where salty meets sweet

Peking, I mean, Beijing Duck

2011-12-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

Homemade Peking Duck and Skin on Homemade pancake

Home for the holidays and my mom got excited about duck (something she read in the NY Times, her trusted media resource). Being Jewish and it being the holiday season, when I thought of duck, I could only think of Chinese food, the traditional Christmas dinner for jews around the world following a movie. I decided I'd go for Peking duck, (Jake-just in China informed me they call it Beijing duck there...thanks Jake!) enthused about the idea of using a bike pump to pump the skin with my gadget-loving Dad around for support. Looking further into the recipes we determined that without a neck on the chicken, the proper needle, and hooks and ties for hanging, the whole bike pump thing was a little crazy. Instead I found a recipe from Serious Eats that simply had you use your fingers to separate the skin from the flesh, and to let it dry on a wire rack covered in a soy and honey sauce with salt and baking powder on top to aid the drying process. This seemed a good compromise and we went with it. The recipe actually called for maltose syrup and soy but I used agave, not finding maltose at the Whole foods and needing to get the duck prepped ASAP. I dried the duck off and propped it on a rack while mixing the soy with agave, generously spooning and rubbing all over the duck. Then a mixture of salt and a little baking powder evenly coating the skin. Finally I went with a drying method that I'd read about to speed the process since I only had about 8 hours or so, not the 12-36 called for in the recipe, I used a fan.

Duck gets celebrity fan-treatment

I thought this was pretty great, and it seemed to do a good job on drying the duck. This was set by 11 or so and I left it alone until 6ish when I boiled a pot of water and ceremoniously dumped it all over both sides of the bird, clearing the skin of all residue, while I preheated the oven to roast at 350. After some drying time, about 5 mins, we filled a metal can halfway with water and used it to prop the duck upright for roasting....into the oven for about an hour and it was done, in fact slightly more than done, but deliciously amber and shiny, and ready to rest while the pancakes were being made.

mmmm

The dough was simply boiling water mixed with flour, kneaded and formed into small balls to be rolled. The unique aspect of this was once you get each ball into about a 3 inch disk you spread the top of one with sesame oil, place another disc on top and roll the two together until they are quite thin. The fused pair goes into a heated skillet for about a minute on one side, less on the next, and then before cooling, you separate the two. This led to a slight sesame flavor as one as one side with some nice grilled marks and taste, while the other was steamed and supple for holding the delicate ingredients.

misshapen pancake cooking

My mom carved the duck, thank god, while I did the pancakes, separating the skin from the meat and slicing the meat. In each wrap went some matchstick cucumbers, a smear of hoisin sauce (I did not make my own sadly- next time perhaps) some thinly sliced scallions, and ample amounts of duck and skin. I have to say, they were delicious. The duck was rich, the skin crisp and salty, the hoisin so sweet and the cucumber and scallions were fresh and bright. The pancake somehow added a bit more than just a convenient way to eat them, though I do believe that everything is better in a wrap, the warm bland wrap somehow tied it all together. We had some quick stir friend chinese broccoli and rice alongside just for kicks, but it was paid little attention. Definitely a new holiday favorite.

Fall salads

2011-12-22T10:11:00.000-08:00

Spiced squash and fennel with arugula and goat cheese

As I've made it clear, life lately has been pretty hectic and grocery stores nearby are more limited...this has forced me to become more creative, seek out hearty vegetarian options sometimes and opt for hearty grains to add protein and substance. I've actually begun to really enjoy the bite of whole grains, the natural sweetness of roast vegetables, and some goat cheese to add creaminess and tang. The dish I'm presenting today is basically a salad but it was the centerpiece of our meal, accompanied simply by some warm bread. It is very adaptable, we have made it a few times and vary the exact preparation, even adding prosciutto on top. The recipe I adapted includes a dash of cinnamon which I was wary of at first, I'm rather particular about keeping those classic sweet and spicy fall spices in sweet recipes, but I must say I'm glad I tried it. The smell of the roasting squash, fennel and onions with the fall spices is incredible, the vegetables softening on the inside, crisping on the outside, and picking up a complex aroma. I more or less followed a recipe for "spiced winter squash" from epicurious that was intended as a side dish for lamb, so the somewhat moroccan spicing makes sense. Instead it played the star, piled on top of arugula lightly dressed with some good olive oil and a splash of vinegar. The arugula wilts slightly under the heat which I really like, and I top it all with some nice chunks of goat cheese which melts just so slightly but mostly it's a nice cool compliment to the slightly spicy roasted vegetables. Served with some good crusty bread, this can be a light meal, it feels fresh and comforting at the same time.

Roasted Shrimp and Burst Grape Tomatoes over Polenta

2011-12-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

Roast Shrimp and Tomatoes over Parmesan Polenta

I've dearly missed shrimp. In fact I don't think I've been able to buy them ever since my mom wrote a book, "Cheap" . It's about the "high cost" of cheap practices, and although the majority of my clothes still come from Target, I was, not surprisingly, influenced by the chapter on food. In general I eat pretty naturally, I eat only cage free eggs and chicken, aim for natural ice creams and try to avoid over-processed foods. But when it comes to meat and fish, I don't really look at where it came from. Times are changing, for the better, but it makes grocery shopping harder, checking every label, rejecting a lot of seemingly acceptable items. At some point I think you can't worry, not all your food is going to be happy, wild, not overharvested, and you can't make yourself crazy, but its probably not a bad idea to educate a bit and pick and choose a couple of ways to make your lifestyle more environmentally friendly as well as probably safer for your body. This is all to say, I haven't been eating shrimp that come from Thailand or Vietnam, but Jake found a deal on US shrimp and bought 2 2lb bags of uncooked shell on frozen shrimp.

I love shrimp and could eat them every night, the recipe below was an ad hoc recipe but it turned out so well and was so simple that I've made it or variations many times since.
Preheat your oven to about 400 F. Then take a half pint of grape or cherry tomatoes and dump them onto a baking sheet, along with a couple of whole cloves of garlic (you can keep the skin on to prevent burning) and give it all a generous pour of olive oil and shower of salt and pepper. Throw in the oven for about 5-10 mins until you start to hear sizzling and maybe even a pop or two. While this is happening make sure your shrimp (hopefully thawed and deveined) are clean and dry...I like to keep the shells on because I actually like to eat them, they get perfectly crispy, otherwise I think it's still worth it to cook with the shells on but you could play with shelling them first. Toss in olive oil and salt and pepper, and add to the baking sheet with the tomatoes, tossing the tomatoes around and making sure the shrimp are in a single layer. The shrimp should take about 5 mins on each side (I use tongs to flip each one over).

Now the tomatoes become this really rich tomato sauce and you need something to soak it up, I was playing around with polenta but in a pinch I've done cous -cous, I think good bread or pasta would probably be even better. Regardless I think a nice shaving of parmesan on top is well worth it, and if you have fresh basil, that's always a nice touch. As usual I pair this with a big green salad, the fresh greens and acid cut the richness of the dish, but some sauteed spinach or dark green would probably go really well also.

Fall themed potluck and mini apple pies

2011-12-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

Apple art

So I think I mentioned that I moved to DC and now I'm in grad school so though I still cook dinner every night, the ingredient list has shrunk to sales at the local overpriced organic market and lots of chicken thighs. In addition baking has come nearly to a halt. Dessert tends to be snacking straight out of a bag of chocolate chips that was had no hope of making it to their destiny of chocolate chip cookies. Regardless, I still feel the need every now and then to show off a skill and as an attempt to make new friends, therefore a fall themed potluck was just the time to get back on track. I'd planned to make butternut squash ravioli, but then it seemed dessert was more important and I'd just seen Smitten Kitchen's adorable apple pie cookies and couldn't help but make another copy cat recipe.

Assembly...

In general I believe that potluck recipes should be single serving, therefore this seemed like an ideal way to have your pie and eat it without a lot of trouble. Also people are often hesitant to take a slice of pie, it seems too indulgent, but a cookie, no problem. What I didn't take into account was the fact that even though they were called cookies, they required the precision, time, and care to make a good pie dough, but because they were cookies they needed to be formed individually.

Mini Apple Pies!

So yes, it was a bit of a project, and no I didn't have all the time in the world, but they came together with a bit of assembly help to speed the process. I made the dough ahead of time and chilled it, then used a mandolin to slice the apples and two different sized glasses to cut the apples into cute little rounds and the dough into slightly larger rounds. I upped the cinnamon level which I thought worked well, but otherwise pretty much stuck to the recipe. Needless to say, it was worth the work, they were polished off at the potluck, went quite well with the warm spiked cider, and I think maybe gave me a bit of street cred. This is definitely a good chilly fall day project, especially if you have kids around to help assemble, it will fill the house with the delicious scent of warm apple pie, which is hard to beat, and they're the perfect food for a potluck, picnic, or even breakfast on the go.

Father's day tart and some news

2011-08-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

Nectarine tart with crystalized ginger

I know I'm sooo far behind with my posts, father's day was early June and now its nearly September. But, I've been busy! Let me first explain a bit some major changes in my life, then I'll get on to the tart. I've spent my post college years playing in the kitchen, exploring Somerville, Cambridge and Boston on T, bike and foot, slowly discovering their hidden bars, coffee shops, emerging farmer's markets and festivals, etc, and working as a research assistant for a few different PI's in psychology. Though I enjoyed my work, it wasn't truly mine, unlike my cooking, and I decided it was time to go back to school so I could pursue my own research.

Pink oven in Somerville kitchen

So that brings me to to the fact that I've gotten accepted (with a lot of hard work) to a PhD program at U Maryland, I've moved myself (and dragged my boyfriend along) to DC into a great townhouse with funky painted floors, an old fashioned tub, and a TINY kitchen, along with a tiny stove (though one of the few gas stoves that we found in our house hunting adventures). We've been working hard to set it up so we can still cook excellent meals, and so far haven't failed to do so. There's a farmer's market around the block every week, an organic market to buy my bulk grains etc, and I'm working on finding some good markets for fish and meat, etc. Luckily our landlord who lives downstairs is also a big foodie, and a great cook, and has lots of suggestions. Anyways, that all said, I'll be blogging from DC now, and I'll be in grad school, so things might be a bit different. I really hope to keep up my cooking, and to take some time each week or month to update my blog. I really enjoy all the responses I get and it makes each post truly worthwhile.

new kitchen, still in progress

Now on to the baking part of the post. I was commissioned to make the dessert for a joint father's day celebration. I know a tart doesn't sound to manly, but my dad really likes nuts, spices, fruits, etc in desserts (he often goes for grape-nut, pistachio, rum raisin, etc for ice cream) and it was a nice summer evening so I decided to go for a nectarine tart with gingersnap crust and crystalized ginger that I adapted from a... Smitten Kitchen recipe....I promise to expand my recipe sources soon, as soon as I finish trying every one of her recipes!

Bourbon scented marscapone filling

nice concentric circles!

I made it early in the morning before going on a hike with my dad through Blue Hills, and had it later that evening. It was easy to make since the crust was mostly crushed gingersnaps, the filling I made with marscapone and whipped cream (switched to whipping cream for the dreaded cream cheese called for in the original recipe) and a splash of bourbon (had to make it slightly more manly somehow) and topped it with sliced nectarines and finely chopped crystallized ginger.

topped with ginger, waiting to be sliced

It was light and decadent at the same time, fresh with the nectarines, creamy from the filling, and had a slight kick from the ginger. Easy, elegant, and beautiful and endlessly adaptable, you could use a variety of fruits, fillings, and crusts, topping with chocolate shavings, nuts, etc. It's definitely a great base for anytime you need to whip up an impressive quick dessert.

Anniversary Dinner for my parents

2011-08-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

I know, who makes an anniversary dinner for their parents? I tend to believe that an anniversary is an event that should take place between two people, however in an off handed manner I offered to cook a romantic meal for my parent's 36th anniversary and they jumped on the idea...I think my mom was sick of going out to eat and happy to have her kids around...so I was stuck. I wanted to go all out but didn't quite have the budget so I had to improvise within my means. The menu ended up being:

Frisee salad with roasted chioggia beets, goat cheese, pistachios and a lemon vinaigrette
Seared Sea Scallop over a charred corn puree with browned butter and a sweet pepper and micro-green garnish
Homemade potato gnocchi with proscuitto, spring mushrooms and fresh peas
Homemade goat cheese ice cream with chioggia beet chips, fresh apricot and pistachios

Frisee salad with roasted beets, goat cheese, pistachios and a lemon vinaigrette

I threw together a quick salad with frisee because I wanted something light but different than our typical green salad. I had leftover beets and goat cheese from the dessert course and figured it would be nice to tie the whole meal together from start to finish. I roasted the beets whole and sliced them, crushed some pistachios, sliced some goat cheese, and threw together a quick dressing of lemon juice and wine vinegar, some salt pepper, and good olive oil. It was really delicious, light, and a good way to start the meal.

Seared Scallop with charred corn puree and garnish

I knew I wanted to make a scallop dish as they are really special and delicious and I know my parents both love them, however I knew, at $23/lb for the good ones, that I couldn't afford a full meal of them...hence the first course which only requires one per plate, these heifers were about 8 to the lb so one was sufficient. I charred 2 ears of corn on the grill, then scrapped the kernels off and pureed them with a touch of cream, a bit of salt and pepper, and it made this elegant sauce...it made a bit less than I'd expected (I'd imagined more of a base for the whole plate) but I think in the end I was happy with the amount. Also you throw some butter in the pan after searing the scallops at a super high heat which picks up the bits at the bottom while giving the scallop a little bit of a butter bath and making a really nice finish. The microgreens and peppers were a good finish for mostly color but added a crisp freshness definitely. I found the recipe and copied it pretty much exactly from this incredible blog I found in seeking out a corn and scallop recipe.

Homemade gnocchi with proscuitto, mushrooms and fresh peas

The gnocchi I made because, 1, I don't own a ricer and my parents do so I knew it was my one and only chance to attempt making gnocchi with the proper equipment. 2, they require little more than a couple of potatoes and eggs, so I knew ingredients wouldn't be too expensive. And 3, I found this awesome recipe that included fresh peas (in season) proscuitto and mushrooms, so I knew it would be delicious and elegant. I struggled a bit with the gnocchi, at first forgetting to add the egg and parmesan mixture and therefore having to remake the dough after remembering...a slight setback and also possibly a bit overworked, however the gnocchi turned out extremely light...perhaps a bit too large (followed the directions for size but I think they were too clunky) and also a bit mushy for my taste. Other errors, the peas got a little too cooked for my taste and my boyfriend who I left in charge of adding proscuitto accidentally added nearly twice the amount...so they were pretty meaty and maybe a tad salty! Overall they were big hit and the anniversary couple didn't hesitate to clean their plates!

Goat cheese ice cream with chioggia beet crisps, fresh apricots and pistachios

And for the grand finale...a goat cheese ice cream...(adapted from David Lebowitz's "The perfect scoop"). I know, kind of crazy, especially for a girl who didn't used to like cheese! But now I love goat cheese and being creative and I needed an excuse to use my ice cream machine again. Also, I had bought these beautiful beets the farmers market and wanted a way to display them. I attempted to make sweet beet crisps by slicing them thin, cooking them shortly in a simple syrup, and then drying in a low low oven for a few hours. They turned out nearly perfect, perhaps not quite as crisp as I'd wanted. The goat cheese ice cream was a breeze. It involved egg yolks, whole milk, some sugar and goat cheese. I made a custard with the yolks, milk and sugar and poured over the goat cheese and stirred until it was combined. After a good chill it went into the ice cream maker. It was really delicious, something I'd never had before, a little tangy but not overwhelming, sweet, I could see this pairing well with a lot of things. The apricots were a last minute idea and I didn't prepare them in any way (I was sick of cooking at this point) so I just sliced them and left them to shine for themselves. I think ideally they would have been grilled or broiled to help their texture a bit. Overall the dessert was a bit hit, creative but not too weird, and delicious.

So though the meal was a ton of work, I think everyone really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed trying my hand at a bunch of new dishes! Next time I think I'd give myself more than the afternoon to plan, shop and cook, but thank you to my sister Joanna who both took the photos and was a wonderful waitress, and to my boyfriend Jake, who was a great sous-chef as well as moral support.

Fish Tacos

2011-08-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

Open-faced grilled fish taco

I think I've mentioned my fish tacos before...they are fresh, healthy, and incredibly delicious. For me the best part is a mango and avocado salsa that I make to go along with it, usually just a chopped mango, avocado, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and some chopped tomatoes and pinch of salt.

Mango avocado salsa

I don't have a set recipe for my fish, I tend to buy either a catfish or a white fish, such as tilapia, depending on what looks fresher and/or cheaper at the store. They both work well and take well to a lot of seasonings, catfish being a little moister and possibly easier to grill. The rub for the fish generally contains paprika, cayenne, cumin, salt, pepper, and whatever else I feel like using that day, garlic or onion, sometimes I throw in some oregano....last time I even tried marinating the fish for a bit with a rub mixed with some olive oil and lime juice. Personally I think that it's best on the grill, as is everything, but I've definitely done it in the oven, sometimes with some cornmeal for a crispy crust, or in a pan, blackened, when grilling isn't an option.

bean salad with corn

I usually make beans and rice to go along, this time I made a bean and corn salad because we didn't have onions, an essential component to the beans, but also, a bean and corn salad is much more summery, fresh light and cold. This bean salad is really simple and delicious and a great thing to bring to a bbq. A can of beans rinsed along with a can of corn, some chopped red pepper, and add chopped onions, scallions, cilantro, etc if you like. A dressing of cider vinegar, olive oil, salt pepper and cumin to toss it in and you're all set.

To finish the tacos I shred some cheddar cheese and put out some lettuce and sour cream, sometimes a good spicy hot sauce. Finally I recommend grilling the tortilla shell for a minute on the grill if you've got that going, just to give it a little grill flavor, not enough to make it crispy. You can throw some cheese on there too if you want it melty. I usually load my tortilla up too much to even wrap it and end up eating it with a fork and knife. Whichever way you eat it, however much you top it, it's a favorite summer go-to that's bound to impress.

Summer Break

2011-08-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

A perfect summertime meal (oysters optional but recommended)

It's been a while since I've posted anything, I have no real excuses I suppose other than the fact that I live in New England and it's summer which means every moment is precious and should be spent outside if possible. It's not that I don't spend as much time cooking or eating, but baking is limited for cooler days or special occasions and most home cooked meals are either a plate of fresh tomatoes, meats, cheeses and bread, or a nice piece of grilled fish or meat along with a big fresh salad...so not as much creativity when fresh foods and grills are available. Nevertheless I do have some catching up to do and hope to do so soon...in the meantime I'll leave you with an image of a classic delicious summer meal. A trick I used to make a nice balsamic glaze for the tomatoes is simply to boil down a bunch of balsamic in a small saucepan until it looks thicker.

If you've cooked it too much it kind of forms a solid mass, don't worry it can usually be salvaged by adding a little more vinegar. I slice up some tomatoes, rip up a few pieces of fresh basil and drizzle either the glaze or just regular balsamic on top with some salt of course.

Make sure you have good loaf of bread, I often try to buy it at the end of the day when you can sometimes score it as "day old" even though it was baked that morning.

Some fancy deli meats such as prosciutto, salami, etc., and an assortment of cheeses. I also like to have a nice olive oil (or truffle oil if you have it!). It doesn't really get much fresher and delicious with minimal kitchen effort! A cool summer beer or light wine and an al fresco sunset, it doesn't get much better than that.

Passover dessert

2011-05-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

I love Passover, I must admit. I think its mostly due to the tradition of the sedar, the representative plate, the ceremonial dipping of parsley in salt water, the sweet mix of apples and honey, and the comforting bite of matzoh ball soup. This year I had the occasion to go to a sedar at my boyfriend's family's house, over 20 people who all love food and to cook, and was assigned the project of bringing a passover friendly (ie no grains or rising agents) cake....slightly intimidated, and not wanting to go the traditional super dense flourless chocolate cake route, I went with a failsafe, Smitten Kitchen, who had a recipe titled "lighter than air chocolate cake" . How could it be bad? It was a jelly roll type cake that she creatively unrolled into a 4 layer cake with whipped cream between each layer. The cake was super light due to the 12, yes, a full dozen eggs, that are whipped, whites and yolks separately, to form the majority of the body of the cake, along with some sugar and chocolate of course.

voluminous cake batter

These layers get baked in 4 cake pans and frozen 'til manageable (or in my case, until there was time to unwrap and assemble in the bustling kitchen on passover eve). Between each layer I mounded copious amounts of freshly whipped cream with a bit of sugar and vanilla, and topped the whole thing with shaved chocolate.

The cake did not fail me, and I believe is has brought me one step closer to being accepted into the family. It was super light, a nice contrast to the heavy meal still digesting in our stomachs, and there was just enough chocolate to feel decadent at the same time. Though I was a little rushed in the kitchen, it was still beautiful in its own rustic way, and I was able to snag some photos with a cousin's iPhone app that I must say, takes some pretty nice pictures. It was requested that I bring the same cake next year, and I certainly hope I can.

artsy iPhone cake shot

Banana muffins- new recipe

2011-05-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

With three overripe bananas calling my name last Saturday morning, I decided I would go for a new recipe, and was given the suggestion to try the one from the new "Flour Bakery" cookbook. I love Flour bakery because they have incredible pastries, good sandwiches, and the pastry chef was a math nerd at Harvard. I figured I'd go with her recipe for banana bread but turn it into muffins for sake of ease of sharing with roommates. Her recipe, which is easily found online, here at the Food Network site had a lot more sugar than I typically use, but despite my tendency to have strong opinions about recipes before trying them, I attempted to stick to it as closely as possible.

I did cut a TINY bit of oil out and added a TINY bit of applesauce, just to make the muffins slightly more suitable for breakfast. I added a few more pinches of cinnamon and a dash or two of nutmeg, because I love the slightly spicy flavors with the sweet banana, and finally, I didn't have walnuts, and because the recipe seemed like it would be rather light and sweet, I thought a healthy crunch within would be good, so I scrounged up some pumpkin and flax seeds and threw them into the mix instead. In the end, they were good. They were lighter than my regular banana-packed bread and were really great warmed. Probably won't be making these over my regular banana muffins, these are more suitable for a spring brunch or tea, somehow being quite light and springy, they were definitely a success and I will keep them in my rotation for the right occasion.

Oreos, two ways

2011-04-19T09:46:00.000-07:00

homemade oreos (1)

Along the theme of attempting to recreate classic boxed treats in homemade form, and with the request of "cookies" for a recent birthday celebration, I decided it was finally time to attempt America's favorite cookie, the Oreo. Not being a big fan of store bought cookies, I must admit that Oreos fall into their own category. They are unlike anything homemade I have ever had, they go extremely well with milk, and they are an integral part to my favorite ice cream flavors (coffee Oreo, cookies and cream, mud pie, etc). They are slightly salty, mostly sweet, thin and crunchy, and I knew that taking this challenge on would be daunting. Therefore, in fear of destroying perfection and embarrassing myself, and unable to decide between two completely different recipes I'd found, I decided to make both.

sophisticated oreos (2)

One of the recipes appeared pretty consistently over the internet, and though it looked good, it kind of looked more like a whoopie pie, the cookie aspect looked too hardy, and I was worried it would be more like a cake than a cookie. Still, the reviews were all pretty stellar and I couldn't ignore the popularity. I turned to one of my go-to bloggers, Tiny Urban Kitchen, who had tried a few recipes herself. She went for a recipe that was a bit more elegant and delicate, the dough is rolled thin and cut into perfect spheres while the filling is a white chocolate ganache as opposed to a partially Crisco based buttercream from the former.

filling

In the end they were both really exceptional, the larger one looked less like an oreo but the taste was spot on. I followed the recipe from a blog that I can't even recall, but it is replicated pretty much on Smitten Kitchen whose blog I advertise quite heavily here. I added a little vanilla bean paste to get the nice little bean flecks in the frosting, though nobody but I knew they even existed between the 2 layers of chocolate cookies. I made the balls a bit larger than I should have, next time I will stick with the recommended teaspoon size. A bit of a process to roll them all into balls, flatten, bake and fill, they were a huge hit and well worth the effort.

rolled out oreos (1)

chocolate wafers for sophisticated oreos

The other batch I made, from "The Essence of Chocolate" found here, were much more delicate. They required rolling the dough out and using a round cutter to get the perfectly shaped cookies. They were crisp, light, and buttery, nearly like a pie dough, but with a rich and slightly salty chocolate flavor. The filling for these was a dense white chocolate ganache (white chocolate and cream) to which I added the requisite splash of vanilla for extra kick. These suit a different audience, those who believe they might be a bit too sophisticated to eat a regular oreo, but would probably sneak them when nobody was looking. They are light, crisp, and decadent all at the same time. These would pair well perhaps with an espresso whereas the other batch still would go best with a cold glass of milk. Either way, they were great, and didn't disappoint. Better than regular old oreos? Very likely. Will I eat regular boxed oreos again? Definitely.

Yeasted Meringue filled Coffee Cake

2011-03-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

a glimpse inside the meringue filled coffee cake

How oh how does time fly by so fast? I had promised to make my next daring baker challenge in advance, to allow myself the luxury to redo, rethink, remake etc, yet once again, I save my project for the last possible day. Luckily, this project was less daunting to me than most of the baking challenges and I felt confident that this could be a success, even with limited time. The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake. Coffee cake, not my first breakfast choice, but something that I looked forward to trying because, 1) It does not require a special occasion to break into and serve and 2) I really liked the idea of the unique assembly of a yeasted dough rolled around a light meringue and 3) The ingredients were things I keep on hand and had around the house. I woke up early in the morning, ready to prep the light brioche-like dough combining butter melted in milk with eggs flour, a bit of sugar and of course yeast. This rose for about an hour while I, in addition to other things (laundry, TV...breakfast) , got the filling ready. I am not going to give all the directions for the preparation of cake, but I am including the ingredients. Please let me know if you would like to make this yourself and I will happily provide more detailed instructions!

FILLED MERINGUE COFFEE CAKE

Makes 2 round coffee cakes, each approximately 10 inches in diameter

The recipe can easily be halved to make one round coffee cake

butter melting in milk

Ingredients

For the yeast coffee cake dough:

4 cups (600 g / 1.5 lbs.) flour

¼ cup (55 g / 2 oz.) sugar

¾ teaspoon (5 g / ¼ oz.) salt

1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons / 7 g / less than an ounce) active dried yeast

¾ cup (180 ml / 6 fl. oz.) whole milk

¼ cup (60 ml / 2 fl. oz. water (doesn’t matter what temperature)

½ cup (135 g / 4.75 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature

2 large eggs at room temperature

forming the dough

For the meringue:

3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110 g / 4 oz.) sugar

meringue filling

In addition to a classic vanilla meringue, there are some filling options to spice up the cake a bit; I decided to go with one traditional filling with some cinnamon sugar and the nuts and chocolate, as suggested, but because I generally like to keep my cinnamon and chocolate separate, for the 2nd cake I decided I would try to make a coffee scented filling, using a mixture of freshly ground coffee (ground finely) and sugar. Below are the two fillings I made. You can be creative here but since I am new to this whole genre of breakfast treats, I kept it classic.

For the cinnamon filling:

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate

For the coffee filling:

1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon finely ground fresh coffee
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate

Once the dough is ready, punch it down and divide in half. Each half gets rolled out separately on a floured surface then topped with the meringue, then the sugar mixture, nuts and chocolate.

filling ingredients

Then roll it all up, pinch it together as best as possible, transfer it carefully to a parchment lined baking sheet with the seam side down and then attempt to attach the two ends to make a lovely round donut-shaped cake. This assembly was all really fun to me...not sure why, its like a crafts project I guess, but the resulting product will not be judged first on beauty, but on taste, and therefore little imperfections will likely be happily overlooked. With kitchen shears or a knife cut slits all along the outside to allow the meringue to expand.

slits cut before the bake

The cake is brushed with an egg wash and then it is baked for about 25 minutes at 350 until the cake is golden brown, the meringue has likely leaked out of the silts, and the dough sounds nearly hollow when tapped. After a bit of cooling on a rack you can dust it with powdered sugar and cocoa powder, I did so to ensure that the matte areas of my cake (where the egg wash failed to reach) would now simply look like delicious sugary goodness.

just baked cake

Though I am not a huge coffee cake fan, though I tend to not like chocolate in anything other than chocolate cookies or cakes, I have to say that I really enjoyed this cake, as did all of the tasters....in fact about 8 hours later and a few pieces saved for tomorrow morning, the two cakes are completely gone. Of course now that I have had it there are a few changes I would make, namely I might get a bit more creative with the fillings, but overall it turned out just how I would expect, would be perfect with coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon, and perhaps even with milk at night. I would certainly make this for any brunch, it is very doable yet impressive and I really enjoyed the project.

Ceviche

2011-03-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

squid, scallop and grouper ceviche

Time for my 2nd Daring Cook's challenge: Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenges us to make two classic Peruvian dishes: Ceviche de Pescado from “Peruvian Cooking – Basic Recipes” by Annik Franco Barreau. And Papas Rellenas adapted from a home recipe by Kathlyn’s Spanish teacher, Mayra.
I decided to make the ceviche along with a grilled skirt steak and a homemade chimichurri (not being a huge potato fan and wanting to use the grill to celebrate being able to grill without a winter coat). I'm going to focus on the challenge, the ceviche, as I didn't take pictures of the lovely main dish sadly.
I used to be opposed to the idea of ceviche, as much as I love fish, I kind of hated the idea of cooking it in citrus juice because a) I have a weird thing about not having citrus (namely lemon) in savory foods, weird, I know, I just don't like it, and b) I love my fish raw, so the idea of cooking it without getting any real crisp or searing advantage from a grill or pan, it seemed pointless to loose the raw quality. That being said, I recently discovered a French Cuban restaurant that had a stellar ceviche appetizer (to accompany the best known Cubano in the area and a killer mojito). It had super tender mixed seafood and fish with very little acid in the actual dish and was served with long thin plantain chips. Light and refreshing and a great way to showcase fresh seafood, I'd been converted, and so was thrilled to find out about the challenge. I followed the recipe provided for the most part, changing things here and there based on reading and what I had on hand:

ceviche prep

Ingredients/Preparation
Combine together in a medium bowl:
The juice of 4 limes
Juice of 1 sour orange
4 cloves of garlic chopped and mashed with salt
a handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 jalepeno pepper, seeds and white removed, chopped finely
a dash of sugar and some freshly ground pepper

marinating

Then add
1/5 lb grouper, sliced into short pieces
1/5 lb sea scallops, sliced similarly
1/5 lb squid heads, par boiled for 30 secs, then shocked in ice bath and larger pieces cut in half
1/4 of a red pepper, chopped finely
1/8 of a red onion, sliced very thin

I also attemped to make plaintain chips in the oven by slicing them lengthwise into thin strips and putting them on a baking sheet and coating in oil and salt, baked at about 400 degrees for 8 mins or so, then flipped to crisp the other side...unfortunatly I got a litle distracted and let them go a little too dark. I managed to salvage the larger pieces but they weren't as crispy as I'd hoped. Next time I'll either be more careful or just go all out and pull out the deep fryer.

finished ceviche w/ plaintains

Drain the excess juice from the ceviche (it was very acidic, I think I'd add more sweet juice next time) and serve with plantain chips. I served this as an appetizer for 2 along with a grilled steak and rice with a fresh chimichurri sauce and a salad with mango, avocado and cucumber.
I really enjoyed the ceviche, I hope to play around a bit more next time with using different fish, adding some different vegetables, perhaps mango, even trying one with coconut milk, which I have seen recipes for. Come summer I think this would make a great start to a dinner or cocktail party

Redemption in cookie and brownie form

2011-03-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

With the years, I have developed an admitted hubris in my cooking and baking. Most of what I churn out is really good and I feel confident that I can bake just about anything as well as my local bakery. In addition, I am crazy stubborn and a bit of perfectionist and simply not okay with failing when it comes to the field...so after many years of baking chocolate chip cookies using the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag and consistently turning out great results, I was shocked to have a couple of sub par batches more recently. I couldn't figure out what had gone wrong until I realized that with time I had upgraded my chocolate chips from Nestle to Ghiradelli, and that the recipes on the back might be different. So after two batches of somewhat cakey cookies, I was determined to find a surefire, more gourmet (ie, not back of a chocolate chip bag) recipe to redeem myself.

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
I came across a David Lebovitz recipe on Slow Like Honey's beautiful blog and after reading only great things, determined this was the recipe to make.

It requires making the dough and rolling it into logs and chilling before slicing into thick pieces and baking.

It incorporated good dark chocolate and toasted nuts (I used pecans) for a nice crunch and contrast. I followed the recipe as closely as I could, using half small semi-sweet and half large bittersweet chocolate chips. The result: simple yet perfect, both fresh out the oven and cooled the next day. No fancy tricks, just exactly as you would want a cookie to taste. And most importantly, my cookie confidence was revived.

Cocoa "Redepmtion" Brownies

butter and high fat cocoa powder...how can this go wrong?

Just this past week I bought some really high quality cocoa powder from a local spice store in order to bake some brownies. It had probably been 10 years since I had baked brownies but I used to make them often at home, using a bar of bakers chocolate, and following the recipe on the back of the box (see a theme here?) These one bowl brownies were always delicious but I'd heard that using cocoa powder was a much purer way to go and resulted in really rich and delicious brownies.

I found a recipe on Epicurious that had great reviews. The process was long and slow, melting the cocoa powder over a double boiler with the sugar and butter, but eventually it all came together. You then mix in the 2 eggs, vigorously, and finally add in the mere 1/2 cup of flour. At this point I realized there was a possibility that I had screwed up the sugar measurements, using 1/2 plus 1/4 cup rather than 1 plus 1/4 cup but I decided to continue...(I had attempted to multi-task, never a good idea when baking a new recipe) after baking for 20 mins, the minimum time advised, I pulled them out, noting that the toothpick came out bone dry (as opposed to holding crumbs as it should) And after cutting them up I deemed them nearly inedible. I had never had such a terrible brownie containing pure and delicious ingredients. They were somewhat bitter and very dry, like bad health food. In fact, I later went to see a movie with a friend who shared a bite of her protein bar which I determined was far more delicious than my "super rich" brownies. After a few days of letting them sit out untouched by even my ravenous housemates, I threw them out and started again, this time paying close attention to the measurements, even following the weight measurements that Smitten Kitchen provided to ensure accuracy. I checked the brownies after 15 mins, after 20, and even left them in near 25 mins as they were still a bit gooey. I could tell upon cutting (and licking the knife) that they would be a success.

They were exactly as I'd imagined, rich, fudgey, chewy, and dark. They had a nice shiny top to crack through, but once again, most importantly, in all stubbornness, I succeeded in redemption.

Daring Cook challenge: soba and tempura

2011-02-17T05:43:00.000-08:00

homemade soba, tempura, and condiments

In addition to joining up again with the Daring Bakers, I found that they had expanded their site to include a monthly Daring Cooks challenge as well. As I tend to cook nearly every night and am always game for new ideas, I figured I'd join as well. The February 2011 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by Lisa of Blueberry Girl. She challenged Daring Cooks to make Hiyashi Soba and Tempura. She has various sources for her challenge including japanesefood.about.com, pinkbites.com, and itsybitsyfoodies.com

traditional soba with nori, Asukasa Tokyo

I was very excited about this challenge because, despite most of what I have on my blog, my all time favorite food is Japanese. I grew up loving all food Asian, the most common meal in my house was a stir fried vegetable and meat mish-mash with a sauce made from soy, hoisin, sesame oil, and any other sauces we had in our cabinet that had any form of Chinese writing or potential Asian origin. Growing older I learned to love the clean and bright flavors that Vietnamese food had to offer, and once Japanese food began to emerge in the form of supermarket sushi, I began to love the even cleaner, more simplistic flavors it promised. I suppose now would be a good time to mention that I finally got to see Japan last year, traveling to meet my boyfriend who was in Asia on business. We loved the people, the fast-paced culture, the mix of old shrines and new high-rises, and the abundant food stalls. Upon arriving in Tokyo, I met up with a group of girls studying abroad in Taiwan and in Tokyo purely to party and sing Karaoke, and somehow, in my sleep deprived and delirious state, convinced them to go to a local soba restaurant. I think I was the only one who appreciate the simple bamboo mat covered in homemade, cold, noodles, with a salty soy to dip. It represents the adherence to simple traditional flavors.

buckwheat dough

Since then I've made soba noodles, generally serving them cold, but I had never thought to make my own. This being a challenge, I decided I would take it head on, and make the soba from scratch,, kneaded, rolled, and cut by hand. I encountered a few problems. For one, I cut the noodles a bit too thick. Secondly, the buckwheat flour I used was very intense and therefore the noodles had a very strong buckwheat flavor. Finally, the noodles, being brittle, and me not realizing this, broke up into very short pieces, practically impossible to eat with chopsticks.

flattened into disc

Despite this, served with a delicious dipping sauce and alongside copious amounts of delicious tempura, they were still tasty. I would certainly like to try these again, perhaps using a bit more regular white flour as well as taking more care in the cooking process (I read, too late, that buckwheat is more delicate and needs to be treated as such). I found a recipe from the L.A. times that seemed authentic and followed it as best I could. I ended up not using their mixing technique which involved mixing within a gallon-sized ziplock, it just didn't work for me. Instead I mixed together the flours, added the cold water, had to add more water than they suggested, probably because of my buckwheat flour, and kneaded the hell out of it. Then I formed it into a ball, flattened it into a disk, rolled it as thin as I could manage (they suggest 1/8 of an inch), dusted it with cornstarch, folded it into fourths and sliced it as thinly as possible. it was actually a lot of physical work but it was fun. Once finished I placed all the noodles on a sheet dusted with cornstarch and covered it until I was ready with everything else.

cutting the noodles

Ingredients

5.6 ounces (160 grams) stone-milled buckwheat flour
1.4 ounces (40 grams) all-purpose flour
2.8 ounces (80 grams) cold water
Cornstarch for dusting

pile-o-soba

The dipping sauce, my favorite part is very simple. Heat 1/3 cup of mirin (Japanese rice wine), add 1/3 cup of soy sauce and 2 cups of dashi broth (I have a powder that I add 1 tsp/cup of water), let boil and then chill.

For the tempura I went with a melange of vegetables including yam, carrot, assorted mushrooms, Chinese eggplant (the long thin kind) and zuchinni. I also included some shrimp and extra firm tofu. I watched many videos instructing how to cut the vegetables, and learned in the end that you can basically cut them all into thin slices, the eggplant I made into a nice fan shape, a la bloomin' onion. I cut the vegetables, kept them in the fridge while I prepared a tempura batter, a combination of egg yolk, flour, cornstarch, and very cold water: I even added a cube of ice to the batter to keep it cold.

Tempura:

Recipes adapted from pink bites and itsy bitsy foodies

1 egg yolk from a large egg

1 cup (240 ml) iced water

½ cup (120 ml) (70 gm) (2½ oz) plain (all purpose) flour, plus extra for dredging (we used more)

½ cup (120 ml) (70 gm) (2½ oz) cornflour (also called cornstarch) (we used more)

½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (2½ gm) (0.09 oz) baking powder

I added a bit more flour and cornstarch to thicken the batter a bit after a test run came out a bit thin. Mix the egg with chopsticks with the ice water, then stir in the flours all at once and stir just 'til combined, lumps are okay and even desired.

Luckily I have a boyfriend who loves to play with a deep fryer, so he got the peanut oil going and let it hit 320. We dusted the veggies and proteins lightly with flour, using chopsticks dip the pieces in the batter coating evenly and letting excess drip back, then drop in the oil, making sure not to crowd the pot. After a few minutes, once the piece looks lightly golden, remove to a cooling rack or paper towel to drain a bit.

We had a hard time keep the excessive amount of tempura warm and crisp until the end making it in small batches, but otherwise, I don't know if I've ever enjoyed fried food so much. The batter was light and crispy and not too oily, the shrimp and mushrooms were probably my favorite, but it was all really good.

We filled our bowls with the dipping sauce and loaded the noodles into the bowls since they were too hard to handle otherwise. Topped with grated daikon radish, pickled ginger and sliced nori, it was quite a feast!

Winter Salads

2011-02-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

Beet Salad with grapefruit, blood orange, pistachios and goat cheese

I love salad. I'm not one of those girls who will order a salad for dinner, I require more. But I do tend to demand that one is served with nearly every dinner I make. I'm the kind of person who eats a bite of salad with every bite of meat or fish, I love the contrast of the fresh crunch and acid against the protein. In the summer, when tomatoes are in season, I love a basic salad with tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. In the winter, here in Boston at least, tomatoes leave much to be wanted, and after many disappointed attempts, I give up and look to more seasonal items to jazz up my hearty portion of cold veggies. With salmon I make a simple cucumber and lettuce salad topped with toasted sesame seeds and a rice wine vinaigrette made with fresh ginger and sesame oil. With pizza I add fresh, thin sliced fennel and sometimes sliced red pepper, topping it with shaved Parmesan.

spring greens with grapefruit shallot vinaigrette

To go a long with shrimp and chive ravioli I tend to make this salad with fresh segmented grapefruit, shaved Parmesan, optional thin sliced sopressata, and tossed with grapefruit shallot vinaigrette .

The other day I bought a bunch of beets and roasted them for a salad to go with a Sockeye salmon. I cut off and saved the greens to sautee with some garlic. I roasted the beets, skin on, until they were tender, then peeled and sliced them once they had cooled. I also supremed (removed the skin/pith, then sliced between membranes to release the segments) a blood orange and a grapefruit. I chopped up some pistachios and crumbled some goat cheese. I tossed some greens in the same grapefruit shallot dressing I had left over and then arranged the toppings. This salad was so delicious on its own, beautiful, and seasonal. It was a fresh accompaniment to the seared salmon and mixed rice and beet greens, and all in all was a perfect healthy comforting winter meal.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins with an espresso kick

2011-02-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

It's been ages since we've had old bananas lying around...I think it is the state of our economy, we are willing to eat bananas well past their raw eating prime and well into their baking prime. Luckily I managed to salvage some quickly-deteriorating bananas from a roommate, promising in turn, that I'd bake something with them that involved chocolate (as opposed to my classic spiced version).
This morning I woke up raring to mash up the browned bananas hidden in the pantry. Because I love eating a banana when I have coffee, I'd found a recipe involving espresso powder, knowing that chocolate, bananas and coffee would mingle well. I was right, These muffins are super moist from the four bananas, yet the gooey chocolate chips brings them to another level of indulgence, making them seen just a bit naughty for a breakfast treat. I subbed out a bit of butter for some Greek (2%) yogurt and applesauce, hoping this would make these a more reasonable breakfast treat.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
adapted from "Baked: New Frontiers in Baking"

4 large overripe bananas
scant 1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
6 Tbs melted butter (use a full stick if not using applesauce or yogurt)
1/4 cup whole milk
1/8 cup natural applesauce (optional)
1/8 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream (optional)
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1 heaping tsp instant coffee
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

warm and gooey

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with 12 liners. In a small bowl mash bananas, then mix in sugars, butter, milk, egg, and applesauce/yogurt/sour cream.
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and coffee. Make a well in the center and add in wet ingredients.
Stir until just combined, then fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter evenly into tin, filling each nearly to the top.
Bake for 20-25 mins, turning partway through for even cooking, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove and cool for 15 mins in tin on a cooling rack before turning muffins out and cooling completely. Eat immediately, they will taste gooey, warm, and indulgent. Store the rest in an airtight container. These would probably be incredible with a cup of coffee or a big glass of milk.

Tagalongs for a tagalong

2011-02-10T07:20:00.000-08:00

inside a homemade tagalong

I have recently been blessed with a great coworker, straight out of college, she has a bright-eyed way of seeing the world; a good contrast to my slightly jaded view. I joke that she is a tagalong because, in her bright-eyed ways, she tends to be easily influenced. In addition she has quite a sweet tooth and is a perfect subject for unloading extra baked goods from my daily kitchen adventures. Recently she had signed up to buy 3 boxes of her favorite girl scout cookies, Tagalongs, from a co-worker's daughter, not realizing that the process of ordering and receiving can take weeks to months. Seeing the disappointment in her eyes I told her that I would make her a homemade version for her birthday, coming up soon. To be honest I'm not sure I had ever had a Tagalong cookie, I've always loved the Thin Mint and wasn't aware that any other cookie could compete. Apparently these were shortbread cookies filled with peanut butter and coated in chocolate...clearly I had been missing out on a potentially incredible cookie. I knew the Baking Bites blog had homemade versions of the cookies as I'd previously made a delicious recreation of Samoas so I followed her recipe, adapting only slightly.

shortbread base

Beginning with the shortbread base, make the dough and create flattened balls on a lined baking sheet. After baking you remove the soft cookies from the oven and press a thumb into the center, carefully as the sides tend to crack, and also be careful because hot butter, even for "hands of steal" as I propose to have, still kind of burns. Let the cookies cook completely while you make the filling.

generously filled

The filling consists simply of peanut butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. I had a ton of extra filling which was fun to make other treats with, however if you don't want extra you can nearly cut the filling in half. I used almost an entire jar of natural creamy peanut butter, however added a fair amount of salt, and mixed in confectioner's sugar and vanilla. You head this in the microwave in increments until it is pretty hot and somewhat more malleable...this took quite a while for me, probably six intervals of 30 seconds. Then you can slop it into a piping bag and pipe a seemingly excessive amount into the center of the cookie, overflow is expected. Let these cool as long as you can tolerate, then its time to melt chocolate. I used good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips and melted them in the microwave, again in short intervals, stirring often. The recipe said to dunk the whole cookie in the chocolate, however I found this took hard and rather spooned the chocolate on the top and sides and kind of spread it around. It was a mess, I looked like a kid doing an art project with only brown paint, but it was fun.

a fresh coat of chocolate

Place the coated cookies on parchment to cool and dry. These cookies are pretty incredible...I suppose they are somewhat like a reeses cup held on a base of buttery shortbread. They are salty, sweet, have levels of texture, they are practically gourmet. Now I cannot wait to try the girl scouts version. I believe the birthday girl enjoyed the cookies very much. Mustering all the willpower she could, she managed to ear only 4 during our day at work.. Luckily I only left a few for myself, not confident that my willpower would hold.

Daring Baker once again: Joconde Entremet

2011-01-27T07:34:00.000-08:00

So after being inspired to start my own blog in order to post accomplishments from the Daring Bakers, I succeeded in baking about 3 challenges; the most successful being eclairs that are my first post....I gave up after missing a challenge and being slightly overwhelmed but recently decided it was time to start again. The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert. Procrastinator that I am, I didn't give myself the time to experiment, and therefore the sole purpose of the cake, to look pretty, was lost. I ended up instead with a half green, and half brown, slightly overbaked sponge cake to mold my creation. The cake is made with almond flour and egg whites mostly, poured on top of a colored paste made with butter, eggs, and almond flour which you create a design with on top of a silpat mat (purchased specially for this challenge).

What I didn't know was that the design should be more like a piped design rather than a few swirls in a solid base...enough whining about the failure of the joconde...I colored it green to demonstrate the roasted pear trifle I filled the sponge with. I found the recipe for this trifle with roasted pears and an amaretto custard on Epicurious, and the pears and custard were delicious. I layered sponge cake, pears, custard, some crushed graham crackers and some amaretto and ginger brandy within the mold and topped it all with an amaretto whipped cream.

roasted pears

All in all it tasted pretty good and looked pretty ugly. I would like to try it again, probably going with a chocolate theme, taking more care with the design and baking of the joconde, and filling it with more solid ingredients so it held together better. Regardless, I will include the basic directions I followed. Next time I would probably split the project over a couple of days, making the filling first and then the joconde which is rather quick and only needs to cool for a bit. Welcome back to Daring Bakers, next time I vow to start ahead of time and aim for perfection! Stay tuned!

final product with failed jaconde

Joconde Sponge
YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” (33 x 46 cm) jelly roll pan
Ingredients:
¾ cup/ 180 ml/ 3oz/ 85g almond flour/meal
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons/ 150 ml/ 2⅔ oz/ 75g confectioners' (icing) sugar
¼ cup/ 60 ml/ 1 oz/ 25g cake flour
3 large eggs - about 5⅓ oz/ 150g
3 large egg whites - about 3 oz/ 90g
2½ teaspoons/ 12½ ml/ ⅓ oz/ 10g white granulated sugar or superfine (caster) sugar
2 tablespoons/ 30 ml/ 1oz / 30g unsalted butter, melted
*Note: How to make cake flour: http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2009/09/how-to-make-cake-flour/
Directions:
1. In a clean mixing bowl whip the egg whites and white granulated sugar to firm, glossy peeks. Reserve in a separate clean bowl to use later.
2. Sift almond flour, confectioner’s sugar, cake flour. (This can be done into your dirty egg white bowl)
3. On medium speed, add the eggs a little at a time. Mix well after each addition. Mix until smooth and light. (If using a stand mixer use blade attachment. If hand held a whisk attachment is fine, or by hand. )
4. Fold in one third reserved whipped egg whites to almond mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining whipped egg whites. Do not over mix.
5. Fold in melted butter.
6. Reserve batter to be used later.

Patterned Joconde-Décor Paste
YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” (33 x 46 cm) jelly roll pan
Ingredients
14 tablespoons/ 210ml/ 7oz/ 200g unsalted butter, softened

patterned paste

1½ cups plus1½ tablespoons/ 385ml/ 7oz/ 200g Confectioners' (icing) sugar
7 large egg whites - about 7 oz / 200g
1¾ cup/ 420ml/ 7¾ oz/ 220g cake flour

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (use stand mixer with blade, hand held mixer, or by hand)
2. Gradually add egg whites. Beat continuously.
3. Fold in sifted flour.
4. Tint batter with coloring to desired color, if not making cocoa variation.
Preparing the Joconde- How to make the pattern:
1. Spread a thin even layer of décor paste approximately 1/4 inch (5 millimeter) thick onto silicone baking mat with a spatula, or flat knife. Place mat on an upside down baking sheet. The upside down sheet makes spreading easier with no lip from the pan.
2. Pattern the décor paste – Here is where you can be creative. Make horizontal /vertical lines (you can use a knife, spatula, cake/pastry comb). Squiggles with your fingers, zig zags, wood grains. Be creative whatever you have at home to make a design can be used. OR use a piping bag. Pipe letters, or polka dots, or a piped design. If you do not have a piping bag. Fill a ziplock bag and snip off corner for a homemade version of one.
3. Slide the baking sheet with paste into the freezer. Freeze hard. Approx 15 minutes.
4. Remove from freezer. Quickly pour the Joconde batter over the design. Spread evenly to completely cover the pattern of the Décor paste.

5. Bake at 475ºF /250ºC until the joconde bounces back when slightly pressed, approx. 15 minutes. You can bake it as is on the upside down pan. Yes, it is a very quick bake, so watch carefully.
6. Cool. Do not leave too long, or you will have difficulty removing it from mat.
7. Flip cooled cake on to a powdered sugared parchment paper. Remove silpat. Cake should be right side up, and pattern showing! (The powdered sugar helps the cake from sticking when cutting.)

the ugly but tasty truth inside

To assemble:
1. Cut joconde into strips as tall as you want to fit the mold (I went most of the way up)
2. Fit strips inside parchment lined mold (spring form pan for me)
3. Overlap slightly and press cake edges together to seal
4. Fill with whatever filing (trifle in my case) you have decided to use
5. Smooth and decorate top, refrigerate until ready to unmold!

Macarons

2011-01-18T17:37:00.000-08:00

salted caramel macaron

I have to give full credit for this project to my sister who is far more fashionable than me in every way and introduced me to the famous French macaron long before I had ever heard of them. They are now becoming rather trendy, not to the extent of the cupcake, and I don't believe they will ever reach that level, thank god, as they are much more complex and delicate, and don't deserve to be butchered by every other corner coffee shop.

stacked macarons

What is a macaron? Simply stated, it is two light meringue-based cookies made solely of almond meal, sugar and egg white, with a thin layer of filling to hold them together. Beneath the simple surface, however, it is precision that makes these cookies spectacular.

piping the cookies

Based on Syrup and Tang's study of the cookie, all ingredients were weighed out to the gram, math was used to calculate the exact proportions and to convert weights, dimensions, and temperatures. The cookies are made by adding "icing sugar" (confectioner's sugar without corn starch- we used one made with tapioca starch) to egg whites that have been left out overnight, whipped just until they hold soft peaks, then folding in a mix of sifted almond meal and finely ground sugar (caster sugar) until just barely combined. At this point you can add and flavor or color extracts, we went with a little bit of red and yellow food dye just for fun. We found it really useful to draw out the 3-4 cm circles on a piece of baking parchment to diagram where we would be piping the filling from a 8mm piping tip.

Put a dab of filling beneath the parchment in each corner to adhere it to the baking pan, piped the circles as best as possible, rapped the sheet a few times to dislodge air bubbles, and let the sheet sit for a good half hour to help form a crust. At this point you can preheat the oven with a rack in the middle to 180 C which is 365 F.

just baked

Bake them for 2 minutes, then stick a wooden spoon in the door to allow steam to escape for the next 6 minutes or so, until they are just becoming golden. Remove from the oven and let them sit on the sheet for a few minutes - we had a hard time pulling them off so put them in the freezer for a few minutes and afterwards were able to easily peel them from the parchment and put on a cooling rack.

adding cream to the burnt sugar

At this point you get to make the filling. We decided to try both a salted caramel and a chai spiced buttercream. To make the caramel, melt the sugar over low heat, slowly stream in a bit of cream and boil for a few minutes on lowt, then take off the heat and add cubed butter and a few pinches of fleur de sel, stirring vigorously until cooled slightly. Put in a bowl in the fridge to finish cooling. (This caramel was delicious but hard to deal with)

piping the buttercream

To make the chai buttercream, infuse whole milk with a chai teabag, cream together softened butter and sugar with some classic chai spices such as fresh nutmeg, ground ginger, cloves, cinnamon and a pinch of salt and black pepper. (the secret ingredient) Beat in the infused milk util a smooth cream is formed, adding confectioner's sugar as needed to thicken.

To fill, the caramel, at room temperature, can be spooned on to the bottom macaron half and gently flattened before the top half is gently pressed on. The buttercream is best piped into the center of the bottom half, gently press the top half on and twist slightly to push the filling out towards the edges.

All in all these turned out really well. We achieved the "feet" that we were looking for (that layer below the crust) and the nice shiny crust on top. The taste and texture are right where they should be, the shell is crisp, yielding to a chewy mereingue and then a creamy filling. It was a great project for a rainy/snowy Boston day with my sister. If you have the time and are looking for a delicate impressive treat, I would definitely give them a try!

the perfect bite

Fresh Pasta and Ravioli

2011-01-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

Fresh pasta, ready to cook

Though I consider myself to be pretty nutritionally savvy, and try to not get dragged in to the latest crazes, diets, antioxidant trends, etc. I was inevitably affected by the low-carb mantra. I never completely avoided carbs, but I began to shy away from pasta dishes if given the option. To be fair, pasta from a package is really nothing special, bland, rather tasteless, it is merely a cheap and quick and cheap way to satisfy an empty stomach. After making my own pasta a few times, however, I realized that fresh pasta, like fresh bread, is a category unto itself: light, slippery, and chewy all at the same time, eaten straight from the pot, or doused in a rich sauce, any nutritional myths I once fell culprit to disappeared. I have made butternut squash ravioli, and though I don't have any photos, the basic recipe (all approximated) is worth recording because it is so simple and yields such incredible results.

Butternut Squash Ravioli Filling
1 butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs salt
2 tsp fresh grated black pepper

Roast the squash, skin side up on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for about 30-45 mins, until the flesh is tender. Let cool slightly and then scrape out flesh from skin and either mash well with a fork as I do or puree in a food processor. Mix in the cheese and salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasonings as desired, feel free to add a touch of garlic or onion powder, cayenne, or even nutmeg to taste.

Roasted tomato, shallot and basil sauce

Another filling I have grown to love is a shrimp and chive filling which is more like a Chinese dumpling than an Italian ravioli but who can complain about that? I adapted the recipe from Tyler Florence and make it for special occasions as I did this new years and top it with his roasted cherry tomato and shallot sauce which is simple and delicious and rather elegant.

Shrimp and Chive Ravioli Filling
(adapted from Tyler Florence)
1 lb raw shrimp, shelled and cleaned
1 large handful fresh basil
1 large handful fresh chives
1 large handful chervil (I generally use tarragon instead)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 egg white

Combine all ingredients in food processor and pulse until everything is chopped and mixed but not quite a paste, season with salt and pepper

To fill:

Use about half of your prepared, rested, pasta dough (I don't have a favorite recipe but it is generally something like 4 eggs, 4 cups of flour, a little olive oil and salt and enough water to bring it all together), flatten into a rectangle and run through pasta machine, following recipe's directions until you have it as thin as your machine will allow.

On a well floured surface, lay out a long dough sheet, placing about a tablespoon of filling along the sheet with space between each drop, and push down slightly so the filling is not rounded. Use water or an egg wash, drawing a line between the fillings with your finger and top with second layer of dough and gently press the layers together while pushing out any air bubbles. Use a glass, cookie cutter, or just a knife to cut out ravioli and place on a floured baking sheet. When ready, gently drop in a LARGE pot of boiling salted water, cooking for about 5 minutes, and remove with a slotted spoon to pot or dishes.

For pasta: Use same dough as ravioli but cut into pieces, either with a machine, or by hand (if you have a machine it is much easier and very satisfying). Simply cook the same way as you would your ravioli, but for less time, only a couple minutes and it should be done.
I like to have a sauce ready to go, either a simple pesto, combining a bunch of basil, some Parmesan, toasted nuts, garlic and olive oil and using pasta water to thin it to a sauce.

anchovies, tomatoes capers and olives

fresh pasta with tomato sauce and squid

Or recently I've made a simple tomato sauce recipe from the ny times which combines anchovies, garlic and crushed tomatoes with capers and olives to create a rich tasting tomato sauce. I like it with squid or shrimp which I throw in the sauce in the last minutes of cooking before spooning in the pasta...it's totally optional of course, I just love seafood in my pasta, it is certainly great on its own or would be good with some sausage pieces, mushrooms, eggplant, etc. Top with Parmesan, this is not optional, it is too delicious to neglect.

Graham Crackers and s'mores

2010-12-28T08:01:00.000-08:00

Homemade graham crackers

Still working on crossing off items on my mental list of "things to bake that I never thought you could make", I decided it finally was time to make homemade graham crackers. After the first snow of the year and an acquisition of nearly a cord of firewood, I knew s'mores were in order. After a recent shopping experience, looking through the ingredients lists on every box of delicious store-bought grahams, I realized that nearly every brand included hydrogenated oils, the one thing I truly try to avoid in my diet. Though I'd wanted to try using graham flour, I didn't have any, was not planning on trekking out in the blizzard, and regardless, most recipes I read didn't even mention it as an option.

Instead, I went with part white whole wheat, part white, and followed the marching orders of Smitten Kitchen, of course (this is starting to become a not as good reproduction of her lovely blog isn't it? I'll try my best to do something new in my next posts, promise!) The recipe is simple:, in a stand mixer: mix dry ingredients (1 cup wheat flour, 1.5 cups white, 1 cup dark brown sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda), then cream in 7 Tbs of butter, In a small bowl mix wet ingredients:

5 Tbls whole milk 1/3 cup honey and 1 Tbls. good vanilla. Pour the wet into the dry and mix well.

Bring the dough together and dump onto lightly floured plastic wrap and form into a large, dense rectangular shape to chill in the fridge. After about half an hour, take out half the dough and roll it on a floured surface until its pretty thin (she says 1/8th of an inch) then cut into your shapes, I went for the classic somewhat rectangular cracker shape, you could even use cookie cutters if you wanted to be cute. Actually, circles would be a great s'mores shape now that I think about it. Place your cut shapes on parchment lined baking sheets.

Once you've done that you can score with a knife you have made rectangles, for easy breaking, sprinkle with a 3-1 mixture sugar-cinnamon, chill in the fridge while you do the same to the other batch, then pull them out and poke small indentations with the back of a toothpick, a chopstick, etc, to create the classic look (and possibly allow for more even cooking?). Bake at 350 for about 10-15 mins, rotating partway through. While they cool you can prepare your glass of milk, marshmallows, chocolate bars, and peanut butter (trust me, a s'more becomes a lots'more with a spread of peanut butter and you will never turn back) and get ready for an incredible treat!

a lots'more

Late post from Halloween: Pumpkins: a bread and a soup

2010-12-27T11:41:00.000-08:00


a fresh cut sugar pumpkin, used for soup


2 loaves of pumpkin bread

I've gotten somewhat pathetically into themes and tradition, mostly when it comes to food. On Halloween I woke up early to finally try a recipe that has been one of the top recipes on allrecipes.com and had been tried and enjoyed by friends. I finally broke down and made their "Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread" for those sleepy roommates still recovering from an always rough costume party. The recipe calls for a ton of sugar, which I tend to cut down on, as well as a good amount of oil which I subbed a bit of sour cream for and I must say it turned out really well. I still might cut down a bit on the sugar as I don't believe bread should be too sweet, it was bordering on cake still, but with some salted butter, I really couldn't complain!

Pumpkin Bread (adapted from allrecipes)

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup sour cream (optional, may 1 cup oil)
2/3 cup water
2 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves


the perfect quickbread crumb

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and 2 loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, sour cream water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven, rotating partway through, until a toothpick test comes out clean.


black bean pumpkin soup with ham, cilantro and pepitas

fresh roasted sugar pumpkin

After recovering for a while on the couch, trying to resist the urge to polish off both loaves, and taking a trip to Jamaica Pond for a breath of fresh air, to see the cutest trick or treaters hitting up the local stores at 3pm for candy, and getting a loaf of bread from the many incredible bakeries in the area, we headed back to carve our pumpkin, pass out a couple handfuls of candy to our own trick or treaters and finally head to the store, determined to make a soup from our fresh sugar pumpkin. I went with Smitten Kitchen's "Black bean pumpkin soup", rich with pumpkin, pureed beans, spices and topped with chopped ham. The result was beautiful, however I made a major mistake in using "better than bouillon" beef broth which turned the soup from a luscious comforting fall meal to an overtly over salted bowl. Enough sour cream helped balance it out a bit and it was edible, but disappointing. Nonetheless It was a fun project, baking my first pumpkin, roasting the seeds after bringing them in boiling water to maintain crispiness, then baking them. To honest, the fresh pumpkin flavor was pretty much covered up with all the other spices, salt, and ham, though it provided a nice base and some color, I would love to try a more simple pumpkin soup next fall to really highlight the pumpkin itself.

chicken noodle soup: healing through eating

2010-12-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

chicken noodle soup topped with parsley

Not a big believer in taking medicine for some reason, I tend to turn to food items when I need a remedy. If I have a headache I'll reach for water and then caffeine, sore throat means tea with honey and lemon, and a cold in winter means excessive citrus consumption and chicken soup. Today I happen to be on the recovery end (at least I hope) of a cold that I've had since the weekend, and with the day off and recent purchase of a whole chicken, chicken noodle soup was certainly in order. I've made this many times and feel I've pretty much gotten the technique down. I'll write it out as a recipe to make it a bit easier to follow than my usual incomprehensible tales of my cooking adventures, though be aware that it's still all approximate and merely a guideline.

whole chicken and veggies cooking for stock

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs) with neck, giblets discarded, fat trimmed
about 6 large carrots: 3 chopped in large chunks for stock, 3 sliced thin for soup
6 stalks of celery with leaves, again, 3 chopped into chunks for stock, 3 sliced thin for soup
2 large white onions: 1 quartered with skin on for stock, 1 chopped for soup
big handful of parsley sprigs, most goes into stock with stems, save some for the finished soup
2 cloves of garlic with skin, smashed with the side of a knife
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
3 dried bay leaves (or 1 fresh if you have it!)
kosher salt, probably a 2 Tablespoons or so, to finish
any amount or kind of fresh or dried pasta (I recommended farfalle/bowties)
optional fresh spinach to wilt in at the end
Bread and butter to accompany/dip

Directions

Put the chicken in a big stockpot and add cold water until the chicken is completely submerged.
Add all the stock ingredients (carrots, celery, quartered onions, garlic, parsley, peppercorns and bay leaves, cover pot and bring to a boil.
Once at a boil, turn heat down to low and simmer, partially covered for about 30 mins.
I use a wooden spoon here and insert it in the cavity of the chicken, let all the broth drain out, and put it on a large cutting board to cool a bit until you're able to handle it without too much pain.
Here's the fun part: take off the skin and any weird parts, then, with a pot on one side of your chicken and a bowl or tupperware on the other, pull the meat off the bones, placing the bones back into the pot, and the meat into the bowl/container.
Store the meat in the fridge and put the pot with the bones back on low heat to simmer for another 1-2 hours (longer means you might get more flavor out of those bones!)
Turn off the heat and get out a HEATPROOF (not glass, trust me!) bowl or another large pot, and strain the stock into it.
At this point I go one more step, remove the bones from the colander and begin to squeeze as much liquid as I can from the leftover veggies...today I actually got in and squeezed them with my hands, proving somewhat hot, but also yielding a lot of presumably very flavorful liquid.
You can now use the stock, or if you have time, cool it and skim off scum or fat from the top.
When ready to use, heat the stock up, add salt to taste (gonna be a lot) and add in your sliced veggies, I sometimes add a parsnip at this point, its good but sweet so I don't like to add it to the stock, cook until tender, about 10 mins or so.
Cook up a pot of pasta, I tend to enjoy farfalle in this soup but to each his own, I also keep the pasta separate because there are usually leftovers and the noodles will simply turn to mush if left in the soup.
Shred or chop the reserved chicken and add it to the soup.

Prepare your bowls: Put desired amount of pasta in each bowl and, if you like more greens, as I do, some fresh spinach. Ladle large portions of soup into each bowl and serve hot with warmed crusty bread with softened butter (truly a necessity with this soup, trust me).

Bagels!

2010-12-21T11:05:00.000-08:00

Fresh from the oven, everything bagels

One of the things I like so much about baking is being able to recreate foods that people tend to only buy. Growing up we never used boxed mixes for things like brownies or cookies, but then again, we never made homemade pasta, breads, granolas, etc. There were just certain things it seemed you could only buy in a store. Bagels were one of those items for me, and still are for most people....after conquering pizza dough, breads, (including pita bread for homemade falafel earlier last month!) and English muffins, I became convinced that bagels were doable, and finally bit the bullet and hosted a Hanukkah bagel brunch with homemade bagels, fresh fruit, and of course the requisite lox and tomato toppings that make a bagel so special. (I have a weird thing with not liking cream cheese but am more than happy to load up on extra lox to compensate) I read multiple recipes based from the book "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" and ultimately followed Ms. Smitten Kitchen in her adaptation. The night before I took a trip to whole foods to find the barley malt syrup, the one odd ingredient, and also got some seeds and of course loads of lox to top the bagels with.

bread flour and malt syrup for bagels

I made a sponge with flour water and yeast and let it sit covered for 2 hours while I went out for a lovely Saturday night dinner at Lord Hobo, a fun new bar in Cambridge with a great beer selection. On my return I threw in the rest of the ingredients (including some whole wheat bread flour, probably 1.5 cups, of ww to the 2 cups regular for a healthy kick), kneaded like crazy (the kitchen mixer wasn't tough enough to knead it for me) then formed them into 12 dough balls and let them rest some more.

dough balls, 4.5 oz each to be exact!

Finally it was time to form the balls into bagels by poking a thumb through the middle, enlarging the hole to about an inch in diameter, and pinching around the hole the ensure a relatively even exterior. These rested again for about 20 mins and finally went into the fridge on covered baking sheets for a rest overnight. In the morning I boiled up 2 big pots of water, added baking soda, more barley malt syrup to the water, and finally boiled the bagels, in batches for a few minutes on each side.

bagels boiling away

luscious lox and other toppings

I used chopsticks to flip and remove from the water, and once, I sprinkled them with heavily with my flax, sesame, poppy and salt mixture, then and baked them in the oven for about 10 mins. After a quick rest, we cut them open, toasted (I thought they needed a toast still, perhaps a bit too doughy for me) topped, and enjoyed with mimosas and good company.
I have to say there is nothing that beats a fresh bagel with lox, good friends, and some fresh orange juice. I will definitely be making these again, next time perhaps a few more minutes in the water and the oven, as I felt they were slightly doughy but I was very happy and my friends were all impressed. Success!

Pizza

2010-11-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

arugula topped pizza

I was never really into pizza, I mean, growing up I hated tomatoes, even tomato sauce, and was only would eat the cheese that was melted into sauce on my spaghetti...I'd eat the casual slice from the local Greek pizza joint down the street or at a birthday party, maybe a piece here or there late night in college, but never really considered it a treat or sought it out...that is, until I went to Italy. Our first night was spent in a tiny town in Tuscany with two places to eat...for convenience we picked the closer and decided on a couple of pizzas as an appetizer (we had no idea what we were doing or how to order a meal). The one that struck home with me had a thin crispy crust and though I don't remember the exact toppings, (I think prosciutto, tomato and mozzarella?), I'm sure it came with some sort of fresh arugula on top, thereby combining the crispy chewy crust, savory toppings, and a fresh light salad, something I'd never considered before and created the perfect bite. Upon our return, I was hooked. Without a true pizza oven, our only savior was a pizza stone which has proved capable of turning even the most simple dough recipe into a nearly perfect crust.

quick rise dough

We began by using a simple no rise dough which was always sufficient, but lately I have been using a very simple recipe from food and wine (recipe below) for one that takes 5 minutes to put together the night before, a sit in the fridge overnight (or 2) and one hour the next day to rise out of the fridge while your oven and stone are heating in a super hot oven. I highly recommend this, it is the easiest and best pizza I have had. A pizza stone is awesome but I've heard that you can get similar or even better effects using a cast iron pan. My favorite toppings are those from my Italian nostalgia: slice fresh tomatoes, tear chunks of fresh mozzarella and let both drain on paper towels. Once the stone is ready, your dough is rolled out to a nice thin round, we pull the stone out, dust it with cornmeal, place the round on the stone and top it with cheese, then tomato, and throw in the oven again for about 5 minutes, then we pull pull the rack out enough to lay pieces of prosciutto all over the top, let it cook a minute, then do the same with the arugula, usually just letting this wilt in the oven while we get ready to pull out the pie. Once the pie is out, I love to adorn it with small pieces of fresh torn basil and even a drizzle of high quality EVOO if you like. Wait a minute before cutting with a pizza cutter, placing on plates, and eating with a salad (I tend to enjoy fresh fennel in these to stick with my idea of the Italian theme) and a glass of chianti or any other crisp wine or beer.

Dough (from food and wine: makes 2 thin crust pizzas, should feed at least 3)

1/2 envelope active dry yeast (I use a jar and follow directions for tsp amount)
1 cup warm water (90° to 105°)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil (for bowl)

Add yeast and sugar to warn water in mixing bowl and stir to dissolve, let sit for a few mins and watch for bubbles to appear.
Then incorporate flour and salt, continue to add flour slowly until it forms a smooth ball that is slightly sticky but manageable
Either kneed by hand until smooth or with dough hook, adding flour as needed, a few more minutes, form into a ball and place in clean oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge overnight

half pizza with prosciutto fig and arugula

An hour before you're ready to cook, pull the bowl out of the fridge and cut the dough into two smaller balls, place on floured counter and cover loosely while you put your stone on the bottom rack of your oven and head up to 500 F or so....after an hour of heating/rising, you're ready to roll!

A couple of sweet treats for the weekend

2010-10-29T12:18:00.000-07:00


blueberry muffins


raspberry filled homemade pop tart


butter, flour, sugar, what could be bad

While I wait to find the battery to my camera in order to keep up to date (I know I'm a mess) and record such things as a prosciutto fig pizzas with arugula and a chocolate stout cake with Guinness ice cream floats (just use your imagination for that one, I have no pics), I figure I will post a couple more old baking projects, recipes stolen with only minor adjustments precisely from one of my favorite bloggers, Smitten Kitchen. I love the idea of making a store bought item from scratch, and for my boyfriend's birthday breakfast I finally made Smitten Kitchen's version of homemade pop tarts, making the pasty dough and fillings (both a raspberry jam and a cinnamon sugar) the night before, then rolling, filling, and baking the morning of before he went off to work. They were not too hard to make or assemble and very fun to serve and eat. I think the cinnamon ones were a bit dry and could have used perhaps a maple glaze whereas the raspberry ones were perfect, not too sweet, and quite the treat for a weekday breakfast. Click here for the recipe. My next "store bought" goals include graham crackers and homemade marshmallows...some day I want to create a gourmet smore.


filled halves before baking

muffin, split, warm, ready to be buttered

I also am including some blueberry muffins (above) that I made from my same beloved favorite blogger's recipe as a promised gift for a blueberry-obsessed roommate. I told him that if he bought the blueberries, I'd make the muffins...I didn't think these had quite enough blueberries for a blueberry lover so I upped the blueberries by about 50% and also I'd forgotten to mention to my roommate that I also needed a lemon so I was unable to add the slight bite that contrasts so well with the sweet dough and lifts the blueberries to the next level. These were good, better than most of the super sugary muffins they brag about in the tourist traps of Maine, but nothing mind blowing...granted, they're just muffins and I guess I'm not huge muffin fan in general...still these baked up quite nicely, nearly a bit scone like in the crumb. I'd like to try them again with the missing lemon, some fresh ginger other spices, or maybe try to add some blueberry juice or jam to really emphasize the blueberry flavor.

Cracker Jack Cupcakes for Baking Contest

2010-10-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

Cracker Jack Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

Encouraged by some friends, I decided that I would enter a baking contest hosted at Smolak Farm's "Hoe Down" sponsored by King Arthur Flour. The only rules stated that had to be a completely original dessert that used King Arthur flour and fresh local seasonal fruits/vegetables, could sit out in the heat and feed 8 people. I took this as a challenge to be creative and come up with something of my own, something I never really do in the baking kingdom...I finally came up with the idea of making a cracker jack cupcake using fresh corn for the cake along with some molasses and peanut oil for the flavor, as well as a salted caramel frosting and a peanut praline to top it off....never having made any of these components before, I was in for a true treat....my one regret, not testing out any of the components and leaving the task to the last minute, literally. I made some sample mini cupcakes and my one qualm with the cake itself was that the big chunks of fresh corn was kind of weird...I think I overdid it because I wanted the fresh ingredient to shine....I would recommend probably blending it up a bit and maybe using less...otherwise the frosting and praline were incredible and I think the cake had promise, though I did not place, I was very proud of my super creative concept and definitely recommend trying this out!

Sweet Corn Cupcakes

adapted from “cup cake bake shop”
20 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup high quality peanut oil (or any tasteless vegetable oil)
4 egg yolks (save whites)
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon molasses
5 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup corn kernels, fresh, cut off the cob ( I used 2 ears)

1.Sift flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder into the bowl of a standing mixer.
2. In a medium bowl, combine oil, egg yolks, water, and molasses.
3. On a low setting, start to beat the dry mixture and slowly add the wet. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat until ingredients are incorporated.
4. Transfer mixture to another bowl. Wash and dry mixer bowl.
5. Whip egg whites with whip attachment on medium-high speed until foamy. With the mixer on medium speed, slowly add sugar. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
6. Scoop a cupful of the stiff egg whites into the batter and stir to combine and lighten the batter

7. Transfer the batter to the egg whites and gently fold until there are no more streaks of egg white.
8. Gently fold in the corn kernels.
9. Distribute into cupcake cups and bake at 350 F for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Salted Caramel Frosting

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 tsp salt

1 cup powdered sugar

Stir sugar and water together in a small saucepan, bring it to a boil and cook without stirring over medium-high heat until it turns dark amber. About 6-7 minutes.
Remove from heat and slowly add cream and vanilla, stirring with a wooden spoon until smooth. Cool for 25 minutes.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and salt until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat until well mixed. Turn the mixer off and add the caramel. Beat frosting on medium-high until mixed well. Cover and refrigerate about 45 minutes. When ready to frost, beat frosting on high with whisk attachment until fluffy again.

Peanut Praline

(adapted from LunaCafe)

1 cup sugar
½ cup water
½ tsp kosher salt
1 cup roasted skinned peanuts, coarsely chopped

1. Mix the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium low heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.

2. Raise heat and bring to a boil and cook, undisturbed until it turns a dark amber color.

3. Add the peanuts and stir gently, once coated pour and spread onto a buttered baking sheet.

4. Cool to harden and break into pieces as desired.

single girl eats: pasta with squid, cherry tomatoes and capers

2010-10-06T10:41:00.000-07:00


delicious squid with campanelle pasta

I made this recipe once for my boyfriend and while we both really enjoyed it, I became obsessed and he tired quickly. Therefore, whenever he is gone I make it for myself! It's cheap, quick, and easy to make for one! This dish is made nearly exactly according to the recipe from Gourmet which you can click here to get . It is simple, light, delicious, and combine salty squid and capers with sweet raisins and cherry tomatoes, spicy pepper, a savory toasted pine nut which adds crunch to the chewy al dente campanelle (a fun shape you can find in Barilla brand) pasta and squid, all finished with light and fresh white wine. Here are the basic directions, I recommend reading through the recipe, I tend to use it every time I make it, at least as a guideline. Note: I don't like lemon in my savory foods so I omitted the lemon zest...I tried to use it twice but couldn't get myself to enjoy it...I probably add a bit more salt to make up for it.

My directions for 1: Get a pot of water boiling for your pasta and don't forget to add salt! Then take your squid (I like about 1/3 lb per person) and slice the bodies into thin rings, cut any super long tentacles off into shorter pieces as well. Put on paper towel to dry off.

squid massacre

toasting pine nuts

Chop up a couple of cloves of garlic, a small spicy pepper, and slice in half a half container of cherry tomatoes.


basil, tomatoes and garlic!

Get pine nuts , raisins, capers (a few Tbs for each, to taste) out while you heat olive oil to coat a heavy pan, toss in the garlic and pepper until fragrant, add the squid for and cook on high for minute (juices will be released, don't worry!) then add in the tomatoes and about 1/4 cup wine) let this simmer for a minute while you cook your pasta and toast your pine nuts (either in toaster oven or pan on stove, watch carefully!) Add raisins and capers and turn off heat while you drain the al dente pasta. saving a half cup the pasta water. Add the pasta to the dish and cook for another minute to absorb the flavors of the sauce, turn off heat and add chopped basil and the toasted nuts. Add pasta water as needed as well as salt and pepper. Top with grated cheese and enjoy with a glass of white wine left over from cooking!

beyond spaghetti

2010-09-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting making pasta by hand ever since I received a pasta maker as a gift I requested from my younger sister. I attempted lasagna with spinach, ground turkey, a homemade sauce, and homemade whole wheat noodles, I perfected spaghetti and meatballs with homemade spaghetti, I made a couple batches of butternut squash ravioli, simply roasting the squash and mixing with ricotta and Parmesan and garlic or nutmeg to taste, baste in browned butter, perfection. I have a couple shots of the lasagna as well as some summer ravioli I made inspired by fresh peas at the market. Shell and blanch the peas, blend with pine nuts, Parmesan and some ricotta...I made the ravioli out of semolina flour for authenticity sake, not sure if they tasted much different though. For a person who grew up hating lasagna and is only beginning to really like cheese, these are big steps for me. I find that when I cook it myself and am able to see the process and control it more, I am more willing to try new things...it's made me a more adventurous person and there is very little I wont eat now so I'd recommend braving new things in the cooking world and keeping an open mind as I did, you'll discover new tastes and it will make life more enjoyable, promise.

semolina dough and pea puree

fresh peas

pea ravioli with a light ricotta cream sauce

First post back, on to savory: crispy salmon with bok choy and rice noodles

2010-09-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

I am well aware that it is has been a ridiculously long time since I last posted...I am full of bad excuses...for one, I got a job, then I got lazy, stopped baking as much, and stopped taking pictures when I did. It's no easy task and I applaud all those incredible bloggers out there who keep up with it so well. Now though I did slow down on the baking front, I still baked, and more consistently, I always cooked. Cooking is a necessary part of my day, not only to put food on the table, but also the importance for me lies in the process. I feel that putting the effort into creating a delicious, healthy, cohesive and complete meal where all the flavors work together is an accomplishment that satisfies both my mind and body. With that in mind, I decided that I should post a few of the cooking and baking items I captured on film over these past many months of blogger hiatus. I hope that I will be encouraged to start posting more regularly and hopefully will gain back some followers.

Above is a seared salmon with bok choy and rice noodles. The recipe is adapted from food and wine magazine. Salmon is one of my and my boyfriend's favorite foods and we have become addicted to a simple grill til crisp but rare, then paired with a salad with a light rice wine vinaigrette, white rice, spicy mayonnaise and pickled ginger. We love this so much and it is definitely our go to meal....however in the heart of the winter here in snowy Boston grilling is not always a reasonable option. I decided it was time to find a new recipe that could combine our love for salmon and Asian flavors that would work in the winter. This recipe is a real winner, it is healthy, warming, satisfying, and delicious. I even made it for my friend who was on a gluten free diet, I simply substituted regular soy sauce with organic tamari. The recipe below is for 2 hearty portions, perfect for a cool fall or winter night.

Ingredients:
1 cup chicken broth or stock
1/2 cup water
1/8 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 tsp sugar or mirin (Japanese rice wine)
3 oz rice noodles
1 Tablespoon canola oil (for pan)
2 salmon fillets (we like about 8 oz each)
1/2lb baby bok choy (regular works as well but not as tasty)

In a small saucepan combine the broth, water, soy, vinegar, ginger, garlic and sugar/mirin and bring to a boil
Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to boil for rice noodles...soak noodles in hot water for 5 mins, drain and add to boiling water until tender (just a few mins). Drain and transfer to shallow bowls.
Heat a large skillet over med high heat and add oil
Season salmon with salt and add to hot skillet skin side down for about 4 mins (until skin is crisp and browned). Flip filets and cook just a few mins longer until just med rare. Set fillets on top of noodles in bowl
Add bok choy to simmering broth and cook until bright green, about 2 mins. Transfer to bowls, then pour broth over or around salmon.
Top with chopped chives or toasted sesames seeds
Slurp chomp and enjoy! Watch out, can be very steamy!

new years eve cake

2009-01-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

(pic stolen from Epicurious.com, I am so mad at myself I accidentally deleted mine from my camera...I promise it looked nearly as good!)

New Year Eve, 2009...my mom was attending a potluck party and had volunteered to bring dessert "My daughter makes a killer cake" she claimed, referring to the cake I made for her birthday which was an Epicurious recipe: "Frozen Mocha Cake with Chocolate Ganache" which I must admit, was extremely delicious and worth the multi-day venture...basically a glorified ice cream cake in the end. Anyways, I was basically volunteered to make her dessert contribution to a party I was not attending, but in the end I was okay with it. I decided to make the cake from the cover of December's Bon Appetite that I had tried and devoured with delight at Christmas dinner just a week back. It was a towering beast of a cake flavored with mint and chocolate, a winning, but risky combination. It was elegant once cut, the white and black layers made a statement and the taste was reminiscent of a girl scout thin mint coookie but 100 times more decadent. I decided it would do for a new years party and despite the horror stories of messy and difficult assembly, I didn't struggle nearly as much as I had expected. I made sure each component was fully set before attempting to assemble at all, taking no short cuts, as presentation was crucial. There were two devils cakes baked off and sliced horizontally to make 4 layers, a dark chocolate ganache, a white chocolate with mint ganache and finally a mint marshmallow frosting. Layering cake, dark and white ganache til the top and then covering with a thick coat of extremely sticky frosting, the cake held together quite well...my only real trouble was decorating...as we didn't have good chocolate for chocolate curls, as called for, I simple shaved some chocolate and sprinkled it on top...not as elegant but I hoped the taste would make up for it as well as the elegance of the layers within. My only other issue with the recipe was in making the marshmallow frosting...the recipe stated it takes about 10 mins of beating however it took about half an hour before it really thickened to the right consistency...luckily my friend had volunteered to help and did most of the grunt work, though we did switch off a bit to lessen the wear and tear that comes with tedious baking. I have yet to hear how my version went over but if it was like anything I tasted I can assure you it's sublime, perhaps slightly childish, a fair amount of work, but I suppose it's worth the work to bring out your inner child.
Recipe (Bon Appetite Dec 2008)
Cake:

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 cups ice water

Dark chocolate ganache:

1 1/3 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
14 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

White chocolate cream:

12 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), finely chopped
3 cups chilled heavy whipping cream, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons pure peppermint extract

Peppermint frosting:

2 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
Bittersweet chocolate curls

For cake:
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Dust pans with flour; tap out excess. Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in yolk. Add cocoa and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with ice water in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating until just blended and smooth after each addition. Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth tops.
Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks and cool completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in foil; store at room temperature.
For dark chocolate ganache:
Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat; add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer to small bowl. Chill until firm enough to spread, about 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Before using, let stand at room temperature until soft enough to spread, about 30 minutes.
For white chocolate cream:
Place white chocolate in large heatproof bowl. Bring 1 cup cream to simmer in saucepan. Pour hot cream over white chocolate. Let stand 1 minute; whisk until smooth. Whisk in extract. Cover; chill until mixture thickens and is cold, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill.
Add 2 cups chilled cream to white chocolate cream and beat until smooth and peaks form. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk to thicken, if necessary, before using.
Using long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 cake layer on platter, cut side up. Spread 1/3 of dark chocolate ganache over cake. Spoon 2 cups white chocolate cream in dollops over cake; spread evenly to edges. Top with second cake layer, cut side down; spread 1/3 of ganache over, then 2 cups white chocolate cream. Repeat with third cake layer, cut side up, remaining ganache, and remaining cream. Cover with fourth cake layer, cut side down. Chill while preparing frosting.
For peppermint frosting:
Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, egg whites, and corn syrup in large bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer. Whisk by hand to blend well. Set bowl with mixture over saucepan of gently simmering water; whisk constantly with hand whisk until mixture resembles marshmallow creme and ribbons form when whisk is lifted, 8 to 9 minutes. Whisk in peppermint extract. Remove bowl from over water and attach bowl to heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until mixture is barely warm to touch and very thick, 7 to 8 minutes.
Using offset spatula and working quickly, spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle chocolate curls over top and sides. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill.

Voting Day Bake Sale

2008-11-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my super supportive roommates and my persistent lack of a job, I decided to go ahead and sell baked goods to the poor souls waiting in the lines across the street from my house at the voting booth. The Monday before I put together three baked items for the morning sale: Chocolate chip almond biscotti (I had never made them and was dying to try), something called "monkey bars" which is basically a lower fat banana cake with chocolate chips in bar form, and whole wheat apple muffins. I didn't get to try a muffin but they were pretty delicious looking and smelling...the biscotti were quite impressive I thought, I dipped half of them in melted dark chocolate which was a hit, and the monkey bars were surprisingly my biggest seller...most likely due to the fact that I wrapped them individually.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Half baked biscotti


Chocolate dipped biscotti

I basically sold out of everything pretty quickly and attempted to both run the stand with the remaining items while baking up some quick things with ingredients I had in the house. I made a batch of over sized oatmeal raisin cookies which were increidble, and some mediocre corn muffins. A hungry trucker came by who clearly had not had baked goods in a while and bought 8 items....
After a little break and an overdose of "tasting" my baked goods, I was ready for round 2, the after-work rush. For this I baked peanut butter cookies using the recipe on the back of the Jiff jar and adding in m and m's.... (I made one special VOTE cookie shown above which was not for sale), gingerbread muffins with a apple cider nutmeg glaze, and my version of blondie brownies which I very cleverly named "dirty blondies" because I had mixed the chocolate chips in with the batter which gave them a dirty look.


"dirty" blondies

The baked goods all came out great however the lines were nowhere near as long and the sales were minimal...regardless I had plenty to share while watching the election results with my grateful roommates. I made a few bucks, but more importantly, The U.S. got a whole lot richer with its decision for change. Cheap champagne was popped, baked goods a plenty, and ready for a new era.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies: The San Francisco treat

2008-10-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

So it's pumpkin season. I've already bought 2 cans of pumpkin puree and attempted a healthy pumpkin bread recipe which I will save you all the burden of reading, making or tasting, though it wasn't horrible, it wasn't really worth it, hence the second can of pumpkin. My old college roommate has been raving about these cookies that her friend had made for her and I promised her that I would try them. Finally last night I did and I have to say, reading over the recipe I wasn't inspired, I was worried that they'd be boring. I stuck to the ingredients almost exactly except adding slightly more cinnamon because I couldn't help myself. The cookies were a breeze to throw together as was the icing. They come out kind of like muffin tops, quite cake like, but with the brown-sugar like icing the dessert aspect comes through. I have gotten very high remarks on these cookies, something I was worried about baking for chocolate fanatics. I have to give Tyler out in CA props for this recipe.

Preheat oven to 375

Ingredients:

Cookies:

1 cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1 Tbs vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon (I probably used 3)

1/2 tsp salt

Icing:

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 Tbs butter

scant 1/4 cup milk

1 cup confectioner's sugar

Preparation:

Cream sugar and butter together, then add the remaining wet ingredients.

In another bowl combine dry ingredients, once combined add wet to dry.

Scoop onto cookie sheets leaving some room for spreading but not much

Bake about 10-15 mins, cool on rack over foil or parchment while preparing icing:

Combine brown sugar and butter in saucepan over med heat, once combined add milk, confectioner's sugar and continue to stir, remove from heat and add vanilla. Cool slightly before generously pouring over cookies (I used a big spoon)

Adjustments I would potentially try adding a bit of spice to the frosting, cutting the sugar just a tad in the cookies, and adding a bit of nutmeg or ginger to the cinnamon. Honestly though they're pretty good just the way they are.

Daring baker challenge: Chocolate Crackers!

2008-09-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

The daring baker challenge this month was to create a lavash style cracker along with a vegan/gluten free dip. I immediately thought salty/sweet, and next thought about a delicious tortilla chip with a chocolate base that I bought once and have yet to find again. Regardless, as usual I saved the project until the last minute and for that reason and indecision, I have so far only created the cracker half of the project, the dip will come soon! I followed the basic lavash cracker recipe provided but added a few extra touches.

Ingredients:

11/2 cups unbleached bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp yeast
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs olive oil
3/4 cup warm water
5 Tbs cocoa powder
Kosher salt and sugar for topping

Preparation:

Mix Sugar, yeast, salt, flour and cocoa powder, add oil and water and mix until smooth
Knead Dough for about 5-10 mins, then put in a well greased bowl and cover for 2 hours (until doubled in size-- mine didn't double)
Oil surface and press dough into square, then flour and roll out as thin as possible letting rest if needed (I should have let mine rest longer!)
Preheat oven to 350 and place dough on baking sheet
mist with water and sprinkle on additional toppings (salt, sugar, seeds, etc)
If cutting into crackers cut with pizza cutter or knife
bake for about 15-20 mins depending on how thin you got your dough, let cool on sheets for 10 mins, break apart large pieces if desired

So that was that. I could only fit about half on one sheet so my first batch was all salted lightly, they were a bit too thick as I mentioned, I should have let them rest longer, but they baked nicely. The second batch looked more like lavash as they were thinner. I like these crackers but they definitely needed more salt and sugar either in the dough or on top. I tend to oversalt so I was being overly cautious and I wish I had just gone for it. Over all however I liked the bitterness that the chocolate brings without much sweetness, hopefully I will figure out a delicious dip to compliment this unique flavor well.

Baking for the little sis

2008-09-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

Peanut butter and white chocolate chip blondies

So my sister just went off to her first year at college all the way in Wisconsin...we're 6 years apart so it's not that we ever spent that much time together, but it is weird having her so far away and off in a strange new land filled with people wearing foam cheese on their heads. Freshman year of college is tough as I recall and my parents asked me to bake her something for a care package. Of course I was happy to oblige. My sister and I have very different taste in food: she doesn't care much about it to be honest, but she likes her meat overcooked, her ice cream melty, her fruit under ripe, her chocolate white, etc etc. I was on a mission to find something that was right up her alley and with that in mind I went to the supermarket and bought white chocolate chips. I came back to the house and began a search for the ultimate, shippable baked good and came across the perfect recipe: Peanut butter blondies with white chocolate chips, from Culinary Concoctions. My sister is a peanut butter fanatic and blondies travel well, so I was pumped. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly as stated except I used walnuts in place of pecans and like the CC blog, used chocolate chips in place of peanut butter because that is what I had; it also toned down the intensity a bit. After baking I cut a few pieces off to taste and share and they went over VERY well. To my taste they were a tad on the sweet side, to be expected, however with a big glass of milk (mine being soy) they certainly hit the spot. If I were to make these again I would probably use less sugar and maybe use natural peanut butter which would be less sweet. I'm not sure if I would omit the white chocolate, it gave it a nice sweet and creamy bite.

Peanut Butter Blondies with White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Pecans

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F.Grease and lightly flour and 8 inch square baking pan.In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter with the peanut butter and the sugars until smooth; about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in the pecans, chocolate chips and the white chocolate, reserving 2 TBSP of each.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the reserved pecans, chips and white chocolate evenly over the top and, using a spatula, gently press into the batter
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean with moist crumbs attached

Source: At Home with Magnolia: Classic American Recipes from the Owner of Magnoila Bakery by Allysa Torey 2006

Catching up with some banana bread

2008-09-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well I've been horrible at keeping up any sort of post consistency, I'll hopefully learn to do a better job as I know how much I hate when I check blogs more often than they're updated...regardless, things have been rather busy here, I've officially moved back in to my house in Somerville where the kitchen is huge but the oven is from the 60's at best...so that poses new challenges. I did manage to bake up a few treats, the first being my famous, ever changing, on the whim super banana spice bread. My original recipe began with a basic "banana banana bread" recipe found at allrecipes.com. I need cinnamon and spice in my banana bread, being the chai fanatic that I am, so I added fresh nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and a dash of black pepper. I also subbed a bit of white whole wheat flour in for the AP flour, just for fun, as well as tried my hand at subbing some applesauce for the butter...it came out incredible, as usual, I've decided its hard to go wrong as long as you use enough bananas and butter. I also recommend eating this fresh out of the oven or reheated with a generous spread of salted butter, you will be in banana bread heaven.

I'll do my best to post the recipe as I did it though measurements were all approximate:

Alison's Amped Banana Bread:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup AP flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground black pepper
5 TBS butter
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
4 large, overripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350, grease a 9x5 loaf pan
In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients
In another bowl cream together butter and sugar, add in applesauce, eggs, and bananas
Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until well mixed
Bake in preheated oven for about 60-65 mins, let bread cool in pan for 10 mins before turning out onto wire rack

Eclair Challenge!

2008-08-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

The main reason I began this blog was to be able to post my "daring baker" challenges on my own. This month was an eclair challenge. Just for the record, I don't think I've ever had an eclair before; my family was never interested in pastries, dessert was always a big bowl of ice cream. I did however have a pretty good idea of what it would be like; some sort of dough filled with a pastry cream, maybe something like a long skinny cream filled donut. I gave myself a whole day for these as the last challenge proved that these projects tend to be quite time consuming. I began by making the cream fillings. I decided to make a half recipe of the chocolate filling listed and a half recipe of a vanilla pastry cream from Joy of Cooking. I accidentally forgot to halve the amount of chocolate in the halved chocolate cream recipe and ended up with quite an intense, but not bad, chocolate filling. The vanilla was good, more custardy, and I ended up whipping some whipped cream into half of it to lighten it up (per suggestion of Joy of Cooking) so I ended up with 3 different filling options, all good in their own way. The eclairs baked up a lot thinner than I expected and the bottoms caved in a bit so I had to be extremely careful when cutting them in half for filling, I might like to try a different dough recipe next time to avoid this challenge. Overall these tasted great, all three fillings were delicious and went over well. I had a lot of fun and certainly reccomend trying these out if you have some time and an eclair craving. Check out the recipe below and enjoy!

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.
2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip thehandle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops ofthe éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill thebottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry creamand wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes: 1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to createbubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk•

½ cup (125g) water

• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

• ¼ teaspoon sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour

• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to mediumand start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together veryquickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. Youneed to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using yourhandmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time youhave added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted itshould fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above
Notes: Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

Chocolate Pastry Cream Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

2 cups (500g) whole milk

• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted

• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted

• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Chocolate Glaze Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé(makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature

• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Chocolate SauceRecipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 1½ cups or 525 g)

NOTE: for this recipe you only need 7 TBSP, a half recipe should be more than enough

• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 1 cup (250 g) water

• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream

• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

First post

2008-08-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog, where salty meets sweet!

I have always been interested in taste, olfaction, and simple combinations of contrasting flavors that somehow meet in the mouth and explode. From a young age I experimented with putting together things in the kitchen, my first discovery of genious was dipping salty pretzels in vanilla ice cream. This may seem pretty normal now but at the time it was certainly frowned upon, I remember my dad being almost disgusted at the prospect. Now these salty and sweet combinations are everywhere, it's still my claim to fame.

In addition to food my interst in perception has manifested itself through photography. This salty and sweet analogy works well to describe my style. I tend to find traditionally ugly objects and scenes, trash, old cars, overrun gardens, etc, and find the beauty in them through photography.

I hope you all will enjoy my posts and I'm happy to get any feedback you have to offer!