Summer Goodies

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

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

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.

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

Still Hung Up on Bananas

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

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

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!