will bake for food

slugging it out

2011-03-31T18:49:00.005-05:00

A Visual Guide to Éclairs:

1. Make some pâte à choux and pipe some banana slugs.

About yay long should be just fine.

2. Pop those babies in the oven until they metamorphose into a mini-baguette bonanza.
3. Stuff them silly with pastry cream and shellac with ganache. Excellent.

Indian à la mode

2011-01-28T20:07:00.004-06:00

My Indian food suffers from a curse. Despite the best efforts of my extensive spice collection, all my dishes taste the same. Until today. Here's my latest (and most simple) renditions of aloo gobi and saag paneer served up with bulgar wheat. Tell me this isn't the shortest ingredient list you've ever seen. Maybe it would be more prudent to present these as in the style of aloo gobi and saag paneer - à la mode if you will. I'm only claiming deliciousness, not authenticity.

Aloo Gobi à la mode

1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced

1 cauliflower, cut into florets
1 potato, 1-in. cubes
1 24-oz. can diced tomatoes

1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp coriander
salt to taste

Heat some oil in a pan. Cook onions for a few minutes, then add garlic, chile, ginger, and spices. Cook for another minute. Add potatoes, cauliflower, and tomatoes. Cover and simmer until potatoes are done, ~20 minutes. Mash up with a fork if you want it a bit thicker. Salt to taste.

Saag Paneer à la mode

1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 bunch spinach, roughly chopped
1/4 c buttermilk
1/2 c yogurt
splash of heavy cream

paneer, cut into cubes (tofu works, but cheese is yummier)

Heat some oil in a pan. Cook the onions, garlic, and spices for a few minutes. Add the spinach, buttermilk, and yogurt. Simmer till spinach is wilted. Send some of it through a blender. Return to pan. Salt to taste. Add the paneer and heavy cream. Done-zo.

ghetto toffee

2011-01-21T10:37:00.005-06:00

Like salted caramel heaven, but wayyy easier. This stuff is dangerous, yo.

Ghetto Toffee
Adapted from NYT

36 saltine crackers
1 c sugar
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks!)
1 tsp vanilla
2 c semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 c pecans, toasted and chopped

Heat oven to 350 F.

Line a broiler pan or something with a lip with foil. Tile the crackers over the surface of the pan.

In a pot, melt butter and sugar over medium heat. Stir, stir, stir. When it starts to bubble, continue to cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Kill the heat, stir in the vanilla. Pour over the crackers. Bake 7 minutes.

Sprinkle chocolate evenly over top. Bake 2 minutes. Smooth out chocolate with a spatula. Sprinkle pecans over the top, gently pressing into the chocolate.

Pop in the fridge for a couple hours. Cut up, then become poster child for Type II diabetes.

lemon ginger scones

2011-01-11T11:23:00.001-06:00

Scones are low in my repertoire since they usually involve the dreaded cutting of butter into flour. My overly austere take on kitchen gadgets relegates the task to a pair of steak knives. I don’t know why this is oft suggested as an acceptable alternative, because ‘pea-sized’ chunks of butter are a pipe dream.

These scones, however, are dreamy, dreamy, dreamy. Light, buttery, bright. Three forms of ginger provide the elegant balance of spicy sweetness. And best of all, the butter incorporation is outsourced to ye olde stand mixer. Yee-haw.

My only foible was the dough was far stickier than the recipe indicated, requiring several rounds in the freezer to eek out the dough into scone form.

Lemon Ginger Scones
From Joanne Chang’s Flour cookbook
(The directions in the book are really well written, and far more detailed than the synopsis here. Check it out!)

2 3/4 c AP flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c sugar

1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 c crystallized ginger, finely chopped
2 tbs lemon zest

1 3/4 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
1/2 c cold buttermilk
1/2 c cold heavy cream
1 egg
2 tbs fresh grated ginger

Heat oven 350 F.

In a stand mixer, combine all dry ingredients, ground ginger, crystallized ginger, and lemon zest. Scatter butter in, and beat on low speed for ~30 seconds, just till the dough comes together.

In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, cream, egg, and grated ginger. On low speed, pour this mixture into the flour mixture. Beat till it just comes together, ~30 seconds.

Dump dough out onto a well-floured surface. If the dough is super sticky (mine was), pop into the fridge for a few minutes, then gently roll out dough into a 1-in. thick rectangle. Cut into scone shape of your preference. I made about 10 triangles. I had to freeze my dough again to ease transfer to a baking sheet.

Bake 40-45 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool a bit then enjoy!

ginger persimmon bread

2010-12-23T11:42:00.006-06:00

Last week I tried to ‘stump the bartender’ with some persimmons. While the bartender was only mildly puzzled, a number of onlookers mistook them for tomatoes. While not unfamiliar with this fruit, I’ve never been wild about them. My experience was limited to mom handing me a peeled one, declaring it “dessert” and that I “should eat it.” Go, Asian desserts! They’re mildly flavored, kinda pretty, and just not very exciting.

Then came along persimmon bread in all its warm, spicy, and inexplicably addicting goodness. It’s like pumpkin bread, in that you don’t taste the persimmon, exactly, but you can’t stop going back for one more, tiny slice. Go on and become a persimmon convert.

The recipe calls for the more astringent Hachiya persimmon, but I subbed with Fuyu to great effect.

Ginger Persimmon Bread
From Joy the Baker

1/2 c persimmon pulp
1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt

1 c sugar
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 heaping tsp finely grated fresh ginger

Heat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9x4x3-in. loaf pan.

In a large bowl whisk together flour and salt.

In a small bowl, whisk together persimmon pulp and baking soda. This will cause it to gel.

In another bowl whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, spices, and fresh ginger. Whisk in the persimmon mixture. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients, one third at a time, mixing as you go along.

Pour into loaf pan and bake 55 to 60 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the loaf comes out clean.

a lisa frank christmas

2010-12-23T11:16:00.004-06:00

This is essentially a recipe for homemade playdough dried out in the oven. I used kosher salt, which gave the dough a grainy texture, and would use table salt in the future. Lacking a more spirited palette of food dyes, I went with what I had. Welcome to my Lisa Frank Christmas, y’all!

Cookie Dough Ornaments
Adapted from Allrecipes

4 c AP flour
1 c salt
1 1/2c warm water

Combine flour and salt. Slowly pour in water while mixing. Stir until dough is evenly hydrated. Divide dough and mix in food coloring if your heart desires.

To make stripes, roll out ¼-in. thick rectangles of different colors. Stack them, cut the stack in half along its theoretical x-axis. Stack halves, then cut in half again along the y-axis. Stack the halves, then turn dough on its side so stripes are facing you. Roll out to ¼-in. thickness, and have at it! Don’t forget to poke holes for string.

Bake cookies at 325 F for 50-60 minutes, or until dry. Think hardtack.

chubby bunnies

2010-12-17T23:07:00.002-06:00

I guess this rules out the chubby bunny relay race... ALSO. Eating marshmallows with chocolate chips poked inside are a sad, sad substitute for s'mores. Not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything.

let's make a cake!

2010-12-12T15:13:00.004-06:00

If you think you know me at all, you know I don't do cakes. But sometimes I have this urge to spritz the kitchen with a fine mist of flour and wash lots of bowls. And that, folks, is how cake is made.

The second best part of making cake is eating the leftover lemon Mascarpone frosting over sourdough pancakes.

Cake sandwich, nom!

Cake is for victory! The best part of making cake is the birthday. Happy birthday, L!

feelin' piggy?

2010-11-21T01:11:00.002-06:00

pumpkin cream pie

2010-11-16T20:05:00.004-06:00

Think of your love for pumpkin pie. Now make it lighter. Smoother. Creamier. Put it in a spiced cookie crust. Top it with whipped cream. And there you go.

Pumpkin Cream Pie
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Gingersnap crust
1 1/4 c gingersnaps, ground (I used graham crackers spiked with spices to great effect)
2 tbs sugar
pinch of salt
4 tbs butter, melted

Pumpkin filling
2 c milk

1/2 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves, ground
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c pumpkin (1 15-oz. can)

Make the crust:
Heat oven to 350 F. Combine cookies, sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter. Press mixture into 9-in. pie pan. Bake 10-15 min, till crust is brown and toasty.

Make the filling:
Mix sugar, cornstarch, spices, and salt together in a bowl. Rub mixture with fingers to evenly distribute cornstarch. Very important for a smooth cream! Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla.

In a separate pot, bring milk to a boil. Temper yolk mixture with some of the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return mixture to the pot, whisking away over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Mixture will turn thick, like pudding.

Whisk in pumpkin, then strain through a fine mesh sieve for maximum smoothness. Pour filling into crust, cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate to set. Top with whipped cream when you're good and ready!

coconut almond shortbread

2010-11-12T22:55:00.005-06:00

Toasted coconut and almonds, a bain marie, and coarse sea salt can only indicate these are swank cookies. I hope you have a dishwasher, though these cookies make an excellent bribe.

The original recipe calls for cutting in the butter into the flour, a task I'm not keen on. Instead I did the classic creaming of the butter + sugar together, with pleasing results.

Coconut Almond Shortbread
Rather adapted from Pastry Studio

1 1/2 c flour
1/3 c whole almonds, toasted
1 c unsweetened coconut
1/2 c sugar
1/2 t salt
12 tbs unsalted butter ( 1.5 sticks!)
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

4 oz semisweet chocolate
coarse salt

Toss almonds, coconut, and sugar in a blender. Blend till finely ground. Careful not to make almond coconut butter, though that's probably not a bad idea either...

Combine blended ingredients, flour, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar till nice and fluffy. Mix in the yolks and vanilla. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients.

Divide the dough into 2 balls, flatten each into a rectangle, wrap in plastic, then chill in fridge.

Roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness, then cut into shape of your choice. Pop on the fridge for a few minutes if the dough is getting too sticky. Put cookies on a cookie sheet. Chill.

Heat oven to 325 F. Bake cookies 13-16 minutes, pending on size and shape of cookie, till they start looking a bit toasty. Cool completely.

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and coat cookies. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Nom!

the new digs

2010-11-09T18:29:00.009-06:00

It has recently been brought to my attention that a few of you actually follow this thing and enjoy perusing my inane culinary happenings. I'm happy to report my cooking frequency is up, and my photography skills are about as poor as ever! That said, maybe, possibly some of it will make its way here. In the mean time, this is what I've been up to.

First, I moved from here:

To the other side:

It's pretty swell. If you roll up one pant leg, you can go see this:

Then on the weekends you can live the American dream and be buried in corn.
Life is good. How are you?

the missing piece

2010-03-18T15:47:00.005-05:00

"The missing piece sat alone...

....it learned to hide from the hungry ones."

(props to Shel Silverstein)

Lemon Drizzle Cake
Adapted from Sweet Treats Just Like My Mother Used to Make by Linda Collister

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup cane sugar
2 large eggs
zest of 1 meyer lemon
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder

Crunchy Citrus Topping
4 tbs cane sugar
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Heat oven to 350°F.

Mix together flour and baking powder.

In separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together till creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add lemon zest. Fold the flour into the mixture until well combined.

Spoon the batter into buttered pan (I used a springform. 8x8-in pan good, too). Smooth it out. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, pending on pan size, until golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, make topping by combining sugar and juices together.

While the cake is still hot, prick the top all over with a fork. Pour topping over cake. Let it cool in the pan. Top will appear crystalized and get nice and crunchy.

ail-ment

2010-03-15T19:52:00.008-05:00

For all three of you that actually read this, I cracked the jaundiced garlic mystery via cross-application of knowledge. Whoa!

The UC Davis Postharvest websit e suggests I found a clove with the physiological disorder waxy breakdown. Affected cloves have yellow areas that darken over time, and as the disorder progresses they become translucent, sticky and waxy. Low oxygen and insufficient ventilation during handling and storage may also contribute.

No word if you would die if you ate it, but I doubt it. A la Bill Nye, "Now you knowww.."

pizza pied

2010-03-15T19:42:00.002-05:00

Hope you had a radiant Pi Day! Let's hear your best pi punchline...

garlicky

2010-03-10T22:05:00.003-06:00

Ever peel a garlic clove only to discover it's jaundiced and translucent? It also smells sweet like its roasted counterpart. wtf..?

gumbo z'herbes

2010-03-01T20:19:00.005-06:00

Showcasing weak photography of saucy things in fluorescent light once again, I bring you the story of Maillard and the Green Gumbo.

Shrimp, andouille, and okra, alack! Not in gumbo z'herbes, a meatless variety full of a veritable bonanza of dark leafies. Thumbing through some recipes, I was a bit dubious how delicious a sink full of cooked down greens and some roux could possibly be. It seemed too simple to be, well, anything but green and bitter. Roux is pretty sweet.

By applying heat to flour in oil and an obsessive amount of stirring, amino acids and sugars participate in Maillard reactions, turning the mixture the color of peanut butter, and imbuing it with a complex, richly nutty flavor. This is the basis for the depth and savoriness of the dish, incredible enough that the seafood and sausage won't be missed.

Recipe authenticity is dubious at best, but it's good enough for Texas expat tastebuds in the land of happy cows.

Gumbo Z'herbes
Pretty much from Regan Burns

5 bunches greens - ie. collard greens, chicory, dandelion greens, mustard greens, spinach, parsley, beet tops, carrot tops, or turnip tops
3 cups water

2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium yellow onion, medium dice
1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts thinly sliced, green tops reserved for garnish
1 large green bell pepper, medium dice
4 stalks celery, medium dice
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups water or low-sodium vegetable broth
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbs Cajun seasoning (if you don't have it, try making it!)
2 whole cloves
3 allspice berries
2 dried bay leaves
1 tablespoon minced marjoram leaves
Louisiana hot sauce (ie. Tobasco, Crystal's..)

Cook the greens:
Fill sink with cold water and submerge all greens. Leave undisturbed for about 5 minutes, then lift from the water and place in a colander. This lets the silt sink to the bottom, leaving your leafies clean. Repeat if needed.

Chop or tear greens into large pieces. Discard tough ribs of veggies. Place in a big pot. Add 3 cups water and place over medium-high heat. When it begins to simmer, cover with lid and reduce heat to medium low. Cook greens, occasionally turning with a pair of tongs, until they are very soft and wilted, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Strain greens, being sure to reserve the (beautiful dark green!) cooking liquid, approx. 3 1/2 cups. Allow greens to cool slightly, then chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Take about 1/2 of the chopped greens and purée in blender.

Make yo' gumbo:
In a large, heavy pot, heat oil over medium heat. When it is hot, slowly sprinkle in flour, whisking to prevent any lumps from forming. Reduce heat to medium low and cook roux, stirring constantly until it is peanut butter colored and emits a toasted aroma, about 10 to 20 minutes.

Stir in onion, scallions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Pot will then smell oddly like kung pao chicken. Season with salt pepper. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are
softened, about 5 minutes.

Add reserved green cooking liquid along with vegetable broth or water. Increase heat to medium high and bring mixture to a simmer. Stir in salt, Cajun seasoning, cloves, allspice, and bay leaves and simmer, stirring often, until gumbo base is soupy and thick and vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Stir in chopped and puréed greens and marjoram; cover the pot and simmer 10 minutes. Add hot sauce to taste and serve over cooked white rice, garnished with thinly sliced scallion tops.

badger badger...

2010-02-22T20:52:00.005-06:00

MUSHROOM! Chanterelles drying in the living room after a successful mushroom hunt. Haven't been poisoned yet..!

RAWR

2010-02-16T22:10:00.006-06:00

Happy year of the tiger! In the spirit of Chinese New Year, I tried my hand at making some dim sum.

First there were the turnip cakes (usually seen in square form at restaurants), which are actually made from shredded daikon - a mild radish. Why the root vegetable misnomenclature, I don't know.

Then. THEN. Let there be egg custard tarts! Mmmm... flaky crust, creamy filling... Maybe a touch sweet for my taste, but that didn't stop me from eating three. I got my recipe straight from pastry studio
Here's what you do:

1. Make some pie dough. Roll out, cut into 3 /2-in. circles, and pat them into a muffin tin. There's so much butter, no need to grease.

2. Bake the little cups at 375 for about 15 minutes.

3. Make your magical pastry cream. I added 1/2 tsp almond extract instead of rum in the recipe. See here for pastry cream success.

4. Spoon cream into little cups, and bake for 15 minutes more.

5. Lick spatula and pot clean while waiting.

6. Devour tarts while hot.

7. High-5 self.

hot tomato! blue tomato!

2010-02-09T21:24:00.003-06:00

This recipe has made the blog rounds already, but thought I'd throw it up here anyway. In other news, I do not know how to take photos of tomato soup (under CFL lighting at night..) that do not look like ruminated remains. But not just any soup. No! Creamy tomato soup spiked with cock sauce and blue cheese!

The cheese brings the umami, but leaves behind the blue funk. And well, this soup is just another example of cock sauce making things more delicious.

This wants you to pull out your fancy blue cheese and canned tomatoes. I went to the cheese counter, gave all the blue ones a squeeze, and settled on a soft squishy gorgonzola dolce that looked like it would melt. The fancy tomato cans were in questionable condition, so I used some generic ones instead. I also didn't bother straining the soup. You, however, should follow the recipe as written, as I'm sure it will result in a soup even more luscious than mine.

Finally, do not be a noob like me and put the cheese rind in the soup.

Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup
From Michael Symon's Live To Cook

2 tbs olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
Kosher salt
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes, with their juice
1 1/2 c chicken stock
3/4 c heavy cream
2 tbs Sriracha sauce
1 tbs fresh oregano leaves
1/2 cup Roth Kase Buttermilk Blue cheese

Heat oil in a 4-quart pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and pinch of salt and sweat the onions for 2 minutes.

Add garlic and sweat for 2 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, their juice, and the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the cream, Sriracha sauce, and oregano and simmer for 45 minutes.

Pour soup into a blender, add the blue cheese, and blend until smooth, working in batches if needed. Strain the soup through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean pot, taste, adjust the seasoning if necessary, and reheat to serve.

candied orange peel

2010-01-14T22:25:00.007-06:00

Candied citrus peel is so classy, and apparently easy enough that a pyro-saccharo-phobe like myself can't botch it. I've been enjoying it chopped up in my granola, and think it'd be really sexy in some muffins or scones. Annnd I don't think you can feel much more industrious and circle of lifey than using the rind of the fresh squeezed orange juice you just made.
How to do it:

1. Cut 3 oranges in half. Juice.
2. Use a spoon to scoop out the leftover orangey membrane, so you just have the rind. Easier than it sounds.
3. Cut into 1/4-in strips
4. Heat 3c sugar + 1c water to 230F (important! use a thermometer)
5. Stir in strips and cook till rind looks translucent, and all candy-like. Approx 30-60 min.
6. Lay strips out on cooling racks on top of cookie sheets, not touching, until they dry out. Overnight seems to work.

romanticizing wine

2010-01-03T22:22:00.008-06:00

Sun-kissed hills of grapes of ancient lineage. A purple-footed Frenchman in the back stomping grapes. Orange safety vests. Oh, yes.

I got a little food scientist insider tour of a Beringer Winery, one of the mondo companies that turns out vino from all over the world under many different labels. Given my poor understanding of winemaking, the finer details of this tour didn't exactly stick in my memory, but here's an interesting glimpse beyond the tasting room with what I vaguely recall to be going on.
Piping in the juicy juice.
Ammonia is pretty sweet at getting really cold then absorbing heat from warmer things (ie. pipe of wine) to keep things nice and chilly.Rows of fermentation vats. All outside, interestingly enough.
Pumping some of the nicer wine into casks for aging. Cheers!

double your pleasure

2010-01-03T22:11:00.004-06:00

Now that I think of it, the steam in Catalina Coffee's logo kinda resembles... gametes. Mmm...

Fins

2009-12-21T23:48:00.002-06:00

Plans to nosh at Tacos A Go-Go were utterly and deliciously hijacked, and I ended up at Fins instead. Occupying the space Rickshaw's used to be, Fins is a fusion sushi seafood restaurant.

Before I go on, I'll give the full disclaimer that I was with two friends acquainted with the chefs. Now here's the good stuff.

First, the salt and pepper shrimp covered in sauteed chives was killer. Perfectly cooked, and addictively seasoned. Likewise, the calamari was light and crisp, and cornmeal battered fried oysters sizeable and crunchy.

The sushi rolls lacked glitz, but were wonderfully fresh and well balanced in size and flavor. Ditto to the sashimi. Traditional desserts like hot apple cobbler and sour cream chocolate cake seemed like unlikely candidates at a sushi place, but were warm, gooey, and just sweet enough.

Every dish was very thoughtfully prepared, and it was apparent this new restaurant is working towards consistency and getting the balance of flavors and textures just right. Despite my perhaps unfair dining experience, I think it's a safe bet that Fins is worthy of giving it a chance. Sample the non-sushi offerings and let me know how it goes.

Houston winter FTW

2009-12-19T22:03:00.009-06:00

You know what's great about winter in Houston?
The farmer's markets are unthwarted by silly things like "the cold" or "ice", enabling you to nab the last chocolate croissant from your favorite bread people. (Chocolate croissant to the person who tells me how to rotate this photo.)

I get to go to Central Market! Though, I suppose you can actually shop there year round...

You can roll down grassy hills (perhaps the only hill in Houston?) under clear blue skies.

And best of all, you can enjoy Hank's ice cream in 50 degree weather. These guys do it right with southern flair. Butter pecan, banana pudding, sweet potato pie, and you can even meet Hank. How did I live down the street from this place for years without knowing?? Do yourself a huge service and go out of your way to nab a scoop or two.

peppermint squareos

2009-12-12T11:34:00.006-06:00

DUDE. Homemade oreos. Like whoa. DO IT. These are the best cookies I've made in a really long time. You'll be sad if you don't make them.

And you know what's a lot easier than cutting circles of dough? Cutting squares.
Peppermint Squareos
Adapted from The Essence of Chocolate and Joy the Baker

For the Cookies:
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup plus 3 tbs all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (or baking powder)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant coffee
15 tbs unsalted butter (2 sticks - 1 tbs!), cut in 1/2-in cubes, at room temperature (this is important)

For the Filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped (I did half white and dark)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp pure peppermint extract (taste your dough as you add)

For the cookies:

Heat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and instant coffee and mix. Slowly add the butter a few pieces at a time, stirring as you go. The mixture will have a sandy texture at first and then will begin to form pebble-size pieces. As soon as the dough starts to come together, stop the mixer. It will look wet, but loose. Squeeze a handful. It should hold together.

Roll the dough straight from the mixer. The dough becomes hard to work with if chilled.

Transfer the dough to a board and shape the dough into a block about 5 by 7 inches. Cut the block into two pieces.
One at a time, roll each block of dough between two pieces of lightly floured parchment paper until about 1/8-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter or a knife to cut out your shapes of choice.

Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. These cookies don't spread.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, pending on the size of your cutouts. Remove from the oven and cool on the sheets for 2 to 5 minutes. They'll be too soft to move straight from the oven. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

For the Filling:
In a small saucepan, bring the cream to boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate and peppermint extract. Make sure all the chocolate is covered by the cream. Let stand for 1 minute (this is important), then whisk the white chocolate until completely melted.

Transfer the filling to a small bowl and let stand until room temperature. You’ll need the filling thicker to assemble the cookies, so cover the filling and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or an hour, until a thick consistency is reached. If the filling hardens too much, it can be rewarmed in the microwave for a few seconds.

To Assemble the Cookies:
Place half of the cookies upside down on a work surface. Whip the filling lightly with a whisk to loosen it. It will lighten in color and fluff up. Don’t overwhip or the filling may begin to separate.

Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip. Or just spread it on with a knife. Pipe or spread filling in the center of each upside down cookie. Gently, using your fingers, press the cookies together until the filling comes just to the edges. I had plenty of leftover filling for bowl licking enjoyment.

bluebottle coffee

2009-11-17T23:04:00.004-06:00

I know this is an obvious fact for the hipster coffee-drinking residents of San Francisco, but I just wanted to confirm that Bluebottle Coffee is really, really good.

They do the whole organic microroaster thing and make cool designs in your foam, and you know what? It really is better. Mmmmm...

chocolate chip banana bread

2009-11-17T00:23:00.004-06:00

I was never a fan of bananas until my discovery of banana streusel muffins. Banana bread was a complete revelation. How could some dry, sandy "fruit" turn into something so moist and decadent?

Now banana bread is my backup recipe when I need something fast and delicious. Despite my infrequent blogging habits, I've written about 3 variations already. It's a bread! It's a cake! It's a muffin! Check it out:

Your Mom's Banana Bread
Candied Walnut Banana Cake
Blackberry Banana Bread

Not convinced? Maybe you need chocolate to make it better. Throw in some chocolate. Maybe some pumpkin seeds. Bake for awhile. Now you have chocolate chip banana bread. Yeahhh.

Monarch

2009-11-06T03:09:00.006-06:00

Housed in the funky, kitschy boutique Hotel ZaZa in the Houston museum district, Monarch seemed liked a promising choice for some bachelorette/girls' night dining.

When the food was on, it was addictively fantastic. Let's go over the highlight reel:

Deconstructed ahi roll: A tower of Ahi tuna tartare, crab ceviche, avocado, sushi rice, and peppery dressing. What's not to love? Perfectly balanced proportions and flavors. Easily my favorite dish of the night.

Scallops with fancy garlic mashed potatoes, corn pudding, and red pepper beurre blanc. Would all my food taste this luscious and velvety if I cooked with pools of butter? You bet there was nothing left on the plate.
We also tried the salmon with honey chipotle polenta which was just oddly sweet like plums, and an awful creme brulee that was served cold and more akin to curdled cheesecake. HOWEVER, a complaint yielded possibly the best chocolate cake I've ever had.

Decadent chocolate cake tends to result in this super-rich indistinguishable chocolate-in-chocolate-on-chocolate-over chocolate monstrosity. But not this one - fudgy cake layered with smooth, creamy, oh so lickable dark chocolate fondant. And that's it. We found ourselves inadvertently grazing on fork after forkful even though we were delightfully stuffed.

Overall, what Monarch gets right, it really rocks. See and be seen with the ahi, scallops, and chocolate cake. The cocktails were nice, too.

red velvet black and white cookies

2009-11-06T02:16:00.006-06:00

Black and white cookies? Plus red velvet cake? In cookie form? You know it's gotta be your birthday. If you drew a Punnett square for these two fine pastries, this would be a prime example of co-dominance. This recipe makes exactly what you think it does - if you are a purveyor of red velvet or black & white cookies, you need to get on this. RIGHT NOW.

After a bowl of botched frosting and red food dye everywhere, I mailed off a stack of these to my old roommate. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope I put enough bubble wrap in the box.
Here is approximately what I did, adapted from Joy the Baker and good ol' Rachel Ray.

Red Velvet Black & White Cookies
Makes 10 big ol' cookies

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 T cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda (I used baking powder and it was fine)

5 T butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 T red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

Vanilla Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 T milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp butter, melted

Chocolate Glaze
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
3 T butter
1 T honey

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In separate bowl, mix butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, food coloring and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk until smooth.

Place 1/4-cup scoops of batter 2 inches apart of the prepared baking sheet, spread the batter out with a butter knife, about 1/4-inch thick. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 12 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies sit for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.

Make the glazes:
Whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 to 2 T milk. Add milk slowly till glaze reaches smooth, easily spreadable consistency of your liking.

For the chocolate, melt butter and chocolate in a microwave for about 1 minute. Add honey and stir until smooth. If it's a bit too liquidy and you're ready to get decorating, pop it in the fridge for a little while.

Once the cookies are cooled, spread half of the cookie with vanilla glaze and the other half with chocolate glaze. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to set.

sambussas with peach chutney

2009-10-22T23:15:00.005-05:00

Way back in August, at the end of watermelon season, I decided I needed a birthday biking supper safari watermelon research victory dance party. If you're gonna party, go big. Let's focus on the supper safari bit: with a handful of loving friends, you roam the town, going from house to house for a different course. If you're really lucky and have the best cohorts you could ask for, it will end with a dessert course chocolate fountain dance party.

But I digress! For the appetizer stop I made a variant of sambussas, Ethiopian lentil turnovers usually deep fried. The lentils are cooked with fragrant spices, and offer a texture and flavor you'd almost swear was meat. I know the photo is unflattering, but it's hard to photo-document when you're busy stuffing your face.

Deep frying sends my epidermis into hiding, so I wrapped the filling in sheets of phyllo and baked them instead, giving the sambussas an incredibly light, crunchy texture. I served these up with an Indian inspired peach chutney, aka mashing peaches in a pot, that complimented the heat and savoriness of the filling far better than I could have anticipated. It's a light and hardy, sweet and savory experience all in one. Bake them ahead of time, then crisp up in the oven for a few minutes before dishing.

The recipe has a couple steps, but be not afraid! Deliciousness can be yours!

Supper Safari Sambussas

Inspired by Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant and dinner at Queen Sheba

1 cup brown lentils

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp ground coriander

salt and pepper

1 package phyllo dough (whole wheat, even!)

olive oil

4 yellow peaches

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Juice and zest of one lime

½ c dried cranberries

Make the filling:

Rinse lentils and bring to a boil in 3 cups water. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 45 minutes, or when lentils are tender. Meanwhile, saute onions, garlic, and bell pepper in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add the spices and cook for 3 minutes more. Add the cooked lentils and season with salt and pepper. The longer this sits, the better it tastes!

Make the sambussas:

Take one sheet phyllo dough and brush with olive oil. Place 2^nd sheet of phyllo on top and brush with oil. Cut into squares big enough to make a turnover. Honestly, I couldn’t figure out an efficient shape and wrapping method, and just went free style here with all sorts of odd shapes. I think it makes them look rustic.

Fill with some filling and attempt to wrap. Transfer to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and brush with oil. Repeat a whole bunch, then pop in the oven at 350F till they’re toasty and pale brown, maybe 20-30 minutes. The insides are cooked, so there’s a big window of doneness!

Make the chutney:

While the goods are in the oven, peel and chop up some peaches, then throw them in a pot. Over medium heat, mash them up with a potato masher or some forks, add the ginger, lime juice and zest, and cranberries. Stir around till it reaches the consistency of your choosing. When it’s safely cool, serve it all up!

my anti-watermelon

2009-10-07T02:00:00.005-05:00

This is your free time:This is your free time on watermelons:
Gastronomic adventures of the microbiological, safari dance party, Tuscan, and Houston kind coming soon.

buttermilk biscuits

2009-08-15T15:32:00.005-05:00

Scene 1
I make people eat watermelon in the name of science as part of my research. To ensure my trained watermelon eating machines keep coming back for more, we like to create a little positive feedback by giving them treats at the end of every session.

If you may have noticed, my baking skills excel in the sweet area. But who wants to eat a cookie (or anything, really), after I just stuffed you full of 10 watermelon slices? My usual dulcet approach was failing.
Exuent.

Scene 2
Oh, snap! I forgot I have to run a sensory panel tomorrow! What can I feed the buggers? Also, I haven't been grocery shopping in 2 weeks.

Scene 3
When you have 'nothing' left in your house, you probably still have milk, vinegar, flour, and butter (just barely).

Enter biscuits.

Nothing you have not, but buttermilk biscuits you do!

Queue trumpet fanfare. Disaster averted.
---

And so the drop biscuits were born, meaning no rolling out and cutting dough, and exactly one bowl got dirty. Mine came out a touch more crumbly than I'd prefer, but I should have known better and added a touch more milk when I thought the dough looked dry. Either way, still pretty good heated up with honey!

Buttermilk Biscuits
From Bon Appetit | Oct 2002

3 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven 425°F.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl to blend. Using fingertips, rub 3/4 cup chilled butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir until evenly moistened.

Using 1/4 cup dough for each biscuit, drop biscuits onto baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until biscuits are golden brown on top, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm.

cinna-brunch!

2009-07-09T17:37:00.005-05:00

After puttering around in many an airport with the smell of Cinnabon permeating the air, it was time to answer the craving with a Sunday cinna-brunch.

I've had this long time fear of making cinnamon rolls. Something about yeast and me with a rolling pin. I've had a recipe bookmarked for years, but never went through with it. Fortunately the baker scientist in me finally won over and I made TWO versions of cinnamon rolls for direct comparison. If you're gonna cinna-brunch, you might as well go big.

And what did I find out? Cinnamon rolls are fun and kinda easy to make. And if you make two batches you have 24 rolls. Which means you just made up to 24 friends.

I went with a straightforward recipe with a buttery dough filled with cinnamon and brown sugar, and a fancier one from Saveur that involved folding cream cheese into the dough (a la croissant style), maple syrup, and cloves.

The verdict? Anything smeared with cream cheese frosting straight out of the oven is kinda amazing. Both were deliciously soft, fluffy, and all-over-your-face sticky. The Saveur one was considerably more work, but not actually better - the fancy touches didn't really stand out. Cinnamon rolls aren't a subtle food, after all.

Get the recipe from Smarticus, charming vitriol and all!

Also, check out imafoodblog.com or YeastSpotting for other Saccharomyces inspirations.

research

2009-06-14T01:15:00.005-05:00

Researcher translation #23: I'm going to a conference = I'm renting a car and going beach hopping on the research slush fund. This is how I learned about my new found love of chocolate covered frozen bananas.

They dip frozen bananas in melted chocolate on the spot, then roll it in your choice of toppings before the chocolate hardens. I opted for everything. Why hold back?

Chocolate-covered frozen banana rolled in chocolate and rainbow sprinkles, peanuts, walnuts, almonds, Oreos, and Heath bar. Hooray, summer!

spritely ginger spice cookies

2009-06-13T19:53:00.010-05:00

"Only once the cookie jar is full can the brain be filled." - fortune cookie

Okay, I made that up, but it's true. I needed these cookies to study, paper write, and generally function. True story. When your pantry is plundered after a week of deadlines, these ginger spice cookies are the open arms you turn to.

The cookies are sneakily seductive, showcasing a melange of fresh ginger, molasses, and cardamom. A little bit of cocoa powder melds the spices together. Fattened up with oil and yogurt, they bake up light and soft.

For a fancy schmancy touch they are topped with coarse salt and rolled in rapadura, an unrefined, ungranulated cane sugar. It looks a bit like sand, has a slightly fruity smell, and tastes just barely sweet, practically unrecognizable as anything we usually perceive as sugar. The most fascinating part is that it leaves an almost effervescent feeling in your mouth. The sensation of lightness complemented the softness of the cookie really well. Sucanat is a very close, slightly more common rapadura analog. If you see some, I definitely suggest trying it!

Spritely Ginger Spice Cookies

Rather adapted from Prudence Pennywise

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup yogurt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 egg

2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

2 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cardamom

½ tsp cloves

¼ tsp salt

rapadura

coarse salt

Preheat oven 350 F.

Beat together oil, yogurt, sugar, molasses, and ginger. Next, beat in the egg. Hooray emulsifications!

In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. Slowly add this flour mixture into the oil mixture and stir. The dough will be pretty sticky, so chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Scoop out ping pong sized dough balls, roll them in rapadura, and top with a few grains of coarse salt. Bake approximately 12 minutes - shorter if you want a softer cookie, longer if you like it crunchy.

blackberry banana bread

2009-05-26T13:35:00.005-05:00

Last week I took a glorious four day weekend to Seattle, but in order to get there I baked this bread up to swap for airport transportation services. This bread is gorgeous with the red and purple of the berries and green flecks of pumpkin seeds. The blackberries give a nice tart bite to the richness of banana bread, and couldn't be easier to mix up.

Blackberry Banana Bread

8 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract

1½ cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg

1 cup mashed, very ripe bananas (2-3 bananas)
½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1 cup blackberries

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a loaf pan.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well. Mix in yogurt.

In another bowl, mix dry ingredients together and add to butter mixture. Blend well. Add bananas. Mix, mix, mix. Stir in the pumpkin seeds. Gently fold in blackberries and pour into the pan.

Bake 45-60 minutes, until the middle springs back when you push down on it. If it's getting too brown and it's not done, cover the loaf with foil and keep baking.

Woot!

basic brownies

2009-05-04T23:20:00.006-05:00

I know brownie baking is very much a practice of personal preference, and there's no pleasing everyone. I'm a corner piece gal myself. We made a double batch for the Food Championship aftermath lunch, and they were just the right amount of fudgy and cakey to please most palates. I suppose the palate also adapts in the face of free brownies, but I think they were pretty solid by any standard.

This recipe uses one of my favorite baking with chocolate tricks by incorporating coffee into the batter. Nevermind that I've never worked a coffeemaker before and had to ask one of my cohorts to do it for me. Grad school is about discovery, right? The astringency of the brew balances the richness of the chocolate and adds a nice warm undertone of something good you can't quite put your finger on. The use of brown sugar instead of the standard white is a nice touch. This recipe happens to be vegan, too.

The brownies are fairly sticky, so I highly recommend lining your pan with parchment paper, and maybe spraying it, too.

Basic Brownies
Adapted from a source I can no longer find

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 1/2 c brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

3/4 c coffee
3/4 c soy milk (I use unsweetened)
1/2 c canola oil

3/4 c semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven 350 F.

Mix all the dry ingredients (brown sugar included) together. Combine the coffee, soy milk, and canola oil. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients while stirring. Throw in the chocolate chips or any other brownie flair of your choice.

Pour into parchment lined 9x9-in pan. Bake for about 25 minutes, or to the fudginess of your liking.

rice krispy treats

2009-05-03T02:37:00.002-05:00

Rice Krispy treats are possibly one of the few retro childhood pleasures that taste just as good when you're older. I will admit I still drink Nesquik.

Follow the directions straight off the box, and you'll have puffed sticky goodness in 10 minutes flat. For a slightly gooier, sticky treat, throw in an extra handful of marshmallows. A handy (ha ha!) trick I learned from my baking maven classmate is to wet your hands before patting down the melted marshmallowy cereal mix in a pan. It's allll sugar, so wet hands won't stick.

P.S. 10 oz marshmallows = 4 cups

watermelon casualty #1

2009-04-05T20:45:00.002-05:00

In attempt to start research strong, I went out today in search of watermelon. Upon returning to lab to drop off the cucurbitaceae cornucopia, this guy rolled out of the trunk and hit the pavement. Bad sign of things to come? This could be a lonnnng summer...

At least the fault line looks pretty cool. "Failure analysis of seedless watermelon varieties" sounds like a much more interesting thesis...

bran-tastic!

2009-04-03T23:21:00.004-05:00

I'm a social pastry eater like some people are "social drinkers." Yeah, right. I thought I might diverge the pastry habit with warm bran muffins in the morning. Instead, I've just created a sweet, sweet rationalization mechanism for more pastry. In fact, I don't know what could justify an afternoon peach cobbler better than wholesome fiber and guilt-free baking.

This recipe from Farmgirl Fare seriously puts the bran in bran muffin by mixing up lots of wheat bran, oat bran, yogurt, and honey, for a light, moist breakfast affair.

Remarkably, I followed the recipe as written, and threw in a handful of currants with yummy results. Consume smeared with peanut butter or honey. If bran isn't your number one breakfast choice, consider the banana or berry variations. This batter makes a wonderful base for lots of fun variations and might change your mind about the less decadent cousin of the streusel topped blueberry muffin.

Bake up a batch of these and feel bran-tastic about eating that brownie!

the lake house burgers

2009-03-30T23:29:00.006-05:00

"The Lake House" is quite the euphemism for " the burger place beside little pond dug out in the middle of downtown Houston," but I digress. Located in Discovery Green, the new corporate logo-ed green space (kudos for trying), the interior channels a more austere Cafe Express. You'd expect some typical stylized cafe sandwiches and menu board featuring no less than 5 French words, but then you'd be wrong.

The Lake House provides some damn tasty burgers. And sweet potato fries. And basil lemonade. And did I say burgers? Medium rare actually comes out medium rare on a toasty white bun. The sweet potato fries are crisp and plentiful (take note, Ruggles!). The basil lemonade is a potent, but delicious bonus. Order a mango iced tea and mix yourself a few Arnold Palmers.

We also got a black bean veggie burger, which was a little crisp on the outside, keeping its form as you bit through it. Borderline dry, but nothing a little cock sauce couldn't fix, which they actually have!

One small quibble is the box claims "all our packaging is compostable" and there's a little sign boasting their compostable ways. Seeing only the trash to toss our box in, we inquired and found out that actuallllly they don't.

Best part of coming here? When you're done you get to play in the fountains outside!

happy pi day!

2009-03-15T14:24:00.006-05:00

Is it any surprise that I would make a pie in honor of Pi Day? We celebrated in style with fresh strawberry and apple pies. A night with mathematicians and double-crusted goodness - what more could a girl want (seriously)? What's your flavor?

heartz

2009-03-14T17:16:00.004-05:00

Cookies to be wrapped up in brown paper packages tied up with string... aka IKEA tupperware and packing tape. But that's not nearly as romantic.

Make someone's day and put a little homemade luv in the mail. Above are rugelach (read ruge-love), chai snickerdoodles, and vegan toasted oat cookies.

Nerd Note: If you're going to mail cookies, choose ones of similar moisture content since their water will equilibrate in the package during shipping. In other words, don't pack crisp and chewy cookies together.

peanut butter banana cream pie

2009-03-04T00:13:00.007-06:00

The phrase 'cream pie' sounds so dated and evokes visions of jello pudding mix poured into premade pie crust, possibly available a la carte in the school cafeteria. That's a pretty harsh sentence for something as delicious as pie.

This peanut butter banana cream pie does absolutely everything right to dispel any misconceptions. Ripe bananas are folded into luscious, velvety pastry cream and poured into a graham cracker crust layered with dark chocolate and fresh ground peanut butter, then topped with fresh whipped cream.

For those of us more technically inclined, this pie is a lot of fun to make. You get to hit things, double boil things, whip hot things, whip cold things... I swear it's fun, and you feel like a fancy cook.

For pastry cream success, there are two tricks I learned not usually included in recipes:

1. Thoroughly whisk the sugar and cornstarch together before adding any wet ingredients. They help keep each other from clumping, keeping lumps out of your cream.

2. Add a little bit of the unheated milk to the egg yolks going into said sugar/cornstarch mixture. Many recipes call for beating just the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together, but sometimes this isn't enough moisture to realistically mix them. A little milk will make your life much easier.

I followed this well written recipe as printed by Joy the Baker. The bananas and whipped cream balance the richness of the pastry cream, while the dark chocolate and peanut butter balance the sweetness. Yeah, it was really good. The only quibble I had was after chilling the pie, the chocolate layer was hard and difficult to cut through. In the future I might mix in a little heavy cream with the melted chocolate to make a sort of spreadable ganache layer. Also, it says that the pastry cream mixture will take about 6 minutes to thicken up. For me, it was ready in more like two.

This is pie fit for birthday celebrations!

chocolate chip cookies

2009-02-26T00:56:00.003-06:00

After many adventures into cookies needing fancy things like cocoa nibs and cardamom, pastry cutters and microplane graters, and tofu and toasted oats, I felt a calling to a) procrastinate, and b) make an unfussy cookie.

Unfussy cookies I did make, and let me tell you how much sweeter procrastination is with warm chocolate chip cookies in hand. The next time you need to do work, I suggest you have a cookie instead.

Ironically, instead I'm going to post about this fussy chocolate chip cookie recipe from the New York Times. If you recall the bacon cookies from last summer, these are actually those cookies. They're notable because I actually followed the recipe EXACTLY as printed. As a scientist you'd think I'd see the value in baking a control, but as a baker I'm too smart for my own good and always have to meddle. Was it worth it?

There are four notable things about this recipe:

1. It uses odd amounts of ingredients. 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour? This is because the recipe converts ingredients by weight into volume. Notice that it calls for 8.5 oz of bread and cake flour, but by volume are different by almost 1/3 cup. Theoretically this would give you a more consistent cookie every time you make it.

2. It uses really good quality chocolate. See those huge melty disks of chocolatey-ness in the photo? Hershey's chocolate chips can't hold a candle.

3. You're supposed to refrigerate the dough for 24-36 hours to improve the crumb, shape, and color of the final cookie. I used to never chill dough, but this recipe convinced me that at least a little waiting is worth it. However, 24 hours seems a bit much to ask when warm cookies are at stake - I'd say bake a few off immediately to tide you over, then chill the rest for at least an hour or two.

4. The cookies are finished with a sprinkle of coarse salt, playing up on the ever popular sweet and savory.

Conclusion? Quality ingredients and chilling dough pays off, but don't let fussy recipes get in your way of enjoying fresh baked cookies. The recipe on the bag of Toll House chocolate chips is pretty good, too...

alone time citrus bars

2009-02-21T21:15:00.008-06:00

Sunshine and citrus groves on a plate - how could you not be happy eating these? You're going to need some alone time with these.

There are a couple touches that make these way better than the standard super sweet, fluorescent yellow lemon bars you usually see. First, the toasted nuts and wheat germ round out the flavor of the crust and give the bar a bit more texture. Then there's the filling. Oh, the filling. It comes out addictively smooth, bright, and creamy like pastry cream. None of this gooey jaundiced gel business here. Finally, this recipe is easy. There's no frou frou curd making or straining through sieves. Just prepare a crust and pour the filling in.

Any combination of citrus works, really. Just adjust the sugar if you're using more sweet or tart fruits.

Alone Time Citrus Bars

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

Crust

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup wheat germ

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

¼ cup confectioner’s sugar

¾ tsp salt

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, frozen and cut into cubes

Filling

4 large eggs

1 ¼ cups granulated sugar

Juice of one lemon, lime, tangerine, orange, and grapefruit

1 tsp zest each from lemon, lime, tangerine, orange, and grapefruit

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare crust by whisking everything but the butter together. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until the largest pieces are pea sized. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of an ungreased 11x14-in baking pan. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling by whisking together the eggs, sugar, and flour until combined. Whisk in juices, zest, and salt. Pour filling into crust. Bake until center is set about 20 minutes. Enjoy warm or chilled.

jab chae

2009-02-19T00:53:00.004-06:00

Jab chae is the Korean take on glass noodles with veggies, playing up on the sweet and savory with a soy and mirin based sauce. The sweet potato noodles used are slippery and translucent, but thick like spaghetti. The dish can endlessly be adapted to fit what's in your fridge. Forgo your usual Asiany stir-fry standby and give this a try. Leftovers are also delightful cold.

Protein and veggies are cooked separately, then tossed all together at the end with the jab chae sauce. Cooking each component one at a time seems like a pain, but your noodles will be too watery by the end if you try cooking everything at once. Each component only takes a few minutes anyway. If your produce deviates from the recipe, split them up by cooking time. ie - cook carrots, celery, and onion together because they soften at about the same rate. Below is a fairly standard version of the recipe.

Jab Chae

4-5 oz sweet potato vermicelli (tang myun), soaked in hot water per package’s directions
½ medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 scallion, sliced
2 carrots, cut into strips
1 bunch spinach, cut into thirds
2 cups fresh shiitake or button mushrooms

¼ lb chadolbaegi (thinly sliced beef)
½ kamaboko cake (Japanese fish cake), thinly sliced

sesame seeds
fresh ground pepper

Jab Chae Sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp water

Mix all components of jab chae sauce together. Set aside. Set pan on medium high heat. Coat pan lightly with oil. Pan fry chadolbaegi until cooked. Remove and put into a large bowl.

Reset pan on medium high heat. Add more oil if necessary. Cook button and shiitake mushrooms. Remove and set aside in the same bowl as the cooked beef. Repeat and cook carrots and onions. Toss thoroughly until cooked, about 3-4min. Remove from pan and set aside in the same bowl.

Repeat and cook spinach, about 2-3min. Set aside. Repeat and cook fish cake and scallions. Toss for about 2-3min. Set aside.

Finally, reset pan onto medium high heat. Lightly coat pan with oil. Add garlic, stirring for one minute, Add noodles and precooked components to pan. Add jab chae sauce. Toss. Cover for 2 min till sauce has absorbed and everything is heated through.

Generously add fresh ground pepper to taste and finish with sesame seeds.

adobo potochop

2009-01-18T23:41:00.000-06:00

In Filipino cooking the word adobo refers to some sort of protein or vegetable stewed in vinegar, garlic, and pepper. What potochop means, I haven't been able to figure out, but I'll extrapolate and guess it refers to some preparation of chicken. Essentially, you cook your chicken in its own sweet, tangy marinade and it makes its own sauce. Seriously one pot cooking.

Lifted from Smarticus, here's my take on a super fast, flavorful dish. This marinade would work great with chunks of firm tofu or maybe pork.

Adobo Potochop

3 lbs. chicken parts - bone-in is nicer, though boneless cooks super fast
1/2 cup each soy sauce, rice vinegar, and water
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 bay leaves
5 (!) cloves of minced garlic
1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
lime slices

In the pot you're going to cook in, throw in everything but the chicken. Mix. Throw in chicken. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Bring to a boil, stir gently. Knock the heat down to a simmer, and cook for 45 minutes or until the chicken is tender. If using boneless meat, this is more like 15 minutes. Watch it!

If using bone-in chicken bits, you can crisp up the skin on a hot skillet with positive results. Squeeze some lime over finished product and serve up with rice.

If you want to be fancy, you can make a reduction sauce with the leftover cooking liquid. Heat a cup of the liquid and cook it down in a skillet till it thickens up and gets saucy. The thickness will cling to the meat nicely. Drizzle sauce over chicken and you're done.

yeasted waffle love

2009-01-08T23:42:00.008-06:00

Yeasted waffles are pretty much the reason waffle irons were invented. Fact. Crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside of course. The cornmeal gives it a nice texture, and the yeast adds that subtle complexity to the flavor that makes bread yummy. Prep time 5 minutes. There's really no reason not to bring a little waffle into your life.

P.S. - Maple syrup. Use the real stuff. It wasn't meant to be dispensed out of bottles shaped like old southern women.

Yeasted Cornmeal Waffles

2 cups milk, warm (110F)
2 tbsp melted butter

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cornmeal (polenta)
1 pkg (2 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 large egg

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, yeast, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Stir in milk, butter, egg, and maple syrup. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Cook batter in waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions. Serve with berries, toasted walnuts, yogurt, maple syrup, and/or honey.

Waffles freeze well. Reheat in toaster.

zuni roasted chicken with bread salad

2008-12-31T08:54:00.007-06:00

This recipe from Zuni Cafe exemplifies turning simple ingredients into something fabulous. The recipe does take time and careful planning, but done right it's really almost a breeze. Thanks to Jenn, I got to try this last Christmas. This year I pulled it out for my Christmas dinner and actually had everything on the table in an hour.

First, the recipe calls for dry brining a bird by rubbing it down with salt, pepper and herbs, then letting it sit in the fridge for a day or two. Traditional brining method involves finding a big bowl and submerging the chicken in a sugar salt solution, aka salmonella sloshing around your fridge. Dry brining = way easier, and equally juicy, flavorful meat.

Next, cube up a nice loaf of bread and toast it. The recipe says to trim the crusts, but I choose to ignore this. Soak some currants or cranberries in red wine vinegar. This is KEY. The balance of sweet and sour gives your salad bright accents of addictiveness that contrast well with the heaviness of the meat. Then mix up a vinaigrette of olive oil, red wine vinegar (go heavy on it), and white wine vinegar. Soften some garlic and scallions and toss with the bread.

When the chicken is done, carve it up, toss a handful of mixed greens with your bread, currants, toasted nuts, and more vinaigrette and enjoy together.

I used a loaf of levain from Angela's Oven. If you happen to live in Houston, you can find them at the Tuesday farmers' market at Rice, or at the Saturday Richmond or Onion Creek markets. They're lovely people with lovely baked goods. I also subbed rice for white wine vinegar with tasty results, and go heavy on the currants and toasted nuts. If you are like me and burn pinenuts with infalliable regularity, try toasting walnuts instead, which are a) cheaper and b) less prone to incineration.

Find the recipe here.

candied walnut banana cake

2008-12-25T14:09:00.001-06:00

This cake is like addiction you feel good about having smothered in cream cheese fluff. Bananas, whole wheat, nuts, cultured cream cheese... health food, clearly!

Cultured cream cheese is basically cream cheese with the same little microorganisms that yogurt has. The result is a slightly tangy, more complex flavored deliciousness. If you happen to see it, I suggest giving it a try!

The cream cheese fluff is the lighter, more delicate cousin of cream cheese frosting. Instead of being loaded with butter and sugar, it is just slightly sweetened and beaten extensively till nice and fluffy. The tangy, sweet-savory flavor combines really nicely with mouthfuls of banana bread and extra sweetness of candied nuts.

To feed an addiction:

1. Get a handful of candied walnuts

2. Throw said walnuts into your favorite banana bread recipe, then bake in a cake pan

3. Meanwhile, make your cream cheese fluff: Beat together about 8 oz. of cream cheese and 1-2 tbsp of powdered sugar until fluffy. Think subtle and not red velvet cake frosting here.

4. When the cake is cool, spread a layer of fluff over the top and consume promptly.

happy festivus!

2008-12-24T23:49:00.007-06:00

In the middle of the afternoon, I hear some rather aggressive sirens and obnoxious amounts of honking slowly making their way down the street. Is it an emergency? Turkey deep-frying gone terribly awry? Oh, no...

It's Santa on a folding chair strapped to a fire truck. Please, please click on the photo for a better look. Best. Tax dollars. Ever. Even more, he was throwing broken candy cane dreams to the handful of confused citizens of Jersey Village that staggered out of their abodes. Imagine the truth-or-dare games they must be playing up in the fire station.

Moral of the story? Pay your taxes, and good things will come. Happy Festivus!

walnut butter cookies

2008-12-22T21:08:00.001-06:00

Glorified, updated peanut butter cookies. Yeah. You've been replaced by a tree nut, Mr. Goober.

To make your own walnut butter, toss a few handfuls of toasted walnuts into a blender with a pinch of sugar and salt. Blend till peanut buttery. Will be a bit more liquidy than fresh ground peanut butter, but the flavor.. Oh, the flavor of concentrated walnut...

Walnut Butter Criss Crosses
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg

1 ½ sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter
1 cup walnut butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven 350 F.

Whisk dry ingredients together. In another bowl, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add walnut butter and beat together. Add the sugars and beat for 3 minutes more. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients to butter mixture, stirring only until they just disappear. Stir in walnuts. Chill dough in fridge for 30 minutes.

Scoop out tablespoons of dough, roll into balls, and place on cookie sheet. To make criss crosses, use a fork and press down on top of the dough balls. Dip fork in flour if dough is sticking too much. Bake for about 12 minutes. When done, the cookies will be lightly colored and somewhat soft.

currant events (har har)

2008-12-04T20:58:00.005-06:00

I seriously need to start waking up early and baking in the morning. Seriously. I know, it looks like a pile of currants and oatmeal, but what's not to love? Custardy, moist, layer of yogurt and berries practically baked in streusel. Hells yeah.

You could maybe eat this all day long, but it won't make it past breakfast. I got out a plate, cut myself a warm slice (it cuts beautifully, btw) and realized this was not a plate food. This is a pick it out of a hot pan and straight to the stomach food.

Adapted from Canela & Comino, I had this in the oven in 15 minutes flat as promised. Do try this, but don't blink or you'll be a sad panda.

Don't Blink Currant Oatmeal Wedges

Crust
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup oats
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
5 tbs butter, melted
3 tbs milk

Filling
1 1/3 cups dried currants or cranberries
3/4 cup yogurt or sour cream
1/2 cup sugar

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon
2 tbs flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 325F. Cut out a circle of parchment paper to fit in bottom of springform pan, line it with circle, grease sides of pan. Any other shallow pan (square, pie, etc.) would work, too. Skip the parchment and just grease it.

In a bowl, mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Drizzle butter and milk over flour mixture, stirring until moistened (mixture will be crumbly). Reserve 3/4 cup of oat mixture. Press remaining oat mixture into the bottom of pan.

In another bowl, combine all filling ingredients, stirring well. Spread currant mixture over prepared crust; sprinkle reserved oat mixture evenly over filling.

Bake 40-50 minutes or until edges are golden. Let cool if you can.

excuses

2008-12-03T22:33:00.003-06:00

You'd think I'd have Thanksgiving tales about delicious seared scallop pumpkin soup and a crustless buttermilk pumpkin pie (oops...), but alas, I can't even get around to posting the impressive backlog of adventures I've been sitting on.

Instead, I share with you this taco truck gastronomic delight. Cheers!

jam time

2008-11-25T02:43:00.000-06:00

If you happen to have scientists for friends and about 10 pounds of free grapes, I highly suggest making white grape jam. Real grape jam tastes like summer and sunshine, not purple.

What you need:

mason jars
a lot of grapes picked off the stem
juice of 1 lemon

cheap vodka
a lighter

What you do:

Put a plate in the fridge. Throw grapes into a big pot and mash them up. Add lemon juice. Cook over medium high heat for a long time, stirring continuously. Will bubble and hiss and threaten to burn your delicate arms.

If you are a food scientist, consider using a candy thermometer and pH paper to deduce whether any sporulating microorganisms will survive your brew.

When your jam mixture seems jam-like, drop a spoonful onto that plate you put in the fridge, chill it for a few minutes, then see if the jam is the consistency you want. If it's too runny, cook down longer.

When it's ready, pour into mason jars, screw on lids, and submerge in pot of boiling water for 30 minutes. Let sit overnight and see if your jars seal. Keep jam refrigerated.

**Sanitation Bonus Feature!**

Did you know that if you buy Taaka in $2 quantities it actually comes in a glass bottle? Fancy.

Wash out jars with hot water and soap, then fill with a dash of vodka and light on fire. Dim the lights for maximum mood effect.

toasty

2008-11-06T02:09:00.003-06:00

In the past, I've had trouble with roasted pumpkin seeds tasting a bit off or burnt despite my best effort to keep an eye on them while toasting.

The standard drill is to coat seeds in butter/oil, sprinkle with flavorings of choice, and bake. It occurred to me that the oil might be developing a rancid flavor while being heated in the oven, so this time I omitted it entirely, and took a page from granola-making and dropped the temperature for a more gradual drying process. The moisture on the raw seeds was enough to get the seasoning to stick, and efforts were rewarded with nutty, crunchy seeds. I found that the different flavors came out more clearly sans oil, too.

Roasted Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Heat oven to 300F. Spread raw seeds from a pumpkin out over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sugar, salt, cinnamon, and cumin. Bake 20 minutes, stir seeds around, add more seasoning if needed, then return to oven for another 25 minutes, or until they taste toasty and done.

happy (almost) hypo-allergenic halloween!

2008-10-31T20:05:00.003-05:00

In effort to stick it to the candy corporations, but mostly for amusement, late night baking party ensued to churn out nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free vegan cookies for Halloween. Hopefully the kids don't egg us. Oh, the irony.

We used Earth Balance margarine in place of butter, and either banana or pumpkin in place of eggs. The banana cookies were very adult. They were crisp, delicately banana flavored in a non-Runts kinda way, and would have been great with ice cream. I would totally make them again, but more fancy schmancy. The pumpkin spice cookies were soft, slightly spicy, and nom nom nom. They had great texture like any chewy cookie.

If you want to try your hand at vegan cookies, or happen to be out of eggs or butter, follow approximately the following:

Heat oven to 350F. Cream 1 cup Earth Balance and 1 1/2 c unrefined sugar together till fluffy. Beat in either 1 banana or 1/2 c pumpkin, 1 tsp vanilla, some nutmeg, ground ginger, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Add 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour. Beat for a few minutes to build up some gluten. Chill dough in fridge for a bit if you have time. Or if you are dead tired, forge on!

Scoop out tablespoons of dough. Bake about 14 minutes. While you're waiting, wrestle with Word for about an hour making ingredient tags for the cookies.

pumpkin time

2008-10-30T10:37:00.006-05:00

Autumn is upon us, so, surprise, you're going to have to read about pumpkin. I love love love pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin scones, you name it. But since the blagosphere has already extolled pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to the point of saturation, I thought I a) should not have cookies for dinner. Again. And b) write about something savory instead.

Thus, here is Italian sausage pumpkin soup baked in a pumpkin. Well, since I lack a blender this was more like Italian sausage soup with pumpkin, but nevertheless! Consequently, this soup wasn't quite as thick as I would have liked - next time I would consider making a roux to counter the no blender issue. A handful of kale could be good, too.

Italian Sausage Soup (may contain pumpkin)

1 sugar pumpkin
half an onion, diced
1 leek, leafy green part discarded, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 potato, skin on, cubed
1 lb sausage, removed from casing

2 c stock (chicken, veggie, whatevs)
1 c water
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c sour cream

some Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350F. Cut a lid out of the pumpkin (I had no problem using a chef knife). Scoop out the seeds and stringy bits with your hand/spoon. Save the seeds for roasting! Replace the lid and pop pumpkin in the oven on a cookie sheet.

Brown sausage in a pan. When cooked, separate meat from all that tasty oil and set aside.

In a big pot, heat some oil, throw in onions, leeks, and celery. Cook for a few minutes. Add potato. Cook few more minutes. Add sausage, stock, water, milk, nutmeg, pepper, and some grated parmesan, too. Simmer for awhile.

Check your pumpkin. When you can scoop the flesh away with a spoon, pour in as much soup as will fit. Replace lid and bake till you feel like eating. If the outside is getting too dark, cover it with some foil.

When serving, scoop out some pumpkin flesh along with the soup. Yum!

salted oatmeal cookies

2008-10-27T22:35:00.007-05:00

Sometimes all you want is a damn oatmeal cookie.

Can you spy other interesting objects in this photo?*

Oatmeal cookies often suffer from carrot cake syndrome - they have so many add-ins including but not limited to raisins, chocolate, a whole spice ship, etc. you might as well be eating trail mix.

Enter the salted oatmeal cookie. This is a barebones recipe with just a touch of nutmeg to bring the flavors together, and coarse salted sprinkled over the top. They have a really nice butterscotchy flavor to them despite the scant amount of brown sugar (butterscotch = butter + brown sugar). I made these for a Saturday night homework party (yes, I am cool), and studying has rarely been better. Salty-sweet for the win!

Added bonus feature: oatmeal content makes them suitable for breakfast.

This is a crunchy cookie recipe. If you like your cookies slightly pliable when cool, take them out of the oven after 12 minutes. They'll look pale and undone, but that's because the dough has less egg and brown sugar than your standard cookie recipe. If you enjoy wearing your cookie, bake up to 16 minutes. Adulterate your dough with a handful of chocolate chunks if you please.

If you like soft and chewy cookies, I might experiment with using 2 eggs and/or more brown sugar and less granulated sugar.

Studiously Salted Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups rolled oats (oatmeal)
coarse salt for sprinkling (kosher or sea salt is nice)

Heat oven to 350F.
In a bowl, mix first 5 ingredients together.
In a larger bowl, beat butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Mix till combined. Gradually add flour mixture and mix until flour is just incorporated.
Gradually add in oats till mixed.

Make ping-pong sized balls of dough and put them on a cookie sheet. Gently flatten the tops of the balls a little with your fingers. Barely sprinkle salt over the tops. It only takes a little!

Bake 12-16 minutes - 12 if you want a softer cookie, longer if you want a crispier one. Cookies will look pale.

*leopard ears, bear ears, bike light

espresso cheesecake brownies

2008-10-15T20:25:00.003-05:00

This weekend I had a friend visit which translated into a blitz of the culinary indulgences Davis has to offer - late night burgers, farmers' market pastries, crepes, dinner parties, dim sum, lattes, bubble tea... And as if that wasn't enough, I had them pick any recipe out of Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours to make for dessert.

Espresso cheesecake brownies. You can't lose, right? A layer of cheesecake baked on top of a layer of brownie should totally be money.

While I won't deny I ate a fair share of the pan, I didn't really find myself craving more. The brownie layer was just sweet enough and contrasted well with its richer cheesecake counterpart, but it didn't quite hit the spot. Aesthetically, these aren't the prettiest either. The recipe called for dropping spoonfuls of brownie batter over the cheesecake layer and swirling, but we discovered that the two layers had rather different densities. The brownie batter sank straight to the bottom and resulted in what you see above.

These brownies also experience a temperature dichotomy. Straight out of the fridge, the brownie layer is too hard to cut and practically fudge (yay saturated fats!). If you let it come to room temperature, then the cheesecake layer is too warm and doesn't hold up well to slicing. Food safety gets a little dicey there, too. In all, I had fun making this but would turn to another recipe in the future!

nom nom nom granola

2008-10-05T10:59:00.006-05:00

Little rivals my addiction for a bowl of granola in the morning. However, I've never had much luck making my own - it's either laden with ridiculous amounts of butter and sugar, or too dry like muesli. Fortunately, there is a solution. This recipe makes a pleasantly clustery, sweet granola that is best eaten with some plain yogurt rather than milk. I made this using whatever I had in the pantry - it is open to endless substitutions, but here are the basic ratios:

Nom Nom Nom Honey Sweetened Granola
Adapted from here

2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup sliced almonds (or other nuts of your choice)
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1 cup raisins, dried cranberries, apricots, etc.

Heat oven to 300 degrees F.

Mix the oats, nuts, grains, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Measure oil and vanilla into the measuring cup and swirl it around before pouring into bowl. Measure out the honey in the same, unwashed cup. The oil will help the honey exit the cup. Toss everything together until evenly coated and then pour out into a 9x13" baking pan lined with parchment paper. With a spatula, press mixture down into pan like you're making granola bars.

Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven, stir up mixture to make sure everything gets evenly toasted, then press it down into the pan again. Bake 20 more minutes.

Stir up the granola and add the dried fruit. If you like your granola in big chunks, press the mixture back down into the pan to your liking. If you like it looser, stir it up a whole bunch. When cool, the mixture will harden into clusters.

*Do NOT mix fruit with the oats in the beginning. They will burn in the oven and destroy your batch of tastiness. Party foul.

cinnamon squares

2008-09-30T23:25:00.008-05:00

Don't be deceived by the name. This is a cake. A fairly addictive one at that, and easy to make, too. I'm all about maximum return on effort. You might think it a bit boring or flat with just cinnamon, but I assure you it's not. This cake is warm and inviting from the spice, and a touch decadent from the layer of dark, unsweetened chocolate and espresso in the middle. The original recipe called for a bittersweet chocolate buttercream frosting, but upon eating a piece warm from the oven decided that it would be ridiculously rich and overpower the nice spice, chocolate, and coffee balance. With a handful of toasted pecans tossed in, this recipe would make for an excellent coffeecake.

Generally when you bake something sweet, you start by creaming together butter and sugar, adding the wet ingredients, then adding the dry. This recipe called for something a bit reversed that I had never seen before by mixing together dry, adding eggs and milk, then finally stirring in melted butter. I was intrigued by how homogeneous a batter I'd obtain, and how that would affect the texture of the cake. I can tell you that you will be rewarded for your unorthodox approach!

Cinnamon Squares
Mostly from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours

1 1/4 cups plus 2 tbs sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder (instant coffee works, too)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
10 tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped into small chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 8" square baking pan.

In a small bowl, stir together 2 tbs sugar, 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 1/2 tsp espresso together.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, salt, and 1 tbs cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla.

Pour liquid ingredients over flour mixture, and gently stir until you have a homogeneous batter. Will look lumpy, like so:

Next, gently stir in the butter just until absorbed. At first it looks like the butter will never incorporate, but keep stirring! You'll have a smooth, satiny batter when you're done.

Scrape half of the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the chocolate over the batter and dust with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Cover with the rest of batter and smooth the top again.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is puffed and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. A thin knife or fort inserted into the center will come out clean. Let cake cool rest for 15 minutes before flipping it out onto a cooling rack. At this point you will not be able to resist any longer, so go ahead and cut yourself a piece.

roasted tomatoes

2008-09-30T23:19:00.009-05:00

Not generally a tomato product or Italian-y food fan, but won over by the extensive array of pretty tomatoes at the farmers' market (bless your heart, Davis) I pulled out this recipe for oven-roasted tomatoes. And glory! Super-versatile deliciousness with minimal labor! So far, I have had this spread on olive bread with slices of raw goat cheese cheddar (see below), on multigrain toast with avocado (think fancy BLT), and tossed with some Italian sausage tortellini and smoked mozzarella. Yum, yes?

The original recipe calls for steeping the roasted tomatoes with raw garlic; I wondered why not roast some garlic along with the tomatoes, but stuck to the recipe anyway. The answer? At least with the varieties that I used, after several hours in the oven, they were fairly sweet in that good tomatoey way and really benefited from the brighter bite of raw garlic. The sweet, caramelized flavor of roasted garlic would have muddled the flavor balance. In conclusion? Follow directions!

To make your own Pomodori al Forno:
Heat oven to 250 degrees F.
Cut some tomatoes in half, equatorially, and remove seeds.
Get out some of that really good olive oil you've been hiding. Pour enough into a baking pan so that all your tomatoes will be sitting in some.
Place tomatoes in pan, cut side down. Sprinkle with dried oregano, salt, pepper, and sugar. Don't be scared of sugar! It helps balance the acidity.
Drizzle a bit more olive oil over the top.

Put in oven for 1 hour. Flip tomatoes. Put back in oven for 1 hour. Flip again. Put back in oven for 15-45 minutes. Remove tomatoes when they're tender, but not falling apart. A little mush is fine!

Put tomatoes in a bowl. Toss in 2 minced garlic cloves. Pour remaining olive oil over the top. The left over olive oil is gold! Let stand at room temperature 2 hours. Indulge in your tomatoes as you will, then store in fridge when done.

inaugural banana bread

2008-09-18T21:28:00.006-05:00

Safely relocated and mostly moved into the new digs, I woke up this morning absurdly cold and decided it was time to test out the new oven with some early morning baking.

With my beautiful red stand mixer (BEST. BIRTHDAY GIFT. EVER.) claiming some counter space, this recipe was a breeze. Sometimes banana bread turns out overly moist and sticky, but this recipe results in a slightly sweet, fairly light textured breakfast bread. The wheat flour and toasted nuts balance out the sweetness, and give the bread a little depth. Do enjoy straight from the oven, possibly with a touch of butter. Possibly have another slice for lunch as well.

Banana Nut Bread

8 tbs butter (1 stick), room temperature
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 c mashed very ripe bananas (2-3 bananas)
1/2 c plain yogurt (or sour cream)
1/2 c chopped toasted walnuts or pecans (don't be a noob and burn them like I did)

Put on a hoodie.

Preheat oven to 350°F, butter a loaf pan. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs beating well.

In another bowl, mix dry ingredients together and add to butter mixture. Blend well. Add the yogurt and bananas. Mix, mix, mix. Stir in the nuts and pour into the pan. Bake 45-60 mins until the middle springs back when you push down on it. If it's getting too brown and it's not done, cover the loaf with foil and keep baking.

Try not to burn yourself as you cut yourself a piece and bask in the warmth of your kitchen.

fast fruit tarts

2008-09-18T11:13:00.004-05:00

I had some precious handmade puff pastry left over from the bakery gig, and was looking to put it to good use. Laziness + awesome puff pastry = amazing. You'll hardly lift a finger but look like a pro because anything with puff pastry looks fancy schmancy.

What you do:

Find yourself some puff pastry better than that frozen Pepperidge Farm stuff. Consider begging your local bakery to give you some.

Cut 2 squares of thawed puff pastry out.
Top one with a few slices of apple left over from your apple pie, sprinkle with brown sugar, and dot with butter.

Top the other square with a spoon or two of peach preserves you made a few months ago because you're nuts, and some of those frozen blueberries that you picked, too. (Other jam and fruit combos work quite tastily as well. Raspberry/blackberry anyone?)

Pop in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden, and the fruit looks done. Pat yourself on the back and serve with ice cream.

summer in a jar

2008-09-18T10:37:00.002-05:00

Recall the peach jamboree madness? Here's what happened to a mere 3 pounds of them back in June. Risking burned limbs and anaerobic bacterial growth, I had a little foray into canning. Sadly, I lost my photographic adventures of this project, but thought I aught to document it for my own edification anyway.

Peach Preserves

What you need:
4 1/2-pint mason jars and new lids, washed

3 lbs. peeled and roughly sliced peaches , about 5 cups of fruit
2/3 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tbs. lemon juice
a very healthy splash or two of triple sec

Toss peaches, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice together in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let stand 3 or 4 hours. This is what we call macerating.

Place a colander in a big skillet or wok. Pour fruit and juice through colander, and let drain for 20 minutes. Remove fruit to a bowl. Measure depth of juice in pan with a chopstick.

Bring the juice to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat enough to keep the juice boiling fairly rapidly (the surface will appear foamy with small bubbles covering the entire surface). Boil until the juice is reduced by half. This will take about 20 minutes. To test the amount of reduction, place the chopstick in the pan and see where the surface hits in relation to the original measurement. By this time, the juice has become a light, slightly glistening syrup.

Get a pot of gently boiling water going.

Add the fruit, any additional juice that has accumulated, and the triple sec. Continue cooking until the peaches begin to take on a translucent, caramelized look around the edges, and the syrup is quite thick. This will take about 15 minutes. There will be lots of splattering of screaming hot sugar, so protect your hands and arms to avoid battle scars.

Remove the mixture from the heat. Ladle the hot jam into one hot jar at a time, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rim clean. Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars. submerge jars in pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool till you can safely fish out the jars. Let sit on the counter overnight. Hopefully a seal should form. Nurse your burns and take pride that you'll be enjoying your peaches year-round.

hatch chile apple pie

2008-08-20T22:24:00.005-05:00

Pie and chiles, you say? A la mode, you say?

This basic apple pie gets its twist from roasted hatch chile. The roasting mellows out the chile, and adds a mild spicy background that adds another layer to the traditional spice combo in the pie. Perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to cool down the heat.

Hatch Chile Apple Pie
Adapted from Central Market's Hatch Chile Apple Cobbler

your favorite double pie crust recipe

1 hatch chile
5 or 6 granny smith or golden delicious apples, peeled and sliced to your preference
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tbs cornstarch

1 egg, beaten

Make your pie crust dough. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Broil chile for a few minutes on each side, till skin is charred and blistered. Remove from oven and cover with foil while you prep everything else. When you're good and ready, peel the skin, discard seeds, and chop up the remaining chile.

Combine the apples, brown sugar, cornstarch, chile, cider vinegar, and spices in a bowl. Mix well.
Roll out your pie crust and put it in the pan. Pour in the apple mixture. If you're OCD, proceed to lattice your pie. If not, make a normal double-crusted pie. Paint the top with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar to make pretty.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the filling looks brown, bubbly, and delicious.

goodness that is mango

2008-07-19T10:38:00.002-05:00

Be still my heart - it's mango season! My love for this fruit is greater than the risk of phalange loss when cutting them, especially with my propensity for kitchen injury. How the hell I work in a bakery, I have no idea. But with all 10 fingers, I shall blog about mango... in bread form!

Once again facilitated by the incredible powers of procrastination vested in Google Reader, I found this recipe for fresh mango bread from Joy the Baker. Drawn by the unique combination of ingredients (mango, apple, raisins, lime zest...), it seemed like a nice change of pace from my usual arsenal of quick breads.

Verdict? The cinnamon and ginger flavors make your palate think holidays, and then the bites of mango make you think, "Why didn't I put mango in my bread sooner?"

I didn't have any raisins, but threw in a handful of toasted walnuts instead. Also, I had a little trouble getting the very middle of the bread to bake through using a shallower but longer 13 3/8 " x 4 7/8 " pan. Can someone explain those dimensions, by the way? They don't even come out to even numbers in metric... Regardless, this one's a keeper and I'll be making it again soon.

Fresh Mango Lime Bread
Adapted from Joy the Baker adapted from Dorie Greenspan

3 large eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar

1 to 1 1/4 cup diced mangos from 1 large peeled and pitted mango
1 cup grated apple from 1 peeled Granny Smith apple
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
grated zest of 1/2 lime

Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Grease a 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch loaf pan. Put the pan on a baking sheet. This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from over baking.

Whisk the eggs and the oil together.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Rub the brown sugar between your palms into the bowl, breaking up any lumps, then stir it in. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, switch to a sturdy rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix until blended- the batter will be very thick (really more like a dough than a batter) and not easily mixed, but persevere, it will soon come together. Stir in the mango, apples, raisins and zest. Batter into the pan!

Bake 1 1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. If the bread looks as if it’s getting too brown as it bakes, cover loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before running a knife around the sides of the pan and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack. Eat a lot of it.

mrr?

2008-07-16T17:52:00.003-05:00

smell of fresh baked cookies + smell of rendering bacon = confusingly delicious

tom yum goong

2008-07-12T10:38:00.007-05:00

Tom yum goong, or Thai lemongrass prawn soup, is distinctly not a baked good, but guaranteed to fill your home with yummy smells. This is one of those traditional dishes open to a million interpretations, but they all get their distinctive flavor from lemongrass, nam-prik pao (roasted red chili paste), and kaffir lime leaves if you're ever so lucky to have some. The lemongrass and lime leaves impart that addictive flavor you find in Thai cooking, and the roasted chili paste (which contains shrimp paste) adds a deliciously complex salty and spicy quality to the broth. You can totally find this paste in the Asian foods isle at the market.

Not up to making prawn stock from prawn heads and shells, I made this quick and dirty, non-authentic but tasty version cleaning out the fridge. The longer you can simmer it, the better. The coconut milk gives it a satisfying richness. Serve this over some vermicelli and you could make a meal out of it.

Quick and Dirty Tom Yum Goong

3 ½ cups chicken broth
1 cup water
¼ cup coconut milk

1 shallot, minced
1 jalapeno, cut into strips
2 pieces of ginger, 1” each
2 stalks lemon grass, discard outer layer and dry ends, cut into 2” pieces
3 kaffir lime leaves, crushed up a bit
1 lime, juiced
2 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs nam-prik pao (roasted red chili paste)

15 shitake mushrooms, sliced
½ block of tofu, cut into chunks
Handful of coarsely chopped cilantro
10 prawns

Get a sizeable pot. Heat a little oil over low heat. Soften shallots and jalapeno. Add mushrooms. Soften.

Add broth and water. Throw in everything else, except prawns. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Throw in prawns a few minutes before you want to serve. Done when you're hungry.

peachy

2008-06-28T11:26:00.004-05:00

The Stonewall, TX Peach JAMboree experience (which I highly recommend) isn't complete without mutton riding, wild cow milking, and walking away with a half bushel of peaches. Some idea of what half a bushel minus 20 peaches looks like...
Needless to say, some peaches need eated.

Peach Project #1: Spiced Peach Pie with Buttermilk Crust

Pie crust and I have a brief, yet unhappy history together. However, as a firm believer that buttermilk makes everything better, this recipe prevailed. The crust rolled out easily and baked up tender; the cardamom and cinnamon gave the peaches a hint of warm, delicious spiciness.

I also made this pie with a handful of blackberries thrown in with tasty results. This crust recipe would work well for just about any fruit pie.

Spiced Peach Pie with Buttermilk Crust
Adapted from Bon Appétit | August 1999

Crust
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
5 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup chilled buttermilk

Filling
½ cup sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
3 3/4 to 4 pounds ripe peaches (about 6 cups fruit)
1 egg, beaten (for glaze)

Make crust (when you don’t have a processor):
Mix flour, sugar and salt. Toss in butter and lard. Take 2 steak knives and cut up the chunks into smaller bits. Should look like chunky flour, yum! With a spatula, stir in 3/4 cup buttermilk, smearing the bits of dough against the side of the bowl. Dough should look a might dry and crumbly, but comes together in a moist clump when you take a handful and squeeze it. Gather dough into ball. Divide into 2 pieces, 1 slightly larger than the other. Flatten each into disk. Wrap disks in plastic; chill at least 1 hour or overnight.

Peel your peaches:
Boil some water. Cut a little ‘X’ into the bottom of peaches and toss them into water for 30 seconds. Transfer them into a bowl of ice water for a few minutes. Peel, halve and pit peaches. Mix 3/4 cup sugar and next 4 ingredients in large bowl Slice peaches into bowl with sugar mixture; toss to coat. Let filling stand until juices form, 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out larger dough disk on floured surface to 12- to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 3/4 inch. Mound filling in dish. Roll out second disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Drape dough over filling. Pinch overhang and edge of top crust together. Fold edge under. Cut several slits in top crust. Crimp edge. Brush pie with beaten egg; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Place pie on center rack in oven. Bake 50 minutes. Place baking sheet on lowest rack to catch drippings. Continue to bake pie until crust is brown and juices bubble thickly through slits, covering very loosely with foil if top browns too quickly, about 20 minutes. Cool on rack 1 hour, or cut into it hot and let it run everywhere with a scoop of ice cream.

eat more veggies

2008-06-16T08:47:00.004-05:00

I love carrot cake, but sometimes there's just too much going on. Pineapple, coconut, raisins, nuts... it skirts fruitcake at times.

Looking for simpler times, I have been eying this recipe I saw for Carrot Honey Cake. I finally ~~made them~~ outsourced their creation (thanks, friend!) in cupcake form for a dinner shindig, and my tummy was glad I did.

I often say that people think they can't cook because they follow poorly written recipes. Ambiguous phrases such as "mix until barely incorporated" or "cook till just done" add anxiety and don't tell the inexperienced cook what to look for. On the flip side, this carrot cake is a good example of a very well written recipe that is concise yet descriptive. At a glance it looks a bit wordy, but follow these directions and you will have a moist, subtly spicey cake with a nice hint of sweetness from the honey. They would be delicious as muffins sans cream cheese frosting, but why wouldn't you want cream cheese frosting?

good pie bad pie

2008-06-16T08:46:00.016-05:00

Hard at work perusing my Google Reader news feed (procrastination: more efficient than ever!), I saw a recipe for strawberry pie. Deluded by promises of plump, fragrant berries in pie form I hit the market. Five pounds of strawberries richer, I was confident I was going to churn out a gorgeous scarlet red pie, nevermind my knack for misshapen pies.

Hasty, hasty, Jen. Had I taken the time to read the recipe carefully, I would have realized that I was setting myself up to make strawberry jello in a pie crust. As far as jello goes, this was a winner. I, however, am keen on my food having a little less wiggle to it.

With 3 lbs. of berries remaining, I felt the need for revenge of the strawberry pie. I settled on the recipe below, adapted from Bon Appétit. This recipe was simple, fast, and gone soon after its conception. The orange zest provided a nice brightness, and the cookie crust was easy to make (no rolling out dough, yay!).

Strawberry Icebox Pie with Almond Crust
Adapted from Bon Appétit | April 2003

Crust
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 2 graham crackers)
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
5 cups quartered hulled strawberries (about 24 oz)
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons orange zest

1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar

For crust:
Preheat to 350°F. Butter 9" pie dish. Coarsely chop almonds. Add graham cracker crumbs and sugar; mash up together to mix. Add butter, mix. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of pie dish. Bake until crust looks toasty, about 12 minutes. Cool.

For filling:
Place 2 cups strawberries in medium saucepan.

Mash strawberries until chunky. Add sugar, cornstarch (slowly so you don't get clumps), and lemon juice. Stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture boils and thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir in orange zest. Transfer mixture to bowl. Cool to room temperature.

Stir in remaining 3 cups strawberries and grated orange peel. Mound filling in crust. Chill pie until cold and set, at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.

Using electric mixer, beat cream in large bowl until peaks form.

Spread whipped cream decoratively over filling. Cut pie into wedges and serve.

Spread a few spoonfuls of mixture over bottom of crust. Organize remaining strawberries till pretty. Mound filling in crust. Chill pie until cold and set.

Beat cream and sugar in large bowl until soft peaks form. Serve together!

yum?

2008-05-28T07:27:00.001-05:00

Sneaking contraband durian into the restaurant, disallowed in most public places due to its... pungency.

The verdict? Like eating creamed onion. In fruit form. The flesh is soft, and well, creamy, and somewhat stringy with a pit in the middle. The taste is somewhere between onion and chive, reminiscent of the delicious lily bulbs we had in China. I wonder if there are any durian recipes...

sea-salted

2008-05-27T07:22:00.001-05:00

Phi Phi Island, Thailand - clear water, white sand, biting monkeys... do we have to leave?

school of new thought

2008-05-22T18:11:00.006-05:00

Safely back in Hong Kong and still recovering from the culinary adventures of China, I was informed that the menu for the tonight would include more specialties from our 'home village' that had been brought back. You just can't leave some experiences behind.

Fortunately, the prized victuals were not more cold sea creature bits, but roast goose and the ugliest tangerines I have ever seen. The goose was savory and the tangerine sweet, just like they were supposed to be, which led me to a new theory about food from Chaozhou. Foodstuffs must cross border in order to fully develop their proper flavor. In China, we had simply expected too much too soon from our meals. That being said, I think I'll stick to dining on the island for now.

Tomorrow? The quest for the best mango dessert place in Hong Kong!

tasting the armpit of the rooster

2008-05-21T22:01:00.008-05:00

Chaozhou is an area located in the easternmost part of the Guangdong province in southern China not renowned for their food. I'd like to think that I have an accepting palate, especially for Asian flavors, but this trip was truly a challenge to stomach.

After schlepping up and down a slick, jungly Chaozhou mountainside in the rain with forty people I am apparently related to for the burial ceremony I was ironically not allowed to attend due to my "astral sign karma" (more on that later), it was feeding time. Thus, we descended upon what I could only guess was the single restaurant in town with seating capacity for our party.

Allow me to regale you with some of the culinary delights served in the Chaozhou style:

Small clams in an odd, intensely flavored broth
An unidentified, armored relative of the shrimp: equipped with extra exoskeleton and a thick orange-red vein likening to overcooked egg yolk
Stir-fried lily bulbs: the onion/potato hybrid. It looks like a garlic bulb, slices like an onion, but has the mouthfeel of a mealy starch. And tastes somewhere in between.
Fried yam. Period. Not to be confused with delicious, orange sweet potatoes. (Yam fufu, anyone?)
Cold cod innards and other fish bits. I was informed the swim bladder is a delicacy.
Ginseng abalone soup. This was actually one of the better courses, but there's something about prehistoric mollusks with a furry yet chewy texture that gets me every time.
Cherry tomatoes. For dessert.

These and handful of other lackluster, poorly seasoned dishes rounded out the night. The grade? Points for diversity, but fail on execution. Judging by the fact that nobody insisted the fish bits be polished off, or that I needed another yam left me to believe that the restaurant was at fault and not the cuisine. At least till morning.

(Side note: There was a 911 Carrera 4 out front when we left the restaurant. What? How? Why?)

Morning was greeted with oversalted congee mixed to a disproportionate ratio of water to rice, and shoddy dim sum. Being with family from the region, I was starting to doubt that we just happened upon subpar places, but that Chaozhou was simply a gastronomically underwhelming place.

Lunch confirmed this suspicion as we became the only patrons of another nondescript restaurant. Having been told that a number of relatives had dined at this restaurant before kindled false hope that maybe Chaozhou cuisine wasn’t so bad after all.

Dish #1: Shady clams with chopped chilies. At first I thought they weren’t fresh because none of the shells were open. The fact was they were just still alive. Next came a series of dishes similar to the ones we had regarded last night as well as a few new friends. Highlights include:

Braised lettuce with membranous clam bits and other chewy sea creatures.
The lovechild of a fiddlehead fern precursor and a soba noodle. I was told it was a mushroom, but I have my doubts. Taste: inoffensive.
‘Lotus seed’ in a fishy broth. This seed was more like a large great northern bean, but really firm and waxy.

Overall, this led me to believe that the previous night’s dinner really was bad, but that it was also time to head for the border back to Hong Kong.

return of the great pumpkin

2008-05-14T18:27:00.007-05:00

What happens if you really aught to be moving and find roasted pumpkin from last November in the back of your freezer? You fill the apartment with yummy smells and tell yourself it's much easier to move 2 cups of flour in your stomach than in a box.

This recipe made a moist, dense loaf that slices well enough it might take to a cream cheese swirl in the future (note to self). The batter was quite runny even for a quick bread, but rest assured, you will be rewarded! Sadly, no photos.

Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Bread
Adapted from Bon Appétit | October 2003

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp fresh grated ginger
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9 1/4x5 1/4x3-inch loaf pan.

Whisk flour, spices, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl to blend.

In a separate, larger bowl – beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in pumpkin, then vanilla.

Beat in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions each. Fold in cranberries and nuts. Transfer batter to pan.

Bake bread until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool bread in pan on rack 15 minutes.