Big city Tiny kitchen

Spring is here...

2009-04-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

and it was all over the farmer's market this weekend.

I picked up the most lovely fruits and veggies:

Chard and little gem lettuce,

strawberries and blood oranges

Meyer lemons and green garlic

fava beans and fresh peas

I think I am most excited about the peas (I am planning on making the carbonara from Sunday Supers at Luques).

I also picked up bacon from the Prather Ranch guys (www.pratherranch.com), fresh stone ground corn meal from Ridgecut Gristmills (www.ridgecut.com check out the website this woman is AWESOME), garlic Gouda, and fresh farm eggs.

Oh I always love the farmers market but really this is the season. Spring is on Oh Yeah, time to your local farmers market!

Salty, Savory, Easter Pie

2009-04-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

If you grew up in a family that made the traditional Italian holiday fare then I am sure you know exactly what I am blogging about. If not let me open your eyes to the one food item that says Spring to me like nothing else. It is a savory pie, made with Ham, sausage, cheese and lots of eggs, that we always had for Easter (I know I am a little late, but let's face it you don't have to celebrate Easter to enjoy this dish). Last weekend my mom and I whipped out the old recipe and got to baking. The recipe is as follows (for those of you that need a little more direction than the below posted recipe card).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. Ham (chopped or in run through a meat grinder)

1 1/2 lbs. Hot Italian sausage (removed from casing and cooked)

1 1/2 lbs. Grated jack cheese (use the biggest holes on your grater)

1 1/2 lbs. Ricotta Cheese (feel free to make your own, makes it oh so good)

8 hard boiled eggs (chopped)

1/2 cup parsley

1/4 cup grated parmigiano - reggino cheese

6 raw eggs + 1 extra yolk

black pepper to taste

Crust:

Make your favorite pie crust with less shortening/butter than normal (make enough for a top and bottom)

Pre heat your oven at 350 degrees with the rack placed in the middle.

Remove your sausage from there casings and cook, set aside to cool.

I ran all the ingredients (Minus the raw eggs, ricotta, parm, parsley, and sausage) through a meat grinder to get everything nice and minced for the pie. Then in a big bowl (very large) i mix the ham, cooled sausage, cheeses (all three), boiled eggs and parsley together with my hands. If you don't like getting your hands messy you can use a large wooden spoon, but make sure it is mixed well. When all the ingredients minus the raw eggs are well mixed together, start mixing the eggs in one at time. Once the filling is mixed well cover and set aside in the frig to while you make your crust.

Fill crust with meat and egg mixture creating a little mound on the top.

Cover with pie crust, brush top with egg yolk and make vent holes with a knife (I like to do mine in the shape of and egg because I am a dork)

Bake pie for and hour and a half. Cool on a rack and eat at room temperature.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

2009-02-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

When I first started this blog I envisioned it as a place to post my mac and cheese recipes. Because frankly I loved mac and cheese, but the thing is I have yet to post a single mac and cheese recipe on this here blog. I guess I fell off that train a while back, not because I don’t love the mac and cheese but I did realize I don’t really make it that often for a variety of reasons. So today you get my first post that is even close to mac and cheese you get...drum roll please...tuna noodle casserole.

Now I did not grow up in a casserole eating family, in fact I did not have tuna noodle casserole until my friend Mackenzie made it in college. But I like it, I like it a lot, which means I have made in many times in many different ways in the quest to find something so yummy that like does not cover how I feel! The following recipe is variation of an recipe from epicurious.com
So here it is my favorite recipe for tuna noodle casserole:

1 medium yellow onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
4 cups sliced white mushrooms
6 tablespoons butter give or take
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup whole milk
6 oz. egg noodles (half a bag)
salt and pepper
1 cup mild cheddar cheese (grated)
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated fine)

Prep ingredients, you know get the chopping and grating done ahead of time so you can get to it. Preheat oven at 375 degrees, placing rack in the middle. Butter casserole dish.

In heavy skillet melt 1 1/2 tblsp. butter and saute onions until they begin to give off liquid and soften, add garlic cook until onions start to caramelize. Add mushrooms and cook until they begin to give off liquid. Add soy sauce and continue cooking until they are tender and liquid has evaporated. Add sherry vinegar and cook until liquid has evaporated (if you don’t have sherry vinegar, then don’t put it in and really you will be fine, it just kind of mellows out the soy and you know adds another layer of flavor. The original recipe called for a 1/4 sherry, but I didn’t have it and I had the vinegar so I adjusted, feel free to do the same). Remove from heat and set aside.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in heavy sauce pan over medium low heat, whisk in flour and cook stirring for three minutes. Add broth in steady stream, whisking. Bring to a boil, and you know keep on whisking. Whisk in milk and cook for 5 minutes (whisking occasionally). Add in lemon juice, salt, tuna and mushroom mixture. Taste and add salt and pepper.

Cook noodles till al dente and strain, transfer noodles back to pot you cooked them in and mix in cheese. Pour sauce over noodles and give them a good stir to make sure sauce coats the noodles. Transfer to baking dish and cover with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese (which you should mix together). Bake for 20 minutes until the top is golden brown and the dish bubbles.

Take out of oven and let dish set up 5-10 minutes. Dish out and enjoy!

The things you find in the grocery store!

2008-12-30T09:54:00.001-08:00

While visiting the parental unit this holiday season I took the obligatory trip to the grocery store with my mom to pick up some things we forgot (I then went back after we got home and realized there was no white wine or onions in the house). While running through my grocery list and picking up the fixings for Christmas dinner I ran across this....

That is right folks, and quarterly magazine dedicated to cheese, cheese making, and cheese makers. If you love the dairy as I do, I suggest you check it out. I of course bought it and have been enjoying it A LOT! There is a lovely article about an Italian cheese maker along with lots of info about blue cheese (there feature cheese for this first issue).

check out the website or go get it in your local grocery/book/news stand store and buy it.

http://culturecheesemag.com

Lemon Meringue Pie

2008-11-24T11:44:00.001-08:00

I have these old ceramic pie plates from my grandmother that have nifty recipes on the bottom and there is nothing that brings out the baking dork in me like these pie plates. I love making apple pie in the apple one and lemon meringue pie in the lemon one and so in the spirit of the holidays I bring you Lemon Meringue Pie. Yes you can still make it if you don't have a pie plate with lemons on the bottom, but if you do I promise it will taste better.

For my pie crust I use the recipe from the Tartine cookbook. It is pretty basic, flour (check), butter (you know it) and water. Anyway bake up your favorite pie crust and let cool.

For the filing:

8 tblsp. cornstarch

3 cups sugar (add and extra cup if you like your pie extra sweet)

2 cups boiling water

1 tsp. salt

3/4 c. lemon juice

1/2 c. meyer lemon juice

grated rind from 4 lemons 2 each kind

4 tblsp butter

8 eggs seperated

In double boiler, combine cornstarch, 2 c sugar and boiling water. Cook, stirring constantly, till mixture thickens. Add salt, lemon juice & grated rind. Continue cooking, and don't you dare stop with the stirring lumpy pie...yuck! Once completely blended, beat egg yolks (in a separate bowl, make it a big one) until lemon colored. Pour mixture over egg yolks, stirring constantly, then transfer back into the top of your double boiler and cook for 4 minutes. Add butter and blend well. Remove mixture and let cool, then pour into cooled pie shell.

For the meringue preheat oven to 325. Beat egg whites till very stiff, gradually adding 12 tblsp. sugar. Beat until mixture forms stiff peaks. Spread over lemon mixture and bake for 15 minutes or until you have a nice golden brown crust over the meringue. Let pie completely cool before serving (the lemon will need to set up again, yeah go ahead and stick it in the fridge).

I made this pie in october for Canadian Thanksgiving (What so I live in California, I know a lot of Canadians and I like turkey) and it was a hit, so if you are thinking you would like to change it up this holiday season and bring a lemon pie instead, be bold and go for it!

A new project...

2008-06-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

I am not going to lie the highlight of my weekend was making ricotta in my kitchen. The cheese and the pizza it went on turned out fabulous and now I am all about making the cheese! I think I would like to try the ricotta again but infuse it with basil and see what happens. But what really is at the forefront of my mind in mozzarella. I found a recipe at www.afullbelly.com that I am going to try and I do believe I will be taking my lunch today at the bookstore where I will find a cheese making book, because I simply have too. I am so excited. Look forward to many cheese posting to come!

Beating the Heat!

2008-06-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen it is HOT in the bay area, I mean seriously hot for the folks here. You know we don't have air conditioning because we do not usually get heat like this. So I needed a solution to my overheating issue that went beyond laying if front of my fan all day. While at the farmers' market genius hit in the form of beautiful blackberries, I bought myself a basket and headed home where I proceeded to make lemon-limeade and fresh blackberry popsicles. The recipe is as follows, it is tart but I like it that way, if you don't use more sugar!

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Make simple syrup and cool.

Juice from 3 lemons

Juice from 4 limes

Mix together with simple syrup.

Drop 4-5 fresh blackberries into your popsicle mold. If you don't have one you can use dixi cups and popsicle sticks (totally work I swear!). Then pour your lemon-limeade over blackberries, pop in the sticks and freeze. In a couple of hours you will have a cool refreshing treat!

In other news I just finished making homemade ricotta for the first time and I am going use it on my pizza tonight (the recipe via smittenkitchen, though I am not using the meat and adding olives and arugula salad as a topper).

Hope the heat isn't keeping you out of the kitchen! Remember you can always take a break with a popsicle!

A few things...

2008-05-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

First I bought the silicone egg poaching cups. I will let you know how that goes.

Second I LOVE this website: www.tastespotting.com

Third I just found out my uncle has a Meyer Lemon tree in his back yard. Looks like someone will be preserving lemons very soon!

That is all

Muffin Madness

2008-04-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

So if you are like me you start your morning off with a nice fresh brewed pot of coffee, neatly dispensed to you in a white paper cup by a not so happy caffeine professional. You also have a little bit a self control problem and when faced with the glass case full of pastries the apple you had for breakfast doesn’t feel quite like enough. One of my all time favorites is the blackberry hazelnut muffin.
Now mind you I actually get up and make a fresh pot of coffee to have after my shower and before I brush my teeth and simply feel like I need another by the time I make it to work. In an attempt to cut back on the spending I am trying to make a couple more cups in my pot in the morning and cut the caffeine professional out of my morning routine once and for all. But what about the muffins you might ask? I surely did. Then I realized I am a woman who bakes, likes it, finds it cathartic even. I can make that damn muffin for myself and it will not be the size of my head. And it will not be overly sweet. And and and...I can actually feel good about my muffin consumption (God only knows how many calories I have been consuming all in the name of muffins).

My first attempt last night went pretty well but there will need to be some tweaking before posting the recipe. I took the sour cream muffin recipe from my joy of cooking and substituted half the flour with ground hazelnuts (yummy) and then added frozen blackberries. I know frozen you say, but the thing is I like to keep an item in my freezer that I can easily turn into dessert (you never know when people will stop by) and lately that dessert is berry cobbler. So I had the berries already, thus making it a must make last night. Anywhoo, the base recipe called for 4 tablespoons of sugar and I upped it to half a cup, and yet it was still not enough. I want them to be slightly less sweet than the store bought ones, but a little sweeter than I made them. I think next week I will make them with a cup or maybe 3/4 cup sugar and see how they turn out. I also got a little lazy with the second batch of hazelnuts I ground (in my trusty dusty mini prep food processor) and I will not do that next time. I was wrong a chunk of nut or two does in fact have a negative effect on the muffin. I think I will be most excited when I get them right. Come on can you blame me, imagine it a muffin that tastes good, is made at home and is not the size of my head. I can use that, add in the stress reducing factor that baking brings on and you have a win win situation. Only down side I can see is I am still trying to get the berry stain off my hands. Yes I washed them, more than once, sheesh! Even with shampooing my hair in the shower this morning there is still stain under the nail. Oh well it is all in pursuit of the perfect morning muffin, I will soldier on.

Spring is Here

2008-03-25T14:59:00.001-07:00

Marmalade, originally uploaded by poormetal.

To honor this season I made orange marmalade, using the fruit from my parents orange tree, the recipe is as follows:

Six navel oranges (if your parents a have tree take take'm)

Three meyer lemons

Ten cups water

Nine and a quarter cups sugar

Two teaspoons cardamon

One teaspoon ginger

This recipe takes me three days to make, though it can be done in two. The first day is very easy, stick your fruit in the freezer. Freezing the fruit makes it easy to get thin slices the next day and you don't have the oozing juice mess you get when you have fresh fruit, more juice in the jam just makes it tastier. Once the fruit is frozen, slice in halve then slice in very thin (almost paper thin) halve moon slices. Set aside and let thaw (this will not take very long due to the thinness of the slices). In a large stock pot add your fruit and your water and bring to a boil. While boiling mix sugar and spices together. When your water has come to a rapid boil remove from heat and stir in sugar and spice mixture. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Cover and set out over night to allow mixture to cool to room temperature. The next day bring the mixture up to a low boil on medium low heat and let it cook (simmering) for two hours, stirring occasionally to make sure it does not burn and stick to the bottom of your pot. Bring your heat up top medium and let boil for twenty minutes, your candy thermometer should register 220. A good way to check to see if it is ready is to let some cool in the fridge (so it is at room temp. basically). If it is at the perfect place between runny and thick then you are good to go. If it is runny cook more, if it is really thick add some water. Once your marmalade is ready, do the canning thing.

This recipe was adapted from 'The Barefoot Contessa at Home'. I played with the sugar quantity (less than the original recipe called for) and added spices.

Apple Cheddar Salad

2008-03-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

My mother and I went to Eccolo in Berkeley on Saturday for lunch. It was all and all delightful. We ordered an entree salad to share to start with. This salad was so lovely that I went out and bought all the ingrediants and I have been making it pretty much every day for lunch since then. After we finished the salad (not a single piece of lettuce remained) and our drinks (pink slipper for me, coffee for mom) we dug into our burgers. Now the burgers are a little pricey 12.50 for a burger, but good. Cooked to perfection with caramelized onions on top. The edges where rolled in salt I believe which I could have done without. It left you with every other bite being a bit to salty, that would be my only complaint. Which places this burger at good and not yummy or scrumptious or well...GREAT. We had a little moment when we thought "man I miss the burgers at the balboa cafe" but it passed, for the enjoyment that the salad brought us far out weigh the extra salt on the burgers.

Apple Chedder Salad thing (as close as I could get it to Eccolo's)

1 Pink Lady Apple

1/2 cup cubed or crumbled Aged white cheddar (English style)

1/2 cup candied walnuts

Mixed greens

Good olive oil, and balsamic with a little dijon mustard to emulsify (for the dressing)

So good and I will have it for lunch today again. There is enough here for a large entree salad or a salad to share.

Side note, my mother and I often when lunching end up ordering burgers. I can't quite place my figure on why, we love many foods and burgers always seem so...basic. No matter who nice a place it is, when it is just the two of us we always default to the burger. This of course makes us quite the critic, and the above mentioned burgers at the Balboa Cafe are some of our favorites. Eccolo's came with homemade bread and butter pickles, I, not being pickle person, could not tell you how they stacked up. For that you will have to go to my mom. I guess this is why we have my dad, for some reason his presence brakes the magic burger spell and we start ordering things like the duck confit salad when he is around.

Things I don't really need but kind of want....

2008-03-07T09:51:00.000-08:00

So I was walking around Sur la table yesterday at lunch looking for bottles to jar my ginger sweet and sour mixer in (can you say happy holidays!) and finding nothing that struck my fancy in that department. I did find these...silicone egg poaching cups, that I totally do NOT need, but kind of want. You see, i love a good poached eggs and have yet to find a egg poaching device that really works for me. Usually after using it once I toss the device thinking "what's the point?" I've been just throwing the egg straight into the water and you know it works if you don't mind fishing out the whites that have separated from the rest of the egg. Good enough for myself in the morning on some toast, not good enough to serve guests. So every time I see a new device I am overcome with the urge to buy. I resisted yesterday but they are only 9.95 for a set of two and they ARE very pretty shades of green so who knows how long my will power will last. The other thing I found and resisted, was these lovely french canning jars. They where the perfect size for the marmalade I am planning on making, nicely shaped with glass lids. Now they are not the kind that the lid is hinged with a metal contraption. No the glass lid just sit on top, dipping down inside the jar slightly. Very pretty and very functional and very expensive. I thought long and hard about how much I really like the people who would be receiving the marmalade and then decided they could do with good ol' bell jars, and I could save myself roughly 2 buck a jar that way. 35 dollars (ish I don't really remember but the exact cost and they are not on Sur la tables web site, so I can not fact check while pretending to be working if you know what I mean) for 12 jars just seemed a little pricey for me. Pretty though and when I actually get serious enough to start really putting together little homemade holiday packages (I plan on it every year and it NEVER happens, so don't put to much stock in serious nature of the above mentioned "mixer bottle search") then maybe I will invest in some pretty jars. Until then you will take your homemade marmalade in the type of canning jar your grandmother used and you'll like it!

A late dinner again last night...

2008-03-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

but worth the wait. After drooling over the chicken Marsala on smitten kitchen (www.smittenkitchen.com) for the past couple days, last night I decided I could resist no longer. So after my target stop I hit the grocery store and bought all the stuff needed plus groceries for the week and headed home. I didn't walk through the door until after 8 so, it is no surprise that I sat down at my computer to eat (I know pathetic, but I had dishes I need to put away on the table and the leaf is still in from the party and well it makes me feel lonely eating at that big of a table by myself). I am trying to cut the dairy (my stomach says thanks, my taste buds not so much), and omitted the butter and served with some very yummy garlic mash potatoes (made with olive oil and soy milk). This time the lack of dairy did nothing to harm the dish, in fact I found it very yummy. I had forgotten how much I enjoy a nice Marsala. Next time I may make the dish completely vegan (I know crazy right) and sub out the chicken for some fried tofu. Getting the sauce right without dairy and without the chicken juices will be a little tricky. The lack of butter in the sauce this time, decreased the richness (though not to a fault), taking out the chicken drippings may require adding something in...how knows. I will let you, when I figure it out. Lucky me I have a bottle of Marsala at home waiting to become sauce. That is all for now folks, eat well and enjoy!

Amber's Ginger Gimlet!

2008-02-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

couple of weekends ago I had some friends over for mac and cheese. I had them over with the express intention of posting the mac and cheese recipe at this very blog. I also decided to make some cocktails for the little shindig. Well the mac and cheese turned out quite well but the gimlets I made were just scrumpious. The perfect blend of crisp gin and citris to make ones mouth water. So instead of posting of the mac and cheese I will leave you with the recipe for my gimlets.

Ginger sweet and sour mix:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1 3" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Juice from 12 lemons

Juice from 7 limes

Juice from 1 orange

Make a simple syrup out of the sugar and water with the fresh ginger pieces added into the mix. While this is happening juice your fruit. Once the syrup has cooled, remove the ginger pieces and set aside. Mix the syrup into the juice and put in the fridge to cool. Pulse the ginger in a food processor and add to the mixture.

When it is time for drinkies, mix 1 part gin (209 is my favorite, but whatever yours is will work. Just make sure it is good quality, cheap gin tastes like pin needles and no amount of anything will hide that) with 1 half part mix. Shake in a cocktail shaker with ice and pour into chilled up glasses. Your guests will approve! You think you don't like gin, well lets just say I won over two new gin drinkers with this little conconction. It is a winner.

Cheers

Amber

Cinnamon Dolce Latte Cake

2008-02-09T15:02:00.001-08:00

Of all places for baking inspiration to hit, did you expect it to be Starbucks, yep neither did I. For reasons I will not go into a couple of weeks ago I found myself in Starbucks, with my dear friend and fellow coffee snob Teresa. Neither of use are really Starbucks kind of girls. I would much prefer a plan cup of blue bottle or a latte from Ritual and when I am in a pinch and need a cup of joe and I only have chain options Peet's is my choice. Generally I do not do sweet in my coffee, I like to taste all the delightful earthiness, and the warm roasted flavor. Sometimes though I don't really want coffee I want drinkable dessert of sorts. When this is what I am craving, Starbucks always does the trick. Luckily Teresa did not judge me to much. Even there plain soy lattes taste sweet to me. Anyway I ordered a cinnamon dolce latte only to be left with the thought "wouldn't this make a delightful cake".

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I find myself in my kitchen baking just that. Armed with my trusty dusting and always growing collection of cookbooks I mapped out a game plan. This cake would combine three elements each taking on a distinct flavor of the Latte in question. Cinnamon spiced white cake, with a layer of caramel in the center and frosted with Latte flavored frosting would come together to create Amber's Cinnamon Dolce Latte Cake. In the end I added a little cinnamon to the frosting which turned out to be my favorite part of the cake. This frosting will go on other cakes, I think it would be absolutely wonderful on a chocolate cake.

Once I had my game plan I started with the cake. I used my very old Joy of Cooking (it was my grandmother's the 1964 addition) for the base of the cake recipe (white cake). This is the only part of the cake I was not completely pleased with and I think it is mostly due to not quite understanding my oven yet. It took much longer to
cook than the recipe called for and then turned out a little dry at the edges. Lets just say there was a lot of trimming involved with the final product. But the flavor was spot on.
The Cake

While letting the cake cool I whipped up some caramel for the center. I used the recipe in the Tartine cookbook, because well I have NEVER made something from this cookbook, no matter how much I fucked up the recipe that did not turn out fantastic. It is full proof...I swear by it and am always tempted to pick it up as a gift for just about everyone, until I remind myself that most people I know do not have the insane desire to make there own croissants (why i have know idea but I am beginning to understand the crazy that is me and go with it). Of course I did not have cream in the house so I used milk. I am also not a gazillionare so no vanilla beans to be had around here. I was bold enough to say screw it and did without vanilla at all. Usually I am humbled enough to at least substitute for abstract, but I am also getting bold in my old age. The Caramel

While the caramel is cooling to the perfect spreading temp (not to wet not to solid), I trim my cake and prep it for the filling. Next time I do this (and there will be a next time) I will cut the cake into four layers and double the caramel recipe. Why you ask, well it is simple the caramel oozes down into the cake and makes it really quite...yummy. What I never claimed to be a wordsmith. When you have trimmed your cake and poured the caramel into the layers set it aside and start the frosting.

For the frosting I used a recipe from the Barefoot Countessa. I know there are many people out there in the foodie world that look down there noises at the Food-Network kind of cook, but her recipes are lovely, if not heavy on the butter and other yummy fats. These are recipes from a woman who clearly loves life and understands that food is essential to living well. A meal prepared with love is like nothing else, and she gets that. So I will not apologize for my use of this recipe as a base. Or anything else I use of hers. No she cooks the kind of food you remember from your childhood, she understand that a good grilled cheese and warm homemade soup on a cold winter night can be just as satisfying as the butter poached oysters on a bed tapioca served at the French Laundry, and we are like minded in this. P.S. Thomas Keller I LOVE YOU. There is something about her that reminds me of my mother and grandmother. Growing up we were just as likely to find my mother make Vichyssoise for dinner as we were burrito’s Antracoli family style, and we loved them both. Because my mom could cook, and so could her mother and it is a gift that keeps getting passed down. Hell my sister is a history professor in Central Penn trying to start a goat cheese business and I have know doubt that her goat cheese will be tops. So here is the frosting recipe adapted from the frosting recipe from the Barefoot Countessa At Home's coconut cake (the cream cheese and butter remain, everything else changes from the original). The Frosting

When the frosting is prepped and ready to go, just do it. Now from the pictures you can see that I will not be quitting my job to frost cakes professionally anytime soon. I am not ashamed of this in fact I embrace my ugly cake. Because, when finally serve yourself a piece it tastes good, damn good. I did not frost between the layers and after the initial frosting I put one final layer of caramel on top, then frosted over it using a pastry bag. Why do this you may ask. It is definitely a step you can leave out. What I like about this is that there is one layer of caramel that does not get absorbed into the cake and oozes out when you cut into it. Leaving a little pool of caramel on the bottom on ones plate, and Jason says you never have to apologize for pools of caramel and I tend to agree. So there it is Cinnamon Dolce Latte Cake, Starbucks eat your heart out, this takes the dessert cake.

Cinnamon Latte Frosting

2008-02-09T14:48:00.000-08:00

Okay before I just list the ingredients here I would like to say that this frosting is not for the faint of heart, or the skinny little bitch in the at the fashion show that thinks that low fat salad dressing is a splurge in the calorie intake...if you know what I am saying.

And the Ingredients are:

1 lb. Cream Cheese
1/2 lb. Unsalted Butter
1 lb. confectioners' sugar (I didn't have this much and it turned out plenty sweet, so don't feel like you have to use the whole pound, I will not judge you if you do)
1 shot espresso. I made have a stove top single shot maker that I used with Illy espresso and I was plenty pleased
Cinnamon to taste (I will be honest I don't know how much I put in, just enough to be tasty)

In your standing mixer, cream butter and cream cheese (have them at room temp helps). Add in the sugar and the espresso. Cinnamon to taste. When it is all blended I let the frosting stiffen up in the fridge for about 15 minute and then I went to town frosting the cake. Don't be shy when tasting to see if there is enough cinnamon (this recipe makes a big enough batch) and always let someone like the beaters.

Caramel

2008-02-09T14:40:00.002-08:00

Stuff you will NEED:

2/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cups water
1/4 tsp salt
2 tblsp light corn syrup
3/4 tsp lemon juice
4 tblsp unsalted butter

Warm milk in sauce pan. In a medium sized heavy sauce pan, combine sugar, water salt and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook without stirring until mixture is amber in color about 5 - 8 minutes. Remove from heat and add the milk in a slow stream stirring. It will boil vigorously (Tartine's word not mine, I would have said, don't worry if it looks like it is going to explode all is still well). Once mixture does not look like a science project whisk until smooth and add the lemon juice. Let it cool for 10 minutes and add the butter in 1" chunk, whisk them in until they dissolve one at a time.

Cinnamon Spiced Cake

2008-02-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

The Goods:

3 1/2 cups flour

4 tsp. baking powder (I didn't have any so I combine cream of tartar with baking soda - so it would rise, which does the trick. I guessed on the proportions and was happy with the result. Ok course yesterday when I got my Bon Appetit in the mail I noticed that they had a recipe for homemade baking powder, a day late and a dollar short BA)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tblsp cinnamon

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla
Splash of White Basalmic Vinegar
1 cup milk

7 to 8 egg whites (beaten until stiff not dry)

So here is the thing, This did not turn out perfect for me and though I have made this cake before it did not get wet enough so I added 5 of the egg yolks. Use your own discretion here if the batter is not loose enough add some yolk.

Anyway, mix the dry together in a bowl and set aside. Do the same with the wet. Cream the butter and sugar together, in the bowl of your standing mixer. Add in the dry and the wet into the mixer alternating until it forms your batter. (Remember no eggs have gone in yet so don't panic YET). Scoop out and set aside. Beat the egg white till stiff not dry. Now fold the egg whites into the batter. If it seem dry add in some yolks. This of course will make the batter no as fluffy because you will have to stir and flatten the egg whites, but oh well. Hopefully this step will not have to happen for you. Then you know put the batter in two round pans (prepped with the butter and flour as us bakers do) and put them in a oven all ready to go at 375. This should take 20 minutes to bake up. If you are me it will still be all gooey in the center at this point and you will bake it for another 20 minutes and that will be five to long and trimming will be essential in the end. Don't worry though I have found that when you slather a cake in dairy fats and sugar no one says "you know it was very tasty but a little dry" and if they do the preferred response it "well then make your own damn cake".

Honesty

2008-01-19T13:25:00.000-08:00

To tell the truth the peppermint patties never happened and the cute little celophane bags have gone unused into the Christmas box for next year. What I have done though is start reading Julie and Julia, lovely book about one womans coming of age (thirty people I can relate) story and how cooking her way through Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking transformed her. Or at least I think that is what it is about, I have only gotten through the first chapter. Needless to say I already feel as if it is a story I could be telling (of course I did not marry my high school sweetheart or have on for that matter and I don't live in Brooklyn with said sweetheart. I am applying to Brooklyn Law School so that is something...or maybe not). Anyway, it has inspired to to a) hunt down a copy of the cook book (as of to date unsuccessful, I want a used one) and b) make potage parmentier (in which I ran out a bought all the ingredients for, giving me an opportunity to use my little purple hand shopping cart. It is kind of like the hand carts in the store, only made out of fabric with a metal frame and of course it closes at the top. Basically it rules). So that is how I will spend my evening and I am super excited. I will also be making the lemon bars from the Tartine cookbook, because they are delicious and I am just in a food kind of place. I will update with the recipes and photos and tales of my adventures. The kitchen is calling me I must give in.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

Well I was going to post my foray into candy making next. But unfortunately the peppermint patty experiment did not turn out well. I blame the bubbly drinking. Having a friend over to help a imbibing bubbly does not really mix with successful candy making, though they are a perfect recipe for a good time. I ended up overcooking the sugar in the first batch, so it had a caramel taste but a peppermint patty consistency. We never got around to making a second batch. Next year I will be stocked up though, with the peppermint oil and cute little candy cane bags to package them in. Needless to say, no one got the homemade candy packages this year. Oh well!

For Christmas I got "Sunday Suppers At Luques", which I adore and have been wanting for a very very long time. My friend Teresa (who I purchased it for last Christmas) and I are planning on making our way through the recipes this year. 2008 will be the year both of us turn 30, seems like the right time to take on an undertaking of foodie goodness. Let the celebration begin, thirties I am determine to make sure you rock. And to kick the year off I think I want to make the first menu from Luques.
Young onion tart with cantal, applewood-smoked bacon, and herb salad
Braised beef short ribs with potato puree, swiss card, and horseradish cream
Warm crepes with lemon zest and hazelnut brown butter

I think I will head to the farmer's market next week and see how I can shape this menu up. There off course will be deviations from the plan, but that is what makes life exciting no?

Have a lovely 2008, and eat well!

Well, well a recipe finally!

2007-12-05T10:55:00.000-08:00

This blog is really becoming a very unflattering portrait of my ability to complete a task, or lack there off. In my defense I did apply to Law School in the gap between posts and my Internet service has been spotty at home.
So German Chocolate cheesecake people! This recipe was developed for my dear friend Ken who loves German chocolate anything and was, let just say, "unhappy" at work. Nothing cheers a person up like baked sweetened dairy fats...yum. If you are looking for a low calorie anything, please move on. I am a woman who loves cheese (my present quarrel with lactose can not squash this love)!
The base for this recipe was pulled from epicurious.com it is the Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake recipe from Bon Appetite. I have made a few adjustments and of course additions of ingredients. I top the cake with traditional coconut pecan frosting that I found at www.myhomecooking.net, like everything I used the recipe as a base and went from there. The recipe is as follows:

Crust:

Chocolate graham crackers - (1 package out of the box)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Filling:

1 9.7-ounce bar 70% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped (I use Scharffen Berger but any good quality chocolate will do).
4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature (or fromage blanc if you are feeling fancy, cow girl creamery makes a lovely framoge blanc and if I am feeling decandent I go halvies with the fb and cream cheese)
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I like the dark chocolate chips from ghiraradelli)

Topping:

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 beaten egg yolks
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup chocolate chips

For the cake you will need a nine inch spring form and a mixing device. I use the paddle on my kitchen aid, but if you want to use your arm and a wooden spoon that will due also. Pre heat your oven to 350 and butter your spring form (you know the drill). In a food processor or with your hands break the graham crackers up till they are dust...chocolate cookie dust...yum! Mix in the sugar and then the melted butter. All of this can be done with a spoon or in your food processor (I like to use my hands during this process). Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 5 minutes till sets, remove and cool while making filling. Keep the oven on.

Now it is filling time, first melt the chocolate using a double boiler or two sauce pans resting inside each other, or a metal bowl resting in the sauce pan. Whatever you can make work, do it. I have this really old double boiler that my parents (or my mother more accurately received as a wedding gift in the early 70's) and it is not fancy but does the trick. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. Cool chocolate till look warm and still pourable (it should be ready to go when you are ready for it). In the bowl of your standing mixture, or just a bowl if you are using a spoon, add the cream cheese, sugar and cocoa. Mix until smooth and then add eggs one at a time. Mix in chocolate.

Pour half of the batter into the cooled shell. Sprinkle a layer of coconut, then a layer of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips mixed togther and finally a layer of pecans. If you really love coconut, or butterscotch or nuts add more, the quanities are approximations. The only real important thing is putting the chips in the middle. If they are on the bottom or evenly mixed in or on top they will melt into the batter and will not create a striping effect in the center. This little bit of informations was gained not from commom since like many would expect, but from trial and error. The cheesecake will have all the yummy german chocolate goodness no matter how you add the bits to the batter, I just like the layer myself. Pour the remaining batter on top. Bake for about an hour, until the cake has just set and appears dry. Let cool for 5 minutes, then run a knife along the edges and chill while making the frosting.

Okay it is frosting time: On medium heat mix 1 cup evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar, 3 beaten egg yolks, 1/2 cup butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla for 12 minutes. Remove from heat and pour off half of the mixture and set aside to cool. Add 1/2 cup coconut and pecans to remaining frosting, stir in completely and let cool. Once cooled, but still spreadable, mix in chips. Be careful to not mix them in too soon or they will melt. See below picture (I got antsy that day). Set frosting aside and pull cheesecake out of frig. Remove spring form sides and spread frosting with coconut on top. Take the plain frosting you have set aside and spread a thin layer around the edges. Press remaining coconut into the sides. Put back in the frig to chill overnight. (sometimes I can not wait overnight and must serve it the same day, if you too have a problem delayed gratification make sure you let it chill for a couple of hours and the frosting is set).

Enjoy!

Sorry...

2007-10-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well about three months ago I promised a recipe for German Chocolate Cheese cake and everyone is waiting. I hope to post it this weekend. I just happened to have moved, started a new job and I am applying to go back to school so I have been busy. I am finally settle and promise to get back on this thing. Mac and Cheese will be coming soon, or as soon as you can count on from me.

2007-07-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

Coming soon....German Chocolate Cheesecake!

We be Jammin....

2007-06-25T18:20:00.001-07:00

Mom and I made plum jam this weekend with the plums from her Santa Rosa Plum tree (those are the plums in question to the left). All and all the jam turned out good, a little heavy on the cinnamon, but once you spread it on your toast it mellows out and well I really like cinnamon and I made it to my taste. We made a ton of jam and didn't even make a dent in the tree and now we are thinking about selling some of it (my mom and I will also be giving it out as home made holiday gifts, I hope my dad's staff likes jam) I will need to refine the recipe a bit. Speaking of recipes, the plum jam recipe is as follows:

5 1/2 cups finely chopped Santa Rosa plums (we hand chopped about a third and then pulsed the rest in the food processor. This worked well, leaving some bigger chunks of fruit in the finished product)

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

1 table spoon cinnamon (use half a table spoon if you want a more subtle flavor)

1 package pectin (dry)

8 1/2 c sugar (granulated)

In a large shallow saucepan mix the fruit, vinegar, and cinnamon. Stir in the pectin over a high heat and bring to a boil. Add the sugar and bring back to a boil (stirring constantly). Cook for 4 minutes at a boil (don't stop stirring). Remove from heat and skim foam from the top. Filled prepared jars (run them through the dishwasher and let the lids soak in hot water). Place filled jars (with the lids on silly) in boiling water (water should cover jars) for 10 minutes. Remove from boiling water and let cool on a towel. When you hear the lids popping (or if you press down on the lid and it does not pop back up) you will know the jars are sealed. Store in you pantry and enjoy later.

This was a fairly easy process though time consuming and a little dangerous with the boiling liquid and the constant stirring. My mom and I picked and prepped the fruit on the first day and then made the jam on the second. A well organized kitchen and work space will help speed up the process. Amounts of sugar and pectin vary for different fruits. The plums are high in pectin and take less sugar than say strawberries. Most pectin packages come with a recipe. Keep to the sugar/fruit/pectin ratio and experiment with the rest. We choose balsamic vinegar instead of lemon juice to provide the acid and tang and added spices to our liking. Making jam is fun experiment and enjoy yourself.

2007-06-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my cooking blog. If your kitchen is your playground, the thought of making your own pancetta sends tingles down your spine, a nice refreshing cocktail says welcome home at the end of a day and you find life's pleasures at your local farmer's market then this the place for you. Here I will dispense my cooking knowledge and sometime lack there of (never be afraid to make a mistake) in the form of weekly recipes that will range anywhere from homemade jam to mac and cheese. In my link section you will find, weekly links for ingredients along with cookbooks I love and other blogs that I read.

Coming soon...Plum Jam