by Sam Tackeff | Apr 16, 2009 | Baking, Farmers Market
OH MAN IT IS STRAWBERRY TIME! There is nothing like the beginning of strawberry season, my favorite time of year, when these red joyous fruits come out in their full splendor, bursting with flavor. There is nothing like a fresh ripe strawberry, radically different from it’s tasteless sibling, the out of season supermarket variety.
I bought my first strawberries last week at the farmers market, after one week of browsing but holding back when they first popped up last Saturday, and then only after sampling from several vendors this week (you can’t just settle on the first ones you see). I ended up with the beauties that are in this crumble recipe.
Can you over do it on strawberries? I think not. In the next few weeks I will be making crumbles, tarts, cakes and jam with these guys, fully taking advantage of their shining moment. Most of all I’ll just eat them copiously in my favorite preparation: strawberries with a little bit of brown sugar and cream.
One of the most delicious ways to use some extra strawberries is as the co-starring role in the ever versatile Crumble, which features most any fruit you want to use nestled under a most excellent topping of flour, oats, butter and brown sugar.
After recently re-reading Barbara Kingsolver’s year long family adventure “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” about eating locally from her own farm and neighborhood, I decided to try out her crumble recipe, which boasted a short list of ingredients, all of which I had in the kitchen when I decided to make this on a whim. In her version, the fruit is sweetened with honey- a preparation I was eager to try with my very tasty Alfalfa honey from Eggman Family Farm. If you haven’t had a chance to read her inquisitive, informative and very entertaining book, I’d definitely pick it up at the library.
This dish is perfect for a summer evening, a picnic, and especially to share with friends.
Strawberry Crumble
adapted from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
serves 4 (or two really big servings….)
Ingredients
1 quart strawberries, halved*
1/4 cup honey
For the topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup butter
Method:
1. Heat the oven to 350° F.
2. Prepare filling: Mix the halved strawberries and the honey in an 8×8 ungreased pan, (or a 9 inch deep pie plate), and set aside.
3. Prepare topping: Mix all the ingredients with your fingers until crumbly, sprinkle over fruit mixture and bake at 350° for about 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and the fruit is bubbling out everywhere.
4. Serve warm, with a dollop of ice cream, or a little bit of cream. It tastes wonderful after dinner or lunch for dessert, but equally good reheated in the morning as breakfast.
**Don’t have strawberries? This tastes great with peaches, apples, pears, berries, or in combination of any of these. You can also add some more fruit if you have any on hand – a cup or two more fruit won’t ruin the recipe.
by Sam Tackeff | Mar 30, 2009 | Baking, Challenge, Daring Bakers, Italian, Pasta
Daring Bakers. The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.
Every month, hundreds of bakers across the world band together in an effort to push their own culinary boundaries. Daring bakers is certainly not thirty minute meals. This month, we were making lasagna of Emilia-Romagna, a three part adventure which included home made spinach pasta, a home made ragu, and a creamy béchamel.
Ok, I thought. I’m going to make lasagna from scratch this month. Well I have another confession to make. I really, really, really enjoy Stouffers lasagna. Somehow, even after microwaving the stuff instead of baking it, it fulfills my every need and want. Somehow, this microwave boxed food is entwined with thoughts of Italian grandmothers slaving away in the kitchen, and remarkably the deception pulls itself off. Somehow, even though it pains me to say it, I love the stuff. So the idea of making a real lasagna, all from scratch… a challenge that would no doubt be fun to make, and delicious, was intriguing… but could it beat my trusty standby? You laugh, maybe you even scoff, but I was skeptical.
Challenge part #1: Homemade spinach pasta. Home made pasta is incredibly easy to make. You take just a few ingredients, usually just flour and egg, and mix, knead, roll, and voila- just a few minutes in a boiling pot of water, and done! The only difficult part: rolling out the dough. I’d highly prefer doing it with a Kitchen Aid mixer with the pasta attachment, but alas, all I have here is my own forearms, and a nice silpat rolling pin.
Another wonderful bonus of home made pasta is that the pasta dough is another good place in which to hide vegetables in for the picky eater. For this pasta, I used two eggs, 3.5 cups of flour, and I added spinach, about 6 ounces of defrosted frozen spinach, which I had emulsified with my hand held emulsifier. This makes the paste smooth, and easily workable into the dough. If I were to do this dish again, I’d probably add some basil as well, but you could easily puree any vegetable and add it to a basic dough.
Challenge part #2: A delicious ragu. For this part, I did a cheat move, using jarred pasta sauce as a base. I added meat, and cooked it for about an hour, so ultimately it doesn’t save any time, just imparts some fantastic flavor. Yes, part of it was jarred, but I don’t feel bad. The stuff is delicious.
“Cheats Ragu”
1/2 onion
an ounce of bacon
1/2 lb ground veal
1/4 cup of red wine
a jar of really good store bought tomato sauce
(I used Trader Joes Rustico- Southern Italian sauce), but I might easily have substituted barilla.
Saute the onion for about ten minutes, with some good olive oil. Add the bacon, and saute, add the half cup of wine, and cook for a minute, dump in the jar of pasta sauce. Cover really loosely (more of a stain catcher), and stir occasionally, cooking at a slow bubble for about 45 minutes or more.
Challenge part #3: A Bechamel (white sauce) This is the key to a rich, hearty lasagna. In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of butter, and then sift in 4 tablespoons of flour, whisking it all until smooth. Slowly whisk in 2 2/3 cup of milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps forming. Bring to a slow simmer, and stir until the sauce thickens, about seven or eight minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and most importantly some freshly grated nutmeg. The nutmeg imparts the most wonderful flavor that gives the whole lasagna something special.
Finally, with the three parts prepared, I put together the lasagna, layering the (boiled) pasta, sauces, and some freshly grated parmesan, and baked it all (covered loosely with foil) for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Ultimately, this lasagna was delicious. Painfully delicious. As in my forearms. All of the rolling. I spent three days eating it, hot, cold, microwaved, for breakfast, until I could lasagna no more. Was it better than my Stouffers? Er… Yes. Would I make it again? Yes. Although, probably sooner if I had a Martha Stewart Blue Kitchen Aid Mixer. (Hint, hint…. nudge, nudge…) Until then, I’ll savor this experience.
Aside: If anyone is interested in slaving away recreating this, I have the longer, much more detailed recipe for the pasta and assembly that I would be more than willing to email.
by Sam Tackeff | Mar 1, 2009 | Baking
After making the beautiful Meringues Chantilly for this weeks Barefoot Blogging Challenge, I had to decide what to do with the three gorgeous deep orange egg yolks that I had leftover. I was torn. A hollandaise for the asparagus that have just come in season? Some pastry cream? A sweet sabayon perhaps? I couldn’t just rush into the decision! How would I do them justice?
Ultimately I settled on some Pots de Crème, infused with the wonderful fragrance of star anise and cardamom. Two days ago was my dear friend Sara’s birthday, and together many years ago, for a miraculous little dinner party, we had made Donna Hay’s version of these star anise creams. It was the first recipe I had cooked from her most wonderful book Flavors and such a great introduction! They were so incredibly delicious. I hadn’t really used star anise before, and was just really amazed by it’s deep fragrance, and how pretty each little star was. (Devon says they look like spiders.) Because we now live on opposite coasts, and I couldn’t be home to celebrate her birthday with her, I decided to make these in her honor.
These little custards are heavenly. I’m eating one right now. What I like best about them is that you really get the taste of the spices infused into the cream. Donna Hay’s use only anise, but after a little bit of experimentation, I added the cardamom, to mimic the flavors of Indian masala chai, a spiced milky tea.
Come to think of it, you could probably do the same type of infusion with a masala chai tea bag instead of the whole spices and it would also taste delicious… perhaps that will be my next attempt.
Star Anise Pots de Creme
adapted from Donna Hay
makes 3 small custards
(can easily be doubled)
Ingredients
– 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
– 1/2 cup milk (I used skim, but you could certainly use heavier)
– 1 clove star anise
– 2 small cardamom pods
– 3 large fresh egg yolks
– 1/4 cup sugar
– for the topping: 1/4 cup honey (optional)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 300F. In a small sauce pan, heat milk, cream, star anise, and cardamom on low heat until hot, but not boiling. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, and take off the stove to allow the spices to infuse into the cream. After about fife minutes, remove the star anise and cardamom from the mixture.*
2. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, until well blended. Pour about half of the (now slightly cooled) cream mixture, and mix. Stir into the rest of the cream mixture. Pour into three six ounce ramekins (I use pyrex), and place into a baking dish filled with enough water to come halfway up the side of the ramekins.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the center of the cream is just barely set, and remove from the baking dish and refrigerate until cool, about two hours.
4. The last step is optional. After the cremes have cooled and set, squeeze a few tablespoons of honey on top and put for a few minutes under the broiler, until the honey is just browned. [Note: because I used pyrex, I didn’t want to use the broiler, so I simply put the honey in a small sauce pan, and stirred it until it had browned, and poured it on top.]
*Instead of throwing away the cardamom and anise after they have infused the cream, you can actually save these and make yourself some delicious masala chai by heating them with some milk, tea, and a little bit of sugar! (So delicious.)
by Sam Tackeff | Feb 26, 2009 | Baking, Barefoot Blogging, Challenge
A few weeks ago, I discovered Barefoot Bloggers, a group of people who love Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, just as much as I do, and who have joined together to cook through her marvelous recipes. The next recipe on the list was Ina’s Meringues Chantilly, chosen by BMK of Reservations Not Required Fantastic! I love meringues! But the question was, would it be possible to make it in my kitchen in time to post today? You see, there are rules about meringue. Fresh eggs! Metal bowl! Only on a sunny dry day! That was the one I was the most worried about…. this is San Francisco… a sunny dry day? Oh dear.
I scanned the recipe list.
My first challenge: Cream of Tartar. Hmmm.. I’ve always had cream of tartar lying around, but now I don’t have any in my new kitchen. So began the search for cream of tartar. Apparently, it’s not really something that you just buy here. Four stores later, I finally found some overpriced cream of tartar and bought it. There is nothing like spending six dollars for something you are going to use a quarter teaspoon of. Sigh.
The next part was the eggs. According to the experts, you need the freshest eggs, to help break down the protein in the whipping process. I got mine from Omnivore Books on Food, where Celia, the owner sells fresh eggs from her neighbor’s farm in addition to her well chosen selection of cook books and books on food. These eggs are the absolute best, with really big orange yolks (which because they were omitted from this recipe are about to end up in a custard).
Now for a metal bowl. I didn’t have a metal bowl, but I had a glass pyrex. Would this work well enough? According to the experts, glass should work fine- the key is not to use plastic, because the fat from previous cooking might stick to it and ruin your meringue.
Finally, Ina’s recipe called for orange liqueur, and framboise, a raspberry liqueur, although all the hard liquor I had in my house is… Seagrams Whiskey. I know. I was the queen of the liquor cabinet. Four years of collecting the finest alcoholic libations in my dorm room, and all I have now is a bottle of whiskey, in a plastic jug no less. Because my current priority is paying my rent rather than paying for the expansion of my liquor cabinet, I opted to substitute the whiskey.
Finally I was ready to make the meringues.
…And it rained hard, down pouring rain for three days. I just couldn’t do it. The experts tell you to avoid moisture- not even to run your dishwasher or boil a kettle!
Just two days ago, the sun broke through the clouds and I was prepared to make the recipe. I went to the cabinet and…. apparently we didn’t have a hand held mixer. How could I forget! Oh god, I’ve whisked meringue before, and it’s a long, arduous process with no real assurance that they will even stiffen into peaks. A quick panic led to the obvious thought- I live in an apartment building now! I could borrow a mixer!! Huzzah!! So, with the great kindness of my neighbor Khrista, the following recipe was accomplished.
The original recipe is here, but the following was my adaptation that given there are just two of us, would feed a few less than the intended recipe.
Meringues Chantilly
adapted from the Barefoot Contessa
makes 6 meringue cups
Ingredients
– 3 extra- large egg whites, at room temperature (make sure there is no yolk!)
– 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
– a pinch of kosher salt
– 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
– 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
– Whipped Cream, see below
– Stewed Fruit, see below (cooled slightly or it will melt your whipped cream)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200 Farenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or a silpat, or foil, which is all I have and works fine).
2. Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and the salt on medium speed until froth. Add half a cup of the sugar, and increase the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla, and carefully fold in the remaining quarter cup of sugar into the meringue.
3. Put meringue into a piping bag with a large star shaped pastry tip, or if you are me, you put it into your ziplock bag in which you have attempted to cut a star shaped tip into one of the corners. Pipe into 3 1/2 inch or so circles.
4. Bake for 2 hours, until the meringues are dry and crisp, but not browned. Then turn off the oven, and wait for four hours, or overnight. Frankly though, I think you can use them right away and they would be fine, if not even better (I like a less dry meringue).
5. On a plate or bowl, spread some of the sauce from the stewed berries, place the meringue, fill with a dollop of whipped cream, and top with the fruit and eat.
Stewed Strawberries:
1/8 cup sugar
1/8 cup water
1 teaspoon whiskey
1/8 teaspoon orange zest
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and cook uncovered for a few minutes, allowing the sauce to get syrupy.
Whipped Cream:
Because I was not making the whipped cream for the entire recipe, I simply used about a 1/4 cup of cream and whipped it until stiff, whipped in a teaspoon or so of sugar and some vanilla, and a tiny bit more of the whiskey. It worked wondrously.
Ina’s recipe though calls for a pint of cold heavy cream, two tablespoons of sugar, two teaspoons of vanilla extract, and a tablespoon of orange liqueur. Well, next time!
