Fugue Salad

Justa Pasta Cheesecake

2012-01-14T20:49:00.000-08:00

I should, but do not, have a picture of this. I have made it several times and each time am flabbergasted by how good it is. It is not like other cheesecakes (flash of Michael Jackson saying, "I'm not like other guys" in the Thriller video), and no one ever leaves any on his or her plate, no matter how much they might not usually like cheesecake. The one change I might possibly suggest would be to use the juice of half a lemon instead of a whole.

Justa Pasta's Cheesecake
as printed in the Oregonian in September 2004 (thanks to Sara Perry for sending it to me after I struggled accessing the archives!)

Makes one 10-inch cake, serving 14 to 16 (or more; 21 1.5" slices have 386 calories each)

Crumb Crust
3 cups graham cracker crumbs (19-20 whole cracker sheets)
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

Filling
Four 8-ounce packages (32 ounces total) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar, preferably baker’s
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg, at room temperature

Topping
2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Juice from 1 medium lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Drop of almond extract

Do not preheat the oven.

To make the crumb crust: Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter until well blended and crumbly (my Cuisinart had the softening cream cheese in it, so I put the crushed-slightly-with-my-fingertips crackers in my Kitchenaid with the butter and brown sugar, and it worked just great to break them down further). Transfer to a 10-inch springform pan and firmly press the mixture onto the bottom of the pan (I use my straight-sided metal one-cup measure). Chill the crust while making the filling.

To make the filling: In a food processor, combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and almond extract until creamy and smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the egg until fully blended. Pour into the springform pan and place it in the center of the cold oven. Turn on the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 40 minutes.

To make the topping: Meanwhile, mix together the sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and almond extract until blended. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and gently (very! one time I made this I wasn't so gentle, and made a big divot in the filling from the topping waterfall) spread the topping over the cake. Lower the oven to 300 degrees and bake for 15 additional minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Using a paring knife, loosen the sides from the inside edge of the pan. Slice and serve.

Witches' Fingers

2011-10-30T14:56:00.001-07:00

I almost couldn't find the paper this recipe was written on, leading to a moment of panic as I realized I hadn't yet posted it here, and I really, really wanted to make them.

Witches' Fingers
courtesy of Arta Johnson

1 C butter, softened
1 C powdered sugar
1 egg
1/2 t almond extract
1 t vanilla
green food coloring
2 3/4 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 C whole blanched almonds
1 tube red decorator gel

Cream butter and sugar, then add egg, extracts, and food coloring, scraping bowl so color distributes evenly. Stir in dry ingredients until well mixed. Cover and refrigerate (not too long--the dough breaks apart during shaping if it's too cold).

Roll a small ball (heaping teaspoon) into a snake about three inches long and no more than half-inch in diameter. Bend to oblique angle as shown, pushing dough a little toward bend, so the knuckle is slightly fatter. Press almond into one end for fingernail, then use paring knife to slash wrinkles at the knuckles.

Bake on parchment paper 20-25 minutes (uninsulated v insulated baking sheets) at 325. Let cool on trays 3 minutes, then carefully lift almond, squeeze a dab of decorator gel underneath, and press back in place so the gel just squeezes out around the edges. Remove from sheets and let cool completely on racks.

Inderepentance Day Sacrificial Lamb

2011-07-08T00:26:00.001-07:00

My sister Laundry Queen told me last week that my blog is "lame." I think mostly because I haven't posted. So I'll try to remedy that, at least in some part.

I don't recall the genesis of this idea, but I had a 4-lb boneless leg of lamb in the freezer left over from when Mavis bought the largest leg of lamb he could find at the farmers' market for Easter dinner, and it wasn't large enough for the crowd we would be feeding. I already knew that leg of lamb worked well when roasted low and slow, plus it's summer (finally!) and I hadn't dusted off the grill yet, so I decided we needed Pulled Lamb Sandwiches. Pulled pork sandwiches are made on soft rolls with barbecue sauce and buttermilk coleslaw, but that wouldn't work as well for lamb. I wanted Mediterranean flavors, and a quick web search turned up this recipe from the Food Network, from which I stole the mint pesto and the mascarpone cheese. Nick Zukin's evangelizing has converted me to the idea of balancing the other flavors in a sandwich with something sweet and tangy, so I tried this recipe for pickled red onion, using stick cinnamon, whole cloves, whole allspice, whole juniper berries, whole mustard seed, and whole peppercorns--basically most of the whole spices in my cupboard (no coriander or cumin). Add some lettuce for crunch (should have thought of thinly sliced cucumber!), feta for zing, assemble on ciabatta panini, and I thought I had a pretty great theoretical sandwich.

The pickled red onion. I have two jars of pink stuff in my fridge now--the other is almost exactly the same color, but contains rhubarb compote I plan to incorporate into experimental rhubarb macarons with rhubarb buttercream. Stay tuned for that one.

The meat, just after moving to the cool side of the grill. I browned it well, then moved it over and closed the lid for a couple of hours, until the temp on the grill started dipping. Then I moved it to a foil-covered roasting pan and finished it in the oven at 300 for a couple more hours.

After I moved the meat inside, I used the residual heat to brown the brown-and-serve rolls. The ciabatta panini from Delphina's (visible at the right, tucked underneath the other rolls) were perfectly what I had envisioned, but there was only one package of four left at Food Front when I was shopping. The other rolls are petit pains and dinner rolls (for the kids) from Marsee. I didn't try the Marsee breads, but they all got eaten so I guess they were acceptable. :)

Shredding the meat. Look at that beautiful caramelization!

Beginning assembly: mint pesto on one side, mascarpone, feta and chèvre (I added this to the mix after crumbling the feta and finding it Very Salty) on the other.

Add meat, pickled onion and lettuce.

Devour. (My left index finger is really not as deformed as it looks in this picture.)

Other food on the table (obviously not exciting enough to be photographed) included an arugula (from J&J's garden!) salad with dried Oregon cranberries and Bing cherries and almonds with marionberry vinaigrette, and watermelon.

Two Easy Meals from Marian Burros

2011-04-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

When I lived in New York City in the early 1990s, I became quite fond of Marian Burros's New York Times column, Plain and Simple. When we got married in 1996, I was thrilled when among our wedding gifts were a couple of her cookbooks, including 20-Minute Menus, originally published in 1989. These two dinners are not in heavy rotation chez nous, but they do periodically reappear. I'm not including any pictures, because the visual appeal of these dishes is quite limited.

Tortilla-Chip Casserole
adapted from Marian Burros's "Plain and Simple" column in the New York Times

This recipe originally called for using a half-pound ground turkey breast; I like it better as a vehicle for leftover roast chicken.

1 t olive oil
meat of some kind (leftover roast chicken, ground turkey or beef, leftover roast beef), optional
1 jalapeño, or to taste, optional (or a little cayenne)
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground coriander
1 sm can (or half a Pomi box) diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 t salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 16-oz can low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed (or refried beans)
3 oz grated (sharp) cheddar cheese
a few handfuls of tortilla chips, or a couple of corn tortillas, torn into pieces

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet. Cook meat if you're starting with raw meat, until no longer pink. Remove excess grease if any, then add onions and peppers and sauté until softened and starting to brown. Add garlic and spices and cook for 30 seconds more, until they're fragrant. Add tomatoes (and leftover meat, if using) and cook a few minute to blend flavors. Remove mixture from skillet and put beans in bottom of pan, then top with chips, meat/veggie mixture and cheese. Cover and cook a few minutes, until cheese is melted and everything is heated through. Serve with sour cream and fresh chopped cilantro, and steamed broccoli or cauliflower on the side.

Curried Red Lentils and Cauliflower with Cashews
adapted from 20-Minute Menus by Marian Burros

8 oz red lentils
1 medium-large onion, chopped coarsely
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
1 t coriander
1 t cumin
1 t turmeric
1/2 t chile powder
1/4 t cardamom
1/4 t cinnamon
1/8 t ground cloves
1 small to medium head cauliflower, broken into florets
1 C chicken stock
3 oz tomato paste
1/2 C unsalted roasted cashews
plain yogurt or sour cream

In covered pot, bring lentils to boil in plenty of water to cover. Cook about 10 minutes, until soft, then drain (watch pot carefully--I don't think I've ever succeeded in not letting it boil over).

Mix spices together in a small bowl.

Heat oil in dutch oven until shimmering, then sauté onion until softened and starting to brown. Add garlic and spices and continue cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato paste and cook another 30 seconds, then stir in chicken stock, scraping brown bits from bottom of pan. Stir in cauliflower, cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until cauliflower is tender and starting to fall apart. Stir in lentils, simmer another couple minutes to blend flavors, then remove from heat. Serve over steamed rice, topped with cashews and yogurt/sour cream.

Happy (Belated) Purim!

2011-04-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

Purim fell during spring break, and though I had grand plans of making Smitten Kitchen's hamantaschen at my mother-in-law's house, it just didn't happen. I finally got around to making them a couple of days ago, and yum! I omitted the lemon zest from the dough, because I just wanted to taste the butter, and used two fillings I had on hand: Nutella topped with a few diced roasted hazelnuts, and homemade rhubarb-ginger jam. Deb from Smitten Kitchen recommends baking 15 minutes, but on insulated sheets and after refrigerating the shaped cookies, mine weren't nearly done after that long. The jam-filled ones, the paler ones in the picture below, were in for 20 minutes, and the Nutella batch probably five minutes more than that. I recommend really letting them get golden for optimal flavor and texture. For ease in handling the dough, let it warm back up almost to room temperature before rolling, but still try to minimize handling.

Go me!

2011-03-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

I have a review of The Book of Mormon (the musical, not the book) up on a big group blog. Not a really busy comment thread, so I guess I didn't leave many questions unanswered.

Valentines!

2011-02-14T01:05:00.001-08:00

Thank you, Design Mom.

Here's the image we used for the kindergartener's Valentines, so you can see better just how cute he looks. His new method for getting a natural-looking smile in pictures includes hyperventilating and fake laughing. Seems to sort of work, though.

Black Bean, Kale and Butternut Squash Stew with Quinoa

2011-01-24T20:45:00.000-08:00

I made this recipe earlier this week for dinner. The previous night I made Swedish Meatballs on my sister's recommendation, and they were pretty darn delicious but very, very rich (I could really tell how rich when I got out the leftovers for lunch the next day and there was white congealed fat around the edges of the container). Something less heavy was called for, and I wanted to use the quinoa, kale and butternut squash I already had on hand. I didn't have a jalapeño, so I added a pinch of cayenne with the other dry spices. I didn't have canned tomatoes, but I did find at the back of the fridge about a third of a pint of Emerald Valley Medium Salsa that needed to be used up, plus I tossed in a few cubes of frozen tomato juice. I used chicken stock instead of veggie broth, and I tossed in a couple cups of frozen corn at the end. Served over the quinoa, topped with the cilantro, plus grated cheese, sour cream, and crumbled tortilla chips, it was delicious, satisfying but not dense or rich. And if you follow the original linked recipe and forgo my animal-y alterations, it's even vegan.

Smørbrød, or, Something to Eat When You're Tired of Turkey

2010-12-07T09:34:00.000-08:00

I hosted a dinner party on Thanksgiving weekend and wanted it to resemble turkey and trimmings as little as possible. So, a Scandinavian theme! We started the evening with gjetost on Kavli with butter and honey, and then four different smørbrød. Smørbrød (this is the Norwegian spelling; the Danes say smörrebröd) literally means "buttered bread," but has come to mean small, fancy open-faced sandwiches. Web research and cookbooks told me a smørbrød layout usually starts with fish and eggs, proceeds with liver, and then moves on to red meat, so that's what we did.

First up (ingredients in order of assembly): rye bread (I found small loaves of thinly sliced bread at the grocery store, labeled "party slices"), butter, spinach, cucumber, scrambled eggs, herbed chèvre, ivory smoked Chinook salmon, dill. To make perfect scrambled eggs, whisk 8-10 eggs with 2 oz softened cream cheese, salt and pepper until cream cheese is in small bits, then cook in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until just set.

Next: sourdough, butter, forgot the spinach, Chop chicken liver pâté with pistachios and brandy-soaked currants, homemade cranberry sauce (thanks to J's mom!), crispy onions.

Aaaaah: pumpernickel, butter, spinach, havarti, thinly-sliced rare-side-of-medium steak (this was the last steak from our 1/16, a cube steak, but I think any steak would work), tomato, plain or pickled thinly sliced red onion, minced flat-leaf parsley.

I made my own pickled red onion: halve onion pole to pole, peel, then slice very thin with a mandoline. Toss sliced onions in a small bowl with a tablespoon of kosher salt, top with a cup or two of ice cubes, then let sit for a couple of hours. Meanwhile, make a sugar-vinegar solution. I think I started out with a cup of sugar and a half-cup of vinegar, and then added another half-cup of vinegar when it seemed too syrupy and not like the refrigerator pickles I remembered my dad making when I was a kid. I think next time I'll try replacing half the vinegar with water, to make them a tad less potent. Anyway, you'll probably need to heat the vinegar some for the sugar to dissolve completely, and a quick zap in the microwave did the trick for me. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, set it aside to cool while the onions sit. After a couple of hours, pick out the ice cubes and drain the onions well, then stir them into the sweet brine. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

Finally: Trader Joe's European-style whole grain bread, butter, forgot the spinach, jarlsberg, Swedish potato sausage, sour cream, chives. This was the only combo that wasn't spot-on perfect. I think the bread was a bit dense, and the whole thing needed something to moisten and tang it up. Or maybe it just seemed bland after the very exciting steak sandwich that came before it.

Once everyone had polished off the assembled sandwiches, I hauled out all the raw ingredients (there were leftovers of almost everything other than the tomato) and let my guests build their own smørbrød until they couldn't eat any more (I was fine with just the four!):

For dessert? Riskrem, aka Norwegian Christmas Rice Pudding. I can't give you an exact recipe on this, since I didn't measure anything. Essentially, though, you cook arborio rice (maybe 1 1/2 C?) in whole milk (6 C?) with a little salt until the rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed (there should still be some, though, as the rice will continue to soak it up as it cools). Then you stir in sugar (1/2-3/4 C) and vanilla (2 t) and let cool. Then you whip a cup or so of cream and fold it in, along with (if you want) the prize almond (I skipped it this time). Serve with jam (I had rhubarb-ginger, tayberry and cloudberry) and cookies (ginger thins + Danish butter cookies).

Copenhagen Butter Cookies
from Sheila Lukins' All Around the World Cookbook

1 C unsalted butter, softened
2/3 C superfine sugar
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
2 C flour

Mix butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until thoroughly combined, but not fluffy. Mix in the flour just until it's fully incorporated. Form the dough into a log, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Either cut dough log into scant-1/4" slices, or let the dough warm up just a little before rolling and cutting. Bake at 350 until the edges are golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Finally

2010-12-06T12:43:00.001-08:00

I've finished re-uploading all the pictures to this blog. Now when you explore the archives, no more blank spots.

Thanksgiving sides and desserts

2010-11-28T09:33:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was at J&J's house this year, so they provided turkey and trimmings, and we brought side dishes and a dessert. I brought three sides: Roasted Green Beans, Cocoa-Roasted Butternut Squash and Cauliflower and Brussels Sprout Gratin. The beans and gratin were total winners (thanks to my sister for pointing me toward the gratin recipe!), but the squash wasn't nearly as good as it sounded.

Cocoa-Roasted Butternut Squash
adapted (mostly to shrink quantities--the original recipe would feed an army) from a recipe printed in Oregonian FOODday, November 16, 2010

3 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t salt
pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
scant 1/4 t cinnamon
1 t granulated sugar
2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into one-inch chunks
1 1/2 T vegetable oil
1/4 C toasted slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 375. Combine cocoa, salt, sugar and spices in a small bowl. Toss squash with the oil, then with the cocoa-spice mixture. Arrange squash on foil-lined baking sheet, then roast for 40-45 minutes or until tender. Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with almonds.

Perhaps I ended up with a particularly flavorless squash, but this didn't taste like mole sauce (as the article had promised). If I were to try it again, I would use less cocoa and swap the teaspoon of white sugar for a couple tablespoons of brown.

The dessert was a much less equivocal success. A few years back, a friend sent me a recipe, originally from Fine Cooking magazine, and I finally got around to making it.

Chocolate-Glazed Peanut Butter Tart
adapted from Fine Cooking Winter 2005

Crust:
1 C cookies ground in a food processor (about 25 chocolate wafers, 8 whole graham crackers, 35 Nilla wafers)
2 T granulated sugar
3 T unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Mix crumbs, sugar and butter until well blended (I do it all in the food processor to avoid dirtying another bowl). Press crumb mixture into a 9.5-inch tart pan, using a straight-sided steel measuring cup. Bake about 10 minutes, then let cool.

Filling:
1 1/2 C whole milk
1/4 t salt
3 egg yolks
1/3 C light brown sugar
4 t flour
1/2 C creamy natural peanut butter
1/2 t vanilla

Bring milk and salt to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks, brown sugar, and flour until well blended. Slowly add hot milk, whisking constantly. Pour mixture back into saucepan, and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens and comes to a full boil. Boil one minute, then remove from heat and whisk in peanut butter and vanilla. Pour hot custard into the crust and spread evenly. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, at least two hours.

Glaze:
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 C unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 T light corn syrup

Melt chocolate and butter in a double-boiler or bain-marie, then whisk in corn syrup until smooth. Carefully remove plastic wrap from filling, then drizzle the glaze over the filling and spread to cover whole surface of tart. Refrigerate until glaze is set, at least 30 minutes or up to 12 hours.

Quilled Snowflakes

2010-11-23T22:14:00.000-08:00

Here's a Christmas craft for you to take on when you're snowed in.

To make these four snowflakes (adaptable for use as Christmas ornaments), I used one sheet of cardstock, a rotary paper cutter, and a large tapestry needle, no special quilling tools or papers. I adapted the pattern created by Reese Dixon to make a six-pointed snowflake. I also used this snowflake-quilling template, mounted to a piece of foam-core, to help hold them steady and symmetrical (with straight pins) while the glue dried. I used a clear liquid craft glue with a fine squeeze tip, but I think as long as you're pinning them in place with the foam-core template, standard white glue, applied with a toothpick, would be fine.

Use a paper cutter or a paper shredder that only cuts in one direction to make strips of the cardstock. They can be anywhere between 1/8" and 1/4" wide, but it's better if they're not wider, and it's important that they be as even as possible. Then cut them to the lengths needed for the snowflake pattern, only make the strip for the central spiral 10" long instead of 6". I might also cut the "arm" pieces a little longer, because I like the slightly airier look of the snowflake at upper left in the picture above. Its "arm" pieces were the same length as the others, just curled a little less at the ends.

Using a needle instead of a quilling tool meant it was a little harder to get each strip started winding, but it was totally doable and pretty quick once I got the hang of it.

Basil Treats

2010-11-23T21:24:00.000-08:00

I realize it's a bit late in the year for these, since it's now frigid cold outside, but I did still see bags of fresh basil available at the local Co-op. For these two recipes, I used a large bunch of basil purchased at the farmers' market, probably half as big as my head. I've had herb and flower-flavored ice creams in the past, but the more immediate catalyst for my foray into basil desserts was a pair of French macarons I bought from Two Tarts Bakery's booth in the Portland Farmers' market. The first, purchased in early July, was a basil macaroon with fresh strawberry buttercream filling. It was transporting. In September, they still had the basil macaroons, but filled with basil buttercream. Strawberries no longer being readily available, this is the version I tried to re-create.

I started with Tartelette's basic macaron recipe, as published on Bakerella, then adapted for my circumstances (unground almonds) and preferences (basil!).

Basil Macaroons with Basil Buttercream

90 grams aged egg whites (from not-the-freshest eggs, at room temperature)
2 T granulated sugar
110 g blanched slivered almonds
200 g powdered sugar
pinch salt
leaves from 2-3 stems of basil (I used more than this, and they were very very strong)

Beat egg whites until foamy, then gradually add granulated sugar and keep beating until it forms a glossy meringue. The peaks should be fairly stiff, but it should still be shiny and wet-looking.

Process remaining four ingredients in food processor until almonds are finely ground and basil manifests itself as tiny green flecks.

Fold almond mixture into meringue, without being too gentle--you don't want little peaks to stand up when you squeeze the batter from the pastry bag onto the cookie sheet.

Put batter in a large ziploc bag or pastry bag and squeeze 1.5" circles onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Let batter-filled sheets sit at room temperature for an hour before baking at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before peeling off parchment.

Make your favorite buttercream (I'm not entirely happy with mine yet), only make it in the food processor or mini-prep, and add the leaves of a sprig or two of basil.

Basil Ice Cream
adapted from Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book

2 large eggs (or 3-6 yolks, if you want to save the whites for the macaroons)
3/4 C sugar
2 C heavy cream
1 C milk
pinch salt
leaves from half a large bunch (about 6 stems) of basil

Put cream in a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Submerge basil, remove pan from heat, and let steep 30 minutes. Strain, pressing leaves to get all the cream, then set aside to cool.

While the basil-cream mixture is steeping, whisk eggs (or yolks) until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Gradually add sugar and salt and keep whisking until completely blended, light yellow and glossy. Whisk in milk, then transfer mixture to a medium-size saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Whisk into cream, let whole mixture cool (I sometimes speed this part of the process by nestling the bowl in a larger bowl filled with crushed ice), then refrigerate in the coldest part of your refrigerator overnight. The next day, freeze in an ice cream maker. Makes about a quart.

More Banners

2010-11-23T21:13:00.001-08:00

I went a bit nuts making more banners for Cindy Lou's birthday party last month. I got carried away cutting triangles from just about every possible fabric in my stash, and ended up having to buy about 10 additional packages of bias tape. I made four more Fourth of July banners, and I was amazed at how well the other fabrics ended up falling into pretty neat categories. That way each banner would just have four to eight different fabrics in it, instead of 20. When I first starting making them, I was certain that I would end up giving a large number of them away as gifts. Once I had them all hung in the dining room, however, I wasn't sure I would be willing to part with any of them--it was like being in a circus tent.

One small note about cutting and construction: when you're folding over a piece of fabric for mass triangle cutting, make sure the first fold leaves the fabric with right sides out. That way when you're dividing your cut stack into pairs of triangles, they will already have wrong sides together, ready for stitching.

Chocolate Cheesecake

2010-11-23T17:23:00.001-08:00

Just in time for those of you considering less-traditional Thanksgiving desserts.

Killer Chocolate Cheesecake
from Luscious Chocolate Desserts by Lori Longbotham

Crust:
9-oz package chocolate wafers, broken into large pieces with your hands
6 T unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

1 lb bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (no more than 70% cocoa--I used a mixture of half 60% and half 70%)
1/4 C unsalted butter
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
3 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 C sugar
4 large eggs
pinch of salt
1 1/2 C sour cream, at room temperature
2 t pure vanilla extract

Before starting anything else, get the cream cheese, sour cream and eggs out so they can come to room temperature for a couple of hours. Then melt the chocolate and butter for the filling in a double boiler or bain-marie (steel bowl set over barely simmering water), whisking until smooth, then whisking in cocoa powder and removing from the heat to cool to room temperature.

Make sure the rack is in the middle of the oven, and preheat it to 350. Butter a 9-inch tall (3" deep) springform pan and wrap the outside with a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Have a roasting pan (big enough to hold the springform pan in about an inch and a half of water) ready, and put a kettle of water on to boil for the water bath.

Pulse the chocolate wafers in a food processor until finely ground. Add the melted butter and process until just blended. Press mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until set, then let cool on a wire rack.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer, starting on low speed and increasing to medium-high, until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add salt, then beat in the chocolate mixture until just smooth. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until smooth, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are fully incorporated. If you aren't too nervous about the raw eggs, find a helper to lick the beater.

Transfer the filling to the springform pan. Set the pan in the roasting pan, place it in the oven, and carefully pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the pan.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until the center is almost set but still slightly jiggly; do not overbake, as the cheesecake will firm as it cools. If you really, really think it's too jiggly, bake for an additional five minutes but no longer (I did an extra 10 and regretted it). Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the cheesecake cool in the water bath for 15 minutes.

Remove the springform pan from the water bath and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Remove the foil and refrigerate the cheesecake, loosely covered, until thoroughly chilled, 12 hours or overnight.

To serve, let the cheesecake stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Remove the pan sides, smooth the sides of the cheesecake with a butter knife, and cut into wedges. Very small wedges--this thing is RICH. An inch is about perfect, so this cheesecake can serve at least two dozen people.

Summer Goodies

2010-07-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

Over the last month and a half or so, I've made some yummy stuff--some repeats from before I had this blog, and one new recipe. The first two I made for a book group brunch in mid-June, and the last in two different iterations for birthday parties: strawberry in mid-June for me and my sister-in-law (our birthdays are three days apart), and raspberry at the end of June for my sister The Laundry Queen.

Strawberries in Lavender Syrup with Crème Fraîche and Lemon Sugar, from Bon Appétit, April 2005. I first came across this recipe when the magazine was new, and we were staying with Mavis's sister's in-laws in Los Angeles. I madly typed it and its companion recipes (notably Bacon-Wrapped Eggs with Polenta) into my PDA for future use at a book group brunch. I did serve them for book group in June 2005, making the strawberries the starter with small, freshly-baked scones, and serving carrot cake for dessert. This time I also served the strawberries as the starter, with fresh scones (with jam and devon cream), and for dessert we had:

Butterscotch Budino with Salted Caramel Sauce. Divine. I had this dessert at Nostrana and was transported. Imagine my delight to find the recipe online. One note--whatever you do, don't look at the version published in the LA Times, which also has the nutrition information. Really, just don't look. You don't want to know. My one quibble with the recipe was the amount of cornstarch. It seemed like a lot, and the pudding seized right up when I stirred the tempered cornstarch-egg yolk mixture into the hot saucepan. Maybe I needed to add more hot pudding to the egg yolk bowl before mixing it into the main pot, or maybe it would work with a tad less cornstarch. I'll try the first possibility before making any ingredient adjustments.

Berry Cream Cake (why type it in when someone else has gone to all the trouble?)

I got the recipe from Cook's Illustrated, but it has a lot in common with the classic Norwegian birthday cake bløtkake (check out the picture!)--maybe why I like it so much. I made it a few years ago with mixed cane berries (raspberries, marionberries and boysenberries), and I think that was my favorite of the three (7 adults polished off the whole cake with no difficulty). One note--don't stick to the weight of berries recommended in the recipe when you're making it with cane berries. I did for the raspberry version I made for my sister's birthday, and the berry : cake/cream ratio was a bit high (and the cake a bit soggy as a consequence).

Fourth of July Banner

2010-07-03T21:48:00.001-07:00

Wow! A project that I started and finished in one day! I've been seeing these homemade banners or pennant strings all over the mommy blogger universe for the last few years. They're great because a) they're easy to make; b) they can be made from whatever materials you have on hand; and c) they are limitlessly adaptable: color, shape, finishing, etc. There are lots of etsy shops selling them, but why would you buy something that's so easy to make?

Once I got the idea that I might try to make a red-white-and-blue banner, I looked through my fabric index cards to make sure I had enough different fabrics to make it work. Then I dove into the bins and pulled out anything susceptible, ranging from small scraps to pieces of a couple of yards each.

I had decided in my web "research" that I liked the look of strings made with varying sizes of pennants. I liked the body and stiffness and reversability that came from using a double layer of fabric, but I didn't want to sew the triangle pieces together with internal seams, that would require stitching, clipping, turning and ironing to make lay flat and look nice--too fussy. I preferred the look of banners made with unfinished or simply pinked edges, the triangle pieces stitched together with a zigzag stitch. You don't get much more of a no-brainer for the top string holding everything together than prefolded bias tape, and I had a extra-large, 8-yard package of scarlet double-fold bias tape--just perfect for two four-yard banners.

Once I had all my fabrics marshaled, I got out my cutting mat and rotary cutter and started cutting. For the smaller scraps, the size and orientation of the triangles was determined by the size of the scrap, but none were smaller than about four inches in length. For the bigger lengths, I cut a nine-inch or so piece off the end of the fabric, folded it in half to make the selvages meet, then continued to fold it in that direction until it was four inches or so wide--producing a many-layered rectangle with the same height and width as the desired end-result triangle. Fold in half one more time in the same direction (making a long skinny rectangle with all the cut edges together at the top and bottom), then use a quilting ruler as a guide to cut it diagonally. This should make two little piles of paired triangles, ready to be stitched together (and two half-triangles that can be discarded or tossed back into the scrap bag).

With right sides out, zigzag stitch around the two long sides of the triangles and trim hanging threads. (If I had pinking shears, I probably would have pinked the long sides of the triangles, too.) Then stitch the short side of the triangles into the middle of the bias tape, with little to no space between the top corners of the triangles, and leaving a foot or so of bias tape at each end to use when hanging the banner.

Voilà!

After making two full four-yard banners, I had just a few triangles left over, and no more scarlet bias tape. I did, however, have some red grosgrain ribbon in my Christmas wrapping box. Rather than try to fold it around the tops of the triangles, I used two lengths of it and just stitched the triangles between it. I used just navy triangles to make a short minimalist banner for above my front door:

Basic Veggie Risotto

2010-06-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

I make this for our family on a semi-regular basis, since it's a big hit with the kids and is adaptable to what we have on hand. Many recipes for risotto recommend constant stirring, but I never understood why that was until I tried making it in a non-nonstick pan. If you're lazy like I am, skip the fancy risotto pan and stick with the nonstick skillet.

Basic Veggie Risotto

1-2 T olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press
1 1/2-2 C arborio rice (or whatever your family needs)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
large pinch saffron threads, crushed
1/2 C dry white wine, if you have it
6-8 C low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth (this time I used the leftover strained pan juices from the French Roast Chicken in a Pot we had a few days earlier, about a cup diluted with water to make a quart of broth)
vegetables of your choice, steamed until just tender (this time I used carrots, broccoli, kale, asparagus and peas)
a few ounces Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
1-3 T unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Put olive oil and garlic into large nonstick skillet and heat over medium-high heat until garlic just starts to sizzle (don't let it get brown; browned garlic gives a bitter flavor).

Add rice to pan with 3/4 t or so of the kosher salt and a good amount of freshly-ground black pepper. Stir for a few minutes, until rice grains are translucent with white centers and make a sound like wet sand when stirred.

If using wine, add it now, along with saffron threads. Cook until wine is mostly absorbed and alcohol smell has dissipated, then add broth to cover, stirring well. Keep stirring occasionally, making sure rice is cooking evenly, and adding additional broth (and perhaps a little salt) as needed.

While rice is cooking, steam veggies until just tender, starting with the carrots, which take longest to cook. When veggies are done, remove from pan so they don't keep cooking while they wait for the rice to finish.

Rice is done when kernels no longer have hard centers and the mixture seems creamy (from the starch the rice has given off while it cooks). It should be a little looser than you want it to end up, as the rice will continue to absorb liquid as it cools. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and cheese, then fold in the vegetables (I put in the peas while still frozen, which helps cool the risotto to kid-edible).

Adjust seasonings, let rest for just a couple of minutes, then serve.

Sigh.

2010-05-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Chinese spammers, I'm turning on comment moderation.

Still Hung Up on Bananas

2010-05-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Seriously, do I need more potassium? Or maybe it's just that my rhubarb is a little on the slow side this year, because of our cool spring (though I did finally make rhubarb tartlets following this recipe, omitting the ginger because I'm out at the moment). Anyway, two recent banana trials were delicious.

Banana-Chocolate Bread
adapted from The New Best Recipe

As you can see from the picture, I made half a recipe (because that's how many overripe bananas I had) in two small loaf pans. Here is the recipe for one large loaf or 3-4 small loaves:

2 C flour
1 1/4 C walnuts or other nuts, chopped coarse (optional) (I omitted)
2 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, grated or chopped fine
10 T sugar
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3 large overripe bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 C)
1/4 C plain yogurt (I used whole-milk maple, but I bet buttermilk would have worked, too)
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
6 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare pans with butter and flour or baking spray. Toast nuts, if using and they aren't already toasted. Whisk together dry ingredients, including chocolate and nuts if using, in a large bowl. Mix liquid ingredients in a medium bowl. Lightly fold wet ingredients into dry with a rubber spatula until just combined, then put into loaf pan(s). Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes for a large loaf. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Next up was banana cream pie. Yes, banana cream pie!!! I initially called my sister-in-law to get the recipe of a friend she had used for a pie she brought to a church function, but it turned out that that particular pie recipe included a special brand of boxed pudding that could only be acquired at Albertson's. Once I got over my shock that this friend would rely on a mix, I decided I'd rather go it alone and make it from scratch from ingredients I already had on hand. It was sooooo, so so good.

Banana Cream Pie
adapted from The New Best Recipe

For the crust, I decided I wanted a pâte sucrée rather than a traditional pie crust, and I wanted it in a tart pan instead of a deep-dish pie pan (I don't own any regular pie pans). So I used the crust part of the Cook's Illustrated recipe for Poached Pear and Almond Tart (Sept/Oct 2002).

Pâte Sucrée

1 large egg yolk
2 T heavy cream
1/2 t vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
3/4 C powdered sugar
1/4 t salt
10 T very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Whisk together liquid ingredients in a small bowl. Combine dry ingredients in food processor with a few pulses, then scatter butter pieces over the top and pulse until the mixture looks kind of cornmeal-y and there aren't any pieces of butter larger than a small pea. Sprinkle liquid over the top and pulse until dough is just coming together. Turn dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, form into a thick disk, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 48 hours.

When you're ready to bake the shell, roll out the pastry (letting it warm up just enough to become malleable if it's been in the fridge longer than an hour) and transfer it to the pan, then freeze for 30 minutes while the oven heats up to 375. Line the dough-filled pan with greased heavy-duty foil and fill it with pie weights, place it on a baking sheet, then bake until the edges are just beginning to color, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven, very carefully remove foil and weights, and return to oven to bake another 10 minutes or so, until edges are golden. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.

Cream Filling

1/2 C plus 2 T sugar
1/4 C cornstarch
1/8 t salt
5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 C milk (2% or whole)
1/2 C evaporated milk
1 t vanilla
2 T unsalted butter

2 medium-large bananas, perfectly ripe (no green, no brown)

1 C chilled heavy cream
1 T sugar
1 t vanilla

Whisk dry ingredients in a medium saucepan. Add the yolks, then immediately but gradually whisk in the milks. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently at first, and then constantly as the mixture heats up. Once it begins to simmer, cook for one minute more (I didn't check to be sure, but based on other recipes I've seen for pastry cream, which are also thickened with egg yolks, I'm pretty sure that this would be about 200 on an instant-read thermometer). Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla. Pour the filling into a pie pan or other shallow pan and put plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the filling. Let cool 20-30 minutes.

Scrape half of the pudding into the cooled shell, smoothing into an even layer with a spatula. Slice banana 1/4-inch thick and arrange on surface of filling. Top with other half of pudding, replace plastic wrap on surface of filling, and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least three hours.

Whip cream, sugar and vanilla together until it forms soft peaks, then spread on top of filling. Cut and serve immediately. Swoon with delight.

Comfort Food

2010-03-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

Tried a couple of recipes from Smitten Kitchen this week: Sweet Potato-Sausage Soup and Chocolate Soufflé Cupcakes (I left the mint out of the cream because the boys don't like it). The soup (I added white beans to this) was a big hit at a potluck. The cupcakes were a big hit with everyone in the family, but Very. Messy. Without any flour to hold them together, they were pretty crumbly. It's also possible that I overcooked them by a minute or so. And although Deb of Smitten Kitchen said the recipe was for 9 and maybe a half cupcakes, I had 10 very full cups.

Tonight's new recipe was pulled from my stack of January/February Cook's Illustrateds. When I first get an issue, I use small flags to mark the recipes I want to try some time. I may never get around to trying everything I've marked, or, as with today's recipe, it just may take a few years for the recipe, craving and ingredients planets to align. In any case, it was DELICIOUS. All the kids liked it, too, and (almost best of all) there are leftovers for sandwiches!

All-Beef Meatloaf
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Jan/Feb 2006

3 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated on small holes
1 T unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 celery rib, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
2 t minced fresh thyme leaves
1 t paprika
1/4 C tomato juice (I used the Knudsen's Very Veggie I bought for the minestrone)
1/2 C low-sodium chicken broth
2 large eggs
1/2 t unflavored powdered gelatin
1 T soy sauce
1 t Dijon mustard
2/3 C crushed saltine crackers
2 T minced fresh parsley leaves
3/4 t table salt
1/2 t freshly-ground black pepper
1 lb ground sirloin
1 lb ground chuck (if you can't find specific cuts, go with any 85% lean ground beef; I used a bit less than 2 lbs ground grass-fed, dry-aged Black Angus from Highland Oak Farm)

Glaze
(I skipped this step for lack of time, and didn't miss it; but then, I ate my meatloaf with a little of my mom's chili sauce, which fills the same flavor niche the glaze would have)
1/2 C ketchup
1 t hot pepper sauce
1/2 t ground coriander
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
3 T packed light brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread cheese on a plate and freeze. Fold heavy-duty foil to make a 6x10-inch rectangle, and put it on a metal cooling rack over a baking sheet. Poke holes in the foil every half-inch or so. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Heat butter in skillet over medium-high heat until foaming; add onion and celery and cook until translucent and beginning to brown. Add garlic, thyme, and paprika and cook another minute or so. Reduce heat and add tomato juice, scraping up browned bits and simmering until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

3. Whisk broth and eggs in a large bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over liquid and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in soy sauce, mustard, saltines, parsley, salt, pepper and onion mixture. If cheese is sufficiently frozen, crumble it into a coarse powder and sprinkle it over the top. Add beef and mix gently with your hands until thoroughly combined, trying not to overwork it. Transfer meat to prepared foil and pat into an oval loaf about 2 inches high. Bake until center of loaf reaches 135-140 degrees, about an hour. Remove from oven and turn on broiler.

4. While loaf cooks, combine glaze ingredients in small pan. Bring to simmer over medium heat and cook until thick and syrupy. Sprad half of glaze evenly on meat with a rubber spatula, then broil until glaze bubbles and starts to brown at edges, about 5 minutes, then repeat. Let meatloaf cool 15-20 minutes before cutting.

Pasta Bolognese

2010-02-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

I think my first try with this recipe must have been before I started this blog. I hauled it back out again recently, and it was a big hit with the kids. I've made it both with and without the mushroom soaking liquid, and preferred it without, but your mileage (and mushroominess tolerance) may vary. Cook's claims this serves 4-6, but that would be a WHOLE lot of sauce per person. My family easily gets two dinners out of one batch, with next-day lunch leftovers each time to boot.

Weeknight Bolognese
adapted from Cook's Illustrated May/June 2003

1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 1/4 C sweet white wine (Gewürztraminer, Riesling, or white Zinfandel)
1/2 small carrot, peeled and roughly chopped (about 1/4 C)
1 rib celery, diced fine
1/2 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped (about 1/3 C)
3 oz pancetta, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes with juice (I use the 26-oz box of Pomi tomatoes, which don't have added firming agents)
1 1/2 T unsalted butter
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 t sugar
1 1/4 lb meatloaf mix, or some mixture of ground beef, ground veal, and ground pork
1 1/2 C 2% or whole milk
2 T tomato paste (Amore in the tube is best)
salt
1/8 t freshly ground black pepper

1. Cover porcini mushrooms with 1/2 C water in small microwave-safe bowl; cover with a small plate and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Let stand about 5 minutes for mushrooms to soften. Strain mushrooms from liquid and set both aside.

2. Bring wine to simmer in large nonstick skillet over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced to 2 T, about 20 minutes. Scrape into a small bowl and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, pulse carrot in food processor until broken down into 1/4-inch pieces. Add onion and celery and pulse until veggies are in 1/8-inch pieces. Transfer to a small bowl. Process softened mushrooms until well-ground, scraping down sides of processor bowl as needed. Transfer mushrooms to bowl with other veggies. Process pancetta until pieces are no larger than 1/4 inch, then transfer to a small bowl. Pulse tomatoes and juice until chopped fine.

4. Heat butter in large skillet over medium-high heat; when foaming subsides, add pancetta and cook, stirring frequently, until well browned. Add veggies; cook, stirring frequently, until veggies are softened but not browned. Add garlic and sugar and sauté another 30 seconds. Add meat, breaking into one-inch pieces with wooden spoon. Add milk and stir to break meat into 1/2-inch pieces; bring to simmer, reduce heat to medium and continue to simmer until most liquid is evaporated and meat is sizzling, 18-20 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook one minute. Add tomatoes, reserved porcini liquid, 1/4 t salt, and pepper; bring to simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium and simmer until liquid is reduced and sauce is thickened but still moist, 12-15 minutes. Stir in reduced wine and simmer to blend flavors, about 5 minutes.

Serve over cooked pasta with grated parmesan!

Other recent recipe tests

2010-02-27T14:44:00.000-08:00

Two from Cook's Illustrated Jan/Feb 2010 issue:

Hearty Minestrone

Table salt
1/2 lb dried cannellini beans
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
3 oz pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 medium celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3/4 C)
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3/4 C)
2 small onions, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 C)
1 medium zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 C)
2 medium garlic cloves, pressed (about 2 t)
1/2 small head green cabbage, halved, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 C) (I substituted lacinato kale here)
pinch red pepper flakes
8 C water
2 C low-sodium chicken broth (I used homemade)
1 piece rind of Parmigiano Reggiano, about 2x5 inches (this is too much! Half this much would have been better)
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 C V8 juice (I used Knudsen's Very Veggie)
1/2 C chopped fresh basil (forgot to put this in!)
freshly-ground black pepper
grated Parmesan for serving

1. Dissolve 1 1/2 T salt in 2 qts cold water in large bowl or pot. Add beans and soak at room temperature for 8-24 hours. Drain and rinse well.

Now, I had issues with my beans. After all this soaking time (probably at least 12 hours), some beans had plumped up, but others were almost exactly the same size they had started out. I don't know if this was because the beans were too old (they were newly purchased, but may have been sitting in the bulk bin for a while, who knows?), but it made the cooking time for the beans enough longer than I had planned that the soup had to be served the following night for dinner instead (I think we filled in with Taco Bell). Annoying. Next time I'll monitor the soaking beans more closely, stirring and checking during the soaking time.

2. Heat oil and pancetta in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pancetta is lightly browned and fat has rendered, 3-5 minutes. Add celery, carrot, onion, and zucchini; cook, stirring frequently, until veggies are softened and starting to brown, 5-9 minutes. Stir in garlic, cabbage (/kale), 1/2 t salt, and red pepper flakes; cook until cabbage (/kale) starts to wilt, 1-2 minutes more. Transfer veggies to plate and set aside.

3. Add soaked beans, water, broth, cheese rind, and bay leaf to same pot and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat and vigorously simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are fully tender and liquid is starting to thicken, 45-60 minutes.

I simmered vigourously, and even the beans that hadn't plumped up during soaking did eventually become tender, but it took more like two hours, and the liquid never got appreciably thicker. Grr.

4. Add reserved veggies and V8 juice to pot; simmer until veggies are soft, about 15 minutes. Discard bay leaf and cheese rind, stir in chopped basil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with a drizzle of EVOO and grated Parmesan.

The final product was pretty tasty, though overly cheesy because I used as much Parmesan rind as they called for, and probably because I simmered that huge chunk of cheese rind for twice as long as contemplated in the original recipe. Mavis and I liked it just fine, but none of the kids would really eat it.

The other trial was a much more unqualified success:

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

[I made this without any lemon at all--I didn't want anything to detract from the almond-cheesy goodness.]

Lemon Sugar-Almond Topping
1/4 C sugar
1 1/2 t finely grated lemon zest
1/2 C sliced almonds

Mash sugar and lemon zest together in a small bowl until the sugar is somewhat moistened. Stir in almonds. (Next time--since I'll almost surely never make it with the lemon--I'll figure out some way of adding moisture to the sugar, maybe a teaspoon of softened butter. Without any moisture the sugar just sits on top of the cake and falls off when you invert the pan to get the cake out.)

Cake
1 1/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/8 t baking powder
1 1/8 t baking soda
1 t table salt
10 T unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 C plus 7 T sugar
1 T finely grated zest plus 4 t juice from 1-2 lemons
4 large eggs
5 t vanilla extract (or 4, plus 1 t almond extract if you're leaving the lemon out)
1 1/4 C sour cream
8 oz cream cheese, softened

1. Spray 10-inch tube pan with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside. In stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter, 1 C plus 2 T sugar, and lemon zest at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping sides of bowl as necessary. Add 4 t vanilla (or 3 plus 1 t almond extract) and mix to combine. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients in three additions and sour cream in two, alternating dry and wet ingredients, mixing after each addition until incorporated. Remove bowl from stand and mix in any unincorporated flour with a few strokes of the spatula.

2. Scoop out 1 1/4 C batter and set aside. Spoon remaining batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Return empty bowl to mixer stand and beat cream cheese, remaining 5 T sugar, lemon juice, and remaining t vanilla on medium speed until smooth and lightened, about 1 minute. Add 1/4 C reserved batter and mix until incorporated. Spoon evenly over batter in baking pan, staying one inch away from sides of pan. Smooth top. Spread remaining reserved batter over the top and smooth. Gently swirl batter in a figure-8 motion using a butter knife, being careful not to push filling to edges of pan. Bang pan on counter 2-3 times to dislodge bubbles. Sprinkle sugar-almond topping evenly over top and press gently to adhere.

3. Bake until top is golden and just firm, and skewer inserted into cake part comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Remove pan from oven and bang on counter again to release air around filling. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 1 hour. Carefully double-invert cake, using a rimmed dish or plate, ending up with it back on the wire rack to cool completely for about 1 1/2 hours. Cut into slices and serve.

Catching Up, at least a little

2010-02-20T23:39:00.000-08:00

I've actually been cooking quite a bit lately, just not posting about it. I made caramels and mailed them to people who responded to my something-homemade challenge on Facebook:

This afternoon, I made this tart to give to one of my preschool auction dessert-a-month winners. I adapted the crust (since neither I nor my intended recipients have gluten issues), using 1 1/4 C all-purpose flour and 1/4 C white rice flour.

By using a 9-inch tart pan instead of an 11-inch one, and rolling the crust on the thin side, I was also able to make 3 four-inch tarts for my family to eat. It was pretty good. If I were ever to make it again, I might do some things differently. Maybe my bananas were too large and too ripe, but the banana overpowered both the peanut butter and chocolate flavors in the filling. Also, the recipe called for cooling the caramel to room temperature before adding the peanut butter and banana. At room temperature, the caramel I made was quite gooey, and I was only able to mix the three components together by using my immersion blender. The crust was also just okay. I need to find a good chocolate sablé crust recipe.

Cindy Lou ate every last bite of her serving, with relish. The Wizard rejected his. Newton ate all his, but said he would have preferred it to be less banana-y. I like banana-chocolate desserts, but much prefer the ones I've made in the past: the Banana Layer Cake and Banana-Chocolate Bread Pudding.

Pet Peeve Alert

2010-02-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

I promise a more substantive post soon. A friend on Facebook posted a link to a Macaroni and Cheese recipe, and the author cited this page to support her statement that "There are volume differences between both dry and wet measuring cups."

The problem is, that's just not true. I was so bothered by this that I didn't even bother to get dressed before making this video:

Crafty Christmas

2009-12-25T22:41:00.000-08:00

I took a page from Design Mom Gabrielle Blair's book and decided to have my kids make presents for each other this year. Cindy Lou, being only two, was exempt (next year!), but each boy made (or rather, helped make) a present for the other and one for their sister. I loved how they turned out.

The Wizard helped me make a no-sew tutu for Cindy Lou, following the instructions here. I think it needs a bit of a trim, so it's not bigger than the wee girl herself, and so you can see the accent pieces of sparkly dark purple tulle a little better. Next time I do it I'll cut shorter pieces to start out with, and also use a higher contrast between the two non-highlight colors of tulle (bet you didn't guess there were two shades of lavender here, did you?)

Newton made a stenciled t-shirt for the Wizard, using the method I describe here. I suppose if I'd known beforehand what design we would be using, I might have selected a different color of shirt and/or paint. I guess next year we'll plan these things a little further ahead of time.

I was at a bit of a loss as to what the Wizard could make for Newton, and in the absence of a better idea picked up a letter and acrylic paint in Newton's favorite color. Impossible to screw up, and a nice addition to Newton's bedroom decor.

Newton helped me make a bunch of ribbon rosettes for Cindy Lou, mostly attached to barrettes. I followed Design Mom's lead, and think they turned out fabulous. I didn't have a glue gun handy, so I hand-stitched mine, both to keep the flower shape and to attach them to the barrettes. After an earlier attempt with a felt-covered barrette, I had my best luck with Scunci no-slip snap clips that have a plastic gripper around the bottom part of the barrette, and attaching the barrette directly to the back of the flower without any intervening fabric. The extra-large gold rosette (6" diam) we didn't put on a barrette, but left to be pinned on a waistband. One thing Gabrielle didn't note in her post on the rosettes, though it's evident in her pictures, was that she achieved some of her fuller-looking flowers by using 2 one-yard pieces of coordinating ribbon, gathered and then wound together. That is also the case with Cindy Lou's iridescent blue-green rosette at center right (and with the extra-large gold rosette).

Apple Bacon Cheddar Scones

2009-12-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

Back in October, Burgerville's seasonal menu items all involved local apples. My far-and-away favorite of these was the Apple Bacon Cheddar Scone. I hope they'll bring them back next year, but in the mean time, I thought I'd try my own. Saturday was my first stab. I made my favorite scone recipe (adapted from Sheila Lukins' All Around the World Cookbook), adding sautéed bacon, caramelized diced apple, and grated cheddar cheese at the end. Next time I'll make it with a slightly smaller proportion of bacon and apples, and cook the apples a little less--they were caramelized enough to be chewy.

Apple Bacon Cheddar Scones
4 oz apple-wood-smoked bacon, sliced thinly, slices halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4" pieces
1 medium baking apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4" wide wedges (I used a Pink Lady; Braeburn was my runner-up, and Granny Smith would work in a pinch)
1/4 C sugar
2 C all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
3 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 C unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg, lightly beaten in liquid measuring cup
milk added to beaten egg to reach just above 1/2-cup line
4 oz. grated cheddar cheese (I used medium because I had it; I think sharper would be even better!)

Mixed diced apple with 1/4 C sugar (adjusting as necessary depending on tartness of apple). Sauté bacon over medium-low heat until most fat is rendered and it is crisp but not overly browned. Scoop bacon pieces onto a paper-towel-lined plate, and pour bacon grease in pan into a heat-proof container, leaving a small skim of melted fat in the pan. Add sugared apples and cook over medium-low heat until apples have softened, puffed, and started to brown. Scrape apples into bowl and toss with bacon pieces.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put dry ingredients in bowl of food processor and pulse a couple of times to blend. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and pulse until mixture is slightly yellow and no pieces of butter larger than pea-sized remain. Pour 1/2 C of egg-milk mixture over other ingredients (leaving a couple of tablespoons liquid in measuring cup) and pulse until dough is starting to form curds but has not fully come together. Dump contents of food processor into a large bowl, add reserved apple and bacon and grated cheddar (reserving a little cheddar to sprinkle on top of scones), and mix gently with your hands, just until the extras are mostly evenly incorporated and cohesive dough has formed. Do not overwork. Divide dough into equal halves and form each half into a round, flattened disk about 3/4" thick. Use a pastry scraper to cut each round of dough into six wedges. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet (prepared scones can be chilled and held at this point as long as overnight), brush with reserved egg-milk mixture, and sprinkle with reserved cheddar. Bake about 15 minutes, then cool a little before serving.

Classic Stuffed Turkey

2009-12-06T13:37:00.000-08:00

We had a small, quiet Thanksgiving dinner, with just our family and J&J's. It was my turn to host, so I was in charge of turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes and one dessert, with J bringing sides, rolls and another dessert. I love stuffing, so I made two whole batches, not realizing that J&J's kids wouldn't eat any (!). I was thinking about the copious amount usually consumed by my brother Rib. I love having at least part of the stuffing cooked inside the bird, so I wanted a recipe for a stuffed turkey that would still turn out moist and delicious, and decided to try the latest turkey guidance from Cook's Illustrated.

Table setup with kissing corn (kids' table visible through doorway at center-right).

Table setup with pressed-glass turkey candle holders and linens and silver from my grandmother.

Wild Rice, Apple and Dried-Cranberry Stuffing from Gourmet (made by me)

This stuffing was very good--it's pretty much just a basic bread stuffing with sautéed celery and onion and fresh parsley, sage & thyme, then some cooked wild rice, diced apple and dried cranberries stirred in. I would recommend either cooking this in the bird or keeping it covered the whole time it is in the oven--the wild rice on the edges got a bit crunchy/chewy.

Rolls rising (made by J from my great-grandmother's recipe).

Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin from Smitten Kitchen (made by J). This was delicious but very rich. Half a recipe would have been plenty for our small two-family group (again, the kids didn't eat much of it).

Old-Fashioned Stuffed Turkey from Cook's Illustrated's November-December 2009 issue.

This recipe calls for a 12-15 lb turkey, and mine was near the upper limit of that range (I did want some leftovers). A sidebar in the magazine lists the "secrets" to a great old-fashioned stuffed turkey:

1. Dry brine (rubbing turkey with salt under the skin and in the cavity 24-48 hours ahead of cooking)
2. Stab the fat deposits with a skewer to aid the rendering of fat
3. Dry rub with baking powder and salt just before roasting to encourage browning (I did not do this step, as in an earlier recipe trial of a roast chicken recommending this technique, it imparted a slight chemical taste)
4. Bard the turkey by draping strips of salt pork on its back while roasting
5. Combine stuffing cooked inside and outside the turkey (doesn't everyone do this anyway?)
6. High-heat finish for the last 45 minutes to crisp the skin.

Now, there were a couple of other small ways (in addition to number 3 above) in which I deviated from the recipe. Nevertheless, the turkey was moist and flavorful, giving off lots of fat and basically no juices during its roasting time (I poured off the grease and scraped up the brown bits to dissolve as much as I could into the gravy, straining to get out the undissolved bits; my brother pronounced it the "best gravy ever"). Here's how I did it:

Old-Fashioned Stuffed Turkey
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Nov-Dec 2009
Serves 10-12

1 12-15 lb turkey
3 T kosher salt
12 oz salt pork, cut into 1/4"-thick slices and rinsed

onion, celery, carrot and a few sprigs fresh thyme for gravy neck stock, chopped roughly

Your favorite stuffing recipe (besides the wild rice one linked above, I made a traditional stuffing with sautéed onions and celery and fresh parsley, sage and thyme. I did not make homemade bread for the stuffing this year, and missed it.)

Now, two days before Thanksgiving, having already put the turkey in the fridge to thaw several days before, you go to pull out the giblet/neck packet and salt the turkey according to the recipe. After having removed it from its wrapping, you discover that the bird is still frozen solid in the middle and completely unwilling to birth its packet. You panic and put the turkey on a rack over a broiler-pan bottom in the fridge, hoping that the direct contact with the fridge air will thaw it sufficiently by the next day.

One day before Thanksgiving, the giblet/neck packet is just barely able to be pried out of the cavity. You heat a little oil in a saucepan and brown the snot out of the neck, then sauté the chopped vegetables in the same pan, scraping up browned bits. Add the neck back in, add water to cover, and simmer for a few hours. Return to still very, very cold turkey, and rub 3 T kosher salt in cavity and under skin of breasts and legs, trying mightily not to tear it where it's become slightly dried-out and fragile from its uncovered overnight fridge stay. Cover it with plastic wrap, put it back in the fridge, and hope for the best.

Thanksgiving morning, get the turkey out of the fridge, remove plastic wrap, and hope it comes to something resembling room temperature by roasting time. Use a skewer to poke lots of little holes (1" apart) in all the thick, fatty parts of the skin on the breasts, thighs, legs and back. Prepare stuffing, then line cavities with cheesecloth and put in as much stuffing as will reasonably fit, leaving the rest in a bowl in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place turkey breast-side down on a rack in a roasting pan and drape back with slices of salt pork.

Roast breast-side down until thickest part of breast measures 130 degrees, 2-2.5 hours. Remove from oven, close door, and increase temperature to 450 degrees. Transfer turkey in rack to another pan, remove and discard salt pork, remove stuffing bag, and turn turkey breast-side up. Empty stuffing back into reserved stuffing in bowl and mix together, then put in large casserole dish. Pour drippings from pan into strainer over fat separator, scraping pan with a silicone spatula.

When oven is up to temperature, return turkey in rack to roasting pan and roast until skin is brown and crisp, thickest part of breast is 160 degrees, and thickest part of thigh is 175 degrees, about 45 minutes. Transfer turkey to carving board and let rest 30 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 400 and bake stuffing until it reaches 165 degrees in the center. Make gravy from defatted drippings, neck stock, and a well-mixed slurry of flour and water, plus some of the potato cooking water if desired, seasoning to taste (probably won't need much salt!).

This was a fabulous turkey, in spite of the stressful moments that occurred in its preparation. That overnight uncovered fridge stay that dried out the skin some made it roast up perfectly, cracklingly crisp--my brother said it was like pork rinds only better--but left the flesh moist and delicious. This is a great, easy, non-chemical-y way to get the skin really, really crisp. It did make it quite a bit harder to rub the salt under the skin, but if I'd been able to do the salting before the drying of the skin, maybe that would solve that problem? Next time will tell.

For dessert, J brought a perfectly-delicous Costco pumpkin pie and her homemade pecan dacquoise pie. and I made Banana Chocolate Bread Pudding, using leftover challah from previously having made Pumpkin Pie Bread Pudding with Bourbon Toffee Sauce for a friend. The challah wasn't left over, per se, because I did use a whole loaf for the first bread pudding, but it was left over because, after searching high and low for already-baked challah, I made my own. I guess in the middle of Thanksgiving week, all the bakeries are turned over to dinner rolls, and there wasn't any challah. I suppose I could have substituted, but I wanted to follow the recipe as closely as I could, so there I was, two nights before Thanksgiving, madly making challah late in the evening and about killing my KitchenAid in the process. Anyway, both of them turned out delicious, though I should definitely have used less than the whole loaf for the banana pudding.

And after all that effort over the bread, I couldn't muster up a couple tablespoons of bourbon for the toffee sauce, so I used Kahlua instead. Next time for the bourbon.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T21:55:00.001-07:00

Growing up, Halloween was one of our favorite holidays. Not only did we get to go trick-or-treating, my parents would make donuts! Well, spudnuts, really, made with mashed potatoes in the dough. These are traditional yeast-raised, deep-fried goodies, with a simple powdered-sugar glaze. Tonight I made a double batch, 7 dozen plus a few using the smaller of my two cutters, and we ended the evening with just five left. Several bags were delivered to friends and neighbors, and adults chaperoning trick-or-treaters also got lucky.

I don't use a deep-fat fryer or a cast-iron dutch oven to fry my donuts. I use the same tool my parents used back in the 1970s: an electric frying pan. Mine is bigger than theirs was, which speeds the process some, but not too much--it's still crucial to let the oil come back up to temperature after every panful. This built-in refractory period means adding another kitchen worker doesn't speed stuff up much, if at all.

Spudnuts
adapted from a recipe submitted to the Salem Fourth Ward cookbook, Garden of Eatin', by Pat Youngberg

2 eggs, beaten slightly
1/2 C cooled mashed potatoes
1/2 C potato water
1 C scalded milk
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C light corn syrup
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
2 t salt
3 T yeast, dissolved in 1/4 C warm water
6 C flour, plus more for kneading and rolling

Glaze:
1 lb powdered sugar
1/2 C boiling water

Mix ingredients to make a soft, sticky dough. Turn dough into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit in a warm-ish spot (I use my oven with just the light on) for two hours (don't let it go too much longer--I couldn't get back to mine for nearly an extra hour, and the dough had overflowed the bowl onto the baking stone and floor of the oven!). Knead just a little, adding flour to make the dough less sticky and workable, then roll 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a donut cutter, and put cut donuts on cookie sheets lined with waxed paper, with just a little space between, saving and rerolling the holes and other dough scraps. Let rise until doubled, just about an hour (again, not longer--those last few donuts pictured above are misshapen because the longer they rise, the stickier they get, and the harder it is to get them off the waxed paper). A half-hour before the first ones will be ready to fry, start heating the oil in your electric frying pan, with the temperature set to halfway between 350 and 375 (this helps ensure that the temperature doesn't drop much below 350; at temperatures below 350, the donuts absorb oil and turn greasy and heavy). Measure powdered sugar in a flat-bottomed bowl, and put measuring cup with water in microwave ready to heat. Arrange cooling racks over waxed paper on table for glazed donuts.

When oil is hot and donuts have risen, start frying them. Gently place dough into oil, taking care not to overfill pan (in my extra-large frying pan, I try not to do more than about 10 at a time). Turn (I use a dinner fork) when bottom side is deep golden to fry on second side. In the mean time, heat water in microwave and whisk into powdered sugar to make a smooth glaze. It should be about the consistency of olive oil. As donuts finish cooking, lift them out of pan, let some oil drip off, then place on brown paper bags or paper towels to soak up grease. When they're all out of the oil, drop one at a time into the bowl of glaze, swirling around and then flipping (I use a bamboo skewer) to get a nice coating. Lift donut with skewer in the center hole and let some glaze drip back into bowl, then place on cooling rack. Check to make sure oil has come back up to temperature while you were glazing, and then repeat until all donuts are fried and glazed.

When you are all done and the oil is cooled down to just warm, strain it (using a coffee filter or a couple of paper towels) back into its original jug and put it in the fridge. It can be used a few more times if you have another frying project within three months (latkes, anyone?), otherwise take it to be recycled into biodiesel (here in Portland you can take it to the Metro transfer station, if you don't have a regular relationship with a biodiesel processor).

Note: Do not eat the dough while cutting out the donuts. Trust me when I say you will be sorry.

Hail, Gourmet!

2009-10-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

I had printed off a couple of recipes from Gourmet, based, on recommendations of friends and other food bloggers, and have finally got around to making them. I hope they don't disappear from the web any time soon, but if the links stop working, let me know and I'll type them in.

First up, Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Fried Sage & Chestnuts. Based on my experience with adding sweet potatoes to traditionally all potato recipes (as in Orange Mashed Potatoes, Orange Potato Gratin, and Orange Latkes), I had an inkling it would be good. I made it almost exactly as written, except that I didn't roll the dough into tiny balls before rolling down the back of a fork (I didn't care if they weren't that uniform). Plus I didn't shave the chestnuts, because my chestnuts (which I had roasted, peeled, and frozen) didn't shave, but crumbled. Oh well! Anyway, this recipe was fantastically delicious, and snarfed up by all eaters, especially my mother-in-law.

Then I made not just one, but twoPear Butterscotch Pies. For my all-butter pastry, I used my adapted version of the Cook's Illustrated foolproof vodka pie crust. It was really, really good, and not nearly as sweet as the name might make you think. The brown sugar and pear juices combined to bake into a brown, almost custardy, goo. A la mode, this pie was darn-near divine.

Creepy Treats, anyone?

2009-10-18T21:50:00.001-07:00

Witches' Fingers

1 C butter, softened
1 C powdered sugar
1 egg
1 t almond extract
1 t vanilla extract
green food coloring
2 3/4 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 C whole blanched almonds
1 tube red decorating gel

Beat together butter and sugar, then beat in egg, extracts and food coloring. Stir in dry ingredients, then chill.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll one-inch ball of dough into a finger shape--thin with a thick knuckle. Press almond into one end for fingernail. Cut wrinkle slashes into knuckle with sharp paring knife.

Bake on parchment-lined cookie sheets 20-30 minutes (longer time for insulated sheets), until just starting to color. Let cool five minutes, then lift almond and squeeze gel underneath. Let cool completely (and gel set) before moving into a tin for storage.

Inspired by Africa

2009-09-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

My book group most recently read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. When I think of African food, I recall a memorable meal cooked for my family when I was a girl by Kwame, a Ghanaian student at Willamette University. It was a spicy and savory stew with chicken, tomatoes, vegetables, and what seemed to me at the time a most improbable ingredient, peanut butter. My recipe book collection completely failed me, but I found this recipe. I replaced half the sweet potato with cubed butternut squash, used a small can of diced tomatoes (drained), and browned the chicken (boneless, skinless thighs) before the onion, but otherwise stuck pretty close to it. It was delicious.

We had Como bread from Grand Central Bakery, a green salad with dried cherries, toasted slivered almonds, and chèvre with balsamic vinaigrette, and then finished with Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting. They were delicious. The one thing I would change would be the cornstarch in the frosting, which I found a little distracting.

The Last Gasp of Summer

2009-09-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

We had beautiful summer weather last weekend, so I wanted to take advantage of our bounteous local harvest and have one last patio meal. Pulled pork, buttermilk coleslaw, sautéed zucchini and corn, roasted heirloom tomato tart (this time with chèvre!), and plum cake and Honey-Caramel Peach Pie à la mode for dessert. Corn, zucchini, tomatoes and peaches--can't get much more summer than that!

The tomato tart:

Buttermilk Coleslaw
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Jul/Aug 2002

I doubled the recipe, using a whole small head of lavender cabbage that weighed just under 2 lbs.

1 lb cabbage, shredded fine (quarter, core, then shred in food processor)
Salt
1 medium carrot, shredded (I used my julienne peeler)
1/2 C buttermilk (I was just shy and used a little plain whole-milk yogurt to make up the difference)
2 T mayonnaise
2 T sour cream
1 small shallot, minced (about 2 T)
2 T minced fresh parsley leaves
1/2 t cider vinegar
1/2 t sugar
1/4 t dijon mustard
1/8 t freshly ground black pepper

Toss shredded cabbage and 1 t salt, then put in a colander over a bowl. Let stand 1-4 hours until cabbage wilts (it never seemed all that wilty to me, and it didn't express any water). Rinse cabbage under cold running water, then press gently and pat dry with paper towels (don't wring). Put cabbage and carrot in a large bowl.

Stir remaining ingredients together in a small bowl, then pour over cabbage and toss to combine. Refrigerate until chilled, then serve.

Sautéed Zucchini & Corn
adapted from recipes in Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country
makes a side dish for 8-10

a bunch of zucchini (like, 8 small--I used 2 large and 1 medium)
3 T unsalted butter
1 medium shallot, minced
4 ears sweet corn, kernels removed with a serrated knife
2-3 T chopped fresh basil
1 T olive oil
salt & pepper

Grate zucchini (I used the food processor). Toss with 1 t salt, and put in a colander over a bowl. Let sit for 30-45 minutes. It will give off a lot of water. Then squeeze out even more water by wrapping zucchini in a triple layer of paper towels and wringing (in two batches if necessary). Toss with olive oil and corn in a large bowl.

Heat butter over medium-high heat in a nonstick skillet. When foaming subsides, sauté shallot until just soft. Add zucchini and corn and sauté until tender. Top with basil and salt and pepper and serve.

The pie (my brother said it was the best crust he's had in his whole life!):

Blackberry Pie

2009-08-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

So, I made the blueberry pie recipe with blackberries instead. The berries were pretty tart, so I increased the sugar to 1 C. I remembered the egg wash on the crust this time, and the lemon juice (I still left out the lemon zest, which I almost never care for).

YUM. I've never been a pie person (except for pumpkin), but this is almost enough to convert me. In any case, it's something I'll be adding to my seasonal rotation. And other times, too (since I froze enough blackberries for another two pies).

One note to emphasize in the original recipe: they weren't kidding about letting it cool down all the way before slicing it. When first cut while still warm, the filling was pretty loose and ran out into the pie plate. But left over the next day, it sliced neatly with no big oozing.

Blueberry Pie with Vodka Crust

2009-08-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

I'd heard a lot from friends about the fabulous vodka pie crust from Cook's Illustrated. Finally I had a chance to try it for myself! At the peak of blueberry season, a local blueberry farmer sells gallon-sized zipper-lock bags FULL of blueberries at the farmers' market for a good price. I had Mavis pick one up with the idea that I would (finally) try this recipe, even though I don't personally care for blueberries. We took it to a potluck with a can of whipped cream (easier than ice cream) and it was a HUGE hit. No leftovers.

Blueberry Pie with Foolproof Vodka Crust
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Jul/Aug 2008

Foolproof Pie Dough
2 1/2 C flour, plus more for work surface
1 t salt
2 T sugar
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices (Cook's calls for 3/4 C butter and 1/4 C shortening, but I don't DO shortening, ever)
1/4 C cold vodka (absolutely necessary to this recipe; do not omit; if you can't stand to use it, switch to a different recipe)
1/4 C cold water

Process 1 1/2 C flour, salt and sugar in food processor until combined. Add butter (and shortening if you're using it) and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds. Scrape bowl with spatula and redistribute dough around work bowl. Add remaining 1 C flour and process 4-6 quick pulses to break up clumps. Empty into medium bowl.

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. Use rubber spatula to fold and press mixture into itself until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide into two evenly-sized balls and flatten into 4-inch disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 45 minutes to 48 hours.

Remove 1 disk of dough from refrigerator and roll out on generously floured work surface to 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and transfer to pie plate, easing dough down into bottom of pie plate. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

Blueberry Filling
6 C fresh blueberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated on large holes
2 t grated zest and 2 t juice from one lemon (I omitted this and it didn't kill it)
3/4 C sugar
2 T instant tapioca, ground in spice grinder or mini food processor
2 T unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

egg wash (egg lightly beaten with 1 t water) (I omitted this too, just because I forgot, and it didn't kill it)

Adjust oven rack to lowest position (oops, forgot that too), put rimmed baking sheet on rack, and preheat oven to 400. Put 3 C berries in medium saucepan over medium heat. Mash with potato masher to start releasing juices. Cook, stirring and mashing occasionally, until mixture is thickened and reduced to 1 1/2 C. Let cool slightly.

Put grated apple in clean kitchen towel and wring dry. Put in large bowl. Add cooked berries, uncooked berries, lemon zest and juice, sugar, tapioca, and salt. Toss to combine, then put in dough-lined pie plate and scatter butter pieces over filling.

Roll out second disk of dough on floured work surface to 11-inch circle. Cut 7 small circles out of dough with 1 1/4-inch cutter. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll over pie. Roll top layer of dough over bottom layer of dough, crimp and flute. Brush with egg wash. Put on heated baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 and bake until juices bubble and crust is golden, 30-40 minutes more. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, cut into wedges and serve.

Next up--I'll try this same recipe with blackberries. Don't know why it shouldn't work.

Homemade Gyros

2009-08-22T21:14:00.000-07:00

Another winner from Cook's Illustrated. Not a huge hit with any of the kids, but Mavis and I thought it was delicious. We bought ground,locally-raised lamb at the farmers' market, plus local lettuce and cherry tomatoes.

Homemade Gyros
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Jul/Aug 2007

4 large pitas (I made my own)
1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped
4 t fresh lemon juice
1/2 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1 T minced fresh oregano leaves (mine dried up in the heat, so I used 1 t dried--from a jar, not from the backyard)
2 med cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press (about 2 t)
1 lb ground lamb
2 t vegetable oil
Tzatziki sauce (below)
1 large tomato, sliced thin, or 1/2 pt cherry tomatoes, halved
2 C shredded iceberg or romaine lettuce
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/2 C)

Preheat oven to 350. Cut top quarter off each pita bread, and tear into one-inch pieces (about 3/4 C total). Stack pitas and wrap tightly in foil. Process onion, lemon juice, salt, pepper, oregano, garlic and pita pieces in food processor until they form a smooth paste. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, and then mix in lamb with hands until thoroughly combined. Divide meat mixture into 12 equal pieces and roll into balls, then flatten to make 1/2-inch-thick mini-patties (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter).

Put foil-wrapped pitas directly on oven rack and heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add patties and cook until well-browned with a crust, 3-4 minutes.

Flip patties, reduce heat to medium, and cook another five minutes or so, until browned and crusty on the second side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.

Using soup spoon, spread 1/4 C Tzatziki Sauce inside each pita. Divide patties among pitas, then top with tomato, lettuce and feta. Serve immediately.

Tzatziki Sauce

1 C plain whole-milk yogurt (Brown Cow is best!)
1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced fine (about 1/2 C)
3/8 t salt
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 med garlic clove, pressed through garlic press (about 1/2 t)
1 T freshly chopped mint or dill (I used mint)

Line fine-mesh strainer set over deep bowl with 3 paper coffee filters or 3 layers of paper towel. Spoon yogurt into lined strainer, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine cucumber, 1/8 t salt, and lemon juice in colander set over bowl and let stand 30 minutes.

Discard strained liquid from yogurt and cucumber. Combine thickened yogurt, drained cucumber, remaining 1/4 t salt, garlic and mint in clean bowl.

Summer Picnic Fare

2009-08-20T22:45:00.001-07:00

Love me a good picnic. We recently attended one with just the right number of people (6 families, plus a few extra folks), just the right weather (not too hot, not too chilly), and lots of good food. I took three things to share: Picnic Chicken, Three-Bean Salad, and The Thin (crispy buttery chocolate chip cookies--perfect if, like me, that's the kind of chocolate chip cookie you like, although even the folks who claim to love gooey chewy cookies didn't exactly struggle to get them down). No pictures because we were in a hurry to get out the door, as usual.

Picnic Chicken
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Jul/Aug 2006

5 lbs or so chicken pieces (I cut up two 3.5-pounders, saving the wings and backs for stock), breasts cut into 2-3 pieces, trimmed of excess fat and skin (leave some skin on each piece, just cut off the hanging fatty flaps), short slits cut into remaining skin but not into the flesh

2 T kosher salt
3 T brown sugar
2 T chili powder
2 T sweet paprika
2 t ground black pepper
1/4-1/2 t cayenne (less if you're serving kids)

Mix dry ingredients, then coat chicken pieces, under skin as well where possible without completely dislodging skin. Put chicken on wire rack over rimmed baking sheet, tent with foil, and refrigerate 6-24 hours. It must be at least six hours, or the moisture will not have had a chance to migrate back into the meat (I can explain at greater length if you're puzzled, but trust me, this is a crucial step to the recipe and cannot be shortcutted).

When ready to cook, heat oven to 425. Roast chicken until thickest part of smallest piece reaches 140 on an instant-read thermometer, about 14-20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 500 and roast until thickest parts of breast pieces reach 160, 5-8 minutes, removing pieces as they finish and transferring to clean wire rack. Roast dark meat until thickest parts register 170-175, 5 minutes or so longer. Transfer to rack and let cool completely before refrigerating or serving.

The next time I make this recipe, I will probably eliminate or nearly so the cayenne pepper (too spicy for the kids), and I will either try it on the grill or use a broiler pan. Cleaning the baked-on chicken juices from my cookie-cooling rack was a major chore (lovingly undertaken by my husband). And for sure I will line whatever I cook it on with foil--my cookie sheet will probably never recover.

Three-Bean Salad
adapated from Cook's Illustrated Jul/Aug 1999

1 C red wine vinegar
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C canola oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press
1 t salt
freshly-ground black pepper
8 oz fresh green beans, stemmed and cut into one-inch pieces
8 oz fresh yellow wax beans, stemmed and cut into one-inch pieces
1 15-oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 medium red onion, chopped fine
1/4 C minced fresh parsley leaves

Heat vinegar, sugar, oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Transfer to a large nonreactive bowl and cool to room temperature.

Blanch green and yellow beans in salted boiling water for 3-5 minutes, depending on thickness of beans. Shock in ice water to stop cooking, then drain well.

Add all beans, onion and parsley to dressing and toss well to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight to blend flavors, then let come to room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving.

Pasta with Summer Squash Redux

2009-08-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

I made this recipe again, and I remembered to take a picture. Just barely (this is the last of the leftovers).

Too bad the kids are on an anti-zucchini kick.

Rice Salad

2009-08-09T00:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had some of the sockeye salmon my dad caught in Alaska on his birthday fishing trip, fresh sweet corn on the cob, and a rice salad with cauliflower, currants, almonds and peach. Amazing what happens when I decide what I want to make before sending Mavis to the farmers' market.

Curried Rice Salad
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Jul/Aug 2000

1 C basmati rice
1 1/2 t salt

Bring a few quarts water to a boil in a large saucepan. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot, then toast rice in dry skillet for five minutes or so. Carefully add rice and salt to boiling water and cook, uncovered, 10-12 minutes until rice is tender but not soft. Drain rice in fine-mesh strainer or colander, then spread in a foil-lined baking sheet to cool while preparing other ingredients.

2 T canola oil
2 C small cauliflower florets (about half a small to medium head)
1 T curry powder
1 t salt
1/4 C currants
1/2 C chopped roasted almonds (recipe originally called for cashews)
1 medium peach, peeled and diced (recipe originally called for mango)
3 T minced chives (I had considerably less than this because mine dried up in the heat)
1/4 t ground black pepper

Heat oil in skillet over high heat until just shimmering. Add cauliflower, curry powder, and 1/2 t salt and cook, stirring, for about a minute, until curry coats cauliflower. Add currants and 1/4 C water, stir, cover, reduce heat slightly, and cook for a few minutes, until water evaporates and cauliflower is tender. Transfer cauliflower to a large bowl, stir in rice and other ingredients, including remaining 1/2 t salt. Let stand 20 minutes to blend flavors before serving.

Chicken & Potatoes a New Way

2009-08-06T23:12:00.000-07:00

As you may have heard, last week in Portland was too hot to do much of anything, let alone cook. But I had all this food Mavis had bought, and I needed to cook it. Plus, The Laundry Queen and her family were coming to visit, and I didn't feel like serving or eating anything we might have gotten for takeout. So, roast chicken and scalloped potatoes it was. Not really summery, except that we cooked it on the grill.

There's nothing particularly difficult about roasting a chicken on the grill. Prepare it the way you would to roast in the oven. For me, that usually means just a little salt and pepper, and maybe a little softened butter. This time I happened to have some leftover all-purpose grill rub (I'm not even sure what was in it any more), so I rubbed it all over the skin and under the skin on the breast.

Start a chimney full of briquettes, and when they're ready spread them evenly on both sides of the grill, leaving a space wide enough for the chicken in between. To make absolutely sure they'll last long enough for the chicken, spread a few unlit coals over the top. Heat, scrape and oil the grate, then place the chicken breast side down and close the lid, with top vents half open. For a chicken around four pounds (the size I usually do, which usually makes two dinners for us), leave it alone for a half-hour. Flip it over on its back and cook, lid closed, at least another half-hour before taking its temperature. When it's 165 in the breast and thigh, pull it off and tent with foil to rest.

Now for the potatoes. They were inspired by a recipe The Laundry Queen saw on the Pioneer Woman blog.

Grill-Scalloped Potatoes

2.5 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into one-inch cubes
1-2 garnet sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into one-inch cubes
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1/2 t sweet Spanish paprika
1/2-3/4 C heavy cream
kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
several tablespoons butter

Toss all ingredients except for butter in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Divide evenly between two or three large pieces of heavy-duty foil, put a blob of butter (2-3 T per pouch) on top, and bring sides up to make fairly-well-sealed-but-still-openable and fairly flat pouches. Put them directly over the coals on either side of the chicken when you flip the chicken over. Roast until tender and starting to brown, stirring once or twice during cooking.

DIVINE Chocolate Cake

2009-07-25T22:29:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the Wizard's birthday tonight in the back yard. Once again we had pulled pork sandwiches* with cole slaw, corn on the cob, watermelon, a few chips, and some delicious baked beans brought by friends (need to get that recipe!).

Dessert, though, oooooohhhhhhh. I made a recipe that's been in my queue for quite a while: Chocolate-Buttermilk Layer Cake. It appeared in Portland Monthly in February of 2008. Instead of both filling and frosting it with ganache, I cut the cake into four layers and used ganache for all three layers of filling, and frosted the top and sides with Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting. We also had The Cupcakes, also with cream cheese frosting, because we had enough guests that just one dessert I thought would not be sufficient. As it turned out, just the cake would have been enough if I had cut it in the small pieces its richness warranted. The size pictured is too big even for a chocoholic like me, and even with vanilla ice cream to cut the richness.

Chocolate-Buttermilk Layer Cake
adapated from Portland Monthly Mag

3 C unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 T baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 C cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/3 C canola oil
1 1/2 C buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 C freshly-brewed, extra-strong hot coffee (I made instant coffee at about 150% the strength recommended on the jar)
1 t vanilla
16 oz bittersweet chocolate (24 oz if using for one layer of filling and top and sides of cake)
1 C heavy cream (1 1/2 C if using for one layer of filling and top and sides of cake)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

2. Put dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer, and mix with paddle attachment at low speed to combine. Keep mixer on low speed and add oil, buttermilk, and eggs one at a time. Add hot coffee in a thin stream, pouring down the side of the bowl. Add vanilla, scrape sides of bowl with rubber spatula, and mix just until smooth. Divide between pans and bake until a toothpick comes out of the center with moist crumbs, 40-45 minutes (original recipe says 30-35, but the cake wasn't close to done at that point). Let cool in pans 10-15 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely, peeling parchment off bottoms of layers but putting cakes right side up on rack.

3. Put cream and chocolate (chopped if necessary) into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for one minute. Stir well, then microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Stir until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is glossy and dark, zapping another 15-30 seconds if absolutely necessary. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

4. Trim cooled cakes just a little, so they're not too domed, then carefully cut in half horizontally with a serrated bread knife. Before separating the layers, cut a small notch in the side to line up when reassembling the layers after filling, since almost no one cuts that perfectly. Put one bottom layer on a cake plate, placing strips of waxed paper under the edges. Top with one-third of the ganache, and spread to within one half-inch of the edge. Place matching top layer, lining up notch, and top with another third of the ganache. Repeat with second split layer of the cake. Put filled layers of cake in fridge for 15-30 minutes to set ganache a little before icing.

5. Apply crumb coat of cream cheese frosting to sides and top of cake. Refrigerate for 15 minutes more, then spread remaining frosting on top and sides of cake. Refrigerate a couple of hours before serving.

*You don't need a recipe for the pulled pork, right? I bought a boneless Boston butt (big pork shoulder roast) from our favorite farmers' market pork purveyor, and coated it with a little oil and salt and pepper. I made a big fire in one side of the grill (charcoal, of course) and seared the snot out of it last night, then moved it to the cool side for 60-90 minutes. Around midnight, I put it in a roasting pan, covered it tightly with foil, and moved it into a 250-degree oven overnight. At 9 this morning I wrapped it tightly in foil and put it into a cooler to rest and cool slowly until this afternoon. It was just cool enough to handle, so I separated out the fat and the crispy parts with my fingers, then shredded the meat with two forks. I mixed in a little sauce, and served more on the side. This time the sauce was bottled (Cook's Illustrated's top choice, Bulls-Eye, now made without HFCS!), but last year I made a ketchup-based sauce from a Cook's Illustrated recipe. The coleslaw was made using the recipe on the side of the bagged coleslaw package. Maybe for a future year (we'll have this for the Wizard's birthday every year as long as he goes along) I'll make a fancier scratch coleslaw, and bring back that scratch sauce.

Northwest-Indian Fusion

2009-07-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

Or at least my attempt. For our book group meeting to discuss White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, I chose an Indian-inflected menu. Oh, it was nothing like the women in Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake, slaving all morning to put on a lunch spread of many dishes. I made a Salmon Biryani, substituting skinless Columbia River Chinook filets for the chicken in the Chicken Biryani recipe, skipping the browning step. I'm pretty sure they don't have salmon in India (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong), but if they did they would put it in a biryani like this. The raita (yogurt sauce as it's called in the recipe) was divine as always. I served it with Curried Cauliflower:

Ginger-Curry Cauliflower
adapted from Real Simple magazine

1 head cauliflower, broken into bite-sized florets
2 T olive oil
1 T unsalted butter
2 t grated fresh ginger root
2 t curry powder
1 t turmeric
1/2 t kosher salt (recipe originally calls for 1/4 t, but it wasn't enough)
1/4 C fresh bread crumbs
1/4 C chicken broth (optional; I've made it both with and without and it turned out fine either way)
1 T fresh parsley, minced (optional; if I'd remembered to save any of the mint and cilantro from the other menu items I'd have used that instead)

Steam cauliflower until fork tender. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ginger, curry powder, turmeric, and salt and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add bread crumbs and cook another minute. Add cauliflower (and broth, if using) and cook until any liquid is absorbed and cauliflower is well-coated. Remove from heat and toss with parsley or other herbs, if using.

We had a palate-cleansing simple salad of baby greens, dried cherries and hazelnuts in balsamic vinaigrette, then finished with mixed berries (raspberries, boysenberries, marionberries and blueberries, purchased at the farmers' market that morning) over vanilla ice cream. Yum!

More Rhubarb

2009-06-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

Rhubarb season is still going strong, and will be for quite a while yet. If we weren't leaving on vacation this week, I'd probably make and can Rhubarb-Ginger Jam, and Rhubarb-Ginger Chutney. But alas, no such luck, although maybe with another sort of luck the rhubarb will still be good when we get back from our travels.

This week I had two rhubarb dessert plans involving rhubarb, so I went to the garden and pulled a few of the largest stalks.

First up, for a movie screening we attended Friday (of Nobody Knows: the Untold Story of Black Mormons) was a remake of Rhubarb-Ginger Tart, which I first invented a couple of summers ago. This time I baked it in eight smaller tart shells, doubling the original recipe, and I remembered to take pictures.

Here is the rhubarb macerating with the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and ginger:

And the baked tarts (which were a huge hit topped with vanilla ice cream):

I also decided to try rhubarb ice cream, based on the Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream I made, once again this year, for the end-of-season potluck. I made 2.5 batches of the Sweet Cream Base, then mixed in one recipe of the Stewed Rhubarb, and froze it in my big ice cream maker. It was none too rhubarb-y; next time I'll try it with a slightly bigger batch of Stewed Rhubarb--definitely not double, but maybe 1.5 times as much.

The rhubarb macerating before stewing:

The eggs, sugar and milk before heating to 180 degrees over medium heat:

The finished product:

The cake we ate it with (the Fluffy Yellow Cake I used in the Rhubarb Cream Cake, with the chocolate frosting that accompanied it in Cook's Illustrated):

Macaroons Again

2009-06-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

I used the last of my leftover egg whites for another double batch of macaroons today, this time from whole roasted almonds. I haven't filled any with ganache yet, and they are already incredibly delicious. Roasty, chewy, really, really nutty. I've eaten about a dozen (they are only 1.5" across) already.

PS They were even better with the ganache!

Rhubarb Cream Cake Variation

2009-05-26T22:39:00.000-07:00

Had a pleasant surprise at the farmers' market on Saturday: local Hood strawberries! Not as good as they'll be in a couple of weeks, but still almost-indescribably delicious. So I modified the two rhubarb cream cakes I made this weekend to include some. I still used the rhubarb-custard mixture for the top and bottom layers of filling, but changed to middle layer to a little of the cream plus sliced and sugared strawberries. We saved a few pretty strawberry halves for the top.

Here's a shot that shows how unstable the cake can be when cut. I stabilized the cake I made to give away on Saturday with a few bamboo skewers, which I'd highly recommend if you want to avoid severe layer slippage as seen here.

Almond-Hazelnut Macaroons

2009-05-23T23:38:00.001-07:00

I make macaroons a lot (basically whenever I have leftover egg whites), but I've never posted the 100% complete recipe here (I did sort of post it, but the details of making them came out in the comments, and at least one important detail was omitted).

I detest coconut, and so never really ate the macaroons most commonly available here in the US. In Russia, though, I bought a hazelnut macaroon on the street, and LOVED it. In the last few years fancy bakeries have started making them here in Portland. One popular place makes them in pastel colors with delicate flavors and buttercream filling. They're good, but fairly insubstantial. I like something with a bit more oomph: crunch, chew, and nut flavor. So, it didn't take much convincing for me to try the recipe for macaroons in The Dessert Bible. I've deviated from the original in ways that some might consider pretty major, most notably by using a) roasted and b) natural (not blanched) almonds. This is all by way of boosting the nut flavor; I'm afraid I wouldn't like traditional macaroons using raw blanched almonds nearly as much.

One reason I've made so many macaroons is that I had a huge amount of diced roasted almonds I'd purchased several years ago (I can feel the Laundry Queen cringing!) at a deep discount directly from the Blue Diamond growers' collective. I'd been storing them in my freezer (where you should always store all nuts, raw or roasted), but they really needed to get used up. After several recent batches (using up the egg whites generated as a side product of the Rhubarb Cream Cake), I finally ran out of diced roasted almonds while measuring out the nuts for today's batch! Fortunately I had several pounds of roasted hazelnuts on hand, so used almost half hazelnuts this time around. These macaroons are probably my favorite ever. Ever.

Chewy Nut Macaroons
adapted from The Dessert Bible

1 3/4 C nuts, preferably roasted, either with or without skins, with at least half of the nuts almonds
1 1/4 C granulated sugar
pinch salt
3 egg whites, at room temperature
1 t almond extract (or vanilla extract if using other kinds of nuts)

Ganache Filling:
3 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 T heavy cream

Process nuts with sugar and salt in food processor until finely ground. Add egg whites and flavor extract, and process until batter is smooth. Transfer to a pastry bag, and pipe 1.5-2.5" circles of dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Let sit at room temperature for at least an hour and not longer than two. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Bake macaroons, one sheet at a time, until firm, fragrant, and just starting to brown at edges, 30 minutes on insulated sheets. Let cool completely before peeling off parchment (otherwise you'll leave cookie on the paper).

To make ganache filling, put chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir thoroughly, and microwave in additional 30-second increments as needed, stirring well in between, until perfectly smooth. Sandwich cookies around a little ganache filling, and let it set before eating if you want to avoid chocolate oozing.

I regularly make these in a double batch, but I think trying to do more at once would severely risk quality (not to mention overworking your food processor!).

Rhubarb Cream Cake

2009-05-17T22:45:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't been posting much lately, but this one is worth the wait. I first made this cake last week for a church fundraising auction, and it went for $50. Time constraints meant I didn't photograph it, and since someone else bought it I didn't get to taste it, either. Reports from the eaters were favorable enough, however, to warrant making it again. I didn't take pictures of the process, but here is the final product:

Mmmm, let's look a little more closely:

I'll tell you right now, it tasted every bit as good as it looked. And yes, I use the past tense advisedly--our barbecue crowd polished this thing off in a matter of minutes.

This cake was inspired by a recipe from a couple years back in Cook's Illustrated for Strawberry Cream Cake. I've never actually made the cake with strawberries, but I did make it once with mixed berries (raspberries, boysenberries, marionberries) (huge hit, polished off in its entirety by 7 people), and once with peaches. The peach version was tasty, but not nearly so much as the berry version. It struck me that the tart/acidic punch of the berries was a key component in what made it so good. And what fruit is more tart than rhubarb? But I didn't think the original cake would translate directly into a rhubarb version, so some changes would be necessary.

The berry cream cake has exposed whole berries lining the edges of the filling layers, and no frosting on the sides. But rhubarb doesn't lend itself to this treatment, so I decided I would frost the sides of the cake. The frosting for the original cake was whipped cream stabilized with cream cheese, and it is perfectly dreamy. I knew for sure that I wouldn't tinker with that. The cake in the original recipe was a single layer of chiffon, cut into three layers, but I thought a bit softer cake would better complement the strong rhubarb. So I switched it out for two layers of Fluffy Yellow Cake (also from Cook's), each cut into two layers. For the filling, I used two recipes from The Cook's Dessert Bible: stewed rhubarb and pastry cream. Then I mixed them together for a rhubarb pudding filling.

Now, with pudding, cake, and cream, this cake ends up more or less a trifle without the bowl. The filling tends to make the layers slip, so maybe it would be better in a bowl as a trifle. But however you put the elements together, it's delicious.

Make the rhubarb and pastry cream the night before, so they have plenty of time to chill before assembling the cake.

Stewed Rhubarb
adapted from The Dessert Bible

1 lb rhubarb, trimmed, cleaned, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 C sugar
2 T honey
2 T lemon juice

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan and let sit, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb has released its juices and most of the sugar is dissolved, a couple of hours. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Remove lid and keep simmering, stirring very occasionally, until thick and jammy, 15-20 minutes.

Pastry Cream
adapted from The Dessert Bible

1 pt half and half
6 large egg yolks (reserve whites to make macaroons later!)
1/2 C sugar
3 T flour
1/8 t salt
2 t vanilla

Heat half and half on stovetop or in microwave until just about to simmer. Whisk together flour, sugar and salt, then whisk dry ingredients into the egg yolks in a medium saucepan until smooth and pale yellow. Very slowly add the hot half and half to the yolk mixture, whisking constantly.

Put pan on stove over low heat and heat until mixture reaches 180 degrees, whisking constantly (no kidding, CONSTANTLY, or you will regret it). Strain into a bowl, stir in vanilla, then put waxed paper or plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding and let cool.

Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake
adapted from Cook's Illustrated, March/April 2008

10 oz (about 2 1/2 C) cake flour
1 1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
3/4 t table salt
1 3/4 C sugar
10 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 C buttermilk, room temperature
3 T vegetable oil
2 t vanilla
6 large egg yolks + 3 large egg whites, room temperature

The eggs are easier to separate when cold, so put three whites in bowl of stand mixer, three whites in container to save for making macaroons later, and six yolks in a four-cup Pyrex measuring cup with the buttermilk. Let sit for a couple of hours to come to room temperature.

Melt butter and let cool slightly (it took 30 seconds plus just a little stirring to melt room temperature butter in my microwave). Preheat oven to 350 and prepare two nine-inch round cake pans (either baking spray, or butter and flour; the original recipe calls for lining the bottoms of the pans with parchment as well, but I had good luck without). Whisk together flour, 1 1/2 C sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk butter, oil and vanilla into measuring cup with buttermilk and egg yolks.

Beat three egg whites with whisk attachment until foamy, then gradually add 1/4 C sugar with mixer running. Scrape sides of bowl, then beat at medium-high speed until mixture just forms stiff peaks (it should still look moist, not dry). Scrape beaten whites into a small bowl, then return mixer bowl to machine.

Dump dry ingredients into mixer bowl. With mixer running at low speed, gradually pour in buttermilk mixture and blend until just incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl, then mix on medium-low speed until smooth, 10-15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer, and use spatula to gently mix in one-third of the egg whites to lighten the mixture. Then gently fold in remaining egg whites just until no streaks remain. Divide batter between pans, drop pans from 2 inches to dislodge big air bubbles, and put pans in the oven on the middle rack. Bake until a toothpick just comes out clean, about 30-32 minutes, rotating pans after 15 minutes. Cool on rack in pans 10 minutes, then take out of pans and cool completely on rack, at least an hour.

Cheesy Whipped Cream
adapted from Cook's Illustrated, May/June 2006

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 C sugar
1 t vanilla
1/8 t salt
1 pt heavy cream

Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and salt in stand mixer with whisk attachment until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add cream in a steady stream. Stop mixer to thoroughly scrape sides, and mix at medium speed until just blended. Then increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture forms stiff peaks.

To assemble the cake, use a serrated knife to cut each cake layer in half horizontally, holding knife steady and rotating cake. Stir together rhubarb and pastry cream. Put one cake layer on serving plate and top with a thick layer of rhubarb pudding (less than one-third of the total; there will be some left over). Repeat with remaining cake layers. Using a straight icing spatula, spread a thin layer of cheesy cream over the sides of the cake. If it's warm in the kitchen, chill the cake for 10 minutes, then apply a thicker layer to the sides. Scrape remaining cream onto the top of the cake and use spatula to spread to edges. Refrigerate whole cake for a couple of hours before serving.

Salmon-Asparagus Salad

2009-04-25T22:47:00.001-07:00

I've made something similar to this in the past, but somehow never posted about it. I was in Utah this weekend and needed to do something with a filet of Costco salmon. Here's my solution, which also uses fresh in-season asparagus. In late summer and fall, when asparagus isn't so plentiful, it tastes great with green beans.

Salmon-Asparagus Salad
loosely inspired by The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

1 filet (approx 2.5 lb) salmon
1 large bunch (2 lb? How big are the packages at Costco?) asparagus, ends snapped off and snapped into two-inch pieces

Spray salmon with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 400 degrees until just firm and opaque throughout. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate. Blanch asparagus pieces in boiling water for 30-90 seconds, depending on thickness of spears. Let cool and refrigerate also.

juice of one lemon
twice as much olive oil as lemon juice
1 pkg fresh dill, leaves stripped and minced (about 3-4 T)
3 T capers, minced
2 ribs celery, diced fine
1/2 red onion, chopped fine
1/2 or more English cucumber, cut into quarter-rounds
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Mix lemon juice, olive oil, dill and capers with some salt and pepper, then stir in remaining ingredients and reserved salmon and asparagus. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Banana Layer Cake--We Have a Winner!

2009-04-23T21:53:00.001-07:00

As promised, I tried again to make the banana layer cake I was imagining: moist, with a strong banana flavor, but not dense like a quickbread. I wanted something rich enough not to cry out for whipped cream or ice cream or any kind of sauce, and I thought it would be nice if chocolate played a role in there somewhere. Eureka. Today I made the Banana Layer Cake recipe from The Gourmet Cookbook (you know, the big yellow one, with the retarded yellow ink color for the internal titling). It turns out a three-layer banana cake with cream cheese frosting and banana slices in the filling. I made it pretty much by the book, with a little less sugar in the frosting, and added a layer of chocolate ganache in the filling on top of the banana slices. It was divine, if possibly a little too rich. You won't want a big slab of this one.

Banana Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Banana-Ganache Filling
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

Ganache Filling:

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or I use chocolate that comes in pastilles, so no chopping required)
6 1/2 oz heavy cream

Put chocolate and cream in a glass bowl and microwave on high for one minute. Stir well, then microwave for 30 more seconds and stir until all chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and glossy, microwaving for an additional 30 seconds if absolutely necessary. Set aside, stirring occasionally, until room temperature and thick enough to spread easily but not drip or ooze, using refrigerator judiciously to hurry process.

Cake:

2 1/4 C sifted cake flour
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 C mashed very ripe bananas (about 2 large)
1/4 C plain whole-milk yogurt (I prefer Brown Cow)
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 C sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350, and prepare three round cake pans (the original recipe calls for 8-inch pans, but I used 9-inch pans and got thinner layers in less time). Sift flour into measuring cups, then stir together with baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Mash bananas in a small bowl, then whisk in yogurt and vanilla. Set aside both bowls.

Beat butter and sugar at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternate adding flour and banana mixtures, starting and ending with flour and mixing at low speed just to combine, scraping sides of bowl often.

Divide batter evenly among pans and smooth tops. Bake, switching positions of pans mid-way through for even cooking, 18-22 minutes, until just springy to the touch and a tester comes out clean (15-18 minutes for 9-in layers). Cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes, then invert layers onto racks to cool completely.

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 t salt
2 1/2-3 C powdered sugar

4 ripe but firm bananas

Beat butter and cream cheese in stand mixture with whisk attachment until light and fluffy, 6-7 minutes. Beat in vanilla and salt, then gradually add sugar, scraping sides of bowl often, until thoroughly blended and fluffy.

To assemble the cake, put one layer, top side down, on cake plate. Put waxed paper under edges of cake to keep plate clean. Spread top of cake with a thin layer of cream cheese frosting, just enough to cover. Slice bananas thinly on the diagonal and arrange slices in a spiral pattern almost to edges of cake. Top bananas with half the ganache, and spread to within 1/2 inch of the edge (not flush with the edge as shown in the picture below--I had more ooze out the sides than would have been ideal). Repeat with second layer, then place third layer on top.

Spread sides of cake with a thin crumb layer of cream cheese frosting to contain filling and keep chocolate streaks from appearing. Refrigerate cake 1/2 hour to firm up crumb layer before proceeding.

Spread a nice 1/4" layer of frosting around the sides of the cake using a straight spatula, then scrape remaining frosting onto top of cake and smoothe to edges.

Refrigerate an hour or two to firm everything up, then serve.

Street of Eames

2009-04-19T16:33:00.000-07:00

I went to this yesterday, thanks to Melissa giving me her ticket. It was awesome. I mean, just look at this ticket:

I tried to get the angle of the light just right so you could see the quality of the print job. Way cool. I went to six of the seven houses on the tour, and could have seen myself living in more than one. Many of them featured radiant heating in the floors, which I plan on incorporating into a future project at my house. One of them had a turntable in the driveway (!) which we'll never do here because we don't have a driveway to speak of, but it was super-kewl.

The best part about the whole thing? It's a benefit for homeless kids in Portland Public Schools. I can't imagine why I haven't gone before, but I'll be sure to go again. And again.

"Reading"

2009-04-19T16:27:00.001-07:00

She's only just started to learn a couple of letters, but that's not going to keep Cindy Lou from reading. I wish I'd gotten footage of her just before this, when she was "reading" every page. I was afraid to move into a better position and distract her into quitting. Unfortunately the Wizard spotted my attention shift and had lots of things to tell me.

Banana Layer Cake #2

2009-04-16T00:08:00.001-07:00

I tried that banana layer cake again (my notes from the first attempt here, with a link to the original recipe. This time I used (per Lindsey's suggestion) four whole eggs instead of seven egg whites. Unfortunately the cake was still (to my taste) too dry and too tender, and not banana-y enough. The ganache turned out a little better, but still not perfect. I used plain diced roasted hazelnuts instead of candied pecans in the filling, and that was a total winner of a choice. To solve the cake issues (and because banana desserts still sound good to me), I've now got my eye on a banana layer cake recipe in The Gourmet Cookbook. It's got less sugar and more banana, no cinnamon (which I was starting to find distracting), and uses cream cheese frosting, with sliced bananas between the layers. Sounds good to me. I'm debating whether I'll try to retain some chocolate and hazelnut elements. What do you think (other than Di who doesn't like bananas)?

Easter Weekend Pics

2009-04-15T23:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning there was an Easter egg hunt in the Primary President's giant backyard. It was chilly but not too wet, so we went. Unfortunately, because of Newton's swimming lesson, we were late, and so the hostess and cousin Miss Pea went ahead of the two little kids "hiding" eggs for them to find. Grandpa Artsy-Fartsy, who was visiting, helped the Wizard:

And Newton helped Cindy Lou. Wandering around outside + chocolate to drool down the front of her jacket = one of her favorite days ever.

Helpful egg hider Miss Pea.

Between church and changing clothes for lunch, we tried to get a good picture of the kids in their Easter finery. Yeah, right. We had to settle for having three sets of eyes on the camera.

Cindy Lou showed impressive focus and fine-motor skills in carefully peeling the foil off her Lindor eggs. Unlike every kid in my own family of origin, she did not attempt to eat any half-peeled pieces of candy. I am amazed and grateful.

The boys showing off their bunnies (amazingly, mid-week now, still intact).

Easter dinner was at J&J's, and Cindy Lou basically disappeared to play with the "big kids" as soon as we got there. Goodness she's getting more and more independent!

Cindy Lou also had her first day of nursery on Sunday, and had what the nursery leaders would probably term the best first day of nursery ever. She didn't even look up from her puzzle when Mavis left after dropping her off, and as far as we know she didn't give anyone a speck of trouble for the whole nearly two hours she was in their care. Way to go, girlie! She also said her first complete sentence this week: "I don't like it," when I gave her a bite of egg salad (after she spit it out). Grunts, whines and points are dwindling as they are replaced by words. Awesome.

I'm Still Here

2009-04-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

Just haven't been blogging, as you can tell. Got into Facebook in January (it's all MWR's fault!!), and then for the last month I was swamped with getting ready for the Enrichment birthday dinner, leaving on a 9-day vacation the next day, and then having a 10-day houseguest shortly after our return. Oy. Just this last weekend, Mavis turned 40 and Cindy Lou turned 18 months, plus it was Easter. Baseball season has started for Newton, and I'm gearing up for a performance next month with the small choir I joined in January. I couldn't be much busier. So food has been of the tried-and-true variety, though I've been trying to incorporate new seasonal stuff from the farmers' market (it opened on March 21!), and last night we had Columbia River spring Chinook salmon!

So, I resolve to post new content soon, and leave you with pictures of the kids from our vacation (captured by my sister the Laundry Queen in my parents' backyard on one of the few non-snowy days of our spring break):

Chocolate Bread Pudding

2009-03-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

So, I had a little leftover bread from a dinner a while back, and I purposely let it get stale, really, really stale, to make chocolate bread pudding. I couldn't find one recipe that sounded just right, so I improvised based on a couple of different ones, including the Chocolate-Banana Bread Pudding of last month. The only thing bad about how it turned out is that it is now all gone.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

3 C stale bread, cut or broken into pieces no larger than an inch or so
4 egg yolks (I used four because I needed four more whites for another recipe, but 3 would probably work fine)
2/3 C sugar
pinch salt
1 C heavy cream
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 C whole milk

Put bread in souffle dish (mine is a pretty standard size, I think about 8" across). Whisk egg yolks, sugar and salt in stand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy-ish, at least a minute. In the mean time, put chocolate and enough cream to just cover (2/3-3/4 C, depending on shape of bowl) in glass bowl and microwave on high for one minute. Stir until all chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, then stir in the rest of the cream. With mixer running, add milk to egg yolk-sugar mixture and mix until combined. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl, then add chocolate-cream mixture and mix until well blended, scraping sides and bottom of bowl as needed.

Pour custard mixture over bread in souffle dish. Press bread down into custard and let soak as long as you can, up to overnight (in the fridge if longer than an hour).

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Trim a piece of parchment paper to fit in mouth of souffle dish, and lay it right on top of pudding. Cover dish tightly with foil. Bake 40-45 minutes covered, then remove foil and parchment and bake another 40-45 minutes uncovered. Let stand 20 minutes before serving to finish cooking.

As you can see from the picture, I didn't break my bread into small enough pieces. I just whacked its bag on the counter, but I should have taken a mallet to it. I also didn't take enough time for soaking, so there was some unchocolatey bread at the middle of the larger pieces. Not fatal flaws, in any event, but something I will do differently next time.

Baby De Luxe

2009-03-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

Cindy Lou is turning into a toddler instead of a baby (though of course she's at least a preschooler in her own mind). She now walks, still a bit unsteadily but with enthusiasm, and she is quite verbal. She's my first kid who has been willing or able to parrot things back (like I remember doing with my younger siblings), and it's great fun. She's mostly sticking to single-syllable words still, but the increasing ease of communication with her is GREAT.

Here are a bunch of recent shots in a couple of my favorite outfits for her (and one shot with her siblings).

Dear Readers

2009-03-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that all the pictures disappeared from my blogs a couple of weeks ago. I've been trying to figure out a way to fix it, to no avail. Google (who could fix everything with a couple of keystrokes, I'm certain) does not have anything remotely resembling actual customer service. A few forays into the help discussion groups hasn't gotten me anywhere other than reposting all my pictures (doable, but a major and time-consuming pain). So, I'll post new material (I remain relatively confident that newly-posted pictures will not disappear), and re-load old stuff as time permits.

Anyone know an easy way to restore the Blogger NavBar? I deleted it originally to make things cleaner, but now I think it would be nice to have a way for my faithful readers to search more easily.

The Squinchies

2009-02-16T23:56:00.001-08:00

So, lately Cindy Lou has been "smiling" for the camera. You can see it a little in the chocolatey pictures below, but it's getting worse:

She'll grow out of it, right?

Here's one of all three kids looking adorable, if I do say so myself. Cindy Lou is modeling Newton's new basketball shoes. She'll put on whichever pair is closest (though she gets frustrated at how quickly her brother's flip-flops fall off her feet).

Here's a closeup of Cindy Lou's rock n' roll tshirt (a handmedown from the Wizard):

Here's where you'll find me and Newton almost every night after the little kids are in bed. Right now we're in book 10 of Lemony Snicket. Wonder what we'll attack next? Possibly the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia. Or maybe it's time to start The Lord of the Rings (we've already read all the Harry Potters).

And finally, a long-ish video of what Cindy Lou acts like these days. You get to see her walk, babble, and even get a little bit upset, plus you get commentary and coughing from the ailing, feverish Wizard. She's the best baby ever. But I might be a little biased.

Choco-Lovelies

2009-02-08T22:38:00.000-08:00

Well, actually, the Wizard wouldn't try the fancy desserts. Cindy Lou, however, LOVED them, as she does everything else involving chocolate. This week we've had some leftover small discs of dark chocolate sitting in a bowl on the counter, and she asks for them by name. Something like "Tchalk-kot."

Here's what they looked like this morning in their Sunday best. Cindy Lou, in cashmere and velvet (I know, I know), felt as good as she looked.

Eating dessert with a few friends, she was in hog heaven (as you can tell by the chocolate all over her face, and her general posture and attitude). The Wizard was just loving mugging for the camera.

A Surfeit of Sugar

2009-02-08T21:37:00.001-08:00

I've had a couple of banana-chocolate recipes in my queue, and this weekend provided an excuse to make them both--dinner at my brother's for them, us and another family. Even better, I discovered when I got out the recipes to plan and prep, one called for seven egg yolks, and the other for seven egg whites. You don't get that kind of synchronicity every day. So Saturday after dinner and bedtime, I started putting together a Ganache-Frosted Praline-Filled Banana Layer Cake and Banana Chocolate Bread Pudding.

The cake came from Lindsey over at Cafe Johnsonia. I skipped the white chocolate in the ganache in favor of the 61% Belgian Lever du Soleil I use for everything. Next time I'll use a different ganache recipe, because the straight-across substitution didn't work great--it was too stiff and didn't spread smoothly. Like Lindsey, I didn't deep-fry the sugared pecans. Too much work, too much mess. Instead, I used an easy candied pecan recipe that appeared in the newspaper as part of another recipe a while back. If I were to use them for this recipe again, I would leave out the nutmeg, which wasn't perfectly harmonious with the other flavors here. My only other complaint was that the cake was slightly dry. A minute or two less baking probably would have helped, but I think the batter would also have benefited from a yolk or two, not just egg whites.

Puréeing the banana and milk for the batter.

Adding the egg whites to the creamed butter and sugar.

The finished batter.

The baked cakes.

The pecans.

Spiced Candied Pecans

1/2 C granulated or superfine sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground nutmeg (optional)
2 C pecan halves

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Stir together sugar and spices in a medium bowl. Rinse pecans with cold water in a colander, then shake off excess. Toss pecans in sugar-spice mixture to coat, then spread in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake until sugar has melted and they're starting to smell a little toasty, 15-20 minutes. Let cool, then store in an airtight container for up to a couple of days.

The beginnings of the ganache, melted in the microwave for a minute, then 30 seconds, then 20 seconds on high, stirring in between until smooth.

After whipping in the rest of the cream.

The filling, with chopped candied pecans folded in.

The final product.

Now, what you've all been waiting for:

Banana Chocolate Bread Pudding
adapted from The Dessert Bible by Christopher Kimball

6 C 1-in cubes bread (rustic white or challah; I used 1/2 a Pearl Bakery Paesano)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used the Lever du Soleil, which comes in discs)
7 large egg yolks
3/4 C sugar
2 C heavy cream
2 t vanilla
2 C whole milk
2 ripe bananas

Put about two-thirds of the bread cubes into a baking dish with high sides, either a 8x11" rectangle or two 7.5" (interior diameter) souffle dishes (I did the math on these and they were just about exactly equivalent in terms of volume). Sprinkle chocolate on top, then cover with remaining bread.

Whisk egg yolks with sugar for one minute, then whisk in cream, vanilla and milk. Put chunks of peeled banana in food processor and pulse to mash. Add 1 C of the cream mixture and process until completely smooth, scraping sides as necessary.

Whisk banana mixture into bowl with remaining cream mixture, and then pour over bread and chocolate. Press down with a rubber spatula. Let soak for at least 10 minutes and up to 24 hours (I pressed plastic wrap directly onto the surface, weighted it down with discs of chilling cookie dough, and left it in the fridge overnight).

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Press a piece of trimmed buttered parchment directly onto the surface of the pudding, then cover dish tightly with foil. Bake for 40 minutes, then remove foil and paper and bake for 40-45 minutes more, until slightly puffed and browned, and no more than the barest bit jiggly in the middle. Remove from oven and let stand 20 minutes before serving. If you really, really want to, you can serve it with caramel and/or chocolate sauce, but it is mouth-wateringly divine without any sauce at all.

Making Life Simpler

2009-02-04T14:41:00.000-08:00

So, I had these corn tortillas that had been in the freezer for who knows how long (seriously, well over a year--I can hear my sister gasping from here), and the last time I used them to make enchiladas they were kind of hard to deal with, and didn't roll up all pretty like they were supposed to. Hmmm, I thought, I wonder what would happen if I made all the ingredients for enchiladas, and then layered them in the dish à la lasagna? Last night I found out.

Deliciousness. And you can skip all that softening-of-the-tortillas nonsense. I followed the recipe for the sauce, but didn't strain out the solids, and mixed just the cheese (queso fresco) and cilantro together. I put a little of the sauce in the bottom of the pan, made an overlapping layer of six tortillas, topped it with half the cheese, then half the chicken (trying to leave most of the sauce in the pan), then repeated, scraping all the sauce out of the skillet with a silicone spatula. After 20 minutes in the oven at 300, it was perfect. Newton thought it was a bit too spicy (buying bulk chili powder is a bit of a crapshoot when it comes to the Scoville scale), but was able to finish his serving with a little sour cream. Cindy Lou liked it okay, but the Wizard switched to leftover pasta.

Stay tuned for more adventures with the technically-still-edible as I try to plan around things already on hand in the pantry.

Life Without Corn

2009-01-24T13:21:00.000-08:00

Our book group book this time around was The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Inspired by the first section of the book, I thought I should try to avoid corn by-products in today's menu. It really wasn't all that hard--just avoid processed foods and non-organic meat. It's a good thing no one in attendance had nut allergies, since three different nuts were featured in three dishes today.

Hazelnut-Crusted Wild Alaskan True Cod with Cranberry Jelly
Nutted Wild Rice with Blood Oranges
Roasted Green Beans

Wintertime Chocolate-Caramel Tart
Tillamook Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

The fish was easy. I mixed some ground hazelnuts with about the same amount of bread crumbs, stirred in a little olive oil and salt and pepper, and spread it on the fish.

The green beans were also a cinch. The beans I found were a bit on the less-photogenic side, slightly shriveled and not the slim and lovely ones I love to eat, blanched, in late summer. Cook's Illustrated a couple of years back had talked about roasting as an option for this caliber of bean, and it is genius. Just snap off stem ends and spread on a foil-lined pan (for both the fish and the beans I used the bottom of a broiler pan, since they are less likely than my cookie sheet to warp in the oven), drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

Both the fish and the beans were set to cook at 450, so I was able to do them together, putting the fish in when the beans were ready for a stir after 10 minutes. The beans needed another 10 minutes to get spotty brown, and the fish a few minutes longer than that to get firm and just flaky. Delicious. I thought as I was putting it on the table that the fish could use some kind of sauce, so pulled out a jar of homemade cranberry jelly (from local cranberries, of course).

The salad is one I've been wanting to fix for book group for several years, since Grandpa Artsy-Fartsy fixed it on a visit. Perfect for citrus season. I made it pretty much straight, except with fewer raisins, I used blood oranges instead of navels, and I added the segments from about a half-dozen blood oranges (this last addition seemed like kind of a "duh" to me--how could you make a salad with an orange-juice-based dressing and not put any actual oranges in it?).

The dressing:

The segmented oranges (you slice off the peels with a serrated knife, then carefully cut alongside the membranes to release the good stuff):

The last bit (not a great photo, and in any case it tastes better than it looks):

The tart appeared in the paper last month. Nuts, caramel, chocolate, what else do you need? The only change I made was to use chocolate graham crackers instead of chocolate wafers for the crust. I think the wafers would have worked better.

The mixed-together crust:

Pressing the crust mix into the tart pan. I think I read the tip to use a stainless measuring cup in Cook's Illustrated. It really does an amazing job of preventing that blobby thick crust corner you can get if you use your fingers to press it into the pan.

The sugar and water, ready to make into caramel. The recipe says to stir it until the sugar is dissolved, but doesn't say to then stop stirring. But you should, because otherwise . . .

this happens. It ended up okay in the long run, but it would have been better had I not continued to stir.

The cream to stir into the melted sugar:

The egg and vanilla to fold into the cool-ish caramel:

The baked almond caramel in the chocolate tart shell:

Now, the recipe calls for heating cream on the stovetop and adding it to chopped chocolate to make the ganache. I always make my ganache in the microwave, with the cream and chocolate in the same bowl. Start out with a minute on high, then stir well, and zap in additional 30-second increments, stirring well in between (I think it did maybe two extra 30-second periods). It will start out looking like this:

Proceed to this:

And finally end up like this, smooth and glossy:

Here's what the cooked tart looked like. I thought it was pretty good, and the other members of the group RAVED. I thought the crust could have been better (I'll use the wafers next time), and the nuts didn't retain their roasted crunch. I don't know if that was because of how I stored it, or just a quirk of the recipe.

Now, I had originally planned to make homemade vanilla ice cream (I finally got around to making the custard today, with the Wizard's help), which would have been corn-free, but the Tillamook did unfortunately feature HFCS among its ingredients. There were also corn products in the graham crackers I used for the tart crust, and possibly in the bread crumbs I put on the fish (they weren't made from home-made bread). I guess technically the eggs probably also came from corn, but you can't really count that because chickens (unlike cows) are made to eat corn.

Mixed Bag

2009-01-15T00:15:00.000-08:00

I should have made it on New Year's Day, of course, but I got around to making Hoppin' JaneAnne, and this time I took pictures! It was only a mixed bag because Newton didn't like the squash, the Wizard didn't like the black-eyed peas, and Cindy Lou was pretty dubious about the whole thing. I thought it was delicious.

The black-eyed peas, a little overcooked because I forgot to turn the crock pot to low before going shoe shopping.

The bacon.

The butternut squash, peeled and cubed.

The onion, chopped in the Cuisinart.

Sautéeing the bacon.

Sautéeing the onions and celery in a little bacon grease.

Carrot, julienned with the mandoline.

Baby spinach, stemmed and roughly chopped.

Spinach sautéed with the wilted and browned onion and celery.

Toasting the rice in a little bacon grease.

Simmering the rice, carrot and squash covered in chicken broth.

The finished product, after folding in the bacon, sautéed veggies and black-eyed peas.

Do I Need to Clean My Ears?

2009-01-04T17:31:00.001-08:00

Just overheard from the Wizard, to his father: "What the heck is that?!?"

Must say that's a locution I didn't think he had mastered.

Edited to add: today I heard him say to his little sister, "Don't do that, you idiot!" Guess who mimics his big brother? It's time for another "no stupid people, only stupid things" talk with Newton.

Orange Latkes

2009-01-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

Just as the Orange Mashed Potatoes have nothing to do with oranges, likewise with the Orange Latkes.

But first, the rest of dinner. I made the French Roast Chicken in a Pot I previously posted about with no pictures. Here's what it looked like during the stovetop part of the process:

I also made the Simple Crusty Bread, and realized as I was looking back that I never put my preferred method all in one post. Here it is:

Simple Crusty Bread
(no-knead variety)
adapted from several sources

6-6 1/2 C unbleached all-purpose flour, or combination of all-purpose and whole wheat (not more than 1/2 whole wheat)
3 C warm tap water (100-110 degrees)
1 1/2 T active dry yeast
1 1/2 T kosher salt
1 1/2 T honey (if using whole wheat flour)

Put water in a large bowl. Add salt and honey, then sprinkle yeast over top and let soften for a couple of minutes. Stir until everything is dissolved, and then add flour to make a thick, sticky dough. Cover with a slightly-dampened kitchen towel and let rest at room temperature for 2-5 hours. Then either cover and refrigerate, or start making loaves.

To make a loaf, sprinkle the dough with a little flour and use a serrated knife (my tomato knife works great) to cut off 1/4-1/3 of the dough. (Unless baking multiple loaves, cover remaining dough and put it in the fridge.) Knead on a flour-covered board just one or two times, to smooth the surface a little and get a little flour on the outside so it sticks less. Then form the dough into a round loaf shape, holding the dough between your hands and stretching it with your thumbs while pushing it back in on itself with your fingers. Turn it over and pinch the pushed-in parts together. Cover the board generously with flour, place loaf on board pinched side down, sprinkle with more flour, and cover loosely with a tea towel. Let rest 40-60 minutes.

One half-hour before baking, turn oven on to 450 degrees and put dutch oven (cast iron and stainless steel both seem to work fine) in to preheat. When ready to bake, take pot from oven and remove lid, slash a deep (1/2-3/4") cross in the dough, and carefully transfer dough to hot pot. Replace lid and put back in oven to bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove lid and let cook 10-30 minutes longer, until brown, crusty, and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom. Let cool, slice, and serve with good butter.

Now for the latkes. I originally heard this great recipe on NPR several years ago, and have made it several times since. This year I decided to see if adding garnet sweet potatoes would make as large an improvement to the latkes as it did to the mashed potatoes, and the answer is oh, yes, yes, and YES. Here is the recipe with my adaptations (HIGHLY recommended, though of course if you're allergic to sweet potatoes you can follow the original).

Orange Latkes
adapted from Judith Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America

1 lb russet potatoes
1 lb garnet sweet potatoes
1 bunch scallions, chopped (all the way up, not just the light parts)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
canola oil for frying
applesauce and sour cream for serving

1. Peel russet and sweet potatoes, and skin, trim and halve onion, and grate in a food processor (theoretically you could do this by hand, but it sounds awful, doesn't it?). Dump all grated vegetables in a bowl and mix with 3/4 t kosher salt. Let sit for 10-15 minutes, then put in a tea towel and wring out as much liquid as you can.

Let squeezed liquid sit in bowl for another 10 minutes or so (leaving veggies in towel to minimize exposure to air), then carefully pour off, leaving white potato starch behind in the bowl.

2. Add the veggies back into the bowl, and stir in scallions, egg, a little more kosher salt, and a good amount of freshly ground black pepper.

3. Heat about 1/4" or a little less canola oil in an electric frying pan to 350 degrees. Use a medium-large portion scoop (a couple of tablespoons) to scoop up some of the potato mixture and place in pan, flattening with the back of the scoop.

Cook until golden, then flip to brown the other side.

Put on paper-towel lined plate and keep in 170-degree oven until you have a few layers saved up.

Call everyone to dinner and serve with sour cream and applesauce.

Do Your Part in the Fight for Good Design

2009-01-01T22:47:00.000-08:00

I didn't think I would ever blog about something like this, but if you are an Oregonian, please go the Oregonian's flag contest site and vote on a proposed new state flag. I won't tell you which one to vote for, but I will say that the leading designs at the moment are not ones that I care for at all.

Lost in Translation II

2008-12-31T17:49:00.000-08:00

Cindy Lou got that big number board book from the sale books shelf at Powell's. Reading it with her yesterday, I noticed a sticker on one of the early pages, talking about numbers of body parts. The body part is fingers, and the sticker says "10 ten," just above "10 ten toes." What on earth was it covering up, I wondered? I peered closely at the sticker in good light, and was able to figure out that it was covering "9 nine." Nine fingers!?!?!? What the?!?!?! Who the heck wouldn't catch that?!? A lightbulb went off over my head, and I turned to the copyright page. Yes, just as I thought: printed in China. Apparently not enough English readers in the print factory that day. Can you imagine opening your huge container of books you've ordered, and discovering they all say "9 nine fingers"? Someone surely got fired over that one.

Braggalicious Meme

2008-12-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

I'm approaching 60%. There might be a few more I've actually done, but my memory is a little fuzzy. I tried to err on the conservative side where I wasn't sure.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (in general)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Happy Happy Joy Joy

2008-12-29T22:31:00.000-08:00

So, we had our first Christmas in our own house, and it was great! We maintained some of the family traditions I grew up with, like NOT getting up early, getting dressed before breakfast, having a blanket over the living room doorway to hide loot, eating breakfast together, doing the dishes, and then walking in youngest first. We didn't have the set menu I grew up with (frozen peaches, bran muffins and cheesy scrambled eggs), instead opting for sourdough waffles with buttermilk syrup (we did still have frozen peaches because I had some on hand). The kids got up at their normal time, between 7:30 and 7:45, and we went in to start opening presents around 9 am. Those of you with predawn gift-opening traditions may shake your heads, but I LOVE this tradition and love even more that Newton wants to keep it.

As I mentioned, our presents from Mavis's parents usually come from the countries they have visited each year, and this time the handicrafts of Mongolia, Kazakhstan and El Salvador were best-represented.

Newton's Santa presents were mostly sports-related.

Cindy Lou got wooden stacking rings.

Grandma Rhino checking out Newton's new basketball shoes (practice starts January 20!).

Cindy Lou liked Newton's new basketball better than most of her own presents.

I got a really awesome present from Mavis.

Loot.

Cindy Lou's new purse from Grandpa Artsy-Fartsy & the Rev Running Nut, with dolls from Kazakhstan and El Salvador from Grandma Rhino.

The Wizard working with Grandma Rhino on his new puzzle (100 pieces is just right!).

The Wizard got an easel from Santa. Judging from how much time he's spent with it since, it's his favorite present.

This cap from Kazakhstan was a gift from Grandma Rhino to Mavis. It fits me and Newton, but looks cutest on the Wizard.

Lost in Translation

2008-12-26T22:48:00.000-08:00

Every year, Mavis's parents send/bring Christmas gifts they pick up on their world travels. This year, Grandma Rhino went to Kazakhstan and Central America, and Grandpa Artsy-Fartsy and the Reverend Running Nut went to Mongolia. A gift for Newton was a wooden puzzle from Mongolia. Here's what it says on the instructions:

This game is a unique vitamin to develop intelligence & thinking and it has significances to develop more thinking of old people and prevent previously early ageing and intellectual impoverishment as well as expanding intelligences of youths and teenagers.

Warnings: It is not required any powers and levers when pieces together and assembles all kinds of this game.

1. If can assemble this game within 5 minutes, you are genius

2. If assemble it within 10 minutes, you are simple

3. If assemble this game more than 10 minutes, you should develop your intelligence with assistance of this kind of the game starting this moment.

Best wishes!

Merry Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T00:53:00.000-08:00

We're having weather-related difficulty in getting our Christmas cards out, so here is the picture some of you will be receiving in the mail at an as-yet-undetermined future date:

Bûche de Noël

2008-12-24T21:53:00.001-08:00

We had a lovely Christmas Eve. My family traditionally does the big meal on Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day. I planned a simple menu, and farmed out most of the side dishes, so I could concentrate on dessert. And what a dessert it was!

But first . . .

Here are the boys, decorating makeshift paper-bag Christmas stockings so Santa would have some place to put the small amount of candy he was able to purchase at Fred Meyer on our wild snowy four-wheel-drive ride on Monday. I have the materials to make wonderful stockings for the whole family, but haven't yet gotten around to putting them together. You know how it goes.

Here is the grownup table, decorated with pine cones, velvet cord and bows, and red glass votives and bud vases, the vases filled with snippets of fir.

And here is the kid table, complete with kids (oldest nephew Rico was sitting with the grownups, along with his sister). Don't you just love how proto-teenager Newton refuses to smile for pictures? Grr. Hope Santa puts a little piece of coal in his stocking for the sour puss he's got in every picture lately.

Finally, here is the bûche! I didn't take any pictures of the process, because frankly there were about ten times when I was convinced that it wasn't going to work. But it did, more or less. I followed Julia Child's instructions in The Way to Cook, baking a French sponge cake in a jelly roll pan, and filling and frosting the cake with a chocolate mousse based on an Italian meringue. I also used the meringue to make the mushrooms. (I did skip the caramel veil.) Next year I'll make a different cake (there wasn't enough of this one to balance out the mousse), but the mousse was pretty divine. And having it based on meringue (though it didn't taste at all meringue-y) meant not having to make a separate meringue for the mushrooms, which I think are essential. If anyone's interested in the meringue/mousse instructions, let me know and I'll edit this post to add them.

Hope your holiday food is delectable, too! Later this week I'll try to make (and post about) the most fantastic latkes. This year my experiment will be adding a little red sweet potato and seeing what happens. Mmmmmm. I'll also make my Split Pea Soup from the hambone left from today's dinner (which also included Mormon classic funeral potatoes and roasted green beans with shallot and lemon zest and pecan-pumpkin seed rolls, none of which were of my making).

Make It Stop, Make It Stop, Make It Stop!

2008-12-23T22:21:00.000-08:00

So, if you don't live here in the PRP you might have heard something on the news about how we're having our worst winter weather in forty years. Well, I haven't lived here for all of the last 40 years, but it's certainly the most snow I can remember. We've missed two weeks of church, most of the last week of school before winter break, and the last bit of our Christmas shopping will remain undone. It started just over a week ago on Sunday, December 14 (one day into our thankfully-short stint of furnace-free living; by the time the furnace was repaired Monday at dinnertime it was 45 degrees in the living room). We got all excited, and Newton did some sledding, and we started taking pictures. For the first week, although lots of stuff was canceled, there wasn't really all that much snow accumulation, just cold temperatures that kept any of the 1-2" we had gotten from melting. (Our street, thanks to its status as the neighborhood sledding hill, was burnished to a high sheen.) That changed starting last Saturday, when it snowed ALL DAY, piling up 8 inches of powder. It even drifted a little, unheard of for here. The boys went out in the middle of the day, in the steadily-falling snow, for more play.

And here are our backyard composters (they stand about hip height):

Saturday night late, the snow turned to freezing rain, so the 8" of powder got a 1/4" shell. THEN it kept snowing, and snowing, and snowing. Pretty soon we had about a foot total, and the composters looked like this:

Winter Wonderland? Um, yeah. We've been unable to drive out of our neighborhood since Friday afternoon--basically no streets were plowed. Yesterday we called on friends for help, and one super helper came and picked me up in the afternoon to run errands in his Land Rover. Then we were able to go to a party yesterday evening by having another friend pick us up in his tricked-out jacked-up diesel suburban with gnarly chains. Cindy Lou was the only one dressed up for the party, since she was the only one who was guaranteed not to have to tromp through the snow:

Here are more shots I took today of our street, yard and house. I'll probably have to update tomorrow, since it's now predicted that we'll get another 3-5" starting tonight around midnight. I heard that the streets are now plowed to within a block of our house, so there's a good chance our guests will be able to make it for Christmas Eve dinner (stay tuned! I'm making a bûche de Noël, because I am just that crazy), and maybe even a possibility that someone will be able to pick up my mother-in-law at the airport (assuming her plane can land). Oy.

My New Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe . . .

2008-12-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

. . . appeared in FOODday recently. They call it "Master Butter Cookie Recipe," and present variations that can be made using the same basic dough. However, having made just the basic cookie, I don't think I'll ever feel the need to make any of the variations. Buttery, crispy, light, melt-in-your-mouth goodness! I'll cut and paste it here since they aren't always available forever on the Oregonian's website. I'm set to mix up another batch tonight, so I'll try to get some good pictures. Mmmmmm.

Master Butter Cookie Recipe
from Oregonian FOODday, December 2, 2008

Ingredients

* 4 C all-purpose flour
* 1 t salt
* 1 t baking powder
* ½ t baking soda
* 1½ C unsalted butter, at room temperature (3 sticks)
* 1⅓ C granulated sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 T vanilla
* ¼ t almond extract

Instructions

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extract. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix well.

Divide the dough into two portions and shape into 2 rough rectangles. Wrap each rectangle in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. (Dough can be frozen for up to one month.) [After 24 hours in the fridge, I needed to leave the dough out for a while before I could roll it out.]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Roll one rectangle of the cold dough between two sheets of parchment paper or wax paper to ⅛ inch thick. [I roll my dough on a pastry cloth] Remove top layer of paper. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible. Reserve any scraps of dough in the refrigerator while working. If the dough becomes unmanageably soft while rolling, transfer it to a baking sheet and pop it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up. [This was a pretty firm dough; I didn't need to re-refrigerate any scraps at any point during the rolling-and-cutting process.]

With an offset spatula, transfer cutouts to a baking sheet, spacing at least a ½ inch apart. Bake until just set and very lightly browned on the edges, 10 to 11 minutes. [I baked a little longer, 14 minutes on insulated sheets, until they were golden around the edges and on the verge of coloring more. Divine browned-butter flavor!] Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining rectangle of cold dough. Combine reserved dough scraps and repeat all steps.

Edited to add: Here are some pictures I snapped from my second try with the recipe. I made two batches, tinting one with red gel food coloring before adding the flour (I always add the coloring then, to insure against overbeating while trying to mix color into a thick, floury dough). I omitted the almond extract in the white batch, and replaced it with 1/4 t peppermint extract in the red/pink batch (I didn't want the almond to fight with the peppermint in the candy canes). I topped the mint cookies with ground peppermint candies, which melted in the oven, making extra-crispy mint tops. These cookies are divine. I call the minty ones buttermints, because they are buttery vanilla-y luscious, not very strongly minty. They were a huge hit at the party I took them to this evening.

Holiday Prep

2008-12-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

On a recent family night, Newton and I put together and decorated this gingerbread train kit we got at a white elephant exchange:

If you look carefully, you can see that our train is decorated very much like the one pictured on the box. That is thanks to Newton. Pretty much any deviation from the picture was my doing.

Yes You Can Make Pita Bread (Really!)

2008-12-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

Our church Christmas party was "A Night in Bethlehem." We were supposed to come in "Biblical" dress, and the food was Middle-Eastern-ish. I signed up to bring pita bread, because I knew that was the best way to ensure that my family and I could eat pita bread that was not flat and dry and utterly appetite-wasting.

Making your own pita bread is a snap IF you have two items: a decent food processor and a baking stone. You can do without the first of these if you don't mind kneading by hand, but if you don't have to hand-knead you can have finished, soft, delicious pita bread in ONE HOUR.

Pita Bread
makes 6-8 6-7" pitas
adapted from Cook's Illustrated, Jan/Feb 1999

1 pkg (2 1/4 t) dry active yeast
1 C warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 T olive oil
2 t sugar
1/4 C plain yogurt
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 C whole wheat flour
2 C bread flour (or higher-protein all-purpose, like Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur), plus extra as needed

1. Sprinkle yeast over warm water in bowl of food processor, and let dissolve for a few minutes.

Add oil, sugar and yogurt and pulse a little to mix. Add salt and flours and process until smooth, about 15 seconds, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.

Keep processing, adding flour, until dough is soft and satiny and pulls completely away from sides of bowl, about 30 seconds (or turn dough out onto floured work surface and knead 12-15 minutes).

Put dough in medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in warm, draft-free spot until dough doubles in size, 30-45 minutes. (At this point, dough can be punched down, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerated up to 2 days.) Before the dough is completely risen, put baking stone on lowest rack in oven and preheat oven to 500 degrees for at least a half-hour.

2. Turn dough onto lightly-floured work surface, and, if it is sticky, sprinkle lightly with flour. Divide dough into 6 or 8 equal portions with a chef's knife or bench scraper. Roll each portion into a ball, then roll with rolling pin into a four-inch circle (the picture below shows two batches that I mixed up in succession).

Let rest for 10-15 minutes, then roll into a 6-7" circle.

3. When oven and stone are fully heated, carefully and quickly place a few dough rounds directly on the baking stone (I do three at a time on my round stone), and bake for 3-6 minutes, until bread is puffed and golden brown on the bottom. Pause between batches to let oven return to 500 degrees (they don't cook as quickly or puff as dramatically at lower temperatures. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, and spray with a little olive oil if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Thanksgiving Side Dishes

2008-12-11T22:41:00.000-08:00

I'd highly recommend both of these. Sorry for the dearth of pictures.

Pan-Roasted Pear Salad with Frisée, Goat Cheese, and Almonds
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Nov/Dec 2007

I doubled this and mixed everything in the bowl (instead of assembling on plates) for ease in serving on a buffet. If I'm making it for a smaller group I'll do it as recommended in the recipe.

3 ripe but firm Bartlett pears, quartered and cored
2 1/2 t sugar
salt and pepper
2 t + 2 T olive oil
4 T balsamic vinegar
1 small shallot, minced (about 1 T)
1/2 medium head green leaf lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into 1-inch pieces
1 head frisée, similarly prepared
4 oz crumbled goat cheese
3/4 C toasted slivered almonds
1/2 C pomegranate seeds (optional)

1. Toss pears, 2 t sugar, 1/4 t salt, and 1/8 t pepper in medium bowl. Heat 2 t oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add pears cut-side down in single layer (I nestled them a bit to keep the side flat against the bottom of the pan) and cook until golden brown, 2-4 minutes. Gently tip each pear onto second cut side; continue to cook until second side is light brown, 2-4 minutes longer. Turn off heat, leave skillet on burner, and add 2 T vinegar; gently stir until vinegar thickens and coats pears, about 30 seconds. Transfer pears to large plate and let cool to room temperature. Cut each slice crosswise into 1/2" pieces.

2. Whisk remaining 2 T oil, 2 T vinegar, 1/2 t sugar, and shallot together in large bowl; season to taste with salt and pepper. Add lettuce, frisée, and cooled pears to bowl; toss and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Divide among individual plates; top with cheese, nuts, and pomegranate, if using. Serve immediately.

Roast Cauliflower
adapted from "Parisian Home Cooking" by Michael Roberts (courtesy of MWR)

I've now made this three times: once with a large head of white cauliflower, once with a large head of romanesco, and once with three small heads of orange and green cauliflower (2 orange, one green), broken into florets. Unless you really like chewy cauliflower, I'd recommend erring on the side of more steaming/parcooking than less.

1 lb cauliflower
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
3 T unsalted butter
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 t salt
1/2 t freshly-ground black pepper
pinch of nutmeg
mustard vinaigrette (optional)

1. If using one large cauliflower, steam for 10-20 minutes or parcook in microwave.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3. Combine the oil, butter, lemon juice, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a small saucepan over low heat, swirling until just melted.

4. Place the cauliflower in a dutch oven, baste with butter mixture, cover with lid, and roast for 30 minutes, basting occasionally. Remove cover and continue to cook until a knife can easily be inserted into the core. Serve hot or at room temperature, with the vinaigrette, if desired.

The Perfect Mustard Vinaigrette
adapted from "Parisian Home Cooking" by Michael Roberts (again courtesy of MWR)

1 clove garlic, pressed through garlic press
1 shallot, minced
1 T dijon mustard
3 T white wine vinegar
5 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 t salt
leaves from 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme, minced
freshly-ground black pepper

Whisk together the first four ingredients, then slowly add oil while whisking, then thyme, salt and pepper.

Hangin' with the Wee Girl

2008-12-09T00:32:00.000-08:00

You can expect a regular flurry of posts, as I catch up from a round of sickness chez nous. Here are some pictures I shot of Cindy Lou just before Thanksgiving.

Turkey Day with Cindy Lou & Friends

2008-12-09T00:16:00.000-08:00

J&J hosted the big dinner, and I was in charge of veggie/salad side dishes. I'll post recipes for those separately, but here are a few shots of the fam folks hanging out that day. Cindy Lou, especially, seemed to have a marvelous time.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

2008-12-07T23:31:00.001-08:00

The Wizard's drawing skills are progressing. Here he is holding a picture he drew of our family. Notice the enclosed heads (not just floating features like before), attached legs, and smiling faces. Super cute. He also can now write his name, and other words with not-too-hard-to-form letters, like TOE. We're working on fitting the whole alphabet on the MagnaDoodle screen.

Now if we can just get him to stop changing his mind every two seconds, use some initiative in entertaining himself (instead of asking, "Mommy, what can I do?"), and get himself out of bed to get a drink of water instead of crying until we come and waking his sister in the process.

Who?

2008-11-18T23:45:00.000-08:00

Wizard the Platinum

2008-11-18T23:35:00.001-08:00

. . . in which dimples were flaunted, a lingering question about the tongue-rolling gene was answered, and an owie was preserved in pixels for posterity.

Sir Isaac

2008-11-18T23:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we took advantage of a relatively balmy late afternoon for some time out in the back yard. I at first thought I could get good shots of the three kids together, but as you can see that didn't work out.

So, I aimed to shoot each child individually. Here are the best shots of Newton:

Goin' All Medieval on Your Tummy

2008-11-17T14:12:00.001-08:00

Book group met on Saturday last to discuss The Goose Girl, young adult fiction by Shannon Hale. It's set in a medieval-Europe-type place, and tells the story of an intrepid princess and her (mis-)adventures, which inlcuded serving for a time as a goosekeeper. I thought soup sounded appropriately peasant-y, served with a simple and simply-dressed green salad and crusty bread. We started with the leftover cheese from my brother's birthday party (11 kinds!), and we finished with Panna Cotta with Almond Cream and Pomegranate, so no one was in danger of experiencing butterfat deficiency.

Some of the cheeses.

Fettuccine and White Bean Soup
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Sept/Oct 1999

1/4 C olive oil
4 oz prosciutto, diced fine
1 med onion, diced fine
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, with liquid
1 celery stalk, diced fine
1 med potato, peeled and cut into 1/2" dice
2 t salt (unless you are able to find low-sodium everything, I would start with a teaspoon here and add more if needed later)
2 15.5-oz cans white beans, with liquid
1 1/2 T minced fresh sage leaves
5 oz fettuccine, broken into 2" pieces
ground black pepper

Heat olive oil in large dutch oven over medium heat. Add prosciutto and onion; sauté until onion is translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add tomatoes with their liquid, celery, potato, salt, beans with their liquid, sage, and 6 C water; bring to a boil and cook until potato is tender, about 5 minutes. Add fettuccine and cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender, 7-8 minutes. Off heat, adjust seasonings and serve.

Butternut Squash Soup
adapted from Cook's Illustrated, Nov/Dec 2001

4 T unsalted butter
2 med shallots, minced (about 1/4 C)
1 carrot, peeled and diced fine
2 celery rib, diced fine
6 C water, or part homemade chicken stock (I used just water this time and it was great)
3 lb butternut squash, halved lengthwise, seeds and pulp removed and reserved, and each half cut into quarters
salt
1/2 C heavy cream
1 t dark brown sugar

1. Heat butter in large dutch oven over medium-low heat until foaming; add shallots, carrot and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until shallot and celery are softened and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add squash seeds and pulp and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and breaking down, about 4 minutes. Add water or mixed water and stock, and 1 1/2 t salt and bring to boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low, and put squash over simmering liquid in steamer basket. Cover and steam until squash is completely tender, about 30 minutes. Off heat, use tongs to transfer squash to shallow dish; reserve cooking liquid. When cool enough to handle, remove peels and strings from squash and transfer flesh to medium bowl; discard skin.

2. Pour reserved steaming liquid through mesh strainer into second bowl; discard solids. Rinse dutch oven if it's yukky.

3. Use your preferred method to purée squash and liquid--either in a blender, with a stick blender in the pot, or by running squash through a food mill. Heat over medium heat until at least simmering; remove from heat and stir in cream and brown sugar. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Panna Cotta with Almond Cream and Pomegranate
published in the Oregonian FOODday, December 13, 2005
from Cathy Whims of Nostrana
(it's still on the menu, currently with blackberry sauce)

Panna cotta:
2 C heavy cream
1 1/2 t unflavored gelatin
1 C sugar
2 C whole-milk plain yogurt (she likes Nancy's; I used Brown Cow)

Almond cream:
1/4 lb almonds (orig recipe calls for whole unblanched; I used diced roasted and loved the flavor)
5 T sugar
2 C heavy cream
tiny pinch of salt
1-2 drops almond extract

1/2 C pomegranate seeds for garnish

To make panna cotta: Pour the cream into a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over the cream. Let stand for 15 minutes. Add the sugar to the cream mixture and heat over medium eat until just hot to the touch. Stir well to be sure the gelatin and sugar are dissolved (it will look a little yellow) and then take off heat. Whisk yogurt in a mixing bowl until smooth. Slowly whisk in hot cream mixture. Pour into 8-12 4-oz ramekins (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray if you're going to want to unmold them). Cover and refrigerate overnight.

To make almond cream: Process almonds and sugar in food processor for two minutes. Meanwhile, gently simmer cream with salt for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add ground almond mixture. Let cool (takes a couple of hours), then pass through a sieve lined with a single layer of cheesecloth or a fine-meshed chinoise. If cream is too thick to pass through the cheesecloth, thin with a tablespoon of plain cream. Add almond extract.

To serve, run a knife around the edge of each ramekin, turn upside down on a dessert plate and shake downward sharply once or twice to release panna cotta. Spoon a ribbon of almond cream around each panna cotta and garnish with pomegranate seeds.

I decided not to unmold them to save time, and I don't know if they would have stood up on the plate if I had. Certainly by the following day (two days after mixing them up), they were pretty runny, but still edible. I suspect it was because of the live cultures in the yogurt.

Fall Colors

2008-11-17T13:55:00.001-08:00