sweet potato pie ~ pure comfort

open in a new window for lazy comfort food tunes

My eldest daughter recently requested a sweet potato pie. I had never made one before, but one of my favorite cookbooks had an interesting recipe that incorporated buttermilk. This page must have caught her eye when she was flipping through. The southern brothers, Matt and Ted Lee, have a wonderful cookbook called The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. In the intro of the recipe they mention that they have tried many sweet potato pies and often find the texture and flavor of a typical pie to be "leaden and dull". I have had many similarly yucky pumpkin pies. Flat and boring - not so appetizing. However, they've managed to create a recipe that turns out to have the texture and tang of a cheesecake with the light background flavor of a sweet potato. It's almost mousse-like. Served with a dollop of brandy whipped cream, it's heavenly. And for several mornings this week for my family, it was totally worthy of being called breakfast.

Sweet Potato Pie
from the Lee Bros. Southern cookbook

1. Steam 1 1/2 pounds of peeled and diced sweet potatoes. Strain and mash with a fork or potato masher. For this recipe you need only 1 1/4 cups mashed sweet potato. Save the remainder for another dish.
   
2. To the potato, add 4 tbsp melted butter, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix until combined.
3. Separate 3 eggs.
   
4. In a small bowl, whisk 3 yolks for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup sugar and whisk until light yellow, about 2 minutes. Add this egg mixture to the sweet potato mixture. Add 2 tbsp flour a little at a time, stirring after each addition, until thoroughly incorporated. Add 3/4 cup buttermilk.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. With a wooden spoon, gently fold the egg whites into the sweet potato mixture. Pour mixture into prebaked sweet pie crust. Bake on middle rack until the center is firm, about 35 or 40 minutes.
6. Remove pie from the oven and cool completely on a rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled with whipped cream.
   

extra tortillas part two

Tortilla Soup :: a perfect way to use extra tortillas
based on a recipe from Mexico: one plate at a time, Rick Bayless

1. Saute 4 garlic cloves, one diced onion, one tbsp cumin, two teaspoons chili powder and one tsp ground coriander in 2 tbsp oil until softened but not browned, about five minutes. Add one chipotle pepper and one tablespoon adobo sauce. Continue to saute for another minute until fragrant.
2. Add one 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes, six cups chicken stock and two cups water. Bring to a simmer. Taste and season - start with one tbsp kosher salt & one tsp black pepper.
   
3. Roughly chop 8-10 corn tortillas. Add to pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes until tortillas have broken apart.
   
4. Using an immersion blender, puree soup in pot. If you don't have an immersion blender, carefully transfer soup to a food processor or blender. Be careful when pureeing hot liquids in the blender. I have had blender tops explode because of the pressure.
   
5. Once pureed, add two cups of chopped grilled chicken, one can of rinsed black beans and two tablespoons lime juice. Taste and season again.
   
6. Serve hot with toppings below.
   

Optional Garnish - fried tortilla strips

1. Slice 6 tortillas into 1/4 inch strips.
   
2. Heat 1 inch vegetable oil to 350 degrees in a 4 quart saucepan, making sure there is plenty of extra room in the pan. The oil will bubble a lot when tortillas are added.
3. Add a handful of tortilla strips to the oil. Watch carefully and remove when they are light brown and crispy. Remove them from the oil with a spider or slotted spoon.
   
4. Salt immediately while they are still hot.
   

Other toppings include: shredded cheddar, lime wedges, sour cream, salsa verde, or avocado slices/guacamole. Serve with bread and salad.

a note about tortillas and mexican food

Typically I buy flour tortillas. They're easier to work with for the standard americanized quesadilla or burrito -- not to mention that there's something about the texture that the kids prefer. It amuses me that we've worked in the quesadilla to our standard kid rotation. Sometimes I'll even make a quick one in the morning to put in the lunchboxes. It's a mutant of the classic grilled cheese that I grew up with. Grilled cheese is still preferred by me, unless of course the quesadilla is filled with roasted veggies or the like.

This week I found myself with dozens more tortillas than we could ever get through. They were leftover from Saturday night's mexican fiesta. The menu for the evening was upscale tacos; three different meats, niman ranch flank steak, pork butt, bell & evans chicken breast each prepared with their own sauces, chimichurri, coco adobo, and roasted tomatillo salsa.

The food was great, but what I'm blogging about tonight is the leftover corn tortillas made by Ann Arbor Tortilla Factory. Not what we typically use for the every day breakfast burrito. They're more brittle than the flour counterpart. We could stretch ourselves, sure, but there were so so many. What to do...

Another mexican family favorite around here is the enchilada. Shredded meat (for simplicity's sake use a rotisserie chicken), rolled in a tortilla covered with enchilada sauce, a tomato based chili pepper sauce. It's a great family meal because it can be made earlier in the day and then baked later.

Finally to the point. If you make enchiladas (or even a layered mexican lasagna) with flour tortillas, consider switching to corn. Instead of turning into a gloppy mess which tends to happen with the flour tortillas, the corn absorbs the liquid from the enchilada sauce. It turns into a distinctly different product, filling in the gaps between the meat and sauce, taking on the consistency of the masa in a tamale.

This what I decided to do with the leftovers - enchiladas. Shred the remaining meat mix it with a touch of the sauce, roll it up in the tortillas, cover it with the homemade enchilada sauce (recipe below), top it with sharp cheddar and bake for 25 minutes.

However tasty they might be, they do not photograph well. I tried, and it looked more like something that came up, instead of something about to go down.

Enchilada sauce
according to Mark Bittman, The Best Recipes of the World, page 325

5 garlic cloves
1 onion peeled and quartered
4 tomatoes cores and quartered
6 dried chiles stemmed and seeded (I used one canned chipotle pepper and 2 tbsp adobo)
2 teaspoons ground cumin (I used 1tbsp seeds)
1 quart chicken stock
kosher salt and pepper

Saute cumin seed, garlic and onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and chiles and cook until tomatoes have softened the chiles, another 5 min. Transfer mixter to a blender and blend until smooth, adding sufficient stock to make a loose but still creamy mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning.

guess you all liked that one...

potato pierogies (frozen-gasp!), seared kielbasa with red onion, sauteed spinach
roasted red pepper butter, rustic italian farm

graham crackers :: Daring Bakers January 2010

Oh, Daring Bakers, what has happened to my first love for you? I was so excited to experiment with new and complicated baking techniques that I had yet to try. But to be honest I've been a little disappointed with your most recent choices. Am I allowed to publicly admit this? Granted, I didn't get around to December's gingerbread house challenge, but I have made them before so it wasn't that novel.

January's challenged was Nanaimo bars. Foreign to me, but described by DB as

a classic Canadian dessert created in none other than Nanaimo, British Colombia. In case you were wondering, it’s pronounced Nah-nye-Moh. These bars have 3 layers: a base containing graham crackers, cocoa, coconut and nuts, a middle custard layer, and a topping of chocolate. They are extremely rich and available almost everywhere across the country.

This reminded me a little of the American kitchen sink or seven layer bar, based on top of a graham cracker crumb mixture and topped with every sweet thing in Grandma's cupboard. The first bite might fill a sweet tooth craving, but every subsequent taste makes your stomach feel increasingly sicker. The thought of making this bar cookie with vanilla pudding mix made me gag a little. Special Canadian tradition or not. Had I a little more time, I could have put my spin on it and experimented with homemade pudding, layered with dark chocolate ganache. But time is the most valuable thing of my life right now. Valuable and rare. I could have simply dipped them in chocolate. I might still do this. Yes, I will certainly do this, but not in time to photograph by the deadline.

I have never made graham crackers from scratch. Lucky for me this was the only mandatory part of January's challenge. They suggested a gluten-free version, but my pantry was not well stocked enough to pull it off last minute. So this time around I made a batch using 101 cookbooks recipe, with whole wheat flour. They were crispy and very flavorful. The brown sugar and vanilla really add a butterscotch overtone to this cookie cracker.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm also dieting here at the Last Bite. You would know this if you lived next door because along with my dieting comes a little bit more irritability and yelling. My kids probably would have loved the Nanaimo bars, so maybe I was just being selfish because I knew I wouldn't be able to eat them. A graham cracker, sure. But, a layered sugar rush. No way I'm counting those calories.

Here's hoping February's challenge is more of a culinary adventure to remember. Or maybe I should just go to culinary school.

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

the waffleizer

Food gimics. They're a dime a dozen. All over this new-fangled internet. But frankly, if I don't recognize the value of food gimics on the internet, it's fairly short sighted of me. Food blogs definitely fall in the category of food gimics.

The Waffleizer. A man who will try to waffle (is this a verb?) 30 different things in his waffle iron. He's currently up to #5 or 6. It's worth a quick look. I have a good friend who made the waffled indian aloo parantha, and her family adored them.

I don't expect you to copycat this and make a waffled-hamburger. If this site simply encourages you to dust off your waffle iron to make a traditional belgian, that's probably enough.

food of the African-American street vendor

If you live in Ann Arbor and haven't been to one of Chef Alex's tasting dinners at Zingerman's roadhouse, GET yourself to one. The experience is priceless- you learn the history of certain cuisine while simultaneously sampling it. I adore the thoughtful combination of interesting narrative and marvelous eats.

I really enjoyed learning about the history of these dishes, how they originally migrated to the United States, how they've endured through the years, and how they've evolved as our culture has changed. I consider myself a bit of a student type, so to get this extra learning along with the fabulous food is an extra special treat.

Here are a few shots from our wonderful view into the cuisine of African-American street vendors.

loved the deviled crab here

mmm... peanut soup

did you know that in the 1800's eating spicy food was considered vulgar?
i have a similar reaction to spicy food. it leaves me breathless.... in a good way
philadelphia pepper pot = braised pork and beef, not tripe.

It might not all photograph well with this silly cell phone, but trust me. It was delicious.

As always, the collective Zingerman's genius knows how to satisfy as many senses as possible. If you've read this blog before, you know how keen I am on pairing music and food, as others pair wine with food. Part of the goal of the talk given during the dinner by Adrian Miller was to relay the importance of the call and answer songs of the street vendor. These songs obviously drew attention to the food being sold, and were so closely tied to of development of early African-American jazz. In fact if you connect enough dots, these food calls were the root of jazz. Having studied the history of jazz in college, this wasn't news to me, but it was awesome to see it specifically paired with this food.

So glad you joined us, Kelly. Do you eat like this every night? ;)

Tyler Florence :: Stirring the Pot :: Deux

Lobster Cakes. Apparently my sister has rich tastes. Actually I know she's got rich tastes. She definitely needs a sugar daddy (applicants please send references to zegliano@gmail.com). When it was her turn to choose the next recipe of the Stirring the Pot Challenge, she chose lobster cakes. Not what I would pick on a teacher's salary, but I digress.

This was a very tasty recipe - the aioli was phenomenal. It had a real bite- salty, acidic, creamy. Just what I wanted to contrast the buttery, almost flat taste of the lobster.

But to be honest, I had a real problem trying to get the cakes to stick together. Tyler said in the instructions " The mixture should just hold together in a ball in the palm of your hand." Mine absolutely did not. Perhaps it had to do with the quality of the lobster. It was frozed when I purchased it. But for goodness sake, for only half of a pound it was $28 at Whole Paycheck Foods. Maybe my bread crumbs were too coarse - I did use my homemade breadcrumbs after all. And perhaps I slightly overestimated two slices worth. Or maybe the problem was with the recipe. It only calls for one egg white and 1/4 cup mayonnaise to bind one whole pound of lobster and 2 slices of white bread made into crumbs. That just doesn't seem like enough to me. They did stick together enough to form loose lumps in the frying pan. So I just went with it. I'd make this again for sure, but perhaps I would use only fresh, never frozen lobster.

I tweaked it a little by making toast points for the cakes to sit on - just by pan frying buttered bread. In addition after sauteing the lardons and removing them from the pan, I put one pint of cherry tomatoes into the pan to brown. Then I added these burst tomatoes to the frisee salad.

Tag. You're it.

Cecilia's Pastries of Ann Arbor

Just a quick note to let you know that you should definitely check out Cecilia's pastries of Ann Arbor. Her products, consistently french macaroons, sometimes other pastries, are for sale at New Chelsea Market out in Chelsea, MI. Cecilia used to sell at Eastern Market in Detroit, but lucky for us now sells at the Ann Arbor Farmer's market. Although this classically trained pastry chef sells to Eve, she does not have her own storefront. According to her website, she never had a desire to have her own shop because of her desire to have her customers consume her products within a few hours. Obviously this speaks to her passion for quality control. I can attest to this from only enjoying her classic french macaroons. This evening my family got the chance to sample five different flavors: vanilla, raspberry, chocolate, almond, & coffee. They were excellent, and quickly devoured. The flavors were clean; the textures of the macaroon were perfect. Crispy on the outside, soft in the middle; each macaroon filled with a complimentary cream center.

Cecilia plans to return to selling at the A2 farmers' market in March when the weather improves. This is something we all have to look forward to.

Raspberry Puree

Raspberry puree - It comes off as fancy, but like so many of my other tricks, it couldn't be simpler. It's a wonderful compliment to many things; as a coulis under a slice of flourless chocolate torte, drizzled over pound cake, or vanilla ice cream. I have put it in an ice cream machine before, and it magically turns into the best raspberry sorbet - smooth and tangy. To be honest my favorite way to eat it is straight out of the bowl, right off the spoon. In this morning's brunch, we layered it in a yogurt granola parfait. For a great granola recipe, check out this prior posting.

I love to use frozen raspberries in this recipe because it creates a frothy texture in the final product that wouldn't happen if you used fresh or thawed.



Raspberry Puree:
(this recipe can be doubled)

In the food processor combine one large bag (10-12 oz) of frozen raspberries with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, and 1/8 cup water. Pulse until the mixture has the appearance of a sorbet. If it gets very stiff, add a few more tablespoons of water and pulse again. At this point, taste the mixture - you might need to add more sugar. If needed, add two tablespoons at a time, pulsing again, and tasting after each addition. You can always add more, but you can't take it out. Each batch of raspberries will have a different degree of tartness - so there really isn't a static amount of sugar for this recipe.

Pour this mixture into a fine sieve over a bowl. With the back of a large soup spoon, push the mixture through. The sieve will catch the seeds and the puree will go through into the bowl. This is probably the most difficult and surely the most time consuming part of this recipe.

Kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator, this puree will last at least a week.

Carnivale

In case you have the opportunity to visit Chicago any time soon, I have to highly recommend eating dinner at Carnivale on West Fulton. It's a


fabulous spot, a little off the beaten track. It's aesthetically pleasing, and totally kid friendly, certainly loud enough to cover up any kid noise, like perhaps if your four year old falls backward off her chair...

But more importantly, the food is wonderful. We started with several apps, including the ham tasting - serrano, iberico, and a third. I wanted to take a pic of these but my little ones devoured these quicker than I could grab the phone. The meat empanadas were so full of flavor -- the pastry was flaky and perfectly encased the ground meat and olive mixture. They sat on a bed of pickled cabbage, but not a sickeningly sweet pickle - a briney acidic pickle. The whole dish was drizzled with a rich yet refreshing lime cream. The homemade guac was well balanced and went perfectly with the house fried tortilla chips.

We split three entrees:
Arrachera
(Grilled skirt steak, rice and beans, sweet red onion, chimichurri sauce)

Pollo Estilo Billy
(Spice rubbed chicken breast, papas fritas, citrus butter)

Costilla De Res
(Braised short rib, mash potatoes, corn and peanut salsa)

All were wonderful - well seasoned. Each had a distinct latin flavor profile. When we first sat down the waiter said the chef likes to call his menu Latin soul food. With this I can wholeheartedly agree. Food that left us satisfied and happy. If you're in the windy city, give it a try.

oh Giordano's

How we love your Chicago pizzas, spilling with cheese.

Clafouti :: a fancy name for a simple dessert

If you're like me, you still have cranberries floating around your fridge. By mid-November I'm so forlorn over the lack of a good strawberry, peach or plum. I'm already terribly sick of apples - we've eaten them straight for two months. So when November's fruits come along I'm ready. Cranberries, pomegrantes, clementines. I go crazy (crazy in relative terms - grocery store crazy). I start to hoard these little fruits like gems, buying two or three bags at a time.

But now, as January is flying by, I keep finding my stashes of cranberries around the kitchen. At this very moment, I have two Locovorious bags in the outside storage freezer, three home-frozen bags in the inside freezer, and one lonely bag, sorry looking, but still fresh in the refrigerator.

I'm looking for ways to use these puppies before they fossilize in my fridge. Sure, I could make cranberry orange bread - but one can only eat so much of that. Cranberry compote for Thanksgiving, of course. Cranberry curd. But, again? ... I guess I just bought too many cranberries.

This afternoon, I stumbled upon the clafouti, a dessert that sounds fancy, but is simple enough to throw together during dinner prep. It's one of those things I've tended to avoid. I was thrown off by the french name. Essentially a clafouti is a french pudding with two simple parts, seasonal fruit and batter. When baked, it puffs up initially because of the eggs, then settles down to the texture of a baked flan, smooth yet firm, every bite full of the tartness of the cranberries.

Tonight's recipe follows that method. First I boiled down cranberries with port and sugar. While that was happening, I made the batter in the blender, the way you would a crepe batter. This recipe from Gourmet calls for dried cranberries, but because I didn't have those I used the remainder of my fresh cranberries. Also in this version, the top is sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, mimicking the top of a brulee.

Typically you don't even have to cook the fruit. For example to make a peach clafouti in August, you'd just toss fresh ripe peaches with sugar and put them in the baking dish. If you're interested in different styles of the clafouti, check out Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child. She's got many different variations in that cooks' bible.

Cranberry Cinnamon Clafoutis

Gourmet, December 2007

• 1 cup dried cranberries (I substituted 2 cups fresh cranberries plus 1/2 cup brown sugar)
  
• 1 cup tawny Port
• 1/3 cup rye whiskey or brandy
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar mixed with
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in upper third. Butter a 9-inch shallow baking dish.

Briskly simmer cranberries, Port, whiskey, and cinnamon in a small heavy saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until almost syrupy, 12 to 15 minutes. Pour into baking dish.

Blend together eggs, milk, butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, and salt in a blender and pour over cranberries, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake until slightly puffed and set in center, about 35 minutes. Cool clafoutis briefly on a rack.

Can be served plain, or even better with ice cream or crème anglaise.

this is why i'm fat?

This site a friend showed me is a combination of funny, gross, yet somewhat tantalizing.

This is why I'm fat?

I don't think so.

Tyler Florence :: Stirring the Pot :: Take one

Since I've been on the subject of the Food Network, I thought I'd share a link. My sister and I have a blog called Big Heart, Little Heart - mostly a place for Facebook spillover so we don't bore the world with our sisterly nonsense.

This is relevant to you food readers because we recently started a Tyler Florence Food Challenge. I picked this new cookbook up when she was visiting for Christmas, and we sat staring, drooling and loving on Tyler. The last night she was here we made tortellini stuffed acorn squash and tempura fried green beans. Both were fabulous even though they weren't from the same continent.

We're going to challenge our way through this cookbook for fun. It might be sporadic, but I thought the most recent recipe Baked Lime Pudding(link to Tyler's blog and recipe) was fabulous.

Here's our take. Big Heart, Little Heart, eat your heart out!

la gougere

** my new favorite song **

open in a new window for background music

Part of the reason why I love food blogging is that I feel as if there's a joint effort to feed my family. I scour my brain (nothing but a few loose marbles), a few cookbooks (ideas sometimes good, sometimes bad), then a few reference sites (epicurious, etc - meh.). If I can't find anything, I go to the food blogroll. Now, I realize that I should just start there because I will most often find my inspiration among its lists. I invite you to begin to think of the foodblog world as a cookbook that never stops growing. And best of all it comes with reviews and revisions.

A few nights ago I found this on Tastespotting: a new-to-me blog, Thibeault's Table, and on it a recipe for "la gougere". I've made gougeres before, miniature ones that you can pop in your mouth. Heaven. But this was family sized, and I loved the look of it. I loved the feeling of it, very french countryside. Hunks of cheese in the fridge, leftover from the holiday parties. Now a way to use them, at least some part of them. A giant cheese puff. Alongside grilled sausages and a green salad topped with oven roasted tomatoes. Who wouldn't love that? Even my finicky four year old loved it - I did have to call it pizza. Nevermind a little deception.

Recipe for La Gougere
politely borrowed from Thibeault's Table
La Gougere
==========
1 cup water (or half milk/half water)
1/3 cup butte
r 1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh grated nutmeg
cayenne pepper
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 cup gruyere cheese (I used a combination of comte, aged gouda, and pecorino)
1 tsp milk
extra cheese for top

Bring the water/milk to a boil and add butter. When butter has melted, remove pan from heat and add flour, salt, cayenne, nutmeg, pepper and stir vigorously with a big wooden spoon. The mixture should come away from the sides of the pan and form a ball. Place mixture in the bowl of a large mixer and add one egg at a time beating well, After you add last egg continue to beat well. Mixture will be shiny. Add Dijon mustard and taste for seasoning. Adjust to your taste. Add coarsely grated cheese. Butter a large cookie sheet and flour. Draw a small circle in the flour (about 2 inches wide) and proceed to drop the dough by tablespoon full around the outside of this hole, making a ring, or a crown. Dough should be piled high. Brush lightly with milk and sprinkle the extra cheese over top. Bake the ring in the over for 45 minutes at 400°F. Do Not Open Door. After baking, open the door of the oven and leave the Gougere in the oven for 5 minutes. It should be firm to the touch and golden brown. Goes great with a glass of burgundy or with a white Alsatian wine.

So is there a down side to food blogging? Sure. Perhaps it's the time spent writing and even more spent surfing. Perhaps it's the jealousy that brews as I look at the evidence that other people have way more time to cook and photograph than I do. But is there an upside? Absolutely. Just ask my family.

The Rach

Apparently I'm not the only one weirdly obsessed with RayRay... (an article from today's Serious Eats)

After you've watched the clip, scroll down and read some of the comments. Someone called her a "talentless food muppet". And I was worried overdid it.

an email exchange with my dad

me to dad:
whenever i accidentally catch 5 minutes of rachel ray (most times
i'm aiming for something a little more high brow :) ), i can't help
but think how she's become a shell of her previous bubbly self.
don't get me wrong, this previous version annoyed the hell out
of me, but it was much more palatable then what exists now.
kind of like a cross between a raisin, martha stewart, and a
sopranos character who has a case of that wretched
diane rehm vocal cord disease.
 
it's terrible, especially because every few months that i tune in,
it seems more and more dire.

dad to me:
Receiving this, I feel as though I'm just another of the many
nonpaying subscribers to your blog. Couldn't you have
personalized it a bit--i.e.
Dear Reader??

Yes, I know what you mean--but that's what happens when
you pluck the cheerful deli-counter girl out from behind the
coldcut case and stick her in the corner office with cherry
paneling, expecting her to watch over the
"handlers" (i.e.. leaches) managing the media empire that
bears her name--all while cobbling together a 30-minute
meal.  Then there's the husband?!?!!

Not to worry!--as of 1/1/10 the food channel has lost its
berth on cable in NJ refusing to chop its fees.  Maybe
this fate will befall cable subscribers in MI.

seeing myself skinnier or at least healthier...

because who are we kidding? I'll never be a skinny person. I just don't have it in me. I do, however, need to tighten the belt a couple notches. Reign it in a little. I realize it's cliche to start a diet in January, and I do hate to be cliche. But sometimes, a girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do.

So I'm here just to quickly vent: I'm already dreading the diet that will begin tomorrow. I hope I can keep up the blogging even though I'll be weak with hunger.

Somehow my stomach knows that the clock has just struck midnight, and it let out a big obstinate growl.

christmas merriment

Christmas. It's one day past, 364 until the next.

There are plenty of presents and four giggling children. And of course, there is the Christ Child. My Savior. But when he created me he gave me tastebuds; possibly, the greatest Christmas present ever received. Around here, we don't dream of sugar plums. We dream of yorkshire pudding and prime ribs. We wait, we salivate for the Christmas food.

Breakfast

• williams-sonoma croissants
• chive scrambled eggs
• cherry bacon from Sparrow Market
• sliced fresh pineapple
• eggnog latte
• virgin Marys (with a declaration from Dad that "It's been a while since he's had a virgin ... Mary"- seriously?)
  

Snacks and Apps

You've had a late filling breakfast during break from present opening. You know you're going to have a rich dinner, but you need a little snack in the early afternoon to tide you over.

various crackers & breadsticks, prosciutto (can't live without it), brie, comte, beemster aged gouda, zingerman's pimento cheese, marinated mushrooms, green spanish olives

nantucket bay scallops seared with a balsamic reduction


cranberry prosecco

Dinner

• spinach salad with poached shrimp, pomegranate seeds, mild gorgonzola simply dressed with Joseph vinegar, my favorite french olive oil and maldon sea salt.

(apologies for the poor picture quality - I was exhausted)

• beef tenderloin from Sparrow roasted with a mustard herb paste :: topped with a mushroom cabernet cream
  
• truffled mashed potatoes (mashed in the food mill and combined with truffle butter and white truffle oil, with sour cream)
• roasted broccoli tossed in pistachio paste

Dessert

• christmas cookies
• cannolis, mail ordered from Mike's Pastry (an Anastasio tradition) - (I left my heart in Boston, after all)
• homemade kahlua with a dash of calder cream

8 minutes left

There are only eight minutes left to Christmas 2009! And I'm exhausted. I've got a house full of sleeping little ones and sleepy big ones.

We ate well today. But I'm too tired to write about it now. I'll post pictures and the menu tomorrow.

g'night.

sweet dreams of sugar plum fairies.

christmas cookie countdown::

Although I have yet to complete my Christmas shopping, I am ever closer to completing my Christmas baking.

Here's what we banged out today during today's non-snow day:

• sables, chocolate w/salt and pepper, & five spice (Dorie Greenspan, Baking from my home to Yours)
• ruglelah (Dorie Greenspan, Baking from my home to Yours)
• coconut macaroons, chocolate chip and orange chocolate (Martha Stewart, Cookies)
• triple ginger chews (Bon Appetit, Dec 2009)
• chocolate peppermint bark cookies (Bon Appetit, Dec 2009)
• lemon cranberry florentines (Bon Appetit, Dec 2009)
• salted langue-de-chat (Gourmet, Dec 2007)
• rumballs (classic childhood cookie)

And the crazy thing is ... there's more to come.

For sure there are gingerbread men, sugar cookie cut-outs, white chocolate cherry, peppermint meringues & toffee.

I'll keep you posted with pictures to come.

Happy Thanksgiving!

kentucky hot browns tomorrow!

paella magic

* click here for ambiance *
open in a new window

What an amazing creation a paella is. It is party food to the max, especially when the making of it is also a joint effort. There’s something for everyone; seafood, chicken, chorizo, rice. But it’s so much more than just a sum of the ingredients. When so many layers of flavor are combined, how could you not end up with a masterpiece. It is absolutely nothing less than art. Stunning colors, patterns, flavors, textures.

Having only participating in the making of it once, I do not feel qualified to leave you with an exact recipe. However, I’ll summarize the process and show you what we ended up on the evening of paella magic.

Here’s the key as I see it. Take every opportunity that you have to add flavor. Frankly, it’s not different than any other time you’re cooking something at home. It seems obvious, but if you think about it, sometimes you probably throw together a meal without wisely using the chances you have to add flavor. For example, if you are boiling pasta for a quick meal, salt the water heavily. It should be as salty as sea water. How much better even a simple pasta meal tastes if the water is salted.

If you do paella correctly, there are numerous flavor points; some that like to take front stage, like the chorizo, and others that don’t mind being background notes, like the calamari. Altogether it sings a Spanish love song.

Paella points:
1. Start with a sofrito, a sauté and reduction of onion, garlic, tomato, red peppers, and cured ham (Serrano). This time around Alex provided roasted tomatoes and peppers – flavor addition #1. Roasted vegetables add a depth of flavor that doesn’t exist with raw ones. You can make this in a separate pan to speed up the process. We used a cast iron – yet another opportunity to add flavor. (#2)
2. Darkly brown chicken in olive oil. Use a home grown free-range chicken (flavor addition #3).
3. Sauté chorizo (this Spanish sausage needs no flavor booster in my book) in the same pan once the chicken is fully browned. Browning this first extracts the pork fat and paprika into the pan making it absorbable for the other ingredients.
4. Lightly sauté 1 lb. shrimp (in their shells – flav add #4 – shells add flavor to the liquid for when the rice is cooking).
5. Sauté one lb. of fresh calamari bodies and tentacles. (from Monahans = #5)
6. Add the sofrito to the growing paella mix.
7. Pre-bloom saffron in warm water. (#6) Yes, saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, but for a paella pan that feeds 16, you’ll need quite a bit – maybe 4 tbsp in 2 cups of warm water. Getting the saffron soaked first lets it impart its flavor before it’s added to the party pan.
8. Soften seafood bullion in the water that you’ll need to cover the rice. (#7)
9. Taste the liquid here. You should have a splendid balance of spice from the saffron, bullion, chorizo; sweetness from the seafood; & heady depth from the sofrito. Tasting the liquid before you add the rice ensures that the rice will have good flavor. This is your opportunity to make any changes you’ll need.
10. Use paella rice, a close relative of Arborio, or risotto rice (#8). This starchy rice adds a texture that compliments the other ingredients.
11. Sprinkle with frozen peas, to add color and texture. (#9)
12. Add fresh mussels (#10) into the pan, lips up. Just watch for them to open, as if asking for a Spanish kiss.

finger friendly caesar

I had a need for a finger friendly salad a few nights ago, so I turned to my friend, the romaine lettuce. My kids call pieces of romaine the crunchy guys. They’ll eat the darker and more bitter stuff because I tend to serve it more often, but oh how they love the mild romaine. It’s like the iceberg lettuce of my childhood. We often have a bag of hearts in the fridge. They so easily become the base of a salad, a clean canvas ready to stand up to any combination of flavors. Stripped down to the crunchier core, they’ll last a week or so in the fridge in a bag.

Before I turn to my simple dressed up Caesar, I want to mention another romaine favorite in my house. Most recently I found a whole head that looked fresh at the market, so I took it home, and sliced it directly in half lengthwise through the core.

For the dressing, I sautéed one julienned red pepper, and one thinly sliced red onion in olive oil and generous kosher salt, until both were softened and gently browned on the edges. When they were done, I shut off the heat and splashed a bit of sherry vinegar into the pan, then scraped up the yummy bits from the bottom of the pan as the liquid was cooling down.

I simultaneously heated up a grill pan. I’ve got a Le Creuset that can go on top of my range, but you could also open up your panini machine flat (if it does that), and use it as well. Of course, in the summer, I’ve used my Weber propane, if I already have it on for something else. Using a pastry brush, gently coat the cut sides of the romaine head with olive oil. Grill the lettuce on the heated pan, cut side down, about only 2 minutes on high. Remove from the heat when there are grill marks on the lettuce. This is such a great trick. It looks impressive and different, but more importantly it gives the lettuce multiple taste dimensions. Parts of the romaine have wilted slightly and others will remain crisp.

Pour the warm dressing from the pan over the top of the grilled romaine heads.
This is wonderful enough just as is, but again I’ll urge you to think creatively about your pantry here. Add a handful of toasted pine nuts to the top, perhaps bacon, or shaved pecorino. I know what you should do; add all three if you have them around.

Back to the Caesar. When you buy a bag of romaine hearts, the darker softer (and more vitamin rich) leaves have been removed. You are left with the inner leaves that are quite sturdy. They can be used as small edible plates to hold a number of different salad toppings. This night I chose to go with the standard Caesar flavors.

Finger Caesar
1. Separate the leaves of a romaine heart and spread them into a single layer onto the plate you intend to serve the salad.
2. Sprinkle croutons (see recipe for puff pastry croutons below), shaved parmagiano, and crumbled bacon evenly onto each leaf.
3. Drizzle with your favorite Caesar dressing. (I’ll include my fav in a later post)

Puff pastry croutons
1. Defrost puff pastry overnight in the fridge or on the kitchen counter for two hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
3. Lightly dust the counter with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry dough until it is about twice the original size.
4. Generously sprinkle with finely grated parmagiano cheese. Use the rolling pin to gently push the cheese into the dough.
5. Use a pizza cutter to cut puff pastry dough into 1/2 inch squares. Unbaked squares will come off the counter with a pastry bench scraper or a thin spatula.
6. Bake squares about 5-7 minutes, but do not rely on a timer. Depending on how defrosted your puff pastry is, it could be faster or longer. Remove them from the oven when they are medium brown.
7. These are best enjoyed within a couple hours of baking. Use them for salads or soup, or just right off the pan.

the Grange kitchen

I've read varying reviews online about Grange, a new locavore restaurant in Ann Arbor, some good, some not so. Despite some of the less than positive comments, my husband and I went last night. We were looking for quick bar food before going to see the Berlin Philharmonic over at Hill Auditorium.

And I'm here to say, yum, yum, and more yum.

please excuse the iPhone poor picture quality







































*Spicy fried chickpeas (above)
crispy and delicious enough to be loved by a garbanzo bean hater.

*Potatoes, Fried in Duck fat, with roasted garlic mayo.
WOW. Not exactly figure friendly, but so amazingly good, I can still taste them 24 hours later.


So in addition to the above fried goodness, I ordered a fried egg sandwich was deliciously decadent. Only slightly less artery clogging than my husband's bar burger - which was also done very well - also topped with a farm fresh egg.

I think we'll have to return soon so that we can taste the less death-defying meals.

Vanilla :: Day 15

on the road to vanilla extract

Vanilla extract. Store bought is good enough. Penzey's is even better, but it's so darn expensive. Why not try making your own? I understand it sounds a little ridiculous at first. You might not want to take the time. You might be thinking you have better things to do, and sure, maybe you do. But at least when you're done, you have something to show for it. Let yourself adjust to the idea. Okay, was that enough time? Are you with me now?

This recipe is easy enough to make a gallon at a time. You might not want a whole gallon, but when I'm baking a lot, I sure do go through those 11$ bottles pretty fast. Plus, little homemade-labeled bottles would make such cute little Christmas gifts!

One note on purchasing vanilla beans: If this is truly cost effective, you sure can't buy vanilla beans from the supermarket for 9$ a pop. I bought mine in bulk from Vanilla Products USA.

Some recipes online call for adding sugar, but it's not really necessary if you're using it as extract instead of a vanilla liquor - which would be another great project.


Vanilla extract

• Sterilize pint sized Ball jars.
  
• Split fresh vanilla beans 3/4 of the length of the vanilla bean with a sharp knife.
  
• Place 4-6 beans split side down into jars.
• Fill each with vodka. No need for the super fancy stuff. I used Smirnoff, even though I'd typically drink Grey Goose or Belvidere.
• Seal jars. Place in a spot out of sunlight. Aggitate every few days, or whenever you think about it.
• Use after six or eight weeks.
  

Day one

Jewelry Party Tassies

Looking for a simple fall dessert recipe? Give this one a try.

Pecan Tassies
based on a recipe from myrecipes.com

Crust:
traditional southern tassie crust

1. Beat 1 cup butter with 1- 8 oz package of cream cheese
2. Slowly add 2 1/2 cups AP flour to the mixer. Beat at low speed until incorporated.
3. Split dough into 48 pieces. Place in mini muffin tins. Chill for one hour and up to one day.

Filling:
only one of many tassie fillings - you can get very creative here

1. Combine the following in a mixer: 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 tbsp butter, melted, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1/8 tsp salt. Whisk until homogenous.

Cinnamon Maple Glaze:

1. Whisk together a slurry of 2 cups confectioner's sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 real maple syrup (don't try to use Aunt Jemima). Add 2-3 tablespoons of water, depending on desired consistency. Whisk until there are no sugar clumps.
   

Assembly:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. Using a thumb or the back of a tablespoon, press an indentation into each dough ball, making a well large enough to hold the filling.
   
3. Divide 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans into the empty unbaked tassie shells.
4. Gently pour or spoon batter into shells, trying not to come up over the edge of the crust.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until filling is set.
6. Cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Let cool another 20 minutes.
7. Dust with confectioner's sugar.
   
8. Drizzle cinnamon-maple glaze over the top using a fork or whisk.

Jeff's food thoughts of the day

My brother-in-law is a soup aficionado. Loves to eat it and loves to cook it. Apparently in his earlier bachelor years before I knew him, he made a lot of soups and is now getting back into the swing of things. We've recently had a few chats about soup making and the other day he left a voicemail on my cell phone entitled "My food thoughts for the day".

1. "Starting a soup with a roux is a great way to add flavor and texture."

After the base of veggies, also known as a mirepoix or sofrito, have sauteed in the fat of your choice, add a couple tablespoons or so of flour. Let this cook until the flour has turned a light caramel colored brown. Then add your liquid and continue with the recipe.

Raw dry flour should not be added directly to a simmering soup. If you do this, you will probably get very unappetizing clumps of flour floating on top of the soup. The heat from the soup liquid makes the flour molecules bind to themselves instead of moving evenly throughout the soup. Starting with fat, as in a roux, allows the flour molecules to be surrounded by fat molecules, so that they are more easily incorporated into the liquid.

If you find yourself with a soup that's not as thick as you'd like, either make a roux on the side and add it to the simmering soup. Or make a slurry of equal parts flour and cold water in a separate bowl. Stir until homogenized and add this paste to the cooking soup.

2. "You have got to season things to make them taste good."

It's such a simple, yet essential concept. In order for food to taste good, the levels of salt and pepper need to be balanced properly. The only way to tell this is to taste, taste, and then taste again. Especially in a cooking preparation like a soup which has many layers and dimensions, it's important to season each level that you add. And then taste. Even if you are a strict recipe follower, salt and pepper amounts are subjective, and you shouldn't feel locked into someone else's taste preferences. There's nothing more disappointing to me then going to a nice restaurant that thinks so highly of themselves that there is no salt on the table; only to find yourself needing to amp up the flavor.

The need for salt in a human diet goes way beyond your food tasting good. Each cell in your body requires a proper balance of salts in order for healthy metabolic functioning. Our physiology is dependent on sodium.

I'm not advocating over-salting food just for the sake of your cells. But it's interesting to note the connection between our human need and craving for salt and the perception that food tastes "better" when it's properly seasoned. It's as if the salt is a catalyst unlocking the dimensional flavors of even the most bland foods.

off to the airport

Family is visiting, about to take off to the airport, and you want to make a quick but filling lunch as a comforting goodbye. Here's one to try - who doesn't love the old fashioned combo of grilled cheese and tomato soup. For the grilled cheese I used a high quality muenster and a locally made "italian" bread, grilled with plenty of farm fresh butter.

quick tomato soup

1. heat 2 tbsp e.v. olive oil in a sauce pan. saute one tbsp oregano and one tsp red pepper flakes until the spices are fragrant, about 30-60 seconds. (have also added finely diced onion and/or garlic at this point, but not today in the interest of time)
   
2. add one large can, 28 oz, of crushed san marzano tomatoes.
   
3. add one quart of chicken stock. bring to a boil.
4. after this has simmered for 10 minutes, puree with an immersion blender for a more homogenous texture.
5. add 1/2 cup grated parmesan reg.
6. (optional) for added thickness, reduce the heat and add 1/2 cup half and half. don't bring to a full boil once you've added the cream.
7. season with fresh ground pepper and salt to taste.

Especially when there are kids around, I love to cut the grilled cheese into strips, made perfect for dipping into the soup.

** be careful with the amount of red pepper flakes. add to taste. if you like things a little less spicy or if you are making this is for kids, don't add quite as much. a pinch would probably be sufficient.

rice bowls extraordinaire

We're finding ourselves tending toward the vegetarian lifestyle more and more these days. It's not that I emotionally object to the killing of animals for food. In fact, if they're raised sustainably, I think they probably live a better life than they would have otherwise. It's just that I'm often disappointed by the flavor and texture of meat, even if I spend the money on the organic stuff. When I have no idea for a meal and go to the fridge full of Tantre Farm veggies, my mind starts scheming about vegetarian.

In addition, with a family of six, I make a policy not to make six different meals. I firmly believe in not adapting the concept of an entire meal to one demanding child. Once you start that, it's all downhill. This is how generations of finicky adults are enabled. I do, however, sometimes make meals where different people can choose different toppings to the main dish. As much as I don't like to make special orders as a short order cook, I do realize that individuals have preferences for different flavor profiles.

Rice bowls are one of my favorite examples of this style of meal. I fill the rice cooker with good jasmine, basmati, or sushi rice, (have also used quinoa) and then proceed to prepare the toppings. Sometimes with a mexican bent; other times with an asian flare. This time around I was going for fall accents. Everyone gets the base of rice, then they can construct their own delicious bowl, with the intention that the adults get it all.

1. diced fresh pumpkin. tossed with spanish olive oil, kosher salt, and penzey's chili powder. roasted at 400 degrees for 20 minutes until brown.
   
2. fresh baby spinach.
3. cabot's white cheddar. grated.
4. fresh avacado. diced. tossed with lime juice to prevent browning.
5. goya black beans. rinsed.
6. baby leeks (could also use scallions or shallots). chopped, then sauteed in brown butter until crispy.
7. drizzled chili oil. (heat 1 cup e.v. olive oil to a boil. shut off heat. add 2 tbsp red pepper flakes. let sit. use for this recipe and save the remainder for the next rice bowl night.)
   

The key to this is utilizing and accenting complimentary textures, so that you get different mouthfuls every time. As we're all eating, and groaning, and mmmm-ing, I'm wondering why anyone would add a dry grilled chicken breast to this perfect balance of plant goodness.

One note: Despite how awesome this vegetarian meal was, I will NEVER NEVER give up bacon or prosciutto. EVER.

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

I've had a request for a cookie recipe that is apparently addictive. Especially if it catches just in the right sugar craving, clothes swapping mood. And they're still good a week later, if there are any left...

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

1. Cream two sticks butter with 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar.
   
2. Add 1 tbsp vanilla, 1 egg, and 3/4 cup pumpkin. Mix until incorporated.
3. Combine of dry ingredients: 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt.
4. Gradually add dry to wet ingredients.
5. Add 2 cups ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.
6. Bake on an ungreased for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees.
7. Cool on a rack until room temperature.
   
8. Using a fork, drizzle zig-zags of maple glaze (recipe below).
9. Eat them while they're dripping with wet glaze or for a more presentable cookie wait until the glaze dries.
   

Maple glaze

1. Combine 1/2 cup real maple syrup with two cups confectioner's sugar until a paste is formed.
   
2. Whisk in 1/4 cup water until the consistency of a thin glaze.