Blondie's Cakes

The Tale of Two Eggless Cakes and Stable Whipped Cream

2012-01-30T12:32:00.000-08:00

Did you know that there was a way to make whipped cream frosting more stable? It's always been my favorite thing to top a cake with, but for a long time I'd shied away because if you let it sit overnight, sometimes it would separate and weep or perform some other underhanded trick that would turn a beautiful cake into something a bit melty and sad, like a snowman at the end of winter. So I'm going to share what I learned with you as well as give you two really moist and really yummy egg-less cakes to try it out on. Why egg-less? I had made these for a co-worker's birthday, which fell on a day when she doesn't eat eggs. Oh...and I didn't have eggs, so there you go.

I'm pretty sure you guys don't need a recipe for whipped cream, but I'm going to tell you what I did anyways. For each cake I made I put 1.5 cup of cold whipped cream, 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, and a dash of spices (cinnamon for chocolate and cardamom for mango) into the bowl of my kitchenaid. In a small bowl I poured about a tablespoon and a half of water and sprinkled 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin over it. Give it a minute to absorb and then nuke in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds. Keep an eye on it because it will foam up. Start whipping the cream and when it starts to thicken, turn down the speed to low and pour in the melted gelatin. Keep whipping until stiff peaks form, but don't overwhip or you'll start making butter. That's it! Just a few extra steps to your regular process and you can pipe it into pretty shapes and keep in the fridge overnight without worrying that it'll all break down into a wet soppy delicious mess.

Egg-less Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Sharmis Passions

Dry Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/2 cups (225 grams) flour
- 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (200 grams) sugar

Wet Ingredients:
- 1 cup (250 ml) brewed coffee, room temp
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) vegetable oil

Optional:
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.
3. Sift together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Whisk together all of the wet ingredients, pour into the dry and gently fold until combined along with half of the chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over the top.
6. Bake it at 350F for 35-40 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before turning out onto a plate. It will fall apart if you try to take it out while it's still hot. It will still be delicious, though not as pretty.
7. Serve slices as is or top with sweetened whipped cream spiked with a dash of cinnamon.

Egg-less Mango Cake
Adapted from Lite Bite

- 1.5 cup flour
- 2 great big ripe mangoes
- 1/2 cup sugar (add a bit more if your mangoes aren't very sweet)
- 1/4 cup yogurt, plain or mango flavored
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.
3. Peel and puree the mangoes.
4. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl.
5. Add the fruit puree, yogurt, olive oil, cardamom powder and sugar and fold in until combined.
6. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Same as with the chocolate cake, let it cool completely before turning out onto a plate or it might fall apart.
7. Serve slices as is or top with sweetened whipped cream spiked with a dash of cardammom or mango puree.

Green Tea Honey Cake

2012-01-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

January is well underway, and I'd like to give myself a little pat on the back. I haven't moved any mountains, but I'm still on the slow and steady path to checking things off of my todo list. I've wrapped up a handful of craft projects (and only started one new one), I'm still slowly making my way through the house cleaning/organizing as I go, and I've been good about adding tasks to my todo list as I find new things that need doing. How are you guys doing so far?

This past weekend I decided to tackle, or at least start to tackle, my pile of magazines, saved recipe pages, and stacks of binders full of recipes. I got as far as going through the binders and cleaning out all the recipes I'd tried and not been crazy about as well as some that I have no idea why I saved them in the first place. But as I was flipping the pages and moving things around I ran into a recipe I had saved almost a decade ago for a Green Tea Honey Cake. The recipe was from Cooking Light and was submitted by Ling Fong, then a culinary student, and it looked perfect. It had more eggs then I'm normally comfortable with, but there was no other fat and they say eggs are good for you, right? So I stopped sorting, stepped into the kitchen and made it. It came out great. I was light and fluffy, not too sweet and with a nice matcha flavor that showed through. Perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee.

Green Tea Honey Cake
by Ling Fong via Cooking Light, Mar '02
I added some process notes that might help you. I did a quick search and learned that quite a few people had problems with this recipe, but since it turned out for me I wanted to include the extra little things I noticed as I went.

- 2/3 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/3 cup milk (fat-free is fine)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoons matcha powder or 2 Tbsp ground up green tea

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray; line bottom of pan with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray; set aside.
3. Place sugar, eggs, and yolks in a large bowl and whip with a mixer at medium speed until thick and pale (about 6 minutes). Don't skimp on this, if the batter isn't beaten properly the cake will turn out flat.
4. Whip milk and honey into the egg mixture, beating for a few seconds to fully incorporate.
5. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a small mixing bowl; add tea, stirring well with a whisk. Fold flour mixture into egg mixture, making sure to dig all the way to the bottom and incorporate the flour evenly, but don't beat out all the air that you spent all that time whipping in. Pour batter into prepared pan. It will fill the pan almost completely, but that's okay since there are no leavening agents and it won't rise too much.
6. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. The original time stated 30 minutes, but it took a full 10 minutes extra for me, and my oven normally runs a bit hot so check your cake at 30 min and don't worry if it takes longer. You will see quite a bit of color on top, but don't worry, that'll turn out delicious as long as it's cooked all the way through inside. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely. Enjoy!

A Toast to the New Year - Nocino

2012-01-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

Hi there! I hope you all had a most wonderful holiday season and got everything you wanted under your tree. I know that I'm ridiculously behind with this post, but for the last two weeks I've been in serious cleaning mode. It's not exactly a resolution as much as clearing the path so that I can see the floor and maybe make time to make a resolution. Now that the dining room table is sporting just the centerpiece, now that the stacks of boxes/bags/magazines have been cleared from the living room, now that jars/boxes/pots/pans/cookie sheets have been put away in the kitchen and the piles of clothes washed and put away in the bedroom, now I can look around and start thinking about new projects.

I had finished and gifted the quilt I had started for my mom way back in March. It was one of my biggest projects this year and supposed to have been a Mother's day gift, but instead turned into a gift for New Years. I got the design from Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, extending it on each side with the colors used in the wheel and adding family photos printed on fabric. Considering it was my first quilt, I'm rather proud...just don't look to closely at the quilting on the back!

I had also gotten around to bottling and giving out as gifts the Green Walnut Wine and the Nocino I had told you all about back in July. Both came out wonderfully, but I think the next time I make these - and believe me I'll definitely be making these again - I'm going to reduce the amount of sugar and get better coffee filters. The cheap ones kept tearing and I went through almost half the box trying to make sure that the liquor ended up clear and clean.

The wine had almost a port-like thickness to it with a nice spicy warmth and the elusive certain something that the walnuts added, but the Nocino was by far my favorite. It has the citrus notes from the lemon and orange peel in the background, the warmth from the cinnamon and vanilla, but none of these overpowered the actual walnut. When I was little there used to be a dozen walnut trees in our back yard. We lived in an apartment complex so the trees didn't really belong to anyone and as kids we used to climb the trees and eat the walnuts before they were quite ripe, and this liquor reminded me very strongly of those summers of scraped knees and endlessly torn/stained dresses. I let one of my friends smell the jar before it was ready and she proclaimed that even if it doesn't end up tasting good, it can be bottled as cologne because it smelled amazing. I'm glad to say that a small glass, chilled, makes for a wonderful aperitif.

Now I know that June and walnut season seem like a lifetime away, but there's nothing better then enjoying a taste of summer in the winter and planning for the summer ahead.

Nocino Recipe
Adapted from Simply Recipes, I doubled the recipe, reduced the sugar a bit, added some personal twists, and incorporated ideas found in other recipes across the web.

Walnut juice will permanently stain anything it touches a deep brown, so you definitely want to wear gloves while cutting them and be sure to wash the cutting board with soap as soon as you are done.

75 green walnuts, you want them while they're still soft and easily cut with a knife
4 cinnamon sticks
2 whole cloves (I don't like cloves so I reduced the amount, next time I might leave them out completely)
1 whole vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
Zest of one lemon, make sure to leave out the white pith
Zest of one orange, leave out the pith here as well
16 walnut leaves, optional
4 cups granulated sugar
2 liters vodka or everclear

Great big glass jar

1. Rinse and pat dry the walnuts. Carefully cut them into quarters with a sharp knife making sure that none of the walnuts have started forming a hard shell yet. I wasn't sure what adverse affects the late walnuts would cause, so I tossed the two I had encountered in my batch. One site recommended sticking a needle through each walnut prior to cutting to ensure that it was good.

2. Put walnuts, spices, zest, leaves, and vodka into a large glass container making sure that the vodka covers the walnuts. Cover and shake or stir to mix well. Store for at least 6 weeks, giving it a shake every couple of days or so. I read somewhere, and I really wish I could remember where, that the jar should be kept in a nice shaded area outside, and I liked the whimsy of it so I kept it on my kitchen windowsill (my apartment has no back yard/porch or balcony so it's as close as I was going to get). This had the benefit of me actually remembering to shake it once in a while.

3. After 6 weeks (or two months in my case) remove the walnuts and solids with a slotted metal spoon, again being careful as this mixture will still stain. Strain the liquid through several layers of cheesecloth and then through a coffee filter back into into the rinsed jar to get rid of any debris or sediment, and add the sugar. Shake well and leave for another month or so, again shaking every couple of days.

4. Once you're ready to bottle, just siphon into bottles and cork tightly. Like most liquors it should last several years stored in a cool, dry place and will soften and mellow out with age. Keep a bottle or two in the back of the cabinet and try it every couple of months to see what you like best. I poured myself a taste a month after bottling and it was quite good. I ended up with almost 10 half-bottles (375mL) in the end.

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart and OhNuts!

2011-12-18T09:50:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago I got an email from the nice folks at OhNuts! asking me if I'd like to give their products a try and maybe make something and write about it. Now, I've been placing orders with them off and on for a while now and since I love them, I said "Sure!" They have the best prices and quality for hazelnut flour I'd been able to find anywhere online, so of course I asked for that. They also carry amazing pistachios and pecans, and are quite fast and reliable when it comes to shipping, so if its not too late for your holiday baking, I would definitely recommend them.

Hazelnut flour in hand, it took me all of 5 minutes to decide what to make. My coworker's birthday was going to be that Friday and as she can't have eggs, a chocolate hazelnut tart would make for the perfect treat...well, one of three, but I'll tell you more about the others later.

Last year, during that glorious week between Christmas and New Years when stores discount everything and anything remotely seasonal, I got myself a cute oblong tart pan....and promptly forgot all about it. I dug the poor neglected thing out, made a really quick tart crust and caught up on holiday cards while it was cooling. These days between crazy long work hours and holiday related preparations, if I don't multitask I'll never sleep. I'm pretty sure that's true for all of you too.

A quick honeyed and lightly spiced ganache got poured into the cooled crust and left on the counter to set overnight. I probably could have popped it into the fridge, but I wanted it to stay a bit on the softer side and there was time till the next day for it to set. In the morning, I slid it into an emptied Scrabble box (the only thing on hand that was the perfect shape for transport) and took it to work, where it most definitely did not disappoint. Despite someone bringing in donuts, and a giant cookie cake and various other sweets, the tart disappeared and not a single crumb remained.

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup hazelnut flour
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp cold water
8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp of ground cardamom or 1 crushed cardamom pod

- In a large bowl, sift together the flours with salt, sugar and cocoa. Don't skip this step or you might end up with weird cocoa chunks.
- Use a fork to cut in the shortening until coarse meal texture then add in hazelnuts and vanilla and stir a few times.
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cold water over and mix lightly. If your dough seems dry, add more water a Tablespoon at a time. Mine needed two more, but keep an eye on it. You want it to stick together but not get wet.
- Dump the mixture into the bottom and sides of your tart pan, or pie pan, and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes or so.
- Preheat the oven to 400F while the crust is cooling. Prick crust all over with a fork and bake for about 30 minutes. Check the tart at 20 min, you want it to look dry but not much darker then when you put it in.
- While the tart is cooling, put the chocolate in a medium bowl, and combine the rest of the ingredients in a small pot set over medium high heat.
- Stir the cream until the butter melts and the mixture just comes barely to a simmer, then pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes. If you used a whole cardamom pod, pour the mixture in through a sieve to make sure the pod doesn't stay in there.
- Whisk the ganache until it's nice and smooth, pour it into the tart shell and either let it set on the counter overnight or in the fridge for an hour or so before decorating with a few berries and serving.
Note: The tart is pretty rich so a small slice goes a long way.

Leek and Butternut Squash Soup

2011-12-05T08:56:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. I had plans to pop in and post a recipe or at least send some wishes closer to the holiday, but life and work intervened and I'd been crazy busy. I mean look, it's almost Christmas! Shame on me for abandoning you guys for so long, especially since I've been giving up sleep to squeeze in baking experiments. Before I jump into the sweets though, and I promise that I'll post one or two ideas for the upcoming holidays, I'll give you what I'd been eating all last week. You know what's good to have in the fridge when you're too busy to even order a pizza? A great big pot of soup.

The wonderful thing about squash is that it can sit in the pantry for quite some time without a single complaint. You can forget all about it right up to the moment you find yourself in front of an empty fridge (to quote my dad "You can ride a bike in there!") looking for some scraps to throw together for dinner that will keep you from once again ordering Thai.

The soup came together in just a little while and made enough to keep the delivery guy away for a few days. So here's my pre-sugar-coma contribution to myself and to you guys. It's healthy, it freezes well, and it's delicious. Oh, and there's no chocolate in it :D

Leek and Butternut Squash Soup
by me, because who has time to search for recipes these days?

2 Tbsp olive oil or a small pat of butter
1 great big butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 pretty leeks, white stalk sliced
1 plump onion, sliced
2 smallish potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 cloves of garlic, minced
6 cups of your favorite stock, either veggie or chicken will work
a sprig of fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste

- Pour the olive oil (or butter if that's what you have on hand) into a deep pot set over medium high heat, add your sliced leeks and onion and sautee until starting to soften. Add the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about a minute.
- Add the squash chunks, the potatoes, your stock and your sprig of thyme. I like to keep the thyme whole so that I can fish it out later, but if you don't mind either way, feel free to chop it up. Bring everything up to a low boil, cover and cook until both the squash and the potatoes are fork tender, about 15 minutes.
- Take the pot off the heat and blend the contents to smithereens either with an immersion blender (my favorite tool) or in smaller batches in your blender. Return to pot and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve hot in a pretty bowl with an optional dollop or sour cream or drizzle of plain yogurt.

Chicago Food Film Festival - Suck 'n Shuck

2011-11-19T21:14:00.001-08:00

Before I get absorbed in Thanksgiving plans I want to share with you the amazing event I was lucky enough to make it to this weekend:

This would be the 2nd annual Chicago Food Film Festival and I got a last minute ticket to the Suck 'n Shuck event. The idea behind this festival is to feature food related short films and literally giving the festival goers a taste of what they see on the screen. It was held at Kendall College and even before the lights dimmed for the films, the organizers delivered on their promise to give us a taste of what the event was all about. While people were arriving and mingling several appetizers were being passed around. The Arancini, breaded and deep fried rice balls served with a mildly spicy aioli, were delicious:

The pulled pork croquettes weren't as picturesque, but they were cooked to perfection and the little cup fit perfectly over my little cup of wine:

I did switch from the wine to the amazing Jasmine Tea Ginger Ale, made by Fresh Ginger Ale. I'm normally not a fan of ginger ale, but they use fresh ginger in theirs and I love jasmine, so I was intrigued and now I'm sold! Next time I'll give Pomegranate and Hibiscus one a try:

The lights dimmed and with a brief intro from George Motz, who directed one of the films being shown and was in charge of the post-viewing festivities, the show was on. Some films were better then others, and of course there were commercials from the sponsors before things got started (with a favorite being this one from Chipotle).

The first film was XXX by Joe Pacheo and Stavros Stavropoulos, a 1 minute "canimated" piece on the private bedroom lives of tuna cans and a rogue can of franks. I tried to find you more information about this film online, but couldn't find anything. The film was cute, so if you feel like digging around a bit, it is definitely worth it.

The second film was called Amor Pulpo by John Craig Ross. It's described as a story of an octopus who caught a boat and came to the city where he met the woman who dreamed him to be, and less poetic but more to the point, it shows how this creature goes from the bottom of the sea to your plate in less then 12 hours. I liked the idea and there were some really beautiful shots, but I thought the film itself was a bit lacking on the story-line. A small taste of the dish served in the film was passed around, but it was lacking in flavor and very chewy.

Next up was Zergut by Natasha Subramaniam and Alisa Lapidus, and tells the story of how the moldy and forgotten foods in the back of the refrigerator rise up against the oppression of the fresh foods residing up in front. It was beautiful and perfectly orchestrated to the moody music used. At one point I got a very unsettling feeling deep in my stomach, almost as if I'd be the one cleaning up the mess when the battle was over. I'm kind of happy no food was served with this one.

Pastry Paris, which I saw a few years back in book form, made an appearance. The film sets to music a few of the images from the book, which in turn featured several Parisian landmarks in comparison to their doppelganger French pastries. You can take a look at a couple of them over here on Susan Hochbaum's website. With the film little plates of perfectly buttery and crispy Palmiers (french take on an elephant ears) were passed around. There are no pictures of these because the lights stayed off and I ate mine instead of waiting for a photo op.

There was What's Virgin Mean?, by Michael Davies, which was a funny little take on "the question" that kids ask. It was cute and you should check it out if you've got two minutes.

Fine Cooking magazine submitted a little video called Dinner for Two, which was essentially a how-to video on making a Valentine's Dinner for two, including a salad, vodka spiked lobsters and chocolate pots de creme. Little portions of the latter were passed around for us to try, but again there was no light for taking pictures.

The last film of the evening was The Mud and the Blood, directed by George Motz, told a story about collecting and roasting oysters in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. It was interesting to see how oysters live and grow, plus how loyal the locals are to their harvest.

After the films were over everyone was invited outside for an old fashioned Southern Oyster Boil, hosted by George Motz and his family who brought bags and bags of the very oysters we just learned about, set up a few fire pits outside and steamed them under wet burlap sacks, same as they do back home. I took a million pictures of the process and this being my first boil of any variety, I had a blast shucking oysters, drinking Jameson cocktails, and listening to the live band they brought in for this event.

One of the hosts showing us how to shuck oysters, being careful not to cut ourselves on the sharp shells and instructing us to toss the empties into the holes in the middle of the tables, set up just for this occasion.

I've never had steamed oysters before this, but they were amazing! Not cooked all the way, but slightly warmed through, just to make opening the shells easier, they still had that slippery texture of your regular half-shell variety, but were amazingly flavorful and salty. If you closed your eyes, you could believe you were right there on the coast breathing in the salty breeze.

I took way too many shots of the steaming oysters, but outside, with the Chicago skyline in the background and the steam rolling off in waves and the intoxicating smells of salty oysters and the wood logs burning underneath was irresistible.

As the oysters finished cooking, the hosts would fill up shovels of them and toss them onto the tables surrounded by eager diners wielding knives.

Making a mess hasn't been this much fun in a long time...and not just because I wouldn't be the one to clean it up.

I will definitely be looking for this event next year to see what amazingness they come up with.

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

2011-11-14T10:22:00.001-08:00

It may have snowed here on Friday, but it's been in the 60s the entire weekend, which is bizarre but I'm most definitely not complaining. Despite the heatwave, I'm well on my way to soup season. Last weekend as I was walking up and down every single aisle of the last outdoor farmers market by me for the season, I ran across little baskets filled to the brim with what looked like shiny ginger, but were labeled as Jerusalem Artichokes.

They looked absolutely nothing like regular artichokes and I eavesdropped as the sales guy recommended just roasting them with some olive oil, salt and pepper to the woman ahead of me. Intrigued, I picked out the fullest carton, dragged them home, and then promptly forgot all about them for a week.

I found the bag a few days back and luckily they still looked good as new. I'd been roasting everything in sight, so I wanted to do something a little bit different with these and so they went into a soup.

Please ignore my dusty table, Suzy homemaker I will never be.

The wonderful thing about soups is that they're incredibly hard to ruin and super easy to make up on the spot. I normally start mine with some caramelized onions and a few smashed cloves of garlic, but I had a bunch of leeks in the fridge and not an onion in sight, so plans changed. A few tiny potatoes left over from the hasselback experiment went in with peeled sunchokes (another name for the jerusalem artichokes, and one that I like more since in my opinion these tasted nothing like artichokes), a few cups of stock, some seasoning, and a bit of yogurt and dinner was served.

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
Recipe made up by me

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, trimmed and sliced
4 cloves garlic, smashed or minced
1/2 lb Jerusalem Artichokes (or sunchokes), peeled and halved
2 small potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 sprig fresh thyme, or just a pinch of dried
1/4 cup cream or lowfat yogurt
salt and pepper to taste

- In a medium pot set over medium high heat combine the sliced leeks with the olive oil and cook until they're limp and just barely starting to brown, stirring often. I over-browned mine a bit, which is why my soup came out darker, but it was still good so don't worry if you do the same.
- Add the garlic and stir it in for about a minute, just to get it to mellow a bit.
- Add the sunchokes, potatoes, stock and thyme, bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes begin to fall apart (about 15-20 min).
- Take the pot off the heat, pull out the thyme sprig, stir in the cream or the yogurt, and blend the soup either in your blender in batches, or in the pot with a stick blender (my favorite tool ever). Adjust the seasonings adding salt and pepper and scoop into bowls. It gets even better the 2nd day, just warm it back up and it's ready to go.

Baby Hasselback Potatoes

2011-10-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

I feel like almost everyone has given these little babies a try and when a recipe is this easy and looks this great, it's no wonder! You carefully slice a potato almost all the way through, top with some seasonings and bit of olive oil and a sliver of butter and bake. That's it!

The layers separate a bit, crisp up on the outside, but stay tender on the inside. And you can do this to almost any potato. Most people use the great big baking potatoes, but I picked up a few heirloom baby potato varieties this past weekend at the farmers market and their golden pink flesh was perfect for this. Sadly, this was the last farmer's market of the year by me, but I've got enough in my pantry to last me a while.

Hasselback Potatoes

As many potatoes as you want
Olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Smoked Paprika
Goat butter (or regular, but I really liked this)

- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Slice a potato almost all the way through into about 3mm slices.
- Arrange on a baking sheet, drizzle a bit of olive oil, making sure to get some into the cuts.
- Grind some salt and pepper over each potatoes and shake a bit of garlic powder and paprika over them.
- Put a thin sliver of butter over each piece and slide into the oven. About 40 minutes later you'll have beautiful butterflied potatoes ready to eat.

Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwiches

2011-10-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

Today feels like the first true day of fall around here. The weather outside is murky and drizzly and while it's not yet cold, it's pretty clear that summer is officially gone. And while I love the changing leaves and the oncoming cozy sweater and hot cocoa days, I can't help but hold out for just a few more summer moments.

I picked these strawberries over the summer and froze some for just this kind of a day. Roasting them concentrates and sweetens them, which is good because for some reason this summer the berries were smaller and not as bright as they have been in the past. Adding a drizzle of chocolate balsamic that a friend gave me also helps bring out their flavor and melts into the background helping the ice cream shine.

I got a box of the Nabisco Brown Sugar Blueberry Thins to try out from FoodBuzz a few weeks back and while they're good, they're a bit too healthy tasting on their own. They are not too sweet, which is nice, and they made the perfect carriers for small scoops of this roasted strawberry ice cream. With a freezer full of summer, I think I'm ready for fall now.

Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwiches
Adapted from Zoe Bakes

2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk, any kind except for skim
1 large vanilla bean, scraped
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
9 yolks

1 pound fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons aged thick balsamic vinegar, I used chocolate balsamic that I got from a friend
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup

A box of Fig Newton Thins (I used Brown Sugar Blueberry) or your favorite cookies

For the Roasted Strawberries:
- Preheat the oven to 300F.
- Wash and hull your strawberries, but otherwise leave them whole. Toss the berries with the balsamic and sugar and dump everything out on a Silpat covered baking sheet with sides (there will be lots of juice and you don't want it all over your oven). Place the pan in the oven and slowly roast them for about 30-45 minutes, or until the berries get a bit darker red and everything looks mushy and juicy in there.
- Dump everything out of the pan into a bowl, add the corn syrup and either mash or blend everything to get the texture you want. The corn syrup will help keep the ice cream from freezing too hard. Cover the bowl and chill in the fridge for a few hours.

For the Ice Cream Base:
- Heat the heavy cream, milk, vanilla bean and sugars in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat just until it barely simmers.Turn off the heat and let it steep for 15 min to an hour. The longer you let it sit, the stronger the vanilla flavor will be.
- Bring the cream mixture back to a low simmer.
- Whisk together the yolks in a medium sized bowl. Remove the cream from the heat and whisk a small amount of the cream into the egg mixture, adding enough to warm or temper the eggs, then add everything back into the pot.
- Use a spatula or a whisk to gently stir the custard over low heat. Continue stirring until the mixture starts to thicken.
- Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl and stir in the strawberry puree. Cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap and let it cool slightly before moving it into the fridge.
- Allow the custard to chill completely, leaving it in the fridge for a few hours, but overnight is best.
- Once the custard is completely chilled, process in your ice cream maker as usual.
- After it's churned, let it firm up a bit more in the freezer before scooping between two cookies and stuffing the whole thing into your mouth.

Black Raspberry Macarons

2011-09-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

Over the last month I've been slowly trying to wrap up unfinished projects, purge unused things out of the house and overall just simplify my home and my life. Progress has been really slow and for a long time even though I was getting things checked off the list, the difference was not noticeable, but yesterday night I walked through the house and felt lighter. It's amazing the things you find when you undertake something like this. I have boxes filled with bits and pieces of places and activities from years ago. Things I'd forgotten I'd done and places I'd forgotten I'd been. A trail map from a hike I took with my sister in the middle of nowhere. A ticket stub from a show where my friend and I got drenched and then walked around downtown trying to find a restaurant that wouldn't mind seating us even though we were dripping wet. A set of vintage baking pans I picked up in a tiny town on a weekend trip with a friend. And more unfinished craft projects then I can even begin to tell you. I've been giving a lot of things away (my friend Joy, who I've been piling a lot of my things onto, is starting to joke that I'm slowly taking over her house), but I like the idea of finding my things a good home. I acquired most of them because I liked them and it makes me feel better knowing that someone else will use and love them instead of letting them gather dust in a closet somewhere.

I've been going through my pictures and my files on the computer too when I found these. I made this jam this summer when a trip to the farmer's market yielded a case of gorgeous black raspberries. I know it's unfair to post it now, seeing as how raspberries of any color are long since out of season, but as I said, I'm cleaning the rafters. You can always earmark this for next year if you'd like and I'll definitely be making this again next summer.

If you never had black raspberries you're definitely missing out. They're full of antioxidants, are as dark as blackberries, have the same shape as raspberries, but different from both in taste. Sweeter and not as tart, they just need a bit of sugar and lemon juice to make a beautiful jam. I made macarons using my favorite recipe from Tartlette and filled the shells with this jam, which was amazing, but it would also be lovely on toast or a buttery croissant.

Black Raspberry Jam
3 pounds black raspberries
2.5 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

- Sterilize about ten 8oz jars by either washing them in hot soapy water and then "cooking" them in the oven for a few minutes, or by running them through the dishwasher on "sterilize" setting (my preferred lazy route).
- Dump the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice into a very large pot set over high heat. You want there to be plenty of room left in there for when the jam bubbles up. Mash the berries with a potato masher until you are happy. I don't mind seeds or chunks in my jam, so I don't worry too much about this, but if you do you may want to sieve or blend the mixture before you start.
- Bring the jam to a hard boil and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring the entire time making sure the bottom doesn't scorch, until it thickens. If you keep a spoon in the freezer you can test your set by dropping a bit of jam into the cold spoon and waiting a minute. If you nudge the chilled jam with your finger and see wrinkles, your jam is done. If it's still runny, keep cooking a few minutes longer and test again.
- Carefully ladle the hot jam into the jars and seal. Process them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes if you want to save them for later or just chill and keep in the fridge if you intend to eat them within the next week or so.

Pie Contest and Pie Crust Tips

2011-09-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I thought I'd throw my hat into the pie making ring. Never mind that I'm a cake lady and can probably count the number of times I'd previously made pie on one hand. But those earlier pies had come out good, so I was determined that I'd at least try. The event was sponsored by California Raisins, French Pastry School of Chicago, and Pastry Chicago and it was held at the Whole Foods over in Lincoln Park. Have you ever been to that Whole Foods? It's enormous! Apparently it's the 2nd largest store in US, with the biggest being down in Texas. I'm serious, it was huge.

And some of the pies looked absolutely amazing (nope, none of these are mine):

I'm not going to show you what I made, and needless to say, I did not win any of these awesome prizes, but I did learn quite a bit from the whole experience, so I thought I'd make this post informative and share what I learned with you.

Chef Della Gossett, who currently teaches The Professional Pastry and Baking Program at French Pastry School of Chicago, came out and did a demo on pie making, and I learned more about making a great crust in that half hour then in all the books/tutorials I've read on the subject. I guess I'm a visual learner because watching her, everything just clicked. This post is going to be a bit wordy, but I'm going to try and share with you all the little tidbits that I picked up.

I don't have the exact recipe or ratios that she used, and I find that most recipes are basically the same, so the trick is usually in the handling and the process. I can tell you is that the recipe had pastry flour, salt, cold unsalted butter, and some ice water mixed with about a half teaspoon of table vinegar. If you like you can substitute all purpose or cake flour if you don't have pastry flour on hand, just don't use bread flour which has too much gluten for a pie crust. Also, the little bit of vinegar helps prevent gluten from forming, leaving your crust nice and flaky even if you accidentally overwork it a little. Gluten, by the way, is what makes things like bread and pizza dough so nice and chewy, but turns around and makes pie crusts tough and hard. She dumped the flour and salt into the food processor (no pastry cutters here), pulsed a few times, added cold butter cubes, pulsed a few times to get a crumb texture, and then drizzled in the water/vinegar mix while pulsing again, just until the dough started to come together a bit.

Side tip: If you're planning on making lots and lots of pies, or even just want to get ready to make one, measure out everything except for the water and vinegar, put into a ziplock bag and toss in the freezer. When you're ready to make the crust, just empty the pouch into your food processor and you're ready to go.

Once things started coming together a little, she dumped everything out onto a lightly floured Silpat and really quickly kneaded everything together into a cohesive dough. The whole thing took less then a minute and when she was done the dough was still cold and you could still make out little bits of butter in the mix. The whole thing got wrapped with Saran Wrap and tossed into the fridge to relax.

Ideally you want to chill the dough for an hour or so, but if you kept yours overnight and it got firmer than you like, just whack it a few times into a disk form with your rolling pin before quickly rolling it out on a lightly floured Silpat. Make sure to roll outward from the center and not back and forth and keep in mind that you want the final shape to be a circle, so rotate the dough a quarter turn every couple of strokes.

Instead of tucking the dough edges underneath, she neatly trimmed the edges leaving an even inch of overhang all around (the leftovers can be cut into strips, dredged in cinnamon and sugar and baked for munching on later), and folded them inward using her finger as a guide. You can sort of see what I mean in the picture below. I really liked the shape that this made, plus I think it gives you a deeper crust even if you're not using a very deep dish. A deeper crust equals more filling and who doesn't want that?

She had the oven preheated to 475F with an inverted cookie sheet set on the middle rack waiting for the crust to be blind baked (baked partially without filling). When you slide in the pie dish, the preheated cookie sheet will make sure that the bottom of the crust cooks faster, preventing soggy/uncooked crust bottoms later on.

I also liked how she used a large coffee filter (filled with pie weights, beans or rice) to line her crust instead of foil, which is what I have been using. The coffee filter absorbs some of the moisture and allows some air circulation making sure that the top of the crust bottom (does that make sense?) browns nicely as well. The crust baked for about 20 minutes and was then taken out and cooled as the filling was being made.

She filled her pie with chopped apples, raisins infused with cinnamon, and pre-cooked quince. You can use whatever apples you like, or even a mix, just make sure that you pick the kind that don't turn completely to mush during cooking. If you're getting them at your farmers market, just ask the farmer, they'll tell you exactly which ones are the best for what.

The raisins can be infused with almost anything. Della (yes, I got tired of saying "she" so we're on a first name basis now) plopped some raisins into a small pot with some water and a few sticks of cinnamon, brought it to a simmer and set it aside to infuse for about 20 minutes or so. I had attempted to do the same with my pie, but I used rum and I learned that there is such a thing as infusing raisins too much. I left them to soak overnight and they were tiny little booze bombs, so 20 to 30 minutes might be my limit next time around.

I don't know if you've ever cooked with quince before, but it's a delicious fruit that's unlike anything else. It looks like a cross between an apple and a pear, but it absolutely cannot be eaten raw because it is hard and will suck out all the moisture from your mouth. My mom used to make it into preserves with a few walnuts suspended in delicious syrup, or toss a few into compot, a cooked fruit punch that's amazing both warm and ice cold and is the perfect use of leftover or slightly imperfect fruit. I'll have to tell you guys about it sometime in a different post.

Della peeled, cored and thickly sliced the quince and dumped the peels and the slices into a pressure cooker along with a scraped vanilla bean, two tablespoons of sugar and about two cups of water. You want to keep the peels for the flavor that they add to the mix. The whole thing was sealed up tight, brought to full steam, and then cooked on medium for about 35 minutes. The quince will retain it's shape, but soften a bit and turn this lovely pink color, and your kitchen will smell incredible. Some of the poaching liquid got mixed in with the diced apples and raisins, which got scooped into the crust and topped with the cooked quince slices.

The pie went into the oven to cook for about 40 minutes and in the mean time she reduced the quince poaching liquid with a bit of honey into a beautiful glaze that was brushed onto the finished pie.

How gorgeous is that? And let me tell you, topped with a wisp of whipped cream, it was delicious! The crust perfectly flaky and tender and the filling not too sweet and full of flavor. I'm on a hunt for quince that won't cost me an arm and a leg, and then I'll definitely be making this.

Corn and Zucchini Salad with Chives and Bacon

2011-09-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

The air is finally cooling, the leaves are just barely beginning to change colors, and farmers markets are chock full of amazing fall produce, including almost sugary sweet corn. The hot summer and monsoon-like rains have wreaked havoc on some of the market produce, but the corn has been amazing. I've been visiting different farmers markets over the last few weekends and on my last trip out I found a small table covered in beautiful chives, complete with lovely chive blossoms.

I scooped up the bunch, a small handful of mint and a few ears of corn and I lugged them home to make this recipe, which I'd bookmarked from The Kitchn a few weeks back. Now I don't know about you, but I find that shaving corn is always a messy process in my kitchen. I know that there are fancy shmancy corn shavers out there, but I just don't think that they deserve valuable drawer space in my kitchen, so I improvise. I usually pick out a nice wide bowl, put an inverted glass into the middle of that, stand my corn on the glass and use my knife to shave the kernels off. That way the bowl catches 98% of the flying kernels and the mess is at a minimum.

Adding zucchini boosts up the veggie appeal and a few pieces of bacon adds a great smokey flavor, making for a great side dish.

Corn and Zucchini Salad with Chives and Bacon
adapted from The Kitchn
2 small zucchini, diced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 strips of bacon
4 ears sweet corn, kernels shaved off
1 cup minced chives
1/2 cup chopped mint

- Place the diced zucchini in a colander or small bowl and sprinkle lightly with salt. Set aside.
- Heat a deep skillet over medium heat and fry the bacon strips until crispy. Remove the bacon, crumble and set aside. Pour off some of the grease, leaving about a tablespoon or two in the pan. Add the corn kernels and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until they are tender or about 5 minutes.
- Drain any excess water off the zucchini (I didn't have very much liquid, but you might) and add to the skillet, along with the chives and mint. Sauté just until the zucchini is barely tender or about 3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, stir in the crumbled bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately while hot, or at room temperature.

Honey and Peaches Ice Cream

2011-09-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

I hope you are all enjoying your Labor Day weekend. Down here I've taken the holiday literally. My entire Saturday was filled with work, though don't get me wrong, it was work of the delicious persuasion. My friend and I got up early-ish (I mean it IS the weekend after all) and visited three different Farmer's Markets, ferreting out peaches. My original plan was to drive to a farm and pick our own like I did last year, but then I did the math and between the gas and the three or four hours that such a trip would take, staying close to home and going to the market was sounding better and better.

At one of the markets we hit the jackpot and picked up a full bushel of peach "seconds" for less then half of the normal cost. These were imperfect peaches that didn't look pretty enough to sell for full price, but since we had destined them for ice cream and jam, the look of the peaches didn't matter to us one bit and they were without a doubt at the very peak of ripeness. We also picked up a few pretty peaches for eating, a half bushel of beautiful plum tomatoes, some onions, way too many beautiful garlic bulbs, a still warm baguette, and a slice of pungent blue cheese for my friend and a slice of gorgeous creamy brie layered with apricot preserves and sliced almonds for me. (The work ahead would require a lunch break and we wanted to be prepared.)

The rest of the day was spent happily in my friend's large kitchen. I made two batches of peach ice cream, roasting peaches with a touch of sugar and raspberry balsamic for one and simmering down some peaches with honey and lemon juice for the other. I made eight batches of roasted tomato sauce base under the strict supervision of my friend, whose recipe this was, roasting tray after tray of quartered plum tomatoes, onions and garlic slathered with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. I made a batch of gorgeous peach butter and another batch of golden gingered peach jam (recipes coming soon). At the end of the day I was tired, sore, and sweaty despite the AC that occasionally dripped on my head as I stopped under the vent to wash the dishes, but the house smelled amazing, everything was canned or bagged or frozen, and as I sank into the deep cushy sofa in my friend's back room I felt a deep sense of satisfaction (and my aching back...oof). And so I rewarded myself with a scoop of ice cream.

Honey and Peaches Ice Cream

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cups whole milk
1 large vanilla bean, scraped
1/2 cup sugar
4 large yolks

6 or 7 ripe peaches, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup honey, I like forest honey for this, but use what you have
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Heat the heavy cream, milk, vanilla bean and sugar in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat until it's just below simmering, then turn off the heat. Let this mixture sit and steep. The longer you wait, the stronger the vanilla flavor will be. Bring the mixture back to a low simmer once you're ready to continue.

Whisk together the yolks in a medium sized bowl. Pour a cup of the hot cream mixture into the eggs, whisking rapidly the entire time, essentially tempering the eggs so that they don't turn into an omelet in the next step. Whisk another cup of hot cream into the eggs and once everything is warm, whisk the eggs into the pot of remaining cream.

Gently whisk the custard over low heat until the mixture starts to thicken.When the custard seems to be getting thicker, dip a spoon or a spatula into the mix and run your finger through it. It is done when the custard clings to the flat surface.

Strain the custard through a mesh strainer into a shallow dish. Cover the dish with plastic wrap, making sure that the wrap rests directly on the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming, let it cool a bit on the counter and then place in the fridge.Allow the custard to chill and thicken overnight or until it's thoroughly cold.

Combine peaches, honey and lemon juice in a large pot and cook on high, stirring regularly, for 20 minutes or until the peaches are so soft that they're starting to puree themselves. Remove from heat, puree, pour into a shallow dish, cover with saran wrap just like the custard and chill.

Once you're ready to churn the ice cream, stir the peach puree into the custard and process the yummy goodness in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

Cookie Brownie Cupcake with Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting

2011-08-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

This is sort of a cheater post, but this cheat is genius! I've had so many crazy things going on, just one project on top of another (guess that's what happens when you procrastinate and then cram at the last minute), plus I'm going camping with my friend's family tomorrow, so the posts where I tell you about everything that's been going on and the awesome events I've attended will have to wait till next week, but I wanted to leave you with something super simple and super awesome:

I saw this weeks ago over on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and the sheer awesome simplicity of it made me think "this must exist in my kitchen, and soon!"

You can make your favorite brownie and/or chocolate chip cookie recipe to use in these, or you can be lazy and just use the boxed stuff from the store, I won't judge you, this summer has kept everyone super busy.

I made a dozen regular sized "cupcakes" and then I decided that it's a bit heavy so I used the remaining batter to make two dozen minis, which were the perfect "pop-6-in-your-mouth-before-you-know-what-you're-doing" size.

Cookie Brownie Cupcake with Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting
Adapted very slightly from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. I basically gave mine an adult twist since I didn't have chocolate syrup :D

Ingredients
Your favorite brownie batter (homemade or use a mix)
Your favorite chocolate chip cookie dough (homemade or use a mix)

- Preheat oven to 350F and line you muffin tins with liners, either regular size or minis.
- Get your chocolate chip cookie dough and brownie batters ready.
- Scoop cookie dough into liners, a heaping tablespoon for regular size or a teaspoon for minis. Wrap a shot glass with saran wrap and use the bottom to flatten out the dough.
- Spoon brownie batter over the cookie dough, filling cups to about 2/3 full.
- Bake for about 20 minutes for the regular size or 15 for the minis. Basically keep an eye on the brownie part and take out when it's set. Remove from oven and cool on a cooking rack.

Frosting
2 sticks salted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
4 Tablespoons Baileys
7 oz jar marshmallow creme (or fluff)

- In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter, vanilla, and Baileys on medium-low speed until smooth and combined.
- Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder, stir a bit by hand (I just pull the beater blade off the mixer and use that instead of getting another utensil dirty), this keeps the dry stuff from flying out when you crank up the speed. Powdered sugar up your nose will not look good should an unexpected observer happen to walk by.
- Raise the speed on your mixer to high and beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Using a spatula, fold in marshmallow creme, just until swirled throughout. You don’t want it to be completely mixed in.
- Pipe or frost on cookie brownies, then try not to shove too many into your mouth. Remember that lesson on sharing from grade school.

Street Food Artistry 2011

2011-08-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

I know it's seriously last minute, but if you guys are in the Chicago area today, come downtown for Street Food Artistry: an inaugural festival celebrating the tapestry of street food and art in Chicago. It's an event to support and spotlight cuisine from Chicago’s eclectic street food scene, anything from pop-up restaurants, street-inspired dishes, gourmet food trucks, to old school carts. All will be represented. Here's the info:

I'm going to be down there for a few hours helping out, and I'll try to take lots of pictures to share with you afterwards, but if you can make it, there will be food and music and art and it's all for a great cause. Here's hoping it doesn't rain :D

Slow Roasted Garlic Tomatoes

2011-08-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today's recipe almost sounds like a magic trick: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! I have before you a dozen beautiful tomatoes and one tiny glass jar. Feel free to look at the jar, hold it in your hands, there are no trap doors or holes of any sort, and yet, before you leave today, each and every one of those tomatoes will fit neatly inside. Impossible you say? I say it's magic!

All it takes are the most beautiful tomatoes, a few cloves of garlic, a healthy glug of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Oh yes, and a bit of patience. Follow the steps, and you'll be rewarded with a jar of concentrated tomato gold where each bite makes you think of an entire tomato plant warming in the sun.

Serve them up on little pieces of toast over a smear of goat cheese, chop them up into pasta, toss them onto a homemade pizza, or sneak them straight out of the jar, they'll be awesome either way.

Oven Roasted Garlic Tomatoes

12 (or as many as you have) fully ripe tomatoes, I used plum
8-10 cloves of garlic, smashed to smithereens
1/4 + 1 Tbsp cup good olive oil
salt and pepper

- Preheat the oven to 325F
- Line a rimmed cookie sheet with wax paper or a Silpat and very lightly brush with 1 Tbsp of olive oil.
- Cut each of your tomatoes in half, remove the green core, and using a small spoon remove the seeds. (I dumped them all into a bowl, stirred in a bit of salt and balsamic and ate it with a spoon. Don't judge me.) Lay out the halves open side up on your sheet.
- In a small bowl combine mashed garlic, salt and pepper, and the olive oil. Spoon a bit of this mixture into each tomato half until all are filled.
- Slide the tray into the oven and let the tomatoes relax and shrink for about an hour. They should look a tiny bit flatter then those in the picture above, you don't want to completely dry them out.
- You can use these straight out of the oven, or carefully slide the flat halves into a jar, top off with a bit more olive oil so that they're submerged, and store in the fridge until needed. As a bonus, once the tomatoes are all gone, you still have the amazingly infused olive oil in the jar to use on bruschetta or pasta. Yum!

Roasted Red Pepper or Spicy Hummus

2011-08-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

For the last two weekends I've had to work on Friday nights and on Saturdays. While this isn't too bad since it doesn't happen all the time, combined with everything else that's been going on, me turning the dreaded 30, and the fact that I haven't had a full weekend to recover has left me constantly sleepy. Old fogies like me need naps, not to mention that it's hard to gather any sort of enthusiasm for anything in the sweltering heat of summer that we've had these past few weeks.

As a result, I've had no interest in cooking. Or even going grocery shopping for that matter. Once the produce from my last trip out dwindled, I was left with the contents of my randomly stocked pantry and a rather lonely couple of red peppers in the fridge. So for half of last week, this hummus has been my dinner and my lunch...and honestly, I'm not complaining, this stuff is addictive!

Spicy Hummus
Adapted slightly from Always With Butter

1 can chickpeas
1/4 cup tahini, well stirred
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1 Tbsp water

Dump everything into a food processor and whir into oblivion. Add a bit more oil or a tablespoon of water if you want it smoother/thinner. Plop in front of the TV with the food processor bowl and a bag of crackers and enjoy your one bowl dinner which didn't require you to turn on the oven or fry something.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 batch Spicy Hummus from above
1 red bell pepper
1/2 tsp olive oil

- Use your hands to rub the olive oil all over the red pepper, turn your oven to broil and slide a shallow dish with your pepper in it right under the flame.
- Use tongs to turn your pepper every 5 minutes until you have a nice blistery char all over the surface of the pepper.
- Place the pepper into a small bowl, cover tightly with saran wrap and let it cool for 10-15 minutes. This should loosen the skin allowing you to easily peel it right off. Pull out the stem and the seeds from the inside and dump the pepper flesh along with any juices into your food processor where the spicy hummus is waiting. Pulse a few times until the pepper is nicely blended in and enjoy.

Note: Since you're already going to all this work for the pepper, I'd recommend making two or three at a time. Whatever you don't put into your hummus would be an amazing addition to any sandwich you choose to make for lunch.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2011-08-04T07:37:00.000-07:00

I've only ever had fried green tomatoes once before. Last summer a couple of friends and I picked up a couple of heirloom green tomatoes at a small market, brought them home and my friend fried them up. They were amazing. We sat around the table pulling slices out of the stack and oohing and aahing. They were so good.

As tomato season slowly reaches the height of it's season, I'm seeing more and more varieties at the market and this past weekend I saw these. They're not exactly heirloom, but no food at home and no other dinner plans in sight, I decided to try making a batch of fried green tomatoes myself.

I found a basic recipe over at Epicurious and added a bunch of spices, because it sounded a bit bland.

They came out even better then I remembered. The tomatoes themselves had an almost lemony flavor, and the mild heat of the spicy crust complimented that nicely. I dashed a bit of sriracha on top and dinner was served.

Fried Green Tomatoes
Adapted from a recipe found on Epicurious

2 large, firm green tomatoes, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped oregano
2 eggs
Vegetable oil
Sriracha to serve, optional

1. Sprinkle the tomato slices with the salt and pepper; set aside.
2. Combine the cornmeal, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, and oregano in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs.
3. Cover the bottom of a heavy skillet with 1/2 inch of oil, then place it over medium-high heat.
4. Coat the tomato slices in the egg, then dredge them in the cornmeal mixture.
5. Fry as many tomatoes as fit comfortably in the pan until nicely browned, about 2 minutes a side.
6. Transfer them to a paper towel-lined platter. Repeat until all the tomatoes are cooked.
7. Drizzle a bit of sriracha over the top if you want some extra heat and enjoy!

She Deviled Eggs

2011-08-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I found a gorgeous photo of a recipe that sounded really good on Saveur, so I tweaked a few things, baked some beets and made a big jar of these beautiful pickled beets. Unfortunately, it turns out that I'm not a huge fan of apple cider. Oh how I wish I had known that before I submerged a half dozen gorgeous baked beets into it. It's not bad with a slick of balsamic though, and I'm not one to waste anything, so I've been tossing it into salads, beet by beet.

But here's where I convince you to make that not so stellar recipe: it makes the most beautiful deviled eggs! They're like the every day picnic in the park variety, but with lipstick and an evening gown on. Gorgeous little she devils.

I marinated the eggs overnight and while the recipe does say that you can keep them in there up to 5 days, I would say don't overdo it. The vinegar does make the whites a bit rubbery, so you just want them to absorb the color and a touch of the vinegar flavor, then fish them out. The rest is up to you. Use your favorite deviled egg recipe or use the one I've listed below. I promise, a plate of these is sure to dress up any buffet table.

She Deviled Eggs

6 eggs, marinated overnight in pickled beet juice, store bought or homemade
1 heaping teaspoon of Dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons mayo
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
dash of tabasco
salt and pepper to taste

- Hard boil the eggs, allow to cool slightly and peel. Drop into the beet brine and leave in fridge for a few hours or overnight.
- Fish out the eggs and lightly pat dry with a paper towel. I didn't and I had little pink spots everywhere. Cut in half and pop the yolks into a bowl. Set the pretty pink egg white halves aside.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl of yolks and mash everything together with a fork.
- Scoop the mixture into the pink egg white halves or pipe it in and serve!

Hello Kitty Macarons on Strawberry Banana Cupcakes

2011-07-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

This post is entirely out of order. I have half a dozen other things I've been meaning to tell you about queued up, but this was just too freakin' cute. I know, there's an overabundance of pink in this, which is entirely out of character, but I had an entire batch of macarons with perfect feet on every single shell and not a single casualty! That's unheard of odds for me. Not to mention these have ears and whiskers and bows. The cuteness is overwhelming.

I saw the Hello Kitty macarons at I Heart Baking a long time ago, and I remember mentally filing the idea away for some distant future, and my mental secretary made sure to dredge up the idea when an order came in for Hello Kitty cupcakes. They're not as perfect as hers, but pretty good for a first try. I used the simplest recipe from the macaron queen: Mrs. Tartlette, filled them with the strawberry cream cheese frosting and plopped them on top of the best banana cupcake I've ever made. I sure hope the birthday girl likes them.

Banana Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting and Macaron Toppers
I used Tartlette's recipe without any adjustments, so please go over to her site for directions on how to make your own macarons. Just remember to pipe the batter into a slight oval and to give the oval ears, then once they're cool and dry draw on the face with food color markers.
The recipe for the banana cupcakes I adapted from this one from Cake Journal.

125g (4oz) butter, room temperature
175g (6oz) sugar
2 eggs
3 large mashed ripe bananas
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp hot milk
1 tsp baking power
225g (8oz) flour

- Preheat the oven to 325F and prepare two cupcake pans with wrappers.
- In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time.
- Mix the mashed bananas with the vegetable oil and then mix into the butter mixture.
- Warm up the milk in the microwave. Make sure you watch it though or it will bubble up and run out of the cup. Stir in the baking soda, which will foam up, and then mix the foam into the banana mixture.
- Mix in sifted flour & baking powder just until combined.
- Fill cupcake cups halfway and bake for 18-20 minutes until very lightly golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Don't overfill the cupcake cups because the batter will rise and overflow, leaving you with a delicious mess that you'll just end up eating on your own. Not good.

Strawberry Frosting

2 8oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup strawberry jam, seedless if you can
1/4 cup powdered sugar, or more if you want it sweeter
pink food coloring, optional

- Whip the cream cheese and the butter together until combined and fluffy.
- Add the jam and the powdered sugar and whip until incorporated.
- I used my own jam, which made the frosting a dull pink shade, so I added some pink food coloring to get it to Hello Kitty standards, but you can skip this part if the shade doesn't matter to you.

Homemade Farmers Cheese

2011-07-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

Remember a few months ago when I showed you how to make your own yogurt? Well, this time I have something even easier for you: Homemade Farmers Cheese! I don't know how many of you know what this is, but it's something that I've had quite often growing up. On the weekends my mom would make sirniki, sort of dense cottage cheese like pancakes, that we would slather with sour cream and inhale for breakfast. Or we'd scoop some straight into a bowl, top with sour cream, honey and berries and scarf that up cold. While that's always been really good, this homemade version is even better. What you get from the store is always a bit dry, it really needs that sour cream topping to smooth things out, but the homemade version...I can eat that straight with a spoon.

It's yet another one of those "one ingredient recipes" since all you'll really need is a great big pot of water and a carton of lowfat buttermilk. I have a feeling that you'd get the same results if you used a plastic jug, but I think you'd have a harder time getting your product out of it, so use the cardboard cartons, they should be easy enough to find.

Step 1: Stuff an unopened carton of buttermilk into a large pot of water. It's okay if the carton floats, but make sure it's otherwise submerged. Don't be afraid to tip it on it's side; since it's not open, you'll be fine.

Step 2: Cover the pot and bring the water to boil. Turn the heat off and leave the pot on the stove undisturbed overnight. Don't touch it, don't even think about it until the next day.

Step 3: Pull out the carton and drain the curds in a colander lined with a piece of cheesecloth. Enjoy!

For now I've just been eating it with a drizzle of honey and berries, but I think I'll need to tackle my mother's sirniki recipe with the next batch, so stay tuned!

Globe Zucchini Stuffed with Sweet Potato

2011-07-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

"50 cents each or fill up a bag for $5" the sign said at the giant cart of zucchini at my farmer's market. I was only planning to grab one or two, but then I saw the variety and I got carried away. I filled the bag up with the regular crookneck and straightneck zucchini, but also piled in a half dozen green globes and as many little pattypans as I could dig out. I'm still debating what to do with the pattypans, but I've had a recipe earmarked for the globes for a few weeks and I knew exactly what I'd be making.

I've been on a mission to get more veggies into every day meals, so when I saw the gorgeous stuffed zucchini recipe over at La Tartine Gourmande, I just knew it would be the perfect thing to try. Especially since it was a quick recipe and I'd need to make/eat it fast to make the midnight Harry Potter marathon with my friend. They came out adorable and yummy, even the leftovers were delicious the next day. The lime zest was a great addition and I might even add some of the lime juice into the mix next time. I'll be keeping my eye out for globe zucchini from now on.

Globe Zucchini Stuffed with Sweet Potato
Adapted from La Tartine Gourmande

6 small globe zucchini, green or yellow
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 large shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
2 sprigs of thyme
Sea salt and pepper
Olive oil
Zest of 1 lime, finely grated
2/3 cup finely grated Parmesan
3 slices prosciutto, finely diced
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 375 F and have a large baking dish ready.
Slice a small piece off at the top of each zucchini; set aside. Scoop the flesh out with a spoon, making sure to keep the shells intact. Season shells with salt and pepper. Chop the zucchini flesh; set aside.

In a pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. When warm, add the shallots, lime zest and thyme. Sweat for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 2 minutes.

Add the sweet potato and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Add the zucchini flesh and cook for 5 more minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the prosciutto, oregano, cheese and egg. Season with salt and pepper, and discard the thyme.

Stuff the zucchini shells with this mixture. Place the top on each zucchini and place them in the oven dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil and add 1/4 cup cold water at the bottom of the dish. Bake the vegetables for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the shells are tender when pierced with a small knife.

I served these on top of a pile of spicy quinoa, but you can also serve with rice, or whatever else you like.

Garlic Scape Lemon Pasta

2011-07-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

I had only heard of garlic scapes before I saw them a few weeks ago at my farmers market. There were just two lonely basketfulls left and they were cheap, so I ran up, despite already buying way more then I had intended to, and scooped them up. I had no clue what the heck to do with them, I'd only remembered seeing recipes for pickled scapes before. My recent pickling experiment resulted in beautiful jars of entirely inedible beets, so I was weary of trying anything with vinegar anytime soon, so I searched the web until I found a recipe I felt safe with.

But then what part do you use? Garlic scapes are essentially wild baby garlic. The bulb is just beginning to form and the green stem has a lovely floral and mild garlicky flavor. The bulbs on mine were quite a bit fuller then the ones I saw in pictures, and most recipes said to just use the stem, but when I peeled open the bulbs I saw these beautiful baby garlic bundles, so I peeled off the top skin and chopped up the bulbs too.

The recipe I had settled on was for a very simple pasta dish from from Food Republik that would allow the scapes to shine, backed by tender spaghetti and brightened by a touch of lemon. I topped it with a light shower of Parmesan and ground black pepper and called it dinner.

On a slightly different topic, I have a request for you guys. It turns out that I'm seriously behind on my pop culture. There are a ton of movies that people talk about on a daily basis that I'm absolutely clueless about. In this stifling heat, I rarely feel like venturing out of my air conditioned home, so I signed up for Netflix (before their incredibly greedy price hike announcement, which is a rant for another day) and I'm slowly trying to catch up, but aside from a few things I know I wanted to see, I'm at a loss of where to start. So if you found your way here, please drop me a line and let me know what are your favorite movies, and books for that matter as I'm always looking for great recommendations. Thanks!

Garlic Scape Lemon Pasta
adapted from Food Republik

About 1 ½ cups garlic scapes, stems chopped into 2-inch pieces and bulbs minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 pound pasta
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Cook the pasta as you normally would until it's al dente. Drain and reserve a cup of the pasta water.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped garlic scape stems and stir fry about 3-4 minutes until they're almost tender. Add minced garlic and minced scape bulbs and the butter and stir fry another 2 minutes until the minced parts are lightly golden. Stir right into the drained pasta, add lemon juice, some salt and a hearty shower of freshly ground pepper. Add a bit of the reserved pasta water if pasta is dry. Taste for seasoning and adjust if desired. Top with shaved Parmesan and serve immediately. It also reheats beautifully making for some very tasty leftovers.

UPDATE: It was pointed out to me that I may have misspoken about what exactly a scape is, so I went to wiki and I pulled out this wonderful quote: "The [garlic] plant often forms strange curling stalks, or 'scapes', with odd nodules called umbels. These rococo growths contain their own minicloves called bulbils, a term that sounds like a playground insult." So I guess garlic is really the root and scapes are what grows out of the ground...and generates something that looks almost exactly like the root yet again. What a complicated creature!

Guinness Stout Brownies

2011-07-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

"You're bringing Guinness Brownies!" I was told. Nevermind that I had never made such things before, I was left with no room for argument. Not that I complained, I'm always happy to try something new and actually having the decision made for me left me with a calm sense of contentment, where without such instructions I would have been left waffling over what to make for at least a week.

I did a search and discovered that for the most part there is really only one recipe out in the internet world for Guinness brownies, but it left a bit of room to play with. For one, there was a lot of liquid in the ingredient list, but I couldn't imagine a mere cup of beer showing itself through the dense chocolate flavor. My only contribution to the recipe was to triple the amount of beer and then just reduce it to the called for amount.

They came out so good that one didn't quite make it to the party.

I mean someone had to make sure that they were good before inflicting them upon the masses, right? And who am I to shirk such weighty responsibilities? I dubbed myself "Inspector 27" and left the tell-tale label.

Guinness Stout Brownies
Adapted slightly from here

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
8 ounces dark bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup white chocolate, chopped
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 bottles Guinness Extra stout beer
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick foil, or regular foil, lightly greased.
- Pour both bottles of beer into a medium saucepan, and simmer on medium heat until it's reduced down to 1 1/4 cups. If you keep a glass measuring cup nearby, you can check the progress when you think you're close. It should take about 15 minutes. Leave the beer on the side to cool.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt until evenly combined.
- Melt butter, bittersweet chocolate and white chips in a double-boiler over very low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat. (You can also do this in the microwave, heating it on high and stirring every 30 seconds).
- In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add melted chocolate mixture, beating until combined.
- Beat reserved flour mixture into melted chocolate mixture. Whisk in the reduced beer mixture and the vanilla. The batter will seem a bit thin, but it will be perfect. Pour into the prepared baking pan and drop semisweet chocolate chips evenly on top of batter.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes on center rack in the oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. (The original recipe cites a longer time, but I found that mine were ready sooner. It might just be my oven so leave it in a few extra minutes if you think it needs it).
- Let brownies cool, uncovered, to room temperature. Dust with confectioners' sugar if you want before serving.

P.S. Please excuse the antiquated grammar, I'm currently reading "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" by Jules Verne and I guess the language style is infectious. I can't believe I haven't read this book before though, it's really good and is leaving me with a strong urge to travel to Iceland.

Summer Peach and Sour Cherry Crumble

2011-07-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

I do believe my house is cursed. For the second time in the last few weeks a short, but insanely violent storm has caused me (and to be fair, thousands of other people) to lose power for over 24 hours. Every time I fill the fridge, I must empty it all out again. I've started to seriously consider living off of ramen until storm season is over. On the other hand, fresh fruit and veggies barely need refrigeration, so maybe I should just live off of them. Yep, that's a much better plan.

Under normal circumstances, I'm a cake for dessert kind of a girl. I like layers, different fillings, elaborate frostings, and the amazingness that comes when all components play nice with each other. These days though I'm all about "toss it in and leave it alone" school of dessert thought, which is why I'm absolutely nuts over this crumble recipe. I remember looking through a bunch of recipes, but when it came time to bake I just threw some stuff together, shoved it into the oven and went back to "cleaning". Cleaning, by the way, entails pulling everything out of the giant closet in the living room, trying to discard items not used in years but then carefully putting everything back because "I might need it some day". Sigh. Less is more was never my philosophy.

Summer Peach and Sour Cherry Crumble

1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter
6 or 7 quartered peaches
1 cup pitted sour cherries

- Preheat oven to 375F
- Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and stir together thoroughly. Take 1/2 a cup of the dry mix and in a separate bowl mix it together with the fruit.
- Dump the fruit into a 9x9 deep glass or ceramic dish and set aside.
- Cut up the butter into small pieces and dump into the bowl with the remaining dry mix. Work it in with your hands to make the crumble. Try to incorporate all the butter and not leave too many floury patches. This will be the yummy butter stuff on top and you will want it to be good. Spread the crumble evenly over the fruit.
- Shove the dish into the oven and bake until the crumble on top is nice and golden. This should take approximately 40 minutes. If you used frozen fruit, no worries, just add 10 minutes to the baking time.
- Scoop into bowls and eat...or top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an extra special treat.

Vin de Noix or Green Walnut Wine Cordial

2011-07-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

It might be a bit too late to post this, green walnuts in their proper stage of tender vulnerability are probably pretty hard to come by now, but I urge you to join me in this experiment or at the very least bookmark this for next year. I don't remember how I stumbled onto a recipe for Nocino, but once I did I was intrigued. I scoured the web for everything even remotely having to do with Green Walnuts, which incidentally are not an exotic breed or a rare variety, but simply regular walnuts picked before they mature, just before they start to develop their hard shell. I have never seen them in stores or markets so I went on a hunt, finally finding Local Harvest, a site that allows small farms across the US to sell their products in one spot without the extra overhead of hosting a website and trying to generate traffic to it. Kind of genius actually. One of the farms associated with them is Clary Ridge Ranch, and that's where I ordered from. They came super fast, lovingly packaged with an ice pack and a few walnut branches:

After doing some research I learned that June 24, also known as St. John's Day, is the day when people in Calabria and throughout Italy collect walnuts, sometimes going as late as Bastille Day (July 14th), but the general tradition specifies that the green walnuts must be picked on this day to make the best liquor.

I unpacked the box, snapped a few shots, counted out the walnuts and got to work. I have a double batch of Nocino going as well as a batch of Vin de Noix. They won't be ready to drink until sometime around Christmas, but sharing with you then what I'm making now seems mean and braggy. I made Nocino exactly as it's listed here, changing nothing except doubling the recipe, and quite frankly, the infamous David Lebovitz has never steered me wrong with a recipe. The Vin de Noix on the other hand, I couldn't help but mess with. I merged several recipes that I found, so what I'm sharing with you here is sort of my own take on it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed hoping I didn't mess anything up.

One thing that everyone agreed on was that you absolutely must wear gloves and cover your entire work area while you're cutting up the walnuts. They may look innocent and green, but given a little time their juice turns dark brown and stains everything that hasn't been wiped down in time. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Here it is on Day 1, and I'll be occasionally posting updates on how it's doing:

Vin de Noix

50 green walnuts, rinsed and quartered
750 mL bottle of brandy, or vodka. The cheap stuff will do just fine.
5 liters red wine, this is a "commoner" recipe, so a nice but cheap red will do.
1 kg sugar (2 pounds)
12 walnut leaves, add these if you have them, but I have a feeling they're non-essential
Peel of 1 lemon, make sure to get just the yellow part, the white pith is bitter.
6 whole cloves
2 sticks cinnamon
1 vanilla bean, split

1. Stir together all of the ingredients in a 5 gallon glass jar with a tight fitting lid. You want it to be non-reactive because the alcohol could eat away or react badly with metals or plastic. Store in a cool dark place for 6 to 8 weeks, shaking occasionally. Don't forget to put a label on the jar with the date so that you know when to check it for readiness.
2. Strain through a few layers of cheesecloth into a bowl or another large container. Taste, and adjust the sugar if you want it sweeter. Bottle and store in a cool dark place letting the flavors mellow and develop for a month or three. It should be ready to drink/share around the holidays.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed hoping that everything comes out good. I've been sniffing both jars and so far the smells are promising.

Beer Spiked Pulled Pork Tacos and a Winner

2011-06-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

First things first, in my last post I had a giveaway for some recipe cards and the winner is the fabulous Beth of Delicious Inspiration. To be fair, the first number Random.org spat out was 3, but I know Mr. Stoutmaster and I can just give him a few recipe cards if he wants, so I pushed the button again and got 2. It's all very fair around here. Anyways, Beth, congratulations and I'll be emailing you about where to send the cards.

Next order of business: dinner. This is always a question on my mind, especially since lately every day brings new surprises. For example last night a huge storm blew through the greater Chicago area and now I, and almost a hundred thousand other people, are left without power. Last update said that we may be waiting for a few more days before the power is back so when I get home tonight I'll have the sad duty of throwing out half the contents of my freezer and fridge. Luckily, before the power went out last night I ate the last of the beer pork in some yummy tacos, so at least one item was saved. As for tonight, I'll be valiantly trying to save a few things so my dinner will most definitely go undocumented. But I'm pretty sure the beer will still be good.

Beer Spiked Pork Shoulder
I kinda winged it, so the recipe is mine

1 (~4-5 pounds) bone-in fresh pork shoulder
2 garlic cloves, cut into slivers
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 or 4 large onions, sliced
2 medium apples, sliced
1 bottle of your favorite beer, I used New Belgium's Somersault Ale

Preheat oven to 325°F.

I've read somewhere that you're supposed to score fat and any skin on pork in a crosshatch pattern, but I don't keep the fat after the cooking is done, so I skip this step. Feel free to do that if you want though.

Make several stabs all over meat with a small sharp knife and insert a garlic sliver in each hole. Pat pork dry and season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a 4 to 5 quart dutch oven or ovenproof heavy pot over and brown the pork on all sides, turning occasionally with tongs. Try not to swear too much because the sucker is heavy. Once it's evenly browned, remove the pork to a plate.

Add onions and apples to the pot pot and sauté over high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden and caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes more.

Carefully add in the beer. It will foam up, so you may want to add it slowly. Let everything simmer for a bit, scraping up the caramelized bits off the bottom and then carefully put the pork back into the pot. Cover pot with a tight-fitting lid (I also put a sheet of foil between the lid and the pot for an extra sealed fit) and braise pork in middle of oven until very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours, turning every half hour or so to keep things even.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a bit. Take out the bones and shred the meat right into the onions and juices, mixing everything up. If you want you could also add some BBQ sauce to the mix, but I liked it with all the original flavors. Simmer on the stove for a few minutes until the liquid is reduced and you have a pot full of moist meaty goodness.

Stuff into tortillas with avocado and other toppings, scoop into a bun of Hawaiian bread, or serve over steamed rice and devour.

Homemade Energy Bars and a Giveaway

2011-06-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but when it's 100F outside I have absolutely no desire to crank up the oven, and it's been right around that for the last few days. I much prefer to shut myself up in my little home, crank up the AC and catch up on Studio 60 on Netflix. Yes, I do realize that "catch up" may not be the right term when referring to the only season of a show that was on the air 5 years ago, but hey, I'm slow when it comes to pop culture. Dinner has consisted of popsicles for the last few days, and while we're on this subject, does anyone know if it's possible to eat a popsicle without getting it all over yourself? No matter how careful I try to be, something always drips or falls. My parents knew what they were doing when we were little. We were only allowed things like popsicles and watermelon if we were in our undies, that way they could just toss us in the tub or hose us down at the end.

The other side effect of this heat is my complete inability to retain even the shortest thread of thought. I'll have lists and lists building in my head of things I need to do and then...wait, where was I going with this? See what I'm talking about? I'm useless when it's this hot. Oh yeah, I've been meaning to tell you about a class I took this spring. It has nothing to do with food, but I found a way to connect the dots. I took an introductory letterpress class at Evanston Print and Paper, an adorable little shop that offers a variety of different paper craft type classes. It was really cool learning about the different machinery and techniques, and one of the many things I designed were recipe cards, so that's what I'm giving away:

What do you think? Cute, right? Yes, yes, I'm fishing for compliments here. I'm slightly considering selling these on Etsy, but first I thought I'd share them with someone, so leave a comment below making sure to leave some kind of contact information before Wednesday June 15th midnight and if you win, I'll send you 10 of these hot off the press recipe cards. Good luck!

Anyways, onto today's recipe! I was looking for a quick and portable breakfast when I stumbled onto these energy bars. They're like the granola bars I see people eating on the train, but better. They're chock full of nuts and dates and cocoa, taste fantastic, and don't require me to crank up the oven or the stove to make. I did tweak the recipe a teeny tiny bit, but otherwise left it alone and I've been eating these for breakfast almost every day this week with an ice cold glass of milk. Yum!.

Energy Bars
Adapted slightly from Sea salt with Food; mine aren't entirely raw

2 Cups (300g) moist Medjool dates, pitted and chopped*
2 Cups (280g) raw cashews
1/2 Cup (60g) roasted almonds
3/4 Cup (75g) Cocoa Powder
A Pinch Of Sea Salt
1/2 Cup (40g) Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
2 to 3 Tbsp apple juice

* Don't forget to pit the dates. I did and almost broke my food processor then spent a few messy minutes picking the seeds back out, which was not fun. So do as the instructions say and don't be dumb like me.

Line an 8"x8" square pan with aluminum foil or Seran wrap, or parchment. Basically anything that will make it easier to pull the mess out of the pan later.

Combine chopped dates, cashews, almonds, cocoa powder, cinnamon and sea salt in a food processor. Pulse and process all the ingredients together until the texture is coarse. Then add the shredded coconut, a quick pulse, and add the vanilla extract, a little juice at a time until it reaches a dry but moist dough consistency. Scrape the dough mixture into the lined pan, press evenly with a rubber spatula, your fingers or the bottom of a glass (I used all three) and chill for about an hour before cutting. Cut into squares, wrap each one individually and keep on a tray by the door so that you can grab one on your way out.

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes

2011-05-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

I just wrapped up my last order. There are no other mandatory projects on the horizon and everything coming out of my kitchen from now on will be entirely done for fun. Not that orders aren't fun, I just think that I can experiment more and try cool stuff when it's just for me (or rather just for my friends and coworkers who end up eating my creations). The funny thing is that even though I haven't "had" to do anything this week, so far it's been so crazy busy that I'm reaching for a morning cup of coffee with much more urgency then usual.

But back to the order. There were three kinds of cupcakes and a small smush cake for the birthday boy (who was turning 1). And while the chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting were good, as were the pear spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, today I'm going to tell you about the uber moist, super flavorful, chocolate banana cakes with banana frosting.

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes
Cake recipe from Joy of Baking and the frosting is my own concoction.

2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar
1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (75 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (regular or Dutch-processed)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium sized bananas)
1 cup (240 ml) warm water
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
1/2 cup (120 ml) canola or corn oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Banana Frosting:
2 8oz packages of cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 pureed bananas (pick out any black spots to get a nice consistency)
4 Tablespoons instant banana pudding
4 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Powdered sugar to taste
A few drops of yellow food color

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Line 24 regular-sized muffin cups with paper liners. I found these awesome monkey cups at Woodman's. They are made out of nonstick foil magic stuff and look just as lovely in the box as they do when filled with yummy cupcakes.

In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed bananas, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. Pour or scoop the batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 full, and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Check the cupcakes at about 17 minutes. I don't know if it's my oven, but mine were done a bit earlier. They bake up beautifully with a nice dome on top that doesn't collapse as they cool. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

In a clean bowl, whip the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the banana mush and whip to incorporate. Add the pudding and the whipping cream and whip on high for another 3 minutes or so. Taste the frosting. I thought the pudding mix and the bananas provided enough sugar, but if you like your frosting sweeter, add some powdered sugar. If you want it a LOT sweeter, also add some more heavy cream to maintain the right consistency.

Pipe the frosting onto completely cooled cupcakes and stuff your face. They're even better the next day...and the next...and the one after that. There are bananas here, so it's perfect breakfast food :D

And this cute little guy was made with the same stuff as the cupcakes and a bit of chocolate frosting for the decorations:

I still have to work on my piping, but I think I'm getting better :D

Morel Hunting and Morel Onion Quiche

2011-05-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

Despite the dismal rainy weather, the Bake Sale was a success, so I'd like to say a great big Thank You to any of you that made it out there and picked up a treat or two. I believe all in all we ended up raising $1040 for Share Our Strength, which is pretty great (at least I think so, but then this was also my first bake sale).

It's funny that on the one day we wanted it to be sunny it rained and the previous weekend when we could have used a bit of rain, except for a few rogue rain clouds that snuck through the area in the night, we had nothing but sunshine. You see, last weekend I went hunting. No no no, no one gave me a gun, don't you worry. I was mushroom hunting for Morels. You see, when I was little, sometime around my 8th birthday my family went on a trip. We rented a cabin somewhere in the woods of Georgia (the country, not the state) and explored the area. I was pretty young and don't remember too much about that trip. I remember that the people at the cabin next to ours gave me a chocolate bar when they found out it was my birthday, I remember the black squirrels with white tummies and little tufts of fur on their ears, and I remember that when a group was heading out to go mushroom picking early one morning, my parents forbid me to go. I begged and pleaded and stomped my feet and in the end I stayed at the cabin and sulked. Thinking back I understand why they said no: unless you know exactly what you're looking for, it's easy to pick a poisonous fungus and die. That's right mushroom picking is not for the feint of heart, but the 8 year old me didn't care. I remembered that slight and I've waited for an opportunity to present itself for over 20 years (turns out I'm tenacious).

A few weeks ago, a friend on his way through the flat and boring outer reaches of Illinois noticed a billboard advertising a Morel Fest in a little town of Ottawa, IL. And in case the town name calls out to the history buff in you, apparently this was the site of the Lincoln vs. Douglas debates back in 1858. But more importantly then that, they were going to have guided mushroom hunts followed by a mushroom picking contest, and there was no way I'd be missing out again. I make my own decisions these days :D

After a brief review of all things morel, and after a nice dodge on all "where are the best spots to find them" questions, they drove us around until we were thoroughly disoriented and then dropped us of at the edge of a forest and set us loose with a few guides.

Hunting mushrooms is hard work! You fight your way through the brambles, trudge through dirt and down ravines, fight your way past snapping branches all the while keeping your eyes on the ground looking for the tell tale mushroom caps and ignoring the ones that that just look cool, like these:

Occasionally you look up and see the forest:

And every once in a while you remember, that there are real animals in the woods, not just flora. By the end of the weekend it started to feel a bit like an episode of Bones:

Even the trees looked sinister:

And then you find one. And you squeal and you take a picture and you carefully put it into your net:

And then you find another and you're hooked:

At the end of the first day we had a handful of mushrooms to take home and plan our return the next morning.

So this is where the excitement winds down a bit. We spent hours scouring the forest the next day, risking life and limb (I'm not kidding, there was a Girl Scout camp near by and we were warned that if we wander into their turf we might get shanked...I guess there's a badge for that?) and in the end I found only two mushrooms. Some people had better luck, but I'm convinced they cheated.

And look at this guy! That mushroom was close to seven inches tall!

Me? I slunk home with my haul and made a quiche for Mother's Day. My dad said that I tried to poison them all with my magic mushrooms, but he ate two slices and we're all still kicking, so I'm calling it a success.

Onion and Morel Quiche
adapted from the recipe by Southern Saturdays with Virginia
Makes one 9-inch quiche

Onion Confit:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
5 onions, she suggests Vidalia but I just used sweet white onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon firmly packed dark brown sugar
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, plus small sprigs for garnish

To make the confit, heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, 15 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook another 5 minutes.

Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until the wine is reduced and the onions are a deep golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Add the thyme; taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl to cool completely for continuing with the quiche.

French Pie Pastry (go to her site, trust me the recipe is worth it)

2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
Small heap of fresh or dried morels, about a dozen depending on the size
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper (she suggested white pepper, but I find the flavor weird and don't mind the specks, but you can do as you like)

Prepare the pastry shell and let cool slightly. I'm assuming that by now you already made the confit listed above.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. To make the custard, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, milk, cream, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

If you have fresh morels, cut them in half and soak them in salted water for 30 min to make get any dirt or bugs out of them. If you're working with dried, then soak in clean water. Pat dry with paper towels and sautee lightly in a bit of olive oil with a touch of salt. Set aside.

Spread the cooled onion confit in the pastry shell. Arrange the morel halves on top of the onions in a circle, or however you want. Pour the custard over everything and bake until the custard is lightly browned and set, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

2011 Chicago Food Blogger Great American Bake Sale

2011-05-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

There are no recipes in this post, but I'd like to take a quick moment and invite all the folks in the Chicagoland area to come out to 2011 Chicago Food Blogger Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale! Food bloggers from across the country will unite to support the Share Our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger in America by holding bake sales in their states. Proceeds from the sale will support the 17 million children (almost one in four) who face hunger in America. More information on SOS can be found at www.strength.org.

Where: The Poison Cup Wine & Art Boutique at 1128 W. Armitage Ave (between Clifton and Seminary)
When: This Saturday, May 14 from 12pm – 3pm
Who: The lovely Maris Callahan of In Good Taste is organizing this event and there will be over 20 local bloggers contributing their amazing baked goods (I'll be there too). Here are just a few of the amazing folks participating:

What’s Cookin’ Chicago
West of the Loop
EZ Bake Oven
Not a Crazy Vegan
Joy’s Misadventures
Engineer and an Oven
Chefdruck Musings
NBC Feast
The Pink Apron
and many more!

So grab your wallet and your sweet tooth and come buy treats for a great cause! I hope to see you all there.

Guinness Marshmallows and the Birth of an Experiment

2011-04-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

You know, I named this post "Birth of an Experiment", but I think I like "Gateway Drug" better. You see, that's exactly what this marshmallow recipe is. It's not like it's the first recipe I've tried, believe me, I've tried a few. There was an uber fluffy (one could say too fluffy) pink beauty made from dried Hibiscus flowers. I didn't post about that one because it had a very odd mouth-feel and while it acquired a nice natural pink blush, the taste was lacking. There was an egg-white based one that I learned in pastry boot camp, but for some reason I'm not a huge fan of that one either. Something about using eggs that weirds me out. Then there were a series of variations on Martha's recipe that used jam as the main flavoring agent, and this has been my staple recipe for the past 5 years. But now I have a new love. One that has opened up a world of flavor possibilities, and while my first attempt fell just shy of my rather high expectations, I think this recipe and I will be great friends.

The recipe comes from the kitchn newsletter that I subscribe to and it caught my attention almost right away. The subject was Beer Marshmallows, and doesn't that just sound genius? I had a few bottles of Guinness extra stout sitting in my fridge, so I popped one open and left it on the counter to de-fizz. Once the fluffy mess was whipped up and cut, I thought I'd try a few different presentations, so I dunked a third in chocolate and sprinkled with pretzels, just as the recipe instructed, rolled a few in pretzels skipping the chocolate, and left a few plain, just dunking them in a bit of powdered sugar to de-stickyfy them. While I really liked the chocolate covered ones (I mean it's chocolate, what's not to love), I think the flavor was still a little too faint and it only really came across in the pretzel and plain variations.

But think of the possibilities! Next up, I'm thinking of a wine reduction infused marshmallows in dark chocolate. I'll keep you posted :D

Guinness Marshmallows
Adapted from The Kitchn
Makes about 3 dozen marshmallows, the first few will be neat but you'll be tempted make giant marshmallow blocks by the end, so your results may differ.

For the Bloom:
3 tablespoons (1 ounce or 4 packets) unflavored gelatin
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup (5 ounces) flat Guinness Stout

For the Sugar Syrup:
1 cup (8 ounces) flat Guinness Stout (basically, dump whatever is left in the bottle....unless you've been drinking it, in which case... Come on! It's flat beer!)
1.25 cup (10 ounces) corn syrup or sugar cane syrup
1.5 cup (12 ounces) granulated sugar
pinch salt

Powdered sugar for coating and a bit of vegetable oil for coating the pan

To flatten the beer, open the bottle and let it sit overnight. If you're in a rush, pour it into a bowl and stir the beer with a whisk to release as much of the carbon dioxide as possible. Do not, and I repeat, do NOT attempt to whirr the beer in a blender to de-fizz it. Beer will foam up and leak out everywhere. I won't tell you how I know, but trust me on this one.

Line a 8x8 or 9x9 square cake pan with parchment paper and brush it lightly with vegetable oil. You can try and tape the flaps to the outside of the pan so the paper stays in place when you spoon in the marshmallow or just crease it and fold it over (for some reason I couldn't get the tape to stick to the parchment for very long).

For the bloom, sprinkle the gelatin in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix the vanilla and flattened beer, and pour this over the gelatin. Whisk or stir until no lumps remain. Set the bowl back into your mixer and fit the mixer with a whisk attachment.

For the sugar syrup, dump the beer into a 6-quart saucepan or larger. I used my large dutch oven, the biggest pot I own, plus I think it's heat retention helps you achieve the high temperatures necessary. Simmer the beer until it's reduced by half, then add in the corn syrup, sugar, and salt. Clip a candy thermometer to the side, or stick your probe thermometer in there. Turn the heat to high and bring the sugar mixture to a boil. As the syrup heats, it will foam up to nearly fill the pan. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil over. When the mixture is between 225° and 230°, let it bubble for another 5 minutes and then remove it from heat. You want the syrup to reach somewhere between 240° - 250°. If you're having a hard time getting a read but think you're almost there, turn off the heat, stir down the bubbles really quick and take a read. You'll lose a degree or two, but you'll know for sure where you're at.

With the mixer on low speed, carefully pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin bloom. (This was where using my dutch oven became not such a great idea...that sucker is heavy! So if you used yours, you might need to solicit help.) Slowly turn the mixer to high once all the syrup has been added and let it whip for 8-10 minutes, until it looks like glossy meringue and is very thick. Pour the marshmallow into the loaf pan and let it cure, uncovered, for 10-12 hours or overnight.

When the marshmallows are cured, rub the top with a little powdered sugar and turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board. Rub the top with more powdered sugar. Cut into 18-22 squares of equal size. Marshmallows will keep in a covered container for several weeks.

The original recipe had you dip the 'mellows in chocolate and top them with pretzels, and I tried a few that way, but the chocolate completely overpowers the beer flavor. I tried just pretzels too and that was a bit better, but plain marshmallows were the best. So learn from me and skip the extra work :D

Homemade Greek Yogurt

2011-04-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

Bwahahahahahahaha! Look at this, look at what I have created! Okay, fine, it's not evil, but it is delicious. I know it doesn't look very impressive here, but what if I told you that it used to be milk? I made homemade Greek yogurt and it can be yours too for a mere fraction of the cost that those tiny little tubs run for at your local grocery store.

I ran into an article at NY Times about this a while back and I finally worked up the nerve to try it myself. You can use any milk you like (obviously whole milk will produce a richer and tastier yogurt), but it's always been frustrating to me that Greek yogurt can only be bought in full fat or completely fat free (and weird tasting) versions. So I picked up 1% milk and a tiny tub of full fat greek yogurt to use as a "starter". It takes very little work, a bit of patience, a cheese cloth and some fridge space. I portioned the thickened deliciousness into a bunch of small jam jars, topped half of them with a spoonful of my raspberry jam and after a glamor shot or two tucked into the first one. Yum!

To make your own, pick out the milk you'd like to start with. Local, organic, or raw would no doubt give you amazing results, but even regular store bought stuff will work here. You can use as much, or as little as you like, but half the point is the value of doing this yourself, so start with a half gallon of milk, at least.

Heat the fresh milk at 180F to 190F degrees, or to the point that it’s steaming and beginning to form bubbles. I used my thermometer, watched the pot closely, and took it off heat exactly at 183F. The heat alters the milk’s whey proteins and helps create a finer, denser consistency. Don't overheat the milk or you'll start to alter the taste or it could boil up and run away.

Let the milk cool to around 115F to 120F degrees, somewhere between very warm and hot. For each quart of milk, stir in two tablespoons of yogurt, either store-bought or from your last batch, thinning it first with a little of the milk. So for your half gallon, a quarter cup of yogurt should do it.

They say to put the milk in a warm jar or container or an insulated bottle, cover it, and keep the milk still and warm until it sets, usually in about four hours. I don't like getting extra containers dirty, so I tightly wrapped the pot with three kitchen towels, stuffed it into the microwave and left it to "cure" overnight.

In the morning, the yogurt was nice and set, so I lined a colander with several layers of cheesecloth, set it over a pan to catch the whey, and dumped the yogurt in to drain while I was at work. You can see the whey and its lactic acid drain out in the picture above.

After several hours, scoop the thickened stuff into clean containers of your choice and enjoy. So far I've just been eating it straight, but I think it would be lovely in lots of recipes too.

Hazelnut and Peach Jam Financier and a Review

2011-03-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Slackerville!
I've never understood the point of a stay-cation. Isn't a major change of scenery and the ability to forget you even own a cell phone a major aspect of a proper getaway? A proper vacation is not in the cards for me this year though, so I'm replacing it by random road trips and spontaneous bursts of doing nothing. Or at least nothing useful, I've still not mastered the fine art of couch potato zen. And so it is these very pursuits that have kept me from contributing anything of value (and therefore anything period) to this blog. I have however been baking, and quite a bit (though not all of it picture worthy, let alone blog worthy), so pull up a chair and take a look.

A few weeks ago the lovely folks over at Oh!Nuts have contacted me about trying out their products, which was sort of awesome since I've ordered from them before and absolutely loved everything about this little company. They have a pretty good selection of nuts and dried fruit, but what's even better, they have a pretty good selection of nut flours at a very reasonable price. I've tried grinding my own, but despite completely ruining one coffee grinder and almost melting my Magic Bullet, I have never been able to get it as fine as I'd like. Since I got to pick what to try, I asked for a bag of hazelnut flour and pistachios (because I'll never ever ever ever pass on pistachios that I don't have to shell). I had visions of Nutellaesque marcarons, but when the bag was sitting on my counter I suddenly got a craving for something simple. Something humble looking, but with complex flavors. Something that doesn't need frosting. Something that would help me put a dent, even a small one, in my still rather plentiful stash of jam. Which is where the lovely Cannelle et Vanille came in.

I've been bookmarking recipes on her blog for, oh gosh, probably 3 years now? Somehow her gorgeous photography has made me afraid of trying the recipes. There's no way anything I made would look that perfect. But this weekend I decided that I don't care. If they turned out ugly, they'd still get eaten, so I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. I tweaked the recipe a bit, burned one batch of browned butter (I'm serious when I say don't walk away from it!), browned a perfect batch of butter (that lovely smell stays in the kitchen for days), added my vanilla bourbon and peach jam, tossed the batter in the fridge and went to sleep. The next day, after less then 5 minutes of work, I had these lovelies:

Uh....yum.

Hazelnut and Peach Jam Financier
Recipe adapted from Cannelle et Vanille

120 grams egg whites (this ended up being about 3 medium egg whites for me)
125 grams sugar
55 grams flour
55 grams hazelnut meal
150 grams unsalted butter, browned and strained, cooled

Cook the butter in a small saucepan until it starts to foam and dark particles start to form on the bottom of the pan. Don't leave it for a second, and stir it the whole time to make sure it cooks evenly*. It will smell nutty and turn a light caramel color. Take it off the heat right away to prevent burning, strain the butter and let it cool.

Whisk the first four ingredients together in a bowl. Slowly add the brown butter and whisk until it is incorporated. Stuff the batter into a pastry bag or a ziplock bag, and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 375F.
Pipe batter into silicon mold or a mini muffin tin. Using a small round tip, pipe a small amount of jam into the middle of each batter mound.

Bake for about 10-20 minutes or until golden. Time will vary depending on the size of the mold. I think mine were on the bigger side and took a full 20 minutes to cook, but you should keep an eye on yours.

* If you do burn the butter, as long as it's not completely black, I'm told that you can strain it, whisk some lemon juice into it while it's still hot, and still use it as a lovely sauce on fish. Mine is in the fridge, so I'll let you know how that comes out.

They're great warm, but if you wait until they're cool, the top will caramelize into a very light crumbly crispy sugary crust that will make you swoon.

Disclosure: I was sent the hazelnut flour used in this recipe at no charge by Oh!Nuts, however I truly loved the product and gave as unbiased review as I could while wiping the financier crumbs off my keyboard.

Contest Winner, Melktert, and a Friend

2011-03-08T19:54:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for stopping by and entering my little giveaway and thank you so much to you who shared your GF&DF recipes, I really appreciate that. It was awesome to hear your stories and what you'd do with the GC, but unfortunately I only have one to give out. After tallying up the entries and feeding them to random.org, the winner is Melinda!

Melinda, I left a message for you over at your blog. Please shoot me an email and I'll get you the redemption information right away. As for the rest of you, don't worry. I'm planning on a lot more giveaways in the weeks to come, so stick around, you never know what you'll get.

And while you're here, how can I possibly let you go without a recipe? A few weeks ago, or was it months? Wow, the time really has whipped through the last few months...anyways, a few whatevers ago I was invited to a little celebration at a friends house and she requested that I make a milk tart. A what what? A South African dish called a melktert, also known as a milk tart. I had no clue what the heck it was but I promised to have one in hand when I showed up. I dug around online and almost all the recipes sounded basically the same until I found Cook Sister! I liked that she lightened her tart and messed with the flavors a bit by adding cardamom, and while in the end I learned that I'd probably prefer the more traditional shortbread crust to the puff pastry, despite it's humble looks, the filling was really really REALLY good.

Melktert
Recipe adapted from Cook Sister!
I didn't have custard powder handy and I wanted a tiny bit stronger cardamom flavor so I tossed in an extra pod, other then that I left the recipe untouched.

about 200g of ready rolled puff pastry
1.5 cups milk
1 tsp butter
a pinch of salt
1 cinnamon stick
2 green cardamom pods
1.5 tsp cornstarch
1.5 tsp cake flour
1 Tbsp cold milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
sugar mixed with a little ground cinnamon

- Pre-heat the oven to 400F and line a 9 inch fluted pie dish with the puff pastry, leaving the edges raggedy and hanging over the edge of the dish. Bake the shell for 10 minutes to get it cooking. I skipped this step and the bottom of my shell wasn't quite cooked through when the custard was ready...there was some rather creative pie frying that had to happen after that to finish off the bottom, so please, listen to me and don't skip this step.
- Bring the milk to a slow boil in a medium saucepan, then add the butter, salt, cinnamon stick and cardamom pod.
- Combine the cornflour and cake flour and add the cold milk to make a paste. Stir a little of the hot milk into the paste to thin it, then stir the custard paste into the hot milk in the saucepan. Make sure there are no lumps in the paste - and don't panic too much if there are some lumps in the saucepan once you've added the custard - just make sure you stir vigorously and continuously to get them to dissolve.
- Add 2 Tbsp of the sugar and stir/whisk continuously. When the custard thickens, remove it from the heat and discard the cinnamon and cardamom.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff, then beat in the remaining sugar gradually and set aside. Beat the yolks slightly and then add about 2 Tbsp of the warm custard mix to the yolks and mix well.
- Stir the yolk mix into the custard saucepan and add the almond essence (if using). Gently fold in the egg whites.
- Pour into the pie dish, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake at 400F for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 350F and bake for a further 10-15 mins, until puffed up and golden.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack, or in your car on the way to the party, slice and enjoy!

And just to see if you're all paying attention (or even reading this far down in the post), I'd like to share with you my friend the croc:

I've been looking for a smooth lead-in to share him with you for a while, mostly because I really like how this picture came out, and I've basically given up. So here he is. He didn't get any of the tart, but I'm pretty sure he'd have liked it. Go on, bake some yourself. Make him jealous.

S'More Cookies and a Giveaway

2011-03-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

I am such a slacker. I mentioned that I'd be having a giveaway in my last post and then got completely sidetracked by other stuff, well wait no more! I'm officially opening up the giveaway for entry and the prize is a $50 GC to anything your little heart desires from CSN Stores. For example, it could go a long way towards getting a few (and I mean very few, these things are pricey!) of these adorable little guys or maybe a dozen of these cuties. And all you have to do to throw your hat into the ring is:

1. Leave a comment telling me what you'd get with your $50 CSN Stores GC. It doesn't have to be food related, but hey, that's what my blog is about, so let's face it, it probably will be ;)
2. Make sure you leave contact information in your post! Be it your email or a link to your blog/site/profile where I can find your email. If I don't have a way to contact you in 2 days after the contest closes, I'll be forced to pick a different winner...and quite frankly that involves more work for me. Have I mentioned the laziness?
3. Bonus Entry: A friend has recently asked me for gluten and dairy free recipes and while I have one, I'm seriously lacking in that department. So, if any of you have good recipes you're willing to share or great sites you know of (my favorite so far is the infamous Mrs. Tartlette), let me know and I will give you an extra chance to win!

~~You have until midnight CST on March 7th to get in your entries.~~ Good luck!

Contest is now closed and the winner will be announced shortly. Thank you all for participating!

Whew! And now onto the reason you guys come here, the recipe! There isn't much of a story that goes with these, I felt like making S'More cookies, so I did. I had a box of graham crackers lying around and I whipped up a batch of strawberry marshmallows to fill. Dunked into a vat of melted chocolate and allowed to dry these were pretty good. I might pipe on a lot more marshmallow onto these next time and maybe slip in an extra disk of chocolate, but they were quite tasty as is.

S'More Cookies
Marshmallow recipe from Martha herself

Graham Crackers, carefully broken into squares
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup seedless strawberry jam or jelly
1/3 cup light corn syrup
Dash of salt
Chocolate for dipping

1. Arrange the graham cracker squares on a flat surface. You want them to be ready once the marshmallow fluff is done or it will start to set before you get a chance to pipe.
2. Pour 1/3 cup cold water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Sprinkle with gelatin; let stand until softened, 5 minutes.
3. Stir together granulated sugar, jam, corn syrup, salt, and 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Continue to boil until syrup registers 238 degrees on a candy thermometer (soft-ball stage).
4. Add syrup to gelatin. Beat on low speed until slightly cooled. Gradually raise speed to high, beating until mixture is cool and peaks form, 20 to 30 minutes. You can mix in red food coloring if you like, one drop at a time, to achieve desired shade of pink, but I skipped it and still got a very soft pink hue.
5. Working quickly, spoon the fluff into a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip and pipe a square of fluff just inside the edges of each graham cracker.
6. Let the marshmallow set for an hour or so to dry. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, or in a bain marie, and start dunking. I only wanted the chocolate on top but you can do whatever you like here. Dunk the top or the whole thing, it's up to you. I also sprinkled a few graham cracker crumbs on top to make it pretty(and cover up my bumpy marshmallow piping job).
7. Allow the chocolate to set either on the counter at room temp, or slide the tray into the fridge/freezer for a few minutes to speed things up.

That's it! You now have perfectly portable S'More Cookies. Enjoy :D

On Creme Brulee and Breakfast Whimsy

2011-02-24T14:49:00.000-08:00

Before I start, could I insert a touch of randomness here? The good folks over at CSN have reached out to me about hosting another giveaway! They have basically everything you could possibly imagine, everything from pretty blue dutch ovens to outdoor playsets, so this should be exciting. But you know what they don't have? Sadly they don't carry these adorable egg molds. I got two of them forever ago and due to the chaos that is my kitchen I only found them this weekend. The occasion called for soft boiled eggs for breakfast:

Yep, that's an egg shaped like a fish. Isn't that the cutest thing ever? Totally useless though, not like that certain something special the winner would be able to get with their gift card....but onto the topic at hand!

There are so many things I haven't tried to make because I was afraid of failure, but no more! I have been afraid of Creme Brulee for far too long, so for Valentine's day I invited some friends and put it on the menu. After a brief, and completely irrational, moment of panic about trying something completely new with a whole dinner on the line, I set about finding that perfect recipe with the most fool-proof instructions and with the 115% swoon guarantee. And you know what I learned? Aside from infusing the cream to change the flavors to almost anything from basil to raspberry to matcha, the base recipe stayed basically the same. There were a few ratio differences, of course, but the the core elements were the same, and there were so few of them! Simplicity itself, right? So I used them all. I took notes, I wrote down inspirations, and I came up with this recipe...which I've now made 4 times. I've never gone through this much heavy cream before. And since they say that color means flavor, I just had to incorporate a bit of it in here as well.

Please excuse the crappy picture, I literally took this on my way out the door before work, and if you know me at all, you'll know that I was running late.

Creme Brulee with Color
I pulled ideas from so many places that I can't really give credit to any one, so I'm going to say this one is mine, with the world wide web as inspiration.

1/2 cup vanilla sugar*
6 egg yolks
2 Tbsp molasses (regular, not dark)
1 vanilla bean, or 1 Tbsp of Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Bean Paste, which is awesome
pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream
extra vanilla sugar for topping

* You can totally use plain sugar here, but I keep a jar of sugar into which I toss in my used up vanilla bean pods and I finally found a use for it!

- Preheat the oven to 350F and place 6 ramekins into a deep baking pan.
- Bring a teapot full of water to boil and keep on the side.
- Whisk first 5 ingredients (not the cream) in a bowl and set aside. If you're using a vanilla bean, scrape out the insides into the mix, let the outside dry out and then start a jar of vanilla sugar for next time :D
- Bring the cream to simmer in a slow pot and whisking the entire time slowly temper it into the sugar/yolk mixture by adding it a little at a time.
- Once all the cream has been tempered in, pour the mixture into the ramekins. Then pour the boiling water into the pan reaching halfway up the ramekin sides, being careful to keep the water out of the cream.
- Carefully slide the pan into the oven and set the timer to 30 min. You want a the custard to set a bit, but still be jiggly.
- Carefully slide the pan out of the oven and allow everything to cool before you remove the ramekins. Let them come to room temp, then cover with saran wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- When ready to eat, sprinkle sugar in a thin and even layer on top and go to town with your torch, or slide them under the broiler for a few seconds.
- Don't forget to share!

Caramelized Pecans and a Simple Salad

2011-02-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

Ignoring my craft closet, which is quietly busting at the seams, I've decided to pick up two more hobbies. I can't help myself, textiles and design and all things pretty call to me and I want to try making them all. So now I can tack on quilting and letterpress to my "I know a bit about how to do that" list. I bribed a sewing genius of a friend with food to help me with my color circle quilt and it's really starting to take shape, which is making me super excited. Once it looks a bit more like an actual quilt, I'll share pictures with you guys, I promise. And as a belated holiday gift to myself I signed up for letterpress classes at a local studio. It's still too early to tell if I'm any good at that, but you can be sure that next year's holiday caramels will come in pretty hand stamped packages.

As you can imagine, all of this leaves me with very little time for cooking and one thing I've been making a lot of around here is salad. I like making salad, layering the ingredients, balancing the toppings to make it look pretty, but I don't actually like eating it. I don't know, it just seems like so much chewing for not so much flavor or satisfaction. It's good for you though, so in an effort to be healthier I've been trying to come up with ways to make salads more exciting.

The first thing I did was to buy a small bottle of the very best, the uber yummy, thick and syrupy balsamic vinegar. There were days when I used to smother everything in ranch, but ever since I moved past the cheap grocery store balsamic, I haven't looked back. My current obsession is with the aged blackberry and ginger balsamic I bought at the French market a month ago. It's so good, I don't even temper it with olive oil. And on standby I have 18 year aged balsamic from Old Town Oil, which is also fantastic.

I top a bowl of mixed greens with crumbled goat cheese, sometimes little chunks of marinated beets, sometimes dried cranberries, but always with candied pecans. I don't know why, but even a few of these babies never fail to make me actually want to eat the big pile of greens underneath. And there's no reason to spend $10 for a tiny bag of candied pecans either when all it really takes is some sugar and some raw or lightly toasted pecans to make them yourself.

Just set aside a silpat or lightly greased cookie sheet, dump a half a cup of sugar into a pan and set aside a cup of pecans. You can toast your pecans or leave them raw, I've done it both ways and it really comes down to how lazy I'm being at the moment, it's delicious either way.

Try to keep the sugar in the pan in a nice thin and even layer, then crank up the heat and don't go anywhere! I keep the heat on high, but you may want to turn it down a little bit your first few times. It will take the sugar a little while to get going, but once it starts things go pretty fast and burned sugar smells horrible.

It will take a while, but eventually the sugar will start looking like wet sand and then slowly will start to melt around the edges. DO NOT STIR IT! Don't swirl the pan, don't even touch the spoon and for goodness sakes don't go anywhere.

As the sugar starts to melt more you're going to see a bit of color development around the edges and there will still be some un-melted sugar in the middle, but at this point you're still okay, so just stick around and watch.

Once you get here, if you're really starting to get nervous, you can carefully nudge the hot sugar towards the un-melted pile, but don't stir or you'll end up with clumps. If you do get clumps, turn the heat down a bit and keep stirring until everything is even. Just be sure that you don't let the color get too dark. As soon as you reach a nice deep amber color like I have here, take the pan off the heat.

This, by the way, is also the first step to making caramel. If you were doing this in a deeper pot, you could CAREFULLY add cream a little at a time, stirring like mad, and you'll end up with yummy caramel topping. You could also add boiling water, also carefully and also a little at a time and also stirring like crazy, to make a caramel flavored simple syrup...which I'd imagine would make for some fantastic cocktails. Or you could keep going and stick with the salad plan. Up to you.

Working very quickly, stir in your pecans and spread everything out on your Silpat or greased sheet. The cooked sugar will set quickly so the faster you get this done, the easier and less messy things will go. Do not touch the sugar! It's basically boiling lava and it will hurt like nothing else, so don't touch anything until it's completely cooled.

Once the sugar has cooled completely you can break apart the pieces and top your salad...or just eat them straight, but that would defeat the salad point.

P.S. My friend asked me to tell everyone that if something should go wrong during the caramelizing process and you burn the sugar, do not pour the hot bubbly mess down the drain. The sugar will seize and clog the drain. Then you will panic and break your favorite fork trying to chip away the clog, and then fill the sink with boiling water and hope that everything melts before your boyfriend shows up and laughs at you. The best thing to do is to just let the mess cool a bit in the pan and then soak the pan in hot water. It will come right out and then you can try again.

Every Day Quinoa

2011-02-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

I wish I could give you some amazing story about what I've been up to this past month that has kept me away from this blog; some grand adventure that taught me the ultimate recipe to living. The truth, however, is much more Anna-esque: I lost the USB cord to my camera and haven't been uploading pics. ***cricket noises*** I know, I know, I'm ashamed. Especially since it ended up being neatly rolled up in my organized box of cords. See? New Years resolutions of being more organized have upset my sense of order in chaos.

Despite the lack of online presence, I have been quite busy these past few weeks. There were cakes and cookies and spreads made, and now that the pictures are on my computer I'll tell you about all of them, but the very first thing I want to share is the dish I make whenever I'm at home in the afternoon. Whenever my fridge declares that if all I put in is celery then what the heck can I expect to pull out, but celery? P.S. I am not a fan of celery and yet the sucker keeps finding it's way into my home. As long as I can convince an avocado to join me for a meal, this dish gets made. It's extremely fast, it's super easy, it's all made in one pot, and I daresay it's even sort of healthy. Sort of.

Can I tell you something? Don't laugh at me, okay? Ever since I learned this technique for cutting up avocados, every time I do it I feel like a genius. I know that probably everyone in the universe already knows how to do this, but it never fails to make me feel like I invented the technique. I'm even willing to share:

1. Cut an avocado in half around the pit and twist the two halves to separate.
2. Holding the avocado in one hand (keeping your fingers, palm, etc. as out of the way as possible unless you really like that cute nurse in ER and would like stitches) whack the knife into the pit and twist it out. This part will make you feel like a ninja. Feel free to make "hiyaaaa" noises, I won't tell.
3. Take the knife and slice the avocado flesh while it's still in the shell and then just scoop out perfectly cut cubes with a spoon. No mess, no chasing slimy avocado across the cutting board (or washing said cutting board), nothing but perfect little cubes:

Ta daaaa!

Okay, sorry. I told you I get very excited about cutting up avocados. Lets agree that I'm a dork and move on with the recipe.

I found this recipe over at Tea & Cookies almost a year ago, and I remember immediately going to the store and getting a box of quinoa and a bottle of Ponzu sauce, neither of which have ever stepped foot in my kitchen before that. The recipe comes from China Forbes, lead singer of Pink Martini, whom I've discovered long ago and whose "Dosvedanya Mio Bombino" and "Hang on Little Tomato" have been in heavy rotation on my iPod for years. The recipe itself is warm and comforting, smooth and salty, a little bit sushi-esque, and altogether delicious. Try it, you'll like it.

China Forbes Quinoa with Avocado
via Tea & Cookies

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (red, black or yellow will work great)
1/2 slightly firm avocado, or more as desired
2 tbs Ponzu (Japanese soy/citrus sauce)
1 tsp sesame oil
Squirt of Siracha chili sauce to taste
Handful of nori strips (or just cut a regular sheet with scissors)

Cook the quinoa in 1 cup water according to package instruction. Basically bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until the water is absorbed. Yellow quinoa will get soft, black quinoa stays a bit firm and seedy.

Drizzle in the ponzu, sesame oil, and chili sauce right into the pot, stir in and dump into one or two pretty bowls (depending on how hungry or willing to share you are). Cut the avocado in chunks and dump on top. Sprinkle with nori strips. Stir, eat, and swoon.

Brioche Peach Butts Revisited

2011-01-05T13:54:00.000-08:00

That's right, I said peach butts. And if you can look at these and tell me that all you see are pastries or peaches then you have a much cleaner way of thinking then me or any of my friends, and therefore are probably not as fun. I made these a few years ago and kept insisting that they were peaches not butts, but after a while I gave in. It's more fun this way anyways.

But back to the pastry, these consist of fluffy brioche filled with peach schnapps spiked pastry cream, dipped in apricot jam and rolled in sugar. After sitting for a while the pastry cream and the jam work at the brioche from inside and out making it even more tender and flavorful. I got the original recipe from Roland Mesnier's Basic to Beautiful Cakes, but it took me a while to figure out that recipes in books can't always be trusted. I had to adjust the oven temperature by a whole lot in order to not burn these:

I was going to pose these beauties and take glamor shots, but they were ordered during the insanely hectic week before Christmas, and when I finally wrapped them all up all I wanted to do was go to sleep. I did save one for myself as a treat, but if you want to see what they should look like, you should go back to my original post. This was the moment I halfheartedly remembered to take a picture of the end product from this batch. As you can see, even photographers need to be fed.

The recipes for both the peaches and the pastry cream are out there online in the book previews, which is why I didn't feel too badly about putting them here, but I'd still recommend you go and get the book. Even if some of the recipes need adjustments, it's full of great ideas and wonderful inspiration.

Brioche Peaches
adapted from Roland Mesnier's Basic to Beautiful Cakes

1.5 tsp salt
5 Tbsp sugar
6 Tbsp warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 oz dry yeast (or 1 oz fresh or about 2.5 tsp)
5 large eggs
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2.5 cups pastry cream (recipe below)
2 cup of your favorite apricot jam. Preferably one without too many chunks.
Red food coloring
about 2 cups sugar for coating
If you're feeling fancy you can make stems, leaves, ladybugs, what have you out of marzipan to decorate, but it's not necessary and will not camouflage the fact that they still look like fuzzy butts.

- Combine the salt, sugar and 2 Tablespoons of warm water in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook. Stir up a bit to dissolve the salt and sugar, but don't worry about it too much. Add the flour and stir to combine.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining 4 Tablespoons of warm water and yeast and let stand until it dissolves and becomes foamy.
- With the mixer on medium speed, add 4 of the eggs one at a time. Continue to stir for 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and very firm.
- With the mixer still on medium, carefully add the last egg and then the yeast mixture. Turn the mixer down to low and mix for 15 minutes. Everything will look sloppy and watery at first, but don't worry, it'll come together.
- With the mixer still on low, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, letting each addition get completely incorporated before you add more. Once it's all in there the dough should be glossy and elastic.
- Cover the bowl loosely with a piece of saran wrap and a clean kitchen towel and let it stand in a warm, draft-free spot for about an hour and a half, until it has doubled in size.
- Make the pastry cream while the dough is rising.
- Deflate the dough by flipping it a few times in the bowl, cover it again with the saran wrap and towel and place in the fridge overnight, or no longer then 24 hours. Don't put the saran wrap on too tight or you'll stop the dough from growing. I added it just to avoid a skin from forming on the dough.
- The next day, line one or two baking sheets with parchment or a silpat, and either roll the dough into walnut sized pieces or use a small scoop to make the dough balls (personally I like the scoop because it keeps the sizes fairly uniform) and place the balls on the baking sheets at least 2 inches apart, squashing them a little bit on top with your palm. Lightly drape the sheets with saran wrap and let stand in a warm spot until they've doubled in size. As the dough rises, it might not do so uniformly, so you may want to take a butter knife and reshape the balls a bit before baking.
- Here is where I GREATLY disagree with the recipe given. The recipe says to bake the balls at 425F for 12-15 min, but that seems wildly wrong and when I tried it, everything burned. After several batches and experimentation, I found that baking them at 350F for 11 - 12 minutes produces perfect results, every time.
- Let the balls cool completely and then using a serrated butter knife gut the suckers. Okay okay, carefully cut out quarter sized holes in the bottoms of the brioche balls, pull out and make a bit of room for the pastry cream. The recipe recommends freezing the brioche and using a melon baller, but I found that to be messy and time consuming.
- Fill each half with pastry cream using a pastry bag or a zippy with the corner cut off, match halves to eachother and squash them together, wiping away any filling that oozes out. You want a bit to ooze out because that means the two halves are nicely sealed together.
- Put about 2 cups of sugar into a shallow bowl and keep it close by.
- Bring the apricot jam to a boil in a small pan with a bit of water if it's too thick and push it though a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.
- Transfer 1/4 cup of the jam into a smaller bowl and add one or two drops of the red food coloring into it.
- With a pastry brush cover each "peach" with the plain jam, dabbing a bit of the colored jam on the sides to give it a slight blush, and immediately roll in the sugar. Attach stem, leaf, ladybug if using.
- You can eat it right away, but I find it to be better after it had a chance to sit for a bit. As long as it's in a tightly covered container and as long as you let it come to room temp before eating, you can even keep these in the fridge for a few days.

Pastry Cream
Also from same book with a few very minor tweaks

7 Tbsp sugar
1/2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp cornstarch
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs, or 4 large egg yolks
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
2 Tbsp peach schnapps (or any other liquor you like)

- Stir together the sugar and cornstarch together in a medium bowl. Whisk in the eggs or egg yolks.
- Bring the milk to a boil in a large saucepan. Slowly dribble 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Dribble another 1/2 cup of the milk into the egg mixture, again whisking constantly.
- Whisk the egg mixture back into the milk and return the pan to the heat. Bring to a full boil, whisking constantly until it has thickened. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Stir in the vanilla, salt, butter and liquor. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic is touching the surface of the pastry cream to avoid a skin from forming, and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Apple Cider Caramels

2010-12-28T12:23:00.000-08:00

I love making caramel almost as much as I love making jam. When I hover over my blue dutch oven filled with bubbling deliciousness I feel like a voodoo doctor simmering a magic potion in a cauldron, patiently giving it a stir or a nudge and carefully watching the magical transformation from grainy sugar to a beautiful golden syrup. Then carefully offering the cream as a sacrifice to the erupting volcano gods of sugar, accepting the tower of steam as a reminder of their power and feverishly stirring to ensure that the offering is accepted and the mixture turns smooth. Heating the glossy mixture until it's practically pillow-like, and then the eternal wait after the lot has been poured and stands cooling on the counter. But if all was done just right and the lords of caramel are kind, you will be rewarded for your vigilance with pretty bits of luscious candy to be shared with only those most worthy of your efforts.

The lovely Kate at Our Best Bites posted this recipe for Apple Cider Caramels on her blog and I absolutely had to give them a try. Twice. I followed her instructions in all things except for the cutting. A long time ago, I saw caramels at a gourmet shop being sold in logs. Like a 9"x.5"x.5" square log wrapped up in parchment and a pretty sticker keeping the center from unwinding and two little ribbons on the ends. Kind of like a cut your own damn caramels system and since I hate the individual wrapping part, I went with the logs, which cut down the wrapping process dramatically. Plus, as Kate pointed out, "Cut your own damn caramels" makes for a fantastic slogan and works in all sorts of real world situations.

Apple Cider Caramels
Recipe from Our Best Bites

2 cup high-quality apple cider
1 cup heavy cream or whipping cream, divided
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup real butter, cubed

- Pour cider into a medium saucepan and boil on high for about 20 minutes or until the cider is reduced to 1/3 c. Keep an eye on it...it might try to run away. Set aside to cool.
- Line an 8" square pan with parchment paper, making sure to leave about 1" hanging over the edges for easy removal. Coat with a bit of vegetable oil and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine 2/3 c. cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and reduced apple cider. Set aside.
- In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, 1/3 c. whipping cream + enough water to reach the 1/2 c. line on the measuring cup, and corn syrup. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Insert the candy thermometer and simmer until the syrup reaches 234 degrees.
- Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream mixture. Add the cubed butter and stir until the cream and butter are fully incorporated. Return the pan to heat and re-insert the candy thermometer. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature reaches 248 degrees.
- Remove from heat and pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Let the mixture cool completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator. I covered the top of the pan loosely with saran wrap and left it out overnight. You could cut the caramels into 1/2" squares and wrap each caramel in wax paper, but I'm lazy so I cut the caramel into 1/2" logs, which meant that I had exponentially fewer pieces to individually wrap. Store in an airtight container or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, but I can guarantee that they won't last that long. These things are delicious!

Shortbread Walnut Sandwich Cookies

2010-12-21T10:15:00.000-08:00

I can't help it, I must bake for the holidays. It's in my DNA. In fact, if you looked at my DNA string, I'll guarantee you that there will be ladders of links to recipes and tiny sticks of butter connecting them twirling about. I've tried to keep the craziness to a minimum. There are no "regulars", no white chocolate cranberry cookies, no toffee (I'm sorry family, tough noogies). I'm only making time for the new stuff, the stuff that's exciting and interesting to experiment with. But believe me, this cookie is a keeper.

I bought these little molds from King Arthur Flour ages ago, and I'm now glad that I did, because it looks like they don't carry them anymore. The closest thing they have now is this, but it's not the same. I found them when I was reorganizing my kitchen last weekend and I set them out, determined to make use of them. A few days ago I said to myself, if I have everything needed to make these, if I don't have to make a grocery store run, these will get made, if not, back in the drawer they go. Lucky for you the recipe, which I also got from KAF, is the simplest thing in the world. Butter? check. Walnuts? check. A little bit of time had to be invested, just because you need to fill each mold individually, but I put on some reruns and got into the rhythm of it. Very therapeutic.

The cookies are tender, buttery, with a wonderful toasted walnut flavor. I didn't use KAF's filling recipe, going with a Nutella spiked ganache instead, but the chocolate filling is really only there to keep the two walnut halves together and to accentuate the walnut flavor, so it doesn't really matter which way you go. I've made this recipe twice now and trust me, it's totally worth it.

Shortbread Walnut Sandwich Cookies
adapted from KAF
The recipe they listed didn't make nearly as many cookies as they said it should have. Maybe I was overly generous when filling the molds, but they came out great, so I'd recommend doubling the recipe, like I did here.

1 cup soft butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup very finely chopped walnuts

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup Nutella

- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Get out your molds or a mini madeleine pan; there's no need to grease anything.
- Beat the soft butter, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla until fluffy.
- Stir in the flour, cornstarch, and nuts. Just use a spoon or a sturdy spatula. It comes together quickly and you won't end up covered in flour like you would be if you tried using the mixer. Trust me.
- Shape the dough into a rectangle or square, wrap it in saran wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut the block of dough into squares a bit smaller then 1/2 inch thick. You don't have to, and you may need to adjust the square size, but for me, this made filling the molds faster then pulling off pieces and trying to keep things uniform.
- Press 1 teaspoonful, or a pre-cut square, of chilled dough into the bottom and up the sides of each well in the pan.
- Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, until they're browned around the edges. Cool for a few minutes, then push on the thick edge of each cookie to pop it out of the pan. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- While the cookies are cooling, chop your chocolate into small pieces and put into a medium sized bowl.
- Combine the cream butter and honey in a small pot over high heat and stir until the butter has melted and the mixture comes just barely to a simmer, then pour the whole thing over the chocolate.
- Let the chocolate sit for a few minutes and then stir or whisk the mixture until it's uniform, smooth and yummy looking. Add the Nutella and whisk again to completely incorporate.
- Allow the ganache to sit at room temp for a little while to firm up, then spoon some into a piping bag and pipe a little less then a teaspoonful into half the cookies. Let them sit for a few minutes to partially set up, then sandwich a filled half with an unfilled one. Eat. Repeat.

Pretty Teacup for Teatime

2010-12-17T11:42:00.000-08:00

Normally, I'm not a big fan of working from home. I know that's weird, but I actually like getting dressed, heading out in the cold, and interacting with coworkers face to face. But when I have to log in at 7am, and I have the option to sleep through the commute time and just roll out of bed, I'm going with the fuzzy robe and slippers routine. While it's too quiet and I'm working straight through lunch, I do get to drink fancy shmancy tea in my pretty tea cups, and that almost makes up for things.

This is blueberry tea I bought a long long time ago, and while I haven't started baking cookies yet, I make sure to always keep little chocolates at home, just for these occasions.

So in this hectic time of work, holiday shopping, cookie baking, and decoration frenzy, I urge you to take 5 minutes, pour yourself a cup of your favorite tea in the prettiest cup you own, find a cookie or a little treat, and just relax. Just for 5 minutes. Check out this link. Then you can go and wrap the neighborhood in garlands or cover the driveway with tinsel if you like.

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

2010-12-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

Amidst all the jolly, bright and shiny posts I'm seeing all over the blogosphere these days, I can help but feel a bit like a Grinch. Or rather to be more accurate, like a lump of coal. I really want to like the holidays, I really really do. I love everything about them. The over the top decorations, the carefully wrapped presents, the flurry of warm cookies and hot cocoa. But the best part is that you see all your friends and family, even the ones you haven't seen or heard from in months. Unfortunately, due to the nature of my job, it's also the time of the year when I become a hermit (hence my absence from this blog). The hours are longer and the days are more hectic and I've been trying to get everything in my neglected home back to order during what little spare time I can squeak out of my day. The sun sets almost as soon as it rises so some days I feel like I truly am living in a cave somewhere in the farthest reaches of Siberia. Have you ever felt exhausted even though you've been sitting at a desk all day? That's essentially where I am right now.

I finally got away for a quick dinner with two of my closest friends last night and it was such a great feeling to just sit and chat for a little while without a todo list or somewhere I have to run to next. I want more of that. I want people to drop by for a few minutes and chat over a cup of tea. I want to go outside and make a snowman, or just go for a walk and look at lights. And I want more energy to bake. I keep bookmarking all these recipes and wishing I had the time or the will to try them.

That's not to say that I haven't been baking. I mean what is sleep, after all? No one really needs it, right? So while I don't have festive holiday cookie exchange recipes for you today, I do have these amazingly quick and incredibly easy cupcakes. They have orange zest in them, so they're totally festive. I promise.

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
Cake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart and frosting is adapted from Whipped

Cake:

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup orange juice*
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange*

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, orange juice, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and zest, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Just use a whisk or a spoon and give your KitchenAid a rest this one time. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.

2. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 18 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely and revel in the fact that you've only really dirtied one bowl and one whisk. Yay for easy cleanup!

Frosting:

24 ounces high-quality milk chocolate (I used Valrhona), chopped
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
zest of 2 oranges *

Place chocolate in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Add butter and stir until melted, then add sour cream, corn syrup and zest, and whisk until smooth. Let frosting stand at room temperature until thick enough to spread, about 20 minutes. You can also nuke the chocolate in the microwave in 20 second intervals, until it's melted and warm, and save yourself a few extra dishes you won't have to wash. Guess which version I went with?

Frost the cooled cupcakes and enjoy. They're actually better if you keep them in the fridge and serve the next day. The orange flavor permeates the cake and frosting giving both a more pronounced flavor. Just make sure you let them come to back to room temp before eating.

* If you just zest 3 oranges and split the zest between the cake and the frosting, you can squeeze out the oranges and use the juice. It should be enough to make the cake and you won't end up with naked albino oranges getting crusty and neglected on your counter.

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

2010-11-23T23:10:00.000-08:00

I want there to be 30 hours in a day, even if it's just to get a full night's sleep. And while I'm excited about hosting Thanksgiving, you know what I think my favorite part of the night will be? It'll be the cup of coffee at the end. Believe me, it'll be a cup well earned.

I always start out planning a modest dinner, after all, my family is small, but one thing leads to another, one blog post with amazing pictures and recipes leads to more and more items on my must try list. Before I know it, I'm planning three main entrees and at least a half dozen side dishes, not including soup and salad and a dessert or two. The big day will still be days away and you'll find me huddled in a pile of cookbooks rocking back and forth mumbling something about time and only one oven. Inevitably on the big day something will be forgotten or I will simply run out of time and scrap a dish or two, but there will still be a ton of food on the table and not a single person will walk away hungry, and I know that, but I still can't help scheming and planning.

The point of this is that while I'd love to share with you my Thanksgiving recipes, I still haven't quite decided what I'll be making and I try not to repeat dishes from year to year. So the recipes for the dishes I'll make won't really go up here until after the big day, right about the time when even the sight of turkey will have you running for the hills. And yet I feel like I need to contribute something to your menu plans, and so I give you these: Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes.

I won't take the credit for the idea, it wasn't mine. I was inspired by this post from Cupcake Project, and while I didn't use her recipes, the spark, that bit of genius, was entirely hers.

The first thing you'll need to do is go here and make this pumpkin pie, sans crust. Just pour the mess into a pie dish and bake as instructed. Go on, I'll wait. This, by the way, is my all time favorite pumpkin pie recipe. It has the perfect blend of spices and the dark rum adds just the right kick. I usually add a dash of nutmeg and cardamom to round things out too, but other then the one time I accidentally doubled the amount of rum, I make it as is. As a side note, the double rum version took a bit longer to bake, but tasted amazing, even if it was fantastically boozy. Once the pie is baked, let it cool completely, or even toss it into the fridge overnight.

Next you'll want to bake the pumpkin cupcakes. For this I went with the best source there is, Martha Stewart. Believe me when I tell you that these cupcakes are to die for. They bake up with those perfect little mounds on top and are amazingly moist. I added a few of the pumpkin pie spices to the cupcakes too, so that they match up to the "frosting" a bit better, otherwise I used this recipe as is as well. These days I have too many things going on to try and experiment or innovate, so I just went with what I know would work.

Once the cupcakes are cool, whisk the cooled pumpkin pie filling from before a bit to make sure the mix is uniform, scoop into a pastry bag fitted with your favorite tip, and pipe on top of the cupcakes. Feel free to squirt some filling directly into your mouth, it's kind of like a no-carb slice of pie. Plus a pumpkin is a vegetable, so that makes it healthy, right?

Place a perfect pecan half on top and marvel at your creation. Thanksgiving dessert in a cupcake! Something to be thankful for, no?

NY and Momofuku

2010-11-15T22:09:00.000-08:00

You know what has been the single most ubiquitous cookbook in my world for over a year now? Momofuku. I have seen the sneaky peach from that book's cover peek at me from shelves at numerous book stores, from the counters of a dozen different food stands and restaurants, and list upon list of this year's best cookbooks in magazines and blogs all over. That peach is literally everywhere, but unfortunately, the restaurant is in NY and I'm in Chicago. I was talking to my friend Joy a few weeks ago when the book popped up prominently displayed right by the register of Saigon Sisters inside the French Market, and her exasperated response was: "Momofuku! Momofuku! I'll give YOU Momofuku!" There may have been some swear words in there too, but I like to keep my blog PC. I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself here, let's start at the beginning.

Last weekend, the opportunity to go to NY for a family friend's wedding came up, and this being our first visit to the Big Apple, my sister and I decided to pack as much as was humanly possible into our two short days there. We ran through Times Square, packed with tourists and giant billboards all lit up. The Naked Cowboy was nowhere to be seen, but then it was kinda chilly.

We did make a brief impression on the city via a live video cam on top of Forever 21. Just look for the goof doing the funky dance and me taking her picture:

My sister barely survived an attempt on her life by the Cookie Monster. I'm telling you, that guy is vicious. He probably thought she had a cookie in her pocket:

We zoomed past Rockefeller Center where my sister pretended she was a cast member from 30 Rock, past the giant Lego store, taking a short detour to split a Rockette Red Velvet cupcake and a glass of milk at Magnolia's:

We made a point of grabbing a couple of hot dogs from a street vendor as well as a bag of piping hot roasted chestnuts, singing "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" at the top of our lungs (no one paid us any attention):

We popped into MoMA for a bit of culture, and stayed long enough to become part of the art:

I mean really, what ARE those black canvases supposed to say?

And in a completely sober moment, I kissed a goat. That's right. There's proof and everything.

We drooled over the dozens of amazing shops at Chelsea Market. I'm telling you, I wanted to buy a tent and a sleeping bag and move in there permanently. A dozen bakeries I'm sure you've all heard about were represented, including Fat Witch Brownies and Jacques Torres Chocolates. There was also a small but extremely packed shop called Buon Italia which had row after row of amazing european sundries, including this ginormous jar of Nutella that my sister wanted to smuggle back home and dedicate the rest of her life trying to slowly consume:

My sister's friend met up with us at Buddakan in Chelsea for dinner and while I don't have pictures of the food, I have to say that stopping there is an absolute must. Pop into this gorgeous place, order up a glass of Fate (a lovely cocktail with St. Germain liquor, pineapple juice and a splash of Prosecco), and pull up the menu. The tuna tartare spring roll was a crispy shell that gave way to delicate tuna flesh, lightly soaked in ponzu sauce. The roast duck noodles and the Asian stir fry were pretty good, but the Glazed Alaskan Black Cod was the softest and most delicious piece of fish I've ever had. We finished things off with another round of drinks and the Honey Jasmine Cheesecake, which was almost mousse-like, but if you pile a bit of the moscato sorbet and carmelized pears on a bit of cake and stuff the whole thing in your mouth, the combination of textures and flavors taste just like fall. The interior was dark and elegant, so I couldn't get very many pictures, but if I find myself back in NY, I'll definitely be back for more.

We ended the first day (yeah, that's all day one) with Avenue Q. The muppets were unexpected, neither of us knew what to expect, but we laughed nonstop from the time the curtains opened till the last of the actors were taking their bows. Amazing show, but not exactly kid friendly. Let's just say that muppet porn was an unexpected element and leave it at that.

The next day, we took our breakfast to go and spent the morning running randomly down trail after trail in our attempt to cover the southern half of Central Park. Did you know there was a castle in the middle there?

This beautiful bridge has been featured in countless different romantic comedies set in NY so it was fun to walk across and pose for pictures on it:

Skimming around the outskirts of the Central Park zoo, we were lured by the smells coming from this Belgian Waffle vendor:

Do you remember this spread I told you all to run out and get a few months ago? Well, they had it, and spread over their freshly baked yeasted waffles, or Dinges as they called them, it was amazing. Lucky dinges indeed.

Taking a quick jaunt through FAO Schwartz, past the Toy soldier made out of jelly bellys, past bin after bin of various candies, past a whole department full of muppets, and the famous giant piano, we headed south to Ssam Bar, Momofuku.

Finally, I was going to see what all the fuss is about. We settled at the bar and right in front of us, nestled next to the row of wine glasses was "the book", as if it's been waiting for us to join it for lunch all along.

All the talk and all the hype was definitely not for nothing. The meal was fantastic and this time I made sure to take pictures of everything. We started with a pair of mattaki oysters. I'm a huge huge huge oyster fan and these didn't disappoint. They arrived inside of a bowl of ice and tasted fresh and salty like the ocean. The cranberry halves were interesting, but I could have done without them.

Next up were the hot open faced steamed pork buns. Each bun was soft and fluffy and brimming with tender pork slices that practically melted in my mouth. If I didn't have more food coming I would have definitely asked for seconds.

My sister ordered the cotechino, which is a spicy sausage served with maitake mushrooms, tiny buttery brussel sprouts (which were almost good enough for me to start liking brussel sprouts...almost), and a green apple puree for a tart contrast. Each element complimented the others and we scraped that bowl clean with our forks, wishing we had some bread to mop up the juices.

The roasted blackfish that I ordered was very good as well, but we were already slightly jaded by the cod we had at Buddakan the night before. Nonetheless, the soft sweet fish paired with tiny cubes of squash and peekytoe crab was delicious.

At this point we were full and toying with the idea of skipping dessert, but in the end we decided that since we were finally there we may as well go all out and picked the light sounding apricot sorbet. It was very light and not too sweet, which is something I love in desserts. The crunch shortbread cookie, sage mousse and a tart tapioca provided a variety of textures and we kept trying to build spoonfuls with all the components until the plate was scraped clean.

The rest of the trip made me happy to be a Chicagoan and I'll skip the drama, but I'm glad I was able to finally taste the wonder that is Momofuku and if I ever find myself in this great city again, I'll make sure to spend more time in Chelsea...I may need to bring an extra suitcase for all the loot I'm already planning to acquire.

Apple Pie Caramel Apples

2010-11-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like I'm really missing out on something. The whole world, it seems, is full of people dreaming lush complicated, strange, and insightful dreams every night, but most nights when I finally sink into my pillows, it's like the light switch is flipped and no one bothers to come back and switch it back on until the alarm jars me awake in the morning.

Every once in a while, on those rare mornings when I can sleep in a little, I'll wake up with the vague feeling of having interrupted someone who was telling me a story. A complicated one, with many plot twists. And I'll wake up wanting to stay in bed, if only to find out how things ended, but finding the threads of the dream unwinding and disappearing even as I desperately clutch at them, trying to weave them back. I'll pretend that I never woke up, lying to myself and hoping that if I can really fool my brain, the story reel will sputter back to life and play till the end. It never works, and by the time I've washed my face and brushed my teeth, I can't even remember what I was dreaming about in the first place.

It's strange, but it's only when I'm sick (or sleeping off a night of drinking, to be completely honest) that I end up remembering my dreams. Probably because I don't sleep as deeply when plagued with coughing fits or when my head is throbbing. But if I do remember them, I remember them forever.

There are a few regulars that replay in my head like a worn movie, with only minor variations, like puzzles that I try to solve in different ways, but without seeing the big picture, the great plan, I always get the same results. There is the occasional "why didn't I put on my pants before I left the house this morning?" dream that everyone gets. But once every few years I'll get a completely new dream. One that is strange and disturbs me on a whole new, previously unimaginable, level. And then I'm thankful for missing out in the first place.

I ran across this post over at How Does She, and white chocolate and caramel enrobed apples sprinkled with cinnamon sugar looked so beautiful and sounded so dreamy that I had to give them a try. Plus, I got to pose them with one of my favorite tea cups. It's pearly white and delicate, with golden spider webs and spiders that manage to look elegant and not creepy. In the middle of the saucer is a spider who just finished spinning the name Hazel into the center. While I don't know who she was, I can dream up quite a character for what she might have been like, and I think she and I would have gotten along quite nicely.

I didn't really follow the recipe on that site, just used the idea, and the apples came out great. I'm still looking for that perfect caramel recipe though, so until I'm happy, I'll just tell you to head over there and give her recipe a try. It looks and tastes just like an apple pie. Yummy.

Halloween Cupcake Contest and Tiramisu Cupcakes

2010-10-29T23:33:00.000-07:00

Recently I've made the decision to say "yes" more often, within a reason of course, so now I'm making an effort to not count myself out and to throw my hat into every ring. But you see, my hat doesn't yet belong in every ring. Sometimes my hat is more like a fez, perfectly awesome, but doesn't necessarily belong alongside a dozen fedoras. But life is one big lesson, right? And it's exactly why I had to send in my entry into last weekend's cupcake contest, despite actually being very good at cupcake decorations. Sure I can make pretty swirls and toss in some sprinkles, I've even gotten pretty good at piping roses, but I'm still leery of anything to do with fondant, which limits what I can do, but not necessarily what I think I can do.

The contest was hosted by the French Pastry School in Chicago, and the criteria stipulated that we had to expand on a pound cake recipe for our cupcakes. I set out with a great idea: I was going to make tiramisu inspired cupcakes. I did a lot of research, tried a few things, added my favorite tiramisu cream and let me tell you, the flavor, texture, everything tasted fantastic. But then it came time to decorate and all my attempts fell short. I made a batch of chocolate marshmallow fondant and tried to shape it into trees...it didn't work. Then I tried to make tomb stones...they kept drooping. And finally I decided to just make mummies. I pulled out a face mold, and a piping bag and came up with something fairly decent, or so I thought. They're mostly grading on taste anyways. Right? Well, no backing out now.

Wow. When I showed up and people started putting their cupcakes up on the display table, I was almost ready to pack up and go back home. No way were my cupcakes good enough to compete. But I was there already, and my parents were coming to support me, so I stuck it out and spent the next two hours biting my nails and drooling over all the other entries:

Just look at this detail:

That green stuff is melted sugar, how cool is that:

This one actually ended up being one of the runners up:

Aren't those roses cute:

This was just awesome. It's an axe and a severed hand on a tree stump...all edible:

I thought these were fun. I don't know the flavor, but this would be fun for an oreo or a cookies and cream theme, don't you think?

The tables were right in the middle of a mall and both kids and adults passed by pointing out their favorites. This mademoiselle couldn't tear herself away until she went through all of them, and picked out the ones she liked best. Isn't she adorable? I want that coat in my size.

I thought these were the coolest looking ones out of all of them. Would you believe they didn't even place? I guess the taste didn't measure up, but come on, don't they just look awesome?

And this was the grand prize winner. I'm waiting for them to post the recipe, I'm really curious to see what was so special here, just looks like a chocolate cupcake to me. (I may also be a sore loser...maybe)

Yeah....these were mine and no, they didn't win. Please please please don't make any creepy bundled baby jokes, I know. My friends told me all of them. I can tell you though that despite the looks, they tasted awesome, so I'm including the recipe, should you want to try making them yourself...sans "mummy" of course.

Chocolate Tiramisu Cupcake

3 tsp. instant espresso powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. hot water
2 and 3/4 cups unsifted All-Purpose flour, King Arthur
1/4 cup unsifted cake flour
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. Dutch processed cocoa
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 lb. unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, large
1 cup sour cream, thick style
2 Tbsp. heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare two cupcake pans with liners.
Stir together the espresso powder, vanilla extract, and hot water in a very small bowl.

Onto a large sheet of parchment or wax paper, sift together the flour, cake flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium size bowl, toss the chocolate pieces with about 1 Tbsp. of this flour mixture. Set both aside.

In the large bowl of your mixer, cream the butter on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl.
Pour in the granulated sugar in 3 additions, mixing for about 1 minute after each addition. Scrape the bowl frequently to ensure even mixing. Add in all of the brown sugar and beat for 1 more minute. Scrape again.

One at a time, add in the eggs, beating for 45 seconds after each one. Scrape!
Blend in the espresso mixture.

On low speed, add in the sifted ingredients alternately with the sour cream (3 additions of flour and 2 additions of the sour cream). Scrape after each addition. Blend in the heavy cream.
Fill cups ¾ full and bake for 30 min.
Once cupcakes are cool, cut a cone shape out of each one. Slice the cap off of the cone and set aside the rest in a bowl. Fill with tiramisu filling and replace the cap on each cupcake. Crumble the cake bits into crumbs.
Dip each cupcake in slightly warm ganache and sprinkle cake bits on top. Put a fondant mummy head on top, pipe the body out of ganache and add mummy wrappings with the fortified cream cheese/tiramisu frosting.

Tiramisu filling and Cream Cheese Frosting

3 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1 (8-oz) container mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
1 8oz package cream cheese

Beat together yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Beat in mascarpone until just combined.

Beat whites with a pinch of salt in another bowl with cleaned beaters until they just hold soft peaks.

Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating, then continue to beat whites until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat cream in another bowl with cleaned beaters until it just holds soft peaks. Fold cream into mascarpone mixture gently but thoroughly, then fold in whites.

Once the mixture has been used to fill the cupcakes, whip the cream cheese until soft in a separate bowl, add in whatever is left over of the tiramisu filling and whip together. This will give you a stiffer frosting to pipe the mummy shapes with.

Ganache

8oz dark chocolate, chopped
½ cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp instant espresso powder
¼ cup honey

Put chocolate into a bowl and combine the rest of the ingredients in a small pot set over high heat. Stir until honey is incorporated, butter has melted, and just until the first bubbles appear around the edges. Pour over chocolate, let sit for 2 minutes and then whisk together until well blended.

Shape mummy heads out of the fondant and let dry overnight. Or leave them off entirely...yeah, much better to just leave them off.

A Winner and a Loser

2010-10-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, thank you all for coming by and leaving me such great comments and ideas on what to do with my dutch oven. Lots of curries, I'll definitely have to give one a try. While I wish I could give each and every one of you something, I only have one GC to give, and according to Random.org, that goes to Anita:

Anita, congratulations! It doesn't look like you left any way for me to get a hold of you though, so please email me at blondiescakes at gmail dot come right away and I'll send you your GC code. If I don't get a reply in a week, I'll have to pick someone else, so please please come back for your winnings :D

As for me, well, I'm the loser in this episode. Wanna guess where I am this week and why it took me so long to post this? I'll give you a hint:

And:

And a whole lot of:

No idea? Here a few more clues and I'm sure you'll get it:

I'm spending a few days in Vegas for work and already I've gambled away the few bucks I made on my last cupcake order. I may have even learned a lesson about gambling...or something. Anyhow, that's all I have for you today. Since I haven't been home in almost two weeks, there's not much in terms of recipes that I have ready to share with you, but thank you for stopping by...I'll put a fiver on black 27 for you ;)

Chocolate and Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

2010-10-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

My sister's coworker and friend, Alecia, is one of those crazy, super awesome, totally inspiring marathon runners and she'll be running in the huge Chicago 10/10/10 marathon tomorrow. It's over 20 miles long, goes through several neighborhoods around the city and will draw over a million spectators in addition to the runners, so once you're in it, a million people will see you if you stop. As her "I did it!" treat, she asked for cupcakes, and not just any cupcakes. She wanted chocolate, dulce de leche, and crunch, so after a bit of going back and forth, I came up with this:

It's a chocolate snack cake filled with creamy dulce de leche covered with a dark chocolate and whipped honey ganache frosting and topped with an almond praline shard and a sprinkle of black Hawaiian salt to cut through all the sweetness and deepen the chocolate flavor. And if anyone recognizes the colors of the box, it's from Victoria's Secret. This box has really gotten around! It's pretty, the perfect size for giving blankets, carrying birthday cakes, and to store exactly 25 cupcakes. I really hope she likes how it came out. Good luck Alecia!

Also, a quick reminder, enter the giveaway before midnight tonight for your chance to get something really cool from CSN Stores with the $45 GC that's being given away. Good luck!

Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes
Recipe from The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz
Makes 12 individual cakes

I'm including the snack cake recipe because it was the only new recipe I had tried, the frosting and the filling were variations of things I'd done in the past and I like how desserts can be a culmination of various different components that all start from the simple and can be built up as high as you like. This is the base, the level you take it to is up to you.

7 ounces (200g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (125ml) unflavored vegetable oil, divided
1/2 cup (125ml) plain, whole-milk yogurt
1 cup (200g) sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups (180g) flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with 12 indentations with paper cupcake liners, or lightly butter them.
2. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup (60ml) of the oil. Once melted and smooth, remove from heat.
3. In another bowl, mix together the remaining 1/4 cup (65ml) of oil with the yogurt, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and almond extracts.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the yogurt mixture. Stir lightly a couple of time, then add the melted chocolate, and stir until just smooth.
5. Divide the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until they feel barely set in the middle.
6. Remove from oven and cool before serving.

Pork Shoulder Braised in Cider and a Giveaway

2010-10-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

There is quite a bit going on, so this will be an event filled post to make up for the short downtime around here. There's an update on the blogging challenge, dutch ovens have finally found a purpose in my kitchen, and there's an awesome giveaway too!

First things first: I'm sorry guys, but it looks like I didn't make it very far in the FoodBuzz Blogging contest, but it was definitely a lot of fun trying and I have discovered a lot of great blogs through this challenge. Plus it was really great to see all my friends supporting me. Thanks guys! I may not have gone all the way, but if I promised you a cookie, you'll get it. A promise is a promise :D

Next up is the contest! The nice folks over the amazingly-all-inclusive CSN Stores have contacted me about hosting a giveaway for a $45 gift card good at any of their stores, and by George do they cover everything your little heart could desire! Right now though is the perfect time and weather for slow cooking and to get you to the dutch oven of your dreams, the instructions on how to enter can be found at the end of this post.

This past weekend I got together with a friend and her family and we went to a pumpkin patch and apple orchard, just a short drive away from their house. As a treat I thought I'd make pulled pork sandwiches. I bought my dutch oven a month ago and while I would have LOVED to get my hands on a lovely Le Creuset, I just don't have that kind of cash and I didn't have your advantage of the gift card, but it was still the perfect thing for making a moist, flavorful pork shoulder that basically fell apart without any work at all. Infused with apple cider and caramelized onions, it barely needed any dressing up:

We piled it on top of Hawaiian bread buns and topped it off with some BBQ sauce, but Joys daughter preferred to just steal the meat from her mom's sandwich instead. Followed by a fried pound cake topped with honeyed mascarpone and blueberries that Joy whipped up, it made for a yummy dinner.

And now back to the contest. There are two ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite dutch oven recipe. I just started experimenting so I need your ideas :D
2. Become a follower of my blog and leave a comment telling me that you are.

~~Voting will close at midnight CST this Saturday(10/9)~~.

The giveaway is now closed. I will tally up the entries and post the winner in the next day or two. Thank you everyone who participated!

That's it, easy, right? I wish you all luck and I can't wait to see your ideas.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, this giveaway is only for US readers. I'm sorry but that was their restriction, though I might do something later to include everyone so you don't feel left out.

Oh yeah, let's not forget about that recipe!

Cider-Braised Pork Shoulder with Caramelized Onions
From Gourmet, December 2001

1 (3- to 4-lb) bone-in fresh pork shoulder half
2 garlic cloves, cut into slivers
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lb onions (5 or 6 medium), halved lengthwise, then cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
3/4 cup unfiltered apple cider

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Score fat and any skin on pork in a crosshatch pattern. Make slits all over meat with a small sharp knife and insert a garlic sliver in each slit. Pat pork dry and season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a 4 to 5 quart ovenproof heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown meat on all sides, turning occasionally with the aid of tongs and a carving fork, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to a plate.

Add onions to pot and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden and caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes more.

Stir in cider and return pork to pot. Cover pot with a tight-fitting lid (I also put a sheet of foil between the lid and the pot for an extra sealed fit) and braise pork in middle of oven until very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I turned the pork every half hour to make sure that it was cooked evenly, but that wasn't in the instructions, so you could probably skip that step.

Transfer pork to a serving dish with the aid of tongs and carving fork. Boil cooking juices with onions until mixture is reduced to about 2 cups, 2 to 3 minutes, then season with salt and pepper and serve with pork.

Ukrainian Honey Cake

2010-09-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

Every couple of months I'll roll up my sleeves and step into the kitchen and try to recreate the Ukrainian honey cake recipe from my mothers childhood that she still talks about. It's hard because I don't know what it's supposed to taste like and all my mom recalls is that it had strong coffee in the recipe, so I'll putter around, trying out different proportions, adding a spice here and there, hoping I'll come close. I'll wrap it up and take it to my parent's house, make a pot of tea and hold my breath as my mom tries a slice. So far I've come close, and I've gotten some good recipes in place, but the perfect one still alludes me.

Round two of the FoodBuzz Challenge is to write about a classic dish, and there's nothing more classic then a slice of honey cake and a cup of tea with maybe a spoonful of jam to sweeten things up a bit more. So here's my hat in the ring once again and hopefully this time it will also trigger a memory and recover a lost recipe. Wish me luck and don't forget to vote :D

Ukrainian Honey Cake
my recipe...for now

1.5 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup strong coffee
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Icing:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift flour, soda, baking powder, spices, and salt together into a bowl. Whip the eggs until thick and light, about 5 minutes, gradually adding the sugar. Beat in honey, coffee, and oil. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low until combined. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake ~ 30min, until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes and unmold.

Mix together all the icing ingredients until it forms a thin paste and drizzle over the cake to give it that honey tea with lemon flavor.

Cross your fingers and hope you got it right this time :D

Blue Moon spiked Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream

2010-09-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

You know the days when about halfway through you know that you would have been better off not leaving the house, or your bed for that matter? I'm having that kind of a week. I have a wedding cake order for this Saturday and being the good and responsible person that I am (HA!) I've broken it down into steps so that I can tackle it after work and not end up staying up all night to finish it at the last minute...which is basically what I've done every other time. Monday I made a list and went grocery shopping, so far so good. On Tuesday I cleaned and organized the kitchen, did all the laundry (may not be directly relevant, but still needed to be done), and settled in at the dining room table to watch a movie and make the sugar decorations for the cake. About halfway through the movie I got that prickly goosebumpy feeling on the back of my neck. There's a wonderful short story in Joanne Harris's "Jigs & Reels" about a woman who discovers that whenever she cooks from the cookbook her mother-in-law gave her, her kitchen becomes possessed. The more complicated the recipe, the more severe the effect. Well, it felt very much like that story. All the lights in the dining room and the adjoining kitchen got really really bright, like they were about to explode, and just as I moved out from under the chandelier to avoid the inevitable shattered light bulbs, all the lights got really really dim. Then they started flickering. By now my imagination started getting a little out of hand as my mind began spinning through the vast catalog of horror films I've seen in my lifetime and I became aware of quiet swearing coming from the kitchen. Then there was a loud pop and everything got back to normal.

Now I should probably tell you that while I like watching horror films, while Halloween is my favorite holiday, and while my sense of humor does sometimes lean towards the morbid...I'm extremely "uncomfortable" in realistically supernatural situations. Or the dark. I don't like the dark. I feel I'm perfectly justified in that though since I grew up in Russia and they don't exactly sugar-coat or Disneyfy the children's bed time stories. There are always wolves and monsters under the bed that will eat your feet if they're not properly tucked in, and I hate having my feet tucked in. There are creepy nursery rhymes that are always sung in low deep and scary voices that replay in your mind and haunt you as you close your eyes and try to fall asleep. And there are furry hats left on the piano that in the dark look like a black cat that's staring at you waiting for you to drop your guard before it will jump and eat you. Okay, that last one may have just been me, but I stayed up all night watching the "cat" making sure it wasn't up to anything and let me tell you, my parent's found a fairly terrified and sleep deprived toddler the next morning.

So to relieve the tension and bring my nerves back to normal, I did what most people do in this day and age: I updated my facebook status. Yep. Said something about how my upstairs neighbors are trying to create their very own Frankenstein. And I guess it helped because I was able to settle down, turn the movie back on and finish up my work. But apparently that wasn't it. Yesterday I came home with the daunting task of baking 15 cakes (9 batches) and when I went to defrost the butter in the microwave I noticed that it was dead. Uh oh. The microwave is on the same circuit as the KitchenAid mixer. Crap crap crap crap crap. Fine, I've been meaning to rearrange my tiny cramped kitchen anyways, right? And the middle of the counter is totally the best place for the mixer. So half an hour later I had rearranged (and cleaned under) half of my kitchen appliances, and somehow managed to knock off a corner chunk of my marble top island. Sigh. The rest of the baking went off okay and I now have a fridge full of saran wrapped layers waiting to be filled and frosted. I tell you, days like that require ice cream.

I made this ice cream at the request of one of my friends, who wanted it for her husband's birthday (same party as that Peanut Butter Banana cake I told you about a few days back). We were just bouncing ideas off of each other and this is what I came up with. The base for it is David Lebovitz's Orange Ice Cream, but I adjusted the amounts and added a reduction of a Blue Moon beer. It cake out tasting of an Orange Creamsicle with the beer flavor on the back end. In other words, pretty damn good, and just what was needed to keep the kitchen gremlins at bay.

Blue Moon and Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop
Yields about 1 Quart

2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest of 3 large juice oranges
1 1/4 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (those same 3 oranges)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 bottle of Blue Moon Belgian White beer

1. Pour the beer into a small saucepan and gently simmer over medium heat until reduced down to half a cup, stirring occasionally. Pour into a container and chill completely in the fridge.
2. Pulverize sugar and orange zest in blender or food processor. It will look like moist sand and smell intoxicating.
3. Add orange juice, sour cream, cream, and the beer reduction and blend until the sugar is completely dissolved.
4. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for several hours and then process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

The Hard Questions...and a Monster Cookie

2010-09-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

I just looked and was shocked to see that I have been contributing to this here blog for almost two and a half years. It's funny because it feels like forever and no time at all, both at once. While I'm still not a rock-star churning out Martha Stewart worthy recipes and photos, I am able to say that I'm learning and that over the years this little space of the web has seen a lot of improvement. Though I do NOT encourage you to look that far back at my posts...too scary.

A while ago, when I finally decided to pour more time, love and dedication to this blog, I joined a little community known as FoodBuzz. It was a great place to meet other like-minded cooks and bakers out there, find out what was going on in the foodie world, and get inspired by all the wonderful recipes freely shared among the members. Oh, and maybe earn a few pennies to pay for the few cups of coffee my friends and relatives can't stop me from buying. Apparently I'm not very sane or reasonable when I'm hyped up on caffeine, but this way I can always argue that I earned it.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from FoodBuzz talking about a blogging contest they were organizing for their members, and throwing caution to the wind, I tossed my name into the hat and signed up. Well, the contest is now in full swing (see my little widget on the right?) and the time has come for the very first round, which asks the following question:

What defines you as a food blogger and why should you be the next food blog star?

I believe that the answer to both those questions is curiosity and a willingness to always keep learning. I read cookbooks, food blogs, cooking magazines, and old note cards stained with oil with the same enthusiasm some people devote to fiction. Remember the Harry Potter craze? Like that. I look for ingredients or recipes I haven't seen or tried yet and I can't wait to get into the kitchen and give them a go. In the kitchen, I hover just to the side of not just my mother, but mothers, grandmothers and aunts of all my friends, pestering them with questions and sneaking in a spoon (or if I'm not watched, a finger) into the pot. I love tradition and I love innovation, and I'm always excited when I can meld the two together into something both comforting and new. But most of all I love coming here and sharing what I learned with all of you. In the beginning it was just a place where I could keep track of my own experiments, just meant to be seen by me, but over time I've discovered that I try harder and I write better when I'm trying to share my creations with someone who shares my passion for cooking.

Through my blog I am able to extend a virtual invitation to a new or an old friend to come in, sit down, and chat for a bit over a cup of tea and a treat. I only share the very best recipes I find and through my blog there are no judgments, suggestions and ideas flow freely, adaptations are encouraged, and even when things don't go right there are friendly words of support offered. It would be a wonderful thing to reach out and share my findings with and maybe learn something new from even more people.

So if you like what you see, take a minute and please vote for me via that widget on the right that says FoodBuzz Contest, the one with a picture of me drinking a BOWL of coffee (best day ever!). Voting starts on 9/20, so please come back then. I'm sure I'll have something fun to offer then anyways.

Oh...and since I'm not really above bribery, especially when I know first hand what people are willing to do for cookies, I'd like to share with you my newly discovered, just in time to be perfected for Halloween, favorite cookie ever:

This recipe also comes from Sophistimom's Bake Sale ideas and it was probably the easiest and the most fun cookie I've ever made. Even forming the huge burger-like patties and slapping them onto a cookie sheet was satisfying! And when I finally scraped up the very last of the batter for the last cookie, the chocolate chips sticking out of it looked like eyes. Doesn't it look cute up there with it's head cocked to the side? I think that top cookie is flirting with you, he's saying "please vote for me, won't you?".

And because I still have marshmallows and because I am who I am, I just had to play with it and give my monster some teeth, paws and a cape

Monster Cookies, a.k.a. Eat It Before It Eats You Cookie
via Sophistimom
Note: I would highly recommend you use the scale and weigh everything out instead of using cups. For one, the peanut butter is so much easier to deal with when you just pile it onto a piece of wax paper then trying to coax it into and then out of a cup. And two, um...you can skip the sifting of the flour step if you just weigh it :D

1 cup (100g) sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 cups (480g) quick oats
1 1/2 sticks (172g) butter
2 cups (400g) brown sugar
1 cup (190g) granulated sugar
1 pound (450g) peanut butter
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup (170g) semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and oats. Set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugars together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add in peanut butter and mix until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Add in eggs, one at a time, incorporating well after each addition.
3. Slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture, and mix until well incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in chocolate chips.
4. Use a large ice cream scoop or your hands to form balls of dough the size of a baseball. Place 6 on a cookie sheet, and press down slightly with your hands. Bake for 15 minutes, or until slightly brown around the edges, and not fully set in the middle. I made some of mine a bit bigger and they needed an extra minute, so use your judgment.

They will be puffy when you take them out but they will deflate as they cool. Let them cool a bit on the cookie sheets before you transfer them to a cooling rack or they might break. Stack them up really high with a small slip of wax paper or parchment between each cookie to keep them from sticking to each other. It will look impressive, I promise.

S'More Bars

2010-09-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

The world needs more bake sales. It's a fantastic excuse to bake whatever you want, without any of the calories, because you know...you're not actually eating any of it because it's usually for a good cause and any you eat are the ones you can't sell. So when my friend asked me to help her out I said yes and went on a hunt for the perfect bake sale recipe. Lucky for me, there's a whole week's worth of bake sale goody ideas over at Sophistimom's Blog!

I've already tried lemon bars, and while they were fantastic, I didn't think they'd survive being packaged and stacked, so I picked two other recipes. A cookie recipe that will be going into my "make every chance you get" file that I'll tell you about later, and these bars. They're the easiest thing in the world to throw together, taste fantastic, look lovely, and go great with a cold glass of milk. I think they were a hit too, my friend asked me to make her another batch ;)

s’mores bars
via Sophistimom

10 oz (300g) graham crackers (two cellophane wrapped stacks)
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1 pinch of kosher salt
1 14 ounce can (400g) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups (250g) semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups mini marshmallows

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. In a large resealable bag (or in a food processor), smash graham crackers until finely ground. I should have probably used the food processor, but it was strangely therapeutic to smash the bag of crackers with my fist. I call this "Free Therapy".
2. Stir in melted butter and salt. Press into a 13×9″ pan. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven.
3. Sprinkle on chocolate chips. Drizzle can of condensed milk over graham crackers; follow with marshmallows.
4. Bake for 20 minutes more, until marshmallows are lightly browned. Let cool completely.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

2010-09-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Anna and I'm a hoarder. I am categorically incapable of sticking to grocery lists , I can never remember about the things I already have, and product placement most definitely works with me. I'll go into a store with a strict plan and I'll come out with a bunch of interesting finds without any plans on how to use them. As a second step on the road to recovery (the first was admitting that I have a problem), I am now going through the process of cleaning out my pantry. I made a promise to myself to not buy anything that's not on my very short list of perishables until I can see the back wall of the pantry. It's a daunting task, I've accumulated quite a variety of stuff.

One of these things is a giant jar of peanut butter. For some reason I keep buying it, even though I only occasionally make PB&J sandwiches (I usually lack bread). Well, no more. The peanut butter cake I made recently put a major dent in my supply and I further depleted the inventory by adding a Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream to my repertoire. It has once again been inspired by the ever talented David Lebovitz. I started with his recipe for easy Peanut Butter ice cream, added some melted and cooled chocolate and upped the half and half amount to get the right texture. My ice cream machine has been getting quite a work out this summer and if this keeps up, I might have to invest in a bigger and better machine that does not require duct tape.

I have a few more ideas for the peanut butter, but the next challenge is...what to do with all the crushed pineapple cans?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
adapted from David Lebovitz, The Perfect Scoop

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
3 cups half and half
4 ounces dark chocolate, melted and cooled to room temp
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Purée the peanut butter, sugar, half and half, chocolate, salt, and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. That's it! Easiest recipe ever.

Watermelon Jam

2010-09-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever come across a recipe so unique and intriguing that you just had to run out and get everything you'd need to give it a try? Well, when Stef from Cupcake Project was searching for the best way to get the flavor of watermelon into a cupcake, her friend Marissa from Food in Jars got to work and came up with a watermelon jelly. Watermelon jelly say what? I had to try it. The ingredients were simple, and I always have watermelon within reach during the summer, so I ran home cut one up into chunks and got to work. I followed the recipe to the letter, but even two days later the contents of my jars still resembled more of a runny sauce then a nice thick jam or jelly. I think I got a bit nervous at the smell the jam was taking on and I may have not cooked it as long as I should have.

Once I was sure that it just will not set no matter how long I waited, I reopened all the jars and dumped everything back into the pot. I added a bit more lemon juice to try and cut the sweetness and boost up the pectin, and recooked the mess to 215F again, letting it boil for a bit longer then I was strictly comfortable with, but this time everything came out great! The jam set and I had 7 shiny jars of lovely jelly tasting quite strongly of watermelon. I'm already plotting "I know what you did last summer" desserts to make with it, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that my jam exchange partner will like it too.

Watermelon Jelly
adapted from Food in Jars
makes about 7 eight ounce jars

6 cups pureed watermelon (remove any seeds prior to pureeing)
5 cups white sugar (I think next time I'd add 4 or less)
1/2 cup bottled or fresh lemon juice
1 packet powdered pectin

Combine watermelon puree, sugar and lemon juice in a large, non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil and let it boil vigorously until the temperature of mixture reaches 220 degrees. Add the powdered pectin and boil for another five minutes.

Remove from the heat and pour into clean, sterilized jars. Wipe rims, apply lids and screw on bands. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

When time is up, remove from canner and let jars cool completely, preferably overnight. When they’re cool enough to handle, remove rings and test seals. You can eat immediately or store unopened jars in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Print up some pretty labels (I used the template from here found at this cool site) and start scheming.

The Jam Exchange

2010-09-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Steph over at Steph Chows posted about hosting her second jam exchange, and since I'm waist deep in jars of jam this summer, I thought it'd be fun to participate. A few weeks later I got an email telling me that my partner would be Evan, from Sweete Bakes and I immediately popped over to her blog to take a look around and see what sort of things she might like. I found out that we had a lot in common! We both made boozy blackberry jam, and in our back and forth emails we both agreed that every recipe can be improved by a splash of alcohol. Aside from some fantastic cake and cookie recipes I found over on her blog, I learned that she's also a little crazy like me when it comes to never saying no to a baking opportunity, though she does have me beat on the farthest traveling wedding cake delivery.

Keeping all that in mind, I packed a jar of my Vanilla Bourbon Peach jam and a jar of a secret jam that I'm keeping a surprise until she gets her box, and dropped it in the mail. But she's so much more organized then I am and the very next day I had a box waiting with my mail when I got home. In it was a lovely note and two pretty jars of jam. A lovely blackberry blueberry port jam made with port from a local vineyard and an intriguing three pepper jam. I've been eating the blackberry jam in my pb&j sandwiches since last week and I'm planning to take her suggestion and try the pepper jam with fish, just as soon as this week's craziness dies down a bit. Thank you Evan!

Is it too early to sign up for next years exchange now?

Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

2010-09-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

I love labor day weekend. It's the last long weekend where I can relax before the insanity of the holidays truly kicks in. It's one of the last weekends for BBQs here where the weather is starting to cool. I can finally turn off the AC and fling open the windows. It's the end of summer without quite feeling like the start of fall.

It's also the time when I no longer hesitate to turn on the oven, so I didn't even blink when my friend requested a cake for her husband's birthday, which was this past Sunday. "It must have peanut butter!" she said, and after a few emails back and forth we decided on a banana cake with peanut butter frosting (and a couple of ice creams, of course).

I have two simple recipes for peanut butter frosting, one of which I used a while back for my puppy cupcakes, but the banana cake would take a bit more research. I didn't want it to be as heavy as a banana bread. I wanted it more cakey, so when I found a recipe on Allrecipes with so many fantastic reviews, I thought I'd give it a try.

The cake came out great, and despite all the other food at the party, there was still a considerable dent made in the three layer cake. I even pulled out one of my pretty cake stands. Usually when I sell cakes or make them for parties I won't be attending, I don't want to worry about getting my containers or plates back, so I put the cakes on cardboard rounds and into cardboard boxes, but I have four cake plates that sit unused and unloved, waiting for a cake to be made that doesn't have to leave the house. It was nice to pull one down and give it purpose.

Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
recipe adapted from AllRecipes

Note: I increased the cake recipe to make 3 9-inch layers and I sort of made up the frosting to match, but be aware that this is a very rich cake, so serve a slice with a tall glass of milk.

3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 pinches salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup and 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 eggs
6 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup buttermilk

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 - 9 inch round pans.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the bananas.
- Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed mixture. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting
recipe by me

2 cups peanut butter
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream

Whip together the first 3 ingredients until smooth and a bit lightened. Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream until the frosting comes to the consistency you like. Feel free to add more sugar if you like things sweeter or of you want a bit of a thicker frosting. Spread a thin layer between the layers of the banana cake and use the rest to frost the top and sides.

If you keep the cake in the fridge, be sure to take it out and let come to room temp before serving. Also, if you like chocolate, I would also recommend possibly adding a layer of ganache into the middle of the cake.

Lemon Lime Bars

2010-08-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

I love picnics. They are easy to throw together and always fun. This past weekend I met up with my sister and her friend at Ravinia for a concert. Rodrigo y Gabriela are self taught guitar playing geniuses, mixing classical flamenco music with heavy metal and rock, and the concert was intense. The weather was gorgeous, the stars were out, and the music was beautiful. We set out a blanket and a few chairs, popped a few bottles of wine and settled in. I had picked up a French baguette earlier that day and made salami/pesto/roasted pepper sandwiches and some roasted potatoes, while my sister brought some prosciutto, Brie and crackers. For dessert I brought some grapes and lemon bars.

I've never tried making lemon bars before, but I remembered seeing them over at Technicolor Kitchen, and they looked lovely and perfect for a picnic. Plus I had everything on hand, so that morning I rolled up my sleeves (figuratively speaking...I never buy long sleeve tops so I never actually need to roll anything up) and got to work. They didn't turn out as cute as hers, but they were delicious!

Tangy Lemon Lime Bars
via Technicolor Kitchen

Crust:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour

Topping:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 eggs
finely grated zest of 1 lime and 1 lemon
1/4 cup strained freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
powdered sugar for dusting, optional

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9" baking pan aluminum foil leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Lightly butter the foil.

- In a medium bowl, combine melted butter with sugar, vanilla and salt. Add flour and mix until just incorporated. Press dough evenly over bottom of pan.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until crust is fully baked, well-browned at the edges and golden brown in the center.
- While crust is baking, stir together sugar and flour in the same bowl you used for the crust (why get more dishes dirty?) until well-mixed. Whisk in eggs. Stir in zest and juices.
- When crust is ready, reduce heat to 300°F, slide rack with pan out and pour filling onto hot crust.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer, or until topping no longer jiggles when pan is tapped.
- Remove from oven to a wire rack to cool completely. Lift up foil liner and transfer bars to a cutting board. If surface is covered with a thin layer of moist foam (not unusual), blot surface gently with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture; repeat with a fresh piece of paper towel if necessary.
- Using a long, sharp knife, cut bars into 16 or 24 daintier bars and sift powdered sugar over bars, if desired. Stored in an airtight container, bars can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Today, my sister and I took the leftover bars to my parents house and my mom told us a story. When she was a young college student in Russia, ingredients were very hard to come by. One day she found herself with a bunch of lemons, so she whipped up something very similar to these lemon bars: a simple dessert with a shortbread type crust and a lemon custard topping. She packed it all up and went to visit a friend. Her friend, who was never a great cook and was always broke and therefore hungry, was so incredibly happy and thankful for the sweet treat that she ate most of it right there on the spot. The woman became great friends with my mom, she was the maid of honor at my parent's wedding, and the thoughtful pie gift made such a great impression on her that from that day on whenever my mom would visit her, she'd look expectantly into my mom's hands and ask if there was lemon pie in there somewhere. It is now many many years later, she still lives in Russia, while we've been in the states for almost twenty years, but they still talk once or twice a year. The reason this story came up was that my mom happened to have gotten a call from her friend just that morning, and just a few hours later, lo and behold...lemon bars! What a coincidence! And since she couldn't share the dessert with her friend, my mom ate two pieces: one for herself and one for her friend :)

Blackberry Wine Jam and a Bit of Silliness

2010-08-21T16:34:00.000-07:00

What's that you say? There's been too much jam and not enough booze on this site? Well that's just silly! There was booze in the peach jam, wasn't there? Oh, alright. How about ... more jam with booze! See what I did there? I made me making more jam YOUR idea. I'm sneaky like that.

You see, last weekend I once again braved the great mosquito forest to forage for some berries. Makes me sound kind of like a bear, doesn't it? Moving on. There were no more blueberries left, I guess that season is over around here (boo), but there were still a few raspberries left and great big blackberries just starting to ripen. My friend and I picked a few pints before throwing our hands up in the air and declaring the mosquitoes as the winners of the day yet again. Either that or the "friendly" chicken chased us out. Not sure.

The raspberries went in my tummy, but the blackberries sat in the fridge for a bit. I had thoughts of blackberry peach pies, pretty little tarts and whatnot, but all that requires the use of the oven...and my oven in on summer break. It's too hot. Granted some may argue that making jam isn't exactly "cool" work, but that's neither here nor there, so I made more jam. I was going to make a just-blackberry jam, like this one (aren't those jars adorable?), then I considered one with honey and black pepper, and then I passed a bottle of Pinot Noir as it was trying to sneak out of the house. I grabbed him by the neck, twisted out the cork and poured the contents into a small pot set over a medium flame (minus a glassful for me of course). There'll be no sneaking out of this house!

Do you remember when the movie Chocolat came out many years ago and everyone went crazy over it? The book was being read in every book club. Well, I didn't see the movie or read that book, but I did read every single other book that author has written right then and there. My favorite was Five Quarters of the Orange, but Blackberry Wine came as a very close second and I think that wrapped along with a jar of this jam it would make a lovely gift.

I've also just discovered that I have been neglecting this author and that she's been very busy these past few years churning out book after book. I guess I'll have to catch up :D

Blackberry Wine Jam
by me
Makes about 13 eight ounce jars of jam.
Note: I added a lot of wine, so the flavor is strong. Feel free to cut the amount down to a cup or two (pre-reduction) for a more blackberry then wine sort of a jam. It will still be wonderful.

5 pounds of blackberries, washed and patted dry
5 cups of sugar (a bit more if your berries aren't very sweet)
5 tablespoons of lime juice
1 bottle of a not too pricey Pinot Noir or really any red wine that you like
1 box of no sugar needed pectin

- Thoroughly clean all of your jars before you start. Sterilize setting on the dishwasher is fine, but you can also boil them or wash with hot soapy water and dry in the oven. Whatever you pick, just keep those suckers super clean.
- Unceremoniously dump all the fruit into a large pot, top with sugar, and pour in the lime juice.
- Set a smaller pot on the stove over medium heat, pour yourself a nice full glass of wine (you'll need something to keep you company while the jam is cooking), and dump the rest into the smaller pot. Simmer until it has reduced to about a third of it's original volume and don't forget to occasionally give it a stir.
- Back to the big pot. Light the fire under it on high and then smash, mash, blend and basically abuse the mixture inside until it gets to the consistency you like. I like mine smoother so I brought out my immersion blender again and brrrrrrr'd the whole thing.
- Stir this often and once it reaches a full boil, stand very close to it (it could boil over if you don't pay attention) and stir stir stir for about 10 min. By now your wine should be nice and reduced, so go ahead and add it to the fruit.
- Dump in the pack of pectin and keep stirring to incorporate. Cook for 2 minutes and then take off the heat.
- Ladle the hot jam into jars, seal and then process in a water bath for 10 min. You should hear most of the jars popping on the counter as they cool, but if the next day there's any that didn't seal, just put it into the fridge and enjoy it over a cup of tea, a good book, and a hot english muffin...of whatever variety you choose ;)

And for those of you who actually read this far, this is what happens when you're trying to take pictures in a tiny kitchen and happen to not possess a single ounce of balance or grace and happen to bump your entire set with your deriere and knock the precariously balanced toast with jam...right into the steaming cup of tea. Makes for a tasty, if somewhat soggy, snack for that very same graceless so-and-so.

Disclaimer: I am sick and this post was written while under the influence of cold medicine and after several hours of surfing from one children's book illustrator's blog to another. I'm feeling all sorts of loopy and whimsical.

Vanilla Bourbon Peach Jam

2010-08-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

You guys are going to get sick and tired of me and my jam, but I can't help it. Each time the jars cooling on the counter pop, letting me know they're sealed tight for the long haul, my heart skips with joy. Soon there won't be enough toast to support all these jars, but that's why there are friends and holidays and random gifts.

Steph over at Steph Chows is hosting a little jam exchange program. There are still a few days before I know who my exchange partner will be, but in anticipation, I couldn't help but look at all of last years traveling jam jars. While a lot of them looked yummy, one in particular stood out and I saved it to make "in the distant future". Well, welcome to the future.

With peach season just starting, there are tons and tons of pretty peaches overflowing at fruit stands everywhere at extremely cheap prices. I got about 6 pounds for under $3, pulled up the recipe and got to work on Bean Town Baker's Vanilla Peach Bourbon Jam. Can I just tell you how much I love no sugar needed pectin? The first few jams I attempted were done without any commercial pectin, relying on the fruit and the sugar to set properly, and while it came out good, I was always worried that I'd end up with sauce instead of jam. And the one raspberry jam recipe that I tried to make without pectin came out good, but too sweet for me. This magical box gives me full control over the sweetness of the jam, all while more or less guaranteeing me the perfect set. How great is that?

My peaches were on the firmer side, so mashing them with a potato masher was sort of out of the question, plus I wanted a smoother consistency anyways, so I mixed the fruit with the sugar and lime juice, pulled out what is becoming one of my favorite kitchen tools, my immersion blender, and whipped the suckers into a coarse pulpy consistency. Once the mixture started getting hot, I dumped in the vanilla and stirred stirred stirred like crazy, the rest as they say is history. And now I have a dozen beautiful jars of jam cooling on the counter and emitting loud pops every minute or so to let me know they're settled in to wait for winter.

Vanilla Peach Bourbon Jam
adapted from Bean Town Baker
Note: I adjusted the proportions a little bit, so I ended up with a dozen 8oz jars and a bit smaller pectin to fruit ratio, but it still came out fantastic.

Before you begin either wash jars in the dishwasher on the extra hot water cycle, or wash them with hot soapy water and boil them for 10 minutes, leaving them on dry or in the boiling water until you need them for your jam. This sterilizes the jar and lengthens the shelf life of your jam. I ran them through the dishwasher on the sterilize cycle.

1 package no sugar pectin - I used Ball No Sugar needed box
6 pounds peaches
4 cups sugar
6 Tbsp lime juice
1 vanilla bean, split and cut into 1-inch pieces
6 Tbsp bourbon - I used Jim Beam
1.5 tsp almond extract

- The recipe suggests you blanch the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds, submerge in an ice bath and then slip off the skins, but my peaches were prudes and that method didn't work, so I just used a peeler. Chop the peaches roughly into 1/4 inch dice, removing the pits.

- Put the peaches, sugar, and lime juice into a large non-reactive pot and smash/blend the suckers into a rough pulp using either a potato masher or an immersion blender.

- Put the pot over medium-high heat, add the vanilla pieces and bring the peach mixture to a rolling boil, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Boil for 1 minute, then add the pectin. Bring the jam to a rolling boil once more, stirring constantly, and boil exactly 1 minute.

- Remove the jam from heat. Stir in the bourbon and extract, ladle the hot jam into jars, and screw on the lids. Then set the jars on a rack in a large pot of boiling water--the water should be 1 inch above the jar tops. I just washed the pot I made the jam in (the only big pot I own), put the jars in, made sure they were under an inch of water and turned it on high.

- Bring the water to a gentle boil and boil the jars for 10 minutes. Then remove the jars from the hot water and set aside to cool. You should hear the lids popping within a few minutes of their bath.

- When the jam is cold, check the seals on the jars by pressing on the centers of the lids. If the lids do not spring back, they are vacuum sealed and the jam can be stored at room temperature. If the lid flexes, there is no seal, so store the jar in the fridge and enjoy it on a bagel in the morning. All of mine sealed, but I'm going to pretend one of them didn't and open it up tomorrow.

Caramelized Sugar Rooster Pop

2010-08-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

People these days like simplicity. You can see this in one of the recipes I've seen over and over in the different blogs, banana ice cream, which after being featured on The Kitchn is sure to pop up like dandelions. So I figured, why not share with you MY one ingredient recipe? It's not really made that way for health reasons, considering it's candy, but it comes with a lot of nostalgia.

When I was little, the street vendors in Odessa used to sell golden brown and red lollipops. They were hollow inside and came in various shapes, the favorite of which was a rooster. You'd bite into the head and the whole thing would shatter into pieces and then as you scrambled to get all the shards into your mouth, you'd inevitably end up with sticky sugary face and fingers. It was fantastic!

A few years ago, I was experimenting with spun sugar at my sister's house, who kept stealing some of my not so perfect sugar strands and spirals from the counter. I was about to wash the spoon coated in the leftover sugar when with a loud yell she snatched it out of my hand. "It tastes just like those lollipops!" she said, "Leave it and I'll wash the spoon when I'm done".

They don't sell those rooster pops anywhere here in the states and while I don't know how to make blown sugar yet, I did buy a rooster shaped candy mold and made solid caramelized sugar rooster pops for my sister's birthday a few weeks ago.

There is only one ingredient as I've mentioned, sugar, and the steps are easy:

- Carefully coat the mold with a very thin coat of vegetable oil (otherwise you're going to have to lick the treats out of the mold) and set aside some lollipop sticks nearby. You don't want to go looking for them while your hot sugar is solidifying.
- Set a bowl with ice water nearby. You'll need it to stop the sugar from cooking once it's ready.
- Depending on the size/number of molds you have the amount of sugar will vary, but to make 4 of the roosters in the picture I needed just a half a cup of sugar.
- Pour the sugar into small pan set over high heat, making sure it's evenly spread out, and don't touch it. Once you see the sugar starting to melt, you can gently nudge it from the outside in with a heat proof spatula, but don't stir or you'll end up with clumps. Keep nudging gently until all the sugar is liquid and has acquired a nice caramel color. Be careful not to walk away, get distracted, or let the sugar get too dark. It will burn and burned sugar smells and tastes gross.
- Once the pan is full of a golden brown sugar syrup take it off the heat immediately and plunge the bottom of the pan into the ice water to stop the cooking for a few seconds.
- Pour the sugar into the molds, stick in the lollipop sticks, rolling them around to make sure they're in there good, and let them cool completely before you pop them out and enjoy.

Note: if you have extra sugar still left in the pan after your mold is filled, you can pour it into shapes on a silpat or spin it into sugar threads. Basically this is your play sugar and you can try out different things with it, just be sure to be extremely careful. This stuff is HOT!

Best Fudgy Brownies

2010-08-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

Why don't more people make brownies from scratch? I know that making them from the box seems like the simplest option and I know that they come out pretty good that way too, but the made-from-scratch variety taste so much better and are just as ridiculously easy to make.

To accompany my recent ice cream making flurry, I decided to make a homemade caramel sauce and brownies. If you did not heed my advice earlier, the caramel sauce alone is reason to run out and buy David Lebovitz's book, The Perfect Scoop. It's rich and luscious and complex...and when I was done, I could have bathed in it, it looked so good. But I digress, this post is about the brownies. A one pot recipe that yields a pan of rich and fudgy brownies that were almost inhaled on sight, but are even better with toppings.

A drizzle of caramel and a bit of whipped cream is nice, but slip in a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and maybe a pretzel, and the combination is to die for. I brought the brownies, a tub of ice cream, a jar of caramel, a can of whipped cream and a bag of pretzels to work and told my coworkers to go nuts...there wasn't a crumb left at the end of the day and the jar of caramel was licked clean. They really are that good.

Robert's Absolute Best Brownies - Doubled
via Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz
Note: I doubled the recipe because making only a dozen brownies seemed sad and I wanted a full 9x12 pan of these guys. Feel free to halve the recipe if you prefer.

Makes about two dozen, depending on how small you cut them

12 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
16 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the inside of a 9x12 inch pan with 2 lengths of foil, positioning the sheets perpendicular to each other and allowing the excess to extend beyond the edges of the pan. Or, use one large sheet of extrawide foil or parchment paper. Lightly grease the foil or parchment with butter or nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, then add the chocolate and stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla until combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the flour and stir energetically for 1 full minute, until the batter loses its graininess, becomes smooth and glossy, and pulls away a bit from the sides of the saucepan. Stir in the chopped nuts or chocolate chips.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the center feels almost set, about 35 minutes (30 min if you're halving the recipe). Don’t overbake.

Let cool completely in the pan before lifting out the foil or parchment to remove the brownies.

Storage: These brownies will keep well for up to 4 days and can be frozen for 1 month.

Raspberry Jam

2010-08-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

Can I brag for a minute? Every once in a while I make a list and spend a day going to thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales, and antique stores searching for treasures. Usually I don't find anything. I'll pick up a few unique items here or there, but it's pretty rare that I find something useful. The last time I ventured out though I got three beautiful French canning jars in great condition and an unopened box of a dozen pint sized Kerr jars with pretty yellow lids! And all they needed was a thorough cleaning, a few new rubber rings and they can start a new life holding pickles and jam in my house. And all together they cost me less then you'd pay for one jar at a store today, so I'm being green and saving money, how cool is that?

The point of this though is that yesterday I used up the last of the raspberries I picked a few days ago to make jam and it came out glorious! One of the things I hate the most about the store bought variety is that it's always way too sweet. I know that sugar is probably cheaper then fruit, but if I want raspberry jam, I want it to taste like raspberries, and these were amazing raspberries.

This isn't exactly a recipe. Basically, I just mashed up and weighed all the fruit I had left, added a little less then a cup of sugar for each pound of fruit, squeezed in a couple of lemons and boiled it all with a box of no sugar needed pectin for 10 minutes. I processed the filled jars for another 10 minutes to be sure that it would last.

The jam set up perfectly and tastes just like the fresh fruit. I'm already dreaming of a cold December morning, some toast, a bit of butter and this jam still tasting of summer. Sometimes it pays to plan ahead.

Chocolate Guinness Ice Cream

2010-08-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

It has now been just over two years since I have visited and fallen in love with Ireland. To this day whenever I get too frazzled or stressed out, I close my eyes and remember the sense of peace I felt sitting on the beach listening to the waves and the occasional distant braying of sheep, surrounded by miles and miles of green and not a single person in sight. Aaahhhhh.

Incidentally, Ireland was the place where I had my first Guinness. I've never been a huge fan of beer, preferring a nice glass of red wine to any of the brews people around me guzzled, but you can't help but get caught up by all the propaganda. So one day while having a quick dinner at a pub, I ordered a pint. Not bad. I'm not saying that right then and there the sky opened up, sunshine streamed down bathing the glass in a golden glow and I became a beer devotee. No, nothing like that, but I have been giving beer a chance more often and I even have a few favorites.

But now it's a season for ice cream, and while I've already had a few ice cream posts, I'm nowhere near done. Last weekend I finally broke down my rule of not buying any more cookbooks (they're taking over my house) and bought The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by David Lebovitz. Basically all my ice cream recipes were coming from him anyways, so why not just cut out the middleman? Plus, I had a coupon.

Armed with my new book, I added Chocolate Guinness ice cream to my repertoire, and believe me, you'll want it in yours too. It's smooth and creamy with just a slight hint of the beer bitterness. The perfect thing to create your own little moment of peace.

Chocolate Guinness Ice Cream
Adapted slightly from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop

The original recipe calls for milk chocolate, but I never ever have any in my house since I prefer dark and bittersweet, so I used that. I'm sure that using milk would give you a stronger beer flavor, but I liked it just the way it came out. Just be sure to use good quality chocolate since you will definitely be able to taste the difference.

7 oz chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup Guinness Stout
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- Put the chocolate pieces in a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top.
- Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
- Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer over the milk chocolate, then stir until the chocolate is melted.
- Once the mixture is smooth, whisk in the cream, then the Guinness and vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
- Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

If you put a few scoops into a tall glass, you can pour a bit of the leftover Guinness over it and make it into a float. Believe me, it's delicious.

Apricot Almond Tart

2010-08-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

Ever since I picked up two pints of the sweet rosy apricots at the farmer's market, I've been scheming about making them into a tart. For two days their future looked dubious, as I kept sneaking one after another from the fridge and eating them. Apricots are one of those fruit that are really only worth eating during their natural season. The stuff you find on the store shelf in the winter time has absolutely no flavor and quite frankly shouldn't even be called an apricot. But these reminded me of when I was little and climbed trees and tasted apricots every day, starting when they were green and right up to the point when they were juicy beyond belief. I'd bring the haul home to my mom using my dress as an apron and after reprimanding me for ruining yet another outfit, my mom would bake. Sometimes they'd get made into a summer fruit punch, but it was always something incredibly delicious and I was quite willing to ruin a dress or two to get the treats.

My sister was throwing an impromptu dinner party for a few friends and I decided that an apricot tart would be the perfect accompaniment for her cheese platter. Once I saw the pictures of the tart over at
Annie's Eats, my mind was made up and I headed into the kitchen.

This is a very straight forward recipe that comes together very quickly and easily. I decided to quarter the apricots and fan them out in the crust, but then all my hard work got covered up by the almond creme, so I think next time I'll leave them as halves like Annie did. Either way, it was delicious and will definitely be made again.

Apricot Almond Tart
via Annie's Eats
Note: Per Annie's suggestion, I also added a tablespoon of sugar to the crust and I think it came out perfectly.

For the crust:
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 egg yolks
1 tbsp. sugar
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2-4 tbsp. ice water, if needed

For the filling:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
1 cup ground almonds (blanched or slivered)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
8-10 apricots, halved and pitted

To make the crust, in the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the sugar and salt. Mix in the flour just until incorporated. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on low speed, just until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F and position a rack in the center. Once the dough is well chilled, transfer it to a lightly floured surface and roll out to fit your preferred tart pan. Transfer the dough to the tart pan and line the pan, pushing the dough into the fluted edges. Trim off the excess dough and patch any holes as needed. Line the pan with a piece of parchment paper or foil and fill with baking beads (rice or dried beans will also work). Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the dough is almost completely baked. Carefully remove the parchment or foil and baking beads.

To make the almond cream, combine the butter, honey, ground almonds, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together until well blended and smooth. (This can also be done in a food processor.) Gently fold in the heavy cream with a spatula. Arrange the apricot halves in the partially baked tart dough. Pour the almond cream over the fruit so it fills the tart pan evenly. Bake 25-30 minutes until the almond filling is a light golden brown. Serve warm with a drizzle of honey, if desired.

Stir-fried Eggplant

2010-08-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

You know what else we did after we were all hot, sweaty and mosquito bitten but happy with pints and pints of freshly picked raspberries in the car? We cranked up the air conditioning, plugged in the trusty little GPS and went to another farm for veggies! Susies Garden Patch was just a few more miles down the road, past the baby ducks and the funky quail looking critters, past the horses, past the barns, and past the acres and acres of corn and soy as far as the eye can see. I was very close to stealing a cute little yellow fuzzy baby ducky but then I saw the papa duck...and decided to move along.

The veggies on the farm were a little disorganized, but that made hunting for them more fun. They had a bunch of zucchini plants with zucchinis the size of your leg. Those suckers were huge! They had rows and rows of tomatoes, and we made sure to pick up the pretty Roma ones. One or two may have not made it into the basket, memory is a but fuzzy. There was a long row of different kinds of peppers, going from hot peppers to green peppers to purple peppers, but my favorites were the eggplants.

I love eggplant, it goes great with everything. Baba ganoush, layered in lasagna, cooked with goat cheese and chorizo, yum! But lately, my favorite recipes are ones that can be made in just a few minutes, and I think I've gotten this one down to 5. How can you beat that? So here it is, my 5 minute meal:

Stir-fried Eggplant
by Me
Serves 2

2 small shiny eggplants, or 2 long Chinese eggplants
A bit of olive oil
A drizzle of soy sauce
A healthy squirt of Hoisin sauce
A touch of Sriracha hot sauce
A generous dash of garlic powder
2 or 3 tablespoons of water
A pretty bunch of green onion for garnish

- Slice the eggplant into even pieces about an inch or two long and maybe a half inch thick.
- Pour a bit of olive oil into a large pan set over medium high heat and layer the eggplant over it.
- As the eggplant starts to cook, open the fridge door and start pulling bottles out. First, pour some soy sauce into the pan, standing a bit back to avoid the possible spatter. Then pull out the Hoisin sauce and draw a few circles with it in the pan. Lastly, pull out the Sriracha hot sauce and add as much as you feel you can handle.
- Sprinkle some garlic powder over the whole thing and add the water.
- Stir everything together to make sure the eggplant is well coated, cover and cook for a few minutes, coming back to stir often, until the eggplant is tender.
- Server over a small pile of steamed rice and garnish with chopped green onion.

Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream

2010-08-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

We are now in the thick of raspberry season around here and I for one couldn't be happier. I love them in everything. And as you know, berries you picked yourself are a whole heck of a lot better then berries you get at the grocery store. They have a sweeter, deeper flavor and a slightly floral scent. They make your eyes roll into the back of your head, especially when they're still warm from the sun. With that in mind, my friend and I decided to venture out this past Sunday morning and load up.

When we drove up to the orchard my friend had picked there was a sign on the closed gates saying they were closed, so we'll have to try them again next year. I, however, had a backup plan. I found a place about 20 minutes away that had great prices and very flexible hours. Up Berries operates on the honor system, leaving containers and instructions for visitors along with a lock-box to leave money, which makes them open as long as the sun is out.

As you drive up, there's a house and a beautiful old barn by the parking area:

and since I had my camera handy...

But on to the important things: the berries! There was only one other family that was out there picking when we got there, and the bushes were full of ripe berries. What I hadn't counted on was the bugs. Now I don't really mind the beetles and bumblebees, but I cannot stand mosquitoes. It would be an irrational hatred if they didn't treat our every encounter as an attempt to suck me dry.

An hour and a half later, my friend and I each had full baskets and were ready to go. I had killed about a dozen mosquitoes, but they won this round...I came home with at least 30 bites. We had a lot of fun though and even when our baskets were full we couldn't help stop along the way back to the car to pick just one more...and just another one...and look at that ripe one over there!

I have plans for jam and pastries, but the first thing I wanted to make was ice cream. When I saw the "I ate it all myself" review for Chocolate Raspberry ice cream at Sea Salt With Food, I knew I had to try it.

Whoa nelly! This is good stuff. I already promised to share it, but if I didn't you'd find me in a dark corner somewhere in my house with a tub of this ice cream and a spoon, whispering "my preccccioussss".

Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream
via Sea Salt With Food

1 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
5 Tbsp Unsweetened Dutch-process Cocoa Powder
2/3 Cup Sugar
2 Cups Raspberries, I used fresh, but frozen would be just fine too.

- Whisk together the cream, cocoa powder, and sugar in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and add the raspberries. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender. If you wish, press the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. I was too lazy and skipped this step, but I think next time I will actually do it. The texture would be so much smoother without the little raspberry bits.
- Allow the mixture to chill thoroughly, then freeze it in an ice cream maker.
- Devour.

24 Hour Dill Pickles

2010-07-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

I have a friend with a green thumb. I don't know about all of you, but my thumb is about as green as an overripe banana. My friend on the other hand has an overwhelmingly abundant garden with several kinds of lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles, squash, a ton of herbs and probably a ton of other things I can't even keep track of. So when she called me to make pickles I rushed right over. She had a recipe for sweet pickles that need to sit for a month to mature, but once we had those bottled we got restless. "But I want something now! All this work and nothing to taste, what gives?" So we went out back and using my tiny little key chain flash light (it was dark by then and I was not patient enough to wait for her to find an actual flash light) I filled up my shirt with about a dozen more beautiful pickles. We snipped off some dill growing nearby and headed back in. I hopped online and found this recipe

24 Hour Refrigerator Dill Pickles
via Liska

4 cups water
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
2 tbsps kosher salt
1 tsp white sugar
5 or 6 pickling cucumbers cut into quarters
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp allspice seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp celery seeds (we didn't have any and it came out just fine without)
8 medium cloves garlic, cut into long thin pieces
6 large sprigs of fresh dill

In a small non-reactive pan, bring water, vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Place pepper, allspice, mustard, and celery seeds in the bottom of two clean quart-size ball jars or one great big half liter jar like I did. Pack cucumbers in tightly, the more you pack in, the more you'll have in the end. Drop garlic pieces into the jar around and between cucumbers.

Carefully pour your brine over your cucumbers, being sure to cover them completely (you should have approx. 4 cups brine after boiling and cooling and you’ll probably have a little left over), and place dill sprigs on the top of the jar before sealing very well. Turn and shake jar until seeds have distributed throughout the brine. Place in refrigerator for at least 24 hours.
Try not to sneak any out of the jar early, but after the 24 hours...yum! Pickles! Take THAT Claussen!

Cherry Rose and Coconut Ice Cream

2010-07-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

It is too hot for words. Walking outside feels like wading though hot pudding and my glasses fog up each time I dart from one air conditioned space to another. This is the time for envy towards anyone with central air. I have one air conditioner in the dining room and I literally close off spaces to tunnel the cold air towards my bedroom. One day got so hot, I actually slept in the living room and that was only because I would not fit inside the actual AC unit. I tried.

Needless to say, cooking in this weather is absolutely out of the question. Spinning ice cream on the other hand is perfectly acceptable. Oh, and so is eating it straight from the machine instead of dinner. There's fruit in it, and dairy, and a coconut has the word "nut" in it, so it counts as a protein, right? Anyways. I've had this recipe earmarked for a while and when I found beautiful ink-black cherries at the farmers market, I decided that this will be a week for ice cream. I basically made it as is (how can you not, it's beautiful), except that I substituted rose tea for the actual rose buds. The flavor was very understated in the ice cream, but I loved the cherry spiked coconut flavor, with just a hint of something floral. It felt very tropical. Now where's the cabana boy? I need an umbrella drink!

Cherry, Rose and Coconut Ice Cream
via Tartelette

For the rose infused cherries:
1 cups pitted and halved cherries
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
4 tea bags of Numi Organic Tea White Rose

For the ice cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 cup whole coconut milk
1 cup granulated sugar

Prepare the cherries:
Place all the ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn the heat off and let steep one hour (longer for an even intense rose flavor). Remove the tea bags and refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepare the ice cream:
In a large saucepan set over medium low heat, bring the cream, milk, coconut milk and sugar to a simmer, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, preferably overnight.
Process the mixture into your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's intructions.
Once the ice cream has reached soft serve consistency, pour into a freezable container. With a spatula, swirl in the cherries and a few tablespoons of their liquid. Freeze a couple of hours. Or, if you're impatient like me, swirl some of the syrup and the cherries into your ice cream during the last minute of churning in the machine, that way it's ready to eat as soon as you find a spoon.

Death By Chocolate

2010-07-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

I will only share a small part of this recipe with you today. It's not that I don't want to share, I do, it's just that the recipe is long. Very very long. I like my fingers and I don't want them to fall off. Oh, and I'm too lazy to type it out. And besides, you should get the book, it's fantastic! The book in question is Death by Chocolate: The Last Word on a Consuming Passion. I've had this book for years, in fact it was one of the first in my collection and everything I've ever made from it has come out sublime. And the meringue recipe I'm including at the bottom is so multi-purpose that I'm sure you'll forgive me for not including the rest.

The recipe I'm here to tell you about is the very last one in the book, the one that the whole book is named after, the one and only "Death By Chocolate" cake. It consists of a layer of a decadent brownie, a layer of rich ganache, a layer of cocoa meringue, a thick layer of chocolate coffee mousse, another layer of brownie, a thick coat of that rich ganache, and a thick piped topping of yummy chocolate mousse. Oh, and if that's not enough chocolate for you, it comes with a chocolate rum sauce on the side, you know, to really nail in that coffin. You can't eat this cake without going into a minor chocolate coma or without having bits of chocolate all over your face leaving you wondering how it got there. And with the extra meringue batter, extra mousse, and extra ganache you will inevitably end up with, you can make these yummy little sandwiches, that won't tip you over, but will make you swoon.

Cocoa Meringue
via Death by Chocolate: The Last Word on a Consuming Passion

4 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp corn starch

- Preheat the oven to 225F.
- If you want this to be a layer in a cake, using a 9 inch cake circle as a guide, trace a circle with a pencil on a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit a baking sheet. Turn the paper over and, with trace mark down, place on a baking sheet. Or you can just make freehand shapes to make sandwiches.
- Place 4 egg whites, the cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a balloon whip and whisk on high until soft peaks form, about 45 to 50 seconds.
- Gradually add 1 cup sugar while continuing to whisk on high and whisk until stiff, about 1 1/2 minutes.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to fold in and thoroughly combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa and the cornstarch.
- Fill a pastry bag (fitted with a large round tip) with the cocoa meringue. Fill the traced parchment shapes with meringue: start in the center and pipe a 3/4-inch wide spiral towards the outside.
- Place the meringue in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 45 minutes before handling. Don't skip this part, the meringues will crack if handled too soon.
- Fill with ganache, chocolate mousse or whatever you like and enjoy!

So the moral of this story is, get the book, make the cake, and acquire about a dozen marriage proposals or kill off a few sugarholic friends. Enjoy :D

Super Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

2010-07-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

This is actually from just before Pastry Boot Camp, but they came out pretty cute and the recipe is basically fool-proof, so here you go. I was already getting psyched for the class and I was given free reign on what I could make, all I was told was "Daniel LOVES Superman!" Plus kids love blue cupcakes, right? So in went some food coloring to touch up the purple from the blueberries.

The cupcake recipe is based on a Friendship Bread recipe, but without the hassle of nurturing a starter or dealing with the extras. Turns out you don't even need the aging and you can whip it up with spectacular results whenever you like. I also made strawberry cake into cake balls to put on top of the cupcakes, gave them little fruit roll up capes and piped little white chocolate superman logos for the fronts. The kids loved them, which means I couldn't be happier. Try the recipe, it's so flexible and so utterly easy, you can't help but succeed.

No-Starter Friendship Bread
I found this recipe online, but I can't recall where. If this is yours please let me know, I'll be happy to give you credit.

STARTER:
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Milk
3/4 cup Flour

Mix starter ingredients together and set aside.

BREAD:
1 cup Oil
1/2 cup Milk
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
2 cup Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 large Box Lemon Pudding (or 1.5 of the small boxes)
1 cup blueberries

- Pre-heat oven to 325F.
- In a small pot, cook down the blueberries until they pop and mush into a paste. Let cool.
- Mix oil, milk, eggs and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Add to starter mix.
- In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients well then add to liquid ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Add in the blueberry paste and food color if you want the blue shade, or leave alone if you want the natural purple.
- Scoop into lined cupcake pans, filling 3/4 full and bake on middle rack for 20 min or until tested done.

A Week At Pastry Boot Camp and a Strawberry Fig Tart

2010-07-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

That's right boys and girls, a whole week of nothing but flour and sugar and French pastries. This post will be a bit picture heavy, but I promise, there will be a recipe in the end. You see, I've just completed the Pastry Bootcamp at the French Pastry School where under the tutelage of the wonderful Chef Kristen Ryan, I learned a bunch of back pocket recipes that I'll most definitely be making in the future. The most fantastic brioche recipe, rich and fabulous Chocolate financiers:

Fantastic bread brushed with a beer crust:

Here's Chef showing us how to shape the loaves before proofing:

A smooth vanilla ice cream that shames all others, shaped into perfect little quenelle shapes over a warm chocolate lava cake:

A classic fruit tart with the crust painstakingly shaped by hand with the help of my friend and partner Joy:

The best pate de fruit I've ever had (kind of like marmalade candy), perfect little Madelines with just a slight hint of lemon:

And lots and lots more. And every day, right after coming home after hours and hours in the kitchen, I'd get right back into it. How can I not when there are figs at the market?

I don't know if I'm allowed to share the recipes I learned in class with the world yet, but until I know for sure, I'll leave you with one of the recipes I made on my own. It's got fresh figs from the market and strawberries from the last picking expedition:

It's a slightly different crust then the one from the last post, and it was quite a bit easier to work with. The hazelnut pastry cream and the wonderful fruits made for a unique and very tasty treat.

Strawberry Fig and Hazelnut Tart
via Martha Stewart Magazine, June 2010
Makes one 10-inch tart.

FOR THE CRUST
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
Salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

FOR THE FILLING
3/4 cup blanched hazelnuts, toasted
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons Armagnac or other brandy, such as Cognac
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
8 ounces figs (about 7), trimmed and halved lengthwise
8 ounces strawberries (1 1/2 cups), halved if large

Make the crust:
- Pulse flour, granulated sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor until combined.
- Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds.
- Drizzle 1/4 cup ice water evenly over mixture and pulse until mixture just begins to hold together (it should not be wet or sticky). If dough is too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse.
- Press dough into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or overnight.
- Roll dough to a 14-inch circle (1/8 inch thick) on a floured surface. Fit dough into bottom and up sides of a 10-inch fluted round tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim excess dough flush with edges of pan using a knife. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prick bottom of tart shell all over with a fork, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove weights, and bake until set, about 5 minutes more. Let cool. Leave oven on.

Make the filling:
- Pulse hazelnuts in a food processor until finely chopped. Add sugars, zest, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; pulse to combine. Add butter, Armagnac, eggs, and vanilla; pulse until mixture is almost smooth.
- Spread filling evenly into tart shell. Top with figs and strawberries. Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees; bake until set and dark brown on top, about 1 hour more. Garnish with whipped cream.