Preview of coming attractions!

Let the Great Torrone Project of 2009 begin!

Sweet Burbon Apple Pie (and bonus pinwheels)

A plus side to the horrendously wet New England summer we had was a bumper crop of apples. Dio brought me home a bag of Opalescents from the Farmer's Market last week. Time for pie! Apple pie is one of the two things I make every year without fail. You'll see the other one in December.

I am an inconsistent type of gal when it comes to baking. I like to fiddle with my recipes. This is basically Laa's Magic Apple Pie with a few changes to the apple part.

For the Crust: (makes enough for a full bottom and top crust, or bottom and lattice top with some to spare)

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
  
• 1 tbs. raw sugar
• 1/3 tsp. sea salt
• 2 sticks chilled butter*, cubed
• 4 tbs. cold water

For the Filling:

• 8-12 apples, peeled and cut into small chunks (use whatever apple you like and cut up enough to fill the pie shell you're using.
• 6 tbs. butter
• 1 tbs. flour
• 4 tbs. ''ish" raw sugar* (Raw sugar is a personal preference. I like the richness. If you don't, just use white sugar)
  
• 4 tbs. ''ish'' white sugar*
• ground cinnamon
• ground clove
• ground nutmeg (grind it yourself! It takes two seconds and tastes fantastic!)
  
• about 1/2 cup-ish bourbon of choice* (I used Knob Creek since it's a house favorite and what we had on hand.)

*(notes on the ''ish''es: If you like your pie sweet, add more. Less sweet, add less. I'm a big fan of tasting as you go, so I keep my sugars and spices close so I can add more if I want. That's why my measurements are never that precise. I apologize.)

To make crust:

1. Mix flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Add butter and mix (preferably by hand) until mixture becomes mealy and the butter is in pea sized chunks.
3. Add water and mix gently until all ingredients are combined and there are chunks of butter throughout. Do not over-knead!!! I cannot emphasize this enough!
   
4. Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 10 minutes. (I made mine around 9am and let it sit in the fridge until around 7 when I got home from work.)
   

To cook the apples:

1. Peel and cut your apples into small chunks and place aside.
2. In a large skillet or wok, melt the butter on medium heat, then add the flour sugars and bourbon, cooking until it starts to reduce into a syrupy consistency. This takes around 3-5 minutes (and smells fantastic).
   
3. Add apples and stir until coated in syrup. Allow the apples to cook until they start releasing juices.
4. Add cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg to taste. (Feel free to add other spices and herbs too, or to subtract some of the ones I added.)
5. When the apples are coated in the spices, you can add another dash of bourbon and cook until the alcohol comes off, or just take it off the heat and pour the apples into your pie plate.
   

The rest of it:

1. Roll out pie dough and place it in pie cooking device of choice.
2. Add apple mixture to the uncooked crust, if desired, add some small cubes of butter to the apple mixture,
   
3. Add top crust and pinch off edges. If you made a lattice top, you're fine. If you made a full top crust, use a pie bird or cut slits to allow steam to escape. You can either cut off the crust that hangs over or fold it over and make a super thick crust edge. I recommend placing aluminum foil around the outer crust to prevent it from burning. (If you feel so inclined, you can also brush a mixture of egg white and white sugar over the top crust to make it all shiny and sweet.)
4. Cook at 375-400 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until the top starts to brown nicely and the apples are sizzling.
5. Take out of the oven and let cool for at least 20 minutes.

If you have leftover crust, you can make some pinwheels!

Pinwheels:

• Take your leftover crust and gather it back up into a ball.
• Roll it out into a fairly rectangular shape
• Coat the top with butter, sugar and cinnamon
• Roll into a tube
• Slice 1/2 inch thick slices
• Place on a small pie sheet or aluminum foil tray while your pie is baking and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until they look golden brown.

Operation Wedding Cake

Operation Wedding Cake is officially complete!

First, let me say a few words about wedding cakes. I love cake, especially wedding cake. I joke that I got married for the cake. However, Dio and I never had a formal wedding, so we never had the experience of picking out that special cake. (But we DID have cake. Two, in fact.)

Wedding cakes are so precious, and such an important part of a wedding ceremony, should you choose to have one. I had only experienced the guests side of the wedding cake experience before. Staring at it throughout the wedding, marveling at how pretty it was, and wondering when I could eat it. Now, on the other end, I realize how precious this confection is. How much care goes into making it. Through the entire process, through the stress, sleeping in the kitchen, dealing with the humidity, losing decorations, gathering new ones, getting stung on the tongue by a bee, and finally putting it all together, I kept reminding myself how much I love the people I made this cake for, and how I wanted to make this the most special, wonderful cake they had ever eaten.

All day, I felt like I was guarding something so delicate and precious. The relief and pride when I placed this cake in front of them was overwhelming. I laughed as the groom lifted it up for the entire room to see, and then I retreated to the outside of the building and quietly watched them cut the cake through a window, with a huge grin on my face.

This cake that was our gift to them on their wedding day.






















(Photo courtesy and copyright of Peter Paradise)



Immense thanks to Dio, Miss A, and my mother and father for putting up with me and helping me bake all those cakes.

And many blessings to Chaya Leia and Dave. I'm looking forward to remaking that top tier for them in a year, and watching it bring back the memories of that day.

Cake Teaser

This pretty much sums up my week (and my current mental state)...



Two of the coolest people I know are getting married this weekend, and I have the honor of making their cakes. The cakes are all, as of 30 minutes ago, finished and stored in my little freezer, ready to be transported to the wedding site and decorated tomorrow afternoon.















(Cakes are scary before they're dressed up for the table, huh? There are 3 12'' rounds, two 9'' and 6'' rounds, 4 9''x13'' white cake sheets, and 5 9''X13'' chocolate sheets crammed in that freezer, awaiting their doom. Their delicious, frosting covered doom.)


The coolest thing about this baking marathon? The tiered cake is gluten-free! Yep, you heard me. Gluten-free Banana Spice Cake (with a few spice modifications on my end, including the addition of about a tsp. of orange peel on Dio's suggestion, which adds a nice touch to the flavor), recipe courtesy of Karina's Kitchen. We made a test cake last weekend. Feedback was really positive.
I don't usually care much for gluten-free baking, but this cake was moist as can be and had a really good flavor (somewhere between banana bread and carrot cake). It was a really pleasant , and delicious, surprise, and I think the bride will really enjoy it. The groom too!

Green Goddess Casserole

Sorry it's been a while, but hopefully this weekend we'll have a big spur of activities, and I can catch up on past meals.

Last night I wanted a break from meat (I know, heresy!), but I still wanted something rich and satisfying that still had a bit of a homey taste. I'm from Ohio, so what better than a pasta bake? I had been interested in making my own Green Goddess dressing, and thought it would make a great sauce. Not the modern-hippy one, but one rich and savory where the herbs nicely off-balance the deep flavor of anchovies. I can't stand anchovies by themselves, but used in sauce, they're amazing! I keep a bottle of Thai West Fish sauce in my fridge, and use it quite often.

Green Goddess Casserole

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound pasta (rotini, shells, macaroni, anything you'd put in a bake. I used spinach and tomato rotini to add more depth to the recipe. And cause I already had it in my cupboard

For the Sauce

• 1 cup mayonaisse (home-made is best)
• 2 tablespoons anchovy sauce (I use Thai West Fish Sauce)
• 1 cup spinach, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs (or 1 tablespoon dried, but fresh is much better for this). I used basil, chives and spring onions
• 1 egg

For the Tofu

• 1 brick of pressed seasoned tofu. Quickest and easiest is buying a pressed tofu like a five spice. They make a great one near us in Cambridge. Otherwise, you can use any recipe to press and marinate your tofu
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin (or half tbsp white whine and half tbsp sugar)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp ginger powder

The rest

• 3 cups spinach, chopped
• Two tomatoes, chopped
• 1 ball fresh mozzarella (about 5 oz.) chopped into half inch cubes
• 2 chugs Canola oil

Putting it together

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Make your pasta, following directions, for al dente.
3. In blender, add all ingredients for sauce. Blend on low until incorporated and sauce is a spring green color. Set aside.
4. Mix all ingredients for the tofu except the tofu itself in a bowl.
5. Cut tofu into half-inch squares. For me, this was cutting the block once vertically. For other tofus, twice. Add to bowl, toss to coat.
6. Put a chug of oil in the bottom of a pie plate, and swirl to cover. Add tofu, spread out as evenly as possible, and add to oven for half an hour, tossing every ten minutes.
7. When pasta is down, drain and shock under cold water. Add to 10" pie tin or 11x7 brownie pan. Add the spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella and sauce and toss to combine. On top add the tofu, pouring any marinade over top. Bake for 20 minutes.

Laa wants me to note that the tomatoes, chives and basil came from our garden. The extreme sweetness of home-grown tomatoes really added a nice note to the dish. Laa usually doesn't eat raw tomatoes, and she eats them! So I'd recommend getting as good quality tomatoes as possible.

Coming soon!

So we seem to be a bit behind on the blog...

Upcoming soon-ish..!
-Kitten Invasion dinner (Chompy Noodles, Mushroom Pepper stir-fry, and fruit salad)
-Review of MMMac and Cheese in Faneuil Hall
-Nicole's Dinner (Asparagus soup, Chicken cutlet with leek over pasta, mascerated strawberries with whipped cream)

Cold "Faux" Sesame Noodles and Fried Tofu Triangels

I cooked tonight. (I know, I know...please try to curb your shock and amazement.) This is lazy man food. You'll soon learn I cook nothing but simple things and casseroles.

The tofu is a variation on a recipe my mother and I make, given to us by a woman from China. The original recipe calls for a marinade which I omitted in favor of eel sauce, because eel sauce is the most delicious thing on the planet. The tofu I like to use is simply called Chinese Five Spice tofu and I think you may only be able to get it in Boston area. (It's made in Cambridge.) It's pre-seasoned and super pressed into four little very firm blocks. Seriously, I mean SUPER firm! It makes the extra firm tofu at the supermarket look like jello.

Fried Tofu Triangles

• 1 package tofu
• Canola oil (for frying)
• eel sauce
  

Prep:

1. Cut the tofu blocks into thirds 'heightwise', so each block is in three thin rectangular sheets.
2. Cut each rectangle in half diagonally to make triangles.

Cooking:

1. Fry the tofu in a frying pan in enough oil to submerge it halfway until it starts to brown nicely around the edges.
2. Remove triangles from the oil and allow to cool and drain on a paper towel.
3. Plate and drizzle with eel sauce.
4. Eat it!
   

I refer to the noodles as 'faux' because there really isn't any sesame in them other than sesame oil. I make a variation of Dio's amazing Thai Peanut Sauce with sesame oil added to it to fake the taste of tahini. The great thing about that sauce is you can really mix the ingredients to taste. Just put in more or less of something until it tastes just right, or add your own stuff. Make it thin and it's a salad dressing. Make it thick and it's pizza sauce.

Cold 'Faux' Sesame Noodles

• 1 box spaghetti (or noodle of choice)
  

Sauce:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil (This is a Laa addition for sesame noodles. Dio's Thai sauce does NOT have sesame oil in it!)

1. Mix sauce ingredients together in a non-metallic bowl.
2. Cook spaghetti according to package instructions.
3. Drain and cool by running cold water over the pasta in the strainer.
4. When noodles are cool, toss in sauce
5. Chill for 15 minutes before serving
6. Eat 'em!
   

Everything tonight is garnished with chives, cause that's all I had in the garden that went well with the dishes.

Eggplant Noodles with Grandma's Cucumber Salad

So I guess man (using the German Mann, or neutral gender "one") cannot live on steak alone. Luckily there are foods like eggplant! Eggplant is one of those veggies (fruit, berry, whatever) that I never think to cook unless someone else suggests it. And then I love it. This recipe comes from Alton Brown and is an interesting take on eggplant parm. He cuts the pasta into noodles and quick-fries all the ingredients up. On his show, cooking time was 1 minute, but I found 3 minutes total worked much better. Also, I didn't have cream, so I made more of a quick white-sauce in pan.

I found some nice looking lettuce and a huge english cucumber at my local farmer's market, so I thought one of my grandmother's old recipes would be a perfect accompaniment. Simple, easy to make, but the flavors blend beautifully and offset the savoriness of the eggplant pasta well. This is a great dish to bring to picnics. Although it uses dairy, the combination of using evaporated milk and the vinegar/sugar mixture makes it hold up quite well. While my grandma probably wouldn't stand for it (and luckily she doesn't read my blog yet), I have also added strawberries and tomatoes to the cucumbers to vary the flavor. But it doesn't need it; the dish is great on its own!

The odd coincidence in these two dishes is both REQUIRE the cooking technique "purging." What is purging? It's using salt on the surface of a food to draw out the moisture that would otherwise prevent it from cooking correctly. I used two separate methods for the dishes, however, detailed below.

Eggplant Pasta with Parm Tomato Sauce
(reprinted with edits from Food Network)

Ingredients

• 1 medium-large eggplants
• Kosher salt, for purging
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chile flakes
• 4 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon butter
  
• 2 tablespoons basil chiffonade
• 2 tablespoons cup freshly grated Parmesan

Method

Peel each eggplant leaving 1-inch of skin at the top and bottom unpeeled. Slice the eggplant thinly lengthwise, about 1/4-inch thick. Evenly coat each slice with the salt and purge on a sheet pan fitted with a rack for 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water and roll in paper towels to dry. Slice the pieces into thin strips to resemble pasta.

In a large saute pan heat the oil. Add the garlic and chili flakes and toast. Add the eggplant "pasta" and toss to coat. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Mix flour and milk together. Add flour/milk mixture and increase heat to thicken sauce. As sauce thickens, melt in the butter. Finally add the basil and Parmesan and toss to combine. Season with pepper, no salt needed as the eggplant will have residual salt from the purge. Serve immediately.

Grandma's Cucumber Salad

Where as for the eggplant it worked just to sweat out the water, for cucumbers I've been taught putting them on papertowels helps sap away the moisture. Plus I don't rinse them, so much of the salt goes into the final salad.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp vinegar (grandma uses white distilled; I used rice vinegar)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 small can evaporated milk (regular milk can work as well, but half the two above ingredients and use one cup milk)
• cucumber (above dressing could handle up to 6 cups of cucumbers, but the more cukes/dressing, the longer it should rest before serving)
• Salt and paper towels for purging

Method

1. Startby mixing sugar and vinegar. This will take some time to dissolve, so just stir with a fork every few minutes
2. Meanwhile, chop cucumbers as fine as you can get them. If you have an adjustable mandolin, this works great. If yours isn't adjustable, chances are the slices will be too thick. Paper-thin is the goal.
3. Purge cucumbers by lying them out flat on paper towels. It is alright if they overlap. Salt liberally and cover with more paper towels. At this point I just roll the whole thing up, and stick it out of the way until I'm ready for them (at least twenty minutes)
4. Once vinegar and sugar is dissolved thoroughly (mixture should be cloudy but not grainy), puncture two small holes in the top of the can of evaporated milk. Whisking constantly, slowly add the milk. If you go too quickly, it can curdle. Once blended, add the cucumbers, cover, and refrigerate. Can be served immediately, but I like to let the flavor develop overnight when possible.

The whole point of this dinner was supposed to be a nice surprise for Laa when she got home since it was a deadline night. She surprised me by almost beating me home and wanting to cook with me! So I made the filling for a rhubarb and goat cheese cream tart, but she made the crust and put it all together. A happy accident that we used basil as a garnish, and found out that the flavor was amazing!

Edit: Requested Tart Reciple

So by popular demand, I'll put up the tart recipe. I have to say that although I greatly enjoyed it, it wasn't up to Laa's pâtissier level of approval. The crust was amazing, and you can find her recipe for her standard pie crust here (simply divide smaller and bake first in greased muffin tins; careful, they'll be delicate). I was in charge of the filling, though, and it still had the raw edge of goat cheese moreso than the delicate balance of a cream filling. Any who, here it is:

Dio's Rhubarb-Goatcheese filling

Ingredients

• Two stalks rhubarb (about 2/3 pound)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Orange Juice
• 6 oz. cranberry-orange goat cheese (what, your local vendor doesn't have this? Okay, night before add 1 teaspoon orange zest, 2 tablespoons cranberries and a teaspoon oj. Blend well, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refridgerate. Cream cheese CAN work, too, but you'll lose much of the complexity)
• 1/4 cup milk

Method

1. Take rhubarb, peel roughest bits and chop into half-inch sections. Add to medium sauce pan with 1 cup sugar and a quarter cup orange juice. Cook down over medium heat until rhubarb softens and releases juice. stirring occasionally. Transfer to mixing bowl and put in fridge for half an hour.
2. Once slightly cool, crumble in goat cheese (and other ingredients if using regular goat cheese or cream cheese), add milk and blend on medium until smooth, about two minutes. Put in refridgerator for another half an hour, or until it thickens and cools completely.
3. Spoon into prepared tart shells, garnish with a sprig of basil or basil whipped cream (recipe to follow! Extract day should be coming soon!), and serve immediately.

Kansas Strip with Rosemary Potatoes

As many of you know, Laa and I have really been feelin' the steak lately. We don't eat big portions (the first time Laa had a tenderloin steak after 13 years of no mammals, we SPLIT a 5 oz. and had leftovers for breakfast) so we tend to make up for it in quality. Farmer's Market is back on, now, so Stillman Farms brings their fresh steaks practically to my office. Couldn't resist. And honestly? I really can tell the difference in their cuts of meat versus even the "premium" cuts at a normal grocery store.

Kansas Strip with Rosemary Potatoes with a Bourbon Mustard Au Jus

Kansas style strip sirloin is effectively a T-bone cut in half, straight down the bone. I find the bone helps to keep the meat rare in the center (only way Laa will eat it) and also gives great flavor for gnawing on the bone after.

Ingredients

• Thick cut (1"-1 1/2") bone-in sirloin
• 1 lb. red potatoes
• 3 cloves garlic
• fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp butter, divided
• 1 shot whiskey (I used Jim Beam because it was on hand, but the drier the better)
• 1/4 cup broth (as low salt as possible)
• 1 tsp prepared mustard (yellow or dijon. I HATE dijon)

Prepare the Steak

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Set the steak out half an hour before you start cooking. You want it room temperature in order for it to sear. Because of how the farm cut the steaks, I had to scrape some gristle and bone marrow from the steak. I also chose to cut off the the thick section of fat opposite the bone side and at the bottom of the steak. I reserve all of this; fat to render for cooking, gristle and marrow for making stock. I also salted each side liberally to help sear as well.
3. Meanwhile, quarter potatoes and put in deep baking dish with a lid. Smash garlic (or mince finely if you don't like chunks of garlic in your food... wuss) and crush or chop rosemary. Place all in the baking dish with two tablespoons of the butter (substitute ghee, duck fat, bacon grease, olive oil, et cetera for more flavor. I had butter).
4. Cover and put in oven for 25 minutes.
5. While the potatoes are baking, put a skillet or saute pan (NOT NON-STICK) on low heat and render some of the reserved fat. After a few minutes, add some veggie oil and turn heat to medium.
6. Add steak and do not touch for two minutes. (For rare, 3-4 for more well done.) After two minutes, flip over and cook for another two minutes or more. Remove steak and set aside.
7. With pan still on medium heat, add the shot of whiskey. Most of it should evaporate completely. WARNING: If you used 100 Proof or higher liquor, there is a chance that it will ignite. Don't worry, just set it down and wait for the fire to burn off. When fire has died down, or whiskey has reduced to just a teaspoon or so, add broth and mustard and scrape the bottom of the pan to get up all the bits from the steak. Turn the heat to high, whisking constantly until reduced by half, about 2-3 minutes. Add butter, turn off heat, and whisk until combined.

To plate, we cut the steak off the bone and sliced thinly. I like to have the flavor evenly distributed, so I tossed the steak in the au jus to coat before placing on the plate. Laa then arranged the steak with the potatoes and half an avocado each. Would go well either with a red wine or a whiskey cocktail. We had it with milk. Enjoy!

Laa's Magic Apple Pie

Blast from the past, I made this pie back in September of 2007.

Laa's Magic Apple Pie

Filling Ingredients

• 8-12 apples, peeled and cut into small chunks (use whatever apple you like and cut up enough to fill the pie shell you're using.)
• 2 tbs. butter
• 1 tbs. wheat flour
• 2 tbs. raw sugar
• 2 tbs. white sugar
• ground cinnamon
• ground clove
• ground nutmeg
• ground coriander
• Rosemary
• Apple Honey Brandy, or sweet alcohol of choice (optional)

Crust Ingredients

(makes enough for a full bottom and top crust, or bottom and lattice top with some to spare)

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
  
• 1 tbs. raw sugar
• 1/3 tsp. sea salt
• 2 sticks chilled butter*, cubed
• 4 tbs. cold water

*(note on butter: you could use Smart Balance or another butter equivalent if you want a vegan or lower fat pie (but come on, it's pie!), but note that those type of butter spreads are softer and wetter, and you will most likely need to use less water and let it chill for a longer period of time.)

For Crust:

1. Mix flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Add butter and mix (preferably by hand) until mixture becomes mealy and the butter is in pea sized chunks.
3. Add water and mix gently until all ingredients are combined and there are chunks of butter throughout. Do not over-knead.
4. Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 10 minutes.

For Filling:

1. Peel and cut your apples into small chunks and place aside.
2. In a large skillet or wok, melt the butter, then add the flour and sugars.
3. When combined, add apples and stir until coated in sugars. Allow the apples to cook until they start releasing juices.
4. Add cinnamon, clove, coriander, rosemary and nutmeg to taste. Feel free to add other spices and herbs too, or to subtract some of the ones I added.
5. When the apples soften, add a dash of brandy and cook a few more minutes until most of the alcohol cooks out, Remove from heat. Your apples should look nice and soft and be coated in a browning syrupy type mixture.

The rest of it:

1. Roll out pie dough and place it in pie cooking device of choice.
2. Add apple mixture to the uncooked crust, add top crust and pinch off edges. You can either cut off the crust that hangs over or fold it over and make a super thick crust. (I press the tines of a fork around the edge and cut off the excess. This is apparently terribly confusing to Dio as this is how his family marks and identifies cherry pies. I guess I'm just lazy, this is how I finish a majority of my pies.) I recommend placing aluminum foil around the outer crust to prevent it from burning. (If you feel so inclined, you can also brush a mixture of egg white and white sugar over the top crust to make it all shiny and sweet.)
3. Cook at 375-400 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until the top starts to brown nicely and the apples are sizzling.
4. Take out of the oven and let cool for at least 20 minutes.