hurricane muffins

I bought some water. I filled up the bathtub. I made sure the flashlights had batteries. And I baked some muffins.

I figured that Hurricane Irene would, at the least, bring some power outages or knock out cable and internet. To my surprise, none of that happened. I didn't imagine any dire circumstances, but I did imagine that we could be caught in a situation where we were stuck at home for a couple days with nothing to do but watch the cats sleep. So, foremost in my mind was making sure that we had plenty of junk food to tide us over.

It does seem that the prevailing food theme of Hurricane Weekend was comfort food. As the rain started rolling in and we were hit with a massive craving for Doritos, J-Cat volunteered to head out in the rain to get a bag, but did not anticipate that he would have to hit 4 different bodegas to find them, and then only in snack size bags. Whoever wanted Doritos next would find none within a 5 block radius of our place. (And I actually have confirmation that a friend in the neighborhood was forced to settle for Bravos, the horror! Sorry, Tom.)

Having secured our crunchy snacks, we were now fully equipped for the weekend - a massive pot of pasta and bolognese, a rice cooker full of rice, a bunch of hard boiled eggs, and these Chocolate Chip Muffins. Recipe after the jump:



CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 cup half and half (or whole milk)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners, or grease the cups.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, and vanilla extract. In a another large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then stir in the chocolate chips. Fold the wet ingredients and the butter into the dry ingredients, mixing just enough to combine. Do not overmix or you will have tough muffins.

Use an ice cream scoop to fill the muffins cups evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the tin and allow to cool further on the rack.

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variations on a theme: apricot and almond crostata

It takes about an hour to bake a full-on pie, and with the summer we've been battling in the northeast, keeping the oven on for an hour is not advisable. But I really can't go very long without pie. Especially when it's high season for so many delectable fruits. The answer? A crostata. A rustic, free-form tart that bakes in half the time and totally satisfies the pie craving. A simple pate brisee crust, fresh fruit, a touch of sugar, and whatever complementary flavor you're in the mood for.



This time, the apricots at the farmer's market were both adorable and ripe, and I had a bag of sliced almonds that I wanted to use. I always end up pairing fruit with nuts nowadays, because I pretty much want some kind of crunch in everything I eat. Or, as Beth might tell you, because I love nuts. Recipe after the jump:

APRICOT AND ALMOND CROSTATA

For the pate brisee:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) (unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch pieces
3-5 tablespoons ice water

For the filling
1 1/4 pounds fresh apricots
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
pinch salt

Make the crust: Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix well. Add the cold cubed butter and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the ice water one tablespoon at a time, pulsing between spoons, only using as much as it takes to get the dough to come together. Turn the dough out onto plastic wrap, flatten into a disk, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. When it is fully chilled, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Make the filling: Split the apricots along the seam and remove the pits. Slice each half into 2 or 4 pieces, depending on how large your apricots are. Combine in a bowl the the sugar, salt, and almond extract and toss to coat. Set aside while you roll out your dough.

Roll your dough into a 13-inch circle and transfer onto a sheet pan. Place the apricot slices in a decorative circular pattern from the center radiating to the edges, leaving at least 1 inch of uncovered crust. Sprinkle with the almond slices. Fold the edges of the crust over the fruit. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the fruit juices are bubbling. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

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not that i don't love pie: strawberry rhubarb cobbler

Sometimes I just don't have the time to make a pie crust. I'm a busy lady, and sometimes the craving for strawberry-rhubarb something or other hits at 6PM. I think that's why cobblers and crisps were invented.



I also like any excuse to eat a biscuit. This cobbler really does look like cobblestones, just like the cobblestones paving the streets of Rome. Where we'll be (finally) honeymooning this September! Woohoo!



Oh, and sorry this is essentially out of season already. To tell you the truth, I baked this back in May and uh...I've been busy. Recipe after the jump:

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB COBBLER

Fruit layer
4 1/2 cups rhubarb stalks trimmed of stringy layer and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
1 teaspoon of grated orange peel

Cobbler crust
2 Tbsp white sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together all of the fruit filling ingredients and let sit while you prepare the cobbler batter.

In another bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter in with a fork or pastry cutter. Whisk together the milk and egg and slowly add to the batter, mixing just until moistened.

Pour the fruit mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish. Use a large spoon to drop the cobbler batter on top, you can make 4 large cobbles or 6 smaller cobbles, depending on the shape of your dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minute or until the cobbles are golden brown and the fruit is bubbly.

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purim for the aged

I only made one kind of hamantaschen this year - prune. It's not because prune is my favorite filling, although I do really love it. The sad truth is that I thought it might be a wise choice to counteract the "bagel jam", as J-Cat calls it. Bagel Jam is the digestive situation that arises when you buy a dozen bagels and only two people live in your house, so rather than actually cooking a meal you just keep eating bagels all weekend. I don't think I need to elaborate.



I'm happy to report that it seems my prune theory may have legs. I made the hamantaschen on Sunday evening - after about 18 hours of bagels - and by Monday morning I no longer felt like I was going to splode. You know you have entered middle age when you start planning your desserts around your digestive system. All foods must serve a double duty. It's a sad state of affairs. Recipe after the jump:

PRUNE (LEKVAR) HAMANTASCHEN

For the dough:
(From the recipe by Shmil Holland, NY Times, March 15, 2011)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 large egg yolks
8 ounces unsalted butter at room temperature, in small pieces
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 1/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
Dash of salt
1 large egg, beaten, for the glaze

Put the confectioners’ sugar and the egg yolks in a food processor and blend. Add butter and lemon zest and process to blend. Gradually add the flour and the salt, pulsing until it forms a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

For the prune filling:
(From no particular recipe)
2 cups pitted prunes
1/2 cup orange juice
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Combine all filling ingredients in a small pot over medium heat. Bring to a low boil then lower heat to a simmer. Cover and allow to simmer until the prunes are very soft, about 30 minutes. Remove it from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Use an immersion blender or food processor to blend the ingredients into a smooth paste.

Assemble the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment. Roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness and use a biscuit cutter or glass to cut 3-inch circles. Put a heaping teaspoon of the filling in the center of each, and press up the sides to form triangles. Brush the tops with beaten egg.

Bake until golden and dough is delicately firm all the way through, about 15 minutes. If trays are on different racks, switch them after about 10 minutes.

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it's bananas. b.a.n.a.n.a.s

The last few times we've bought bananas they have ripened so quickly we couldn't keep up with them. At one point we actually talked about buying one of those super dorky banana hangers. I don't know if I could do it, it seems so lame.

Worse things can happen than ending up with a bunch of overripe bananas and being forced to throw together an impromptu banana nut bread. With this bread, which I baked late last night after a day of more meals than were truly necessary, I felt the need to be a little healthier. I decided to try out that applesauce trick to cut down on the butter in the recipe. After all, I have a ton of homemade applesauce that I keep making whenever we have a big snowstorm and I'm bored at home, which lately has been every 4 days or something. I also used only egg whites, and a mixture of whole wheat and white flours. Now I've never done this "low-fat" baking thing and I was expecting a result like those weird chewy almost plastic feeling fat free bran muffins I've had in the past, but to my surprise, I couldn't tell at all. AT ALL! It tasted exactly the same as any other banana bread I've ever made. Of course, I did still use some butter, I'm not insane, so this is by no means fat free (there's also those walnuts), but I figure a couple of small concessions is good in the long run and even better is not even noticing those concessions at all. Recipe after the jump:



LOWISH-FAT BANANA NUT BREAD

6 ripe medium bananas, mashed
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup raw cane sugar, or light brown sugar
4 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
baking spray

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease 9x5 inch loaf pans with baking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add egg whites, bananas, apple sauce and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of the bowl.

Add flour mixture and then blend at low speed until combined. Do not over mix. Gently fold in the chopped walnuts.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake on the center rack for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert and remove bread to finish cooling on a wire rack. Allow the bread to cool at least 20 minutes before slicing.

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this is not a recipe

The nerve of me, going weeks without posting, then finally returning with this non-recipe of a recipe, this epitome of culinary laziness. And one that seems dreadfully off season considering the frigid weather we have been doomed with of late.



But, you see, I am so seduced by these types of recipes, these classics of American kitchen convenience. Growing up with two immigrant parents who raised us on a predominantly Chinese diet, these foods are the exotic, the unknown, and are the joy to discover as I've grown up and moved away from that home. It was not until just a couple of years ago that I had ever even heard of monkey bread, or tater tot casserole, or chess pie. I remember the revelation of rhubarb when I first tasted a pie sent to my friend by his mother while we were at camp in Michigan. Even those American classics that my parents attempted to adopt into our menu - meatloaf, spaghetti, burgers - were always tweaked with Asian flavors. Not to say the tweaks weren't great, they invariably were. I grew up loving my mother's meatloaf, and have always been deeply disappointed with any truly American meatloaf I've come across. The first time I tasted broccoli cooked by a friend's mother, I understood why most children hated what had always been my favorite vegetable. But these American classics have always appealed to me, and especially those that came into being during the push towards convenience food.



The ice box cake is a double whammy of an American classic. Just the name alone, "ice box cake", has the quaintness of the past. How far back into our history do you have to go to find people who called it an ice box? Though the real origin of ice box cake dates back at least to the 1930's, the cake that most Americans know and love is a 1950's revival of the classic. My first introduction to the ice box cake was as recently as a year or two ago and was the version popularized by Nabisco, on their packages of chocolate wafers. I've never even tasted a Nabisco chocolate wafer, apparently they are not so easy to find in stores these days, but I understand they taste like a thin oreo without the cream. The cake is no-bake, perfect for hot summer weather, and I was stunned when I learned how simple it was to make. Make up a bunch of whipped cream, maybe sweeten it a touch and a dash of vanilla. Make layers of chocolate wafers and alternate with whipped cream. Stick it in the fridge for a few hours. Voila. Cake.



If you think about it for a moment, you realize that it is silly and lazy, but genius all the same. How could it not be good? My favorite cakes are iced with whipped cream anyway. The cream softens the wafers until they are basically the texture of cake. And the best part, what I consider the ultimate 1950's coup of convenience recipes, is when you slice the cake and reveal fantastic zebra stripes, that look so much fancier than it has any right to look.

And the bittersweet side of the story this time is that I never did find Nabisco wafers, and instead used the Swedish Anna cookies, which come in such a great variety of flavors that I look forward to making plenty of ice box cakes come summer. Why is not finding Nabisco wafers bittersweet? Well, because for the past four years, I've worked at the Chelsea Market, the building that once housed the original National Biscuit Company factory, Nabisco. And as I walked out of the factory for the last time on Friday, bidding farewell to a hugely significant chapter of my life and anxious about a new adventure, a new step, and new world at my doorstep, I wondered how many of those blasted wafers were made within those walls back in the day and how ridiculous it is that I can't find them in any store in NYC.

Non-recipe after the jump:

CHOCOLATE ICE BOX CAKE

4 cups heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 9-ounce boxes of Nabisco chocolate wafers, or 3 5.25-ounce boxes of Anna chocolate wafer cookies

Whip the whipped cream, sugar and vanilla extract to soft peaks. On a large serving plate, lay down 7 wafer cookies in a circle, placing an 8th in the middle. Spread the cookies with 3/4 cup of the whipped cream. Repeat the layers of cookies and whipped cream until the cake is as tall as you like. Finish with a layer of whipped cream. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight. I crushed up all of the broken cookie pieces and sprinkled them on top for decoration, shaved chocolate is also a nice garnish. Any garnish should be added just before serving.

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this one's for beth: nut balls

Buttery, nutty, shaped like a ball. A little snowball, appropriate for the blizzard apocalypse we are still trying to dig ourselves out of here in NYC. It's one of the most basic, classic holiday cookies and one of my all time favorites. It also comes together really quickly, and with ingredients that most of us always have in our pantry.

Be careful not to overbake these so they don't dry out. They are fragile while hot and may seem overly crumbly, but given some time to chill out, they almost melt back into a comfortable little morsel of butter and nuts and that faint dusting of powdered sugar. Don't inhale when you take a bite. Don't wear black. Recipe after the jump:



OLD-FASHIONED WALNUT BALLS

1 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely chopped walnuts
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. Sift flour and salt together, and mix into creamed mixture. Stir in walnuts. Shape dough into smalls balls, about the size of a walnut (maybe 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I used a small scoop). If you have the time, you can freeze the balls for 20 minutes or so, this helps them hold their ball shape a little better when baked. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 11-13 minutes. Let rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer to a wire cooling rack. When still warm but cool enough to handle, roll in powdered sugar.
Makes about 4 dozen.

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autumn in a jar

I'm almost ashamed that I made something already ridiculously simple to make even simpler. How lazy can I be? I can try to justify this by claiming that there's an additional upside to making applesauce in a slow cooker than just convenience; it's the way that it perfumes your house with the aroma of coziness for 5 hours.

Peel some apples, chop them up, throw them in a crockpot with a touch of cider, some spices, some sugar, and then do nothing. Make sure to eat this while it is still warm, that's the most important bonus of making your own applesauce. Recipe after the jump:



SLOW COOKER APPLESAUCE

8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced*
1/3 cup apple cider or water
juice of one lemon
1/4-1/3 cup cane sugar, to taste (amount will vary depending on your apples)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch ground clove

Place the sliced apples in the slow cooker with the apple cider and lemon juice and set on low for 4-5 hours. About 30 minutes before cooking is complete, taste the sauce and add sugar to taste. Add the remaining ingredients and let cook for the remaining 30 minutes. If desired, blend with an immersion mixer to make smooth. Store in the refrigerator in airtight containers, or jar for long term storage.

*Note: I always use a combination of apples for depth of flavor, like macoun, empire, cortland, fuji, honeycrisp, golden delicious. Whatever you love, or whatever you have that is past its raw eating prime.

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presenting perfect pear pie

When you've made a few too many apple pies and need a change - but not a huge one - make a pear pie instead. Maybe don't even mention that this is a pear pie when you serve it and see the thoughtful and slightly confused looks on people's faces when they taste it.



Use fairly firm anjou pears for a stunning texture and sweet, mild flavor. Grate a pile of fresh nutmeg. Make a thick, rustic pie crust, preferably with lard and butter. Serve warm or cold, with ice cream or whipped cream, or with nothing because it's that tasty. And that's it. Pears and nutmeg, whoulda thunk? Recipe after the jump:



ANJOU PEAR AND NUTMEG PIE

2 1/2 lb firm-ripe Anjou pears, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 recipe pie crust for a double crust 9" pie
1 egg

Prepare the dough for the crust and set to rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour. In the meantime, prepare the pears and toss in a large bowl with the flour, nutmeg, salt, lemon juice, and 2/3 cup sugar. Set aside to prep you crusts.

Preheat oven to 425F. Roll out the bottom crust and line a 9" deep-dish pie plate, trimming the overhang to about 1/2 inch. Fill the crust with the pear mixture. Top with the second crust, trim, and crimp the edges. Cut a cross in the middle of the top crust and fold back the corners to expose a square. Brush the crust (but not the edges) with a beaten egg, then sprinkle the remaining tablespoon sugar over top.

Bake pie on a baking sheet at 425F for20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375 and bake for an additional 45-55 minutes, until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown. Cool the pie on a rack for at least 2 hours before serving.

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life events and lemon loaf

Straddling the line between savory and sweet, it's where I often love to be. It's a bit cake, a bit bread, bright lemon, woodsy rosemary, fruity olive oil, a touch of salt. It's unexpected.

Foods that surprise me are often the ones I find most memorable. Unusual flavor combinations, strange ingredients, or foods that don't sound like they would work, but they just do. Lemon, rosemary, and olive oil is not a particularly unusual combination, but perhaps in the context of a cake it's a little surprising.



It's corny to say, but surprising combinations are a lot like J-Cat and me. Who woulda thunk, 13 years after first meeting, after all that time that I thought we were a combination that didn't work, we did. So we did a little surprising of our own a couple of weeks ago when we went here:



The rest is history, and the recipe is after the jump:

LEMON ROSEMARY OLIVE OIL LOAF

4 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sprigs rosemary leaves, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan or line with parchment paper. Using a hand mixer, beat eggs in a large bowl until frothy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat another couple of minutes until thick and pale. Add the lemon juice, zest, and olive oil and mix until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and chopped rosemary. Add the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring with a wooden spoon just until incorporated. Pour into prepared loaf ban. Bake in center of oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.

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butterscotch

Butterscotch. It sounds strange to say, but I didn't really like butterscotch until recently. It should be the other way around, but as a kid I just thought butterscotch was sweet and not much else. I imagine that might be due to many really bad butterscotch candies or instant butterscotch puddings. It's not until I started actively working with candy and sugar that I started to understand what real butterscotch was about. It's about butter. The amazingness of butter. THAT is something to appreciate.

When butterscotch is made properly - no corn syrup, no weird additives, no hydrogenated fats - it tastes so deeply of browned butter and molasses-y brown sugar, how could that be a bad thing? Though true butterscotch is a candy confection, the classic butterscotch flavor is used in a ton of alternative ways - in puddings, sauces for ice cream, cakes, and cookies. And here are some butterscotch cookies.

A touch of crisp on the outside, dense and slightly chewy on the inside, a sprinkling of flaky sea salt brings out the deep nutty flavor and balances the richness. Recipe after the jump:



SALTY BUTTERSCOTCH BUTTONS
Adapted from Simply Recipes

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon sized slices
1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup granulated sugar, for dredging
Fleur de sel, Maldon, sea salt, or Kosher salt for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk or sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside. Place the sugar for dredging in another bowl and set aside.

Place 10 tablespoons of butter into a thick-bottomed skillet over medium heat. The butter will foam a bit before subsiding. Once the butter takes on a tan color and begins to smell nutty take it off of the heat. Add the other two tablespoons of butter and mix it in until it melts.

Pour the brown butter into a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the brown sugar and salt and mix well. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix together, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl at least once. Add the flour mixture in three increments being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom once or twice. Mix just until the flour is incorporated. The dough will be very thick.

Take 1/2 tablespoon sized pieces of dough (I used a 1-inch diameter scoop to insure that all cookies were about the same size) and gently roll them into ball shapes. Dredge them in the sugar until well-coated. Place on the baking sheet and sprinkle with a little bit of the sprinkling salt.

Bake for 10-11 minutes or until the edges have browned a bit. Be careful not to over-bake. Allow to cool on the sheet for one minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 4 dozen.

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break the butter rules

If you ask me to describe myself in a nutshell, I will answer with one simple fact: I put salt in all my sweets. I think this is actually a profound statement that speaks to just about all aspects of my personality. And I don't mean that little pinch of salt that every baking recipe calls for, claiming it enhances the sweetness of the sweet. If it calls for a pinch, I throw in two or three, and I'll still top that cookie with some flaky sea salt for good measure. So it only makes sense that I would be inextricably drawn to a recipe for cookies that actually calls for salted butter. And not just run-of-the-mill salted butter, but beautiful French butter with fleur de sel. I used a brand called Pamplie, an old brand made in a region of France called Deux-Sevres, which is apparently known for its fine dairy products.

I took the recipe one step further by sprinkling some more flaky sea salt atop the cookie. I imagine that might push it over the salty edge for some people, but for me it was perfection. It's all about balance - sweet needs salty, chewy needs crunchy. I try to live by the wisdom of the salted butter chocolate chip cookie. Recipe after the jump:



SALTED BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Adapted from the recipe by David Lebovitz

4 ounces salted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed dark or light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt
1 cup coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
flaky sea salt for sprinkling

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the butter with the sugars until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add the flour mixture into the beaten butter until well combined, then mix in the chopped chocolate (including any chocolate dust) and the chopped nuts.

Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, preferably 24.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Use a small ice cream scoop to make rounds about 1.5 inches in diameter. Place the mounds evenly spaced apart on the baking sheets, and press down the tops to flatten them so they are no longer domed and the dough is even. Sprinkle each cookie lightly with flaky sea salt.

Bake the cookies for ten minutes, rotating the baking sheets midway during baking, until the cookies look about set, but are not browned.

Remove from the oven and quickly tap the top of each with a spatula, then return to the oven for two more minutes, until the tops of the cookies are light golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool on a rack.

Storage: The cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to five days in an airtight container. The dough can be refrigerated for up to one week or frozen for one or two months.

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lemony creme fraiche ice cream

Sometimes I love an ice cream that you don't have to turn a stove on for. The tanginess of creme fraiche and buttermilk, the brightness of lemon juice and zest, and that's all it takes. This would be the perfect accompaniment to a subtle olive oil cake or a pear tart, but it's also good just on it's own, maybe with some chopped pecans for crunch. Twenty minutes to greatness. Recipe after the jump:



LEMON CREME FRAICHE ICE CREAM

2 cups creme fraiche
2 cups buttermilk
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 cups sugar
pinch of salt

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Chill until very cold, at least 4 hours, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's direction. Makes about 1 1/4 quarts.

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in season: cardamom apricot pistachio crostata

My favorite scents are all foods. I like to wear lemon verbena. The hand soaps in my bathrooms are ginger and lemon, or coconut and honey. My deodorant smells like lemongrass. My body lotion actually has real vanilla beans in it. I even caught myself sniffing a delicious anti-bacterial wipe with lemongrass and thyme scent. Deliciously clean. Now I want a perfume scented with warm cardamom and ripe apricots.

This rustic tart was one of those great recipes that built in my head throughout the day. First I got the gorgeous apricots and sniffed and sniffed them. Then I decided I wanted some crunch and thought that the subtle sweetness of pistachios would be the perfect thing to offset the tartness of the fruit. Then, for some reason, pistachios make me thing of cardamom. It just seemed to make perfect sense.

The tart is true simplicity. A classic pate brisee crust made free-form over the fresh fruit, just tossed in sugar and spice and sprinkled liberally with chopped nuts. I did think after I already baked it that I should have used honey instead of sugar for another layer of flavor, but the good thing about cooking revelations that come a little too late is always having an excuse to make it again. Recipe after the jump:



APRICOT PISTACHIO CROSTATA

For the pate brisee:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small dice
3-5 tablespoons ice cold water

For the filling:
1 1/2 pounds ripe apricots (About a dozen small)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp kosher salt

For the topping: 1/3 cup chopped unsalted pistachios

To make the crust: Combine the flour, sugar, and salt the bowl of a food processor and pulse a couple times to mix and aerate. Add the cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Slowly add the ice water a tablespoon at a time through the feed tube as the processor runs. Add just enough water for the dough to start to come together. Turn the dough out onto the counter, shape into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

To make the filling: Slice the apricots along the seam and remove the pit. Cut each half into 2 or 3 wedges, depending on the size of the apricot. Toss the wedges with the sugar, cardamom and salt until well coated. Let sit for a few minutes while you roll out your crust.

Roll your crust into a 13-inch circle. Arrange the apricot wedges in a decorative pattern from the inside out, leaving a 2-inch border of crust all around. Pour over any syrup that may have collected at the bottom of the bowl of fruit. Fold the overhang of the crust over the fruit all around the tart. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then scatter the chopped pistachios evenly over the fruit, return to the oven and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

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milk & honey

Okay, it's been awhile. It's not that I haven't been cooking, it's just that all I want to make is mint chip ice cream. That's not very exciting for all of you readers, but it is very exciting for me.

To give you something to chew on, I decided to take a very brief break from mintiness this week and instead make this Honey Vanilla Goat's Milk Ice Cream. Why goat's milk? Mostly, I was just curious. And the answer is that it really doesn't taste any different from cow's milk, especially when made into an ice cream. Actually this is more like a gelato because it is only milk, no cream. And the choice of honey was simply due to a lovely gift of some wonderful Blueberry Blossom Honey from Red Bee Artisanal Honeys, who came and did a truly fascinating honey tasting with us the other day.

How to describe the result? I know it doesn't look exciting, but it was fairly exciting nonetheless. It was a little less creamy than a full on ice cream, as expected, but the texture was still very lovely. And the flavor of wonderful honey with vanilla bean was, to put it simply, Honeycomb Cereal-esque. Sort of like how you might expect Honeycomb Cereal Ice Cream to taste in the best way you could imagine. I hope that reads as a big positive, because I do love Honeycomb Cereal. Recipe after the jump:



HONEY-VANILLA GOAT'S MILK ICE CREAM

3 cups goat milk
1/2 cup honey
1 vanilla bean
4 egg yolks

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Scrape the seeds out of a vanilla bean and add the seeds and pod to the milk. Heat until steaming, being careful not to boil or scorch. Add the honey and stir well to dissolve. Remove the vanilla pod and discard. Whisk the egg yolks. Slowly add a ladleful of the hot milk to the egg yolks, whisking briskly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Return the egg/milk mixture to the pot of milk. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Strain the custard into a bowl over an ice bath and stir to cool down. Transfer to the fridge and allow to chill thoroughly for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer directions.

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in season: summer (spring) berry pudding

It is really freaking hot out today. We didn't have much of a spring, it's been so hot for so long already. Even though it was not technically summer until today, this berry pudding made a special spring appearance to help combat the weather and take advantage of the super sweet berries gracing the greenmarket.



Since it was still spring when I actually made this, my choice of berries leans toward the early season favorites - strawberries, blueberries, and sweet cherries. This super easy British classic takes modest ingredients and transforms them into an almost fancy dessert with just a little patience and pressure. It's almost as if the bread, soaking up those sweet juices, turns into cake and waits for you cold and refreshing in the fridge to delight you with a dollop of cream. And you don't even need to turn on an oven. Keep one of these in the fridge at all times this summer, choose the best variety of berries that you can find in the market, you won't regret it. Recipe after the jump:



SUMMER BERRY PUDDING

6 cups assorted seasonal berries (strawberries, blueberries, cherries, blackberries, raspberries, currants, etc)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp kirsch
1 small bundle of mint
1 loaf of soft, dense sliced white bread, crusts removed (brioche also works great)

Prep any berries that need stemming or pitting, slicing any larger berries. In a medium saucepan, combine the berries with the sugar, kirsch, and mint bundle. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the juices release and the berries soften, about 8-10 minutes. Remove the mint bundle and discard, then set the berries aside to cool slightly.

Line a 6-cup pudding bowl with plastic wrap, leaving enough overhang to cover the opening once it is full. Line the bowl along the bottom and all the way up the sides with slices of bread, dipping the outer side of the bread into the berry syrup before placing. Be sure the bowl is completely lined, you will probably need to cut slices to size to fill gaps. Using a slotted spoon, fill the bowl with about 1/3 of the berries. Top with a layer of bread. Repeat the layering twice, finish with a cover of bread dipped in the syrup. Pour the remaining syrup over the top layer. Fold over the plastic wrap overhang. Cover with a plate, pressing down on the pudding. Top the plate with a heavy can to weight it down. Store in the fridge for at least 12 hours, but the longer you let it chill the better.

To serve, unmold the pudding and remove the plastic wrap. Slice into wedges and serve topped with fresh berries, a dollop of whipped cream, and a garnish of mint.

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ice cream garden

I don't know how it is that I had never made mint chocolate chip ice cream. It is easily my all-time favorite ice cream flavor. And now that I have made it and realize how much fresh mint blows away any store-bought mint extract-based green stuff, I may have to continually make this every few days.



Because J and I finished the whole quart in two days. QUART. In TWO DAYS. I'm not proud of that, but it was just so freaking good. Creamy and extra cool, with this added fresh grassy flavor that only real herbs could bring. I added the bittersweet chocolate in a straciatella style, by melting it, drizzling ribbons onto the softly frozen ice cream, and breaking up the chocolate by hand. This results in super crackly thin bits of chocolate, incredibly well distributed.



And look, it's actually green! Recipe after the jump:

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM
Adapted from the recipe by David Leibovitz

For the mint ice cream:

3 cups half and half, divided
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
5 large egg yolks

For the chocolate chips:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1. In a medium saucepan, warm the sugar with 2 cups of the half and half, salt, and mint.

2. Once the mixture is hot and steaming, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for an hour to infuse the mint flavor.

3. Remove the mint with a strainer, then squeeze out as much liquid from the mint leaves as possible. Discard the mint.

4. Pour the remaining half and half into a large bowl and set the strainer over the top.

5. Rewarm the infused milk. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then slowly add some of warmed milk to the eggs to temper, whisking constantly. Add the warmed egg mixture back into the pot of milk.

6. Cook the custard, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. If using an instant read thermometer, it should read around 170ºF.

7. Immediately strain the mixture into the cream, then stir the mixture over an ice bath until cool.

8. Refrigerate the mixture thoroughly, preferably overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

While the mixture is freezing, melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pot of simmering water, or in a microwave oven on low power, stirring until smooth. Place a storage container in the freezer.

9. When the ice cream in the machine is ready, scribble some of the chocolate into the container, then add a layer of the just-churned ice cream to the container. Scribble melted chocolate over the top of the ice cream, then quickly stir it in, breaking up the chocolate into irregular pieces. Continue layering the ice cream, scribbling more chocolate and stirring as you go.

When finished, cover and freeze until firm.

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apparently, sade sang a song about cherry pie, too

It is confirmed, the teeniest touch of almond makes the flavor of cherries burst to the forefront. Of course, it does help to have beautifully sweet and plump cherries to work with. This cherry-almond pie was - if I can give myself a pat on the back - the BEST cherry pie I've ever had.



It is the essence of cherry flavor, the flavor that makes you understand what all of those artificial cherry flavors are trying to go for, but don't quite get right.



If you can manage to stop yourself from eating all of the cherries before they go into the pie (I think approximately the same amount of cherries went into the pie as went straight into my mouth), this is what you should do with lovely fresh cherries. It will ruin you forever for any store bought pie, or pie filling in a can, or those gut bomb pocket pies covered in glaze. THIS is what cherry pie should be, the only thing it should ever be. This pie is fantastic warm with vanilla ice cream, but was actually even better cold with nothing at all. Recipe after the jump:



FRESH CHERRY AND ALMOND PIE

1 recipe for a double crust 9-inch deep dish pie
2 pounds fresh cherries, pitted
4 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon kirsch
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds
1 tablespoon butter, diced
3 tablespoons heavy cream, optional

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, toss the cherries, sugar, tapioca, extracts, and kirsch and let sit for 15-20 minutes.

Roll out the chilled pie dough for the bottom crust and line a deep dish pie plate, leaving 1/2 inch of overhang. Fill the pie with the cherry mixture, then sprinkle the almond slices over the fruit. Dot with the butter pieces. Cover with the top crust, crimp to seal, and cut slits to allow steam to escape. Brush the crust with the heavy cream. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Continue Reading "apparently, sade sang a song about cherry pie, too"

signs of spring: strawberry sour cream ice cream

When I was a kid, my mom made amazing waffles. The thin round kind that got perfectly crispy. She would underfill the waffle maker so the edges would be these sort of blobs of batter and get especially crisp. Instead of syrup, my mom would spread the waffles with sour cream - getting it all in the squares - dust it with powdered sugar, then top with thawed frozen strawberries. I have no idea where this combination came from, but to me it is an ultimate comfort food. Sour cream and strawberry waffles are some of my most vivid food memories from childhood.

When I saw this recipe by ice cream maven David Lebovitz for Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream, I knew that this would be my first ice cream of the spring season. I waited oh so many weeks for the strawberries to starting popping up at farmer's markets. My wait has finally come to an end.



The sweet, pure flavor of new strawberries, the slightest subtle tang of sour cream, the secret edge of kirsch and lemon juice. The result is smooth and fresh and lovely, and brings back memories of Saturday morning breakfasts. Oh my god, I'm going to go make waffle cones to eat this in. Recipe after the jump:

STRAWBERRY SOUR CREAM ICE CREAM
From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Makes about 1 1/4 quarts

1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp. vodka or kirsch
1 c. sour cream
1 c. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1) Slice the strawberries and toss them in a bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsch. Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring every so often.

2) Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth, but still slightly chunky.

3) Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

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lemon! pie! lemon pie!

What is this, the 50th lemon pie I've made on here? Who is obsessed with lemon pie? I am!

And this one was really pretty interesting: Shaker Lemon Pie. This sour marmalade-like pie is said to be an old specialty of the Ohio Shakers, and is beautiful in both its simplicity and its craftiness. Kind of like their furniture! It uses the whole lemon, peel and all, to add a depth of flavor and let no part go wasted. For a lemon fiend like myself - who also happens to be baking pie crusts like a maniac lately - it is a perfect slice of tart and sweet and fresh and even a tiny bit bitter. Not for the those who are ambivalent about lemons.

I used Meyer lemons for this recipe, well, mostly just because I could. Recipe after the jump:

SHAKER LEMON PIE

1 recipe pie crust for a 2-crust 9" pie (My Favorite)
4 Meyer lemons
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs

Slice the whole lemons as thinly as possible, taking care to remove all seeds (use a mandoline if you have one). Toss with the sugar and salt and set aside.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Roll out half of your chilled pie crust and line a 9" pie plate. Cut off the excess, leaving about 3/4 of an inch overhang all around. Place in the freezer to chill while you prepare the filling.

Beat the eggs well with the vanilla and stir into the lemons. Remove the chilled pie crust from the freezer and pour in the lemons.

Roll out your top crust and place, cutting away overhang. Tuck the edges of the top crust under the overhang of the bottom and crimp to seal. Cut slits or a hole to allow steam to escape. If desired, brush the crust with egg white and sprinkle a thin layer of sugar on top. Put back in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill.

Bake the chilled pie on the lowest rack for 15 minutes at 450°F. Then turn the heat down to 375°F and move to the center rack. Bake for another 30 minutes or until the crust is golden. If the crust edges begin browning too much cover with foil.

Let cool for at least half an hour before eating. This pie is great with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

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