Blackberry Goat Cheese Tart

I have a new favorite brunch recipe and it's all thanks to Lent. The Saturday before Easter I was hosting brunch and two of my guests have given up desserts. Never mind that only one of them actually observed Lent and that the other was just jumping on the bandwagon as a dieting tactic, but out the window went my ideas for double stuffed french toast and Belgian sugar waffles. Instead I made the menu savory, but I still couldn't get over the lack of a tart.



I had bookmarked this recipe a few weeks back and when I saw pretty blackberries at the store on sale, the idea was locked in. After getting approval for honey from the previously mentioned usurpers, I only tweaked the recipe a little bit to fit what I had and piled on as many berries as would fit on top.



It came out amazing. I love how easily the crust came together and how flaky and tender it turned out to be in the end. I would imagine adding just a dash of sugar would make the crust work for any sweet tart you may want to whip up in the future. The fact that the tart is best cool was perfect as I could make it the night before and simply add the toppings when guests showed up. And this mini "extra" tart was a lovely breakfast that I shared with my dad the following morning when he came by to help me out with some things around the house. Try it, it's delicious.



Blackberry Goat Cheese Tart
Adapted from Always With Butter

Crust:
1 cup flour
pinch of salt
7 Tbsp butter, room temp
3 oz cream cheese, room temp

Filling:
6 oz goat cheese
4 oz cream cheese
2 eggs
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Topping:
12 oz blackberries (or more)
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp thyme leaves

Crust:
- Combine everything in a food processor and pulse a few times until the dough is uniform. Turn out onto a piece of saran wrap, shape into a flat disk and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. It will be a very soft dough at this point so you definitely need to chill it to make it workable.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. The original instructions tell you to grease a 12x8" tart pan, but I used my 9" round one and didn't grease it and everything still came out beautifully.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and fit into your tart pan, trimming the edges. Stick it into the freezer. I had some extra dough left over, so I re-rolled it and made an extra mini-tart for later.

Filling:
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and beat until the mixture is smooth and uniform. Pour into the pan, smooth the top and bake for 25 to 35 minutes. Once the top is just slightly puffy and golden you should be all set.
- Let the tart cool completely, top with berries (as many as you like), a drizzle of honey over the top, and shower with the rest of the thyme leaves. Try to share.

Brioche topped w/Onion Jam & Beet Cured Salmon

A few days ago some friends and I had dinner at Storefront Company, a new restaurant in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. The meal was amazing, the blood orange martinis were delicious, but the best and most memorable for me was the appetizer. It was mini brioche puffs topped with fennel jam, which in turn held up a very thin bright red slice of beet cured salmon. I think there was some sort of fennel pollen foam on there too. I came to the restaurant before my friends and as I sat at the bar waiting for them, I watched as the kitchen staff assembled these beauties, laying out each and every element with surgical precision. The dish stuck in my head and kept nagging me until I was determined to recreate it at home myself. What came out of that was not exactly the same, but my 5 taste testers couldn't care less and the two dozen trial run samples were gone in an afternoon.

The process took me two days, mainly because the brioche recipe I learned at the French Pastry School last summer takes two days, plus the salmon takes 24 hours to cure, but in the end, all the fuss, all the preparation was absolutely worth it, so if you have guests coming that you want to impress, I'd say plan ahead and make this.

First up is the brioche. I like this recipe because while it takes time and you need to coddle the dough a little bit, in the end it has never failed me.



Brioche
Recipe from French Pastry School

Starter:
50 g milk, room temperature (whole is best)
5 g sugar
60 g bread flour

Dough:
340 g bread flour
8 g Fleur de Sel or salt
35 g sugar
220 g eggs
200 g unsalted butter, room temperature

- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook, combine the milk, yeast, and sugar. Sprinkle the 60g of flour over the liquid to cover it evenly and let the yeast proof.
- When the yeast is ready you're going to notice little cracks in the flour as the gases from the yeast try to escape. When you see this, add the rest of the flour, the salt, the sugar, and the eggs and knead the mixture with the hook on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the walls (about 10 min).
- Slowly add the soft butter to the dough in thirds, waiting until it's completely incorporated before adding more. Once everything has been kneaded in, cover the bowl loosely with saran wrap and a towel, set in a warm spot and let it rise for an hour or until it has doubled in volume.
- Punch down the dough, recover with the saran and the towel and place in the fridge for 2 hours to rise again.
- Punch down the dough once more, recover again and place in the fridge overnight for the final rise.
- The next day, shape the brioche into desired shape(s) and brush with a lightly beaten egg. I rolled it into walnut sized balls and put each one into a mini-muffin tin.
- Let the dough rest once more for about 1 hour in a warm spot and then bake at 400F for about 15-20 min. or until nice and golden on top. If you're making a loaf, you may need to bake it longer.



While the brioche is going through it's first rest, start on the onion jam.

Onion Jam

2 lbs yellow or vidalia onions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsps olive oil
2 Tbsps brown sugar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock

- Pour the olive oil and all the sliced onions into a large, deep pan set over medium heat and cook the onions until they're translucent (about 15 min).
- Add all the other ingredients and continue cooking, stirring often, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the onions appear dry (at least 20 min).
- Scrape everything into a jar and let cool before storing in the fridge. Sealed tightly, it will keep about a week or so...if you don't eat it all.

While the onion jam is cooling, deflate the brioche for it's 2nd rise in the fridge and start on the salmon. Getting the salmon started is child's play, just make sure you start with the freshest, prettiest piece of salmon possible and everything else is fool-proof.



Beet Cured Salmon
Adapted from Cook Almost Anything

1 lb piece of salmon, without skin
1 large or 2 small beets
1/3 cup of salt
1/3 cup of sugar
zest of one lemon
1 Tbsp freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp vodka

- Wash and thoroughly dry your piece of salmon with a paper towel. Cut it in half right along the "spine". I left the skin on my piece, but if I had taken it off, I'd have a more even cure, so I'd recommend removing the skin.
- In a blender or a food processor, combine all the other ingredients and blend to a pulp.
- Line a container only slightly bigger then the two pieces of salmon with saran wrap, place 1/3 of the pulp on the bottom, lay out the salmon on top and completely cover the salmon with the remaining pulp. You want the fish to be completely covered.
- Cover with more saran wrap and place something heavy on top to weigh it down. I didn't really have anything that would work so I used a box of Mac 'n Cheese and three cans of soup. As you see, almost anything will work as long as the pressure is even and firm.



- Set the whole kit in the fridge and don't touch it for 24 hours. When ready, rinse the pulp off of the salmon and dry it again, slice thinly with a sharp knife. The salmon is good on it's own or as part of my brioche concoction.



When you're ready to assemble, simply slice off the tops of the brioche balls, top with a bit of the onion jam and drape a slice of salmon on top. Try to keep your fingers out of the way as people snatch up and devour these:


P.S. This last picture comes compliments of my cousin. I was too busy running around, serving brunch and refilling drinks, so I "borrowed" her picture so you could see the finished product. Hope you don't mind :D

Step 1: Get more coffee.

I'd like to interrupt regularly scheduled programming to introduce you to the BEST IDEA I'VE EVER HAD! (Don't worry, there will be a recipe for a lovely Lemonhead cake at the very end, but stick with me, this will be good!) See? Preview. Mmmmm.



First though, read this article or the rest will seem crazy. Done? Good.

So, today I was IM'ing with my sister and my friend Joy, reading the above article on NPR, and (ahem) finishing off my latte when a genius idea came to me! It started innocently enough.

I kind of want a live bilby for a pet," I said to Irina and Joy. "I'll call him Billy the Bilby".

Silence.

Fueled by their lack of enthusiasm, or possibly their abundance of actual work, I started thinking and IM'ing (be warned, the following is full of genius and exclamation marks):

"So um, this bilby would make the best pet EVER.
Why? He's a marsupial.
Meaning? I can hide stuff in his pouch, basically making it a pet purse.
Yes, I said it. PET AS PURSE!
We can breed them in different colors!
Save a dying species AND GET RICH!
Must include picture of the MAJESTIC pet that looks like a cross between a bunny, a rat and a kangaroo in promo material to get people to buy in on this idea."

At this point my sister told me she had to work and Joy said something about being sued in the future because someone's purse scratched their eyes out. My sweet bilby? Never! She then said something about it looking like a mutant.

"This is like a FRANKENBUNNY accessory!" I typed, "If Dr. Frankenstein had a wife, she'd buy one of these in every color."

Propelled by my own ingenuity I typed:
"Just imagine training it to carry the TV remote IN. IT'S. POUCH! That way it can still bring you a beer in it's front paws!"
"Bonus feature? He'll eat bugs so they don't bug you! Can YOUR purse do that?"

There may have been a few negative remarks from Joy after that but all in all, I think I won the argument as no one has so far come up with a single reason why this would be a bad plan (humanitarian issues will be dealt with at a future date).

So, reason I share this anecdote with you: I'm looking for investors/supporters to get this idea off the ground. If you truly want to be a part of this life altering endeavor, I strongly urge you to .....

.... Send Anna (me) more coffee!


Oh yeah, and I promised you cake.




Light Lemonhead Cake
Adapted from: Souvlaki For The Soul. I kicked up the lime and the result tasted like a moist tender reincarnation of a lemonhead candy. In other words? Awesome...though not as awesome as a bilby.

1 cup Greek yogurt, I used low-fat, but obviously fat will taste good too :D
1/3 cup of olive oil, I used Persian Lime olive oil from The Olive Tap
1 cup sugar
zest of all the limes you're going to juice (3 did it for me)
1/4 cup lime juice
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups of sifted plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp lime oil (optional)

- Pre-heat your oven to 350F.
- Grease a 9" spring-form baking pan or two mini loaf pans with a bit of olive oil or butter.
- In a large bowl mix all the wet ingredients until well combined.
- Dump the dry ingredients over wet and fold in with a spatula just until combined. Don't overdo it or the batter will be too dense.
- Pour into the baking tin(s) and cook for about 45-50 mins. The cake is ready when it has browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for a few minutes and then invert onto a plate. You can either make some basic icing to top it (just mix some powdered sugar and lime juice or milk) or leave it plain. It tastes amazing along side a cup of tea.



P.S. So today we were discussing just how exactly did a male bunny end up being the bringer of painted chicken eggs and how exactly both of those things were tied to Easter and I came across a Mental Floss article on the subject (LOVE this magazine by the way). The best part though came from one of the readers who shared the following story:

"I grew up on a farm with chickens, so I knew where eggs came from: chicken butts. So when I was told the Easter Bunny laid eggs, I figured the eggs came from his butt. In anticipation of the holiday, I prepared for the holiday by making a nest for the Easter Bunny, sort of the way I would also hang a stocking for Santa. The nest would be a place where the Easter Bunny laid me some Easter eggs. But then, when the Easter Bunny left me such gifts as a BB gun and a box kite, I imagined him pooping me such toys from his butt. I felt sorry for him, imagine how much that must hurt."

You're welcome.

Peach Bread and Farm Fresh Eggs

I'm in major spring cleaning mode in my house right now. Essentially, the house looks like a tornado went through it, dashing magazines, clothes and books all over, but kindly leaving little clear paths between the rooms for me to walk on. I know this sounds counter-intuitive and not at all like cleaning, but I'm not just moving things around, I'm actually getting rid of a LOT of the clutter. Stuff is being listed on Craigslist (and boy has THAT been a fun little experience), sorted into donation boxes, and packed up to give away to friends and family. The more I dig the more I realize that in just 6 or 7 short years that I've lived in my tiny little home, I've accumulated enough "stuff" to impress Madame Trash Heap.

Among the things being cleaned out is the fridge. All of the mystery jars and random little tid bits have been cleared out and I've moved onto the freezer. That will take some time, I have a LOT of frozen fruit I never got to still left over from last summer/fall. I guess this winter has been busier then I thought. The first to go was the leftover bag of peaches I had brought back from a camping trip to Michigan last fall. I don't like using frozen fruit for pies, but in this lightened version of Peach Bread, they were lovely. The bread itself is not too sweet, quite moist, and very flavorful. The perfect thing to go with a cup of tea in the morning, afternoon, or a late night cleaning marathon. Hard work requires a few rewards, after all.



Peach Bread
Adapted from Honey & Jam (one of my new favorite blogs).
I increased the measurements by 1.5 because my pans are a bit bigger and I wanted taller loaves, but feel free to halve the amounts if you only want 1 loaf or decrease by 1/3 if your pans are smaller. I also left my peaches in bigger chunks and used a bit more then called for because I really love it when fruit forms little sweet pockets in the bread and it felt silly to hang onto just a half a cup of peaches. The batter held the extra fruit like a champ.

5 eggs
1.5 cup dark brown sugar 3/4 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup applesauce
3.5 cups roughly diced peaches, drain well if using frozen
4.5 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoon baking soda
2.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and lightly flour two 9 x 4 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Blend in the sugar, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; mix just to combine. Stir in the peaches. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.


On a slightly unrelated note, a few weeks back I visited my friend's sister's house and got to meet her 4 adorable red-headed chickens. Her husband had built them an ingenious penthouse coop and I've never seen happier chickens then these. It was already getting dark and I didn't have my camera with me anyways, so sadly I don't have pictures of the girls for you, but I was lucky enough to be given 6 of the beautiful, super fresh eggs to take home with me.



I'm still thinking of what to do with them to really let the eggs shine, but the first two got made into breakfast. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, so these are sunny side up eggs fried in just a slick of olive oil and with a hearty dash of sea salt and freshly ground pepper.



I may be biased considering I've met the chickens, but I think the whites were fluffier and the yolks were creamier in these eggs. I don't have room to keep chickens of my own, and considering all the baking I do buying local eggs is a bit out of my price range, but I think I'll need to splurge occasionally because these really were amazing.

Spiked Coconut Macaroons

Pi/Pie Day has come and gone, along with a half dozen birthdays, the ever popular St. Patrick's day, and at least a half dozen other food related, little known holidays, and yet this site has stayed quiet. Believe me, I enthusiastically participated in all of them. There were pies made when pies were called for, cakes and cupcakes made for all the March birthdays, cookies when no theme was given, and tarts when I had free reign. In fact, there was so much late night baking that there were almost no pictures to serve as proof for all this activity, not to mention absolutely zero energy or brain capacity to do any sort of a write-up. But I must get back on track, and I'm going to start with these:



These are spiked coconut macaroons that I had made for St. Patrick's day for work and squirreled a handful for myself for later. Luckily, these get better after they sit for a day or two, though not after a week, then the bell curve of their goodness begins to plunge once more.



They come together faster then anything you can imagine, they're way less fussy than macarons, their very very very distant cousins, and with a splash of booze and a few drops of green make perfect little treats to celebrate St. Pats. Because, you know, making nothing for a holiday would be a travesty of epic proportions. Though there's also nothing stopping you from just leaving them white, or adding lime juice in place of the booze, or standing on your head when you eat them (or, ahem, talking about them a week after the holiday has passed). Really, get as crazy as you like, they wont mind one bit.



Spiked Coconut Macaroons

2 14 oz bags sweetened coconut flakes
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp sour cream
2 Tbsp Irish Cream or Frangelico (or heavy cream if you don't want booze)
1 Tbsp Vanilla
A few drops of food coloring if you want

- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Combine all the ingredients in a stand mixer bowl and give it a quick stir with a spoon, otherwise when you turn the machine on all the coconut will fly out and hit you in the eye. I'd like to prevent casualties whenever possible.
- Mix for a few seconds in the mixer using the paddle attachment, just until everything is evenly distributed. Scoop onto a baking sheet. You can make these into any size you want. I wanted them smaller so mine are about the size of ping pong balls, but there's nothing stopping you from making tennis ball sized macaroons. Well, unless you fear your dentist (these babies are sweet).
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the macaroon size, or until the bottoms and just the tips of the top are very light golden color. Don't worry if they still seem soft, let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and they'll firm right up.
- Dip in chocolate if you like or enjoy au naturel.