Moufflets a la Moi

//Move on over

2011-08-10T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

After two years, and a lot of work on the line, I'm now at: madetotaste.blogspot.com. As always, I aim to tell a good story and provide a decent recipe. But now my focus is more about giving professional tips and knowledge to home cook or baker, thereby making gourmet cuisine more accessible.

Best,

//Orange Crème Caramels with Berries

2009-07-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Ya know... I could have sworn I clicked the "Publish Post" button and not the "Save Now" button on Friday morning before I closed my laptop so I could head on out the door and onward to Seattle for the Fourth of July weekend. But, I guess I was wrong!

(Spoiler: Seattle is awesome. And very much a foodie town, like Portland. But that's not the focus of this post, though I do want to write a mini-wrap up post about the city some time this week.)

Crème caramel is often passed over in favor of the more popular crème brûlée. Both depend on caramel for their predominate flavor, but in a crème caramel, the caramel is soft and the custard is unmolded. Berries are the perfect accompaniment for the dish, as they blend well with the subtle hints of orange, and they complement the slight bitterness of the dark caramel. I chose a crème caramel recipe as my final dish for the Bounty of Blissful Berry Bites because I really want to buy a crème brûlée torch some time in the next few weeks — so that I can make brûlées (regular, fig, pumpkin... the entire panoply of custard recipes known to humankind), as well as sear meat and seafood. Also, typing "crème brûlée" with all the accents is just plain fun (editor's note: I have a weird sense of what constitutes "fun"). But, I couldn't in good conscience go through with the purchase until I first made an easier custard... one that didn't involve obtaining a fire extinguisher beforehand (just in case).

Orange Crème Caramels with Berries
Dish No. 6 of 6 for The Bounty of Blissful Berry Bites
(recipe borrowed from Classic Stars Desserts by Emily Luchetti)

For Orange Custard Base:
2/3 cup milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
Peel of 1 orange
4 large egg yolks
1 large whole egg
2/3 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of kosher salt

In a heavy saucepan, combine the milk, cream, and orange peel over medium heat and cook until small bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare and ice bath. In a large stainless-steel bowl, whisk together egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, and salt until blended.

While whisking constantly, pour the milk mixture into the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream. Place the bowl in the ice bath and let cool to room temperature, whisking occasionally. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard the orange peel.

For Caramel:
2/3 cup sugar
5 Tbsp water

While the custard base is cooling, arrange six 5-ounce ramekins in a 9-by-3-inch baking dish. In a small, heavy saucepan, stir together the sugar and 3 Tbsp of water. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and comes to a boil. Increase the heat to high and cook, without stirring, until the mixture becomes golden amber. Remove from the heat and let the bubbles subside for a few seconds. Stir in the remaining 2 Tbsp of water. Be careful as you stir, as the caramel with bubble up when you add the water.

Pour the caramel into the bottoms of the ramekins. If necessary, pick up each ramekin and rotate it so that the caramel completely coats the bottom. Set aside until the caramel hardens, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300° F.

Fill the caramel-lined ramekins with the custard base. Cover the pan with aluminum foil, but leave one corner open. Place the baking pan in the middle of the oven. Carefully pour hot water into the pan so that the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan completely with foil.

Bake the custards for 50-55 minutes. To check if the custards are ready, carefully remove the foil and gently shake the ramekin. The custard should be set around the edges, yet have an area in the middle — about the size of a quarter — that is not completely firm. Remove the pan from the oven. Remove the ramekins from the pan with tongs or a dish towel to protect your fingers Cover an refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

For Tops:
1 pint mixed berries
1 Tbsp Grand Marnier (optional)

Carefully run a knife around the inside of the edge of each ramekin and unmold the custards onto plates. In a bowl, toss the berries with the Grand Mariner, if desired.

//Puddin' Out Muffins

2009-07-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Muffin Day!

Triple Berry Bread Pudding Muffins
Dish No. 5 of 6 for The Bounty of Blissful Berry Bites

For batter
7 cups of cubed bread (French, brioche, challah, or your choice)
Strawberry reduction (recipe to follow)
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs, lightly beaten
6 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 pint blackberries
1/2 pint blueberries
1/2 lb strawberries
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350° F. Place rack in the middle of the oven. Butter and flour one 12 muffin tin, or one 6 muffin tin.

Place the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl and add the strawberry reduction. Let stand for five minutes. Then stir in the milk, beaten eggs, vanilla, butter and berries.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir this mixture into the bread cube mixture.

Evenly divide the mixture among the muffins cups, using two spoons. Place the muffin tin on a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool. Can dust with powdered sugar before serving.

For strawberry reduction
10 medium-sized strawberries
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup cream

In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, heat the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice until the fruit breaks down and releases its juices (about 10 minutes). Remove mixture from heat and strain. Pour the cream into the reduction, and whisk until just combined.

//Deliciously simple, simply delicious

2009-06-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the most flavorful desserts require minimal ingredients, preparation, and time to make. This exquisite lavender goat cheesecake comes to mind. It's an incredibly versatile recipe, as well: you can serve it as a dessert "nightcap" following a summer evening meal; or you can omit the eggs and use the batter and berries as filling for crepes or for pancakes. You can even use the lavender syrup in lieu of table syrup for waffles.

Lavender Goat Cheesecake with Fresh Berries
Dish No. 4 of 6 for The Bounty of Blissful Berry Bites

For cake
11 oz fresh goat cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
6 large eggs, separated
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 pint blackberries
1/2 pint blueberries
1 pint raspberries

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and dust it with granulated sugar; tap out the excess.

Put the goat cheese, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and zest in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Stir in the egg yolks, two at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the flour and mix until incorporated.

In a separate mixer bowl, place the egg whites and whip on medium speed until a soft peak forms. Using a spatula, gently fold in the whipped whites into the goat cheese batter. Spread the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Bake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then top with berries.

For lavender syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup loosely packed lavender
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup water

In a medium-sized saucepan, add the sugar, lavender, lemon juice and water. Once the syrup comes to a boil, remove it from heat and strain it. Cover the syrup and allow it to steep for at least 20 minutes.

Using a dry pastry brush, spread the syrup over the cake and the berries. Optional: sprinkle dry lavender onto the cake.

//Good to the last drip: Blueberry Pecan Sticky Buns

2009-06-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

There's a note at the bottom of the recipe page that says "Sticky buns are best eaten the day they are baked." Well, OK. You're twisting my arm here, Martha Stewart, but I suppose I can bring myself to follow this direction. But only because last week I had the unfortunate luck of buying a sticky bun that turned out to be as chewy as taffy and as dry as cardboard. It came from a reputable nearby bakery, too! I was mighty surprised at the bun's supbar quality, and vowed to make a better batch for this week's berry fest.

Blueberry Pecan Sticky Buns
Dish No. 3 of 6 for The Bounty of Blissful Berry Bites
(adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

For Dough

1 cup warm milk (110° F)
2 envelopes active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
2 large whole eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk; stir until dissolved. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, salt, cardamom, and 4 Tbsp butter; beat on low speed until butter is incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse meal, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour in the yeast-milk mixture; mix until dough just comes together. Add the eggs and yolk; mix until just combined, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overmix.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, making sure to include any loose bits left at the bottom of the bowl. Gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 30 seconds. Wrap well with plastic, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to an 18-by-10-inch rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick, keeping the corners as square as possible. Remove any excess flour with a dry pastry brush. With a short side facing you, evenly distribute the remaining butter over two-thirds of the dough. Fold the unbuttered third over as you would a business letter, followed by the remaining third. This seals in the butter.

Roll out the dough again to an 18-by-10 inch rectangle, then fold dough into thirds as described above; refrigerate for 1 hour. Repeat this process 2 more times.

Refrigerate dough, tightly wrapped in plastic for at least 4 hours to overnight.

For Buns

3 1/3 cups pecan halves
2 1/4 cups light corn syrup
3/4 cup plus 2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
All-purpose flour, for dusting
3/4 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 cup fresh, whole blueberries

Let dough stand at room temperature until slightly softened, about 15 minutes. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Generously butter two 6-cup jumbo muffin tins. Chop 2 cups pecans, and break the remaining 1 1/3 cups in half lengthwise, keeping the two groups separate. Pour 3 Tbsp corn syrup into each muffin cup, and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp brown sugar. Divide halved pecans among the muffin cups.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to an 18-by-14 inch rectangle, about 1/4 in thick. Using a spatula (offset, or regular), spread the sour cream over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Dust the sour cream with cinnamon, and sprinkle with chopped pecans, remaining 2/3 cup brown sugar, and the blueberries. Roll up the dough tightly lengthwise to form a log about 3 inches in diameter, and trim the ends using a serrated knife. Transfer log to prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the over to 350° F.

Using a sharp knife and a sawing motion slice the dough crosswise into 12 rounds, about 1 1/2 inch thick, and place in prepared pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until 1/2 inch above cups, about 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer to the oven, placing a baking sheet on the rack below to catch drips. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until buns are dark golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Immediately turn out the buns onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Replace any pecan halves that have fallen off. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. "Sticky buns are best eaten the day they are baked."

//Raspberry-Peach Cobbler with Earl Grey Biscuit Topping

2009-06-29T01:11:00.000-07:00

Raspberry Peach Cobbler with Earl Grey Biscuit Topping
Dish No. 2 of 6 for The Bounty of Blissful Berry Bites
(an adaptation of a cobbler recipe found in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

For Cobbler
2 pints fresh raspberries
1 1/2 lbs yellow peaches, pitted and diced
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup instant tapioca
Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp plus a pinch of salt

For Drop Biscuits
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
2 bags of Earl Grey tea
1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375° F, with racks in the center and lower third. Lined a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, toss together the raspberries, peaches, sugar, tapioca, lemon juice, and pinch of salt; stir to combine. Let stand about 15 minutes, stirring once or twice. Divide the filling among six to 8 10-ounce baking dishes, or pour into a 2 1/2-quart baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and Earl Grey tea. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining.

Pour in the milk; using a rubber spatula, fold milk into the dough, working in all directions and incorporating crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, until the dough just comes together. Do not overmix. Using a large spoon, top cobbler filling with dollops of dough, leaving a 1-inch border.

Brush dough with cream. Transfer baking dishes to prepared baking sheet; bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until biscuits are golden brown and juices are bubbling, 50-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, at least 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.

//Dinner by Candlelight: Halibut cheeks over chard with a cherry-balsamic reduction

2009-06-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

Usually, often, most of the time, I have enough self-control pulsing through my body that I will first photograph what I've made, and then, only after I'm sufficiently satisfied with the pictures, will I dig in.

Tonight was not that night.

It was the cherry-chocolate balsamic reduction (ladled over sauteed halibut cheeks and roasted chard, of course) that prompted me to pick up my knife and fork mere seconds after I had set the plates down on the dining room table. The curiosity of wanting to know what the sauce tasted like overwhelmed me to the point where photographing the meal didn't even enter my mind. It was only after I had used the remaining chard leaves to sop up some of the sauce, and then used my index finger to wipe the plate clean of cherry pieces and halibut flesh, that I even glanced in the direction of my Canon camera.

I can't say I was all that upset.

Cheeks-Chard-Cherries
Dish No. 1 of 6 for "The Bounty of Blissful Berry Bites"

For Chard:
1 bunch of rainbow chard, stalks trimmed and cleaned.
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 300° F. In a shallow baking dish, mix together the rainbow chard, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Just before placing the dish in the oven, cut the temperature down to 250° F. Roast the chard until the leaves just begin to wilt. Be careful not to brown the pretty stems too much! Pull the dish from the oven and dress the leaves and stems on plates.

For Halibut cheeks:
2 six oz halibut cheek portions
Flour and butter for dredging
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Remove the halibut cheeks from the butcher paper, butter them, and dredge them in flour. Heat the 2 Tbsp of oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the oil spreads enough to coat the base of the pan, add the halibut to it. Wait 6 minutes before flipping it. Wait another 6 minutes, and then plate the fish on top of the rainbow chard immediately.

For Cherry-Chocolate Balsamic Reduction:
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup (scant) flour
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
15 ripe red cherries, pitted
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp dark chocolate chunks
1/3 cup olive oil
Zest of half an orange

Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. When it begins to brown, add the flour and stir until all the liquid is absorbed. Add the balsamic vinegar, pitted cherries, brown sugar, chocolate chunks and olive oil. Stir until well-combined; then reduce the heat to a low simmer. If necessary, thin the sauce with a little extra vinegar. Before spooning it over the halibut, grate the orange zest into the pan.

//The Bounty of Blissful Berry Bites

2009-06-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

Who's got fresh picked berries and cherries in her refrigerator? ME.

Late this Spring, my mom introduced me to the idea of going to "pick-your-own farms" to get fresh berries. She went berry picking with her friend Judy, and together they brought back 6 pounds of ripe 'n' ready blueberries. 6 pounds! Then, during my last flight to Portland, I sat next to a computer programmer who was particularly knowledgeable about the pick-your-own farm scene. He also told me about Sauvie Island Farms, and said they had some of the best pick-your-own produce in the Portland area.

These 2 separate events caused me to go "Hmmm. Maybe there's something to this pick-your-own berry thing." I floated the idea of going berry picking to Mr. Professional Nerd, because I thought it'd be a fun date to go on, and also because there isn't any form of reliable public transportation that goes out to the island. He agreed to drive me to the farm, and even offered to help me pick berries... so long as I paid him in berry-themed food. I agreed to the terms of the deal.

Mr. Professional Nerd and I, we're a Super Awesome Berry Picking team! 2 hours = yielded several pounds of berries. I'm a pick-your-own convert now. The fields are just 20 minutes from home, the berries are a piddly $1.75/lb, and they are vastly superior — taste, texture, size — to anything you'd find at the grocery store. The raspberries are especially delicious, and HUGE (roundest section of the berries are about the width of a nickle!). I'm a very happy lady right now.

In keeping my promise to Mr. Professional Nerd, I'm going spend the entire week making meals and desserts that have berries and cherries in them. I've decided to call this cooking fest "The Bounty of Blissful Berry Bites." Check the blog each day for new updates.

Gotta run back to the kitchen!

//Happy Muffin Day!

2009-06-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the arrival of the Oregon's cherry and blueberry season, I made...

Cherry-Berry-Choco-Walnut Muffins

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup candied walnuts (your own, or store-bought — this is the recipe I used)
3/4 cup dried blueberries
3/4 cup pitted red cherries

Before you begin, you're going to want to pit the cherries and soak the dried blueberries in hot water. The water will cause the blueberries to plump during the baking process. Preheat oven to 375°. Position rack in center of oven. Butter and flour dust 1 standard size muffin tin.

In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the cooled butter, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.

In another large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients, along with the cherries, blueberries and candied walnuts, into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Again, apply the 15 strokes method when mixing.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter (the muffin cups will be full). Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.

//Labor of Love: Recreating the Pretzel Croissant

2009-06-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a bakery in the Brentwood/Santa Monica area called The City Bakery. And this bakery once sold pieces of happiness in the form Pretzel Croissants for $3.75 a pop. Now, these croissants... they were these amazing multi-layered, butter-bursting, sesame-dusted, salty, crispy-caramel-colored puffs of utter ecstasy. People came from far and wide to get these croissants fresh off the cooling racks each morning and throughout the afternoon. I was one of those individuals, and did I travel far to get them.

These croissants were better than any of the ones I had in Paris two years ago, so much so that during my first trip to the bakery, I went back inside and got myself another one. I remember it being really hard not to eat the second croissant right then and there: I finally had to break down and eat some Reese's peanut butter Easter eggs to take my mind off of it. (I lead a difficult life, I'm aware.) The best part about the experience was the fact that if I gave the pastry the slightest pinch, melted butter seeped out from the layers. That's right, the croissant oozed butter! So it wasn't the most heart-healthy thing to eat. But it was a croissant! IT WASN'T MEANT TO BE. Oh, it was so good. So very, very good.

And then one Saturday, City Bakery went bye-bye. Shuttered. No more. It didn't bother me all much because I'd already made up my mind to move away from Los Angeles, but I imagine it left a void in the hearts of each one of the bakery's fervent devotees. A void once filled with the arterial plaque that developed from having ingested too much butter, but a void nonetheless.

There still exists a City Bakery in New York City, and they still serve Pretzel Croissants, and I'm sure they'll gladly UPS you however many croissants $20 gets you. But there might come a time when you wake up and want a Pretzel Croissant before the day is over, and you happen to live on the other side of the country. Should that ever happen to you, I've got just the recipe for you.

Pretzel Croissant
(an adaptation of Martha Stewart's croissant recipe, found in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

2 cups cold milk
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 lbs (about 4 1/2 cups) bread flour, plus more for dusting
4 oz (scant 1 cup) pastry flour (if you don't have pastry flour, mix equal halves of all-purpose and cake flour)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 oz fresh yeast, crumbled
1 tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 3/4 lbs (5 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Enough kosher salt and white sesame seeds to sprinkle over the dough before you place it in the oven

Helps to have:

A pastry scraper
A pizza roller
A ruler
Baking sheets with edges to prevent melted butter from running off while the croissants are baking

For the dough:

Pour the milk and honey into a 1-quart liquid measure cup, and stir to combine. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, stir together 1 lb 6 oz (about 4 1/14 cups) bread flour, pastry flour, sugar, yeast and salt; stir to combine. Add the milk mixture, and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together, about 2-3 minutes.

(Chef's note: Keep in mind that salt kills yeast, so I always add the salt to the bottom of the mixer, and put the yeast on top of the flour. It's also really important that you have a dough hook because other attachments won't mix the ingredients as thoroughly.)

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface; gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 45 seconds. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For the butter package:

Lay the butter sticks side by side on a piece of plastic wrap, and sprinkle with the remaining 2 oz of bread flour. Pound with a rolling pin until flour is incorporated, and roll into an 8-inch-square. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Remove dough package from the refrigerator; place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to a 16-by-10 inch rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick, with a short side facing you; keep the corners as square as possible. Remove any excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Starting at the far end, fold the rectangle in thirds, as you would a business letter. This completes the first of 3 turns. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.

Repeat rolling and folding as above 2 more times, starting with the flap opening on the right, as if it were a book, and refrigerate at least 1 hour between turns. After the third and final roll, refrigerate one more time, 6 to 8 hours, to overnight.

Later than day/the following morning, turn out chilled dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out the dough to a 30-by-16 inch rectangle. Using a pizza wheel or pastry cutter, cut the dough in half lengthwise to form two 30-by-8-inch rectangles. Stack one piece of dough on top of the other, lining up edges. Using the pizza wheel, cut dough into triangles, each with a 4-inch base. Cut a 1-inch slit in the center of the base of each triangle. Place triangles in a single layer on a clean work surface.

To shape the croissants, stretch the two lower points of each triangle to enlarge the slit slightly. Fold the inner corners formed by the slit toward the outer sides of the triangle, and press down to seal. Using your fingertips, roll the base of the triangle up and away from you, stretching the dough slightly outward as you roll, the trip should be tucked under the croissant. Put the two ends toward you to form a crescent. Transfer crescents to two parchment-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot until very spongy and doubled in bulk, about 45-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°, with the racks in the upper and lower thirds. Lightly brush crescents with beaten egg and sprinkle with kosher salt and sesame seeds. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until the croissants are puffed and golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The Chef, with the aforementioned Pretzel Croissant, the day before City Bakery closed in April 2009.

//Definitely Phobulous

2009-06-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

Traditional Vietnamese Pho
(recipe courtesy of FoodNetwork, with some modifications)
(originally served with Summer Solstice Rice Pudding)

For the broth:

4 lbs beef neck bones or Oxtails (if the latter, cut into 1 1/2 to 2-inch pieces and trimmed of fat)
3-inch piece of ginger, unpeeled
1 large onion, halved and unpeeled
1/3 cup fish sauce
8 whole star anise
5 whole cloves
3-inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 bay leaves

For the garnish:

1 lb 1/4-inch rice noodles
2 bunches scallions, sliced thin
1/2 cup tightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 cup basil, approximately, whole fresh plants (minus roots) if possible
1 1/2 cups mung bean sprouts
3 large limes, cut into wedges and seeds removed
Red chile paste or sliced fresh hot chilies (optional)
3/4 lbs beef round steak, paper-thin

Put the neck or oxtails (or both!) into a large stockpot and add 2 gallons of water until the meat is completely submerged. Bring to a full boil and then lower the heat to a rapid simmer. Skim the scum that rises to the surface. (Chef's note: I chose to do a "fake-out boil" where I boiled the meat until the scum rose to the surface, drained the pot, and reintroduced fresh water. This method ensures that final broth is fairly scum-free.)

After you've returned the water to a boil, place the ginger and onion halves on a baking sheet and char them under the broiler until lightly blackened, 10 to 15 minutes. Turn them over halfway through cooking. When cool enough to handle, rinse the onion and ginger under running water, using a knife to scrape away some of the charred surface. Cut the ginger into 3 pieces and toss it and the onion halves into the simmering broth, along with 1 tablespoon salt and the fish sauce.

Put the star anise, cloves, and cinnamon stick in a small skillet and toast them on top of a stove burner over medium heat. Turn the spices a couple of times until they're slightly darkened (3 to 4 minutes) and until you smell their aroma. Put the toasted spices and fennel seeds in a small square of double thick cheesecloth and tie the bundle with a long piece of kitchen twine. Add the spice bundle and the bay leaves to the broth, tying the end of the twine to the pot handle for easy retrieval.

Let the broth simmer, uncovered, skimming occasionally. After 4 hours, remove the spice bundle, onion, bay leaves and ginger from the pot and discard. Remove the oxtails from the pot and set aside. Let the broth continue to simmer. When the meat is cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bones. Set the meat aside and return the bones to the broth. Continue simmering, uncovered, until the broth is rich and flavorful, about 1 hour. Taste the broth and add more salt or fish sauce as needed.

Soak the rice noodles in cold water for at least 20 minutes. Arrange the sliced scallions, cilantro, parsley, basil, bean sprouts, lime wedges, and chiles on a platter in separate piles.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the drained rice noodles. Give the noodles a quick stir and cook until tender but firm, about 1 minute. Rice noodles can quickly become gummy, so don't let them overcook. Drain the noodles. Warm 6 large bowls by rinsing them with hot water and divide the noodles among the bowls.

Just before serving, return the broth to a full boil. Arrange the slices of raw beef and pieces of cooked oxtail meat over the noodles in each bowl. Carefully ladle the boiling broth over all; the raw beef should be submerged in the broth. Serve immediately, along with the platters of garnish.

//Dessert First

2009-06-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday my friends Wendy and Sasha took me to one of Portland's premier Asian food markets, "Fubonn," on NE 82nd Street. It's located in the heart of a mini-mall, surrounded by Asian bakeries and specialty stores. The mall itself reminded me of the Korean marketplace on Western Boulevard in Los Angeles, and the supermarket made me nostalgic for the Chinese grocery store chain 99 Ranch Market in Los Angeles county. The invitation to join my friends this excursion worked for me, as images of fried whole rock cod stuffed with ginger, bibimap and miles of rice noodles, along with other Asian delights, had been coming to me whenever I was running on the treadmill at the gym.

The overall cheapness of everything at Fubonn necessitated some self-restraint to keep me from buying more food than I could reasonable consume (such as 99 cent frozen coconut sticky rice with black beans stuffed in a 12"-long bamboo husks). And then there was the impulse to buy fresh galangal and kaffir lime leaves. These are what make Thai curry Thai curry. But I wasn't going to be making Thai curry this Sunday — shortly after laying eyes on the paper-thin strips of round eye steak in the butcher case, I decided I was going to make Pho for the first time (from fresh stock).

And then there was dessert.

The order of operations for determining this past Sunday's dinner was a little unusual: I knew what dessert I wanted to serve my guests before I settled on a main course. Serving forbidden rice pudding was one of the images that had come to when I went to the gym last Monday. When I went to Fubonn with Wendy and Sasha, I went there with the intention of acquiring the ingredients for the dessert first, and then worked backward from there to decide on the main course. Dinner's primary purpose was to ramp up to the final course. Pho fit the bill, as its aroma, taste and texture isn't particularly overwhelming — like tom yum goong can be; nor is it nearly as rich as any of the South Asian curries that spring to mind. It's simple and delicate, and wouldn't steal the spotlight from dessert. All right; enough blathering on about dinner. Onto dessert!

Summer Solstice Rice Pudding

2 1/2 cup water
1 1/4 forbidden rice
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cardamom
1 can of coconut milk
1 mango, diced into chunks
1 medium Hawaiian papaya, diced into chunks
2 gold kiwis, sliced
Optional: 2 dragon fruit

Put water and rice into a medium pot, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until all of the water is absorbed, about 45 minutes. Uncover and stir in all but a drizzle of coconut milk and sugar. Bring back to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes more.

Divide rice pudding among bowls, top with fruit, and drizzle some of the remaining coconut milk over it.

Did I mention that while at Fubonn I found whole, frozen dragon fruit from Vietnam? I DID! They're only sold fresh in Los Angeles at the Farmers' markets during the month of September — apparently up until November in Amsterdam, as I saw them for sale there when I visited last November — and afterward become incredibly difficult to find. But there they were, in the frozen fruit section of Fubonn. They were so pretty, I wasn't sure if I could bring myself to cut into their bright magenta flesh. But I did.

We often see mango and papaya paired with South Asian cuisine, so choosing the above tropical fruit was an obvious choice. But I also wanted colors that paired rather nicely with the smokey midnight purple of the pudding because yesterday (June 21st) was the longest day of the year. In Portland, the sun didn't finally go down below the horizon until well after 10! The Summer Solstice Rice Pudding was a perfect way to end the rather long day.

//Sometimes a sandwich is just a sandwich... or is it a muffin?

2009-06-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I was already on the case to come up with this week's muffin. I was in the mood for something atypical, something so cheekily-clever, that its existence would cause my small audience to roll their eyes in response to my tendency toward bad humor. I happened to be lunching at Everett Street Bistro that day, and at the bottom of their menu I found the inspiration for the baked good you see today: the Muffinletta. Get it?

So, do you know what a "muffuletta" is? It's the name of a sandwich found most commonly served in New Orleans (if you couldn't tell, it's also served at Everett). It's not exactly the kind of sandwich you'd see Jared from Subway promoting because it's loaded with half a week's recommended maximum intake of fat and salt. Seriously, this isn't like a girlie-girl turkey on whole grain toast with cranberry chutney. This sandwich is on a whole other level of gastronomy, one that includes 2 pound bready, meaty sandwiches that have been slathered with an oily-fermented-sweet-spicy salad. To eat this sandwich is to also temporarily shun mayonnaise, as it's considered a sin to adulterate the bread with a spread that's best reserved for the likes of tuna fish and curry chicken salads. It's some seriously good eats, and it's even just as delicious in muffin form.

For more information on the history of the muffuletta, you can read its Wikipedia page.

The Muffinletta

Like its far-distant sandwich relative, the muffin version of the muffuletta is just as fatty and salty. If this isn't your thing, you might consider making, I dunno, apple bran muffins instead.

For the Batter:

1/4 lb each of the following: mortadella, capiccola ham, Italian salami, provolone and emmentaler (or mozzarella) cheeses
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups olive salad (store bought — some places carry it, — or your own, in which case read below)

Preheat oven to 400° F. Flour and butter one 6 jumbo muffin tin. Before the mixing begins, take out the assorted meats and cheeses. Here's what I thought up: Using a 2" biscuit cutter, make uniform circle cutouts in each of the cheese slices; set aside. Using a 1" biscuit cutter, make similar, but smaller uniform circle cutouts in the deli meats. The capicolla will be slightly tough to cut through, but if you work at it, it should come out all right.

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Whisk together the buttermilk, butter and eggs. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and then gently fold in the olive salad (make no more than 15 strokes!).

Spoon a little bit of batter into the bottom of each muffin tin. Top the batter with 1 slice of provolone, then follow with 2-3 slices of each meat, followed by 1 slice of emmentaler cheese. After you've put the layer of emmentaler cheese on, spoon some more batter over the top. By making the cheese rounds slightly larger than the slices of meat, the cheese will melt together while in the oven, thus sealing in the meat, and bringing the top and bottom batter parts together to make 1 whole muffin. Pretty nifty, huh? (I gave myself a pat on the back for that one.) Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove muffins from cups while hot and cool on a rack.

For Olive Salad:

1/2 jar large pimento stuffed green olives, slightly crushed and well drained
1/2 jar Greek olives
1 jar of Mezzetta Italian Mix, which should contain pickled cauliflower, carrots, celery, cocktail onions, salad peppers, pepperoncini and spices
1/2 small jars capers, drained
The following spices to taste: celery seed, oregano, garlic and pepper

Combine all of these ingredients together by hand in a bowl and reserve until you're ready to incorporate the mixture into the muffin batter.

//The Main Course

2009-06-16T00:07:00.000-07:00

Grilled Sausage-Stuffed Calamari

Note: you can make your own sausage (tedious), or you can buy bulk mild Italian pork sausage from your local butcher, Whole Foods, or grocery store. I have a recipe for fresh sausage, but opted to purchase a pound from the nearby Whole Foods (roughly $4.99).

1/2-1lb pork sausage
1 lb cleaned small squid bodies plus tentacles
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Optional accompaniment: lemon wedges

Using a small spoon, loosely stuff squid with sausage, leaving 1/2-inch space at top. Seal tops using wooden toothpicks.

Prepare grill (or griddle) for direct-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal (medium heat for gas, or medium temperature for stovetop). Coat stuffed squid and tentacles with oil and season with 1/2 tsp salt. Oil grill or griddle, then grill stuffed squid, turning frequently, until golden in spots and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the filling reads 150°-155° F, about 13-15 minutes. Transfer to a platter. Grill tentacles until opaque and curled, about 1 minute, then add to platter. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with parsley.

Balsamic-Marinated Fresh Radicchio

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
5 garlic cloves
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus additional for drizzling
1 lb radicchio, quartered lengthwise
1/2 cup basil leaves

Preheat broiler.

Whisk together vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, 1/2 cup oil, and 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper in a large bowl. Put radicchio in a 4-sided sheet pan and toss with remaining 2 tbsp of oil. Broil 5 to 6 minutes from heat, turning occasionally, until slightly wilted, 3 to 4 minutes. Please do keep an eye on this, especially if you're broiling in an electric oven, as the leaves will easily char if left unturned!

Add hot radicchio to marinade and gently toss to coat. Cover bowl and marinate, tossing once or twice, at least 1 hour. Transfer radicchio to serving dish, pouring some of the marinade over top. Scatter basil over radicchio.

Grilled Shrimp

1 lb medium white shrimp, de-veined, tails left intact
Salt and pepper to taste
Drizzle of honey
Olive oil for coating
6 wooden skewers

Using the same preparation for the grilled calamari, place the shrimp on the grill or griddle immediately after you've pulled the stuffed squid (the shrimp can be cooked in conjunction with the squid tentacles). Turn the shrimp once they turn bright pink on one side, and then flip them to cook until they are similarly as pink on the opposite side.

//Evening coffee buzz with a twist

2009-06-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

Espresso Granita with Caramel
(an adaptation of the recipe found at: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/espressogranita.htm)

1 cup simple syrup (see below)
4 tbsp of espresso coffee that have been brewed to make 24 oz of coffee, cooled to room temperature
5 tbsp caramel sauce

For Simple Syrup:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water

In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a low boil. Dissolve 1/2 cup sugar in water, and then remove from heat. Cool.

For Espresso Granita:

Choose a glass, plastic or stainless 3-cup bowl with a tightly fitted lid. Make sure it is dry, snap on the lid and place in freezer. In a medium bowl, dissolve the simple syrup in the espresso and taste. It should taste too sweet. Stir and pour into the aforementioned dish. Cover and freeze about 1 to 2 hours until espresso has a very thick crust, but has not quite frozen through. Use a fork to cut through and lift the layer of coarse crystal-ice, blending it with the unfrozen core. Cover pan and return to freezer. Check hourly and when it is firm to the touch but still yields easily to a stab with the fork (due to high concentration of sugar, this may take up to 8 hours), it is ready for final chopping.

Set pan of frozen espresso on a cool surface and methodically chop the crystalline blocks into a regular flaky, granular mass. This can be tedious, but it is easy, as long as you haven't let the liquid freeze too solid. If it is rock hard, it will take more brawn to cut through chunks and you may overwork some bits as you try to split harder pebbles. Transfer granita to chilled container, snap on lid and place in freezer.

Ten to 15 minutes before serving, turn container upside down in freezer. Place 5-to 6-ounce bowls or glasses in freezer to chill. (In my case, I used fancy schmancy fluted glasses.) Drizzle some caramel sauce around the insides of the glasses, and then top the granita with a drizzle of sauce as well.

//Arugula and Fava-Bean Crostini

2009-06-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

Arugula and Fava-Bean Crostini

1 cup shelled fava beans (or fresh edamame if favas aren't available)
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
1 1/2 cup packed baby arugula, divided
3 tbsp Pecorino Toscano or Parmigiano-Reggiano (cheese can be omitted from the initial batch and then later sprinkled on top of the individual crostini for those who can't have dairy)
1/4 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 baguette
1 garlic clove, halved crosswise
16 mint leaves

For Spread:

Preheat oven to 350° F with rack in the middle. Cook fava beans over boiling water, uncovered, 3-4 minutes, then drain in an ice bath to stop cooking. Gently peel of skins (if using edamame, don't peel off skins).

Pulse fava beans in your food processor until coarsely chopped, then transfer half of the mixture to a very large bowl. Add 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup arugula, cheese, lemon zest and juice, and 1/2 salt and 1/8 tsp pepper to favas in processor and puree until smooth. Add to bowl. Coarsely chop remaining cup arugula and gently fold in fava bean mixture.

For Crostini:

Cut 16 diagonal slices from baguette and put in a 4-sided sheet pan. Drizzle with remaining tbsp olive oil. Bake until pale golden and crisp, about 8 to 10 minutes. Rub with cut side of garlic.

To Assemble:

Spoon fava bean mixture onto baguette toasts, then drizzle with oil and top with mint.

//Sometimes Father Knows Best

2009-06-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

It was on my 21st birthday that my dad gave me a copper saute pan. The cooking equipment I owned at that point in my life was a pitiful assortment of whatever cheap-o knives, pots, pans, and dishes could be harvested out of the clearance bin at TJ Maxx, plus the hand-me-downs my parents dutifully offloaded on me before I left for college. The possessions ended up being more for show and less for actual use, by which I mean: to show I could/would make a good faith effort at some sort of culinary feat other than adding packages of pre-fried noodles to boiling cups of water. I think I spent more on Windex during college to keep the dust off the pots and pans than on actual food to go in them. I mean, I fancied the idea of being able to cook all the time, much like I fancied the idea of not having to get up at 6:30 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to attend my statistics class. But in both of these cases, in was the omnipresent tension that came from needing to finish undergrad, and, oh yeah, get into graduate school immediately thereafter, that kept me from acquiring domestic skills or forgoing sleep deprivation.

From my perspective, receiving an expensive piece of gourmet cookware seemed like my dad was gently trying to nudge me toward domesticity, a path I wasn't ready to go down yet. I didn't see how this pot would fit into my life, nor how it could be of any use to me. Gifts I'd use on a daily basis (e.g., clothing and shoes) were what I needed! Not kitchen equipment that was only going to sit around and therefore add to my list of things to dust! Dad wouldn't budge and get me shoes.

The entry of this saute pan into my life opened the kitchen store retail door to future cooking-related gifts. In the years following my dad would give me a cast iron tea kettle, kitchen sheers that all but sheered the skin of my very clumsy fingers, a wok big enough to stir-fry a turducken, Oneida china, baking pans, a food processor... etc. With every gift, I'd kindly ask him "Why?" This question came from a place of guilt, the guilt I felt because I knew it'd be a long time before I'd ever — if I ever — got to use my increasingly impressive array of gadgetry, doodads and pans. I just felt bad, is all. Each time Dad would reply with "Cooking brings people together. You're gonna be cooking full meals soon enough, and they're going to require everything you've acquired. You'll be glad you didn't have to go out and buy these things on your own. Trust me on this." Uh huh. Right, dad.

I was wrong. He was right.

It started slowly, with my "accidentally" discovering Muffin Day toward the latter half of senior year of college. Then on occasion a friend would ask for an appetizer or dessert to be brought to a group game night. A surprise birthday party or two, and a whole party thrown in honor of the salty-fatty-sumptuousness that is bacon later, and I was out of graduate school and had nothing but free time on my hands and a kitchen cabinet full of "stuff." Not being in school any longer also offered me some mental space to realize that I really enjoyed chef's artistry a whole lot more than I had previously thought. So much more than I was willing to put psychology on the back burner for a little while and take a deeper look at cooking. Now I'm doing as my dad said I would: using food to bring people together by whipping up whole meals... on Sunday evenings.

Since Father's Day is this coming weekend, I'm going to take the time to say thanks to my dad for (knowingly? unknowingly?) setting up the ideal kind of environment for me so I could thrive doing something I love.

The following smoked salmon recipe was featured as a first course opener at last night's dinner. It's simplicity need not be mistaken for blandness: the combination of savory salmon with very succulent melon, topped off with honey and palette refreshing mint, is meant to wake up the taste buds at the end of the day and prepare them for the food that is to follow.

Second Wind Salmon

8 oz of smoke salmon, preferably Sockeye
1 whole Casaba melon (or Crenshaw, or whatever variety is in season), about 3 lbs.
5 tsp honey
5 mint leaves

Before serving: Put individual serving plates in you refrigerator to chill.

Remove the smoked salmon from its package and separate each of the slices. Using a sharp knife, cut the melon in half and remove the pulp and seeds. Using a melon baller, scoop out as many melon balls as you can get from the fruit without breaking through its skin. (For a 3 lb melon, I got about 35 balls using the large side of the scoop.) Arrange the melon on each individual serving plate, and top 3-4 slices of salmon. Drizzle honey over the top of the fish and adorn with a mint leave. This is a dish best served cold.

//Slicing through the silence

2009-06-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening saw me attending a graduation party out in Beaverton, Oregon (about a 15 minute drive west of metropolitan Portland). It was a drizzly evening, so at the last minute an event tent had to be thrown up to protect the fabulous spread of food served at the party.

Despite having visited Portland over a half dozen times prior to the move, I'm still relatively new to the area and don't know that many people. Of the 30-ish guests at Saturday's event, I knew 3 — 10%, which isn't bad by any means, but those aforementioned 3 were my boyfriend, the party's host and her husband. I figured that bringing a cake to the party would serve as a natural ice breaker and ease me into socializing with a large group of strangers. My guess that a cake could act as a conduit for connecting was correct; however, because it was raining, many of the attendees opted to stay inside, which meant they didn't get a chance to slice into the velvety four layer cake that I'd brought! Oh well. But the cake did help me meet a modest amount of new people, so I still consider it a success. (It also meant that I got leftovers. No complaining here.)

Four Layer Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream and Plum-Apricot Filling

For Cake:
8 oz white chocolate, chopped
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
10 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whole milk

For Buttercream:
1 1/4 lbs white chocolate, chopped
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsps vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

For Assembly:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 lb apricots, pitted and thinly sliced
1 lb plums, pitted and thinly sliced
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup apricot preserves, melted

For Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Butter two 9-inch parchment paper rounds and place in pans, buttered side up. Stir white chocolate in top of double boiler set over barely simmering water until melted and smooth. Leave white chocolate in pot; turn off heat. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk in 3 additions, blending well after each addition. Add warm white chocolate and beat just until blended.

Divide batter equally between pans, smoothing tops with spatula. Bake cakes until tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 20 minutes (cakes will fall). Run small sharp knife around cake pan sides. Turn cakes out onto cardboard round or tart pan bottom; peel off parchment. Turn cakes right side up onto racks and cool completely.

For Buttercream:
Stir white chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove white chocolate from over water. Let stand until cool but not set, about 20 minutes. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in white chocolate and vanilla, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in powdered sugar. Cover and refrigerate until thick enough to spread, about 45 minutes (frosting will be very soft).

For Assembly:
Boil 1/2 cup water and sugar in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cool syrup.

Using serrated knife, cut each cake layer horizontally in half. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on 9-inch cardboard cake round or removable bottom of 9-inch tart pan and brush with 2 tablespoons sugar syrup. Spread 6 tablespoons buttercream over cake. Cover buttercream with single layer of sliced apricots. Spread 3 tablespoons buttercream over apricots; top with second cake layer, cut side up. Brush with 2 tablespoons sugar syrup, 6 tablespoons buttercream, plums, and 3 tablespoons buttercream. Top with third cake layer, cut side up. Brush with 2 tablespoons syrup. Spread 6 tablespoons buttercream over cake; cover with apricots. Spread 3 tablespoons buttercream over apricots. Top with fourth layer, cut side down. Spread 1 cup buttercream over top and sides of cake (layer will be thin). Chill 1 hour. Spread remaining buttercream over top and sides of cake. Press chopped walnuts onto sides of cake. Cover top with remaining sliced apricots and plums. Brush sliced fruit with apricot preserves. Chill cake 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and keep chilled. Let stand 3 hours at room temperature before serving.)

//Pretty Perfect Palette Pleasing Paella

2009-06-12T00:18:00.000-07:00

Summer Spanish Paella

1 lb slender asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1-inch lengths
5 cups (about) low-salt chicken broth, divided
1 lb uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails left intact, shells reserved
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp crumbled saffron threads
1/4 cup olive oil
2 chorizo sausage links (6 ounces), casings removed
2 1/2 cups chopped onions
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large tomato (12 to 13 ounces), halved, seeded, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/3 cup roasted red peppers (either canned, or made at home)
2 tsp Spanish or hot Hungarian paprika
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups Spanish Bomba rice, Italian arborio rice, or medium-grain white rice (about 17 ounces)
18 small littleneck clams (about 1 1/4 pounds), scrubbed
24 mussels, scrubbed, debearded
5 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed
Lemon wedges

Cook asparagus in large saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water, and drain again.

Bring 4 1/2 cups broth to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add reserved shrimp shells; simmer 10 minutes. Bring wine to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat; add saffron and set aside 5 minutes to steep. Strain saffron-infused wine into 8-cup measuring cup. Strain in shrimp broth. Add enough chicken broth to measure 5 cups broth mixture.

Heat oil in large wide pot or paella pan (at least 3 inches deep) over medium-high heat. Add chorizo and sauté until lightly browned, breaking into 1/2-inch pieces with side of spoon, about 5 minutes. Add onions. Reduce heat to medium and sauté until onions are slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir 2 minutes. Add tomato and peppers. Sauté until tomato is soft and juices evaporate, about 3 minutes. Mix in paprika and salt, then rice. (Asparagus, broth mixture, and rice mixture can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let each stand at room temperature.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Add broth mixture to rice mixture and bring to boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and simmer 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pot or paella pan from heat. Scatter shrimp over. Tuck clams and mussels into rice mixture, hinged side down. Place pot or paella pan in oven and bake paella, uncovered, 15 minutes. Sprinkle peas and asparagus over. Continue to bake until broth is absorbed, rice is tender, and clams and mussels open, about 5 minutes longer. Cover with foil once you've removed it from the oven; let stand 5 minutes.

Transfer paella to large shallow dish. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve (hopefully to a group of at least 3 people, otherwise you'll be eating leftovers for days).

//Guess who's back?

2009-06-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago I went Internet-free. This wasn't entirely of my own volition. I mean, I did choose to move away from Los Angeles and my very secure high speed connection; however, I had expected to be wired but quick once I landed at the intended destination (a.k.a. My New Home) on June 1st. I was wrong. =( These interim Dark Days of No Net afforded me plenty of time to think up clever-cute-cheerful ways to announce my return to the culinary blogosphere. In the end, though, the desire to merely write "Hey, I'm back!" was greater than the desire to draft some well-articulated piece. Basically, as soon as I unpacked, I wanted to resume posting.

Hey, I'm back!

More importantly, I moved! To Portland!

This journey involved multiple steps and adventures and the breaking of many fingernails, and spanned from March/April until early June.

Moving on up: Around April I made a firm decision to move from Los Angeles to Portland during the coming summer. Without getting neck high in specifics, I'll just say that I'd been wanting to move out of Los Angeles since my freshman year of college. Normally I'm pretty decent about adhering to goals, but I'll be the first to admit that I repeatedly let the ball drop on the whole move out of state thing for a number of years. After repeatedly visiting places like Boston and New York City and Northern California, I settled on Portland after my 7th visit to the city in February of 2009. Newsweek's declaration that Portland is the most depressed city in the nation be damned, I actually don't mind overcast skies: it's the sun I hate. With a burning fiery passion. With graduate school out of the way, and California's economy tanking by the day, I had very little reason not to leave.

Wherein I play the waiting game: That same month I packed up the contents of my 2 bedroom house in Burbank, gave away most of my furniture except for the bare necessities (e.g., bed, and favoritest of all bookcases), and oh so carefully transported my remaining effects plus 5 boxes of kitchen equipment to my mother's house near LAX. With everything carefully stored in the garage, I then spent the next several weeks in house limbo, residing at either my mother's or my brother's respective residences.

A wild card is thrown my way: On April 30th I ended up joining my boss and a few co-workers down in San Diego to start work on a research study. The nature of the work meant we had to live in the city during the work week, go home on Friday afternoons, and make the trek back down south on Sunday evenings. So from the end of April until the end of May, I basically lived out of a suitcase.

The Big Day arrives: Finally! The real moving day! Not moving within the boundaries of Los Angeles County. Not temporarily living in another part of Southern California. Today I left California. On this Sunday I crammed a rented red Dodge Grand Caravan full of all that could fit (which included my mom, who rode shotgun) and made my way north to the Rose City. I couldn't see out the back of the van, and I dared not open any of the doors to inspect things during the pit stops we made during the 15 hour journey. Sadly, a few bowls and plates did not survive the trip (technically I have no way of knowing if they were crushed during the first move from Burbank to Los Angeles, during one of the 4 earthquakes that struck the city during the months of April and May, or if the long haul up I-5 really was responsible for their demise). Everything else was A-OK.

Now I'm in Portland. Until this past Saturday, I hadn't set foot in a kitchen other than to steal cookies from my brother's pantry on the weekends when I was home. Not being able to so much as even make a salad in my hotel room in San Diego made me all out of sorts. But those days are past; now I get to look forward to carving a culinary niche of my own in one of the most beautiful cities in the union.

Enough about me, though. Happy (Belated) Muffin Day! I chose to make a Strawberry Streusel Muffin for Wednesday because the paragon of berries lie within Oregon's borders. It's true. Really. You should come up here and pick some for yourself.

Strawberry Streusel Muffins:

For Muffins:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup melted, cooled butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups fresh strawberries, quartered.

For Streusel Topping:
4 tbsp oats
4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 375° F. Position rack in center of oven. Butter and flour one 6 jumbo muffin pan, or one 12 medium muffin tin.

In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk, butter, and vanilla extract.

In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gently fold in the berries. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined (about 15 strokes). Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

Fill each muffin cup almost full of batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. In a small bowl, mix together the streusel topping oats, flour, and brown sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping over unbaked muffins. Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.

//Erin Go Nom

2009-03-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

A happy early Muffin Day to you! Since it's St. Patrick's Day, I figured it'd be OK for me to make the muffins a day early, provided the recipe I used complemented the theme of the feast day.

Black Bottom Guinness Muffins

For Cream Cheese Filling

* 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
* 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
* 1 large egg
* 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
* 1 tsp green food coloring

For Chocolate Muffins

* 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 1 cup light brown sugar
* 1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
* 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 cup Guinness Stout
* 1/3 cup vegetable or nut oil (almond oil, walnut, or safflower oils are best)
* 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Notes:

- For a dairy-free version, omit the cream cheese mixture and substitute 1/2 of a large marshmallow per muffin (add during the last 10 minutes of baking).

- Double up the ingredients if you want to make 24 muffins, which is what I did.

- I advise you not to bring these muffins to your child's classroom party. Although the alcohol burns off during the baking process, some parent(s) might become uppity and accuse you of promoting underage alcohol consumption.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly butter or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, 12 muffin cups.

In your food processor or electric mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, egg, food coloring, and vanilla extract and beat until creamy and smooth. Set aside while you make the Chocolate Muffin batter.

First, in a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, dark chocolate chunks, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl mix the Guinness, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients until nice and smooth. Evenly divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups. Then spoon a few tablespoons of the cream cheese filling into the center of each muffin.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until the cream cheese filling has browned a little bit and the muffins feel springy to the touch (a toothpick inserted into the chocolate part of the muffin will come out clean). Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

//This is how the cookie crumbles

2009-03-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

I suppose if I truly wanted to, I could fabricate some story about how the two types of cookies featured in this post — which were originally intended to be served alongside other dishes at a post-wedding Sunday buffet brunch,— were intentionally smushed together so as to fit in with the theme of what it means to join in matrimony. Because really, doesn't a wedding ceremony symbolize the coming together, the union, of two very special, different people? That's kinda what happened to my baked goods — they joined together, although I really wish they hadn't.

Much like how my conscience wouldn't allow me to serve the cookies to the wedding guests at Mr. Professional Nerd's brother's wedding this past weekend, I couldn't bring myself to lie to my audience today. So I'm going to tell you the truth. Despite my best packing efforts, most of the cookies were destroyed during my flight from Los Angeles to Boston on Friday morning. As recently as December I had successfully stowed 10 containers of various baked goods in my luggage for a similar long haul flight, so I figured I could easily repeat the same packing ritual for the wedding trip and everything would be a-OK. After opening the boxes of cookies and finding them destroyed, it was obvious that I had overlooked a crucial step. It didn't take me long to figure out what I'd done wrong: I hadn't packed enough clothing to insulate the tupperware containers from the baggage handling related-trauma my luggage had obviously endured. Back in December I stuffed two week's worth of attire into my roll-on suitcase; this time, however, I had only packed enough for 3 days. All of the prior trip's clothing prevented the boxes from shifting around inside the luggage, so nary a cookie broke, no muffin turned into a piece of flatbread. The obvious thing to do next time is to pack a lot more clothing. You read correctly.

Everything else wedding-related was amazing, so it's not like the cookie mishap dampened my 3 days in Massachusetts. The ceremony started on time. No vows were forgotten. The rings weren't misplaced. Food was served promptly during the reception that followed. The DJ was really good. Seeing Mr. Professional Nerd in his best man tux caused my heart to flutter in a way similar to the time I accidentally ingested 400 mg of caffeine in one sitting. I can also say with a modest amount of certainty that had the cookies survived the trip, they would have definitely been enjoyed. I know this because of course I sampled them at least twice before packing them up. Please keep that last bit in mind, and please don't let the cookies' apparent unsightliness keep you from trying the recipes detailed below.

Bjorn's Favorite Cookies

For Peanut Butter Cookies

* 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
* 3/4 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar
* 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
* 2 bananas, mashed
* 1 large egg
* 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
* 1 cup all purpose flour
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/4 tsp salt

For Peanut Butter Filling

* 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
* 1/2 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate
* 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes). Add the bananas, egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the peanut butter mixture and beat until incorporated.

Take about one tablespoon of the batter and place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between the mounds of cookie dough. Press the dough flat with the back of a fork that has been dipped in granulated white sugar. Bake the cookies for about 10- 12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the softened cream cheese, melted chocolate, vanilla extract, and sugar until smooth.

Take one peanut butter cookie and spread about 1 tablespoon of the filling on the flat side of the cookie. Top with a second cookie, flat side down, to make a sandwich. If not serving right away, cover and store in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Early Grey Shortbread Cookies (with two types of filling)

This recipe is an adaptation of the one posted over at Eat Me, Delicious. I took the Martha Stewart recommended way of making Earl Grey shortbread and decided to make them sandwich cookies using homemade blueberry cream cheese and marmalade cream cheese filling for the centers. I have a bit of a caffeine addiction as it were, so as soon as I saw the cookie recipe, I immediately decided to make it. (Caffeine has a way of making you impulsive. ;) )

For the Blueberry Cream Cheese Filling

* 1 pint of fresh blueberries
* 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 3 tbsp of water
* 1 block of cream cheese

Cook the blueberries, powdered sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat until the fruits release their juices and the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Puree the mixture in a food processor until most of the skins have broken down. Beat the blueberry sauce and cream cheese together until nicely incorporated. Pipe it onto one of the Earl Grey cookies using an ersatz pastry bag, or a real one.

For the Marmalade Cream Cheese Filling

* 1/2 cup orange marmalade
* 1/2 block of cream cheese

Beat together the marmalade and cream cheese until incorporated. It is best that you use a pastry bag to pipe the filling onto the cookies, as the orange peel bits might get stuck in a ziploc bag-turned-pastry bag, which could then explode open if the bag's slit gets clogged.

//And now for something completely different

2009-03-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

If George Harrison were still around today, I would have definitely sent him a veg-friendly version of this week's muffin in hopes that he'd then write a song about it (possibly titled "Savory Muffin"). Naturally he'd call up Paul to play bass, and contact Ringo so he might lend some pizazz to the percussion section. Imagine — muffins reuniting the remaining Beatles! Brings tears to my eyes.

The Savory Muffin

* 2 cups flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
* 1 tsp cumin
* 3/4 cup asparagus spears, chopped
* 1/2 a bell pepper, roasted and sliced
* 3/4 cup roasted red pearl onions
* 5 roasted garlic cloves
* 3/4 cup ham, sliced or cubed
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted and cooled.
* 2/3 cup olive oil
* 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
* Cheese to top the muffins (I used blue goat cheese)

Preheat the oven to 350° degrees and butter a standard muffin pan.

In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the vegetables and ham to the flour mixture and gently stir everything together until just incorporated.

Combine the melted butter, olive oil, egg and vinegar in a separate small bowl. Add the wet to the dry ingredients, stirring until just incorporated. Unlike other muffin recipes, which are pasty and have to be spooned into the pan, you can take whole handfuls of the mix and press it into the individual tins.

Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes. Add the cheese to the tops of the muffins during the last 10 minutes of the baking process. Once they've cooled, try not to eat them all in one sitting. I gave 8 of them to my co-workers — they're that tempting and delicious.

//We're going to need a bigger bowl

2009-03-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

Several months ago I asked the artist Ali Spagnola if she could paint me a picture of a shark eating a cupcake. I won't go into why it had to be a shark specifically; to tell you that story would keep you up well past your bedtime, and that'd be cruel. Just know that I lurve sharks as much as I love less ferocious, bloodthirsty animals, such as puppies and baby pandas (I'm aware I have eclectic tastes). Anyway. What should arrive in the mail last week? Why, a shark eating a cupcake!

Between the works I've purchased from Jessie at Cakespy.com, gotten from Ali, and made myself, my cupcake-muffin art collection is growing at a pretty impressive rate!

//A Canard So Fowl

2009-03-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

After making such an awful pun, I really ought to duck and cover. I must be quackers. Do you know how many bills this meal cost to make? ... I'll stop. For now.

This meal is another culinary gem straight out of Olives and Oranges. A perfect main course for a Sunday afternoon lunch with, oh, I dunno... your mother. (Like I did.)

Duck Breast with Mushrooms, Chestnuts, and Pearl Onions

* 2 1-pound boneless duck breasts, with skin
* Fine seat salt and coarsely ground black pepper
* 8 ounces pearl onions or small cipollini
* 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 tbsp unsalted butter
* 8 ounces mushrooms, trimmed, large ones cut in half
* 1/2 cup frozen peeled chestnuts (Melissa brand produce sells a pre-cooked variety)
* 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
* 1/4 cup water
* 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Heat oven to 400°

Score duck skin in a crosshatch pattern with a small sharp knife, and season duck all over with salt and pepper. Place duck, skin side down, in a cast-iron skillet and cook over low heat until fat is rendered and skin is golden and crispy, about 40 minutes. It is crucial that you cook the fowl sloooooowly. Let the juices ooze out of the skin of the breasts; don't rush the process.

While duck is cooking, place onions in a small baking dish, drizzle with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast until golden, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven.

When duck skin is golden and fat has rendered, strain and reserve fat. return pan to high heat, return duck breasts to pan, flesh side down, and cook for 3 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer breast to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.

While duck is resting, return skillet to heat. Add butter and 1 tbsp reserved duck fat over high heat. Add mushrooms and 2 pinches of salt; cook, stirring and coating mushrooms with fat, for 2 minutes. Add chestnuts, stir, and cook for 1 minute more. Add garlic, stir, and cook for 2 minutes more to soften. Add water and roasted onions and simmer until onions are heated through and flavors have blended, about 2 minutes more. Remove from heat, add parsley, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Slice duck. Arrange duck on plates, spoon mushroom mixture over, and serve.

//Soup, soup, soup, soup ba doup

2009-03-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

For it to be six in the evening and still sunny suggests a few things. For starters, no longer can I rely on the morning light to wake me early enough so that I'm still on time for work; reluctantly I have gone ahead and set the alarm clock for tomorrow. It is also nigh time to rotate out my fall and winter clothing, and put a note on my iPhone to take my spring and summer dresses to the cleaners some time within the next few weeks. Most importantly, springing ahead means that the weather will soon be warm enough to enjoy cold foods — velvety gazpachos and vichyssoises, mounds of sorbets and gelatos, salads galore, and mile-high cold cut sandwiches, just to name a few things.

Though the weather was still pleasantly crisp today, I nonetheless made a melon-based gazpacho as a way to give spring the head's up that it's OK to now arrive. The recipe can be found in Olives and Oranges.

Cantaloupe Gazpacho with Jamon Serrano

* 1 cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, and cubed
* 1 medium cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise and seeded
* 1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
* 3 tbsp sherry vinegar
* 1 tbsp minced shallot
* 1/2 tsp sea salt
* 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 1/8-inch-thick slice serrano ham or prosciutto, cut into short matchsticks
* Coarsely ground pepper to taste

Puree melon and cucumber in a blender. Transfer half of the mixture to a large bowl.

Add yogurt, vinegar, shallot, and shalt to blender and puree until combined. With motor running, add oil in a slow, steady stream. Whisk into melon mixture in bowl. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or up to 1 day.

Before serving, stir gazpacho well and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve topped with ham and a sprinkling of pepper.

//Art for food's sake

2009-03-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

Before my foray into food blogging, prior to working at an inpatient facility, years before the creation of Muffin Day, I was... an art history major. Early on in college I came to the conclusion that a bachelor's degree was just going to be a steppingstone to my getting a master's because I figured a M.A. was what I needed to better compete in the job market. Undergrad was kind of an extension of high school as well, in that it gave me more time to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. At the time I wanted to be everything from a biochemist to a philosopher to a writer to an actress — so many career paths seemed so appealing! Readers should note that I was also 16 at the time all of this introspection was going on.

In looking back at my days in high school, the bulk of my electives fell into the categories of art or science — the subjects I was strongest in. This knowledge led me to take an intro-level art history course my first semester of college. I did exceedingly well in the class that I then decided to then major in art history. In being able to utilize both sides of my brain — to analyze paintings, write lengthy essays about them, and in some cases recreate them as part of a project, — the field of art history prepared me a great deal for graduate level courses in psychology down the road.

I had a fine time spending four years looking at several hundred images of paintings and statues made as far back as 16,000 years ago... and, on occasion, posing as a docent for unsuspecting groups of museum attendees at places such as the The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where I'd give a well-rounded tour of the all the important collections. If I had to go back and do it all over again, maybe start off as a psychology or cognitive science major from the get-go, I wouldn't. Not one bit.

I'm not much of an art historian these days. I don't don my finest business attire and give impromptu lectures about paintings like Thomas Cole's Il Penseroso, or Édouard Manet's Olympia to whomever will listen. Nor do I frequent museums often enough that I have to remember to wear flat shoes. But I still carry around two lists with me, one that details which paintings I have seen, and one that details which works of arts I haven't yet viewed (I'm about 5 paintings short of having seen Vermeer's whole known collection). And I do still visit both Getty institutions, LACMA, MOCA, and the main art museum of every city I visit. But whereas before I might attend the Getty to do research for my thesis, or carry out my art historian shenanigans, these days I visit the Los Angeles-area museums for the purposes of drawing culinary inspiration from the paintings.

Which brings me to today: After a long work week, I found myself low on creative ideas for cooking and baking. Running this week failed to get the wheels turning in my head, so I turned to the Marble Fortress on the Hill (the Getty) for some help. This trip proved to be very fruitful, and my chef's sketchpad now has four fewer pages of available space in it.

It's a little known fact that reproductions of Lawrence Alma-Tadema's Spring (above) and Vincent van Gogh's Irises make up the bulk of the poster sales at the Getty gift shop.

However, I'm a bigger fan of Gustave Moreau's Autumn because of the color scheme, because of the subject matter and style, because fall is my favorite season, and because some of my favorite foods are only available from September-November.

Caspar David Friedrich's A Walk at Dusk is a favorite Romantic period piece of mine.

Ribera's Euclid

Gericault's Race of the Riderless Horses: Such a tiny painting for an artist whose Raft of the Medusa is larger than most living rooms.

Dutch still lifes (like this one by Jan van Huysum) are actually one of the painting niches I know the least about; however, their visuals are very inspiring.

Clip-clop, clip-clop: The sound of my heels hitting the varnished floors ricocheted off the walls. At some point I just walked on my tippy toes.

Breakfast: Iced latte with tea bread; purse not edible.

I still get a kick out of these warnings.

A sketch workshop recently opened at the Getty, so I got to spend an hour trying to reproduce a plaster copy of one of their busts. I would have stayed longer, but sitting saddle-style on a wood bench for 60 minutes was hard on my tailbone. The woman running the activity asked me if I wanted to donate my drawing to the collection, I told her I would (after I went home and finished it).

Ideas started to percolate while I was at the museum. Afterwards I picked up some new books at Barnes and Nobel for the purposes of conducting some further culinary research. Can't wait to test out what I've thought up!

//Muffin Day

2009-03-04T08:44:00.000-08:00

This week's muffin — the sugar doughnut muffin, which I first tried at Big Sugar Bakeshop back in April of 2008 — was prepared two ways: Coffee, and jelly-filled. Get it?

Standard Sugar Doughnut Recipe

For Muffins

* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 large egg
* 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 2 tsp baking power
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup milk (a dairy alternative won't affect the outcome of the muffin)
* 1 tsp vanilla extract

For Coating

* 1 tbsp butter, melted
* 1/3 cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract. Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. While muffins are baking, melt butter and pour remaining sugar into a small bowl. When muffins are done, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in sugar. Cool on a wire rack.

Coffee Sugar Doughnut Muffins

* 2 tbsp of ground coffee, your brand of choice (I used my beloved Dunkin Donuts)
* Optional: 2 tbsp of dark cocoa powder (Godiva, etc)

Add the ground coffee to the recipe listed above and stir until combined. This addition will give the muffins a pleasantly fragrant coffee aroma and will lessen the sweetness just a wee bit. Should you use the cocoa powder, the muffins will then taste like a mocha! For best results, let the coffee doughnut muffins sit overnight.

___________

Jelly-Filled Sugar Doughnut Muffins

* Several tbsp of jelly

Once the muffins have cooled, use a melon baller to gently scoop out some of the middle of the muffin. Make sure the tops stay intact! Spoon in however much jelly you want, and replace the tops on the muffins.

"I'll just have one. They're caloric, you know."

//Man cannot live on bread alone, so we add things to it

2009-03-03T17:19:00.001-08:00

Late Sunday evening, after a few rounds of Alhambra had been played, it came to my attention that the bunch of bananas I had purchased 3 days prior had definitely started to turn. This was my own fault, for I had neglected to use them as intended. Not into my morning bowl of Corn Flakes had they gone; instead, they had been slowly browning in the shadows, at the bottom of my baker's rack, next to old cookbooks and back issues of Martha Stewart's "Living." Had I not intervened when I did, they would have gone, along with the remnants of Sunday evening's Thai food from Chadka, to the Great Garbage Bin in the sky the following morning.

Chai Banana Bread with Toasted Coconut

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cups sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 3 chai tea bags, snipped open (I used Bigelow Vanilla Chai)
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 1/2 cup plain yogurt
* 3 large, ripe bananas
* 1/2 cup toasted coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and chai tea. Set aside. In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and toasted coconut. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. Don't over-mix. Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

//There must be 50 ways to... make bread pudding

2009-03-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, I only came up with 3 ways before I called it quits for the evening and went to bed. Lay-zee, I am.

Classic Bread Pudding Base (makes enough to fill 4 ramekins)

* 3 eggs
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 4 tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled
* 1 cup cream
* 1/2 cup evaporated milk
* 5 cups bread, pulled or cut into bite-sized pieces (I used King's Hawaiian rolls leftover from when I made sliders.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Lightly butter 4 ramekins. Place them in a larger baking dish that has enough room to fill with water.

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until thick and lemon colored (about 4-5 minutes) (when beater is raised the batter will fall back into bowl in a slow ribbon). Beat in the vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Then beat in the melted and cooled butter, cream and evaporated milk.

Place the bread cubes in the ramekins. Carefully pour (or ladle) the prepared custard over the bread cubes until completely covered.

Prepare a water bath. Carefully pour in enough hot water so that the water is halfway up sides of the ramekins. Bake about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the bread pudding from the water bath and cool slightly before serving.

Green Tea Bread Pudding

* 3 teaspoons green tea powder
* 3 tablespoons of orange marmalade
* 1/2 pint of fresh blueberries

Add the green tea and orange marmalade to the egg custard before layering it over the bread cubes. Top with blueberries 30 minutes into the baking process.

____________

In Britain they're called "Jaffa Cakes." In the States they're manufactured by Lu Biscuits and called "Pims." They're essentially sponge cake wafers layered with orange jelly and dipped in dark chocolate. Whatever they're called, I love them. (Because I'm an anglophile, I'll refer to them by their British name. ;) )

Jaffa Cake Bread Pudding

* 4 tablespoons finely minced crystallized ginger
* 12 tablespoons orange marmalade
* 1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Add the crystallized ginger to the mix before you bake the pudding. After it's cooled, use an offset spatula to cover the tops of the individual puddings with a layer of orange marmalade. Drizzle the melted dark or semi-sweet chocolate into the middle and use the same spatula to spread it to the edge. Let the Jaffa Cake bread pudding air-dry until the chocolate hardens. I found that removing the puddings from the ramekins first produces the best results.

_____________

Apple-Plum-Walnut Bread Pudding

* 1-2 medium-sized apples
* 1-2 black plums
* 1/2 cup crushed walnuts
* 3 tablespoons honey

Slice, dice, or use a small cookie cutter to cut out apple and plum pieces. Layer the fruit at the bottom of the ramekins. In a separate bowl combine the crushed walnuts and honey. Using your hands, form small disks with the nut meal and then place them over the pieces of fruit. Proceed to add the bread pudding mixture on top and follow the aforementioned baking instructions.

//Saturday Morning Wake Up Call

2009-02-28T11:28:00.000-08:00

The cornucopia of carbs served during last night's dessertfast left me wanting to make some kind of palette refresher meal for breakfast. Blood oranges are nearing the height of their season right now, while Cameo Apples are becoming more difficult to find now that spring is almost here. Moro variety blood oranges (featured above) are sweet, but I find their berry-tart undertones make up the bulk of their flavor. Cameo Apples have a delicious crisp texture, and are my favorite of the pomaceous varieties. Mixing these two fruits together with a small amount sharp cheese (e.g. Stilton cheese with cherries, Parmesan, or even goat) is a great way to revitalize and wake up your taste buds after eating some serious sweets the night before.

//Sliders, Three Ways

2009-02-27T12:07:00.000-08:00

Left to right: An updated take on the traditional shrimp po boy, blackened cod, and a curry burger.

I'm telecommuting today. Translation: An opportunity to use my lunch hour to fix me a proper meal. On Monday I happened to stop by Williams-Sonoma for quick looksie following work, and ended up flipping through their New Flavors for Appetizers cookbook. Inside there was a recipe for sliders (admittedly I don't remember it), and that got me thinking I could very easily make my own. The idea stayed with me and eventually morphed into a craving.

Coming up with the recipes involved taking a quick inventory of what I already owned, thinking for 10 minutes, and then hitting up the grocery store last night to get the additional victuals needed. I knew ahead of time that I was only going to have an hour to cook, broil, chop, and assemble, so I did a hefty amount of prep work late Thursday evening. Speaking of time: I can't post the recipes right now, but I will later! Until then, here's a quick-and-dirty rundown of what's in between the buns.

Updated shrimp po boy: Chinese five spice dusted shrimp over roasted red peppers with a ginger-cilantro-Serrano chile aioli.

Blackened cod: Blackened cod with homemade black bean hummus and broiled bananas.

Curry burger: A patty mixed with curry powder, served over pearl onions and topped off with blue goat cheese (available at Bristol Farms) and orange marmalade.

I had just enough time left to take a bite out of each one, and then I had to get back to work!

//Green Tea Tiramisu, Take Two

2009-02-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

This is an adaptation of a recipe from House of Annie. I originally made it a while back for a few friends who work at Touché. The staff at the restaurant said that they really enjoyed the dessert, and it just so happens that I really enjoyed making it. Now a couple of friends are throwing a small party this evening, so I thought I'd go ahead and bring green tea tiramisu as a sweets offering. Plus, I recently aquired a trifle bowl for $10 from Bed, Bath and Beyond and wanted an excuse to use it.

My adaptation is as follows:

* I added 1/2 cup melted white chocolate and 1 teaspoon caradamom during the first phase of the process.
* For the cooled green tea, I brewed two bags of Tazo ginger-pear green tea.
* The first time I made the tiramisu, I used lady fingers. This time, however, I used 3 boxes of mini-donuts (halved) because the grocery store nearest to me wasn't selling the right kind of puff wafers.
* The teapot streaming green tea into the tiramisu in the above photo is totally edible. I melted white melting chips (not the same thing as white chocolate!) in a plastic ziploc bag, snipped off the tip, and drew a teapot onto wax paper. I then laid the paper in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up. To paint it, I mixed food coloring with a scant amount of powdered sugar.

//For our sweeties

2009-02-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

Cause sometimes you run out of cookies and you don't have time to go through the process of creaming butter.

Should you promise to send a certain someone a batch of s'mores cookies, and then discover shortly thereafter that you were low or out of of them altogether, these bars make a nice alternative. And they're a lot easier to make. Now I know you're going to take one look at the ingredients and go "But Lindsay, these bars have all the ingredients necessary to make more s'mores cookies!" Right; I know this. I also know what it's like to experience baking-related trauma. Sweeties were a snap to make; and since everything was mixed in the pan, cleaning up was eaaaaaasssy.

Sweeties

* 1 stick butter (or non-dairy alternative), melted
* 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
* 3/4 cup molasses or sweetened condensed milk
* 10 ounces of chocolate chips (white, dark or milk)
* 1/3 cup shredded coconut
* 2 cups marshmallows
* 1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350°

In a 9 x 13 baking dish, spread the butter or non-dairy alternative over the bottom of the pan, turning it to coat. Press the 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs into the base; drizzle the molasses or sweetened condensed milk over the crumbs. Sprinkle the chocolate chips, followed by the coconut. Stack the marshmallows over that layer, and then add a liberal amount of chopped pecans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Set on a rack to cool and then cut into squares.

P.S. To the aforementioned certain someone: Don't worry — there were plenty of snickerdoodle cookies leftover.

//Muffin Day

2009-02-25T08:08:00.000-08:00

Oh, hi! So glad you've stopped by. The weatherman reported that the city was going to get an additional 6 inches of rain over the next 10 days, so I thought it'd be best if I got started on my early spring gardening before the skies changed.

Muffins From the Garden

I used the standard chocolate chip muffin recipe available at Joy of Baking.com.

Additional notes: Because the muffins were baked in clay pots, the total cooking time was closer to 40 minutes. I also substituted yogurt for buttermilk because that's what I had in the fridge. Lining the pots with wax paper made pulling them out a cinch!

For the "Greens" I pureed 3 passion fruits with 1 block cream cheese, 1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, and 1/4 cup honey. Once the muffins cooled, I scooped out their innards and piped in the filling.

//A plate of many cookies

2009-02-24T21:45:00.000-08:00

Left to right: peanut butter and jelly, s'mores (success!) and snickerdoodle.

The recipe card said that the best cookies are the homestyle, feel good, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth kind that your mother used to make, and it was right.

Last night I made 7 dozen cookies, which might explain why the cow looks nonplussed.

I think she wants to know how I plan on dunking all those cookies when we're almost out of almond milk. What the heifer does not know is that I've got a list people I want to send mini-care packages to. Net number of cookies leftover for Lindsay = 10. No need to worry about the quantity of almond milk in the house.

Snickerdoodle Cookies

For Cookies
* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Coating
* 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.

Shape the dough into 1 inch round balls. In a large shallow bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar and place on the prepared pan, spacing about 2 inches apart. Then, using the bottom of a glass, gently flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch thick. Bake the cookies for about 8 - 10 minutes, or until they are light golden brown around the edges.

S'mores Sandwich Cookies

Follow the Snickerdoodle Cookie instructions, but substitute roughly half of the flour mixture with crushed graham crackers. Make sure you round 1 inch balls, and only add the marshmallows and chocolate chips after the cookies have baked, otherwise you'll end up with with a flattened, gooey, unappetizing mess.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

For Cookies
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
* 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
* 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
* 2 large egg
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For Coating
* 1/3 cup granulated sugar
* 3 tablespoons grape jelly

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a bowl whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl whisk together peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar until smooth and whisk in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture, stirring until blended.

Roll pieces of dough into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. On a large baking sheet arrange balls 2 inches apart and bake in middle of oven 10 minutes. Working quickly, with the back of a 1/4-teaspoon measuring spoon make an indentation about 1/2 inch in diameter in center of each cookie. Fill each indentation with slightly heaping 1/4 teaspoon jelly and bake cookies 10 minutes more, or until golden. Transfer cookies to racks to cool.

A picture worth a thousand noms. The snickerdoodles in particular are cookies par excellence: perfectly round, not too thick, bite-sized, airy, firm but moist... I could go on.

I need to get these mailed ASAP! There won't be any left to be sent if I keep this bag around.

//Monday... why did it have to be Monday?

2009-02-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

Just when I started to like it, something happened on Monday that caused me to loathe it all over again.

° It really began when I forgot to add coffee to Darth Maker, a variation on a theme of never ending java-related goofs in my life.

Yesterday was one of those rare days when I actually needed caffeine to keep my eyelids open, as opposed to my normal reason for drinking caffeinated beverages (that being I'm an addict who refuses to suffer through withdrawal symptoms). Had this been one of those days, I would have merely started the coffee making process over. No biggie. But an ongoing project at work necessitated that I go into the office early on Monday, which meant getting up earlier as well; or in my case, staying concealed in the warm, womb-like comfort of my bed for the longest possible time. The consequence of this decision is that I hurried through my normal routine, which likely caused the java goof, and also meant that I didn't discover that my to-go coffee cup was filled within nothing but hot water until I was only 5 minutes from work. So not only was I coffee-less, I was also, for lack of a better term, a zombie until I hit up the nearby Starbucks. All this and it was Monday.

° Then before 1:00 P.M., the Dow dropped to levels not seen since 1997.

It appears that the stock market always dips while I'm in the office... how interesting. Could it be that my working is causing the current economic crisis?!? Clearly the only way for me to prove whether this correlation is positive or negative is for me to go on vacation. Possibly to Hawaii. It's for the good of the country. I'm just looking out for everyone. Really, I promise.

° News that several hundred more people were going to lose their jobs at various companies around the city made for a sobering afternoon.

° The combined frustration from the many little glitches, oopses and oh noes that occurred earlier in the day made me want to bake. While scarfing down a Power Bar during my brief lunch break, I came up with a new take on s'mores cookies that looked good on paper. Fast forward several hours: It was bold, brilliant... and a complete mess!

Given the choice between repeating a process that's been practiced several times over, or trying a new method just once to see if you can improve upon an old idea, I would choose the latter (ain't it obvious?). Of course, context is important here. I wasn't trying to revolutionize the way we perform bypass surgery; I was baking on a whim. I wanted to make s'mores cookies, but the complex process I created resulted in fewer cookies and more goop. Sometimes my futzer tendencies pay off, and sometimes they don't. (I can already hear my boyfriend saying "Mmmm hmmm.") So I cleaned up and reminded myself that if the above results were the norm and not the exception, I probably would have chosen a different hobby a long time ago.

Pity party over.

____________________

Monday was by no means craptacular, but it was off just enough to necessitate some correction. By which I mean, some self-care was called for. Having gone through a graduate program in psychology and completed a 2 year clinical practicum, self-care and I are no strangers: It's lectured about in addition to, alongside with, and sometimes more often than a lot of the topics that get brought up in class. In fact, not practicing adequate self-care as a therapist is considered to be unethical in some circles. Understandably so, as a therapist can't be a very effective listener if they themselves are coming apart at the seams.

But mental health practitioners aren't the only individuals who need to honor themselves; we all do. No matter the profession, it's important to have designated "me time" on occasion. When I was an art history major in undergrad, I managed to let an entire semester slip by before it dawned on me that I hadn't rewarded myself for taking on as much as I had, academic-wise, work-wise, and overall life-wise. The was the day when Muffin Day was born. From then on I promised to treat myself better and indulge every so often.

So what do I do when I need a time out? Oh, any number of things. I try not to have an established routine when it comes to self-care, because then it starts to feel more methodical and planned, like a chore almost, instead of spontaneous and fun. As we all continue to have suboptimal days, and as we all continue to try and muddle through them, I hope you'll care for yourself when you need to the most. Detailed below are the easiest ways I'm able perk myself up.

° I might go run 6 miles. I'm a recovering asthmatic who's been running long distances for 4 years now. Nothing brightens my spirits faster than remembering the days when I could scarcely run at all and then comparing those memories to today.

° I might write a letter to my Gama so she can know about my most recent shenanigans. Long letters, short letters. Half the fun is picking out the card stock.

° Sometimes it's necessary to put down the spatula, turn off the oven, and let someone else do the cooking for you. It may not be Masu Sushi, but Kabuki does sell unagi and tuna bacon (a.k.a. toro). And really, you can't help but smile when you say "unagi!" really quickly.

° I might surround myself with beautiful things (loved ones, friends, art, scenery). This is Tim the basil plant, and I acquired him on Sunday.

° In all likelihood, I will put on one of the 300 CDs in my possession and either relax, or dance around in my living room.

° And yes, sometimes baking is more about self-care than it is experimentation. Last night, however, was not. Nope. Definitely not self-care.

//On cooking

2009-02-22T17:41:00.000-08:00

I didn't become a decent baker until after I designated all Wednesdays as Muffin Days; that was just 3 years ago. In actuality, my culinary talents lie in cooking. A cursory glance at this blog might give you a slightly skewed view of my abilities and preferences, though. There's a good reason why it might appear that I'm just two tablespoons away from getting a cavity¹, and I'll just say upfront it's not because this operation is a front for the "Illuminsweetie."

The house I live in was designed to receive lots of natural light, which does a lot to help create the startling realism in some of my photos. I don't own a copy of Photoshop, and my current digital camera is a Nikon Coolpix L18 I got on sale for $175 early last year. So if you find yourself pleased with the visuals, you can thank el sol for that. Another thing to take into account is that I tend to bake in the early mornings, or late enough at night that I don't have the energy to scarf down what I've made, which means it'll still be around to be photographed the following day.

Dinner is a different matter entirely. Sadly, the indoor lighting of this place sucks. I mean it really does. And no matter how much I futz (I'm a big futzer, just as Mr. ProNerd) with the position of the lamps or lights, or the flash settings on the cheap-o Nikon, the nighttime photos are generally of poor quality (IMO). A digital SLR camera has been on my list of Things I Want since I started to photo document my creations a number of months ago; but it'll be some time before I have one in my possession. That's the real reason why I don't post many photos from dinner. And lunch? That's usually eaten out, or in the office... except on the weekends.

Mung Bean Seafood Green Curry with Papaya

* 1 can light coconut milk
* 2-3 tbsp green coconut paste¹
* 1 tsp cardamom
* 2 tbsp brown sugar
* 1/2 an onion, sliced length-wise
* 1/3 cup chicken stock
* 1 cup mung beans
* 1 cup shrimp
* 1 piece of rock cod, peppered and lightly salted
* 1/2 a papaya, sliced

Bean Prep
If you're using dry mung beans, you'll need to soak them overnight, covered, in a pool of cool water. Make sure you discard any floaters before cooking the beans. Add 2 cups water to a small saucepan and cook the beans over medium-high heat until the skins start to float off. Remove from heat.

Curry
In a separate saucepan, add the coconut milk, green curry paste, cardamom and brown sugar and simmer for 5-10 minutes.³ Add the sliced onion, 1/3 cup of chicken stock, shrimp, rock cod and papaya and continue to simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Three Citrus Blackened Broccoli

* 1 tbsp sesame oil
* 10 cloves of whole garlic
* 1 head of broccoli, broken into bits
* 5 pieces of sliced ginger
* 3 tablespoons of lemon, lime and orange zest
* Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet; add the garlic after 3 minutes. When the garlic begins to "dance," add the broccoli, ginger and citrus zests. Continue to cook on high heat until the garlic begins to brown and the air becomes redolent with its fragrance. Stir the mix every so often, making sure the broccoli browns and blackens evenly.

_______________

¹ Actually, I've never had one. Chock that up to years of good oral hygiene.
² You can make your own by combining green chiles, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, garlic and salt. Thai Kitchen also sells a variety as well.
³ I like my curries on the spicy side, so 3 tablespoons of paste might be too much for some. However, the addition of the papaya not only provides a great flavor contrast, it also protects your mouth from the heat of the chiles without totally killing the rest of the curry taste.

//Sweet Lady Marmalade

2009-02-21T18:15:00.000-08:00

Milk-Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Marmalade Chocolate Cream

Cookies
* 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 6 ounces milk chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
* 1 tbsp vanilla extract
* 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling
* 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
* 1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa mix (Godiva, again)
* 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 cups powdered sugar
* 1/4-1/2 cup orange marmalade

Preheat the oven to 350° degrees. Line 2-4 baking sheets (depending on their size – you'll likely need 4) with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat the butter with the two sugars until smooth. Add the melted milk chocolate and vanilla and continue to beat until it reaches a smooth consistency. In a separate smaller bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Combine the wet and dry ingredients together until just barely incorporated. Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to a scant 1/4 inch thickness and then promptly refrigerate until firm, about 15-20 minutes.

Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out as many cookies as you can get, and then carefully transfer them to the baking sheets. Reroll the scraps between the same two sheets and refrigerate again for another 15 minutes. Repeat the process until all the dough has been used or you're sufficiently tired from the repetition, whichever comes first.

Bake the cookies in the lower and middle thirds of the oven for 10 minutes, until dry, but not burnt brown; make sure you shift the pans halfway through the baking. Transfer them to a rack or cutting board 5 minutes after pulling them from the oven, and let them cool complete.

To make the filling you'll want to beat the butter with the dark chocolate cocoa mix for about 3 minutes. Add the marmalade, vanilla and powdered sugar and beat at low speed until combined. Use an offset spatula or ersatz pastry ziploc bag to spread or pipe the filling over half of the cookies. Press the remaining cookies over the filled ones and serve.

Oh, the painting? Tis by me... and it was a hell of a lot easier to make that than it was to make sure the cookie dough circles came off the parchment paper without getting smushed.

All wrapped up and ready to be delivered!

//You down with OPP?

2009-02-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

The inspiration for this little concentration of edible sunshine came from the masters at Ottolenghi, one of my favorite pâtisseries and gourmet food shops in London. I deviated from the recipe, somewhat: I added a D'Anjou pear to the mix and used a dairy-free butter substitute. I know, I know. Not using butter in a cake is sacrlicious for some, but one of the recipients of this cake can't eat dairy. The recipe below lists how much butter one ought to use, though.

Orange Pear Polenta Cake

Caramel Orange Layer
* 1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar¹
* 2 tbsp water
* 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into bits
* 2 navel oranges
* 1 pear

Cake
* 1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
* 1 cup superfine granulated sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 2 tsp orange-flower water²
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 2 cups ground almonds
* 2/3 cup quick-cooking polenta

Glaze
* 1/4 cup orange marmalade
* 1 tsbp water

Make sure your rack is in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°³. Take out a 9-inch round cake pan, butter it, and line the bottom with a thin layer of parchment paper.

Bring 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tbsp water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Once that happens, brush down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush that's been soaked in cool water. Continue to let the caramel to boil, without stirring, swirling the pan every 3 minutes, until the color turns an even dark amber. Remove from heat, add the bits of butter, swirl until well incorporated, and then immediately pour the sauce into the cake pan, careful to tilt the pan to evenly coat it.

Grate the zest from the navel oranges and reserve it for the cake batter. Cut the remaining peel, pith and seeds from the fruit and arrange 1/4 inch segments in a single layer on the bottom of the cake pan. Cut the pear into thin slices and fan them in the middle of the bottom of the pan.

Beat the butter with the 1 cup remaining sugar until just combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir together the orange zest and orange-flower water, then add it to the butter-sugar-egg mixture.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer set at low speed, mix the ground almonds, polenta, and flour into the wet ingredients until just combined.

Spread the batter evenly over the oranges and pears (preferably with an offset spatula). Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean... about 1 - 1 1/4 hours. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a cake stand or plate, and discard the parchment.

To make the marmalade glaze, heat the jam and the 1 tbsp water in a small saucepan until melted. Strain through a sieve⁴ into a small cup. Brush the top of the cake with the glaze.

I candied some navel orange slices in the leftover marmalade orange peel threads, 2 tbsp of sugar, and 1/4 cup water.

_____________

¹ You can make superfine sugar at home by putting regular granulated sugar in a food processor, blender, or chopper and pressing "pulse" for about 20 seconds.
² Orange-flower water is available at most gourmet and Middle Eastern markets. The A. Monteux brand I own came from Bristol Farms.
³ I initially turned up the dial to 375°, and then down to 350° just to make sure there weren't any cool pockets in the oven.
⁴ No sieve? No problem. Just pop open your mesh tea strainer and pour the marmalade glaze through it. That's what I did.

//Jentacular, jentacular! Morning meals can truly be spectacular.

2009-02-20T23:53:00.000-08:00

Question: If one eats yogurt panna cotta first thing in the morning, does that cancel out the negative effects of the dish's purported heart-damaging ingredients? My reasoning is that since it's a.) breakfast, the most important meal of the day; and b.) the main ingredient is yogurt, it can't be that bad for you. No, you say? What about if one adds homemade granola that's rich in soluble fiber from oats, chock full of heart-healthy fats from nuts, and has antiviral/antifungal properties from ginger and coconut? Maybe? Yes, please?

Regardless, yogurt panna cotta has become one of my favorite alternative breakfast meals. It is particularly rich, so I don't eat it with abandon like I might eat tomatoes right off the vine. First seen and sampled at Everett Street Bistro back in October, I credit this creative spin on the tried and true method of serving up yogurt with breaking me out of a jentacular specific rut that had been going on for six months.

In thinking about something as abstract as the concept "breakfast," various and multiple associations will come to mind. Probably the No. 1 image to pop up for most people are eggs, a favorite for old and young people alike. But you see, unlike most of the population, I am not a card-carrying member of the Egg Appreciation Club (though I do on occasion find myself longing to belong, especially during Sunday brunch, which is when I tend to feel the most left out). Really, it's the yolk of an oeuf that turn me off from omelets, ooey gooey eggs over easy that are so runny the yellows have to be sopped up with crusty bits of toasted wheat bread that's been slathered in velvety whipped butter, bright chilaquiles, and mounds of benedicts.

For the first 15 years of my life I loathed breakfast like a vegan loathes being taken to In 'N' Out by their friends during a late-night food run. Morning meals eaten out with my family were avoided at all costs for the mere reason that I couldn't just have my plate of various sides and eat them too: If I wanted ham, hash browns and toast, I had to order the meal because it was more economical, which meant getting eggs, and eating said eggs. The years of trauma I endured as a consequence of my parents' (well-meant) belief that one ought not to waste food are now behind me; the sensory memories of my drowning the eggs with ketchup, ranch dressing, A1 or maple syrup are now sufficiently repressed enough that I don't gag whenever I think about those Dark Days. Instead of stressing about whether my mother will uncover my secret plan to nonchalantly slip half-chewed scrambled eggs out through my paper napkin, and, oh god, the torture of having to then reeat the now cold, rubbery, glistening with saliva bits as punishment for my tricksiness, now I enjoy breakfast... possibly because being adult also means calling the shots on what you want to eat.

And that's pretty much been the way of things since my mid-teens. My inner chemist recognizes that yolks play a vital supporting role in the creation of many delectable dishes; still, I can't quite bring myself to eat whole eggs by themselves. I wish I could, though, because then I'd feel more in tune with the rest of the world. Until such a day comes, if ever, at least I'll have dishes like my yogurt panna cotta to see me through the mornings.

Yogurt Panna Cotta

* 2 Tbsp water
* 1 1/4 tsp unflavored gelatin
* 2 cups whipping cream
* 1 1/4 cups yogurt (fat-free, whole milk, regular or Greek; I used fat-free)
* 1/6th of a vanilla bean pod, scraped (or 1 tsp of vanilla extract will do)
* ~ 1/3 cup sugar (I used less sugar than the standard recipe because I don't like sweet yogurt)

Put water into a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over it. Let stand for 10 minutes or until gelatin softens. In a large bowl combine 1 cup cream, yogurt, and vanilla and whisk until smooth. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, combine the remaining 1 cup of cream with sugar and bring to a simmer while stirring. Remove from heat, and add softened gelatin. Stir until gelatin dissolves.

Pour the hot cream mixture into the cool yogurt cream mixture and whisk until smooth. Divide the mixture among 6 ramekins, tea cups, or small bowls, pouring 1/2 cup into each. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. You can serve panna cotta right in the ramekins, or invert each ramekin onto a plate. To invert panna cotta, set the ramekins into a pan of hot water for 2 minutes. Make sure the water does not get into the ramekins. Run a knife around the edges of ramekins and invert them onto plates. Remove the ramekins.

Ginger Coconut Granola

This was my first time making granola. The taste buds reported back to me early yesterday morning that I definitely did something right. As a result, I've had to keep the Pyrex class dish containing a week's worth of mix out of sight so I don't eat it all before the weekend's through. If you don't have the time to make it, you can find good granola at the sister Aroma and Alcove Cafes in Los Angeles (it might be made by the La Brea Bakery; I'm not sure). Buster's in Pasadena also gets an enthusiastic nod of approval from moi. Besaw's serves up an amazing variety that's made in house. What I toasted on Tuesday evening is less sweet and more zingy. I also used whatever was already in my cupboard.

* 2 cups old-fashioned oats
* 3/4 cup whole almonds, halved
* 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
* 1/2 cup pecan halves
* 1/2 cup crystallized ginger, diced
* 1/3 cup (packed) brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon cardamom
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
* 2 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 300°F. Mix first 9 ingredients in large bowl. Melt butter with honey in heavy small saucepan over low heat. Pour over granola mixture and toss well. Spread out mixture on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add dates; mix to separate any clumps. Continue to bake until granola is golden brown, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes longer.

//It's not excessive if you can find a way to use it

2009-02-19T15:27:00.000-08:00

There's an old Spanish saying that goes something like, "When life gives you leftover tres leches, you make potes de crema con la papaya y los arándanos." (The person who came up with the saying was apparently bilingual as well.) Well, when the tres leches pear muffin experiment had ended, I realized I had enough milk leftover to make 3 additional cups! Dumping out so much liquid seemed like such a waste, so I decided to do something about it.

Potes de Crema con la Papaya y Los Arándanos

* 3 cups of tres leches (1 cup cream, 1 cup whole milk, 1 cup condensed milk)
* 10 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate
* 3 tbsp of dark hot chocolate powder (I used Godiva, a gift from Mr. ProNerd)
* 5 egg yolks
* 1 half of a ripe papaya, de-seeded and scraped out with a mellon baller
* 1/2 cup of blueberries
* Garnish: mint leaves

Special equipment: small pots, ramequins, champange flutes, or elongated drinking glasses.

In a large saucepan heat the tres leches mixture until it is boiling. Remove from heat. In a medium-sized heatproof bowl, whisk the five egg yolks until just beaten. In a large heatproof bowl, dump the chocolate chips and the cocoa powder; stir until incorporated.

Temper the egg yolks with some of the hot milk, and then gradually pour the yolks into the large sauce pan, whisking constantly. Cook the custard on medium-high heat until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 4 minutes). Pour the sauce over the chocolate and let it sit for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth. Transfer that mixture to a blender and puree until it is extremely smooth. After that's done, get out your glasses/ramequins/what have you and pour the chocolate custard into them. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight). Take the potes de crema out of the refrigerator 15 minutes before you intend to serve them and then garnish them with the papaya balls, blueberries and mint.

//Muffin Day

2009-02-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

"You know what eating this dessert is like? It's like... taking that initial first bite of food after several days or weeks of starvation. It's at that moment you remember all that's wonderful about a meal and that you're thankful for being given it."

That statement came mere moments after my fork tines had delivered the first nibble of Oba 's carrot cake tres leches to my mouth, but before the tip of my tongue had started to slowly scavenge the corners of my lips for any runaway bits. Well aware that I still had at least 20 more bites before the dessert was demolished, I was suitably impressed enough that I wanted to savor all that I could. It was more akin to the traditional Indian variation of the dessert in texture and taste — less flour, full of fine carrot threads, and moist from the three milks — than what Betty Crocker tries to pass off as cake. Sitting in its own pool of cold spiced syrup, crumbled nuts and minced carrots, and topped with (I think) whipped creme fraiche, Oba's take was as aesthetically pleasing as it was wipe-the-bowl-clean-with-your-finger scrumptious. This isn't the first time I've given them a crumb-encrusted sticky thumbs up, though. Their warm banana-cream cheese malassadas also come highly recommended by me (as well as practically everyone who works there: "Everything on the dessert menu is awesome... but the malassadas? I dream about those," one of servers once told me.)

It's not usual for me to dream about food, but I do have a tendency to do a post-nom analysis, wherein my mind will try to reconstruct how a particular dish was possibly made — from the ingredients down to the temperature it was cooked at. The work of Oba's pastry chef was commendable enough that evening that I stayed awake in bed until 1:00 trying to unravel the taste combinations present in the carrot cake. I did this not because I wanted to recreate the dish; rather, I wanted to see if I could use his ideas as a springboard for a future creation of my own. As such, I decided that this week's muffin ought to be an homage to the person who always manages to create such superlative desserts.

Pear Tres Leches Muffins with Saffron

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup granulated raw cane sugar
* 1/4 cup light brown sugar
* 1 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 2 ripe large pears
* A good pinch of saffron
* 2 tbsp water
* 1 tsp of cinnamon
* 1 tsp of cardamon
* 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Butter or spray a 12 - 1/2 cup muffin pan.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cardamon. Set aside. Cut pears. Put the pinch of saffron in the 2 tbsp of water and let it sit for about 5 minutes. In a separate bowl whisk together the three milks and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the sliced pears, eggs, melted butter, and saffron. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery muffins.) Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins.

Bake about 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Halfway through the baking process, take a few fans of pear slices and add them to the top of the muffins. Place on a wire rack to cool for five minutes and then remove muffins from pan. When the muffins have mostly cooled, dunk them in the tres leches at least twice, with each dip spaced ten minutes apart. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve them.

//A new take on an old favorite

2009-02-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

For someone whose childhood spanned the late 80s-mid 90s — the height of the Rice Krispies Craze, — nothing evokes memories of elementary school better than those treats. The little sticky-sweet morsels of happiness were a staple at every holiday class party, so much so that my 2nd grade teacher once sent us home with a note before our Halloween party asking if parents could bring other goodies instead. (Despite her best efforts, each child still went home with four squares... and that was after we'd done all but gnawed the legs off the table that supported our class' sugar buffet of diabetic-inducing proportions.)

Though Wikipedia says that Rice Krispies Treats have been around since 1939, they rose to super popularity during my childhood, as that's when Kellogg's introduced pre-made individual squares. The manufactured kind are sufficient if you're in dire need of a quick Krispies fix, but overall I find them to be unpalatable, so I don't eat the treats unless I make them. The variation I whipped a few mornings ago used the standard Kellogg's ratio of cereal to marshmallows and butter. However, I took some creative liberties and incorporated three different cereals into the mix because doing so made them sturdier for coffee dunking.

Three Flavors Rice Krispies Squares

* 2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
* 2 cups Cinnamon Toast ~~crack~~ Crunch
* 2 cups Cookie Crisps
* 10 ounces of large marshmallows (preferably homemade)
* 3 tbsp of butter

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add the various cereals and stir until well coated. Using a buttered spatula or wax paper, evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with either butter or cooking spray (I used butter). Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares.

I used a 9 x 9 Pyrex pan because I wanted extra thick squares

//An old dish gets cozy with an original one

2009-02-15T17:58:00.000-08:00

Tradditional Italian Cioppino

* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or almond oil
* 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
* 1/4 tsp saffron threads
* 2 cans of petite diced tomatoes
* 1 cup water
* 1 tbsp drained capers
* 1/2 tsp granted lemon zest
* 1/2 tsp granted orange zest (I used blood oranges)
* 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
* 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
* 1 tsp hot red pepper flakes
* 1 tsp kosher salt
* 1 lb jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 2 1/2 lbs of mussels, scrubbed well and beards removed if attached
* 1 loaf of artisanal bread (I chose to use a boule of rosemary olive oil bread from the La Brea bakery)

Heat oil in large deep skillet or Dutch over over medium-high heat until hot. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.

Add saffron, undrained tomatoes, water, capers, lemon zest, orange zest, lemon juice, orange juice, red pepper flakes, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 10 to 15 minutes until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally.

Add shrimp and simmer until shrimp is just cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer shrimp with a slotted spoon to a bowl and set aside. Add mussels to skillet and return liquid to a simmer, cover and cook, just until mussels open wide. (Discard any mussels that remain unopened after 8 minutes.) Return shrimp to skillet.

Cut into the top of the boule (reserve top), scoop out most of the dough, and then spoon the cooked cioppino into it. Serve immediately.

Red Meets Green; Esctasy Ensues

* 1 head of broccocini, washed and patted dry
* 1 cameo apple, thinly sliced
* 2 stalks of celery, cut
* 2 blood oranges, 1 peeled and separated into segments, the other cut in half
* 1 round of linguica sausage, sliced width-wise
* 1/2 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Slice the stem off the broccocini and arrange it on plates. Artfully arrange the orange, apple, and celery slices. In a frying pan over medium-high heat, cook the smoked linguica sausage until it begins to "bulge." Remove from heat and in the same pan sautee the shrimp with a little salt and pepper; add the juice of one blood orange. Cook until the shellfish turns pink and the juice has reduced to a syrup. Place shrimp and sausage on top of the salad, and drizzle some of the blood orange sauce over the salad. Optional: Add fresh ground pepper.

//Spicing up winter

2009-02-12T18:18:00.000-08:00

Homemade gumbo over pan fried tilapia and apple brown bottom cornbread

I was reading February's edition of Gourmet and noticed that they had an ingredients list for gumbo ya-ya. Not a recipe, just a list of things to include. Recently I've had a lot of luck making sauces and roux, so I thought it was time to expand into stew territory. Admittedly I would have liked to have made a curry first, but I wasn't in the mood to hunt down kaffir lime leaves. Gumbo seemed like the next best thing, as it's just as complex a dish to make, and it also makes a perfect wintertime meal. I also liked the challenge of making gumbo for the first time sans instructions; that I'd have to rely on what culinary knowledge I already possessed in order to make the dish just right.

The idea sort of built on itself from there. Traditionally gumbo is served over plain steamed rice, but that's boring. It occurred to me that cornbread would be nice alternative, because its size and thickness makes it good for plating, and its inherent mild sweetness would complement the spiciness of the gumbo. Then I thought, "What could I do to make standard Marie Calender's out-of-the-box cornbread even better? I could layer the mixture over a pre-cooked vegetable or fruit before baking it. Okra is an obvious choice, but it would be too soft. If I went the fruit route, I'd want to use a versatile one that's neither too sweet nor too tart... one that has also been paired with meat before. What about apples? Yes! Apples!" Apples at the bottom of the bread would create an excellent progression of flavors. (FYI: I'm about to get a bit analytical.) Though plating-wise the dish would go gumbo-fish-cornbread, the act of stabbing into the dish with my fork tines meant I would sample the cornbread, not the gumbo, first (i.e., the layers would be reversed). By making apples the foundation of the dish, the taste experience would go from sweet, to slightly sweet (cornbread), to mildly savory and spicy (the fish), to very savory and spicy (the gumbo). In that moment I think got in touch with my inner haute cuisine chef.

So I went ahead with the apple idea (specifically, Fuji and Cameo, as both varieties are mildly tart, hearty, and don't turn to mush when heated like Red Delicious do). Broiling the bottom of the cornbread after it had cooled a bit crisped up both the bread and the fruit. I also sauteed the linguica sausage before I plopped the pieces into the gumbo. The act frying up the meat first unlocked its flavor potential and enhanced the savoriness of the stew. The grease left behind meant that I didn't have to oil the pan when it came time to cook the fish; it also meant the fish had a nice smokey taste to it. As for the gumbo itself, I purposefully sweated every vegetable before I added the flour and chicken stock. First into the pot were the onions with half a stick of butter. After they had turned translucent, then came the garlic; 5 minutes later, the celery stalks; another 3 minutes passed before I tossed in the diced bell peppers. By the time I added the 3/4 cup of flour (which I let brown and clump up a bit before I gradually added the stock), my olfactory senses had been overloaded with wonderful smells. I also couldn't have been more spot-on as far as the spices go: 2 teaspoons of Creole seasoning, 2 teaspoons of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme, three bay leaves, and salt and pepper to taste.

As an aside: leftover cornbread is great for breakfast.

//Coaxing spring into arriving

2009-02-11T09:36:00.000-08:00

Butterfly Cupcakes with Honeydew Melon Filling and Matcha Green Tea Frosting

Vanilla Cupcakes:

* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 4 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 1 1/4 cups milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated and scraping down sides of bowl, beat in vanilla.

Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl to assure the batter is thoroughly mixed. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling papers about 2/3 full. Bake on the center rack of the oven until tops spring back to touch, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Honeydew Melon Filling:

* 1 cup of honeydew melon, diced
* 1/4 water
* 1/4 sugar
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Mix the water and the diced honeydew in a small saucepan and cook on medium for 4 minutes. Combine the sugar and the cornstarch in a separate bowl, and then whisk into the honeydew mixture. Stir liberally for about 5 minutes until the filling has thickened; remove from stove top and then cool.

Matcha Green Tea Frosting:

* 10 tablespoons of butter, softened
* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 1 tablespoon matcha green tea powder (available at places like Whole Foods)

In a large bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar until it reaches a frosting-like consistency. Add the matcha green tea, a tablespoon at a time (be sure to scrape down the bowl multiple times so that the powder is fully incorporated). Ideally, you should make this 5 minutes before you plan to frost the cupcakes. If you're making it in advance, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature about 30 minutes before you intend to use it (give it a good stir, too).

Additional items: Pretzel rods and twists, jelly beans, and blue food coloring.
Equipment needed: Two 12 cup muffin pans, an offset spatula, one plastic ziploc bag for piping frosting, one melon baller, and an electric mixer.

How to assemble: Wait until the cupcakes have completely cooled, and then proceed to use the mellon baller to scoop out some of their middles. Spoon in the filling. Using the offset spatula, frost the cupcakes. Adding the butterfly-esque parts is easy as pie; use the visuals I've provided as a guide.

Key Lime Pie Filled Cupcakes with a White Chocolate Glaze

Key Lime Pie Filling:

Note: You can use store-bought pie filling. The best one by far is Dr. Oetker; however, Jell-O is an acceptable substitution as well.

* 4 large or extra large egg yolks
* 1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
* 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
* 1/2 cup fresh key lime juice (approximately 12 Key limes)
* 2 teaspoons grated lime peel, green portion only

Use an electric mixer and beat the egg yolks until they are thick and turn to a light yellow, don't over mix. Turn the mixer off and add the sweetened condensed milk. Turn speed to low and mix in half of the lime juice. Once the juice is incorporated add the other half of the juice and the zest, continue to mix until blended (just a few seconds). Transfer to a medium saucepan and cook until bubbles bring to form. Remove from the heat, allow to sit for 5 minutes, then stir and place in the refrigerator. You will have A LOT of filling, so be prepared to use the leftovers to make a pie or tart... or just eat it straight from the pan.

White Chocolate Glaze:

* 5 ounces white chocolate, melted
* Optional: Sprinkles

Melt the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds. Pull the bowl out and stir it until all the chips have melted.

How to assemble:

Use the mellon baller directions typed above. When it comes time to glaze the cupcakes, simply turn them upside down and dip them in the hot white chocolate. Transfer to a plate or cookie sheet so the white chocolate may harden.

//Here comes the sun

2009-02-07T14:51:00.000-08:00

It rained pretty much nonstop from Thursday afternoon until early this morning; as usual, the Valley got the worst of it. The torrential downpour going on in the San Fernando Valley caused a lot of the streets to flood, which in turn caused accidents, which then led to increased amounts of traffic and frustration. The freeways proved to be no better — limited visibility from the heavy precipitation and back splash coming off each car's tires. Don't get me wrong; I like the rain. What I don't like is feeling as though I'm taking my life in my hands the moment I get on the 101 Freeway.

Additionally, I had a long day at work on Thursday . Not bad, just long. Though the day's dreariness hadn't left me dispirited, it hadn't helped mitigate the multiple project bumps that had vexed me, either. I knew I it was going to be one of those Stay At Home kind of evenings the moment I set foot outside the office, so I planned accordingly (read: I performed a mental inventory of what I had stocked in my pantry, and tried to remember if I had a book available that hadn't already been read or reread to death.)

At home I pulled a Joanne Fluke novel from one of my bookshelves, a package of white candy melting wafers from the back cupboard, and prepped the kitchen for some experimenting. I reasoned that whatever I made, it ought to involve warm colors and be cheery... sunny, even, so as to compensate for the atramental skies and dismal day.

Zucchini Curry Bread with Red Peppers and Mozzarella
(A variation of Closet Cooking's Zucchini Bread with Roasted Red Peppers and Feta.)

* 3 large zucchini (2 grated, 1 thinly sliced using a mandoline)
* 1 red peppers (chopped)
* 3 tablespoons curry powder
* 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
* 1 teaspoon oregano
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup all purpose flour
* 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:
Mix the zucchini, red pepper, curry, mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and eggs in a large bowl. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and oregano in a bowl. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Pour the batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Note: Momentarily pull the loaf pan out of the over at 30 minutes into the baking process so that you may arrange the zucchini slices on top of the bread.)

"Pinkies"

* 1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, melted
* 1 cup white chocolate, melted
* 3 cups sugar
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 5 eggs
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* Red food coloring

Heat oven to 350°F.(325°F. for glass baking dish) and melt the butter and the white chocolate together in the microwave. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Stir together butter-white chocolate mixture, sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Add eggs; beat until well blended. After the wet ingredients have been combined, add as many drops of red food coloring as you like. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt; blend well. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack; cut into squares.

(I have it on good authority from my good friend Michael Shapiro that the Pinkies I made were well-received.)

Good Morning Muffins (a no-brainer... name aside, they even look like mini-suns!)

* 2 cups flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 carrots, shredded
* 1/2 cup coconut, shredded
* 3/4 cup crushed pineapple (reserve juice)
* 3 bananas, sliced
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* The aforementioned pineapple juice
* 1/2 cup icing sugar
* 3 tablespoons sugar

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl; in a separate bowl, add the carrots, pineapple, coconut and bananas together. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl, then beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. Gently fold all of the ingredients together, careful not to overmix the batter. Spoon the mixture in to a greased muffin pan and bake in 375F oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. While that's going on, mix the pineapple juice with the icing sugar and pour over the muffins. Sprinkle the muffins with the sugar. Broil the muffins until the sugar on top bubbles, about 2 minutes. Be careful and watch them to make sure that they do not burn.

The best part about Muffin Day? The delivery that follows. Uncertain about the weather, I dressed the Muffins in raincoats. (The top one went to Mom.)

(Update: It's raining again.)

//Happy Muffin Day!

2009-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

After a lengthy self-imposed hiatus, I brought back Muffin Day! For those of you who have been following my weekly ritual since its inception back in 2006, you might be raising your eyebrows right now. "But Muffin Day is on Wednesdays, Lindsay!" Yes, yes, Dear Reader, I know. In truth, I did make this week's muffins yesterday. Unfortunately, I had to dash off to work to fix a major logic problem in one of the programs I'm working on, so I couldn't make the post. I figure it's better late than never, yes?

Without further adieu, I give you this week's Muffin. (Are you quivering in anticipation? I certainly was on Tuesday evening after I decided on the recipe I was to make the following day.)

Banana Muffins with Almond Butter and White Chocolate Filling

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
* 1/4 cup light brown sugar
* 1 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup white chocolate
* 1/2 cup almond butter
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 3 very ripe large bananas, mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Special equipment: One 12 1/2 cup muffin tin (or one 6 one cup muffin tin), and a pastry bag of some kind to pipe your filling into.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Butter or spray a 12 - 1/2 cup muffin pan.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Put the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melt it in your microwave for 30 seconds to a minute; remove and stir in the 1/2 cup almond butter until the mixture is well blended and then place it in a pastry (or ziploc) bag.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery muffins.) Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Proceed to pipe the white chocolate-almond butter into the the center of the batter.

Bake about 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool for five minutes and then remove muffins from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with white chocolate chips.

The chips formed a conga line on the muffin tops. Who am I to deny them the opportunity to rejoice at the return of my favorite day?

X marks the Spot where you'll find muffins.

//Giving a baker's dozen worth of support to fellow foodies

2009-02-05T03:01:00.000-08:00

Support good eats. Support Good Food. Evan Kleiman's Saturday morning show on KCRW 89.9 is part of a nutritionally balanced brunch for anyone who has even a modicum of interest in food culture. I can't tell you the number of times I've scheduled my weekend outings and meetings around her show just because I didn't want to miss it. If it wasn't for her half hour program, I probably would never have learned where I could obtain the best Thai food in Los Angeles, what was fresh at the farmers' market on any given week, that a Korean taco truck even existed, who Gary Taubes is and what his book is all about, or why a certain kind of coffee costs $60 in Santa Monica. She show is as informative as it is entertaining and inspiring.

If you're someone who's enjoyed her program in the past, please consider donating to KCRW during this pledge drive so that the show may continue.

//Momma said eat your greens (and reds and purples and whites), so I do

2009-02-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

Greens are good for you, especially the cruciferous kind that come from the species Brassica oleracea (family members include broccoli, brussels sprouts, and collard greens). These vegetables are anti-inflammatory, and are nearly bursting at the veins with beta carotene, vitamins K and C, lutein, and zeaxanthin (it's a cartenoid that's also found in the retina of the eye). Kale and broccoli also contain high concentrations of sulforaphane, which is believed to prevent cancer.

A silent supporting character in cuisine, we see kale used primarily as a garnish in our culture. The lavender-green variety of the cultivar, for instance, can be used to accentuate and liven up the plating design of almost any main course dish. But kale shouldn't be something that's just pretty to look at; it should be eaten and enjoyed as well. However, as anyone who's eaten raw kale before will tell you, it kind of feels like you're chewing through a miniature forest. It's dense, slightly prickly, and the texture is rough. Straight from the bag, cruciferous vegetables also tend to be bitter (evolution's way of deterring creatures from eating them). Cooking mellows out the flavor; however, there's a fine line between undercooked, just right, and overcooked greens. If what you've made looks like it came from your elementary school cafeteria, chances are you've overcooked it and thus rendered it unappetizing. Ever catch a waft of broccoli that's been oversteamed? or brussels sprouts that have been baked for too long? The smell is absolutely putrid, the taste even more so. Improper cooking hasn't been kind to this family of vegetables.

But there are ways to prepare these dynamic greens that doesn't involve heating, smothering them in a thick cheese sauce, or dunking them in buttermilk ranch dressing. Off the top of my head, I can think of five ways to prepare kale alone. Today I'll just talk about one — my favorite way.

My friend Troy introduced me to kale salad dressed with balsamic and guacamole almost two years ago during an impromptu dinner get together at my (then) home in West Hollywood. The way the velvety mashed avocado managed to tuck its way into the ruffles on the leaves, and how the onions, tomatoes, cilantro and balsamic vinegar came together to create a crescendo of flavor caused me to make the dish at least once a week for several weeks thereafter. I just couldn't get enough of the stuff.

This dish is definitely nutrient dense and healthy, but note well that the adjective "healthy" does not translate to "flavorless." Each of the ingredients plays a role in bringing out the best in the kale. But since you won't be convinced until you try it, I'll focus on the healthful end of things for now. The lycopene in the tomatoes helps protect against prostate and breast cancer. The poly and monounsaturated fats in the avocado are heart healthy. Sufficient amounts of garlic will lower your blood pressure and aide your liver in removing mercury from your bloodstream (so you ought to get it whichever way you can). Onions are also rumored to have a host of medicinal properties; in fact, before the discovery of antibiotics, people used to break up the mucus generated by bad chest infections by placing a bag of boiled onions on the sufferer's chest and letting them inhale the vapors. When the Black Plague was going around, the convent where Galileo's daughter, Suor Maria Celeste, resided washed their clothes in a mixture of hot water and vinegar. It has long been believed that that is what prevented them from being infected. If vinegar can keep the Bubonic Plague at bay, you should consume it.

OK, enough with the chit-chat! Time to make the salad. The tree trimmers were at it at 7:30 a.m. this morning, so I went ahead and made the salad then.

Kale with Balsamic Guacamole Dressing

1 bunch of kale
1 ripe avocado
1 half tomato
1-2 slices of onion
1 clove of garlic
The juice of half of a lime
3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
Salt, pepper and cilantro to taste
Optional: add a few cherry tomatoes after the salad has been tossed.
Writer's note: I used capers and parsley instead of salt and cilantro just because I wanted to conduct an experiment.

Break the kale into small bite-sized pieces and set aside in a large enough bowl so you can toss the salad without it flying out of it. Slice the garlic, onion and tomato into small pieces; finely chop the cilantro. Cut the flesh from the avocado and remove the pit. At this point you have some options: put all of the ingredients in a food processor, a chopper, or just mash it on the cutting board like I did. While you're mixing, add the lime juice and the balsamic vinegar. * * * * Important * * * * The acid in the tomatoes and vinegar will help break down fibrous vegetable, so let the salad sit and allow the juices to permeate the kale.

When you're finished, be sure to go find your S.O. and give them a full on smooch. I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

WYSIWYG

Since we're talking about onions, I thought I'd take the time to talk about how to chop a whole one. Another bit of sage wisdom from Momma concerned men and how I'm not supposed to cry over them. Unfortunately, Momma never said what to do when it came to onions and the fact that they're a pain to work with. This has been difficult for me because I love onions; and no matter how much them make my eyes well with tears, I keep coming back to them. I know, I shouldn't... but they're so good to me! Really. I swear.

First you're going to want to peel and then refrigerate the onion for a few minutes. To peel it properly, slice off one end and pull back the husk like so.

Then, following the seams of the onion, cut down straight through it from one side to the next. The way you originally peeled it will keep your knife from severing the onion all the way across. This makes rotating and cutting the onion horizontally a lot easier because it'll stay intact.

It helps to have a sharp knife. If your slices aren't perfect the first time around, just keep practicing at it. I love how the onion takes on a lotus blossom kind of shape after it's been thoroughly cut and falls apart.

//Ecce Tart!

2009-02-02T16:27:00.000-08:00

My culinary arsenal has been expanding at a consistent rate since November. With new additions being added to my cabinets every week, I'm always tempted to play and experiment with the new, shiny toys over and over again. It's only been a day since I acquired the pixie muffin pans and condiment bottle from Sur la Table, and I already broke them in! Having the opportunity to experiment with a panoply of purchases is one of the many pros of living in a world where technology and innovation have made manufacturing so cheap. But much like repeating a new favorite song over and over again, there is an oversaturation point; a threshold where your interest in the gadget, pan or electric accessory is maxed out. And when you've grown bored with what was once your latest, best new accoutrement, it becomes so very easy to shelve it, forget about it, and go out and purchase the next best kitchen accessory. Then the cycle starts all over again.

I try to remain ever cognizant of what's in my kitchen and not to neglect the other items underneath my cabinet. If it's out of sight, it's usually out of mind for me; because of this, I make mental reminders to take my Maglite to my lower cupboards every once and a while. I don't want to be one of those people who invests hundred of thousands of dollars in kitchenware, only to rarely use it. I don't like to waste money.

It was while I was poking around in the depths of my lower all purpose pot, pan, and tupperware cupboard that I came across the 6 inch fluted tart tins I acquired in November for the purpose of making pumpkin Jack-o-Latern tarlets. They were sitting next to my 9 by 13 inch Pyrex baking dish. But unlike the dish, which saw a year's worth of usage during my Nom-Continous 12 Days of Baking in December alone, the tart tins had so far only been used once. I resolved to do something about this.

I love tarts! Well, I should clarify. I love the substratum of a tart (the crust) for the very same reasons why I love oatmeal, polenta, grits, waffles or other bland-tasting foods. It's a great foundational food item that allows us to to create a dish that's sweet or savory, hot or cold, small or large. So long as you have ingredients in your cupboard and refrigerator, the tart combination possibilities are practically endless! Making pate brisee can be a little bit daunting at first, but with each new attempt, it becomes easier and easier. I'm now skilled enough where I can roll the dough off the counter with my rolling pin and lay it into whatever tart pan I have nearby. That's a huge improvement from the days when I used to flip the ceramic dish onto the dough and cut out the tart that way.

It took me a combined two hours to come up with the ideas for three tarts you see below. Some inspiration came after I browsed through some of the savory dishes listed over at Closet Cooking, while the rest of the inspiration came after I took a quick gander at the contents of my fridge and let my mind wander for a little while. Then I went to the grocery store.

The tarts you see below are:

1.) Linguica-prosciutto-swiss with sauteed balsamic mushrooms;
2.) Caprese with mozzarella, parmesan, tomatoes, red onions, and basil;
3.) Pear tart with a ricotta-date-ginger-cinnamon base.

The recipes are more of a guide than directions. You can make all three variations, or just two. I was using a lot of leftover produce and meats, so I had just enough to make the combination of tarts listed in this post.

I first had Portuguese linguica this summer at Oba in Portland. Admittedly I was a little hesitant to try it at first because lingua in Spanish means tongue and I assumed that the Portuguese variation of the word wasn't that different. So basically I thought Mr. ProNerd and I were going to be eating tongue sausage. Though I've now eaten everything from beef heart to mussels to toro, I still don't like the taste of tongue. I can't even stand looking at it, really. *shudders* Well, no matter, as my assumption was an erroneous one. After nibbling those first few bits, linguica became the paragon of smoked sausages. I love the stuff. That, the mushrooms, parsley, swiss and ricotta cheeses, the pear, and basil are the ingredients I didn't initially have on hand.

Making the Pate Brisee

Follow the directions offered at Joy of Baking exactly as they are listed and allow the tarts to cool after they've baked. If you adhere to what the site says, you should have enough dough to fill one 10" tart, and six 6" tartlets. (OK; so you can deviate in one way and one way only: you may use uncooked rice if you don't have pie weights.)

While the dough is setting in the refrigerator, go ahead and make the balsamic mushrooms to go into the first tart.

Balsamic Mushrooms

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 shallots (chopped)
* 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
* 1 package of mushrooms (sliced)
* 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (I used fig-infused because it was what I had on hand)
* 2 tablespoons parsley (chopped)

Melt the olive oil in a saute pan; add the shallots and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Then add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and saute the mushrooms until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and simmer until the liquid has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper and stir in the parsley.

A friendly note about mushrooms:

If you're looking for a lesson in the virtue of patience, cook mushrooms. They're temperamental little buggers who need high heat in order to be cooked properly. For this reason, it's recommended that you use oil as it doesn't burn as quickly as butter.

Please remember to:

1.) Use a mushroom brush or toothbrush to clean your 'shrooms (mushrooms absorb liquids rather easily, and pre-wet mushrooms are a disaster to cook with).
2.) Transfer the mushrooms to a paper bag after you've purchased them. Don't leave them in the styrofoam or plastic container they came in.
3.) Use them within three days.

Pear Tarts with Ricotta Date Cheese

* One package of part skim milk ricotta cheese (save the container)
* Five dates, pitted and chopped
* 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
* A handful of thin pear slices
* A drizzle of honey (optional)

In a small bowl, beat the ricotta cheese and date pieces using an electric mixture. After about three minutes of beating, add the cinnamon and ginger. Using a spatula, spread the ricotta mixture evenly over three tartlets. Fan the pear slices in any pattern you wish and then drizzle honey over the slices.

There will be enough spread for three more tarts, so either plan ahead to make six tartlets or reserve the remaining mixture in the ricotta cheese container. Be sure to use within a week.

After the crust has baked and cooled, the mushrooms have been cooked, and the ricotta cheese mixture has been made, it's now time to start assembling your tarts!

Make sure your oven is preheated to 350° and bake these guys for about 30 minutes.

//My Madeleine

2009-02-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

Madeleines are the consummate breakfast and/or light dessert cookie. Petite in size, springy like angel food cake, they're rich but not saccharinely sweet to the point of nausea. Just three of these cookies ought to be enough to satiate even the most die hard sweets fanatic.

They key to making a proper Madeleine is in the preparation. I can't emphasize that part enough. For starters: Three to four eggs (which give the sweet its illustrious, deep golden color) are combined with 2/3 cup of sugar and then beaten on high for several minutes so that the batter may triple in volume. You'll know you've reached optimal consistency when your electric beaters leave ribbons of batter behind after being pulled out. It's also equally as important that you delicately fold the 1/2 cup melted (cooled) butter and flour mixture into the egg portion until just barely mixed, otherwise the batter will collapse, the wheat gluten will toughen the dough, or a whole host of other disasters might occur.

I used Joy of Baking dot com's recipe (here), but made a few modifications.

1.) I used my new pixie muffin pans instead of a standard Madeliene pan;
2.) I separated the batter into three portions and added two drops of purple and blue food coloring, just for variety.

Additionally, I wanted to practicing some plating techniques. I created a blueberry sauce, which I then poured into a condiment bottle for easy drawing.

Quick 'N' Easy Blueberry Sauce:

* One pint fresh blueberries
* 1/3 cup of sugar
* 1 tablespoon of water
* ~ 1 tablespoon of flour

Mix all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and heat on medium-high until the fruit's juices have been released and the sauce starts to thicken. Remove from heat and then let cool completely. I'd advise straining the mixture through a fine sieve before bottling it, otherwise seed or bits of pulp will clog the tip. Once the bits pass through, the built up pressure will be expelled and thus create... a mess.

The other 41 Madeleines eagerly await their respective turns to be plated.

Since I used pixie muffin tins, the recipe could have easily yielded between 60-70 Madeleines, instead of 12-24. I stopped at four dozen.

When making Madeleines, it's crucial that you butter and then dust the pan(s) with flour. Failure to do that will result in crusty cookies that have to be peeled out of the pan. Don't be afraid to get your hands greasy! Get in there and make sure every centimeter of the pan is coated.

It doesn't hurt to sketch out your food-art design with actual pen and paper, first.

//Who made these rules?

2009-02-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

After laying supine for most of the previous three days, I felt confident enough to go out late yesterday evening to catch a screening of Benjamin Button. The flick finished shortly before 1, which meant I was in bed and asleep at closer to 2. No matter; I had nothing planned for the morning, and so I could sleep in as late as I wanted to. Hah — how naive of me.

The denizens of my neighborhood suffer from an affliction I like to call "Suburbitis." They're either single families or getting up there in years, so it's lights out by 10:00 each night, and lights on at Dark O'Thirty the following day. Sundays are particularly awful, as there are count 'em — three — separate individuals who like to put their trash cans out at 8:00 a.m., like the act of doing so was the highlight of their day and, oh boy, they just couldn't wait to amble out of bed and get this chore taken care of before the sun got too high! I, on the other hand, wait until the evening. The sound of the cheap plastic bin wheels rolling over gravel has the tendency to wake me prematurely. Scattered amongst the blocks of 1960s style tract homes are a few overzealous dog walkers who like to parade their pooches up and down the streets as early as 6:00 a.m. as well. Though their canines are well-behaved (i.e., they don't bark), their chains rattle as they romp from yard to yard and sniff every intervening tree. That has also been known to wake me on occasion; in fact, that's the very reason why I was up this morning at 6:00, instead of at 10 or 11 like I'd hoped.

Four hours of rest is just enough to keep my body from wanting to go back to sleep. I tossed under my blankets for 30 minutes before giving up and then flipping open my Mac to read the news for the day. I then made coffee because I figured, why not?

There was very little for me to do so early in the morning, so I grew bored fairly quickly. I lowered my eyes and cast my gaze out the window towards the sidewalk where my Disturber had walked by not 40 minutes prior. Mouth flat, eyebrows furrowed. I was annoyed. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the occasional early morning rise, but I hadn't planned this. Furthermore, I'd just spent the past three days doing very little aside from working and sleeping, and now that I was feeling better, I was chomping at the bit to carpe the proverbial diem... but, again, it was early! So again I found myself doing nothing; that ate at me. Super Bowl kick-off time wasn't for another EIGHT HOURS, and it's not like I could've just pranced on over to the main drag, eaten and window-shopped. It.is.Sunday. Nothing to do, nothing open (yet), and nearly a whole half of the waking day until the game began!

Think. Think. Think.

What did I do the previous times this had happened? The very last time I was headed to Portland that day anyway, so I just flew up earlier. Obviously I wasn't going to go up north just for today, so that didn't help me. But what about the time before that? I went to Peet's in Studio City for a drink and then holed myself up at the library to work on my thesis. UGH, no. And in any event, I didn't feel like driving to Peet's, nor did I especially feel the need to spend approximately 6 hours going over my capstone paper with a fine-toothcomb. (Can't say that editing on very little sleep is a prudent idea, but perhaps I'm just rationalizing.)

While thinking about the days when I used to purposefully get up at 6:00 and hike through Runyan Canyon, and deliberating whether or not I should go do that, I almost skipped over a special memory. There was one other recent time when I got up especially early — last June when I left Los Angeles via Amtrak's Coast Starlight to get to a summer conference up in Portland. On that day I took the NoHo Red Line to Union Station because a $50 cab fare was absolutely out of the question. In remembering that morning, from schlepping my luggage up the street to catch the bus to the subway station, to later wishing I had more excuses to use the Los Angeles MTA, my brain started to layout what later became my plans for today.

It wasn't that long ago that I had said to Judy that I ought to take the Pasadena Gold Line and do a mini-tour of the city that way. It's been operation since 2004ish, and I hadn't ridden it yet. The more I thought about the possibility of doing a public transit adventure, the more excited I grew, the more the very idea made sense. The day was shaping up to be absolutely gorgeous — pristine clear skies with views as far east as the San Gabriel Mountains — and for once I could be a passenger and appreciate visual points of interest such as the aforementioned mountains, the arboreal Arroyo Canyon, and the Downtown Los Angeles skyline. All too often I miss a chance to catch those sites as I whiz along the 5, 110, 134, or 210. I could also visit Buster's Cafe for breakfast (conveniently located right at the Gold Line Mission stop in South Pasadena), and then pick up another train to take me the rest of the way to Old Town Pasadena where I could... visit Sur la Table! As of this morning, my current ramequin set was two short of being complete. Sur la Table has the best (and might I add, cheapest) selection available. I'd been meaning to go there, but the 20 mile roundtrip ride wasn't worth it gas and parking cost-wise. However, a $2.50 Metro pass removed both of those obstacles. Yes! Yes! Yes!

I was out of the house dressed and on my way to the NoHo station before 8. The photos below chronicle today's adventure.

Start here.

End up here; transfer.

Go from Union Station to Mission.

And then from Mission to Memorial.

Book: check; iPhone with earbuds: check; inhaler: check; checkbook: check; wallet: check.

Descending into the depths of the NoHo Red Line Station.

The adventure's begun!

One of the many artists on the official Lindsay's On a Public Transit Adventure Playlist (or LOPTAP).

To know me is to know that I have a slightly irrational obsession with mosaic tiles (and paisley and polka dots, just to name a few).

Of course, no adventure is complete without a Facebook status update.

Buster's!

Crossing Mission, looking east.

Crossing Mission, looking west.

Breakfast is served. ChowHound.com says that Buster's has some of the best granola around (that's not La Brea Bakery granola).

Back waiting.

Looking north towards the San Gabriels and Alta Dena. (Photo doesn't do the day justice.)

I had absolutely no idea that the Memorial exit practically puts you at the steps of the Pasadena City Hall building! Since I was playing today by spleen, I figured I'd brush up on my Southern California culture and give the place a looksie.

Barney's Beanery is one of my favorite places to eat at when I'm in the mood for a Lazy Sunday Bar Breakfast. However, it being Super Bowl Sunday and all, there was no way in hell I was going to set foot in that place.

Eater-LA has been logging the events surrounding the Fro-Yo melt of 2008/2009. While numerous Pinkberrys and Fakeberrys start to shutter, I predict 21 Flavors (a Pasadena institution) will be OK. And if it's not... then the economy doesn't have a chance in hell of recovering.

Items acquired: Two aluminum pixie muffin pans, four margarita glasses that look more like trifle bowls, two ramequins, a condiment bottle, and... I caved and got actual vanilla bean. $8.95 for two whole Nielson-Massey Bourbon beans is a steal; it's the same brand of bean used by the much lauded Vanilla Bakeshop. Many of the items were on clearance, so $27 got me all of the above.

Starting the trek back home.

Time when I departed from Pasadena.

Time when I returned to my car.

Today's unexpected start made for an awesome day afterall (nb: the Cardinals losing was not awesome). I got to sample some more of Los Angeles' good eats; I got to be a tourist in my own city; I got to cross off at least one more item off my 101 Things in 1001 Days; the size and quality of the kitchen arsenal was increased with the acquistion of a few inexpensive items; I also really enjoyed photodocumenting everything.

//Put-put went the coffee maker

2009-01-31T12:18:00.000-08:00

Oh Happy Day! Although I'm on Day Three of Cold Watch 2009, which technically means it's still possible for me to infect any humannoid who comes within five feet of me, the period of post nasal drip is over! Instead of remaining in bed underneath my bed's many layers of blankets like a nut in a batch of baklavah, I bounded out of it this morning and hurried into the kitchen so I could resume my morning coffee ritual. In the future I'm going to have to remember not to let my enthusiasm for caffeine get the better of me, as I initially turned on the coffee maker without adding water to the tank, first. Of course, I only realized this once I went to retrieve the stainless steel to-go cup from the maker's platform and found it suspiciously... empty.

I'd like to think my Oops was really a benevolent act in disguise... I mean, certainly I like to get steam treatments every once in awhile. Surely coffee grounds must like saunas, too.

Ah-hah! Found the problem: No water.

Problem solved; commence java making.

Now, what about brunch?

I'm fairly methodical about my eating habits all around (as opposed to just being health conscious). I neither want to OD it on cooking at home, nor do I want to OD it on eating out. The former is time consuming and necessitates that one get used to eating lots of leftovers if they live by themselves, while the latter tends to be prohibitively expensive if you do it every day.

Earlier in the week I made dark chocolate bread pudding with bananas and a vanilla sauce (we'll get to that later). When all was mixed and baked, I still had two slices of cinnamon bread, a single banana, and 1.5 cups of vanilla sauce leftover. Neither of these things would be usable after this weekend, so I made it my mission to use these ingredients for today's breakfast, rather than go out.

Grilled Almond Butter Sandwich with Sauteed Bananas

* Two slices of bread
* Two tablespoons of almond butter (or other nut butter of your choice)
* One slightly overly ripe banana, thinly sliced
* Enough leftover vanilla custard sauce to coat the bread (see recipe below)
* Butter, butter, butter

Dip one side of each slice in the custard for 15 seconds, and set the pieces batter face down on a large plate. Spread two tablespoons of nut butter on the dry sides of the bread. After you do that, thinly slice the banana and add one tablespoon of butter to a small saute pan. Just when the butter begins to brown, throw in the bananas and let them break down. Be sure to stir the mixture every so often so as not to burn the fruit. You want the bananas to take on a consistency like the nut butter on the bread (i.e., it's OK if the fruit doesn't retain its shape — you'll have an easier time making the sandwich if the bananas become a spread). Once the bananas turn a kind of caramel brown, immediately remove the pan from the heat and spread the mixture evenly on one of the pieces of bread. Assemble the sandwich.

In a much larger saute pan, add another tablespoon of butter and turn the heat on medium-high. Wait 20 seconds and then place the sandwich in it. If it sizzles the moment it touches the pan, the temperature is high enough; if it doesn't, remove it from the pan and wait an additional 15 seconds. After 1.5 minutes, flip the sandwich over to the other side; using a spatula, gently press down on the bread so as to let the other side sear. After another minute and a half, flip it again and then pull it from the pan.

Cut the sandwich (or not) at whatever angle you choose. Optional: Drizzle a teaspoon of honey over the bread after it's been set on a plate. Eat the sandwich whole, or pull it apart and dip it in, oh I don't know, your coffee.

Standard Vanilla Custard Sauce (one of the many on Epicurious.com)

1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise (or use vanilla extract and whisk in a teaspoon of cinnamon if you want the custard to look like it has specs in it)
2 cups half-and-half
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar

Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan with tip of a paring knife, then add pod and half-and-half and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat.

Whisk together eggs and sugar in a bowl until well combined, then add hot half-and-half mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Transfer custard to saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thickened and custard registers 175°F on thermometer, 5 to 10 minutes (do not let boil).

Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl, discarding solids. Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir custard until cool. Chill in refrigerator, covered, until cold, at least 1 hour.

Note: This custard won't set. In other words, because there is no cornstarch or gelatin of any kind in the recipe, you're essentially making a sauce.

//It came from the fast food bag

2009-01-30T17:06:00.000-08:00

Note from the Editor: The writer does not claim responsibility for the actions performed prior to this post's creation. She's currently slightly feverish and therefore is not of sound mind. (Yeah, THAT'S why she made what she made.)

* * * * *

It's Day Two of Cold Watch 2009. I haven't gotten any worse, but I haven't gotten any better either. My ability to taste foods is slightly compromised due to the congestion, which might also account for the weird craving I had late last night. I haven't had a cup of hot coffee in three days now because drinking it only makes my throat feel worse (see yesterday's post). I miss my morning cuppa. =( But! I'm doing all that I can to get better ASAP. For instance: It's 82° outside, but I wore leg warmers, pants, a sweater, and scarf to work today to keep my body from experiencing even more chills while I work in my company's frigid office.

Enough about today. Let's talk about what went down at 11:00 p.m. last night. Hunger struck, and it struck hard. I must have been delirious, because I can't recall what thought associations led me to conclude that the obvious and best way to abate the rumbling in my tummy was to make a Krispy Kreme McDonald's chicken sandwich. It's not like I'd ever eaten something like this before! It's not like I ever eat KK or Mickey Ds! Maybe I was thinking about fair food? Or the time Steve and Elicia pureed In 'N' Out in a food processor and served the dip on crackers? I have no idea.

It was, however, totally delicious. But I'm not going to make this a weekly ritual or anything.

Mr. Dunkin Donuts coffee looks on and feels neglected as I prepare my late night snack.

One bite and the whole thing fell to pieces. This was ultimately a good thing, because I didn't go on to finish the sammich. Anything that tasty couldn't possibly be terribly dietetic.

//Good Grits

2009-01-29T19:04:00.000-08:00

I remember getting a slight chill last weekend when Mr. ProNerd was in town. The stress from that must have sent my immune system into a tizzy, because this morning I woke up with a vague sense that all was not well with my body. The most prominent symptom, the one that led me to believe I had caught the tail end of the virus that had wreaked havoc on my boyfriend one week earlier, was the one that greeted me the moment I swallowed.

Post nasal drip feels like the back of my throat is covered with blistered tissue from having accidentally swallowed piping hot coffee the day before. That, or someone managed to jam an emery board down my esophagus while I was sleeping. Post nasal drip is dry. It's rough. It's omnipresent. I hate it. Hate. Hate. Hate it. Should you have a congested nose, at least you can choose to breathe through you mouth. Unfortunately, there's only one way you can swallow, and most of the time you perform the function without even realizing it. For me, the routine reminder of post nasal drip's existence only magnifies the fact that I'm ill.

Since the only way to get over a cold is to just let it run its course, symptom suppression is the only way I can stay sane while my body's white blood cells conduct biological warfare inside of me. Sleeping 14 hours a day is ideal, too; but I work. I'm not a fan of pseudoephedrine or other OTC cold medicines, so I look to food to help me obliterate the myriad of aches, sniffles and other annoyances that come as part of the typical rhinovirus package.

In the past I've consumed large quantities of tom yum goong with extra chili flakes, kim chi, wasabi with sushi (yes, exactly like that), Odwalla Blueberry B Monster smoothies, oatmeal and peanut butter. Basically, spicy, thick, and bland foods that either coat the back of my throat, or open the mucus floodgates and consequently divert my attention away from the dreaded PND. At 17 I ate an entire quart of ice cream in one sitting — that's how much I wanted to forget about the post nasal drip going on at the time.

Coincidentally, last night I went to bed thinking it'd be a good idea to get grits the following day for lunch. This craving for hominy porridge is the direct result of the subpar brunch experience I had at Moonshadows in Malibu last Saturday. (Warning: the site plays music the moment you click "Enter Restaurant")

I'd eaten at Moonshadows before, but for dinner only. Honestly I was quite surprised that their brunch didn't live up to the gastronomic culinary excellence like their nighttime meals always have. Now don't get me wrong, the food wasn't terrible by any means. And perhaps part of the reason why I was disappointed was because I'd checked out their menu a few days prior to brunch, determined what I was going to order (Niman Ranch wild boar and cranberry sausage over grits with Fuji apple raisin "gravy," with caramelized onions and bacon chips), and let my imagination tantalize and taunt me with the most exceptional vision of what said dish was going to taste like. Still, this is Moonshadows of Malibu we're talking about here! Their direct competitor of Geoffrey's, another high class establishment on the Pacific Ocean. The food _has_ to be of a certain quality; it's not like Geoffrey's is that much further up the coast, or their prices that much more exorbitant. For whatever reason, though, the dish I ate was no better than what I would have gotten at Denny's.

Grits by themselves are thick, hearty and bland, which makes them the perfect kind of comfort food for lessening post nasal drip. Their texture and taste makes them a dream ingredient for a haute cuisine chef who wants to show off their breakfast talents — the perfect canvas onto which one can pour whatever sauce they like. Chefs dress up every variety of rice with all manner of additives, sweet or savory; they've been known to make creme brulee oatmeal with sugared bananas, too. Omelets always taste better when the eggs have been beaten with a smidgen of cream. What I'm trying to say is: If a high class restaurant is going to charge $18 for a bowl full of grits, the gravy that accompanies it better have some taste to it. What I got at Moonshadows was as bland as the hominy itself — you couldn't even taste a hint anything in the sauce. The raisins were few, the Fuji apples had been pureed so much their juice (and consequently their flavor) had evaporated. It was tasteless; and as for the color, does the word "gruel" spring any particular hues to mind? I was suitably unimpressed, and unfulfilled, which brings me to today.

As late as yesterday, I still wanted recompense for my experience. I wanted food justice. I wanted to know that I didn't have to go to the South for a decent bowl of warm hominy. Believing Google sincerely meant it when they said "Do no harm," I figured it couldn't hurt to enter "Los Angeles best grits" into their search engine. The first entry to pop up was a ChowHound.com discussion about where to find palatable grits in the greater Los Angeles area. After sifting through about 45 responses, a few places came up: Nick's Coffee Shop and Deli on Pico, Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, Pann's over by LAX, and Square One Dining in Hollywood. Nick's didn't have a website of their own; and though they received positive reviews on Yelp!, no one had anything to say about their grits. Roscoe's and Pann's... eh, the quality of their dishes can be extremely variable. The 35 mile roundtrip to either of these locations, combined with the knowledge that I might be served yet another bowl of disappointment, made me hesitant to even consider them. At least so soon. (nb: Pann's does have the best biscuits in Los Angeles – that you can count on.)

Square One Dining was new on my foodar, and it was only 7 miles away. I scratched my chin and went to their website. It checked out OK. I mean, insofar as I could tell, I liked the sound of all their offerings. Then again, I liked the sound of what was on Moonshadow's brunch menu too! Thwrup, thwrup, thwrup went my fingers as I strummed them on my laptop. Then I remembered that Los Angeles Magazine.com had a "Best of Section" that had proven to be spot on more often that not (for instance, under the category of "Best Grilled Cheese," you won't find The Foundry, thankfully... but that's another gastrotale for another entry). Sadly, no category for "Best Grits." They did, however, have a link for "Best Breakfast." I clicked. There right smack dab in the middle of the page was an entry for Square One Dining. And they gave a thumbs up to their grits! A cross-match! Score! I had a plan, and now I had a place to go with it; on Thursday I would go try their grits.

Then I woke up feeling ill this morning. Energy zapped. Muscles twitchy. Could I make the 7 mile trek to Hollywood? Should I? Yes, yes I should, damn it. I'm sick. But more importantly: I'm sick AND suffering from post nasal drip AND I don't have any oatmeal or juice on hand. So before I went into work, I went to Square One Dining to soothe my throat.

I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about the aesthetics of the place, or the service. Suffice to say, there isn't a huge sign outside the restaurant that announces its presence. The name of the restaurant is on a dark-gray brown awning, and the color of restaurant's name on the overhang is only slightly lighter. The trees on the sidewalk partially obscure the place as well. You might drive past it. But I found it, mostly because I took a gamble and assumed that a chartreuse single-story building on the residential side of Fountain Avenue had to be the local eatery. This wasn't the first time I'd encountered such a setup in Los Angeles, and I don't think it'll be my last. Sure enough, the place was Square One Dining.

The service was prompt, and they didn't charge me after I switched from drinking an iced latte to iced tea. The grits were brought from the kitchen and placed in front of me within 7 minutes of my ordering them. Oh boy did they look marvelous, with lots of thick, cube-like bits of bacon stirred in with perfectly melted cheddar cheese! (Photos below.) I added a wee bit of honey just because and then spooned some of the grits into my mouth. Mmmmmm. The dish did the trick — PND went away for a few hours, and I got my grits do over. Had I been any hungrier, I might have gotten their chorizo, tomato, jalapeño, onion and mozzarella egg white omelet with grits on the side, but the cold did a lot to kill my appetite. As such, I left the restaurant with a cardboard container filled with 3/4 of the original grits dish (which I then heated up and ate for dinner).

Square One gets my enthusiastic approval.

Square One Dining serves Intelligentsia coffee and espresso. For two years now I've been meaning to bite the day old espresso puck and stand in line for what has long been rumored to be the Best Coffee in Los Angeles (or on the West Coast, for that matter). Thanks to Square One, I no longer feel the temptation to do so. Intelligentsia and me didn't hit it off, so it's back to Dunkin Donuts and Lavazza for me. *phew* For a moment there, I was worried.

//Post Pinwheel Peach Cobbler

2009-01-29T00:24:00.001-08:00

In the end, the Cylons caused our team's downfall. =(

Despite this, the pinwheel peach cobbler suffered a worse fate. It.got.devoured.

Another success! After the last of the cobbly bits were wiped clean from the cake pan, it was suggested that I try making fesenjan in the coming weeks. Anytime is a good time for fesenjan... but where does one get pomegranate syrup?

//A Night Under the Stars Meets Starry Night

2009-01-28T14:15:00.000-08:00

Rose and Or's parties have become somewhat of an institution in my social circle. Birthday gatherings aside, they've probably thrown at least 8 themed parties in the 3 years that I've known them. This past Saturday was their bi-annual Prom Party.

The majority of Rose and Or's energy goes into planning the lavish aesthetics of the event — decorations, costumes, photo backdrops, etc. Constructing something like a zombie graveyard for Halloween can take several weeks, so naturally this leaves them with little time for food preparation and catering. This works to my advantage, as I'll look for any excuse to bake or cook for events. Initially the plan was to bake two dishes, but as usual, I got carried away and made much, much more.

A celestial-looking raspberry almond tart was a no-brainer.

Peanut butter-chocolate chip sandwich cookies with tiramisu-peanut butter filling kind of resemble asteroids or meteors when assembled.

That was to be it. Nothing more. To make even just one more dish would necessitate my needing to block off two evenings for baking. But... one week before prom, The Gabster gave me Hello, Cupcake as a belated Christmas present. She couldn't have possibly known this, but I'd wanted that book ever since I first saw it at the Portland Paper Source store in early October 2008. What a wonderful gift! The temptation to thumb through the pages was so strong, I sat in front of her house for a good 10 minutes after we'd said goodbye and gave the cupcake manual a cursory overview. I drove away feeling so very, very inspired.

Whoa! What do we have here?

It was on page 41 of the book that I found the ultimate dessert for Or and Rose's party. They called prom "A Night Under the Stars," so a cupcake recreation of van Gogh's "Starry Night" seemed like the perfect addition to what was shaping up to be a perfect evening.

The most labor intensive part of the project was hand mixing the nine colors of frosting for the cupcakes; that by itself took two hours, and stretched the tendons in my right hand beyond mere elasticity. Once the cupcakes cooled and were secured to the cake box using standard Wilton's frosting, piping the actual cake frosting was a simple. An hour after laying down the first squiggle of royal blue icing, I was done.

This particular project was a great learning exercise for many reasons: 1.) I learned how to better pipe frosting using standard ziploc bags (i.e., what's the best way to hold the bag, how much plastic should I snip off if I want to make tiny squiggles); 2.) I found a way to put my creative inner critic on mute; and 3.) I now know that it takes 25 dots of blue food coloring to make sky blue (16 if you're looking for Tiffany Blue). Overall, I was pleased with the results (both appearance-wise and taste-wise).

Upon successful completion of Starry Night, I began working on individual toasted coconut cheesecakes with a homemade chai-graham cracker crust.

You can make your own chai spice mix, but I guarantee that the flavor won't be nearly as instense as using four bags of chai tea.

I also baked zucchini-ginger cupcakes from scratch and layered ginger cream cheese frosting over them.

Zucchini-ginger cupcakes, pre-frosting

Based on what was leftover at the end of the evening, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that the cookies, the cheesecakes and Starry Night were all a hit. The plan was to wait until the Prom Queen and King were announced before I broke into the cupcake painting and destroyed it; however, someone beat me to it at around 11:00. Oh well. The raspberry tart was a hit, too; but because of its size, there were leftovers. The zucchini-ginger cupcakes were well-received by the small group of individuals who ate them. Personally I found them to be a bit on the savory side; next time I'll use 1 cup of honey (instead of just 3/4) and use buttermilk instead of extra light virgin olive oil like the recipe called for.

//Whimsical Pinwheel Peach Cobbler

2009-01-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

Winter — or what passes for it here in Los Angeles — finally landed in the middle of January. This means that the night temperatures are in the 30s-40s. Now for those of you residing in what I consider to be the frostbite armpit part of the country, I know that any day when the digits are above the teens is considered a _warm_ day. Understand though that we here in sunny Southern California are spoiled, so 32° is, well, freezing.

But I digress.

When the weather starts to get nippy, I start to crave comfort food. Thai curries, chili, oatmeal, bread puddings, glutinous risottos, cobblers — sweet, savory, starchy and heavy. These are the dishes that stick to your ribs (or so my mother told me long ago). Today I was jonesing for cobbler, so to the store I went in search of fresh produce.

I perused the pippins, picked over the pears, and played with plums; ultimately, it was the Chilean peaches that won. Prunus persica happen to be in season right now because it's the middle of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The going rate for yellow cling is a $1.00 a pound a Vons, so I loaded up a bag with 8 (4 pounds).

Any cobbler fresh from the oven will warm you up. One made with peaches, however, will make you nostalgic for long summer days. Particular to me, my grandparents had a peach tree in their backyard (which later became our backyard when they moved to... the frostbite armpit of the country). Eating peaches is one the ways I "keep" in touch with my Gama and Gandpa.

A few notes about this dish: 1.) A 9" cake pan is not large enough to hold all the ingredients, so there was some cobbly overflow. (As the person responsible for cleaning up the crumbs, I'm not complaining, but the mess did bother my perfectionist sensibilities... somewhat.) 2.) Instead of sprinkling the brown sugar mixture over the rolled out dough, I accidentally mixed it _into_ it. This kept the pinwheels from keeping their respective shapes during the baking process. That aside, this dish is deeelicious (extremely hot, too). I can't wait to serve it tomorrow night when a group of us play nerdy board games!

Biscuits

* 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
* 3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 2 cups all purpose flour
* 3/4 cup sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw because of its texture and caramel color)
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* 2/3 cup whipping cream
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Filling

* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 vanilla bean, coarsely chopped (or use 2 teaspoons vanilla extract — I refuse to pay $12.99 for a single vanilla bean)
* 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
* 4 pounds peaches, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
* 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

* Powdered sugar (optional)

How to make:

For biscuits:
Mix first 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Set spiced sugar aside. Mix flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Using fingertips, rub in chilled butter until coarse meal forms. Add cream and vanilla; stir until moist clumps form. Gently knead dough on lightly floured surface just until smooth.

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 9x15-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with spiced sugar. Starting at 1 long side, roll up dough jelly-roll style. Transfer to baking sheet. Cover log with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

For filling:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend sugar, vanilla, and flour in processor until vanilla is finely chopped; place in large bowl. Add peaches and lemon juice; toss to coat. Transfer peach mixture to 10-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides. Bake until filling is bubbling, about 30-50 minutes.

Cut dough log crosswise into 1-inch-thick biscuits. Place biscuits atop filling. Bake until biscuits are golden, about 45 minutes. Cool at least 10 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.

* * * * *

* * * * * *

This video was made last week and announces my plan to film my projects every so often.

* * * * *

Piccakes

2009-01-27T14:23:00.001-08:00

Photobucket Album