Monday, February 25, 2008
Updating
My sinuses have cleared, and I'm actually out of bed. I'm not feeling up to tackling any cooking yet, though, so I'll be going to the Farmer's Market this afternoon to pick up some fresh juice and berries. The berries will be mixed altogether in a bowl with snipped mint leaves. It'll "stew" in the fridge all day, and make a very refreshing appetizer to Matt's Famous Chicken Melts!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
*Radio Silence*
The only cooking going on around here lately has consisted of "Open can, pour into soup pot, heat, eat, go back to bed".
We've been stricken with The Head Cold From Hell. Catch y'all later.
We've been stricken with The Head Cold From Hell. Catch y'all later.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Apple and Brandied Currant Tart Filling, part two in a series
Apple and Brandied Currant Tart ~ Chez Panisse
3 pounds baking apples, peeled, quartered and cored. (Reserve skins and cores)
½ c. plus 2 tbs brandy
1 c. currants
10 oz. Galette Dough*
4 tbs unsalted butter, melted
¾ c sugar
Glaze
Reserved skins and cores
1 c. sugar
Preheat the oven to 400.
Peel and core the apples and slice ¼ inch thick and toss with 2 tbs brandy.
In a small saucepan, warm the currants with the remaining ½ c of brandy and ½ c water, over medium heat. Bring to a simmer; remove from heat and leave to plump up.
Remove the pre-rolled dough from refrigerator and place on a buttered or parchment lined baking sheet. Leaving a 2-inch border, arrange the apple slices over the pastry mounding the fruit to a thickness of 3 or 4 slices at the edges. Trim away most of the border, leaving about ½ inch of pastry. (Save the trimmings to make little sugar cookies.)
Finish the tart by folding the exposed border over on itself, crimping to make a narrow pastry rim around the fruit. Brush the edges with melted butter. Sprinkle buttered edges with a tablespoon or so of the ¾ c of sugar, and sprinkle the remainder over the apples.
Bake in lower third of over for 30 minutes, rotating several times to make sure the edges brown evenly. Drain the currants and scatter over the apples. Continue baking 20-30 minutes, until the apples are soft and the pastry edges have begun to caramelize. Slide the tart directly onto the cooling rack, and allow to cool slightly.
While the tart is baking, simmer the cores and skins with 1 c water and 1 c sugar until a thick, rosy syrup is achieved, about 20 minutes.
Strain the syrup and drizzle over the tart just before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche.
It was so delicious that by the time I thought to take a picture, there was nothing remaining but some crumbs and a lonely currant on the baking sheet.
3 pounds baking apples, peeled, quartered and cored. (Reserve skins and cores)
½ c. plus 2 tbs brandy
1 c. currants
10 oz. Galette Dough*
4 tbs unsalted butter, melted
¾ c sugar
Glaze
Reserved skins and cores
1 c. sugar
Preheat the oven to 400.
Peel and core the apples and slice ¼ inch thick and toss with 2 tbs brandy.
In a small saucepan, warm the currants with the remaining ½ c of brandy and ½ c water, over medium heat. Bring to a simmer; remove from heat and leave to plump up.
Remove the pre-rolled dough from refrigerator and place on a buttered or parchment lined baking sheet. Leaving a 2-inch border, arrange the apple slices over the pastry mounding the fruit to a thickness of 3 or 4 slices at the edges. Trim away most of the border, leaving about ½ inch of pastry. (Save the trimmings to make little sugar cookies.)
Finish the tart by folding the exposed border over on itself, crimping to make a narrow pastry rim around the fruit. Brush the edges with melted butter. Sprinkle buttered edges with a tablespoon or so of the ¾ c of sugar, and sprinkle the remainder over the apples.
Bake in lower third of over for 30 minutes, rotating several times to make sure the edges brown evenly. Drain the currants and scatter over the apples. Continue baking 20-30 minutes, until the apples are soft and the pastry edges have begun to caramelize. Slide the tart directly onto the cooling rack, and allow to cool slightly.
While the tart is baking, simmer the cores and skins with 1 c water and 1 c sugar until a thick, rosy syrup is achieved, about 20 minutes.
Strain the syrup and drizzle over the tart just before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche.
It was so delicious that by the time I thought to take a picture, there was nothing remaining but some crumbs and a lonely currant on the baking sheet.
The Chez Panisse Themed Dinner Party
Could have been a disaster, but was not, due to loving friends and their forgiving natures!
The fish was the wrong kind, the grilled endives were over-grilled, the beans in the bean soup were a little...not soft, but the wine was flowing (not for me, DD!) and there was cheese and good conversation!
Here is part one of the two part masterpiece of the evening: Apple and Brandied Currant Tart.
I had put Melanie in charge of it, since she knows how to make a pastry crust, and I think that's why it turned out as well as it did!
Here is the crust recipe, with the filling to follow later.
Galette Dough ~ Chez Panisse
2 c. All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
6 oz. (1 ½ stick) unsalted butter
½ c. ice water
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add half the butter to the mixture and work it in with your fingers until the dough is the texture of think oatmeal.
Add the remaining butter and quickly work it in until the biggest pieces are the size of large lima beans.
Dribble the ice water into the dough in several stages, tossing and mixing in between additions. Don’t try to dampen the dough evenly; it should look rather ropy and rough.
Stop adding water while there are still a few bits of dry flour remaining in the bottom of the bowl.
Gather the dough into 2 balls and wrap tightly in plastic. Press down to flatten into disks.
Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Roll each flattened ball in a 14 inch circle on a lightly floured board. Dough should be ¼ inch thick.
Refrigerate rolled dough at least ½ hour before using.
(Rolled out circles can be frozen and used the next day.)
Stay tuned for the filling! Coming up next!
The fish was the wrong kind, the grilled endives were over-grilled, the beans in the bean soup were a little...not soft, but the wine was flowing (not for me, DD!) and there was cheese and good conversation!
Here is part one of the two part masterpiece of the evening: Apple and Brandied Currant Tart.
I had put Melanie in charge of it, since she knows how to make a pastry crust, and I think that's why it turned out as well as it did!
Here is the crust recipe, with the filling to follow later.
Galette Dough ~ Chez Panisse
2 c. All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
6 oz. (1 ½ stick) unsalted butter
½ c. ice water
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add half the butter to the mixture and work it in with your fingers until the dough is the texture of think oatmeal.
Add the remaining butter and quickly work it in until the biggest pieces are the size of large lima beans.
Dribble the ice water into the dough in several stages, tossing and mixing in between additions. Don’t try to dampen the dough evenly; it should look rather ropy and rough.
Stop adding water while there are still a few bits of dry flour remaining in the bottom of the bowl.
Gather the dough into 2 balls and wrap tightly in plastic. Press down to flatten into disks.
Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Roll each flattened ball in a 14 inch circle on a lightly floured board. Dough should be ¼ inch thick.
Refrigerate rolled dough at least ½ hour before using.
(Rolled out circles can be frozen and used the next day.)
Stay tuned for the filling! Coming up next!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Diving into Lent
In case you didn't know, Lent began yesterday and this year, we are attending the Byzantine Lenten services, and observing Byzantine Lenten practices. This means that yesterday was a Strict Fast Day: no meat, eggs, or dairy.
Fortunately, little Miss Veganese Chef over here has quite an arsenal of recipes adhering to these restrictions. Unfortunately (for you guys) all I did was The Lentils (yes, again), BUT, I did accompany it with a rousing (and slightly tweaked) rendition of Spicy Cornbread, the recipe of which follows:
"Sassy"* Cornbread.
Prep:
Seed and chop fine 1 red bell pepper
Seed and dice 1 chile pepper
Squeeze two tablespoons of lemon juice (this was 1 meyer lemon)
Cut the kernels off 1 ear of corn (or thaw 3/4 c. frozen corn)
Preheat the oven to 350, and lightly oil an 8x8 pan with olive oil and dust it with cornmeal.
Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a saucepan, and saute the peppers together until tender, about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, allow to cool.
Mix together 1 c. soy milk, the 2 tbs lemon juice and 1/2 cup olive oil in a small bowl.
In a larger bowl, whisk together 1 c. whole wheat pastry flour (I used regular WW flour) and 1 c. stoneground cornmeal, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp sea salt. (In place of the chile pepper, I sprinkled a teaspoon of cayenne into the dry mix.)
Add the soymilk mixture and combine, using as few strokes as possible so as not to overmix. Fold in the peppers and corn.
Spread the batter evenly into the pan and bake until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. (20-25 minutes.)
Cool for five minutes. Cut and serve hot or warm.
I found this in a book called May All Be Fed; Diet for a New World. It has some great recipes in it, but at times I found the text to be...I don't know...a little too "OMG! Teh guvermints, it brane-washes teh childrens! Oh noes! Kwesh-tun EBBERY-TING!" You know? (Not that we shouldn't be mindful of our food sources, mind you, but I guess I'm a little overly-sensitive to any hint of hysterical paranoia. Except my own, apparently.)
*Yes. Left out the chile pepper AGAIN. Big fat baby, over here. I blame the potato-loving Irish side of me.
Fortunately, little Miss Veganese Chef over here has quite an arsenal of recipes adhering to these restrictions. Unfortunately (for you guys) all I did was The Lentils (yes, again), BUT, I did accompany it with a rousing (and slightly tweaked) rendition of Spicy Cornbread, the recipe of which follows:
"Sassy"* Cornbread.
Prep:
Seed and chop fine 1 red bell pepper
Seed and dice 1 chile pepper
Squeeze two tablespoons of lemon juice (this was 1 meyer lemon)
Cut the kernels off 1 ear of corn (or thaw 3/4 c. frozen corn)
Preheat the oven to 350, and lightly oil an 8x8 pan with olive oil and dust it with cornmeal.
Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a saucepan, and saute the peppers together until tender, about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, allow to cool.
Mix together 1 c. soy milk, the 2 tbs lemon juice and 1/2 cup olive oil in a small bowl.
In a larger bowl, whisk together 1 c. whole wheat pastry flour (I used regular WW flour) and 1 c. stoneground cornmeal, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp sea salt. (In place of the chile pepper, I sprinkled a teaspoon of cayenne into the dry mix.)
Add the soymilk mixture and combine, using as few strokes as possible so as not to overmix. Fold in the peppers and corn.
Spread the batter evenly into the pan and bake until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. (20-25 minutes.)
Cool for five minutes. Cut and serve hot or warm.
I found this in a book called May All Be Fed; Diet for a New World. It has some great recipes in it, but at times I found the text to be...I don't know...a little too "OMG! Teh guvermints, it brane-washes teh childrens! Oh noes! Kwesh-tun EBBERY-TING!" You know? (Not that we shouldn't be mindful of our food sources, mind you, but I guess I'm a little overly-sensitive to any hint of hysterical paranoia. Except my own, apparently.)
*Yes. Left out the chile pepper AGAIN. Big fat baby, over here. I blame the potato-loving Irish side of me.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
I Wasn't Doing Any Cooking of My Own 2
Wait long enough and someone else will do your writing for you.
Here is an account, by Rich, of the food we ate at SPQR.
Go ahead. I'll wait.
***
Of course, the person who burned her face on gourmet food was me*. In the unlikely event that anyone was wondering. It was insanely embarrassing, but I'm glad we got a comp out of it, at least. That's me, always taking one for the team!
*Gee, I hope you've already read it!
Here is an account, by Rich, of the food we ate at SPQR.
Go ahead. I'll wait.
***
Of course, the person who burned her face on gourmet food was me*. In the unlikely event that anyone was wondering. It was insanely embarrassing, but I'm glad we got a comp out of it, at least. That's me, always taking one for the team!
*Gee, I hope you've already read it!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Just in Time for your Post-Super Bowl Bash!
How do you show your appreciation for your Super Bowl hosts?
Since we don't have a TV, we have to rely on the kindness of our friends in order to watch the biggest game of the year! And of course, no showing up empty-handed!!
I figured that other people would be taking care of the old favorites (I was right; there were wings, salsa, onion dip, some guacamole, and this really amazing spinach dip that someone had got up early to make!), so I trolled through my stack of recipes-to-try and surfaced with this Hummus variation from theppk.com.
Hummus Amungus
Prep Work:
Chop enough onion to make 1/2 cup
Mince 2-4 cloves of garlic
Chop three tomatoes
Seed one hot pepper, any variety*
Mix together:
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne
and set aside.
Juice one lime
Chop 1/4-1/2 cup fresh cilantro.
Saute the onion in 1 tsp oil for five minutes. Add the garlic and the spice mix for an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking.
Add the tomatoes, then cover and lower heat to simmer for five minutes.
Meanwhile, drain and reserve the liquid of a 15 ounce can of chickpeas. Add the peas to the food processor with just enough of the liquid to blend.
Add the chickpeas to the hot tomato mixture, add the lime juice and cilantro, and stir well to blend.
Can be served hot or cold, and I accompanied mine with mini-pitas and some tortilla chips.
*Am a big fat wuss, so left this out, resulting in a "zippy" hummus rather than a "spicy" one.
Since we don't have a TV, we have to rely on the kindness of our friends in order to watch the biggest game of the year! And of course, no showing up empty-handed!!
I figured that other people would be taking care of the old favorites (I was right; there were wings, salsa, onion dip, some guacamole, and this really amazing spinach dip that someone had got up early to make!), so I trolled through my stack of recipes-to-try and surfaced with this Hummus variation from theppk.com.
Hummus Amungus
Prep Work:
Chop enough onion to make 1/2 cup
Mince 2-4 cloves of garlic
Chop three tomatoes
Seed one hot pepper, any variety*
Mix together:
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne
and set aside.
Juice one lime
Chop 1/4-1/2 cup fresh cilantro.
Saute the onion in 1 tsp oil for five minutes. Add the garlic and the spice mix for an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking.
Add the tomatoes, then cover and lower heat to simmer for five minutes.
Meanwhile, drain and reserve the liquid of a 15 ounce can of chickpeas. Add the peas to the food processor with just enough of the liquid to blend.
Add the chickpeas to the hot tomato mixture, add the lime juice and cilantro, and stir well to blend.
Can be served hot or cold, and I accompanied mine with mini-pitas and some tortilla chips.
*Am a big fat wuss, so left this out, resulting in a "zippy" hummus rather than a "spicy" one.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
I wasn't doing any cooking of my own.
SPQR
Originally uploaded by gaffentine
We spent the weekend with friends in San Francisco, ostensibly to SEE our friends, but really to eat at SPQR on Fillmore.
Save your pennies, because it is worth every. single. one.
If I can remember, I will soon post the dishes we partook of at this scrum-diddly-umptious restaurant.
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