished soup, and a parsley root. simmer until the meat is tender and easy to pull apart. strain the broth and discard everything but the hocks. while the stock is simmering boil the beans in a separate pot, or use canned beans and eliminate this step. i've used both and i wish i could stand here and say that the ones you boil are infinitely superior, but they're not. the only difference is, the canned ones have a lot of sodium, so adjust seasoning accordingly. (be sure to give them a rinse before using, you don't want the can juices in the soup.)

in the meantime, chop 3-4 stalks celery, 2-3 carrots, and 1 green bell pepper. when the hocks are cool enough to handle pull the meat from the bone and cube it. add meat and veggies to the strained broth, with the beans and a handful of pasta. pick something small shaped. when they're almost cooked add 6 to 8 oz tomato sauce or juice. sprinkle in some chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice (or a bit of vinegar). correct seasoning and you're done. serve it with sour cream. we like to have onion on the side with this, julienned and then 'kneaded' with salt, pepper and olive oil.

citrus savarins

2010-02-18T22:35:00.001-06:00

i always imagined making savarins required twirling magic wands and whispering incantations. as it turns out, you only need a few very ordinary ingredients and lots of syrup. both my husband and i haven't eaten one since we were kids. i have vivid memories of my nose pressed against the showcase at pastry shops, trying to decide, or rather how to convince my mom to get them and the amandines. this was well before the i-hate-whipping-cream-phase. yes, i had one of those. no, i'm not wondering where my daughter gets it. fortunately i'm back to wholeheartedly loving whipped cream, plus the way my husband perked up at the mere mention of this dessert plus the fact you just can't find them anymore, equals this.

i did some research for the recipe. gale gand's results in a dough solid enough to turn on the counter, and i specifically remembered it thin enough to pour. in the end i combined three to get precisely what i wanted. gale gand's, this one and this one.

1 3/4 cups bread flour
1 tb dry yeast
1 cup milk, warm
1 egg, room temp
2 tb butter, softened
1 heaping tb sugar

sift the flour with a pinch of salt. dissolve the yeast and a ts of sugar in the milk. add the beaten egg, butter, remaining sugar to the flour and mix. stream in the milk, mixing all the while. pour immediately into brioche or muffin tins. fill them half way and place in a warm spot to rise for 45 minutes. do not let rise a minute more or they will be though and crumbly and no amount of syrup will make up for the damage. 30 minutes in set your oven to 400F. bake 15-18 minutes, until nicely browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

while they bake prepare the syrup:

2/3 cups sugar

1 cup water

4 lemon rind strips

1 tb grand marnier

boil water, sugar and lemon until sugar is dissolved and the syrup is golden. take it off the heat and add the grand marnier, or cointreau or limoncello, whatever you have. let cool.

for the whipped cream, beat 1 cup heavy cream until stiff. mix in 2 heaping tb lemon curd. which you can make yourself or you can shell 3 bucks for trader joe's, which is quite decent and keeps in the fridge longer than i've ever needed it to.

when everything is cool, get a large shallow dish. cut the third top off the savarins. put each bottom through the syrup and lay it in the dish. if they absorb it right away, spoon a bit more syrup before topping with whipped cream. do the same for the tops. use all the syrup. if you have even a bit left pour it the dish. go all the way or go home. they will suck it up, don't worry. gale says to let it sit overnight but i don't find that necessary. a good couple hours is enough, just to get them cold all the way through.

traditionally they're topped with a dab of red fruit jelly. or maraschino cherries. i was planning on a bit of mint jelly, but of course when i opened the jar i discovered it had gone bad, so my only alternative was strawberry jam. oh well.

they're very good, although not precisely the same as those devoured when we were kids, a thousand years ago. those had plain whipped cream and rum extract instead of grand marnier, but i was in a lemon mood and these really hit home. i firmly believe: when something tastes this light and airy and citrusy the calories simply don't count. (and if you wolf one down in the middle of the night with your head in the fridge that definetely doesn't count.)

lemon garlic chicken

2010-02-18T00:12:00.000-06:00

on this chicken i used my favourite flavours. i use them whenever i crave comfort food. lemon, garlic, bacon. i often have urges to eat them raw, but fortunately these urges never coincide with me being drunk enough to act on them. i imagine it'd be a terrible combination, in the raw version, no? but how wonderful it turns when baked, especially when you add a good glug of white wine.

preheat oven to 375F. wash the chicken and pat it dry. in a shallow baking dish combine two tb olive oil with the juice of half lemon. toss the chicken so it's coated on all sides. season with salt, pepper, paprika and herbs de provence, laying it presentation side down. scatter a few garlic cloves between the chicken pieces. chop some bacon and throw that in, too. cut the lemon you juiced in half and fit it in between. gently pour dry white wine against the side of the dish so you won't wash away the seasoning. bake until it's nicely browned, then turn it so the other side can get its turn. all in all, about 35-40 minutes, less if boneless. the juices will reduce in the most wonderful sauce.

typically i'd make mashed potatoes to fully showcase it. i'd make some ridges on top so the sauce can puddle on top and you can have some with each bite. sometimes i simply spoon it over, but on occasion i'll strain it, add some chicken stock and thicken it with some cornstarch. but that is moot cause the boss doesn't do potatoes, hence the mac and cheese. i had to mop the sauce with the homemade roasted garlic bread. poor me.

garlicky, lemony zucchini white pizza

2010-02-17T23:16:00.000-06:00

i know, enough with the zucchini already, right? the thing is, i cook to order. the order of my bratty princess, who's realized all she has to do is ask, and food will just materialize on her plate. last night i had planned to feed her some leftover asparagus risotto. she loves it, except last night she just wouldn't take even a bite of it. so i started to name alternatives, which she shot down one by one. exasperated, i asked, what will you eat?!!! and she told me: pizza.
luckily i had picked up some dough at trader joe's. i was out of canned tomatoes so a red sauce was out of the equation, but i had some leftover garlic alfredo, just enough to schmear it all over. i grated the zucchini, seasoned it and tossed it with the juice of half a lemon and some olive oil. then i put one gigantic garlic clove through the press and mixed that in. let it sit while i chopped some bacon and crumbled some feta. slapped everything on and baked it 20 minutes at 400F.

zhara ate three bites. i had plumes of smoke coming out of my ears by this point. she had a banana and went to bed. i had a slice. and my husband had the rest of it. in his defense, it was a skinny crust. why, it was almost flatbread.

apple puff roses

2010-02-17T15:19:00.002-06:00

i spotted this idea on miha's wonderful blog with beautiful desserts.

fans of the quick and easy, rejoice. this recipe was created just for us! i love a dessert that's easy and fast to prepare but allows a beautiful presentation. your child will look at you and in her eyes you'll see you're all wrapped up in a golden glow and really you're some kind of super mom, because this is a perfect dessert to make with a child, even an antsy two year old. once you slice the apples there's no more knifes involved. no mixers, no double boilers. zhara had so much fun sprinkling sugar and pressing it in the dough! i brought a chair to the counter for her, gave her plastic cutlery and her own apple, and while i sliced she did too. tzopp! tzopp! (or however i should transliterate the sound she makes when she says chop.) the sugar was the best part. me the control freak found it very difficult to just let her have fun but me the glowy supermom couldn't care less about the sugar contaminating every square inch of my kitchen. we really did make a mess, but we had a significant bonding moment and i wouldn't trade for anything. she is now very interested in cooking and her play kitchen and plastic veggies have been showered with renewed attention ever since.
so all you need is a sheet of puff pastry, two apples, some sugar and a bit of cinnamon. now i made this both with peeled and unpeeled apples. i found that if you leave the peel on it just creates a weird texture, because the peel is tougher and it was pretty much like having a piece of string in your puff. so i'll take the time to peel them. core and thinly slice them. blanch the slices in boiling water in which you've dissolved a bit of sugar and lemon juice, just to soften them and remove to a paper towel to dry.
preheat oven to 400F. add 1 tb cinnamon to 3 to 5 tb sugar and mix well. sprinkle this mixture all over the puff pastry. i like to sugar both sides. press gently to make it adhere. take a pastry cutter or a pizza wheel and cut inch wide strips. place apple slices slightly overlapping them all long the strip then roll it up and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment. reach under and gently push up while holding the base in place to create some height. secure with a toothpick if you think they might unfold.

bake for about 15 minutes until they're nicely puffed and golden brown. allow to cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar if you wish.
i like using granny smith for this. a tart apple works best because then you have a bit of contrast with the sweet pastry. also, next time i'll use blond caster sugar. granulated sugar did not caramelize completely, there were still half-melted granules here and there, which is not a bad thing, but it makes me wonder if it can be improved. i find they are perfect on their own. the fist time i made them i did the powdered sugar on top and served them with warm caramel sauce but it was all so unnecessary.
when we had to go to the pediatrician's on a sunday i took some of these along. the nurse, who is very competent and generally nice -except for her tendency to ma'am people without cause- gave me the warmest smile ever. and she called me by name the next time we were in.

ps: you can't tell, but they have a wonderful color. that second picture has a greyish tinge because it gets dark at five. because it's still winter. because spring is nowhere to be seen in the near future. what's cabin fever?

roasted garlic bread

2010-02-16T00:08:00.003-06:00

there's this bakery i stop by every now and then. it's nothing special, but they have a good cherry turnover and an amazing roasted garlic bread. i love this bread, it has a good crust and the inside is nice and chewy and dotted with whole, sweet roasted garlic cloves. only trouble is they make those loaves so damn small, i always feel like such a pig. and i can't buy more than one cause then it's like admitting up-front that one loaf is not enough bread for me. so yesterday, as i was pondering all this waiting for the cashier (though of a certain age, seemed to care very little about the little time she has left: took her foooorever to ring up my two items) and as the price came up on the screen, i felt the weightlessness of it. it, the paper my first crush stuck to my back in 5th grade, that said 'stoopid'. seriously, his name is romeo, and we did that whole thing where i shared my lunch and he pulled my pig tails but then he stuck this paper on my back and i was over him like that. [snaps fingers loudly] only this time, perhaps it was plastered to my forehead. that tiny loaf, have i mentioned the ridiculous price?! geez, i have all the ingredients in my cupboard. i really don't know what i was waiting for.

high on a chery turnover sugar rush i come home to research recipes. all the results were for garlic bread, meaning slices smeared with various garlicky spreads and baked. garlic sticks. i had no time to riffle through cook books. so i threw caution to the wind and tinkered with an existing cheese bread recipe i have. there's a certain texture i was looking for, this bread is not spongy at all. i don't even like those breads you could compact into a tennis ball if you squeezed a little. i like hearty, crusty, consistent and this is all those things.

you can proceed with or without the cheese, but if you want it in be sure to get extra sharp aged cheddar. this time i used a mix of parmesan and this australian cheese i found at whole foods called fleur du nord which to me tastes a great deal like gruyere. does not work as good as sharp cheddar. and, for the love of good bread everywhere: if you don't have fresh rosemary just leave it out. i figured, eh, so what, i'll just use dry -despite my very bad track record of 'figuring' things on an empty stomach. i'll also try it with some whole wheat next time if i'm feeling extra adventurous.

so, preheat the oven to 400F. cut the tops of two whole heads of garlic, douse it with olive oil, wrap it in foil and roast for about 25 minutes. you want it good and tender, but still firm enough to gently squeeze out the entire clove. let cool.

for the dough:

4 1/3 cups bread flour

1 1/2 ts sea salt

1/2 cup warm water

1 ts caster sugar

1 cup to 1 1/2 cups warm milk (fat free works)

1/2 pack fresh yeast or 1 pack dry

4 oz extra sharp cheddar, about 1 cup, lightly packed

3 tb unsalted butter

1 tb chopped rosemary, optional

in a 2 cup liquid measure dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. let it sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

shred the cheese in your processor. attach dough blade, add flour, salt and the butter cut in small pieces and pulse to combine. pour 1 cup milk over the yeast. with the thing running slowly stream in the yeast mixture as the flour absorbs it. use the additional quantity as needed, until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. process another 45 seconds to knead. you'll have a smooth, firm dough that doesn't stick. put it in an oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm spot for about 1 hour, 1 1/2, until double in size. (it may be triple. it's all good.)

when it's ready flaten it with your hands into a rectangle. take the first garlic head and squeeze violently. seriously. you want a paste to spread evenly all over the dough. if you manage to get intact cloves out, smush them. yeah, that's a culinary term. be very gentle with the second. these you want whole. dot the surface with cloves and then sprinkle rosemary. fresh rosemary. fresh. roll up the dough like a jelly roll and pinch the ends and the seam to seal. place in greased loaf pan, cover with oiled wrap and let rise another 45 minutes.
preheat oven to 375F at least 15 minutes prior. bake about 35 to 40 minutes, until loaf sonds hollow when tapped. cool on wire rack.

i made two smaller loaves. because i love bread fresh from the oven. i intended to freeze one, already baked and then you warm it up, from frozen. not a bad deal at all. but the first one was devoured so quickly, there was no point to it anymore. zhara loved it. mostly because she kept poking the garlic pocket in her slice and squealing, squishy! squishy! which is a favourite texture and word these days.

it's great for sandwiches and goes really well with soup. i'll be making this again and again. the curse of the stoopid has lifted. i think.

lemon pistachio sugar cookies

2010-02-14T11:49:00.002-06:00

i'm not much for this valentine's day thing. perhaps it's because i did not grow up with it. even more likely, it's because i'm just not the kind of girl who cares about hearts and candles and whatever. i don't have a romantic bone in my body and i don't feel fundamentally impaired because of it. i don't even remember when i started dating my husband. (how could i know he was my husband?!) we just know it was the beginning of the year; he has some recollection of a super bowl at a friend's house - which of course is just a big blank for me, and frankly we only remember the day we got married because it's also his birthday. i'm terrible with dates and keeping track of time in general. my husband doesn't mind. and he knows he'll stir up a lot more excitement with a book than a bunch of roses. recently he gave me a kindle: now that was a blue-ribbon day! valentine's day is so low on the list of exciting things it barely generates a 'huh? what's that?'. however: i'm not about to pass a legitimate occasion of baking various cookies, especially now that we have so much fun decorating them. zhara insisted on the blue icing, which is incidentally kinda appropiate, since my hubby is away and so even if i wanted i couldn't celebrate zip. these are humble sugar cookies, perked up with some pistachio paste and lemon zest. low-key or not, they still deserve a decent pic, and i tried, but this kept happening so i gave up:

here's what:

1 cup/110 gr all purpose flour

1 cup/110 gr whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 ts salt

1/2 cup pistachio paste

6 oz/170gr butter, softened

1/3 cup/75 gr sugar

zest of one lemon, about 1 tb

1/2 ts vanilla extract

1 egg

mix flours with salt and set aside. cream the butter with the pistachio paste and sugar until fluffy, then add the egg, vanilla and zest. stir in the flour, mixing until just incorporated. form into a disk, wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

preheat the oven to 400F/220C. lightly sprinkle the work surface with powdered sugar. roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut out your shapes. alternately drop by tablespoons. bake for about 12 minutes. the dough will be set and kinda golden, but not browned. remove immediately to wire rack to cool. i left them on it overnight as it was late, and in the morning they were crispy on the outside, and chewy inside, just the way we like them. keep airtight for a week.

p.s. i expect next time i'll use a bit of lemon extract, too and possibly more zest. the flavour was quite subtle and we like the lemon punch.

another potato soup

2010-02-14T01:30:00.001-06:00

i think it's fair to say about 80% of my daughter's veggie intake comes about by way of soup. if she won't eat anything, she'll still go for soup 9 times out of 10. worst case scenario, i'll strain the broth into a sippy cup, she'll drink it and it's still something. i did that routinely when she was teething and flat-out refused to eat anything.
this soup is a compromise between stuff she likes and stuff i want. i don't want to cook separate dishes for us. in the other hand, she only likes pasta, rice and a couple of veggies. i love potatoes, while she starts wailing if i even offer them. but: she doesn't mind the taste of potato. weird, right? it suits me though, cause i can make a soup that'll make both of us happy.

this is more about the method than it is about a list of ingredients. i always use whatever i have on hand. brown your protein -smoked butt/bacon/kabanos/kielbasa - then add chopped onion. when it's glossy add chopped carrots and bell peppers. add your potatoes and let them boil gently for 15 minutes. add a handful of pasta. when both the pasta and the potatoes are almost ready, add chopped zucchini. mix 1/2 cup of sour cream with 1 egg yolk and temper it by slowly streaming in a couple ladles of hot soup - while whisking continuously. put in all back in the soup, stirring, and give it another gentle boil. add some dry oregano, salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

you should see us eating. zhara picks out what she likes, the pasta, carrots and zucchini, and like a good sport i pick up the slack: the potatoes and the sausage. well, it works for us.

quick scallop zucchini saute

2010-02-14T01:00:00.005-06:00

this is one of my favourite dishes. sometimes i serve it over wild rice but mostly i wolf it down as is, after long days when i can't be bothered with cooking. in all seriousness: 5 minutes of holding a pan over fire does not come close of encompassing the definition. this is literally easier then ordering take out. serves two or just me with a big fork.

1/2 lb/225gr bay scallops

1 zucchini, grated

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tb lemon juice

1 tb parsley, minced

toasted almonds

pour a bit of olive oil in a pan and get it smoldering hot. dry the scallops on paper towels and put them in the pan. sear undisturbed for two minutes then flip them. add the miced garlic and cook a minute more. toss in the zucchini and lemon juice and cook until the scallops are opaque and the zucchini is softened, 3-4 minutes. the point is more to warm it through. season with salt and a generous pinch of pepper. add the parsley, stir and kill the heat. top with the almonds. that's it. eat it while watching some scandalous drama to compensate for the lack of dirty pots and pans.

apple pistachio cupcakes

2010-02-11T23:43:00.004-06:00

before i had a child i had all sort of ideas about what kind of mother i'd be one day. once i learned the day has come, i'd daydream about blissful days spent playing quietly on immaculate floors, cheerful meals and long naps. i would teach my child about my various rules and vetos and enforce them gently, but firmly.
boy, was i deluded or what! my floors are never immaculate. there is no quiet, there are almost no naps and sometimes there are no meals, cheerful or otherwise. these are especially hard. the days she won't eat are about as fun as gum surgery. the days when you just beg your lucky stars for a bite of anything. and that's how the cupcakes fit into the picture.

i needed something to fall back on when all else failed, that wouldn't make me feel like the worst mother to ever walk this earth. i turned to ellie krieger's apple muffins, i've made them before and i knew zhara liked them. only this was a day hell bent on getting worse. half way through the prep i realize i had no buttermilk. relax, i thought, just use sour cream. but there wasn't enough of that either. so i used a mix of sour cream and mascarpone in the end, and it did the trick, but it wasn't any great improvement so i'd suggest sticking to the original. i skipped the topping as zhara doesn't go for it but did not adjust the sugar quantity in the batter. it's exactly as sweet as i like it. it's really a great recipe, between the whole wheat flour and applesauce and diced apple, all stuff that's good for you.

for dinner we went through our whole routine, me offering, her refusing until i fold and break these out. she took a bite, then a second... then she clamped her mouth shut. to my great dismay, the muffins didn't fly. hence the cupcakes. the cupcakes made it! and today the leftovers were eaten after dinner.

pistachio frosting:

1 cup mascarpone

3 tb pistachio paste

1 tb confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

cream the mascarpone with the sugar. mix the pistachio paste well to blend in separated oils. mix into the mascarpone. add heavy cream and whip gradually increasing speed until you have a fluffy mixture. pipe onto cupcakes. decorate with candied orange zest and/or violet petals. (i'm not a complete filistine: candied violets are a great addition, they've a subtle but complex aroma.)

ellie's muffin recipe says it yields 12, but it has to be a typo. i got a clean 24, i made 12 regular ones and 24 mini, because zhara loves the small ones. do not substitute the whole wheat pastry flour - it provides a wonderful nutty background; any neutral oil will work if you don't buy canola; keep them in the fridge but remove half hour before eating so the frosting can come to room temp. they really are excellent, a very delicate flavor combo, moist with apple and a bit chewy from the whole wheat. i loved the frosting, it was silkier than i'd expected and went just great with the apple. plus, it beats hot dogs by a long shot. it's not like i'm bitter or anything. sigh.

roasted onion bacon dip

2010-02-11T15:00:00.001-06:00

when i was a kid my mom got me a puppy after weeks of begging, promises i'd look after it, and threats to run away if she wouldn't. yes, i was quite stubborn and generally awful like that (in fact i often wonder how my mother survived my teenage years) but to get to the point: it was the cutest little black-and-white puppy, with a wet pink nose and a little tail that went crazy when i paid him attention. my first pet, how i loved him! i wanted to include him in all my activities, i spoiled him with treats and felt like he was part of the family. one day he was gone. we were playing in the yard, i went in for a minute and when i got back he'd dissapeared. i cried for days and never wanted another dog.
i then discovered bacon and i've been ok ever since. bacon and i go way back. i love it and i will eat anything that is wrapped in, stuffed with or balanced on bacon. it's really too bad i'm married... bacon is happy though with being just friends. onion is another one of my sympathies, especially when caramelized or roasted. this, for me, is the uber-dip, bar none.

preheat oven to 375F. cut 3 yellow onions in half, crosswise, and put them on a baking sheet lined with foil. cut an inch-deep slit in their tops. roast about half hour, until the juices are brown and bubbling underneath and they're soft all the way through.

use a spatula to loosen them and when they're cool enough peel them. in the meantime fry 4 or more strips of bacon until crisp and crumble them in a food processor. add the onion and pulse until you have a smooth paste. by all means chop them for a rustic feel. transfer to a bowl and stir in 1/3 cup mayo, 2/3 cup sour cream, 1 tb dijon mustard, 2 ts lemon juice and a handful chopped chives. season with salt and pepper to taste. you can serve it immediately if you must but it's best after a few hours in the fridge. in fact, it's best the next day. and look at my child, who did not eat a single bite all day. even though she was offered about a dozen different foods.

dobos torte

2010-02-09T12:07:00.001-06:00

this cake graced all the special occasions in my childhood. i don't think my mother ever made it herself. it was always ordered from various bakeries. some were great, and some not so much, but at that age, everything swaddled in chocolate is awesome. even stale, overly sweet cake. awesome, the whole lot.
after seeing it last august on the daring bakers it became an insidious bit of obssesion. this is not a dessert you just slap together, so i patiently waited for the magical intersection of a day i'd have people over for dinner and my husband would be home to mind the child while i baked it. he's away for days or weeks at a time, and pouring caramel with a toddler running around the kitchen is not exactly the pinnacle of safety-conscious cookery.

so i baked six thin layers. i made chocolate buttercream, despite the fact i've a deeply rooted aversion to buttercream and i never use it, not to save my life. i made the lemon caramel glaze and poured it on the top layer. then i assembled the thing and clothed it in pecan praline for a bit of extra oomph.

like proust with his madeleines, my tastebuds trembled with anticipation. i rushed everybody through their chips and dips, the goat cheese and asparagus tartelettes, the tuna empanaditas, and to hell with the chicken wings: who cares about that stuff?! let's cut the cake, right. now.

in the heat of things i never got to take a pic of a slice. it looked neat, equal thin layers of spongecake doused with coffee and deep chocolate buttercream. i only put praline on top so my husband could remove them. he's a nut hater. a hater of all nuts. (all but me.)

there's no easy way to say this: as i was eating, i felt cheated. robbed of one of the fondest culinary memories i had. this cake was nothing like the one i had growing up. it was good, fine, but just a bit too sweet. much sweeter than i like my desserts to be. i really resent a recipe when sheer sweetness masks all the other flavors. i used some great dark chocolate for the buttercream - i think it would have been the same made with wretched chips. you couldn't taste the coffee i brushed on the layers. it was too sweet.

so this cake gets a resounding, definite 'eh'. eh, i've had better. eh, next time i'll follow a romanian recipe and not use one just because it's already translated from the metric system.

luckily it wasn't the only dessert i had. i also made the parisians, only smaller so i'd get more mileage out of them, and another thing i can't say anything about yet because it's the current daring bakers' challenge. look how cute the miniature parisians are, and by miniature i mean about 5 or 6 inches long. these are always great, and even more so this time as i used king arthur flour.

sole fillet stuffed with a mushroom duxelle; a sauce and parmesan polenta

2010-02-06T15:41:00.002-06:00

because murphy's laws run rampant in my life, i haven't had a chance to post lately. we did eat in the meantime. the child was fed. for the most part. (do hot-dogs count?)
anyhoo, my meat-and-potatoes husband raved about this dish. we really loved it, and we're not that big on fish. we like shrimp and scallops, but fish, eh. this i'll make again and again.

i don't know how to accurately describe the cooking method - it's not a roast/bake/broil, though it's in the oven. oven-poach. i think that's a reasonable description. it's poached/steamed in dry wine, and the flavour is unbelievable.
this is what you need:
6 to 8 sole fillets
8 oz/225 gr wild mushrooms, i used a blend of shiitake, oyster and crimini
1 onion
1 tb chopped parsley
1 tb butter
1 tb flour
1 cup/250 ml milk
1/2 cup/125 ml dry white wine (or apple cider)
2 ts lemon juice
zest of half lemon
pinch nutmeg
1/2 ts garlic powder
for the creamy polenta:
2 cups/500 ml chicken broth
6 tb instant polenta
1/3 cup grated parmesan
salt, pepper

chop the onion and sweat it in a bit of olive oil over medium heat while you finely chop the mushrooms. add them to the pan and cook until all the juices are evaporated, about 15 minutes. (you can do this in advance.) mix in the parsley and take it off the heat.
preheat the oven to 350F or 180C. meanwhile, wash and dry the fish. salt and pepper the fillets. these you want about 1 1/2 inch wide, so split in half lenghtwise if needed. reserve 2-3 tb of the mushrooms and equally divide the rest between the fish. spread all over the fillets, pressing gently to make it adhere, on the skin side if skin was not removed. roll up the fish, tail to head end, and put it in a baking dish as closely together as possible. pour the wine over it. cut a piece of parchment to fit the dish and cover all the fish. butter it and place it directly on the fish, so the butter sticks to the fillets. bake for about 20 minutes. depending on your oven, check after 15.
to make the polenta, bring the stock to boil. decrease to a gentle simmer and slowly stream in the polenta. slowly. slowly. or you'll have lumps. stir for 5 minutes. add the parmesan. kill the heat. stir and taste for salt and pepper. keep warm.
when the fish is nearly ready, heat the remaining mushrooms in 1 tb butter. when it's melted add the flour and stir to blend. cook for a couple of minutes then stream in the milk, whisking continuously. add garlic powder and nutmeg. cook on low heat for about 5 minutes. now take the fish from the oven and strain 4 tb of the cooking juices in the mushroom sauce. add the lemon juice and zest, taste for salt. let it sit on very low heat while you plate the polenta and the fish. spoon sauce on top. take a bite and be surprised.

recipe adapted from here.

molten lava chocolate cake

2010-01-28T23:04:00.004-06:00

recipe adapted from paula deen

one slash of a fork and its molten center will spill like a lush, saucy secret. this cake is unbelivably moist, allows you to play with flavorings and it's great for a small dinner party. i can't remember where, but definetely on a pastry chef's blog i read that this cake is boring and commonplace as old shoes. as i was reading all the reasons i shouldn't bother, the fiercest of cravings took hold.

people are sick of it? i refuse to believe it. it's cliche? ts ts, i can live with that. i could care less about which foods are trendy today. i like what i like and this thing will grace my table a lot more than any other chocolate dessert. it's very easy to make, it takes 25 minutes! 25! from start to ready-to-be-eaten, and it looks good enough to entertain. you can make multiple toppings and each guest gets their own little cake to dress up as they will. can't think of a better ending to a meal.

2 oz/56 gr bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa)

1 1/4 stick/140 gr butter

1/2 cup/ 75 gr all-purpose flour

1 cup/80 gr confectioner's sugar

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

1 ts vanilla extract

2 tb orange/hazelnut/peppermint liqueur

preheat oven to 425F/218C.

butter and sugar 6 x 6 oz ramekins or 4 x 7 3/4oz.

melt the chocolate with the butter in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds to avoid scorching or use a double boiler. add the flour and sugar. stir in the eggs and the yolks until smooth. add vanilla and flavoring of choice, i used some coconut extract. decrease to 1 teaspoon if you'll use extract instead of liqueur.

divide equally between ramekins. bake for precisely 14 minutes.

let cool a few minutes and invert unto dessert plates. i do not doubt for a second that more often than not we'll eat them straight out of their ramekins, but if you wanna get fancy, beat up a cup of whipping cream, divide it into smaller portions and mix each with praline, nutella, pistachio paste, peppermint brittle, cream of coconut or what have you, for pure, utter indulgence. as if the cake were not enough on its own!

beef with sauce bearnaise

2010-01-26T20:37:00.000-06:00

every now and then i get a song stuck in my head and it goes on and on. not a long while ago it used to be something from nirvana or queen or guns'n'roses. look at what life does to you: for the past two days the song i keep hearing is 'if you're happy and you know it'. i simply can't get rid of it. also clap your hands to support my daughter's budding organization, Say No to Potty, with its charming slogan that she obstinately announces every chance she gets: no potty never! no potty never! which is why i need this:

that and a nice relaxing evening, after the brat is down for the night. it's our version of date night. we just don't leave the house for it. in all honesty most days i don't have the energy to get dressed up and put make up on and arrange childcare to go to a restaurant. and since you're making the effort, you'd better go someplace nice, right? so there's that expense. and when i want to avoid it and go to a more accessible place i keep thinking i could've cooked better for half the dough. so instead i splurge on a nice cut of aged beef, which is what my husband would invariably order. filet mignon or ribeye or maybe a ny strip. either way this meal is ready in 20 minutes. i skipped the starch for lighter fare. roasted asparugus is plenty with the meat. i added red peppers before remembering said brat is not concerned :).

preheat oven to 400F. snap asparagus and line it up on a baking sheet. toss to coat in a tablespoon of olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. roast for 20 to 25 minutes.

remove the meat from the fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking. season simply with salt and pepper, maybe some herbs de provence. in a large pan heat 1 tb butter with 1 tb olive oil. when the foaming subsides place your meat in the pan and back off. do not mess with it. after 4 minutes flip it and cook for another 2 for medium rare. do not exceed 4 minutes on side two or you'll be eating rubber.

the sauce is my husband's favourite condiment for steak. i love tarragon, so it's a reccuring piece. whisking constantly in a double boiler while keeping an eye on the meat may be easy when your nerves are not frazzled at the end of a long day. there's an easier way: prepare the reduction while the meat is getting to room temp, and while the meat is cooking blend the sauce. in the blender. ta-dam!

to make the sauce bearnaise:

2 tb shallot, chopped

2 sprigs fresh tarragon, chopped

1/4 cup champagne vinegar

1/4 cup dry white wine

3 egg yolks

1 stick butter, melted

2 tb tarragon finely chopped

1 ts lemon juice

salt, white pepper

combine the tarrgon, shallots, vinegar and wine in a small pan, bring to boil and then simmer until reduced by half. strain, set aside and let cool.

blend the egg yolks with the reduction. with the blender running start streaming melted butter slowly, and i mean slowly, until you have incorporated a third of the butter, then crank to high speed and pour at ease. blend until emulsified. add the chopped tarragon and lemon juice. season with salt and white pepper. keep warm if your meat is not cooked.

if you don't have champagne vinegar dry vermouth works just as well.

if you have leftover sauce don't toss it! use it the next morning instead of hollandaise for eggs benedict. i find them completely interchangeable. ever had shrimp bearnaise? makes for a quick delicious lunch. just be careful you don't scramble it when you warm it up.

casual friday: onion pizza

2010-01-25T15:50:00.004-06:00

although it's monday. i just like the expression. casual friday is any day you feel like slacking a little bit. or a day when your consort keeps imploring junk delivery. and once your child hears the word 'pizza' being uttered it doesn't leave her brain, not for a flying pony. are you to order pizza then? to quiet the revolution and to honor casual friday - which, stop kidding yourself: it's bound to come around once in a blue moon. ts, ts, ts. i would go without pizza forever [gasp!] rather than submitting to that pizza hut racket. on a mad day i'll buy the dough and skip a step and still make my own, thank you very much. (which is not to say i've never ordered pizza - just that each time i did, i ate it with a side of bitter regret).

now this is casual, remember? no measuring allowed. [taps pen against teeth] except for the dough, if you insist on making it yourself - leave a comment if you'd like my recipe.

preheat the oven to 400F. stretch the dough with your hands to fit whatever sheet/pan/stone you're using to bake it. spread with a few tablespoons pizza sauce. chop some bacon and scatter it across, then a cubed red pepper. crumble a chunk of feta - not a lot, say a piece the size of an egg. then grate some parmesan and sprinkle both cheeses on the pie. for the grand finale, thinly slice a medium onion, and spread it in a single, continuous layer on your cutting board. pour a little olive oil on top, sseason with salt and pepper, and mix it very well with your hands, crushing it a little as you go, as if you were kneading. distribute evenly on the pizza.

bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the thickness of your dough and the level of char you like on the top ingredients. serve with a green salad if you like. there were no leftovers. not a crumb.

a cure for a crummy day

2010-01-22T15:17:00.002-06:00

well, more like a band-aid. this was a special kind of crummy. the kind that combines a hateful migraine with piercing toddler wails, a messy house and an improvident trip to the market. ever had one of these? the market was by far its crowing moment, since i forget my wallet at home and their stupid machine kept refusing my check. a nice person who works there gave zhara a cookie to prevent bleeding ears in other shoppers, which she sneezed all over my glasses as i was fixing her scarf.
so it was nice to come home to these.

i made mini cupcakes because they're toddler-friendly and as a part of my ongoing Battle against Large Portions. fact is, we could use some dieting around here, but we're simply not able to resist food. any food. so at least we should rationalize how much of it we eat. yes, we should. in real life however, these filled my kitchen with an unbearably tempting aroma as they baked. i'm sad to report some of them never got to meet their frosting. some never even got to Be Cool. they are weightless and fluffy, especially when consumed the same day. be sure to cover if you have leftovers, as they will dry some if you don't.

1 1/4 cups/150 gr flour

1/2 ts baking powder

1/4 ts baking soda

pinch salt

1 1/4 sticks salted butter/140 gr

1 cup/250 gr sugar

2 eggs

3/4 ts vanilla extract

1/2 ts coconut extract

2/3 cups/150 ml coconut milk

3/4 cups coconut flakes, optional

preheat oven to 350F. mix the flour with the baking powder, soda and a pinch of salt and set aside.

cream the butter with the sugar until very pale and fluffy, about 10 minutes. add the eggs one at a time, then add the flavors. slowly mix in the coconut milk and the dry ingredients until just incorporated. fill your paper cups no more than 2/3, they will rise a bit. yields a dozen cupcakes, or in my case 24 mini and 6 regular size.

the before and after photo:

i left out the topping: i'm not much for anything that calls for cups of powdered sugar. use your favourite one or whip 1 cup cream + 2 tb powdered sugar + 1 ts coconut extract + some pink coloring. pink tastes better. and some heart-shaped confetti won't hurt.

notice the remarkable restraint in decorating, as i mostly tend to pile it on:

red pepper pesto

2010-01-21T14:19:00.001-06:00

my daughter's infatuation with red peppers continues, and i'm scrambling to find new recipes for them. i've stuffed them twice, with meat and with orzo, and i made sauces, for pasta and meatballs. yesterday i was going to do a sundried tomato-roasted garlic pesto, until i realized it was too late to start roasting garlic. so i went this way instead.

1 12 oz jar (450 gr) roasted red peppers

1/2 cup (4 lg) toasted sliced almonds

2 small zucchini

1 cup parmesan

1 large garlic clove

1/2 ts salt

1/2 ts pepper

2-3 tb olive oil

we love pesto in any variety. and we like zucchini, but you can sub 3 cups basil leaves for a more traditional approach. you may need to add more salt and pepper, i try to use the bare minimum. this pesto does not require as much oil to emulsify, as the peppers are packed with moisture. so once you've toasted the almonds you just put everything in the processor and give it a whirr. yields 2 1/4 cups.

when i make pasta using this i like to add a good glug of heavy cream and more cheese on top. i also like this on bruschette, as a spread on sandwiches, over polenta or even as a base on pizza. it's nutty and sweet, but with a nice acidic punch.

i asked her if she liked it, and she made this face and said, mmm-hmmm:

the crepe

2010-01-19T22:47:00.002-06:00

seriously. my lifetime favourite crepe. hubby thinks so too. i asked, since i may be a little biased. i could eat the sole of my shoe if it were covered in that caramel sauce. it's the kind of thing you bite into and 'ode to joy' just blares off your taste buds into your brain.

the crepes are thin and crispy-edged and fried by my husband. what, those are all legitimate requirements of the perfect crepe. the filling is juicy, tart apples stewed until just soft and perfumed. as if it were not enough, the salted caramel takes it to eleven. dreamy.

for the crepes:

4 cups cold milk

3 eggs

pinch salt

4 tb sugar

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 ts vanilla, optional

beat the eggs with the sugar and salt; stream in the milk and then slowly add the flour while mixing. you may not use all of it; the batter needs to be the consistency of a creme anglaise, or eggnog. slightly thickened liquid. way thinner than pancake batter. add vanilla only if you plan to keep all fillings sweet. refrigerate for one hour. although i've been known to skip this step. i'm a poor planner. i really wish i could foresee my cravings.

the apple filling i had leftover from this strudel i made the same day. it's very easy: mix a vanilla pudding into 2 cups apple juice. chop 4-5 apples - some that are tart and firm, and add them to the juice. cook over medium low heat while whisking continuosly.by the time the pudding will have thickened, the apples will be cooked through. or use the filling i stuff my pastry horns with.

i've seen this caramel recipe all over, but only here it's done with salted butter and that's what sold it. i made it as a gift and committed a major oopsie: i added twice the cream the recipe calls for. nobody was hurt. nobody noticed. but let's go with what it's supposed to be, when you're not on the phone holding your sides laughing cause you're talking to funny people.

1 cup sugar, 6 tb salted butter, 1/2 cup heavy cream. melt the sugar, add the butter, when it's all melted add the cream. it will bubble furiously, use a tall pot. stir. keep for 2 weeks in the fridge.

back to the crepes. heat a nonstick skillet and grease it either by lightly brushing oil with a balled-up paper towel or pastry brush, either with pam. must be repeated before each crepe. do a try-out to see how much batter you need for one: for a 8inch skillet a small ladle aka 3/4 cup will be perfect. pour the batter while twirling the pan to spread in a thin layer. fry over medium heat until set, about 4-5 minutes, then flip and fry 2 minutes more. fill as soon as cool enough to handle, with jams, nutella or what have you. if you wish to make a savory cheese crepe, put the cheese in the middle of the crepe after you've flipped it. fold in half. the cheese will melt and be delicious.

if you can resist this, who are you?

spinach green bean soup

2010-01-19T21:46:00.003-06:00

this is the bastardized cousin of the portuguese kale soup i love. there was simply no kale at the grocer's. fresh spinach makes a nice substitution. in true slacker form, i buy the one in the bag, washed and trimmed. only this time, it was gargantuan, with stems the size of pencils, leaves thick and sorta ruffled. tasted fine, but it makes you wonder what in the hell kind of fertilizer they used. boy, do i miss going into the garden and just picking stuff.

i saved the monster, for chopped creamed spinach and used some baby spinach that was intended for salad. i know that picture doesn't look like much, but it's a delicious soup, and easy as sin. my daughter deemed it 'pink' and it was all good and dandy from there.

1 italian sausage, casing removed

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 red pepper

2 carrots

2 cups green beans

4 cups baby spinach

3-4 tb tomato sauce

2-3 tb heavy cream

1-2 tb lemon juice

1/2 ts cinnamon

2 tb chopped parsley

salt, pepper

i never measure anything. sometimes i stray even when baking. just taste and adjust accordingly. do not forget the cinnamon. in my book, this is something i use in desserts. and to top my cappuccino. the only time i used it in a savory dish it was accidental - and catastrophic. well in this soup it sings.

slice the sausage and roll each slice to round it up, like tiny meatballs. tiny. sear on all sides in a bit of hot oil. remove to plate and add the onion, and after 5 minutes the garlic. cook 2 more minutes, then add the chopped pepper. saute 5 minutes more. add 6 to 8 cups of water or stock. bring to boil. get the spinach in there and the beans, if using fresh or frozen. if using canned, add them with the tomato sauce. this is when the cinnamon takes a dive. bring to boil again and simmer partialy covered for about a half hour. then add tomato sauce, heavy cream, lemon juice and simmer 5 minutes more. sprinkle the parsley and turn off the heat. cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.

you can also add a bit of allspice to it, and use chickpeas instead of green beans. that is what the kale soup calls for but i've an unexplained antipathy for chickpeas. or to be honest, more like extreme prejudice: can't stand them with the glorious exception of roasted red pepper hummus, which i just might make this weekend.