pie lady

The lies (and this blog) end here.

2010-04-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

After over a year of nothing, it's time to face facts.
I am OVER the pie lady. The last few sporadic posts of promising to be back soon were total lies. Sorry about that.

It's been good times. I've met some great peeps.

I have moved on to co-write Butterface with my sister and partner in smut.
See you there.

Thanks for reading!

I know.

2009-09-16T00:28:00.000-07:00

So I stopped blogging for a bit.

While that dewsh Peter would have you all believe that my reasons for ditching the blog involve Nintendo and BC bud, he would be wrong. Just busy with work and weddings and whathaveyou. You know, the usual boring BS.
Sorry, no sex or drugs to blame...at least not this time

BOO-yah!

The blog has not been ditched. Merely put on the back burner.
I don't know when, but I will be back. Probably when the weather starts to suck. Promise.

Until then, have a cupcake.

Semolina Pudding

2009-03-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

Yeah. Sorry about that. A two week lull after what was a phoned in post to begin with is kind of a harsh toke. A brief early spring funk set in, leaving me with the overwhelming urge to do nothing but go through the motions.

And watch a lot of bad movies. Like, Bruce Campbell bad.

I did manage too eek out something interesting a few weeks ago- A semolina pudding. This was inspired by Heather of Gild the (voodoo)lily. Last February, she was in Seattle and met my sister and I for drinks. Over wine and blog gossip, she told me about her upcoming Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 feast that focused on African cuisine (Heather's 24's are always insane. She has another one up featuring nettles. It's so springy and delightful I could just wet myself). Anyway, she mentioned the hominy grits pudding she was planning to end the meal with. Which is where I realized that in nearly ten years of baking for a living, I had never once made a cooked cereal like that for dessert.

After Heather's post, I began tinkering. So as to not completely rip her off, I explored the flavors of Spain and Morocco. Sweet spices like cardamom, star anise, and cinnamon; the pulp of a vanilla bean, orange zest, and saffron. I opted for semolina over hominy, as it is what I had on hand and seemed to snuggle up with the flavors I was working with.

The warmly scented semolina is cooked, egg is added. Then it's baked in a water bath until it's just set. I baked mine in individual ramekins, because thats usually how I roll- but you could make a big one. You'll have to adjust the baking time.

To garnish, I gave it a drizzle of the clear seville orange caramel I had in the fridge, fresh blood oranges (because they're pretty), fresh mint, crushed salty marcona almonds, and a naughty little dollop of rose scented whipped cream. It made for a lovely weekend dessert special.

I will leave you with the recipe for my version, but the method is a canvas.
I encourage you to play.

Semolina Pudding
serves 7

2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 cardamom pods, crushed
1/2 of a cinnamon stick
1/4 of a vanilla bean, split open
1 star anise
pinch saffron
1/4 cup + 2 Tb semolina
2 oz. butter
1/2 tsp grated orange zest
pinch sea salt
3 eggs
1 egg yolk

Bring the milk, sugar, spices, vanilla bean, and saffron to a boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep for one hour.

Cut parchment paper into circles the same size as your ramekins.
spray 7 3" ramekins with pan spray. Line the bottoms with parchment paper circles and spray again. Place ramekins in a roasting pan that has been lined with a tea towel (prevents sliding).

Whisk eggs, yolk, and salt together in a bowl
Return the infused milk to a boil. Strain into a clean pot and bring back to a boil. Slowly whisk in the semolina. Continue whisking over medium heat until mixture has thickened- about 4 or 5 minutes.

Pour a small amount of cooked pudding into the eggs and whisk well. Then, whisk the tempered eggs into the pot. Add the butter and orange zest, then spoon pudding into prepared ramekins. Pour very hot water into the roasting pan until the ramekins are at least 3/4 of the way submerged. Cover pan with foil.

Poke holes in the foil and bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Lift the corner of the foil to release steam (Be Careful!!), then recover and bake about 20-30 minutes longer, or until puddings are set. Cool to room temperature- at least an hour, then invert onto plates. Don't forget to peel off the parchment paper!
Serve with your preferred accompaniments

Happy St. Paddy's!

2009-03-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love this holiday. I'm not Catholic, but there is just enough Irish in me to really get in to the drunken revelry of St. Patrick's Day.

I have a full bottle of Jameson's and a fridge full of Guinness, The Quiet Man- and in a few hours, a giant plate of food that will go straight to me'arteries.
The Menu:

Braised pork shoulder w/ grain mustard jus- so sue me, I'm not making corned beef. I forgot to start the brine and had to wing it. We'll have pulled pork sandwiches rather than reubens. I'm a little depressed about it, but I'm sure I'll pull through.

Colcannon heavy on the kale, for the sake of my lovehandles

soda bread that actually tastes good.

Guinness ice cream with whiskey caramel hence all of the open bottles of guinness- for the reduction...

I'll most likely not be blogging any of this. I'm just hanging out, waiting for the ice cream to finish churning and felt like sharing.

Now, with less swears and more chocolate

2009-03-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

In January, I came to the realization that somehow, this blog had not featured chocolate in over nine months. Admittedly, I am more of a fruit person, but I love good chocolate and did not intentionally give it the silent treatment. My bad.

I've been sitting on this post for a while, for reasons of sheer vanity. I couldn't get a decent shot of the sorbet before it started to melt on me. I meant to re-shoot it, but it disappeared before I had the chance- as is standard practice around here when it comes to things that taste good.

But, I'm also trying to turn over a new leaf with The Pie Lady. Some of the goals I've set include using the term 'fuck' less frequently, post weekly, and to stop ignoring chocolate. So I will bravely set my ego aside and assure you that while it looks a little melty, this sorbet is fucking amazing (I've already said it once. fuck it.)

I have met my monthly chocolate quota.
PS to those interested- this stuff is rich and indulgent, but not that bad for you.
And trust me on this one- You will think you are eating chocolate ice cream.

Dark Chocolate Sorbet

I like to serve mine with big sprigs of mint, because chocolate-mint is one of those flavor combos that makes my toes curl.

3 T corn syrup
2 1/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar

7 oz bittersweet chocolate (good quality), finely chopped
2 1/2 oz coco powder (dutch process)
1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla
2 T brandy

Combine the chopped chocolate, salt, and coco in a large bowl.
Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a pot and bring to a full boil.

Slowly pour 1/3 of the hot sugar syrup into the bowl of chocolate and whisk thoroughly. Continue adding the syrup and whisking in 2 more additions. The mixture may seize up when you first add the syrup, but it will come together.
Stir in the vanilla and brandy. Strain the base through a fine sieve and chill until completely cold. The base will thicken slightly.
Once base is completely cold, churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions.

Bread and Chocolate

2009-03-02T10:12:00.000-08:00

baked chocolate truffle, blood orange-port reduction, toasted cocoa nibs, sweet crostini

This is one of those dishes that just evolved into itself, completely by accident. It was inspired by the random grazing of a line cook, and the chocolate bar made by local company, Theo (and only organic, fair trade chocolate company in the country. Seriously. Click that link and buy some chocolate. I highly recommend the coconut curry).

The original idea was for just the baked truffle, the blood orange-port reduction, and perhaps an olive oil gelato- and I still mean to try that one day. But while I was working it out in my head, a question of texture kept popping up. I wanted something crunchy. But something other than the cocoa nibs or standard issue praline/brittle-type situation.

I was fiddling with the truffle recipe- which has the exact same texture as softened butter, when I put out a sample batch for the cooks to nosh on. We were standing around bullshitting and having coffee when one of them tore off a piece of fresh baguette, ripped it open, and smeared the truffle down the middle. Without a word, the rest of us followed suit. It was as delicious as it sounds, and I was mentally bitch slapping myself for not putting a spin on bread and chocolate on the menu until now.

I knew I couldn't serve it the way we had it, which to honest, might be how I like it best. This is where the Theo 'bread and chocolate' candy bar enters in. It's dark chocolate with baguette crumbs mixed it. It's crispy and salty-sweet and if I am ever in a munchy, it's a good place to turn. I sliced up a fresh baguette, moments after it's delivery, brushed it with melted butter, sprinkled it with raw sugar (I'm now using crystal sugar because it's prettier), and baked at 400 for about 8 minutes. Then I smeared one with a thick layer of the truffle and didn't look back.

see instructions for sweet crostini in post. Blood orange-port reduction is equal parts tawny port and blood orange juice, a small handful of sugar, and a piece of star anise. Simmer until reduced and syrupy.

Baked Chocolate Truffle
slightly tinkered with version of the recipe from
Susan G. Purdy's Pie in the Skyserves four

4 oz 70% good quality dark chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp espresso powder
4 oz very soft butter (like, the texture of mayonnaise)
2 room temperature eggs
1/4 tsp sea salt

Pre heat oven to 300 degrees. In a food processor, gind up chocolate until you have fine crumbs. Brush 4 small ramekins with melted butter. Line the bottoms with small circles of parchment paper and brush with more butter. Place ramekins in a tea towel lined roasting pan.
Bring the sugar, espresso powder and water just to a simmer, do not boil. Add to chocolate in a slow steady stream through the feeding tube with the machine running. Once all the syrup has been added, continue to process for about 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl down, then turn machine back on. Add the butter, a few tablespoons at a time, through the feeding tube with the machine running. Continue to process for about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl and process a few seconds more.
Whisk the eggs and salt together. Slowly add to the chocolate mixture, pulsing every few seconds just to combine. You do not want to add much air at this point.
Divide the mixture between the ramekins and fill roasting pan with enough hot water to submerge them halfway. Cover pan with foil and bake for about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5-7 more minutes. Truffles will be set, but still look moist.
Always serve at room temperature.

Seville Orange Flan

2009-02-21T22:16:00.000-08:00

My annual obsession with seville oranges continues, this installment being a perfectly textured flan. Yeah, you heard me. Perfect.

It's heavy on the eggs, but doesn't taste too eggy... I personally like it to be a touch on the eggy side, though. Some people get all freaked out by the eggy flan thing, and they should just go eat some creme brulee and get over it.

I don't use any cream in this one because it inhibits the sharp, clean flavor of the sevilles. Whole milk lends just enough richness, but still keeps the flan silky and light.
I cook my caramel for the bottom of the ramekins a hair darker than usual, for some bitter twang.
Lots of vanilla beans and a little drizzle of creme fraiche are the only other players in the dish, providing the equipment for a jooshed up creamsicle.
If you can get your hands on seville oranges, do two things with them. Make the cuban roast pork shoulder from the Dean and Deluca cookbook, and serve this flan for dessert.

Seville Orange Flan
yield: 5 (or more if using smaller ramekins)

Caramel:
3 oz water
1 1/2 cups sugar

Custard:
3 cups whole milk
zest of 1 large (or 2 small) seville oranges
2 vanilla beans
3/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
4 eggs
7 egg yolks
1 Tb grand marnier

1. Infuse the milk: split open the vanilla beans and scrape the seeds into a sauce pot. Add the pods to the pot. Add the orange zest and milk. Bring to a full boil, then cover, remove from heat, and let steep on the counter for 2 full hours.

2. Make the caramel: Spray 5 ramekins with pan release. Place ramekins in a roasting pan lined with a tea towel (this keeps the ramekins from sliding around). Combine the sugar and water in a pot. Stir very gently with your finger until the sugar is absorbed. Place pot over high heat and cook, brushing down the sides of the pot with a pastry bag dipped in water (OR- this is what I do: Cover the pot with a lid and allow the condensation to wash down the sides of the pot for you. Just stay close so you can occasionally peek to see how your caramel is coming along)
Once the sugar is reaching an amber color, remove pot from the heat. Tilt pot around gently to encourage even caramelizing. Ladle the caramel into the ramekins. Set aside while you make the custard.

3. Custard: In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks, sugar, and salt. Have a heatproof container and a fine sieve or chinois at the ready. Remove cover from pot of infused milk and bring to a full boil. Gradually whisk the hot milk into the eggs. Strain custard, then stir in the grand marnier. The custard base can be made ahead of time.

4. Bake: Pour custard base into the prepared ramekins. Fill the roasting pan with
very hot water so that the ramekins are about 3/4 of the way submerged. Cover pan with foil and bake in a 325 degree oven for 60-90 minutes, until flans are set but not wobbly. Once ramekins are cool enough to handle, remove from the water bath and let sit at room temp for about 10 minutes (putting hot flans right in the fridge causes the custard to crack). Refrigerate overnight for best results.

5. Serve: Run the tip of a knife around the edge of ramekin. Place a dessert plate on top of the ramekin. Invert flan onto the plate (you may need to shake it a little until you hear the flan separate from the ramekin). Drizzle with a little creme fraiche a la Jackson Pollack.

Hallmark Holiday

2009-02-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day Dessert Plate For Two

Pardon my not visiting your blogs lately. Cupid has had me by the short and curlies.

Valentine's Day is not something I've ever given two shits about as a wife. But as a pastry chef, it's a different story. I am usually buried in my regular prep to prepare for the incursion of two-tops we'll be hit with that night, as well as the dessert special- usually chocolate, that is expected. Then, that evening, I come back to the restaurant to plate desserts.
I know I am making it sound pretty miserable, but it's actually a really fun, high energy event. I work my ass off in the kitchen, then change into my chef whites and plate- which is something I relish doing, but rarely have the chance.
Later, I have a shot or two with the cooks, and go home to eat pizza with Trevor (our Valentine's day late night pizza delivery/bottle of wine/movie rental is a much beloved tradition).

There were a few added kinks this year, mostly self-inflicted.
One is the fact that now I have two restaurants to worry about instead of one. Two dessert specials, and going back and forth between two restaurants to plate desserts.
Another hindrance- I decided to change the entire menu a few days before Valentine's day. This means that rather than spend the weeks leading up to the big day perfecting a kickass dessert special, I was working out recipes for the new menu.
Then, I convinced myself that I wanted to make truffles for the special.
Truffles.
??????

Yeah, I decided to mix tempering chocolate, with pms and a time crunch.
I don't recommend it.
But, I have said this before and I'll say it again. For some reason, I work best under pressure. Thanks to two awesome assistant bakers who rocked the shit out of the regular prep load, a nice 70 degree kitchen, and the energy giving powers of vitamin B 12 injected smoothies from the joint next door, all went off with out a hitch.

The final plate ended up being a chocolate sampler for two. Dark chocolate sorbet with vanilla bean crema and roasted coco nibs, fresh fruit (blood oranges, red currants), and assorted truffles and confections:
white chocolate-grapefruit truffle with hazelnuts, milk chocolate-Bailey's truffle with pecans, dark chocolate-single malt scotch truffle (which was heart shaped), dark chocolate-pistachio-sour cherry mendiants, and not pictured because it was still cooling at the time: marcona almond brittle

I did the same special at both restaurants to ease the feeling of panic- the dining public will never know.
The big star of the plate was the sorbet, which I promise to blog ASAP, as it's too easy and too delish not to share. The single malt scotch and dark chocolate truffle was my personal fave. But I wont blog it as I ripped it off from the Scharffenberger book, and grabbing the camera to snap a few shots while dipping truffles was completely out of the question.

I slept for 16 hours yesterday and I'm fully recovered. I'll be back to lurk on your blogs now.
Oh yeah- tomorrow is my 5 year wedding anniversary, so there is a possibility of a first ever restaurant review to come....
if I can remember the camera. And it probably wont be a review per se, as that is not my style (I never burn bridges)- but more of a "look at the pictures of this food I ate, it was yummy" type posting.

Winter Fruit Crisp with Cognac Ice Cream

2009-02-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

Before I even start this post, I need to publicly thank Matt (of the blog Wrightfood, and whose praises have been sung here in the past) and his beautiful wife Danika for the amazing meat party they threw for Seattle area bloggers two weeks ago. It was really cool to finally meet Matt in person, as we've been blog buddies for the last year or so. Those of you who are familiar with his blog know his photos totally smoke most cookbooks. I am pleased to announce that the food tastes even better than it looks. Matt, who is primarily a seafood guy- but I think he prefers the term "bloke", went all out with rillettes, game pate, and slow roasted pork shoulder- just to mention a few of the goodies. Each course was pared with wines lovingly selected by Catherine Reynolds of Queso y Vino. And I was humbled beyond words when Matt asked me to prepare the dessert (which was NOT the crisp you see above. With course after course of homemade charcuterie, fruit crisp just wouldn't cut the mustard). We left the party giddy from wine and with happy tummies. To read more about this meaty soiree (or to get really jealous) check out Matt's post.

Now, about this crisp...

While it may not be quite elegant enough to follow a 4 course carnivorous orgasm, it certainly stood up to the hoppin' john we had post superbowl yesterday. Nothing soothes the sting of watching the cardinals lose like a plate of beans, greens, and piggy.

It's all about the topping with this one. The fruit and ice cream is irrelevant to me. The key is the temperature of your butter when mixing the strudel. You want it to be cool, set at room temperature for just long enough to take off the chill. Of course, it all depends on the environment you are working in- but I usually take the butter out of the fridge, cut it into cubes, and let it hang out on the counter while I gather the remaining ingredients. By the time I'm ready to mix, the butter is right where I want it.

You can use this topping for any fruit and it will be delicious. I had some poached quince, granny smith apples, and dried cranberries (plumped up by a soak in scalding hot water). I make this at work with a combination of pears and sour cherries, which will soon change to rhubarb, as I just heard it's now available from our produce vendor (!!!!!!!)
So use what you've got. Toss in a little sugar, spices if you want em (I usually don't), and a splash of melted butter. You're good to go. You can make make a big batch of the topping and freeze it for when you need to pull a dessert out of your ass.

The ice cream was a no brainer, as a healthy glug of V.S.O.P makes any fruity dessert happy. The excess amount of booze in the ice cream gives it a soft, velvety texture right out of the freezer. This ice cream is also really good with warm chocolate cake- the fuggy flourless kind. Though, I am sure I have failed to surprise anyone with that little nugget.

Next post, I promise to refrain from using my little oval bowls and doilies. I am also realizing that I cannot remember the last time we saw chocolate here....hmmm.

Crisp Topping
Yield....lots. I usually just scatter a few handfuls over my crips and freeze the remainder

1/2 # butter, cut into cubes and slightly softened*
3 oz. chopped pecans (just shy of 1 cup)
5 1/2 oz. rolled oats (about 1 1/2 cup)
8 oz. flour
5 oz. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Combine everything except the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer. Mix on low speed, using the paddle, until well combined. Add the butter and mix on low until all the dry ingredients have been moistened by the butter and the mixture is clumpy. Do not let the mixture turn into dough.

*see instructions in post

Winter Fruit Crisp
Yield- 4 individual crisps

3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1 1/2 " chunks
4 oz. poached quince, strained
1/4 cup re hydrated cranberries**, strained
1 tsp lemon juice
3 T sugar
2 T melted butter
1 cup crisp topping

**Cover dried cranberries with boiling water and let sit for at least 45 minutes.

Toss together and divide amongst 4 ramekins or small bowls. Top each bowl with 1/4 cup crisp topping.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes- until topping is brown and fruit is bubbly.

Grapefruit Campari Sorbet

2009-01-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

As you can probably tell my the blinding girlishness of my blog, I unapologetically love pink.

The thing is, I in no way fit the personality profile of a stereotypical pink-lover.
My ipod and cellphone are not bedazzled with swarovski crystals.
I stopped wearing tiaras after grammar school.
If for some reason I am wearing a skirt, I can assure you that I will provide no opportunity for accidental peeping at my lady parts.
See? I'm totally 'one of the guys'.

But yeah. I admit that pink sort of puts me in my happy place. As does this pink grapefruit sorbet. I look forward to making it all year. Right about now, when the gargantuan Florida grapefruit are available is the best time to make it, but the Texas rio stars are also quite good. The Campari is key. While it may taste as bitter and evil as Slayer lyrics by itself- the oompf a little splash of it in citrus cocktails will deliver makes it a worthy investment. Plus you'll look totally suave with it sitting on your bar.

Do yourself a favor and candy the zest of the grapefruit before juicing them. Not only is it less wasteful in trying economic times like these, but it makes a tasty garnish as well.

This sorbet always does well at the restaurant. It's rare when a sorbet will outsell anything with chocolate in it, but this one will.
I love to imagine some alpha male on a first date accidentally ordering it.
While he is desperately hoping to appear manly- thus increasing the odds of mating, this pretty pink dessert on a doily sits before him.
It probably never happens, but I can always fantasize.

Grapefruit Campari Sorbet

5 1/2 cups freshly squeezed ruby red grapefruit juice (usually takes about 8 medium grapefruit)
1 quart grapefruit simple syrup*
6 oz. champagne, prosecco, or cremant (anything bubbly)
1 oz campari

Combine and churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions

*Grapefruit simple syrup:
1 quart water
4 cups sugar
grated zest of 2 ruby red grapefruit

Rub the zest into the sugar with your hands until the mixture resembles wet sand. Combine with the water and bring to a full boil. Remove from heat and strain. Chill overnight or in an ice bath.

Humble little citrus bars

2009-01-10T22:55:00.000-08:00

There is nothing fancy about these bars. I am completely aware of the fact that none of my readers will be wowed or have their hair blown back.

But they are so, SO good.

I made these for the first time last summer to bring to a BBQ, using just the zest and juice of key limes and garnishing with toasted coconut.
I had also brought strawberry shortcake- made in the height of local strawberry season, with a mascarpone whipped filling. I was expecting that to be the crowd pleaser, but everyone kept going back for the lime bars.
I knew I would need to revisit the recipe when citrus season rolled around.

Here we are, six months later with an abundance of cool citrus fruits to play with. This particular batch was made with the zest and juice of limes, meyer lemons, and cara cara oranges- garnished with a piece of candied grapefruit zest (leftover from my Grapefruit Campari Sorbet. Stay tuned).
I will be making these again in a few weeks using all seville oranges (my fave) for a super tart party in my mouth.

It's hard to say exactly what makes these simple little bars so addicting. I really love the animal cracker crust as a stand in for the everyday graham crackers. And the texture of the filling is nothing short of dreamy- having just enough cream cheese in them for a slight tang, but not so much that they are cheesecakey (nothing against you, cheesecake- but there is a time and a place.)

This recipe comes from a well known cooking periodical. I will not tell you which one, because the word on the street is that they are total nazis about food bloggers reprinting their recipes.
I'm going to break all kinds of laws here, and supply you with the recipe- without citing the source. Lets see if thugs wearing little red bow ties come after me brandishing rapier swords and chucking ninja stars.

Mystery Citrus Bars (as I made them)

crust:
5 oz animal crackers
3 T packed brown sugar
2 T melted butter
1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving excess to overhang pan sides. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Pulse animal crackers in a food processor until broken down. Add brown sugar and salt. Pulse until you have evenly fine crumbs. Add butter and pulse until crumbs are moistened.
Press evenly into the bottom of prepared pan (use the bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup). Bake until golden brown. About 18-20 minutes. Cool while you make the filling.

filling:
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 tsp each of grated lime, meyer lemon, and orange zest (mince zest with a sharp knife after zesting)
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg yolk
4 T lime juice, 2 T meyer lemon juice, and 2 T cara cara* orange juice

*cara cara oranges are slightly less sweet than regular oranges. If using regular oranges, decrease juice to 1 T and increase either meyer lemon or lime juice by 1 T.

Go Oregon Ducks

Stir the cream cheese, zest, and salt with a rubber spatula until softened and creamy. Add sweetened condensed milk and whisk thoroughly until no lumps remain. Whisk in egg yolk. Add juices and whisk until incorporated.
Pour filling into crust, spread to corners, and smooth surface with a spatula. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from the sides of the pan. 15-20 minutes.
Cool to room temp, then cover with foil and refrigerate until completely chilled- at least 2 hours.
Loosen edges with a paring knife and lift bars from baking pan using foil extensions. Cut bars into 16 squares.

Holiday Granola. Slightly belated.

2009-01-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

As granolas go, this one is pretty damn festive.

I call this "holiday" granola because it contains dried cranberries, minced candied ginger, and is infused with the zest from satsuma oranges- which were always in my stocking as a kid.
Also, because I can only assume that people get sick of receiving cookies and shitty fudge (as I do)- I made a huge batch, jarred it up, and gave it away during the holidays. I love homemade gifts (really!), and I especially love it when they wont lead to adult onset diabetes and a fat ass.

While I would never call this granola healthy (ya know- the butter.), it is certainly more beneficial than the giant tub of flavored popcorn my sister-in-law sent us (half candy corn, half cheddar corn. All stale, smelly, vile, and eerily addicting).

This recipe is totally laid back. It turns out perfect and evenly golden every time. It comes from my old buddy Kurt, former owner of Cafe Septieme in Seattle, and now full time farmer. I usually don't add dried fruit to it- as it is delicious alone, but dried bing cherries, blueberries, or apricots are also nice compliments to it.

Next time you're fixing drop 6 or 7 bucks on a box of granola, why not just check out your pantry? You undoubtedly have all you need to make it yourself.

You'll thank yourself while it's baking and the aroma of honey and orange fills your kitchen.
You'll thank me once you've tried it sprinkled on vanilla ice cream.

Holiday Granola

5 cups rolled oats
1 cup pecan pieces
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
3/4 cup shredded coconut (I prefer unsweetened- but use what you like)
1 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
9 oz unsalted butter
3/4 cup honey
zest of 1 orange (or 2 small satsumas)
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup minced candied ginger

Pre heat the oven to 325
Toss the oats, nuts, and coconut together in a large bowl. In a saucepan, bring the butter, honey, zest, and nutmeg to a boil. Pour over oats and stir thoroughly, until mixture is evenly coated with the honey butter. Pour out onto 2 sheet pans.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
Cool, then stir in dried fruit.

Buttermilk honey dough and resurfacing from under that white stuff

2008-12-30T09:56:00.000-08:00

photo taken exactly one week ago

There are a zillion reasons why I dearly love the two dudes I work for. One of them is how they handle the holidays. Typically, this time of year is not in any way merry for us restaurant employees. We are working our asses off while the rest of the world spends time with their friends and families.
Luckily for my co-workers and I, our employers cut us all a generous holiday bonus check and close both the restaurants down from the 23rd to the 2nd.
We all think they are completely bat shit crazy to do this, as they are missing out on some serious revenue, but we don't exactly complain about it.

During last year's closure I was little miss productive. This year, not so much. First of all, anyone living in the Northwest knows about last week's snow apocalypse.
And before any of your east coasters start in on how we are a bunch of pussies, let me just stop you right there.
Yes. We are a bunch of pussies. However, we are not used to this kind of weather and most of us are not confident driving in it. Then we get the "outsiders", immigrants from Vermont or Wisconsin or whatever, who think they are "experienced snow drivers". They get really cocky behind the wheel of their front wheel drive Honda, forgetting that Seattle is NOT FLAT. We are a city comprised of several neighborhoods, most of which are on their own ginormous hill. I happen to live on one of the biggest ones: Queen Anne Hill, which they had to close down completely. Did that stop the cheese heads from going around the road closed sign? Of course not. They can just drive around it, as unlike these local nimrods, cheese head is an "experienced snow driver". Oh wait...cheese head forgot that Seattle does not salt the roads either. Chaos ensues. Parked cars get smashed into, etc.

Crisis '08!

Needless to say, we were snowed in and we both became ill with cabin fever. Even walking to the grocery store was not exactly safe. The hill was so iced up that falling on ones ass was bound to happen at least a dozen times.

So, we watched a ton of movies and several old episodes of The A-Team, I got over halfway through a 1000 page historical novel about Cleopatra and I did a lot of baking. I even took pictures of all my baking with the full intention to blog all of it. Did I feel like sitting at the computer for any of this down time? No not at all. I can't explain it, but blogging was the last thing on earth I wanted to do.

But, of course, now that the snow is nearly gone and I am free to go out and about- I'm ready to sit down and share some of these recipes with you. Yes, I am a strange bird.

When the snow first started falling, Trevor asked if I might be willing to make him "those little ham roll thingies" and "while I'm at it, what about cinnamon rolls? It's the same dough, right? Puuuleeeeease?"

Yes, it is the same miraculous buttermilk honey dough. It comes from Beth Hensperger, author of The Bread Bible. It's just a perfect white bread dough. Delicious when baked into a loaf and smeared with a little butter and honey. Even better when used for cinnamon rolls, or Trev's fave: Ham and cheddar rolls.

For the ham rolls, roll the dough out into a rectangle and sprinkle generously with sharp cheddar cheese (I like Tillamook). Then lay out several slices of good deli ham. Top with a little more shredded cheese and chopped sage. Roll up like Cinnamon rolls, and slice into medallions. Allow the rolls to proof in a warm spot for about 40 minutes. Then bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. For cinnamon rolls it's the same idea. Roll dough into a rectangle, brush with lots of melted butter. Sprinkle generously with a blend of brown sugar and cinnamon (I never use a recipe for either of these rolls, sorry I can't be exact). Once the cinnamon rolls come out of the oven, make a glaze by whisking powdered sugar and buttermilk together and pour it over the rolls while they are still hot.

Here is the recipe, and I promise my next post will be lighter on the yakity yak and heavier on the content. Pinky swear.

Buttermilk Honey Dough from The Bread Bible
makes 12 cinnamon or ham rolls or 2 9-by-5 inch loaves

3/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 T active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, warmed slightly
2 T unsalted butter, melted
3 T honey
1 T salt
6 to 6 1/4 cups all purpose flour

Pour the water in the bowl of a standing mixer. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the surface of the water. Stir to combine and let stand at room temp until foamy- about 10 minutes.

Add the buttermilk, butter, honey, salt, and 2 cups of the flour. Beat hard with the paddle attachment to combine. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a shaggy dough is formed. Switch to the dough hook and knead for 3-4 minutes, or until the dough is springy. Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead briefly by hand.

Place dough into a greased bowl (I just use pan spray). Turn the dough once to grease the top and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Gently deflate dough and form into desired shape, or follow above roll instructions. Allow to rise again for 40 minutes, then bake.

cinnamon rolls were devoured before a photo shoot could take place.

Not your grandmother's bread pudding

2008-12-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

warm gingerbread pudding with meyer lemon chantilly

It's not that I forgot to blog for the last two weeks. It's just that my stoopid computer caught one of those trojan virus thingys and was at the computer doctor for a week. Then I was lazy for a few days.
It's fixed and life/my blog may return to it's regularly scheduled programming.

Let's talk bread pudding, shall we? I first developed my geriatric-like obsession for this dessert (because, lets face it. The vast majority of those who ordered this dessert were of The Greatest Generation) while I was working at this little bakery in high school. It was a simple affair, made from the leftover cinnamon, orange, and pecan rolls. The combination of flavors from each roll was amazing. Caramel, cinnamon, and orange. All bound together with a very gently sweetened custard. The occasional pecan or golden raisin would pop up every other bite or so- but never obtrusively, for as a general rule, I am anti-raisin in bread pudding.

I have since eaten many other forms of this dessert made with brioche, cake, croissants, and plain old white sandwich bread. Some have been lovely (I once worked with a pastry chef that made a version using dried chocolate cake and a caramel custard. Holeee shit. That was a tasty 'un), and some have been downright despicable. There is a reputable restaurant in this city (who shall remain nameless) that prides itself on it's bread pudding. It is mushy, overly sweet and cloying. Nothing short of a travesty.

I think it comes down to the fact that there are two schools of thought on bread pudding. Those who allow the bread to completely soak up the custard before baking, creating a solid unit of indiscernible mush. And those who use a little restraint with that step, creating a pudding with more depth. I prefer the latter.

This gingerbread pudding is probably my second favorite incarnation of the dessert. The first being the one from my high school days. Sadly, I pretty much never have leftover cinnamon rolls, pecan sticky buns, and orange rolls sitting around. And unless we're visiting my in-laws, I avoid my hometown of Issaquah like the plague. That first taste of bread pudding will probably have to remain romanticized in my memory.

Okay- the recipe. I know it seems foolish to bake a perfectly good batch of gingerbread, only to cut it up and dry it out like croutons in the oven. Never will this seem more idiotic than with this recipe. It is that good. I took David Lebovitz's gingerbread recipe and tinkered with it. I replaced the oil with brown butter, and added the spices right in the pot with the butter as it browned to help their flavors bloom a little more. The result is a really tender, extra spicy (it almost tastes "hot") ginger cake. You may want to double the recipe so you have some fresh cake to snack on while the bread pudding bakes.

I garnish this dessert with meyer lemon chantilly, which is just a simple meyer lemon curd with a little whipped cream folded in....good enough to eat with a spoon, standing in front of the fridge with the door still open. But not that I've done that.

Gingerbread

1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt

4 oz butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup boiling water
1 tsp baking soda

2 T minced candied ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a sheet pan with baking release (like pam), line with parchment paper, and spray again. Sift the flour and salt together and set aside. Place a pot of water in the stove to boil. Combine the butter and the spices in a pot and melt over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown a little (this takes a minute or two, and will be difficult to tell when it has browned, as the spices are in there. Go by smell- it should begin to smell nutty.) Set aside to cool. In a large bowl, whisk the molasses, sugar, and egg together. Add the butter/spice mixture and whisk to combine.
Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.Measure out the 1/2 cup of boiling water and quickly stir the baking soda into it. Add to cake batter and stir gently until combined. Finally, add the minced ginger and stir. Pour the batter out onto the prepared sheet pan and bake for approximately 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Cut the cooled gingerbread into 1/2" cubes and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for about 10 minutes. After the gingerbread has cooled, it will be somewhat crisp, like croutons.

Gingerbread pudding

8 cups loosely packed cubed gingerbread

3 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream

9 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice
3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract
1 T calvados, or brandy

Whisk the eggs, sugars, and spices together in a large bowl. Bring the milk and cream to a boil, the gradually whisk into the eggs. Strain the custard, then stir in the calvados and vanilla.
Butter a large souffle dish. Place the dried gingerbread in the dish and slowly pour the custard over the gingerbread. Place in a large roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with hot water, until the souffle dish is about halfway submerged. Bake at 325 for about 45 minutes. The custard will be set, but slightly wobbly in the center.
Cool to room temperature and serve.

Too stuffed for pie

2008-11-27T15:46:00.000-08:00

Pear Riesling Sorbet

Happy Thanksgiving!!
I love Thanksgiving, it's my favorite holiday. Trevor and I have a tradition of keeping it a "just the two of us" event. Big family Christmas parties are just around the corner, so it's nice to relax and have a nice dinner for two- and then survive off the leftovers for the week and a half to follow.

Just because it's a small party, doesn't mean it's not a raging party. I bust out the nice dishes, set the table all Martha-like, light candles...the works. We just happen to celebrate in jammy pants, and I may have forgotten to put on a bra.

Trevor has set himself up with a living room-prep station, and is obediently snipping green beans on the couch, watching From Russia with Love. I'm taking a cocktail break from the kitchen...
oh yeah, and were both being thankful.

One thing we never really go wild about on this holiday, is dessert. Usually an assortment of shortbread cookies, depending on what dough I have in the freezer, and a glass of prosecco is all the dessert necessary after the Turkey Feed.

This year, however, I did have my fanciest of pants on. I had some yellowy golden pears, splotchy with little brown spots on the counter. They were primed and ready to be cooked down a wee bit, and pureed to become pear sorbet. A healthy amount of Riesling plays nicely with the pear, and a shot of cointreau adds a cozy, orangey warmth. Totally refreshing after a big meal. Rather than the tradish prosecco, I found a sexy pink cremant. She truly is a dirty girl, and will be glorious with the sorbet.

Pear Riesling Sorbet

simple syrup (refrigerate the leftovers for cocktails)
2 cups water
2 cups sugar

combine, bring to a boil. set aside to cool.

Pear puree (adjust sorbet recipe to how many cups your puree yields)

very ripe pears
lemon juice
water

peel and core pears. cut into chunks and place in a sauce pan. Add a few tablespoons of water and a squeeze of lemon juice. Cook, covered, over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Once pears are beginning to liquefy, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Puree in a blender (in batches if needed), Strain through a sieve into a large measuring pitcher

Sorbet base:

2 cups pear puree
1 cup simple syrup
3 or 4 oz. of decent quality Riesling (add more or less to your taste)
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T cointreau

Stir together, then refrigerate until completely cold. Churn in an ice cream maker.

Pie #8- Washington Apple..."perfect is in the eye of the beholder"

2008-11-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

I heart Washington State

I didn't mean to take such a hiatus from blogging, but here it is over two weeks since my last post! Woops. I wouldn't of had anything interesting to post anyway, as a few weeks ago, I put myself on a for reals-no foolie diet....oh- pardon me, I mean *lifestyle change*....sniffle. I need either a hug or a huge beer and a cheeseburger. Or both. It was definitely time to trim down between the summertime BBQ meat-fest and the holiday smorgasbord. I've been jogging and taking pilates classes like a mother fucker. And I swear to god if I have to look at another boneless-skinless chicken breast I'm going to fucking shoot myself.

I've lost 15 pounds.
I need PIE.

So heres the deal with my apple pie. I've been tinkering around with this recipe for close to 8 years. I've tried variations on the spices, amounts of sugar, and most important: the apple varieties. What I've come with is a perfect apple pie for my taste. You may have a differing opinion on what "perfect" means in an apple pie, so don't give me that stinky eye ball if you don't like lemon zest, or feel that an apple pie without allspice is a crime against humanity.

These are my requirements for a perfect apple pie:

1. Use a blend of apples. Mostly a firm, tart apple (granny smith or newton pippin) and a few sweet apples that soften a bit more after baking (such as a jonagold or a braeburn). The sweet apples will soften to almost a sauce like consistency while the tart ones will retain both their shape and a slight crunch.

2. 86 the butter. I know. Crazy. This is my one and only fruit pie recipe that has no butter in the filling. Personally, I think the apples taste brighter with out it.

3. Once you have tossed the apples with the sugar, spices, and lemon juice. Let it sit for about 15 minutes before filling your pie shell. This will eliminate the dreaded gap of space between the baked top crust and the filling.

4. Starch should be minimal. Apples are full of pectin.

5. Add both lemon juice (as per usual) and zest. It brings the apples alive.

6. Easy on that sugar, bucko. I really really really hate apple pie that is too sweet. Really.

7. My spices of choice are cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. I have tried just about every baking spice out there for this recipe and these, ho-hum as they may sound are my favorites. You may feel differently, and that is between you, your pie, and your god.

Now that I have indulged in a much needed dose of fat and sugar, I am feeling much less bitchy...and more in the mood to blog. Break is over, I promise!

Apple pie filling

3# tart apples (granny smith or pippin)
1# sweet apples (braeburn or jonagold)
2 Tb lemon juice
zest of 1/2 of a lemon
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg- freshly grated
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp salt

Peel and core the apples. Slice into 1/2" slices and toss with the lemon juice and zest. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, starch, salt, and spices. Toss with the apples and let sit for 15 minutes. Fill unbaked pie shell, apply top crust, and bake.

RFJ: Winter Squash Tart

2008-10-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

with glazed pecans, maple cream, and sage-caramel

Oh my god, I'm foodie jousting! I know, I can't believe it either. Seems like it's been ages since I joined in on the monthly battle brought to you by Jenn at the Leftover Queen Forum. Last month Susan won with her creamy gorgonzola, fennel, and pear tart. She probably deserves a separate award for both her blog and post titles. They sound like they should be spoken in a titillated breathy moan. I think it comes down the the use of the word "creamy"...

I thought I'd keep it tart-ie with Susan's chosen ingredients of acorn squash, sage. and orange.
Which are awesome ingredients.

I made an orange scented-pecan crust, a sweet filling of pureed acorn and delicato squash, spices, brown sugar, and a little egg- Your standard issue pumpkin pie filling but with different squash.
The sage was infused into cream for the star of this dessert: sage-caramel. I gotta say, this one really tickled my g-spot. The earthiness of the sage cuts right through the sweet caramel. A little sea salt is stirred in as well to balance everything out. It was absolutely perfect when paired with the spicy, yet not overly sweet tart.

I finished the dessert with pecans that have been glazed with brown sugar, butter, and a little salt, and a chantilly of maple syrup, whipping cream, and sour cream. Oh yeah- and a spot of bourbon.....never forget the Bourbon.....
I brought the whole shebang to work so my colleagues can get fat too.

I've witnessed enough eye fluttering after watching them devour these to decide that it should probably be put on my menu. It's the super amazing funky phresh sage-caramel that makes it. I think I might take a bath in it.
...maybe make out with it a little?.....

Sage Caramel: pretty much the best thing ever.

You know what I just realized? The next time I post a blog, we will have elected a new president. Fucking better be Obama or I'm going cry for a very long time.

Winter squash tart with glazed pecans, maple cream, and sage-caramel

orange-pecan crust:
1 1/4 cup pastry flour
4 oz cold butter, cut into cubes
pinch sea salt

1/3 cup toasted pecans
1 tsp orange zest
1 T + 1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp flour

1 small egg
1 T cold cream
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

whisk the egg, vanilla and cream together in a small measuring pitcher and set aside. In the food processor, pulse up the nuts, zest, 1 tsp flour, and brown sugar until nuts are finely ground. Add the flour and salt. Process until nut mixture is evenly combined with flour. Add the butter and pulse until butter is the size of small peas. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the egg mixture and mix on low with the paddle attachment until dough just forms. Dump out onto the counter and gently work dough into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 3 hours. Roll out onto a lightly dusted surface. Makes either 6- 4" tarts or 1- 9" tart.
Freeze tart shell until baking time.

Sage-Caramel:

4 sage leaves, torn slightly
1 cup whipping cream

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice

1 T butter
pinch of sea salt

combine the sage and cream in a small pot. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, bring to a boil again, then strain into a measuring pitcher. Cover to keep hot. In a separate, larger pot, combine the lemon juice, water and sugar. Cook, brushing down the sides with a brush that has been dipped in water until copper colored. Remove from heat. Slowly and carefully whisk in the hot sage scented cream. Whisk until smooth, then stir in the butter and salt.

Winter Squash Puree:

oven cam!
1 acorn squash
2 delicato squash, peeled, de-seeded, and cut into cubes

Slice acorn squash into rings, removing the seedy center and place on a foil lined pan. Prep the delicato squash and place in a hotel pan. Cover with foil. Place both pans in a 400 degree oven. Acorn squash will be done after about 30 minutes. Delicato will take up to 2 hours. Spoon out the center of the acorn squash into the food processor. add the cooked pumpkin and puree until completely smooth. Let cool. There are plenty of leftovers for soup after making this tart.

Tarts:

6 pecan tart shells

1 cup winter squash puree
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 T granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp clove
3 T whole milk
1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 Tb maple syrup
1 tsp bourbon (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten

Blind bake the tart shells for 25 minutes at 350. Remove pie weights and continue baking until pale golden (shells should be almost fully baked). Lower oven temp to 325.

Whisk together everything but the squash and eggs.
Place the squash puree in a small pot and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add the the spice mixture and whisk to combine. Whisk in the eggs. Transfer mixture to a pitcher, then carefully pour into tart shells. bake for about 20minutes, or until set, but wobbly in the centers and slightly puffy on the edges.

Cool. Garnish with the sage caramel and a dollop of whipped cream (I flavored mine with maple syrup and bourbon), and glazed pecans.

Comfort Food

2008-10-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Huckleberry Creme Brulee: scented with fresh bay leaf and served with brown butter tuiles

You know what hurts, like really bad?
A fractured rib.

Those of you who follow my twitter updates already know, I was in a car accident on Monday evening. Yes, folks- it's one woe-is-me post after another here. And by the way, thank you for all of your kind words about my kitty. Percy is doing much better-he's just as sprightly and obnoxious as ever, just the way we love him. He has, however passed his cold on to his sister- but she's always been a rockstar and seems to be kicking it's ass.

So, back to my whining: I was hit on the drivers side in the middle of an intersection. My car is kind of totaled (I can't close the driver's side door). The guy was in his mid 50's, driving a Lexus. Needless to say- he's got tons of insurance- so ya know, there's that.
Luckily, he was only going about 35 miles an hour. But that was enough to give me a nasty bruise on the side of my head, a healthy case of whip lash, and a fractured rib. Which hurts like a bitch. The other driver is totally fine, and I could be in much worse shape. For the most part, I am thankful that we are both okay.

But this rib....good god. Please don't make me laugh, cough, or sneeze. For that matter, I'd prefer not to breathe if thats possible. Anyone who has ever had one of these knows that there is nothing the doctors can do. I was given a weeks worth of codeine and told to "take it easy".

The last couple of nights, as I've been nursing my aches and pains- I've been craving comfort food (wine and the doting husband can only do so much). The combination of hurting, the cold weather, and this post, which I read just hours after the accident, brought it all on.

I need a hug

It seems like the general dining public is craving it as well. Some of my fancy pants desserts at the restaurant are being snubbed for the simple, snuggly ones. Huckleberry creme brulee in particular seems to be all the rage right now. Which is fine by me- as it couldn't be easier to make.

I use frozen huckleberries procured by the very same hippies that forage the wild mushrooms for the restaurant. They come all cleaned and ready to go (huckleberries are a fucking nightmare to clean). Those of you not living in the pacific northwest might be shit-out-of-luck. There is no commercial licence for huckleberries (which are native to the mountainous regions of Northwest forests), so they can be hard to find if you live in Skokie, Illinois. Blueberries would work (but they're nowhere near as good. sorry).

I infuse my brulee base with a vanilla bean and some fresh bay leaves. If you've never tried a dessert made with fresh bay leaves, for the love of god try it. It's really good infused into creamy substances such as flans, ice creams, and of course brulees. If you live in an area where huckleberries are nigh impossible to get your hands on, I highly recommend you just try the bay-scented brulee. Trust me on this. Have I ever let you down?

Huckleberry-Bay Creme Brulee
makes 4-6 individual servings, depending on the size of your ramekins

9 fresh bay leaves
1/2 of a vanilla bean, split and scraped
3 cups whipping cream
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
4 oz. granulated sugar
1/3 cup huckleberries, fresh or frozen

Tear the bay leaves and combine them with the cream and vanilla bean. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 2 hours.
Whisk the eggs, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl. Bring the infused cream back to a boil and temper it into the eggs. Strain through a fine sieve.

Line a roasting pan with a tea towel to keep the ramekins from sliding around. Pour hot tap water into the pan until the cups are halfway submerged. Divide the huckleberries amongst the ramekins. Pour the brulee base into each cup. Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hour (start checking after 45 minutes). Brulee is done when custard is set, but slightly wobbly. Remove cups from water and chill for at least 4 hours, overnight if possible. Just before serving, sprinkle with granulated sugar and (if you have a propane turbo torch) torch until the sugar melts. Otherwise, place under the broiler until the top is golden brown. Don't walk away, this happens fast!
Serve with cookies.

Poppy seed shortbread and a pissed off kitty

2008-10-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

I had some big plans for my day off today. I was gonna take myself out for pancakes, go kitchen doo-hickey shopping, possibly hit up a nice bowl of pho for lunch, and take a power yoga class. Yeah. I was looking forward to it. It was gonna be a good day. Some serious "me time", ya know? All of that was shot to hell when one of my cats developed a nasty cold, which started on Friday night, then steadily got worse over the weekend.

This is why I don't have kids. Hearing his kitty sneezes breaks my heart. His drippy little eye looks like he's crying, and then makes me want to cry. It freaks me out, and I drop everything to rush him to the vet.
If that were my child, I would probably be panting into a paper bag.

So, little Percy (why yes, he is in fact named after the Scarlett Pimpernel) spent the morning being poked and prodded. Thermometers shoved up his bottom, hissing and growling at vet techs who smell like foreign animals. Usually, his sister is with him at these dreaded appointments, so he's got the comfort of the buddy system. But alas, she is feeling fine and got to sit this one out.

Leave me alone. I am both sneezy and grumpy.

The vet decided not to treat him with any meds and just let this thing just work itself out. He had an upper respiratory infection as a kitten, and they do tend to pop up now and again. So, now I feel too guilty to go run around. All I wanna do is stick around the house and keep an eye on my guy.
Who is totally pissed off at me.

Maybe I'll make a pot of soup and a loaf of bread. Equally as satisfying and shopping and going out for pho.
I guess.

Right now I am drinking a pot of coffee and snacking on my favorite cookie EVER. I made these during The Great Baking Marathon of last week. I always try to keep a log or two of poppy seed shortbread in the freezer. People always love them. These days, I tend to prefer the simpler, less sweet butter cookies over the big chewy chocolaty varieties.
This batch was made to bring along to my mom's salon when I was getting my hair done. Where they quickly disappeared.
By the way: ALWAYS bring your hairdresser coffee and cookies....it's just common courtesy.

Excellent dippage.

Poppy seed shortbread

8 oz. butter, softened
5 oz. sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
3 T poppy seeds

Good cookies start with good butter and salt. Readily available brands I like are La Bailene sea salt and Plugra unsalted butter

Combine butter, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer. Using the paddle attachment, cream until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the lemon juice and vanilla- mix. Combine the flour and poppy seeds (poppy seeds should be evenly distributed throughout the flour. Add to the bowl and mix until dough just forms.

"Poppies! Now they'll sleep! Sleeeep.."

Dump out onto a work surface and form into a log (or rectangle, as I like to do). Wrap in plastic. Freeze or refrigerate until firm. Slice off 1/4 inch thick cookies and place on a parchment lined sheet pan. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes, rotating halfway though.

When life hands you a case of plums....

2008-10-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

Make upside-down plum cake

So, yeah- I bought a case of black plums. A CASE. I'm beginning to wonder if I may have been high at the time, as I am feeling totally overwhelmed by them. I ordered a case for the plum pie I am making at work right now, and was surprised by how especially delicious they are this year. So why not order a WHOLE CASE for myself? Forget the fact that Trevor doesn't even like plums and will therefore be no help whatsoever in consuming them.

High I tell you. Tripping Balls.

In the past week I have made plum sorbet, plum scones, the upside-down cake you see, and will hopefully will be tackling the bulk of them today by making plum jelly.

I'm drowning

Thats okay, when fall rolls around I get a major home-baking bug up my ass. On top of all of the plum desserts being pumped out of my kitchen, I've been on a cookie frenzy as well. Trevor and I made Halloween cat shaped chocolate butter cookies on Sunday. The recipe came from Cooks Illustrated and they SUCKED ASS (they were, however adorable). It's one of the few times I've been let down by C.I., but not even the ganache glaze could save them. I ended up dumping them on my co-workers who, not unlike meth addicts, will eat anything containing sugar. Anything.
Future blog posts will most likely include pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies (which were both cute and had the good manners to be delicious), poppy seed shortbread (my all time favorite cookie), and chocolate sandwiches (read: oreos).

These little plum cakes are my favorite incarnation of the upside-down genre, and it usually makes an appearance on my dessert menu in the late summer. The cake is not overly sweet and has the texture of a cross between a muffin and a cake donut. The Armagnac scented caramel provides most of the sweetness and acts as a gooey counterpart to the tart plums and muffiny cake. They don't need much dressing up. Ice cream is a little too rich. I usually go for a dollop of creme fraiche. On my menu, I will add a plum caramel to accent the flavors of the cake.

The modest, unassuming dollop.

I'm going to send this dessert over to my girl Ley, of Cilantro and Lime. She's hosting her first blog event Baking for breast cancer awareness. I participated in the boobie bake off last year with my boob-shaped cupcakes. I had considered revisiting these, but opted not to be quite so 7th grade this time around. These plum cakes are pink(ish), which for some reason is the chosen color to represent breast cancer. While that is not a requirement for this particular event, I found them to be somewhat fitting. Ley also asked that we share how breast cancer has affected our lives personally....
Somehow, this form of cancer has not really affected me. I consider myself to be very lucky for this. Cancer in general has affected me greatly. My mother-in-law lost her battle with a rare form of lung cancer. My Grandfather (the coolest Grandfather EVER)is currently battling prostate cancer, and knock on wood, appears to be beating it. I could keep going, but as far as the boobies are concerned, those close to me have been fortunate. So I will keep participating in events like these, keep taking care of myself, and keep hoping the women I care about remain healthy.

Upside-down plum cake
Makes 7 4" individual cakes

Caramel:
4 oz. butter
6 oz. brown sugar
2 T Armagnac or brandy of your choice
sliced plums

Spray ramekins with pan spray. Line the bottoms with little circles of parchment paper and spray again. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and whisk until it melts. Remove from heat and whisk in brandy.
Ladle about 1 oz of caramel into the bottom of each ramekin.
Fan 4 slices of plums over the caramel (usually takes about 3 plums). Chill until caramel is firm- at least an hour.

Cake batter:
3 oz. butter, softened
1 cup sugar (I always use my vanilla sugar. If you have any on hand, it really makes a difference. If you don't- make some!)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup + 3 Tb all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup sour cream

In the bowl of a standing mixer, whip the butter with the sugar using the paddle attachment until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl as needed. Alternate adding the sour cream and sifted dry ingredients in 3 additions. Scoop the batter into the ramekins and spread with a small offset spatula (batter is quite thick). Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes- until a cake tester comes out with a few moist (but not raw) crumbs clinging to it and the surface of the cake springs back when gently pressed. Let cool about 10 minutes (until just cool enough to handle). Flip cakes out onto a cake rack. Serve warm.

Flavors of a Suburban Childhood

2008-10-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

Creamsicle Semifreddo

I've been a bit of a lazy blogger lately. I have been a very busy social networker though. In the past week or so, I have joined both twitter and foodbuzz. I think I have the whole twitter thing figured out. It's both kind of neat and pointless at the same time. I like being able to send immediate non-food related messages to fellow bloggers, but to be perfectly honest, I'm running low on witty repartee....

Why in god's name would anyone care what I'm eating for breakfast?
(Heritage Farms Flax Plus multigrain cereal. Keeps the digestive system on the regs...see what I mean?)

Foodbuzz still kind of confuses the hell out of me. The wine country blog I featured on my profile was accidentally posted twice and I can't figure out how to make one of them go away. And how do you get that nifty graphic to display on your blog? I'll get the hang of it eventually, as I usually do with these computer-related activities. I'm still kind of amazed that I keep a blog in the first place. I was born during the Carter administration, which means that growing up, Atari Pong was considered the penultimate in technological advances and mankind was just inches away from self-aware robots and hovercrafts. I realize that software techs in their forties are laughing their asses off at me, but yeah- when it comes to this interweb thingymajig, I'm on a bit of a slow learning curve.

Speaking of my youth- my dessert menu is experiencing a childhood kick lately. The fruit pies are always a big seller, mainly for their simplicity and the fact that it's hard to find a good slice o' pie in the city these days- but fruit pies, delicious and awesome as they are, are typically a favored by the "Jag" crowd.

It's time for a shout out to the young'uns- and to some of my favorite flavors as a kid. Memories of watching the Mariners lose at the now demolished Kingdome with my dad and eating chocolate malts became a malted chocolate mousse cake served with caramelized rice krispies. Mom taking us to McDonalds for an orange-vanilla swirl cone (which they don't sell anymore. Buttholes.) after going to the swimming pool has been translated to a creamsicle semifreddo.

Orange and vanilla has always been one of my favorite combos. It's right up there with burgers and beer. The semifreddo (which is basically just a frozen mousse- no ice cream maker required) has just a smidgen of an ingredient that I generally abhor: white chocolate. But when cut heartily with lots of cointreau and orange zest, you can barely tell it's there. It's minuscule- a whisper really, to help play up the vanilla bean and provide a really nice texture. White chocolate haters will most likely still enjoy this dessert.

On to the recipe:
Creamsicle Semifreddo

Mousse Base (can be made a day or two in advance):
1 3/4 cups whole milk
zest of 1 orange
2 T sugar
1 vanilla bean split and scraped
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
1 T fresh squeezed orange juice
2 tsp cointreau*
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

combine the milk, zest, and vanilla bean in a sauce pot. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover, and let steep to 2 hours.

whisk the yolks and salt together. bring the infused milk back to a simmer and temper it into the yolks. return mixture to pot and cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula over low heat until mixture thickens slightly. Strain though a sieve into a container and chill. Once cooled, stir in the vanilla extract, orange juice, and cointreau.
semifreddo:
mousse base
12 oz white chocolate, chopped
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp sugar
2 T fresh squeezed orange juice
1 T cointreau

line a loaf pan with plastic wrap.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk the cream, orange juice, sugar, and cointreau until very soft peaks form. set aside.
melt the white chocolate over a double boiler until no lumps remain. stir in the mousse base until smooth. fold in the whipped cream in 3 additions. continue folding gently until well combined. pour mousse into the prepped loaf pan and freeze over night. invert onto a frozen sheet pan and cut into 12 slices.

Birthdays!

2008-09-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

Taking pictures of the food at this event was a complete afterthought. I had been drinking wine and making no attempt at capturing a quality photograph. Just fucking deal with it. Sorry if your eye balls start to hurt.

September is birthday month in my family. My husband Trevor had his 30th on Sunday, and my sister Brooke had her 27th on Friday. This year, my parents hosted the annual double birthday party with their "Joint Effort Lasagne". My dad is somewhat famous for his meat sauce. Pork and beef are lovingly ground in his own little meat grinder, then he drinks what is left from the bottle of red wine needed for the sauce while it simmers away*

* I'm pretty sure his recipe calls for about a cup. Leaving him with plently of happy-happy-joy-joy

Ricotta has no place here. We are a "strictly bechamel" people.
We also forget to turn off the flash.

Mom covers the rest of the prep, whisking up the bechamel (ricotta, while tasty in and of itself, is slanderous in their lasagne, as it should be in everyone's.) making the pasta, and layering it all together. She also takes care of the required giant caesar salad and caprese, for an Adams Family Lasagne Feed is not complete with out these valuable supporting roles.

Tomatoes picked from mom's garden minutes before making the salads- you can't see the candy-sweet sungolds in the caesar, but they're there, making it the best goddamn caesar ever....am I spelling caesar correctly?

Brooke and Trevor, both being very diplomatic and sharing the happy birthday song and candle blowing out ceremony. Personally, I prefer to be the center of attention and would hate it if my stupid brother-in-law was in the way. Brooke, you truly are and selfless being.

I made a triple layer chocolate cake iced with ganache and vanilla bean ice cream. We all made gluttons of ourselves, Trevor drank a healthy portion of the growler of beer Brooke and CK gave him, then we all went home early and passed from food comas.

It was a good day.

I should also mention that this here blog celebrated it's first birthday this month. Time has flown by, as I still feel like a complete noob at this whole food blogging movement.

Happy birthday the pie lady. Thanks y'all for reading.

Pie #7- Peach, as promised

2008-09-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

Apologies for taking so long to get this baby posted, I seem to be suffering from lack of hours in the day-itis. Not to mention, I'm trying to get my ass into the gym regularly these days to pay for the summer-long shmorgisborg of bbq'd pork products and booze. Sitting on it editing pictures of pie seemed counter intuitive to my efforts.

Having said that, this pie is too good not to share before the peach's cruelly short season is over. Yeah, it's a little bit of an ugly duckling. It doesn't have the vibrant colors or cut into a tidy slice like some of the others, but the flavor is worth over looking those superficial aesthetic-only qualities.

This is pretty much your all purpose, unadulterated peach pie recipe- meaning unfucked with by mace. I do not care for spices in my peach pie. In fact, it pisses me right off. If ruining peach pie is a behavior that you are into, by all means, add mace. It's a free country. Just don't come crying to me when the delicate peach flavor is besmirched by the taste of metal.

Another thing I don't do is boil the peaches to peel them. I cuss enough already. Making peach pie is a folksy, grandma-like activity. Calling the slimy peel that doesn't seem to "slip right off" after the blanching process a stupid cocksucking mother fucker totally inhibits my pie making chi.
Instead, I invested in an 8$ serrated peeler- a tool that I adore.

Peaches, peeled without angst.

Also- peach peels are full of flavor. I squeeze the juices from the peels into my pie filling to pump up the deliciousness. Just let the peels fall into a bowl (see above), then pick them up and squish the life out of them.

Extracted peel juice. Rich in peachly goodness.

My last piece of advice is, as always, use the best quality fruit available- or don't even bother. I know I say this all the time, but it's the golden rule for good pie. For Northwest readers, look for Pence Orchard peaches out of Wapato, WA. They're huge, freestone, and juicy.
...And don't worry about the fact that it's kind of hideous looking.

Peach Pie

7 large peaches
2 Tb fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tb cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
your favorite pie dough- enough for a 9" double crust pie

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, starch, and salt. Set aside. Peel the peaches. Squeeze the juice from the peach peels into a large bowl. Slice the peaches and toss with the reserved peel juice and lemon juice. Add the dry ingredients and stir gently with a spatula until the dry ingredients are absorbed.
Place filling into bottom crust and dot with butter. Brush over hanging dough with water and adhere the top crust. Fold the edges under and form a crimped pattern. Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Turn heat down to 325 and bake for 30 minutes.

Wino Country!

2008-09-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

...Because you know you love looking at other people's vacation pictures.

I've been back for a week now, as many of you may have noticed my lurking on your blog. I just haven't had a moment to breathe, let alone unpack, until now. So between loads of laundry, why don't I regail you of the shenanigans that occured in Chelan, Washington's wine country? For those just interested in looking at the pictures- Highlights include getting the last two spots at an amazing wine maker's dinner, drunken karaoke (is there any other kind?), barfing at a farmer's market (I can now check that one off of my life's "To Do" list), and some hardcore Mother/Daughter-bonding/drinking.

The Lake Chelan Valley is located in the North Cascades National Forest and surrounds a 50 mile glacier fed lake. It is 1486 feet at it's deepest point and 1.5 miles at it's widest. Apple, pear, and peach orchirds are everywhere here. Recently, it was decided to replace a few of them with wine grapes. Good thinking! There are now just over a dozen wineries and more to come.

Vin Du Lac
This place is like France. Enough said.

sipping wine under the apple trees

little nibbles, enjoyed with the Syrah

Mom, in her element

Tsillan Cellars Winery (pronounced "chelan")
I am so pissed off at myself for never taking any pictures here. It is one of the most beautiful wineries in Chelan, looking like a little Tuscan Village. I had some really good reds here, and an awful rose- it was a just little too heavy on the strawberry. Who am I kidding? It tasted like kool-aid.

Tildio Winery
Right when we drove into town, we stopped at a little natural foods store for some cheese. We were trying to make our dinner plans and asked the ponytailed British Hippie shopkeep for suggestions. He pointed us toward Tildio, where we got the last two spots available at the last wine makers dinner of the summer. The meal, view, and company was perfect. However, it was the beginning of my downfall. I had already been to a couple of tastings, and had a few cocktails before this event, where with each coarse, we were served at least 2 full glasses of wine.
Here is the menu:

First:
Yellow and red tomatoes with julienne greens, mint, feta cheese, and green tomato vinaigrette.
Tildio 2007 Sauvignon Blanc

Second:
Zucchini fritters served with baba ghanouj, pesto, and lemons.
Tildio 2006 Chardonnay

Entree:
Grilled steak with sundried tomato relish, corn succotash and mushroom scented farro.
Tildio 2006 Syrah

Dessert:
Nectarine crostada with cherry sauce
Tildio 2007 Riesling

The view from our table

the sun set before I could get any pictures past the first course

mom enjoying the first course. I have to remember to email this picture to my dad. Grrrawl!

I don't remember the circumstanses of this picture, other than it was 7 or 8 glasses into the dinner. You can't take me anywhere.

After the fabulousness of that dinner, we decided to stop by the little sports bar next to our hotel, where karaoke was in full swing. After all that wine, I was ready for beer. Coors light in the bottle to be exact (what the fuck?????). After a few bottles, I grabbed the mike. I then proceeded to wail, yes, wail "Freedom" by George Michael. It's the first time I have ever karaoked by myself. Usually I have a gay guy next to me and it's "Islands in the Stream" Seth- you would have been so proud of me!

In a few minutes, I'm gonna get up there and turn that mother out.

So. If you're still reading, you may have guessed that I am completely sloshed by now. However, we had plans to get up early and check out the Manson Farmer's Market. We stopped for an awful latte (one thing about Chelan, there is nothing but Starbucks' and horrible coffee stands. Plan to go through withdrawl), and headed to the market. First off, let me just say that I NEVER puke. Never. That is my husband's job. It is my job to just have a slight headache and laugh at my puking husband. Well. I got my comeuppance for that. I started by puking up my latte AT THE FARMER'S MARKET. Any of you ever puked at a farmer's market? It is horrbile. It just does not mix with the little jars of jam and fresh fruit. At all.
I composed myself, bought a few jars of Apricot jam, and we went out to breakfast.
I managed to barf several more times over the course of the morning, including the few bites of hashbrowns I managed to eat. I almost never actually made it to the toilet. So glad I brought that febreeze.

The scene of the crime

Raaaaalph!!!

After some serious loafing by the pool, I magically started to feel like eating. By the way- thank you mom for putting up with this wretched behavior. We went on a quest for hangover food.

Oh yes. This looks promising.

And....hangover gone. The silo of diet pepsi in particular was like some sort of beautiful healing nectar.

better throw in a shaved ice for good measure.

Finally on the mend and holding down food, it was time for more wine!
KarMa Vineyards and Cave
This place was lovely, and had the best Gewurztraminer I have ever tasted. It was dry and had a mineral taste, rather than the syrupy sweet Gewurztraminers I am used to.

Coriander flatbread and tzatziki with our wine flight. Enjoyed on the patio next to the koi pond.

Nefarious Cellars
A cute young couple from Seattle and their dog run this place. Beautiful view from the patio where mom and I drank a glass and debated the best way to roast a chicken.

Chelan Estae Vineyards & Winery
There are no pictures of this place, because it is basically a shack on top of a hill. However, here is where my favorite wines of the trip are made. A 2006 Merlot Rose that had the flavors of a chicken dinner, and the Pinot Noir had a smokiness that I fell in love with. This is one of those little places that would be easy to pass up. But don't. You will end up leaving with cases of wine.

Benson Vineyards Estate Winery
Two blondes listening to Jimmy Buffet pouring a remarkable 8 tasting flight. For free. Plus an gigantic cheese platter, which we ate outside while the weather began to turn stormy. We took this opportunity to call our husbands. We both lied and told them it was 85 degrees and sunny. It was a delight to hear the envy in their voices as they told us that it was raining cats and dogs in Seattle.
We are such bitches.

Well folks, thats about it. I could go on forever, but it's time to wrap this baby up. I have things to do today, including getting my butt into the gym. My wasteline will be paying for this trip for the next month.

It was so totally worth it.

Thanks again Mom! That was the most fun I've had all summer.
Next summer: WALLA WALLA!!!

I have no idea what "arte y pico" is, but.....

2008-08-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

Apparently, I've GOT it! Because the other day, my buddy Norm at Eat or Die awarded me with this:

Moi?

From what I can tell (after clicking on the link to the entirely Spanish speaking blog), it means I have in some way demonstrated something artful.

I am both baffled and totally honored. As "artistic" is an adjective never used when describing me.

Seems like this is the type of thing that is meant to be passed on to 5 people. Well, here's the deal: Pretty much all 5 of my choices have received this award. I'm sure of it, because they are all kick fucking ass blogs. Also- I got shit to do. I'm going on vacation early tomorrow- wine tasting beetches!- so I need to pack.

So I am hereby bestowing this arte y pico to "my sista in Brittany-ness", Brittany at Musings of a barefoot foodie, for this particular post.

Artful Blogging at it's finest people. Plus she spells our name CORRECTLY, which is reason enough for an award of some kind.

Anyway, thanks again Norm- I will taste some of the Northwest's finest potent potables for you this weekend. You have truly given me a big head.

Tiny, yet faithful and awesome group of readers: I'll be back next week, with tales of Eastern Washington wine country and also a Pie Lady Pie.
Hint:

Cheers!

Cobbler n' Clams (diary of a day of glutteny)

2008-08-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

This will be a long post where you will begin to wonder if I am in training to be an olympic swimmer.

Yesterday, I ventured Northward to Ye Olde Towne of Everett to visit my sister Brooke (and author of the revamped blog brookielizabeth, formerly The Diet Cronichles. She realized that blogging about dieting is totally f'ing boring). I am always happy to visit Everett and all of it's charm- but on this day, I had an alterior motive.
THIS:

D'aaaaaaaaaw!!!!!

That tiny little creature is Brooke and CK's latest addition to the militia of cats they are forming. Baby Grendel is just 4 weeks old. Brooke and CK rescued her a little more than a week ago, because a teensy tiny kitten found clinging to life in the woods and at risk of being euthanized if a home is not found ASAP is more than Brooke's heart can take. They have 3 cats at home already, but COME ON:

Tiny cat-creature is roughly the size of a gerbal

After cooing over this little bundle of grey fluff for about 2 hours, we went out to brunch at The Vintage where the constant parade of delicious food began. Brooke took this opportunity to disclose her disdain for drinking hot beverages from clear mugs. Isn't that wierd? I really don't care if my coffee is served in a clear or ceramic mug. But she keeps looking down at her tea and pursing her lips. Omelettes and my bloody mary however, were well executed. My vegetable and cheese omlelette was not overly cheesy, full of decent vegetables, and cooked in a clean pan. While I may not care what vessel you choose to serve my hot beverage in, I do care if my eggs are greasy and redolent of old sausage. I care bigtime.

Cleary displeased

Next stop: Farmer's market for the clams and blackberries needed for the sweet ass lunch we were devising. The Everett market is located on the marina. Beautiful view, THRONGS of people. I took a picture of the view from the market, but any actual pictures of produce would have been blockaded by the backsides of the locals. Not good for foodporn.

The Everett Farmer's Market. Not pictured: The farmers or the market

After the market, and a long ass drive all over Mukelteo getting lost on our way to this cool grocery store for wine and pancetta and stuff (which was totally worth the time it took to find the place) we were hungry again. We got home and ripped into a little wheel of camembert and yukon gold potato bread. Brooke opened up a jar of gooseberry preserves and we procceded to gorge ourselves. I would have photographed the pure, simplistic beauty of this snack, but we were too busy mmmm-ing and chomping. Second occurance of gluttenous behavior.

More cooing over tiny cat, and I am then commissioned to make a blackberry cobbler. Recipe was basically pulled out of my ass and god damn if it wasn't some deliciousness. But more on that later. While the cobbler baked, we steamed up those clams.

sigh.
We sauteed some pancetta and small onions from the garden, added garlic, diced freah tomato, chile flakes, white wine, and the clams. Once they opened, we hit it with some butter, fresh parsley (also from Brooke's garden- amazingly flavorful), lemon juice and a little cream. They were enjoyed outside on a picnic table, with cold beer and what potato bread we didn't wolf down with the camembert. Perfect Lunch...perhaps ate too much.

Check out Brooke's blog for more in depth information on those clams (her post should be up soon). And now, on to that cobbler. I mentioned in my last post that this year's blackberry crop has been stupendous. This cobbler really helped bring that fact to light. I did not have a recipe to work with, but this turned out quite good and I insist you make it if you consider yourself to be in any way a blackberry fan. Juicy filling, balanced sweetness, and a tender textured biscuit. Cornmeal= one of my favorite things to include in pastries. I jotted down the recipe as I went and am 99.9% sure of it's accuracy....

Blackberry Cobbler
Cornmeal Sweet Biscuit:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal, yellow or white
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 oz cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1- 1/3(ish) cup heavy cream

Filling:
5 heaping pints fresh blackberries (buy a half flat and eat the remaining pint as we did)
pinch salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 T cornstarch
2 T fresh lemon juice

amply cobbled with cornmeal sweet biscuit and ready to bake....

Butter a large pyrex pie dish and set aside. Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, and salt. In a large bowl, toss the berries with the lemon juice. Add the dry ingredients and gently toss until absorbed with juice. Spoon filling into baking dish and set aside.

In a food processor, pulse the dry ingredients with the butter until mixture is crumbly and the butter is pea sized. Dump the mixture into a large bowl and add about 1 cup of cream. Stir with a wooden spoon until a loose dough forms. Add more cream as needed. drop silver dollar-sized pieces of dough onto the berries until surface is covered. There will be a few clumps of dough left- bake them off on the same sheet pan and eat them (quite good with the leftover camembert and gooseberry preserves from ealier- I told you we were pigs!).

Sprinkle the surface with sugar (turbonado if you have it). Bake in a 350 degree oven for (and here is where I'm iffy) about 45 minutes. We were eating clams and drinking beer, so I kind of lost track of time. It's done when there is no goo under the surface of the biscuit and the fruit is bubbly.

as you can see, this cobbler was "just okay"

After giant bowls of cobbler with huge scoops of ice cream, I developed that uncomforably full feeling. Where if someone even taps you on the tummy, you will barf everywhere. It was time to go home and pass out.

On my way home I decided to blow off the invitation to a friends "bacon tasting" where he would be roasting pork shoulder and serving several incarnations of homemade bacon. I had totally meant to stop by, but the idea of even being near more food made me dizzy. As I walked in my front door, I was greeted by my husband, wondering what we were doing for dinner.

Dinner.

And now, if you would all excuse me, I'm going to spend the next 4 days in a food coma.

Pie # 6 - Pacific Northwest Blackberry. Almost as good as my Mamo's.

2008-07-31T22:01:00.000-07:00

Sick of looking at paused you tube videos when visiting my blog? Thinking- "hey Pie Lady- how about a fakking PIE?"

Yeah. I hear ya. It's time.

It's the height of blackberry season here and it's been a good'n this year. Last year's blackberries were kind of a bummer. I don't know why, but they were just sucky and flavorless. Which made for shitty blackberry pie. I was getting all down on myself, wondering why my Mamo's (my grandma) berry pies were so much better than mine.

I tried again this year and felt better about my skillz. Mamo's pie is still better than mine (could be the crack she puts in the pie filling?), but mine is a noble second place. It wasn't my recipe last year, but the crappo berries. This years beautiful pickings have resulted in beautiful pie. So, in short- use delicious berries or don't f'ing bother.

I hate to be a tooter of my own horn, but THAT looks goddamn DELICIOUS.
Just sayin.

Locally grown Lovelies

Britt's Blackberry Pie

2 1/2 # blackberries
3 Tb freshly sqwozen lemon juice
1 cup sugar (add a couple tablespoons if your berries are really tart)
2 1/4 oz cornstarch (about 7 Tb)
1/4 tsp salt
2 T unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Enough of your favorite pie dough for a double crust. Here is my all butter recipe if you want it.

I'm thinking recipe instructions with pictures would be a delight, don't you?

Toss berries with lemon juice, then gently, Gently! fold the dry ingredients into the berries.

Fill your pie shell and dot with butter. Mmmm Hmmm, But-tah!

Apply the top crust and fold the edges under.

Crimp the edge.

Slice in some steam vents, sprinkle with sugar, then bake: 375 for 45 minutes, turn down heat to 325 and bake 25 minutes more.

Slice and enjoy. Nom Nom Nom.

Don't forget a scoop of just-churned vanilla ice cream. I knew you wouldn't.

Music Meme!!

2008-07-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

One one my favorite bloggers out there Emiline, who's blog sugar plum you should all be familiar with has taken my meme virginity. Yes, in almost a year of blogging, this is my first. And it's a really cool one because rather than answer mundane questions about my favorite snack and whether I'm a morning or night person, this one is about music. Many of you know that I both live in a very music-centric city and and am married to a musician. Needless to say, this is a topic I love dearly (possibly more than baking?). I was tickled to participate.
These are the rules:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your summer (or whatever season). Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.

I have broken the rules only slightly. The first song is what I would consider my "summer song"- or the song I am really into right now. Natalie Portman's Shaved Head is a local (Seattle) band that I find to be loads of fun. They are not "big" yet- but they will be.

The last 6 I would consider to be my hands down all time favorite songs ever. Not only now, but until the end of time.

Enjoy.

Sophisticated side ponytail by Natalie Portman's Shaved Head

Deep Red Bells by Neko Case

Strangers by The Kinks

Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest

Not Dark Yet by Bob Dylan

Corrina by Taj Majal

This must be the Place (Naive Melody) by The Talking Heads...cuz this is me and Trevor's "song"..yes, we have a song.

And now, I am tagging:

Brooke at The diet chronicles- cuz she's my sister beetches.

Brittany at Musings of a Barefoot Foodie- she has a beautiful name.

Mallow at Pietown- a fellow Seattle blogger who's sure to rock all of our worlds with her sweet tunes

Jenn at The Leftover queen

Matt at Wrightfood- another Seattleite whom I've memed before, so It will be fun to make him think I'm stalking him.

Jonny at Jonny loser- Also a friend of mine, one of my sister's old high school friends (they went to homecoming together)

Claudia at cookeatFRET

SHF# 45- Berries

2008-07-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

Three weeks in heaven- buttermilk panna cotta, local berries, crispy phyllo, strawberry-balsamic reduction

First of all, thanks to all of you for your get better comments and for bearing with me during my silent period. I am starting to feel better, though I still seem to be drowning in phlegm (yeah, sorry thats disgusting. But sometimes you just gotta share).

If I haven't completely grossed you out, shall we talk about this month's Sugar High Friday? Susan at Food Blogga is hosting with the seasonally apt theme of berries.
I beam with pride when we get our first flat of local strawberries. As I have previously boasted, the Pacific Northwest is berry country. My neighbor to the south (Portland, to be exact- which is probably the coolest city on this planet) Heather pointed out that it's the volcanic soil. All I know is that with my first taste of the season, I renew my pact I have made with myself to never move from this glorious land.

My berry can kick your berrie's ass

This year, nature has been cruel to us. Our already short local strawberry season was almost a month late. Strawberries like a nice cozy 70-75 degree climate, which is why June and July here is perfect for them. But this year's weather has been all fucked up, resulting in a three week long season for our beloved strawberries. It ended on Saturday. I am still grieving.

I had a delightful dessert on the menu to showcase the lovelies this year. I am boycotting strawberry shortcake, due to the fact that I just need a break from it- and it's a somewhat tired (delicious, but tired) dessert. Instead, I turned to Claudia Fleming's buttermilk panna cotta. I have found many of Fleming's recipes to be hit or miss. Many of them are excellent ideas, but need some tweaking. Her buttermilk panna cotta, however, is stellar as is. All I did was replace the plain sugar with vanilla bean sugar. I firmly believe that the sight of vanilla beans makes people happy. And I am in the business of making people happy.

Next to the panna cotta and sliced, sugared berries are a a couple of triangles of crispy phyllo and a squiggle of strawberry balsamic reduction- which is equal parts strawberry puree, balsamic vinegar, and a little sugar reduced until it gets kind of jammy. This concoction is also amazing when brushed onto a roasted pork tenderloin. I would eat this dessert over shortcake (which I still love) any day. It almost feels..oh god.. "light" ..eek!

Buttermilk panna cotta
adapted from Claudia Fleming

1 1/4 cup heavy cream
4 oz sugar
1 1/2 tsp gelatin
1 3/4 cup buttermilk

Place the gelatin in a small bowl and sprinkle with 1 T cold water. Let soften for 5 minutes. Spray 6 large (or 10 very small- thats what I do) ramekins with pan release. Combine the sugar and cream in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved and cream is hot. Add the softened gelatin and continue stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved- do not let mixture boil. Remove from heat and stir in buttermilk. Strain into a measuring pitcher and pour into prepared ramekins. Let chill until set- at least 3 hours. Invert onto a serving plate and top with sliced, sugared berries.

Has it really been over a month?

2008-07-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

First in the archive of neglected recipes I've been meaning to blog- Fresh blueberry tart

Woah- sorry faithful readers (all 3 of you)! Between my last post bemoaning the shitty weather and now, summer actually decided to happen for us here. I guess sitting at home in front of the computer was pretty low on my priority list. My apologies. Lucky for you all, I am trapped indoors with a narsty cold.

Usually when I'm sick, I choose to lie on the couch and watch all the crappy girl movies that Trevor will never watch with me. Here's the problem though. Trevor is like, REALLY good about chick flicks- just as long as they're decent movies. He loves Working girl and Steel Magnolias as much as I do. So on sick days, I rent the "no chance in hell" movies. Today's titles were The Notebook and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I don't know why I do this to myself. Those are two of the shittiest movies I have ever seen in my life. Well- The Notebook has Ryan Gosling going for it (especially towards the end with his hot little beard), but that aside, it was a crapfest. I would say live and learn, but I know I'll just repeat my errors next time I'm sick.

After some sufficient loafing time, It occurred to me that I haven't posted in ages and there are piles of recipes and pictures I've been meaning to share with you all. Here is one of my favorite uses for the blueberries that are in season and lovely right now- Fresh blueberry tart. It's on my menu right now with a dollop of barely sweetened greek yogurt (I whisk in a teaspoon or two of vanilla bean sugar) and lemon-lavender creme anglaise. It's a recipe that I vaguely remember jacking from Martha Stewart, but when I went to her book to confirm that, I couldn't find the recipe. So I dunno. Maybe it's hers, maybe it's not. Now it's yours.

**By the way- my little sister, who is totally not even fat, has started a blog of her own to chronicle her way through a diet her and her boyfriend are on. The recipes are actually really awesome and not "diet-y", but they do happen to be good for you. Unlike my recipes. I highly recommend clicking here to check it out.**

Fresh blueberry tart

1 10" pre-baked pate sucree tart shell, or 10 individual shells

2# fresh blueberries
6 oz water
2 T fresh lemon juice, strained
7 oz sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 T cornstarch
1 tsp ground ginger

Greek yogurt- the new whipped cream. Vastly superior in every way.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, cornstarch, and ginger.
Pick through the blueberries and remove any stems. measure out two cups, then set the rest aside in a large bowl. In a saucepan, bring the water and lemon juice to a boil. Add the 2 cups of berries and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to burst (takes a minute or two). Add the dry ingredients and cook, whisking constantly until sauce is thickened and translucent. Remove from heat and fold in the remaining fresh berries. Spoon filling into prebaked tart
shell(s) and chill.

Brittany (as in France) Butter Cookies

2008-06-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

I have this ghetto cookie cookbook that materialized in my collection. I have no idea where is came from, and it certainly isn't one I would make a point in purchasing. It is simply titled "Cookies", and is one of a series of books from The Cook's Encyclopedia. I was dusting my bookshelf today (yes! DUSTING. I was shocked too.) when I stumbled upon it. I started flipping through the book and came to the decision that it was a piece of crap and it needed to be donated. Then I saw Brittany Butter Cookies.

My name is Brittany and I like butter. I am also ardent supporter of cookies. I put down my dust rag and took off the protective bandana wrapped around my face like a gas mask (yeah, it's been that long since I last dusted) and wondered into the kitchen to bake these.

side note- as I type this post, it is 50 degrees and pouring down rain. I need cookies to counteract the seasonal depression that is rapidly setting in. Any one thinking of moving to Seattle should keep that in mind.

This is a really simple recipe for what turned out to be a beautiful little cookie. Similar to shortbread, but much richer- and a great canvas for showing off a good quality European butter. Sadly, all I had was plugra, a butter that is made in the US (Wisconsin, I believe), but snootily parades around like Euro butter. The "Madonna" of butter, if you will. If you have a kick ass Normandy or Irish butter sitting around I suggest you put it to work and make these. They're especially good with a dollop of jam and a cup of tea.

And such a breathtakingly beautiful name.

Butter. Sweet, glorious butter.

Brittany Butter Cookies
adapted from The Cook's Encyclopedia of Cookies
makes about 18 cookies

3 egg yolks
1 1/2 Tb milk
1 cup + 2 Tb all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
4 oz butter*
healthy pinch of kosher salt (my addition)

*recipe did not state the temperature of the butter. I suggest cold from the refrigerator, but sightly softened (let stand at room temp, cut into cubes for 10 minutes or so)

Mix about 1/2 Tb of the egg yolks with the milk in a small bowl to make a glaze. Set aside.

Sift the flour and sugar into a bowl. Add the salt and mix together with a whisk. Add the egg yolks and butter (in the center of the bowl) and work the two together with your hand until it becomes creamy.
Gradually bring the flour into the middle of the bowl until it all forms a slightly sticky dough*

*This takes a while and I don't see why it couldn't be done in the food processor. But these are "folksy cookies"- enjoy the zenfulness of kneading.*

"OM"
Achieve baking nirvana. Get up in there and knead

Stop kneading when you have a lovely yellow blob like this.

Using floured hands, pat out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick** and cut out using a
2-1/2 inch cutter.

Transfer to parchment lined sheet pans and brush each cookie with the egg-milk glaze. Using a steak knife (or whatever), score to create a lattice pattern.

**They're really taking the whole rustic farm cookie thing a step too far with this. The cookies will turn out much better if you behave like upright man and use a rolling pin**

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes (Mine took 17 minutes. but I despise under baked, anemic looking, shithole pastries).

with last year's strawberry freezer jam. The odds of my being able to make a batch this year diminish one blustery day after another.
Sniffle.

Cool on a wire rack, then enjoy on their own. Or if you are living in an area that summer forgot about, have some tea and jam as well.

Percy got into some butter and is now wondering why the fuck he has to eat kibble while humans lavishly smear everything with this delicacy.

Banana Ice Cream for Beautiful Bones

2008-05-29T23:30:00.000-07:00

I ate this whole cup after the photo shoot.
It was 9:30 am.

I am addicted to this ice cream. It's the type of thing that is so good, it makes you want to cry.
Lately I have been fussing around with a roasted banana ice cream for a brownie sundae that will be making it's debut on my menu next week (with hot fudge, rum soaked golden raisins, and salted walnuts.... a single tear of joy rolls down my cheek). There are a plethora of banana ice cream recipes out there, but I couldn't find a single one that appealed to me. That's OK, nothing pumps me up like a good challenge. I wont go into the various different methods I fiddled with, for they will bore you. All you should care about is the final victory (which was my fourth attempt for those who are counting....and for those who are counting- get a fucking life.), which may be my finest ice cream achievement to date.... Please note that I say that a lot.

This recipe is also high in calcium, which makes it a prudent entry for Susan's blog event, beautiful bones- once again, I am submitting ice cream for a blog event. I promise you all more creativity in the future....

No I don't. I love ice cream and relish any chance I can get to eat too much of it.
But seriously, osteoporosis is something we should all try to avoid- especially us ladies, so our beloved Food Blogga is a champ for coming up with this event to promote awareness. There will be all kinds of bone strengthening recipes posted around the first of the month, so be sure to check out her blog for the round up.

start with ripe, yet not mushy naners

macerate with rum and lemon juice

Roast the bananas
...this is probably the ugliest picture ever to be seen on this blog
*hanging my head in shame*

Roasted Banana Ice Cream (recipe can be scaled down. I like to make a shitload)

Roasted Bananas:
6 ripe bananas
2 T Meyers dark rum
1 tsp lemon juice
1 T sugar

Peel and slice the bananas. Toss with the remaining ingredients and let macerate for 20 minutes. Turn on the broiler and lay the bananas out onto a silpat lined sheet pan (or spray a piece of parchment paper with pam) Roast until they begin to caramelize- about 5-10 minutes.

Ice cream base:
3 cups whole milk
6 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
roasted bananas (see recipe above)

18 egg yolks
1 tsp salt

1 1/2 oz. Meyer's dark rum

Scrape the roasted bananas into a pot. add the sugar, milk, and cream. Bring mixture to a boil, then remove from heat, cover, and let infuse for 2 hours.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the bananas and transfer to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth, then whisk together with the egg yolks and salt.

Bring infused dairy to a boil and slowly temper the hot liquid into the yolks. Return to the pot and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly with a heat proof spatula, until thickened (custard should be about 165 degrees). Strain custard into a container and chill. Once completely cold, stir in the rum and churn in a ice cream machine.

Next on The Pie Lady:
Food with colors!

A PS for my Mother: I only swore ONCE in this post.

Petis Fours- want some?

2008-05-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

I have a refrigerator full of these things and a husband who hates cake...
Sigh.

Jenn, our anointed sovereign's monthly joust is here again. Do you guys realize that the winner now gets an apron with their blog name on it AND free Tupperware? Not to mention being able to brag to all their friends and a sweet logo for their blog.

At home in my kitchen, I wear a nappy, apron that I stole from a now defunct vegan hipster restaurant where I was once a cook. Complete with stains from curried tofu scrambles and textured vegetable protein sausage of yore.
Just sayin' is all.

Last month's winner and now proud owner of said apron and Tupperware was Elle who chose raspberries, lime, and almonds for our battling ingredients.
The Pacific Northwest is berry country. People in Michigan or wherever can argue this all they want (I have arguments about this all the time with our Michigan-born sous chef. Somehow when the first flat of local strawberries arrives, he sings a different tune.), but it's true. The berries up here are the shit..
....In July.
Needless to say, I was wary of planning a recipe around a sucky California berry. Luckily for me, I'm a genius. Last year, I was able to get my hands on a flat of local black raspberries. I turned them into a seedless compoty-freezer jam type concoction that I still have several jars of.
The Jousting wheels were turning.....

Garnished with the snubbed California raspberries that actually turned out to be really good. Not Washington good, but good.

I had announced on the forum that I would think outside the box and come up with a savory entry.
Lies.
The compote was wanting to be made into a dessert of some sort. So I entered Petis Fours country- not a zone for pastry pussies. After glazing your 112th teensy little cake, the urge to stab someone can come on pretty strong. I decided to scale down my recipe to a meager 24 petis fours. I ate one- they turned out delicious, and now I have 23 of them sitting in the fridge. Trevor wont touch them with a ten foot pole. They are a pastry- which he hates, and painfully girly. He wont admit to that being a factor in his disdain for dainty little tea cakes like this, but he's not kidding anyone but himself.

Heres how I made the little bastards:

Almond butter cake- sliced horizontally into 4 layers (makes 2 separate cakes)

Shmear with lime swiss buttercream and black raspberry compote

Sammich it together

Cut into quaint little squares, then glaze with lime fondant. Prepare to be doing this activity for a good hour. An episode of Deadwood makes for excellent company while performing this task. Hearing the word cocksucker coming out of my TV makes it so I don't have to shout the profanities myself

I am completely out of steam and cannot type this nonsense anymore. If you want the recipe for these ingredients, here is the link to my post on the forum.
I'm going to bed.

Shameless Plug

2008-05-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Mexican Chocolate Flan with Spicy Mango and Pepita Brittle

Readers who do not live in the Seattle area will find this post to be pretty boring. Sorry. You can just look at the pictures- which, lets face it, suck. I am just never going to be one of *those blogs* where every shot looks like it came straight out of a cookbook, complete with tea towels to match the food and theme appropriate dishes.
I'm busy.
One of these days I'll get around to reading the information booklet that came with the camera. But until then, the stuck up panel of judges at tastespotting can just bite me.

Unless they take bribes(?)....

I guess that little diatribe has been building up since I started this whole blogging thing. Thanks for listening.

But I did not sign on to be bitter. I come here today to give New Urban Eats a shout out, or "NUE" as the cool kids call it, which I most certainly am. This is the third installment of the Seattle restaurant program, the second go 'round for Betty, which would explain why my back hurts, my elbows are throbbing (my future arthritic sweet spot- looking forward to those good times), and when I close my eyes, all I can see are these flans.

You can't afford NOT to eat this

Allow me to further explain the NUE concept. For one month, 20 Seattle restaurants participate by featuring a prix fixe menu of 3 courses for 30 dollars. It's a ridiculously good deal, and it's not just some shitty sub-par plate of gruel the chef threw together to sell at a discount. At Betty, every choice presented to you for the prix fixe dinner can be found on our regular menu- same goes for my dessert options. I guarantee you will walk out of the place uncomfortably stuffed with delicious food.

But I am not going to shove just Betty down your throats, There are other really good places playing along with NUE.
I recently ate at Red Fin, a sushi joint downtown also participating in the event. I had grilled crab legs to start, the chef sushi platter for an entree (fucking huge plate of sashimi and sushi), and honey cardamom creme brulee (oh yeah, a bottle or 2 of warm sake, sadly not included in the discount). It was enough food for 2 people, and a 30 dollar tab at red fin is usually unheard of.

painfully addicting pepita brittle. I get my daily sugar intake 15 minutes after I get to work and start testing this stuff for "quality control"

So in short, Seattleites- get out there and eat! You have exactly 10 days left- well, 8 days- it is not offered on Fridays or Saturdays. We are already having our asses handed to us on weekends. I think we would very likely go insane if we were also offering a prix fixe.
But seriously, times are tough. We all know that. It seems like dining out is one of the first sacrifices one makes when faced with 4$/gallon gas (insert "fuck you dubya" comment here) and a housing crisis, and all the other fretful things going on in the world. But for a brief period, there is some relief from your restaurant bill, should you chose to take advantage of it.

Looking for a recipe?
Sorry. I kind of have to protect myself when it comes to items on my dessert menu. Especially when it comes to this flan, which took me almost the entire month of April to perfect. I will tell you about it though. I infuse the dairy with orange zest, ancho chile, coco nibs, and cinnamon. Later I add good bittersweet chocolate and kahlua. The mango is simply dowsed in chile infused simple syrup. Pepita brittle is nothing more than cooked sugar and pumpkin seeds.
There. Feel better?

SHF #43- citrus therapy

2008-05-08T15:02:00.000-07:00

I must start this post with the caveat that I am having quite the craptacular week. Nothing major or life threatening- just a lot of little annoyances that have been piling on steadily....One highlight I am willing to share includes the tearing of the seat of my pants while I was at work. Nothing like showing your ass to your male co-workers to bring you down off your high horse. Good times.
People with real problems should feel free to tell me to fuck off. Or as my dear husband says after listening to me piss and moan for a day or two- "get over yourself and quit being so pms-ey." God I love that man.

Anyway- I was going to put off my contribution to Sugar High Friday, for a few more weeks so I could focus on some recipes for work. Then I found out Helene, aka Tartlette, aka blogging superstar (I dare you to find a food blog without her included in the blog roll. Yeah, she rocks), was hosting this month and chose citrus as the theme. Citrus is so bright and cheerful. How could it not pull me out of my self-indulgent funk?

My recipe this month is definitely a little ray of sunshine. I morphed a Pierre Herme (also known as God) lemon cream into a citrus brulee tart served with caramel syrup and sugared pine nuts. Those who are unfamiliar with Pierre, or his lemon cream should be ashamed of themselves. Those who are, know that it's basically lemon curd with a pound of butter whooped into it. The final product sets up to a creamy custard-like consistency. I am almost always using it in some form on my menu. Fold in a little whipped cream and becomes a pillowy filling for strawberry shortcake. Sandwich it between layers of lemon chiffon cake, or mix it with mascarpone to dollop on top of gingerbread...It will sexify any thing. I promise.

A pound of butter will make it all okay

This version of the recipe uses the zest of lemons, limes, and grapefruit, and the juice of just lemons and limes. Including the grapefruit juice made it too sweet, so I had to reduce the sugar, but then it wouldn't set up properly....You know a recipe is good when it's been fiddled with about half a dozen times. The final product is the perfect happy medium. It's not too sweet and the three citrus flavors are well pronounced. I served mine in a lemon-cornmeal crust, and the sugared pine nuts are a nice balance to the tang.(I said tang) Now add a crackly brulee top crust, and you have attitude adjustment on a plate.

Citrus Brulee Tart
adapted from Pierre Herme

1- 12" pre baked tart shell

1# good quality butter, cut into small pieces and softened
zest of 1 grapefruit, 2 lemons, and 2 limes
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 oz lime juice
5 oz lemon juice
7 eggs
1 egg yolk

A very useful toy

Place the sugar in a bowl (large enough to fit over a pan of simmering water). Zest all citrus fruits into the sugar. Using gloved hands, rub the zest into the sugar until it is moist and fragrant. Add citrus juice to the sugar as well as the eggs. Whisk to combine.
Place mixture over a pot of simmering water and cook, whisking constantly until it reaches 180-182 degrees on a thermometer. Immediately remove from water bath and strain into a bowl (this both removes any curdled egg and zest and also cools the mixture slightly).
Transfer mixture to a food processor and add the butter, a few pieces at a time with the machine running. Once all of the butter is added, continue processing for 1-2 minutes.
Pour mixture into a bowl. Fold gently with a spatula and tap against the counter to pop air bubbles. Finally, slowly pour into the pre baked tart shell. Carefully place tart in the refrigerator and chill uncovered for several hours or over night before slicing into 14 pieces. To serve, sprinkle each slice evenly with sugar, then brulee it with a blow torch or under a broiler.

It would have been better with nuts....

2008-05-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

It was still delicious, but my sister is anti-nut unless it's an almond or a hazelnut. Both of which were conveniently absent from her pantry shelf. We were going to the store for buttermilk, where nuts are easily obtained. But, no. She was determined to have this rhubarb bread come out nut free. Her kitchen, her rules....fascist.

Lonely lonely rhubarb
That's okay. Lucky for her, this is the most versatile and forgiving quick bread recipe of all time. Plus, she had just given me a really cool rug and a bunch of clothes (my sister Brooke is a clothes whore. Seriously. She was trying to give me stuff that still had the tags on it. Every time I see her, she has bags full of items to unload on me so that she can clear space in her closet for more f'ing clothes. I would suggest an intervention if her illness were not so beneficial to yours truly....is that bad? But honestly- In 8 years, the only articles I've had to buy for myself are chef pants and birkenstocks. Pretty much everything else comes from her. And she has good taste to boot.) so I wasn't going to throw down over something as petty as a nut. But walnut fans will be pleased to know that I did voice my opinion...several times.

You have no idea how good this smells. See the scented steam a-wafting out the top? Oh yeah.
Despite all that, I had such a delightful day with the sibling. She and her boyfriend, CK, just bought a house in the ridiculously quaint, historic downtown area of Everett. It's about 30 miles north of the less quaint, more crowded, and much snootier queen anne neighborhood of Seattle, where I live (I still love you Sea-town, you just piss me off sometimes). Everett is the type of town where everybody knows each other. We had brunch at an adorable cafe, where the owner is Brooke's new neighbor. Later, we had pints and salads at the Irish pub where she and CK attend(and sometimes win, cuz CK be all smart and stuff) trivia night once a week. The small town vibe has become foreign to me, so it almost felt like a mini vacation. I also fell in love with Brooke's new, enormous and light-filled kitchen. Complete with a dishwasher (also foreign to me) and a breakfast nook. Like her mother before her, Brooke's whole house is beautifully decorated, one of the umpteen reasons why I refer to her as the "talented one"- but the kitchen and I hit it right off. I refused to go home with out baking something in there for her boyfriend, who would be returning from teaching rock climbing lessons (or something environmental and hippi-ish like that) that night, tired and hungry. I would have found any excuse to play in there, but CK's weary return with a rumbling tummy immediately tugged at her heartstrings.

So, we made rhubarb bread. Here is the recipe. Please note that it is better with 3/4cup of toasted, chopped walnuts. If you are smart, and are adding the nuts, reduce the flour to 2 3/4 cups.

Rhubarb Bread adapted from Kate's mom (for inquiring minds, Kate is my old boss)

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar (we have discovered that dark brown makes it noticeably superior. But use light if you must)
1 egg
6oz. melted butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour
2 cups sliced rhubarb

Topping:
2 T butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Sugary-buttery topping.This stuff is basically crack.
Pre heat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, and butter. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk salt and baking soda, then add to brown sugar mixture and whisk to combine. Add the flour and mix until just combined, then fold in the rhubarb. Pour into a greased loaf pan and set aside while you make the topping. In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar with the 2 T butter. Mash with a fork until crumbly, then sprinkle over the batter. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, then turn oven down to 325 and continue baking for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely (overnight if possible- it's never possible...) before slicing and wolfing down.

Brookey Likey.

Pie #5- Little Mango Pies with Brown Sugar-Grand Marnier Ice Cream

2008-04-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

It's been waaay too long since I royal foodie jousted. I just have to say this- don't hate me- but the term "foodie" kind of grates on my nerves. I don't blame people who use the word. It's whoever came up with it who'd ass I'd like to kick. I know I'll probably receive hate-mail for that, but it's my blog and I can say whatever I want.

You know what I love though? I LOVE Jenn, the Leftover Queen (who is recently married to the leftover King, Roberto- they are such a gorgeous couple. Their kids will be so hot) and her forum, where the monthly royal foodie joust occurs.

Last month's winning entry, submitted by the hilarious and fowl Michelle at Thursday night smackdown will be hard to follow. But she picked some pretty awesome ingredients for us to work with this month: Mango, Cardamom, and Brown Sugar- as well as the instructions "I want to see your mad pastry skillz".

Here ya go Michelle. I have submitted a very pie lady entry:

Little Mango Pies with Brown Sugar-Grand Marnier Ice Cream

The hands-down best part of this dessert was the ice cream. I must try it with chocolate cake some time. Making new discoveries for my dessert menu is one of the main reasons why I participate with these events. I'm thinking a scoop of this atop a warm flour less chocolate cake would be pretty orgasmic. Don't you?

Pie Dough:

1 cup pastry flour
4 oz cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 T vodka
2 T ice water

In a food processor, pulse up the butter with the flour and salt until butter is the size of peas. Add the water and vodka and pulse briefly until flour is moistened. Dump contents out onto a work surface and frisage into a disc. Chill overnight, or for at least 3 hours.
Roll chilled dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut into 6 4 inch circles (I used a cookie cutter). Chill dough circles until ready to use.

Mango Filling:
2 ripe mangoes
1 T fresh lime juice
3 T sugar
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp cornstarch

Cube up the mangoes and toss with the remaining ingredients.

don't forget to gnaw on your mango pit. And don't forget to floss afterwards

Assembly/Baking:
Ease the dough circles into small muffin tins (no need for pan spray- there is enough butter in the dough for it to release on it's own). Divide mango filling amongst the dough-lined compartments. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 350 and continue baking for 35 minutes.

Ice Cream:

2 cups whole milk
1 quart heavy cream
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
12 egg yolks
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 oz grand marnier

Whisk together the yolks and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
In a large pot, combine the brown sugar with the milk and cream. Heat slowly, stirring occasionally to dissolve the brown sugar. Once sugar is dissolved, turn heat up and bring to a boil. Slowly temper into the yolks. Return mixture to the pot and continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-proof spatula, until mixture thickens. Strain into a container and place in an ice bath to chill. Once cold, stir in the grand marnier and churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

It's snowing in April

2008-04-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

I am in a snit today. Exactly one week ago, Seattle had it's first 80 degree day of the year. I was basking in it- sitting on the deck with Trevor drinking my own incarnation of a mint julep, eating sunflower seeds, and wearing funny looking sunglasses. I can't recall a time that I was so happy to be in the sun.

The very next day, it was cold and rainy. Fine. I'm a Seattle native. I have learned to deal with that. What I refuse to accept, is snow in fucking April. I call bullshit. It has been snowing off and on since Friday. And no, it's not the fun kind of snow that piles up so we can all be confined to our homes making snowmen and snuggling by the fire. It's the wet stuff- mixed with rain and melting the second it hits the ground.
Not to mention, every couple of hours, it stops and the sun comes out for about ten minutes. Just to fuck with us.
Being that I plan my dessert menu around the seasons, all I can do it cringe at what this must be doing to the poor rhubarb that I depend on. It gets me through until the local strawberries and cherries arrive. That feels like a lifetime from now.

Anyway- I'm making the best of it. I've been sitting under a blankie with my book and a cup of the best black tea known to man.

Market Spice is this little shop in the Pike Place Market that sells honey, tea, spices, and whatnot. Their original blend is a dark and spicy orange tea, which rocks the house when infused into a creme brulee base. But the huckleberry tea has become a nightly ritual. I am not much of a "berry" tea girl, but there is something about this one. With a splash of milk, and if I am feeling lavish- a twist of orange rind, I have my dessert in a cup. I am tasting desserts all day, so when the after dinner urge for sweetness comes, I reach for a hot drink. Caffeine has very little effect on me (unless there is an absence of it), so rather than keeping me up, it actually puts me to sleep. I sip on this while Trevor eats his fudgesicle- this man married a pastry chef and all I can make for him is ice cream or chocolate chip cookies, and still, he is just as happy with his fat free fudgesicle (yes, he prefers the fat free ones)...but that is the subject of another rant.....

SHF #42- Asian Invasion!

2008-04-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

Coconut-Jasmine Ice Cream

It's Sugar High Friday time again....yaaaaay! These days, it seems to be the only blog event I can get my shit together for. This month's host, Amrita at La Petite Boulangette chose the theme "Asian Invasion".
This had to be providence; just hours before I read the announcement, I happened to be at World Spice and picked up some pearl jasmine. It was begging to be used for this.

Pearl Jasmine, which is mostly used for tea, can also be used for infusions. Pairing it with another Thai ingredient- coconut, seemed like a damn fine idea to me.

Southeast Asian persuasion: pearl jasmine and coconut

I had thought of doing a panna cotta or a creme brulee, but it the end, ice cream was what I (husband's constant bitching about how I never make him homemade ice cream anymore had nothing to do with it. I swear.) really wanted. Coconut milk served as a replacement for most of the whole milk, I also used some unsweetened flaked coconut in the infusion to help pronounce the flavor. Jasmine can be a very assertive ingredient, and I didn't want it to over power everything.

Final verdict? OH.MY.SWEET.LORD. Sooooo good. The two flavors were balanced together in perfect ying-yang harmony. Not included in this post are the lime sugar cookies I made to go with them, but they are certainly worth mentioning.

You want to know what else is worth mentioning? The Dali Lama is in town! This very day, he is literally blocks from my home at the Key Arena. He's been here all weekend- how kick ass is that?

Coconut-Jasmine Ice Cream

1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup whole milk
4 cups heavy cream
3 T pearl jasmine
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
12 egg yolks
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Combine both milks, cream, sugar, and coconut flakes in a pot. Bring to a boil, then add the jasmine. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let steep for 1 hour. Whisk together the eggs and salt in a large bowl. Return the infused dairy to a boil, then slowly temper it into the eggs, about 1 cup at a time. Return mixture to low heat and stir constantly with a heatproof spatula until it thickens (make sure you are scraping the bottom of the pot with the spatula). Immediately remove from heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer. Place custard over an ice water bath. Once custard is very cold, churn in an ice cream maker following manufacturer's instructions.

Milk 'n Cookies

2008-04-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

For your inner "skinned knee"

Who likes chocolate?
My hand is raised too. I'm not like, weird about it though. I have known some people who shall remain nameless who have a freakish addiction to it. If I had to desert-island it, I'd go for some sort of pie over chocolate. But I have nothing but love in my heart for the balls-out chocoholics. They make my job so easy. Molding good quality chocolate into an exquisite dessert is a breeze. Flavor-wise, most of the work has already been done.

For the last year or so, Scharffen Berger has been my chocolate of choice. It has a brightness to it that seems to make it stand out from others I have tried. I'm sure there are many pastry chefs out there that would both agree and disagree with that. I really think that amongst the top few contenders of really good stuff out there, it becomes a personal matter of taste. Really they're all pretty damn tasty. But I stand by my choice.

Last year, I picked up John Scharffen Berger and Robert Steinberg's The Essence of chocolate. I love it when I drop 40 bucks on a cook book and it turns out to be worth EVERY G.D. PENNY. Every recipe I've tried out of here has turned out to be a winner. Plus there is added information about the origins of chocolate. It's also beautiful. Pretty cookbooks are like my dollies.

Worth it's weight in delicious chocolaty goodness

Here is a recipe from the book that I find myself making all the time- Chocolate shortbread with cacao nibs and salt. They are perfect for grown-up milk and cookies. I keep a log in the freezer for when one of us has had a no good, rotten old day. The salty-sweet factor is kind of like crack for me, and it's well represented in these cookies. This is a great one to try if you have one of those 50 dollar jars of fancy pants salt that you're scared to even open sitting in your cupboard. It will shine like Elvis in these.

Chocolate Shortbread with Cacao Nibs
adapted from The Essence of Chocolate

6 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
3/4 cup Scharffen Berger natural cocoa powder
3/4 tsp good quality salt (or 1/2 tsp kosher salt)
3/4 cup cacao nibs

Crush the nibs using a rolling pin, or bottom of an iron skillet. Set aside. Sift together the flour and cocoa powder.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment until fluffy and smooth (scrape bowl as needed).
Add the vanilla and salt and mix until combined.
add half of the sifted dry ingredients and mix until barely absorbed. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add nibs and mix just until they are evenly dispersed through out the dough.
Either roll the dough out and cut out shapes, or form it into a log and slice off cookies (about 1/4 ").
Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Rotate halfway through baking time.

Pass it on....

2008-04-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here on a lazy Sunday afternoon drinking vodka and listening to Soundgarden.....a lot of vodka. I am probably on my 4th or 5th shot of Luksusowa, plus a few mixed drinks thrown in there- which is a lot for me. Advanced apologies if this post is bloated with drunken ramblings and early 90's Seattle nostalgia. It's my f'ing day off, alright?
Anyway- I'm blogsurfing while Trevor is changing his guitar strings. He's at least 2 shots ahead of me. I don't know why that needs to be public information....this will all come together in the end- I promise.
So like I said, I'm cruising down my blog roll when I get to the very last one- wrightfood, which I must say is one of my favorite blogs out there. His most recent post is a crispy skinned salmon with purple potatoes and Dijon broth. I was drooling all over my keyboard when I remembered the droolworthy blogger award bestowed upon me by Marye a way long time ago for my sweet potato flan, and my promise to pass it on. "It is time", my inner jedi told me.

Let me tell you, dear readers, some of the many reasons why Matt's blog is one that I visit almost daily. First of all- the friggin' amazing recipes. Matt's take on food is completely in sync with mine: simple, local, seasonal. He is also a Seattleite, so it's fun to chat with him about restaurants, the weather, etc. Shameless plug- it's also super cool that he is an ardent supporter of my own place of employment: Crow- Hell yeeeah! Though he has yet to visit our sister restaurant, Betty. (Don't think I haven't forgotten that, Matt.) However, he and his wife do have a toddler toddling around, so his delay in making it over to Queen Anne to dine can be forgiven.
Every time I visit wrightfood, I am blown away. The food, the photography, the writing- this guy should have a cookbook. Oh wait, I forgot! He is currently working on one! I don't know exactly where he is at with that right now- last I heard, he was "publisher shopping", but I have seen advanced previews of it and it is definitely one every home cook should have- particularly those living in the northwest, as his recipes reflect a love for seafood. Having said that, he does give meat and veggies their due props with posts such as grilled leeks, and braised pork spare rib and belly.Another thing I love- Matt is British. Being the total yank that I am, and not knowing many Brits personally, I never get to hear terms such as "bloody" and "bloke" used regularly. I don't know why, but I get kind of a thrill out of it. I am SO. PAINFULLY. AMERICAN.
So, Matt- this shot of Polish vodka is for you. Snag this award and pass it on. You deserve it and then some. Readers- add Wrightfood to your blogroll. Cook up some of his recipes. You can thank me later.

My favorite vegetable tart for the picky quiche hater

2008-03-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of quiche. I won't go so far as to say that I hate it. I have had some very good quiches in my day- one of the jewels of this city, Le Pichet makes fabulous quiche. They do it right- lots of yummy meats and veggies, a light hand with the custard, and a quality buttery crust. Come to think of it, Le Pichet is pretty much one of the most awesome French restaurants in Seattle and there is little that their tiny kitchen produces that doesn't transport me to Paris with one bite.....actually, I could go for some oeufs plats and chicken liver pate right about now- with that amazing baguette of theirs....mmmmm....
What was I talking about again?
Oh yeah- quiche. And how I don't really like it that much.
So here is my beef with most quiches- they are often way too eggy with a store bought crust which no love was put into at all, and the classic spinach/mushroom/etcetera filling has me yawning at the thought of it.
Now that I have let out my little rant, I will say that I like the idea of quiche and/or a really good quiche (see above Le Pichet love-fest).

So here is my answer to the doldrums of quiche lorrainesville. A vegetable tart loaded with lots of veggies and just enough custard to hold the thing together.
At work, when I am feeling super nice, I save my scraps from that day's pie, pillage the walk-in for whatever veg is staring back at me, and whip up one of these babies for the boys. Three hungry line cooks will polish off a 12 inch vegetable tart in about 20 minutes... It really is an impressive sight to behold.

I am giving you a "rough outline" recipe here. Really, all you need to know is the custard base. This tart is a canvas for whatever your imagination or your refrigerator has to offer. I have made this recipe with cherry tomatoes, basil, and feta- or asparagus and fontina, or caramelized onions and Roquefort, or wild mushrooms, thyme, and gruyere....the possibilities are endless- and they're making me hungry.

Leek and mushroom tart

3-4 medium leeks, washed thoroughly and sliced (use only the white and pale green part)
3 shallots, sliced
4 oz crimini mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
butter and olive oil (or flavor infused oil- I used garlic) for sauteing
chopped thyme and chives
2 oz goat cheese
custard base:
2 eggs
1/3 cup half and half
1/3 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

enough of your favorite pie dough to line a 10-12 inch tart pan (or, try a half recipe of my all butter pie dough)

Step 1-
For god's sake WASH your leeks! These innocent little things pack a lot of dirt along with them. Slice em first, then soak them in water. Drain and repeat until clean. Dry the leeks on a tea towel while gathering the rest of your ingredients.

Step 2-
Saute your veggies in a little butter and olive oil. They had some reserved oil leftover from the roasted garlic hanging around, so I used that. The tart was all the better for it. Because of the different cooking times, I did the leeks/shallots in one pan, and the mushrooms in another. I don't think the world will come to an end If you just used one pan. Oh yeah- don't forget to season the vegetables with a little salt and pepper.

Step 3-
Pour the sauteed veggies out onto a plate to cool, then move onto the crust. Line your tart shell with the dough, then place a large piece of foil inside the dough (leave enough overhang of foil to be able to lift it out later). Fill the shell the pie weight of your choice- rice, dried beans, etc- and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and pie weights, prick the bottom of the crust a few times with a fork, turn the oven down to 350, and continue baking for 5-7 minutes. The shell should be pale in color, but not raw.

Step 4-
Put it all together. In a small bowl, whisk your eggs, cream, half and half, a pinch of pepper and about a teaspoon of salt until combined. Place your veggies inside the prebaked shell, crumble the goat cheese over the whole thing, then slowly pour in the custard. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees, until eggs are set and the tart is slightly puffy.

Cool the tart for a few minutes, then slice and enjoy. Safety note: when feeding hungry boys, keep your limbs out of the way. They could be consumed in the feeding frenzy.

Tart!

2008-03-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

Seville Oranges...a love story

Citrus season is winding down. For the next 2 months, until local strawberries are available, rhubarb will be the only gift from the earth I have to work with (and thank you for that dearest, reliable rhubarb. You are always there for me when I am antsy for summer fruit).

Around January or February, apples and pears begin to SUCK. Cranberries are gone, and if you were lucky enough to get your hands on a quince, it has long since been devoured. The next local fruit crop feels like a lifetime away.
Here comes citrus to save the day.
Oh bright, sunny citrus. I just heart you oh so much. Meyer lemons, cara cara oranges, heirloom navels, Texas grapefruit, and my hands-down absolute effing favorite: The super sexy seville orange. Grrrrrawl! They just get me all twitterpated.
Is it a coincidence that my favorite Elvis Costello song is "tart", where he paints a lyrical picture with this very orange? Or that I am literally depressed to be down to my last case of them in the walk-in, with no hope to see another one again until next winter?
No, I think I am in love. With an orange.

Here is some back story on my sad obsession: Seville oranges come from- you guessed it- Seville, Spain. They have more seeds than any citrus fruit I've ever seen, they are REALLY bitter (I would never eat one out of hand), they have a thick bright orange skin- gorgeous when candied- and are typically used for marmalade.

The bitterness of it's juice is more of a pleasant sharpness that enhances food- sort of like a lemon. I love it paired with chocolate, vanilla bean, caramel, or all three- which is how it is currently being showcased on my menu:

Bittersweet Chocolate Pate with Vanilla Bean Cream, Seville Orange Caramel, and Coco- nib Toffee

Unfortunately, I have never seen a seville orange at the grocery store. If you have a year round farmer's market in your area, you may see them there. Otherwise, you'll just have to take my word for it. These guys are worthy of poetry.

Seville Orange Caramel
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice

2 cups heavy cream

2 seville oranges
1/4 tsp sea salt

Zest and juice the oranges. Reserve the juice and set aside. Bring the zest and cream to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 1 hour.
Return steeped cream to the heat, bring to a boil, then strain into a measuring pitcher.
Combine the lemon juice, water, and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Cook until mixture is amber-colored and is just beginning to smoke (don't burn it!...it's a fine line- you don't want to walk away from the stove when caramelizing sugar!)
Remove pan from heat and slowly whisk in the hot cream (stand back- it will hiss and spatter!)
Stir until sugar is dissolved, then stir in the reserved juice and salt.

SHF# 41, sweet gifts for my sis

2008-03-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

Almond Butter Cake with Lemon Thyme Cream

Heres your almond cake Brookie, now get off my ass about it, K?

It seems like forever since the last time I participated in Sugar High Friday (or any blog event for that matter), but I am starting to get my act together- dontchya think? I mean jeez, this is my second post in one week. Kudos to me.
Habeas Brulee is hosting SHF this month (follow that link. Now. Seriously, it's worth it to see the freakishly adorable little girl with marshmallow all over her face), and she picked "sweet gifts" as her theme, which gives me the chance to show some love for my sister Brooke. Which I have not yet had a chance to do on this blog.
In a nutshell, Brooke is the most hilarious person I know. I am so glad my parents decided to have another kid right after having me (she is barely a year younger than I, and I don't know that I should use the term "decided", as I'm pretty sure we were both accidents...happy accidents). Some of my most treasured childhood memories include Brooke and I lying on our tummies watching "Anne of Green Gables", making fun of the way they danced on "Kids Incorporated" (children of the 80's who had the disney channel will get the reference- it's where Fergie of the Black eyed Peas got her start in showbiz), or stuffing pillows under our clothers and running down the hallway and colliding into eachother (member that Brooke?). We were always entertained as long as we were together. We didn't require much in the way of toys, as we had our sence of humor to keep us busy. Good lord, could the two of us giggle.

"The Brookester"

Fast forward twenty some odd years, and not much has changed. We're still total dorks when we get together, cracking up at whatever gross or self-depricating joke the other has to tell. In my sister's presence, I somehow become twelve again- which is a pretty awesome state of mind.

Anywho (B- are you sobbing yet? You are. Just admit it.), now on to this cake. This is a cake that was on my menu when Betty first opened, and Brooke and my mom came in for dinner. At that time, it was served alongside a dollop of greek yogurt and a fragrant raspberry-rose geranium sauce. Brooke dubbed it a "mouth-gasm" and has been begging for the recipe ever since.
Being the neglectful beeotch that I am, I kept forgetting to give it to her.
I made this cake for her, but she is an accomplished baker in her own right, so even if she does not have a chance to zip down to Seattle (she live a few towns north of here), she now has the recipe- which is what she really wanted.

This cake is delicious with just about anything, or on it's own. Today, it's sandwiching a schmear of lemon-thyme pastry cream (lightened to a spreadable consistency with heavy cream). I'll be putting it back on my dessert menu in May with a tangy balsamic-sour cherry compote and toasted almond creme anglaise. Brooke is now drooling.
Almond Butter Cake
This recipe will produce enough batter for 1 half sheet pan, 2 10" round pans, or 1 terrine loaf pan (my personal favorite).

9 oz (1 1/3 cup) sugar
7 oz almond paste
8 oz butter, softened
6 eggs, at room temp.
1 tsp vanilla
5 oz (1 cup) flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray desired pan with baking release, line the bottom with parchment paper, and spray again.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attatchment, mix the sugar and almond paste together until fine textured (it will have a sandy look). Add the butter and mix until well combined. Stop mixer and scrape the bowl with a spatula. return to med-high.
Whisk the eggs and vanilla together and dribble into the bowl (do this slowly with the machine running). Scrape bowl again and mix until batter looks homogenous.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Spread batter into desired pan and bake until a cake tester comes out clean

Loaf pan: 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes
Round pans: 35-40 minutes
Sheet pan: 25-30 minutes

Welcoming Spring with a Rhubarb Crumble

2008-03-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

Okay. I'm done hibernating now.
My last post was on New years eve. I'd say it's time for me to quit neglecting my blog. I hope my small group of readers can forgive my absence. I promised the hiatus was over and I guess I kind of lied. I swear it was not intentional. Can we kiss and make up now?

It's been an eventful year so far. I was offered a great opportunity at work, so that is where my head has been for while. The pie lady would just have to wait. I was asked if I would be interested in taking over the pastry department for our sister restaurant Crow, as well as running the helm at Betty (for those who are interested, here is our website).
I accepted, of course, because I would be an idiot to turn down such an incredible proposal. But truth be told, I was terrified. In a good way. The thought of wrapping my brain around two restaurants was a bit scary, but I have found that I work best under pressure, so carpe diem, right?
I am pleased to announce that it's going great. I am starting to get comfy in my new position and am ready to start devoting more free time to this here blog.
So without further ado, hows about a recipe?

Can I just say hooray for Rhubarb? It showed up early here in the Northwest. Just when I was starting to think "If I have to look at another crappy pear, I will just die" that beautiful red vegetable (yes, rhubarb is a vegetable) mosied it's way into the produce selection looking more crimson and vibrant than ever. Don't get me wrong, I love pears, quinces, and apples, but by February I start to disdain them.

I have already posted Rhubarb pie in this blog's infancy (the pictures make me cringe), so here is another one of my favorite ways to celebrate fruit- a crumble. I make crumbles at home all the time, as they are ridiculously easy. You will most likely have everything you need (sans the fruit) sitting on your pantry shelf. It takes minutes to put together and you can make a huge batch of the topping and freeze it for a last minute dessert.

There is a special ingredient in my filling. I am not usually a fan of rhubarb muddied with strawberries. This is strictly a personal taste thing. I can't STAND baking strawberries. They turn a kind of milky pink color and the texture just bothers me. I think baking a strawberry is sacrilegious.
HOWEVER, a little strawberry puree- just a smidge now- really pumps up the flavor of this filling. It adds sweetness which is nice, so you can reduce the sugar (rhubarb usually needs a lot of sugar), and it adds a little pectin and color. I use a brand available only by mail to the public (I think) called perfect puree. Those who work in kitchens know that it's easily found at many of our produce purveyors. If you like, you can make your own using frozen strawberries, a blender, and a teensy pinch of sugar. Or, you can omit the puree and add a few more tablespoons of sugar. Either way, it will be delicious.

The cherry blossoms are blooming in Seattle, it's been sunny almost as much as it's been rainy, and today I didn't need a coat.
So cozy up with a warm bowl of this crumble (because it's still pretty damn cold out there!), a cup of coffee, and join me in my elation. Spring is just a few days away! Yay!

Rhubarb Crumble
makes 12 individual ramekins or 1 large pan

Topping:
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz butter, melted and cooled

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the butter and mix with your hands until you have chunky crumbs. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
Filling:
2# 4 oz cleaned rhubarb, ends trimmed and sliced into 1" pieces (give or take-depending on width of the stalks)
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup strawberry puree*
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 T cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 oz melted butter, plus more for brushing pan

Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter 12 ramekins, or a 13" by 9" pyrex baking dish and set aside.
In a large bowl, toss rhubarb with the puree (if using) and lemon juice. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the salt, sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle over the fruit and toss until absorbed. Stir in the melted butter and pour into the baking dish or ramekins. Evenly sprinkle the crumble topping over the rhubarb.
Bake for 25 minutes at 375, then turn oven down to 350 and continue baking for an additional 20-25 minutes. Topping will be golden brown and juices will be bubbly.

*if you are omitting the puree, increase the sugar to 1 1/2 cups

Perfecting Butterscotch

2007-12-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

There are few sauces in this world that I love more than butterscotch. It has the gooey richness of caramel, but with a little more moxie. Even the name butterscotch has an allure to it. "butter" and "scotch"- of course it's gonna be good.
But, this innocent little dessert condiment has been irking me since last summer when I had a burnt sugar banana split on my menu.

This was no ordinary banana split. For weeks before the restaurant opened, I had a vision in my head of this glorious dessert, and glorious it was; A banana bruleed with a blow torch, scoops of homemade chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice creams-
topped with strawberry sauce, bittersweet fudge sauce, butterscotch, chopped almond praline, sliced strawberries, and a fresh bing cherry. Each order took almost 10 minutes to assemble and to this day, it could very well be one of my finest achievements...with the exception of one thing- I could never get that damn butterscotch right.

I started with a recipe from one of my heroes, Emily Luchetti. Her butterscotch contained all of the usual suspects: brown sugar, butter, cream, salt, etc.
Right off the stove it was quite delicious. After the sauce bottle sat overnight in the fridge however, it was grainy. Still yummy- but the texture simply wouldn't do. Graininess is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Not ready to give up, I tried a recipe given to me by a fellow pastry chef. As I was cooking it, I realized her recipe was pretty much the same as Luchetti's, and I knew I was probably going to have the same problem. So, I cooked it a bit longer to see if that would help dissolve the brown sugar, then I added a shot of whiskey while it cooled. The extra cooking time did nothing for the grainy issue, but the whiskey worked wonders on it's flavor. I had one of those no-duh moments. Why would I even consider making a butterscotch with out any booze in the first place?

With the restaurant in it's infancy at this time, I obviously had a million other things on my plate. I certainly could not linger here in this quagmire. The flavor was very good, and if it were made daily, in small amounts, I could sideswipe the grainy issue. I vowed that I would pick this butterscotch thing back up when I had time to catch my breath.

Fast forward to December, and I have gingerbread on my menu. A dark and spicy wedge with a dollop of Meyer lemon-mascarpone whip (a pillowy blend of Meyer lemon curd, mascarpone, and heavy cream. I will post about it in the future- it's too good not to share), rose poached quince, and a glaze of the infamous butterscotch. Here was my chance to re-visit the texture.

Butterscotch is made in the same procedure as caramel- but you use brown sugar and butter instead of white sugar and water, and you don't caramelize it. Instead, they are melted together, then the cream is added and the sauce boils for a few minutes... It's like "lawyer-ball" caramel.

Brown sugar was not only was it the key to butterscotch's flavor, but it was also my roadblock. Brown sugar is basically white sugar with molasses added to it. What if I made a basic creamy caramel sauce, then added molasses, whiskey and salt while it cooled? First time was a charm. I would go so far as to call it perfect. I was pissed off that my brain didn't make that connection back in the banana split days.

The hubby and I have been enjoying homemade cinnamon stick ice cream and butterscotch sundaes for dessert over the holidays. Luckily, we polished off the last of it last night- just in time for my new years resolution to decrease the size of my bum!

Butterscotch
This sauce can be refrigerated in a sealed container for at least 2 weeks. To bring it back to it's original saucy lustre, re heat it slowly over the stove, or in the microwave.
Makes about 1 cup

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water

3/4 cup cream
1 oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes

2 T molasses
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
2 T whiskey (I like Yukon Jack for it's sweetness)

In a small sauce pan, combine sugar and water. Cook over high heat until it' caramelizes. This takes a while longer due to the extra amount of water.
Meanwhile, in a separate sauce pan, combine the butter and cream. Bring to a simmer and let sit until the sugar has caramelized.
Off the heat, slowly and carefully whisk in the hot cream. The pot will spatter and spit- look out!
Whisk over gentle heat until sauce is smooth and lump-free. Strain into a heat proof container, then stir in molasses, whiskey, and salt.

Happy New Year!

Multigrain Sandwich Bread (The Pie Lady Returns!)

2007-12-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

Something has been missing from The Pie Lady. Blog posts!
December has been a strange month. More like a comedy of errors. In a matter of a few days the alternator went out on our car, my wallet was stolen, our refrigerator broke, and our computer both caught some sort of virus and the hard drive crashed. Needless to say, I have not had the opportunity to blog as much as I would like to. It's been such a chapper to have to put it aside just when it's just getting off the ground- and I miss my new blogging buddies!

Things are starting to calm down around here- car fixed, fridge fixed, driver's licence/credit cards renewed (the punks managed to use my card at a gas station before I had a chance to cancel it. Happy holidays to you too, arshole).
The final clusterphuk to deal with is the computer. Luckily, I do have access to one for the time being. So, while posts may not be as frequent as usual- the hiatus is over.

Now that I've explained myself- I will move on to the yummiest sandwich bread that I have ever tasted. I know- my last post was bread, but trust me. I would not dare to be so redundant unless it was worth it.

I doubt I have mentioned this, but nothing tickles my fancy more than getting my Cooks Illustrated in the mail. I have subscribed for 3 years, and find myself buying less general cookbooks because of it. The recipes in Cooks Illustrated are so well tested and often offer variations, so once I've tried it, I (usually) don't feel the need to seek out other versions.

The multigrain sandwich bread caught my eye in the March/April '06 issue. The test cook had the brilliant idea to use 7 grain cereal mix, rather than hunting them down individually. This is one of the easiest bread recipes I know, so I don't mind putting it together the day after the holiday cooking marathon...(by the way- Happy Holidays everyone).

Just in time for turkey or roast beef leftovers, this sandwich bread tastes better than anything you can buy in the grocery store. Leftovers on homemade bread makes you feel like you're having a meal just as special as the night before.

Easy Multigrain Sandwich Bread- Cooks Illustrated #79, Mar/Apr '06

6 1/4 oz (1 1/4 cups) 7-grain hot cereal mix (Bob's Red Mill or Arrowhead Mills)
20 oz (2 1/2 cups) boiling water
15 oz (3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
7 1/2 oz (1 1/2 cups) whole wheat flour
4 T honey
4 T butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 T fine sea salt
3/4 cup unsalted sunflower or pumpkin seeds (*I like sunflower the best)
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1. Place cereal mix in bowl of standing mixer and pour boiling water over it; let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 100 degrees and resembles thick porridge, about 1 hour. Whisk flours together in a medium bowl.

2. Once grain mixture has cooled, add honey, melted butter, and yeast and stir to combine. Attach bowl to standing mixer fitted with dough hook. With mixer running on low speed, add flours, 1/2 cup at a time, and knead until dough forms ball, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes; cover bowl with plastic and let dough rest 20 minutes. Add salt and knead on medium-low speed until dough clears sides of bowl, 3 to 4 minutes (if it does not clear sides, add 2 to 3 T additional all-purpose flour and continue mixing); continue to knead dough for 5 minutes. Add seeds and knead another 15 seconds. Transfer dough to floured work surface and knead by hand until seeds are dispersed evenly and dough forms smooth, taut ball. Place dough into a greased container with 4-qt capacity; cover with plastic and allow to rise until doubled, 45 to 60 minutes.

3. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 2 9by 5- inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and pat into a 12 by 9- inch rectangle; cut in half crosswise with knife or bench scraper. Roll each portion into a log and pinch the seam closed. Spray each log with water and roll in the oats. Place in loaf pans, cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled in size, 30 to 40 minutes.

4. Bake until internal temperature registers 200 degrees on an instant read thermometer, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and cool on wire rack before slicing, about 3 hours.

Daring Bakers on a "diet"

2007-11-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

A pot of coffee and a daring baker challenge. My ideal day off

Yeasted delicacies are showing up on blogs everywhere, which can only mean the daring bakers are at it again with Tanna hosting this month's challenge. After October's bostini cream pie, which came in at a whopping 93 grams of fat and almost 1200 calories PER SERVING (thanks again Julius, I can't say that I really wanted to know about that. Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss), myself and several other db's had our fingers crossed for something savory, and perhaps something we could eat a serving of without having to go buy new jeans. Tanna valiantly answered the call with Tender Potato Bread. Those who are carb conscience are rolling their eyes right now because I just said "potato" and "bread." Sorry...it's not my stupid diet. I for one, was ecstatic. Tanna was giving us creative freedom with this. She provided the recipe for the dough, advised that we make a loaf with half of it, and the rest should be used as a canvas to "unleash our inner daring baker." We were allowed to do whatever we wanted with it, so long as it wasn't sweet. Another rule: the dough had to be kneaded by hand. No mixers allowed.

As the db's started making this challenge and posting their results on our private blog, the overwhelming majority warned that this was a really sticky dough.
I consider myself to be pretty comfortable with bread making. I am by no means an expert, but running the wholesale bakery forced me to become familiar with it. Cinnamon rolls and hot cross buns were two of my biggest sellers, and I was also asked to make the ciabatta for the dinner theatre that I shared the kitchen with. Ciabatta is one of the stickiest, most difficult to work with breads out there, which is why it is always in that flat rectangular blob shape. I told myself that If I can handle ciabatta, I can handle this. Here's the thing though: I made the ciabatta in an enormous 60 quart mixer, and both the rising and forming was done on a big wooden bench. I'll admit it- the idea of kneading the sticky potato bread on my tiny formica counter top had me nervous. If anything the clean up that would be required was not something I was looking forward to. But, that is the whole idea of these challenges. Step outside your comfort zone. To me, artisan style bread making is not a big deal. Doing it at home without my mixer? SCARY.

Luckily, Tanna's recipe was really straight forward- and yes, the dough was sticky at first. But once you start kneading, it becomes the most fun thing to play with EVER. Sorry if I am grossing anyone out here, but the texture of the dough can only be described as old lady arm flab. It reminded me of going to visit my great aunt Charlotte and giving her a hug. The dough picks up just enough flour to hold together, but remains very soft and "blubbery."
I have kneaded dough by hand before, but it was not quite as slack as this one. Stiffer dough means your arms tire out quickly. I could have kneaded this dough all day. I forgot how much more satisfying it is to actually feel it come together.

One third of my finished dough became a rustic free form loaf, which I baked right on my pizza stone. The crust was crisp and the inside was tender and fluffy. It was delicious the next day as garlic toast for soup.

The rest became something that I usually make with plain buttermilk dough: cheddar ham rolls with sage. The dough is rolled out into a rectangle as if you were making cinnamon rolls. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar and chopped sage. Lay out slices of good quality deli ham, then sprinkle with more cheese and sage. Roll it up and slice off medallions. Bake them just like you would a cinnamon roll. We had them for dinner with a salad. How often does a daring baker challenge become two perfectly well rounded dinners? Um, NEVER. Thank you Tanna. This was a great choice after last months heart attack cream pie. If you would like the recipe for Tender Potato Brad, Tanna has it posted on her blog. To see all of the other amazing creations that resulted from this dough, head over to our blogroll. I know that is where I'll be for the next 3 weeks, as there are (last I checked, I'm sure there's more by now) now about 300 daring bakers across the globe!! Thats alotta dough!

December Royal Foodie Joust!

2007-11-15T17:01:00.000-08:00

Mayan Chocolate Boca Negra with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Yaaaay! It's jousting time again! This monthly battle of the foodies is hosted by the lovely Jen, also known as the Leftover Queen. It's participants, which include members of Jen's Leftover Queen Forum, are all to create a dish including 3 required ingredients. The winner gets bragging rights, a nifty graphic for their blog, and best of all- picks the 3 ingredients for the next month's joust. Ley of Cilantro and Lime, kicked ass and took names with her paneer, which was created with mushroom, cheese, and herbs as her required props. Ley blessed us with ingredients that both provide a challenge, but go beautifully together: Chocolate, Chiles, and any sort of grain. I heart you Ley, because this means I will get to make one of my all time favorite chocolate treats- baked pudding or "boca negra." It's 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour barely squeeze me into the guidelines.

This dessert is not only really easy to put together, but it is sinfully delicious. I make this when I am looking to impress someone. It may not look like much in the photo, but it's one of those things you need to taste to believe. The texture is fudgy, creamy, and souffle-like. The flavors blend together in perfect harmony- not one of them over powers the other. Instead they all bring out each other's best qualities.

That's not even the best thing about this recipe. Unlike it's cranky cousin, the souffle- boca negra batter can be made in a relaxed state of mind. You can bake off just 2 of them, and refrigerate the batter for another time. It keeps for 2 or 3 days. I'm keeping the rest of mine in the freezer, where it should last for a month. Now, I have a fancy schmancy dessert on hand if I need it. I served mine with some just-churned vanilla ice cream this time, but cinnamon ice cream or whipped creme fraiche are also both deelish.
Mayan Chocolate Boca Negra

12 oz. 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped- use a good one!
8 oz. unsalted butter, cut into cubes
4 oz. Kahlua
1 cup superfine sugar
1/4 tsp orange zest, very finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp mild Chile powder
5 eggs at room temp
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 T sifted flour

baking
Preheat oven to 325 and have ready 6 ramekins that will fit into a roasting pan. Spray ramekins with pan spray. Fill the roasting pan with hot water until the cups are halfway submerged. Set aside.
Combine the butter and chocolate in a large bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water to create a bain marie. Stir chocolate and butter occasionally until smooth and completely melted. Set aside.
In a saucepan, stir together the Kahlua and 1 cup sugar until it dissolves. Heat until mixture boils. Whisk into chocolate. Stir in orange zest, cinnamon, and chile.
In a standing mixer, or using egg beaters, whip the eggs, salt, and 1/3 of sugar until very light and fluffy. They should be as thick as soft peak egg whites.
Whisk eggs into chocolate. They will deflate some, but that's ok.
Whisk in the sifted flour. The batter will be of pouring consistency.
Divide batter amongst ramekins and bake for 20-25 minutes. They do not rise, but the tops will be dry to the touch and shiny- like brownies.
Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, remove them from the water. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream or creme fraiche.
Any excess batter can be stored in the refrigerator and baked off at a later time.

Don't forget to head over to the forums during the first week of December to vote for your favorite!
PS- curious about the title of this dessert? It translates into "black mouth"- which completely describes ones appearance after one bite.

Pie #4- Apple Quince: Flavors of the Pacific.....

2007-11-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

Asian Pacific quinces team up with Pacific Northwest Apples

You guys didn't think I would hold out on you just before the peak of pie season, did you? You did, didn't you. Oh, ye of little faith, I know it's been a while since The Pie Lady has defended her title, but I would never abandon my readership before the holidays without at least a couple of pies for inspiration.

So, I am presenting you with my all time favorite. This is a bold statement. Choosing my favorite fruit pie is like choosing a favorite pet I've had over my lifespan. They are my babies and all of them are dear to me. You know when I crown a pie "favorite", that something about it is special.

Quinces can be spotted on many food blogs these days, and this is likely not to be the only apple quince pie you've seen. I can tell you that this one has been tested time and time again, and has a surprising taste. The quince is native to Asia and is related to both apples and pears. It's really fragrant and if uncooked, horribly bitter. After about 30 minutes cooking time, the bitterness dissipates and the floral and honey notes that are in the fragrance of the fruit come out it it's flavor as well. As a lucky bonus, the fruit also turns a gorgeous pink color and leaves behind a rosy, full flavored syrup....cocktails anyone?

The Asian quince will be crossing the pond...or Pacific Ocean, to the Pacific Northwest to snuggle up with some Washington apples. They packed a little treat in their carry on. Chinese 5 spice (which is a blend of cinnamon, anise seed, cloves, ginger, and fennel seed)-a staple in Asian cooking, separates this pie from all of the others in my arsenal. It wakes up the apples and fits right in with the quince, joining both fruits together in holy pie matrimony. Never, has a spice, so made a pie.

The choice of which apples to use in a pie is a controversial one, so I'll leave that up to you. It should, however be a blend of 2 apples. One should be tart and firm- I use granny smiths, and the other should be sweet and tend to soften more when cooked-I like Braeburns. They don't turn to complete mush and have a full, sweet flavor. The quinces must be poached ahead of time. They are a much firmer fruit than apples so by the time they are cooked, the apples have turned to sauce. Blegh. The good thing about poaching the quince first, is that once they are done cooking in the syrup, they will not continue to cook in the oven. I love the control that gives me. It makes me drunk with power...or maybe thats my quincemopolitan (see below). Another reason pre poaching is the bees knees: sadly, when quince is baked raw under dough, the don't turn that beautiful blush color. They just kind of look like apples. Pre poaching pumps up the color.

Raw Quince

Poached Quince

Apple Quince Pie
1# sweet apples (such as braeburn, jonagolds, or Macintosh)
2# tart apples (such as granny smith or newton pippen)
poached quince* drained (save the syrup!)
2 T quince poaching liquid*
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
pinch sea salt
3/4 tsp good quality Chinese 5 spice
2 T cold unsalted butter
enough of your favorite pie dough for a double crust 10" pie
(Follow this link for my all butter pie dough)

Peel, core, and slice the apples. Toss with the lemon juice and the poaching liquid. Add poached quince and stir gently to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, and 5 spice. Add to fruit and toss to combine. Mound fruit into a dough lined pie plate and dot with butter. Moisten the overhang with water and apply the top crust. Seal the edges, trim excess overhang, and form into a crimped pattern. Slice a few steam vents in the top and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Rotate, lower heat to 325, and continue baking for 30 minutes.

Poached quince

5 quinces
3 cups water
2 cups sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Peel, core, and slice the quince. Dissolve the sugar into the water in a pot. Add the vanilla bean and bring to a simmer. Drop in the fruit and let cook on low heat for about 30 minutes. The liquid should be at a constant simmer, and use a plate to keep the fruit submerged. Let cool in the syrup. Drain and reserve the syrup for flavoring the pie and for the cocktail I will show you!

BUT WAIT!! Don't go anywhere!! Why not wash down that tasty pie with a "Quincemopolitan"? Two posts in one my friends, for it is Blog Party time, which is hosted every month by Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness and she has picked Fusion as our theme for November. For this virtual cocktail party, I am taking that pink nectar from the poached Asian quince, and fusing it with a New York cocktail made famous by that one show that I've never seen and don't think I'd like. But, I do like the drink. The bartenders serving them at my sister's wedding party can attest to that...Wow. I drank a lot that night.....they just go down so smooth!

Anyhoo, here ya go. Take this recipe and have a jolly old time. I'll be taking it to the blog party were we will be chasing fusion inspired bite sized appetizers with zany cocktails like this one. Check out the round up on Stephanie's blog on November 17th.

2 1/2 measures good quality vodka
1 measure cointreau
1 measure fresh lime juice
2 measures quince poaching liquid *see above
shake with ice and pour into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a cherry and a slice of lime.

Sugar High Friday #37: The Beta Carotene Harvest

2007-11-09T23:05:00.000-08:00

Sweet Potato Flan with cider reduction, brandy snaps, and glazed pecans

Last month, I barely made the deadline for Sugar High Friday, and now I'm early for November's event. Blogs and blog events can be difficult to keep up on, and I'm still pretty new to the whole thing. The evil pie lady robs me of sleep (I am writing this post at 11:20 pm, which means it will not be done until 1:30 or 2 am- And yes, I do have to work in the morning), and keeps me from doing things like laundry and dusting... But it is just SO DAMN FUN!! And I hate wretched laundry and dusting, so any excuse to avoid such activities will do. Seriously, If it were not for SHF's, Daring Bakers, Retro Recipes, and all the other Internet foodie "parties" like that every month, I would probably get bored to tears with my blog and ditch it. I am so happy to have met such an interesting, talented and kind group of people (cue Aw Track a la "full house": Awwwwwwww). But really, I am.
Sugar High Friday #37 is hosted by the lovely and hilarious Leslie of Definitely Not Martha. Her blog is one of those gems that blends really funny writing with great recipes and photography. If you're unfamiliar with her, follow the link to her page. Now. I'll wait.
Ain't she a hoot?

Anyway, in honor of the upcoming US Thanksgiving, Leslie has chosen beta carotene as the November theme. Desserts using sweet Potatoes, squash (or as several of my family members like to call it "squaRsh"), carrot, etc. are all acceptable entries. So....I'm cheating, well- not cheating, but it's not like I made this recipe once, photographed it and entered it. I actually have been making this recipe every day for the last 4 weeks. It's on my dessert menu. Is that bad? I know, maybe I should have tried something new, but I had been planning on posting it before Thanksgiving anyway and it was just too perfect for this month's SHF's theme.

For it's first 2 weeks on my menu, this dessert was entitled "sweet potato flan", but it wasn't selling and no one could figure out why. All of the servers loved it, so they were pushing it with as much gusto as possible. All of the guests who did order it claimed to be delighted with it. Then, one of the cooks bet me a dollar that if I changed the menu to say "sweet potato creme caramel" it would sell better. Well, he was right. The next day I was out a dollar and completely sold out of flans. They are now one of the top selling desserts on the menu.
People are so weird.
Call it what you want, this stuff has a similar mouth feel to sweet potato pie, but with that nice custardy-eggyness and "self-saucing" caramel that can only come from flan. I'm serving mine with a brandy snap, glazed pecans, and cider reduction- but really, it is still just as tasty and chic when served alone.

Sweet Potato Creme Caramel
makes 6 individual servings

flan base:
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cinnamon stick, broken apart
4 grams (about 2 T) whole cardamom, crushed
1/8 tsp each grated nutmeg and clove
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
10 oz. sweet potato puree*
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 T brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 oz. calvados brandy

Combine the milk, cream, vanilla bean, and spices in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, spray 6 ramekins with baking spray. Combine
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
in a pot and cook until amber in color. Be careful- caramel gets hot as hell and will cause some of the yuckiest burns ever. Carefully ladle 1 oz of the caramel into the bottom of each ramekin. Set aside while you finish the custard base.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks, sweet potato puree, sugars, and salt. Bring the milk mixture to a full boil, then remove from heat and slowly whisk into the egg mixture. Strain the custard and stir in the calvados.
Place the prepared ramekins into a hotel pan and fill with hot water until the cups are halfway submerged. Pour the custard into the ramekins, then cover the whole pan with foil. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until set. Remove from water bath and chill at least 2 hours.

At serving time, run the tip of a paring knife around the custards. Place a serving plate on top of the cup, then invert the whole thing onto the plate.

*To make sweet potato puree, roast 4 or 5 sweet potatoes in a hot oven until very soft and beginning to caramelize. When cool enough to handle, peel away the skin and puree the meat of the potato in a food processor until very light and fluffy.

Fall in Seattle...

Retro Recipe Challenge #10: Story Book Food

2007-11-06T15:12:00.000-08:00

What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She's perfectly well and she hasn't a pain,
And it's lovely rice pudding for dinner again!-
What is the matter with Mary Jane?

A.A Milne
"Rice Pudding"
When We Were Very Young
1924

It's retro recipe time again. This month's host is Naomi from Straight into bed, cakefree and dried and she has chosen a really unique theme- story book food. I love, love, LOVE this theme. Retro food is extremely comforting to me. This is most likely because of the work I do at the restaurant. I'm always trying to think outside the box and come up with really cutting edge desserts (I know, pie is not exactly cutting edge- it's the one "comfort" item on my menu, and it is special it it's own way. Very few "urban bistro" dessert menus in Seattle have the balls to feature a granny's kitchen-style fruit pie.), at home, I like to get down to my roots in the kitchen. After a long day of making gateaus, salt caramel tarts, sweet potato creme caramel, and anise hyssop sorbet- it's nice to come home and soothe my tired self with simple desserts from my childhood.
With Naomi's theme this month, the retro cooking in my kitchen is extra comforting. Not only do I have an excuse to cook something childlike and cozy, but I get to dig through old children's books to find my idea.

On a blustery day, I went to a used book store and found a book of poems called "When We Were Very Young" by A.A. Milne. This was published in 1924- I'd say thats retro enough- and featured a poem about a teddy bear who "however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise". This would be a little character known as Winnie-the-Poo's first appearance in Milne's writing. Another poem, entitled "rice pudding", jumped out at me as a perfect candidate for this month's RRC. I absolutely adore rice pudding and I have not made it in at least 5 or 6 years. Not to mention, there was a good chance that the hubby might even like it. He loves rice in just about anything, and despite his lack of a sweet tooth, custard and vanilla are two things he will happily devour. So, the opportunity to introduce him to something new was an added bonus to this event.

I wish I could tell you all where I got the recipe for this rice pudding. I have a big binder in my kitchen cupboard with the words "CHEF BRITT" written down the binding in sharpee. The contents of this book are hand-written (sometimes on the back of unopened phone bills dated 2001) recipes in no particular order. This thing is an ungodly mess, but for many years, it has worked for me. These recipes are usually jotted down while I am cooking without a net, given to me by friends, or scribbled down while watching cooking shows.
Now, my binders at work are a different story. I have two. One is for recipes from the current menu. They are divided by each dessert item. Between each tab, my assistant will see every recipe needed for a particular item, right down to the garnishes. The second binder is full of archive recipes and notes from dessert specials I have ran in the past. Everything in both books is typed neatly and inserted into a sheet protector. Since I have to be anal at work. I choose to be messy at home. Ying and the yang, ya know?
This rice pud' comes from the scribbly-sloppy book. I truly cannot remember where it came from. I guess recipes written in chicken scratch with unknown origins are the essence of the RRC. I can tell you that if you do chose to try it, you won't be disappointed. It's creamy and cozy. Trevor loved it and has pre-requested it for the next time he is sick. We ate it while snuggled up under fleece blankies, watching the Simpsons. I don't know that you can get more comforting than that.

Rice Pudding
serves 6-8

6 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 vanilla bean
2/3 cup long grain white rice
1 lg egg
2 lg egg yolks
1/2 cup raisins or dried fruit (optional)**I omitted them so that my husband wouldn't freak out**
ground cinnamon and nutmeg for sprinkling

In a heavy bottomed pot, slowly bring the milk, sugar, salt, and split vanilla bean to a boil. Stir in the rice with a fork. Cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until rice is quite tender. About 40 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean; scrape the seeds into the rice mixture and stir in.
Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a casserole dish. In a bowl, beat the egg, egg yolks, and remaining milk until combined. Add this mixture and the raisins, if using to the rice and stir to combine. Set the baking dish in a roasting pan and place in the center of the oven. Fill with enough hot water to submerge the dish halfway. Bake for 25 minutes, stir gently to redistribute the rice. Bake for another 25 minutes. Sprinkle the rice pudding with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake for 25 more minutes (total baking time is about 1 1/4 hours, it varies depending on the size of your dish- do not over bake)
Remove from water bath and cool on a wire rack. Serve lukewarm or chilled.

Thanks again to Naomi for hosting this month. She will have the round up posted on her blog after the holidays.

Apples and Thyme: Oatmeal cookies for Mom

2007-10-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Of all the blog events happening in November- this one was my favorite. Apples and Thyme, which is hosted by The Passionate Palate andvanielje kitchen, is a celebration honoring our Mothers and Grandmothers, and the influence they had over us in the kitchen. Perfect timing for my Mother Kym, who's birthday just happens to be today.

Happy Birthday Mamma!

My grandmother has been mentioned here many times, and she obviously influenced me a lot in the kitchen. But it was mom who really should get credit for inspiring me to become a pastry chef. You see, my mother has a special something inside her. I don't know how, but for as long as I can remember she has been able to make everything she touches beautiful. Be it the home, garden, clothing, jewelry, make-up, hair, etc.- she has a true artists eye and outstanding taste. For over 2 decades, she has been a hair stylist. She used to deal in antiques as a hobby, and now she makes stunning jewelry.

everything in mom's house, right down to the napkins, is beautiful

I am a lot like my mom, personality wise- but have never, ever been good at putting together an outfit. Make-up is a big pain in the ass for me, I don't usually bother. I forget to even put on jewelry. This is the worst part- I have my husband do the home decor.
I did however, inherit Mom's taste for great food. Just like everything else, she could even make recipes prettier. She followed a recipe to the letter the fist time and we'd all like it. Then she would make it again, adding her own sense of style and flair, with scrumptious results. This is how I too, always cook. She has an adventurous palate and was always trying new things. If we didn't like what was put before us at dinner, we were made to take 3 bites. After that, we could gag all we wanted. But rarely was that necessary. It was usually pretty damn good. She also baked with my sister and I. Especially Christmas cookies. I have very warm and fuzzy memories of sugar dough candy canes, butterscotch wreathes, and Jonny Mathis.

Her biggest inspiration on me were the two things she installed into my brain regularly. Number one: Get married because you love the man, not because of his pocketbook (which I did, I love my hard working hubby more than anything). Number two: Go to school to become a pastry chef. This one started around 10th grade, when I had expressed an interest in baking. Rather than pushing the 4 year university thing, as most of my friend's moms were doing, she nurtured my interests and started doing research on local culinary schools. She encouraged it all through high school as my enthusiasm toward the idea kept growing. I now have the coolest job ever, in an incredibly exciting industry.

As I mentioned it's her birthday, so her and my dad are celebrating in New York. I am house sitting for them, which is always an opportunity to cook in a way cooler kitchen than mine in a way cooler house than mine. Today, for mom, I am baking oatmeal cookies, which I will leave for her to snack on when she comes home tomorrow. This is a recipe adapted from another lady who has influenced my career, Sherry Yard.
My mom loves oatmeal. Her oatmeal should be another post of it's own. It's amazing. Thick steel cut oats, slowly cooked and served with the traditional accompaniments. For mom's oats, once the bowl is served, drizzled with milk, and sprinkled with brown sugar (berries and nuts are sometimes in there too), stirring is an absolute no-no. It must be left as is. Just trust me, it's better this way. I wouldn't dream destroying a perfect steamy bowl of oatmeal by swirling my spoon around in there.
Mom, you deserve a big thanks for how happy I am today. You nudged me toward my dreams. I admire you, I respect you, and I LOVE you! Here, have some cookies. You deserve them.

Oatmeal Cookies adapted from Desserts By the Yard by Sherry Yard
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
7 oz. softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cup fat raisins*

sift flour and soda together in a bowl and set aside.
Cream the butter until it's lemony yellow- about 2 minutes. Add the sugars and spices. Cream until smooth and lump free- about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl in between additions. On low speed, add the flour, beating just until it's incorporated. On low speed, mix in the oats and raisins.
Form dough into 2 logs and chill for a minimum of 1 hour**
Once the dough is cold, slice off 1/2 inch rounds of dough. bake for 17-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven
*fat raisins are in her book- basically just raisins plumped with a little white wine, orange juice, rum and sugar. I just used plain currants and had good results.
**Instead of the logs, I scooped the dough a seen in the slide show. This is also mentioned as an option in Sherry's book.

Hanging out at Mom's, baking cookies

A big thank you to our hosts!

East Meets West: The Daring Bakers are at it again...

2007-10-29T00:25:00.000-07:00

And this time, I'm playing too!

Bostini Cream Pie

It's official! One of the many reasons why I started this little food blog was to get in on the action with the Daring Bakers. This is a rapidly growing community of baking enthusiasts who meet up via the blogospere to partake in a monthly baking challenge. Created in November of 2006 by Ivonne of Cream Puffs In Venice, and Lis of La Mia Cucina, these guys and gals have tackled everything from Strawberry Mirror Cake (involving components such as Bavarian cream, sponge cake, and gelatin) to the doozy of them all: Gateau St. Honore. Also known as "The Patron Saint of Bakers", this dessert in his honor involves puff dough, pate a choux, pastry cream, and caramel sugar work to boot. All of which are some of the most difficult skills to master. Especially from the home kitchen. I've watched in awe from the sidelines, amazed that the majority these talented people don't do this for a living. Last month, after drooling over the milk chocolate caramel tart they conquered, I knew I wanted to play.

I waited all month in anticipation of what our October challenge would be. The ants can now leave my pants. This month's event, hosted by Mary at Alpineberry, is a Boston classic, updated by the San Fransisco Restaurant scene. "Bostini Cream Pie" is a similar idea to the Boston Cream Pie, but sexed up a little. Rather than the standard issue vanilla sponge cake, filled with standard issue vanilla pastry cream, and finished with ganache; the bostini version is an individual dessert of orange chiffon cake nesting atop a layer of vanilla bean custard. Each portion is glazed a la minute with warm bittersweet chocolate. I knew right off the bat that this dessert and I would get along famously. Chocolate and orange is such a heavenly combination, and I love a good eggy custard.

The actual recipe required that we first make the custard and pour it into ramekins. We were then supposed to bake the chiffon cake in ramekins that were the same size as our custard cups. This way we would have an individual cake to unmold and place inside the ramekin of custard, then pour chocolate over it. It was meant to be served inside the ramekin. Confused yet? This seemed like a very silly way to go about putting this dessert together. For one thing, I don't have the 16 ramekins required for this recipe sitting in my cupboard. I was convinced the procedure could be tweaked and I was right. The custard is basically a pastry cream, which will hold up on it's own if it's properly cooked. And why not just bake the chiffon cake in a sheet pan and use cookie cutters to punch out the desired size? This was a recipe from a very well reputed San Fransisco restaurant, but sometimes the way things are done in professional kitchens are not prudent for the home.

Armed with ring molds, parchment paper strips, and refrigerator space, I went about making the custard. The recipe for this is pretty straight forward. I ladled the cooked pastry cream into the parchment lined ring molds and refrigerated them overnight. The chiffon cake was also easy to put together, and delicious! Once the cake was cooled, I cut out adequately sized rounds and placed them over the chilled pastry cream. Once the glaze was cooked (no problems there either), it was time to unmold. I slipped off the ring, peeled away the parchment and poured the warm chocolate over the whole thing (side note: the sight of warm chocolate cascading down a piece of cake is the hottest thing ever. It kind of turns me on).

The verdict? Pretty darn good. The custard itself was just too rich for me. I'm used to pastry cream made with all milk. This was mostly cream. A few bites were all the hubby and I could get through with out feeling sick. The chiffon was my favorite. It has lots of orange juice and zest, adding tons of flavor to a normally somewhat dull cake. And the chocolate? You just can't go wrong with good bittersweet chocolate (I used Scharffenberger- a San Fransisco treat) and butter. It was as good as it sounds. I would make this again, but for the sake of my ever growing bum, I would make an all milk pastry cream. Other daring bakers have substituted the orange in the cake for things like coconut milk and raspberry puree, which also sound delicious. speaking of other daring bakers, check out their versions of the bostini, you will be impressed, I promise...these people have chops!

For the recipe for Bostini Cream Pie, head over to Mary's blog

Sugar High Friday #36- Drunken Apples

2007-10-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

Nighthawk Applejack Cake

Oh what a perfect theme for my mood today. It's been a rough weekend- physically at least. It all started at work on Saturday morning when I was peeling apples for a pie and accidentally peeled off most of the nail on my middle finger. It's now hanging there by a thread. If you have done this before, you know that not only does it hurt, but it also kind of gives you the heeby jeeby shivers. Later that day, as I was adding the butter to a dry caramel, I foolishly just threw it in there. Hot caramel came splattering at me, resulting in about 9 huge burns on the inside of my palm and forearm in about half a second. I know, caramel is really hot and can cause the most painful burns. Why did absent mindedly toss that butter in? I Dunno.
And finally: My mom and I went to Crow last night for dinner and a bottle of wine....and a really stiff cocktail...or was it two? Working at Betty gives me an employee discount there and I live a block away. Perfect excuse to order lots of booze. It will be cheap an I can walk home. Well- on my drunken walk home, I tripped and fell, skinning the hell out of my knee. Why does this hurt so much more than I remember skinned knees hurting as a kid? I can barely friggin' walk today. My nice pants now have a big ugly blood stain on them. Good thing I live in a quiet neighborhood and nobody saw. That would have hurt more.
Oh yeah- my husband made me watch Transformers with him when I got home. I think that was more painful than all three injuries combined.

Apples, booze, and a naughty kitty

I woke up this morning having all sorts of laundry and chores to do, but all I felt like doing was hanging out in the kitchen and soothing my aching body with some sort of cake. I got on the computer, looking for something to do with these goregous local Newton Pippin Apples I had sitting on my counter. Then, I found myself visiting a blog that reminded me of Sugar High Friday and it's deadline, which is today.
Hosted this month by SpittoonExtra who chose apples and booze as this months theme, I knew I had found my project for the day. I've been wanting to make the Nighthawk Applejack Cake from The Northwest Best Places Cookbook and now I had the perfect excuse. This is an upside down style cake from The Breadline Cafe in Omak, Washington.

It's really simple to put together and it's ingredients are all pantry staples. The finished product is a really moist (due to the batter being mostly chopped apples), gooey, Yukon Jack laced treat. The best part is that this cake needs no embellishment whatsoever. Let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then flip it out, dowse it in Yukon Jack, and serve. Ice cream or whipped cream, in my opinion, would just tame the tangy apple and whiskey flavor. It's the dessert version of a beverage my parents used to drink while we were on ski trips: "Apple Jacks" or as they used to call it- "courage"- Yukon Jack and hot apple cider. I was of course a child and could not partake in the libations, but I remember the smell of the sweet cider hitting that whiskey and wishing I could just hurry and become a grown-up.

Nighthawk Applejack Cake adapted from The Northwest Best Places Cookbook

1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark brown)
3 medium sized tart apples (I used Newton-Pippens and highly reccomend them)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts & I toasted 'em first)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbl. Yukon Jack whiskey, plus more for serving
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 or 9 inch cake pan (* put a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of the greased pan to be safe). Combine 1/4 cup of the melted butter with the brown sugar. Stir to mix well. Pour into the cake pan. Peel, core, and thinly slice one of the apples arrange the slices on the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Peel, core, and coarsley chop the remaining 2 apples and put them in a large bowl with the remaining 1/4 cup of melted butter, egg, yukon jack, granulated sugar, nuts, and vanilla. Stir to mix.

Sift the dry ingredients together, then stir into apple mixture until combined. Pour batter into the cake pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes (* Mine only took 35 minutes and my oven is pretty accurate- keep an eye on it)

Allow the cake to rest for 10 minutes, then carefully turn it out onto a serving plate. Lace the top with a generous splash of Yukon Jack and serve.

Sugar High Friday was just what I needed today. I still hurt, but this cake sure made it better. And now to go dowse myself- in peroxide...and maybe a swig of the leftover Yukon Jack...

Improvising Pear Butter

2007-10-18T01:14:00.000-07:00

Pear-Vanilla Bean Butter on Brioche

I picked up some bartlett pears- oh, I don't know- maybe three weeks ago! And thats just a wild guess, because truth be told, I really can't remember. Yikes. They were pretty green and crunchy when I bought them, and they had ripened to a yellow-spring green- with just the slightest give when squished- when I moved them from the counter to the refrigerator. There they sat in a little basket, lonely in the corner, and forgotten about. Yesterday when I came home from work and opened the fridge, their perfume came at me in one big sweet waft. Remember us lazy-ass? Remember your big plans for pear gingerbread? Oops...but maybe not. These pears were really yellow with brown splotches in a few spots- I wouldn't want to eat it out of hand at this point, but they were truly at their peak for flavor. The meat of the fruit was very soft, yet unblemished, and it melted on the tongue. I had to use these pears TODAY. But at 5:30 on a Tuesday night? Brilliant timing Britt. The last thing I wanted to do was put off these pears any longer. I was going to have to suck it up and come up with something.

Pear butter came immediately to mind mainly because it's cooking process involves a few minutes of light prep in the beginning, then pretty much ignoring it all night with the exception of the occasional stir. It also seemed like I had all the necessary ingredients on hand. I had just returned from the store- only an idiot would go back in the middle of rush hour.
I have made apple butter at work in the past and have never been completely thrilled with it. Years ago, my mom used to make apple butter and it's still the best I've ever had- the reason why is a mystery. When I asked for the recipe a few years ago, she said it was in some cookbook- but I never found it. Her butter was really thick and really dark, but still delicate in flavor. Apple butters I've since tasted are too saucy, too chunky, or "off" flavored. So, when I went to make pear butter, I didn't bother looking for a recipe to go by. There was no point. All the recipes I have attempted from my cookbooks and online have not blown my hair back. My Mom's has set the bar way too high. Might as well save myself time by skipping the research and just throwing the damn thing together.

Talk about dumb luck. This stuff turned out beautifully. Still not quite as good as Mom's apple butter, but not far behind it either. I used a light hand with the sugar and cooked it down with an un-filtered cider. On brioche, it was fantastic. But there is more to this butter...
It just so happens that we were roasting a pork loin with root veggies for dinner. I wish I could somehow let you all smell my kitchen last night. The pear butter was in it's third hour of cooking when we pulled the loin out of the oven. We dropped a few spoonfuls onto our plates and smeared it onto our pork. I don't think I even need to tell you how good it was. I know- You're drooling.

Vanilla Bean Pear Butter- A "rough" outline

8 ripe bartlett pears- peeled and diced
1 cup water
cook until pears are quite soft. Pass through a food mill and return to pot. Add:
1 1/2-2 cups unfiltered cider
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2/3- 1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
cook for several hours over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until desired
thickness is achieved. During the last 30 minutes of cooking time, add:
1 strip of lemon zest (use a vegetable peeler- strip should be about 2-3" long)
1 strip of orange zest

Remove vanilla pod and zest. Cool and refrigerate- or process and can.
PS~ food discovery: vanilla bean works with meat. I have had it with fish, and knew it was savory-friendly (thanks again, Kevin!), but had yet to try it with pork. I guess many birds were killed with one delicious stone last night.

Ressurecting the Scone Lady....and a little Pie Lady backstory

2007-10-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

I named my blog "The Pie Lady" because it describes me on many levels. I grew up eating my grandmother's pies that she made in big deep ceramic pie plates, loaded with blackberries that my sister and I would often pick for her. I can remember Mamo sending us out with a huge Tupperware bowl and being ordered to fill 'er up. We would come back to her, thinking what we had picked would be plenty. "Nope, more", she would say, and we would grudgingly walk down the street to pick more. We would do it with minimal complaints, because Mamo makes the best blackberry pie known to man. Don't even try to argue with me on this one. She just does. I'm still not sure what she does to it that makes it so good- perhaps it's the copious amount of fresh Washington blackberries and the loving touch that can only come from my dear little granny. My Mom's apple pie is also incredible. She clipped the recipe from a newspaper article sometime in the late 80's and it's been a favorite of mine ever since (though she never makes it anymore! Ahem- MOM!). Pie is my favorite dessert- good old double crust fruit pie with a big scoop of ice cream. You can keep your fancy pants tortes, tarts, trifles, and terrines. I'm sure they're delicious, but I'd rather have pie. If I had to live in a chocolate-less world, that'd be just fine if theres pie. I make a seasonal fruit pie daily at work, and judging by the way it sells, I am not the only one of this opinion. A few months before I gave birth to this blog, my friend Lesa and I were taking advantage of my employee discount at the restaurant. She ordered the bing cherry pie, took a bite, and said "Britt- you are the pie lady." Thus, the idea for my blog was created.

Bartlett Pear Scones

But there was a time, many moons ago, when dubbing me The Scone Lady would have been more accurate. First, at the old Greet Cat Cafe (may the Green Cat, beloved by many a vegan hipster in Seattle, rest in peace) where the recipe for their vegan scones was handed over to me. These were just damn good scones. Vegan or not- people loved them. When the business was sold and became Local Cafe, I was asked to stay on as pastry chef and brunch cook. Local was decidedly vegan un-friendly. I morphed the scone recipe into a buttery version and they were an even bigger hit- what a shock, people like butter. One day, a young couple looking to open a wholesale bakery out of the kitchen of their movie/dinner theater stopped in for a scone. I week later I was offered the job of running the bakery. Aching to get back into full time pastry, I accepted. For 2 years, these scones were a major part of my life. At 1:30 am, I would clock-in and start producing 200-300 of these guys for the coffee houses.

I've been out of the bakery gig since March and I couldn't possibly love my current job more. But sometimes, because I am insane, I do miss the graveyard life. listening to the BBC all by myself at Oh-God O'clock chugging Rock Star energy drinks(ew, I know) and digging my hands deep in pounds of soft, sticky scone dough. It was the ultimate in baking zen.

I'm now working a 9-5 shift with a big group of crass cooks...and I love it to pieces. I love my co-workers to pieces. They make kind gestures like setting aside a bit of the family meal they are serving that night before putting it out for the waitstaff. They box it up all neat and tidy, complete with a hello note, and put it in my pastry fridge labeled "Britt's lunch." It's the little things that matter to me. Oddly enough, even though I work in a restaurant, it's hard to make yourself something to eat. Theres plenty of "ingredients", but I rarely have time to actually cook anything for myself. Plus, I am constantly tasting my product, which means nothing but sugar in my tummy- not good. I get fooled into thinking I'm full, when really all I've had is little bites of empty calories and caffeine. Packing a lunch is just plain silly. Why bring sand to the beach? I've had this problem for going on 10 years. This is the first time I've had co-workers that recognize that. Today, having a nectarine leftover from the weekend dessert special, and a perfectly yellow bartlett pear sitting in the fridge, I decided to both satisfy a personal urge to go down scone-memory lane, and show my adoration to my fowl-mouthed compadres. I spent my lunch break in the kitchen, rather than on my derriere, making fresh buttermilk scones and munching on last night's root vegetable casserole.

Nectarine Scones

The boys arrived at 2 pm, to a couple of plates of scones, a few crocks of butter, and a fresh pot of coffee.
"who are these scones for?"
"They're for you guys, and that coffee is fresh too."
"Fuck Yeah!"
...Fuck Yeah. Thats all I needed to hear to know they appreciated the goodies, and to secure the tradition of leaving me lunch.

This is the basic recipe for buttermilk scones. I'm not going to go into great detail on the procedure, because a huge part of the scones outcome results from finesse in handling the dough. That is difficult to describe. Just pulse up the dry ingredients with the butter until it's crumbly,dump it into a bowl, add the egg and buttermilk, and mix gently- I use a bowl scraper to mix, or my hand. Fold in the fruit, pat the dough out onto a work surface, and cut it into 12 to 16 triangles, depending how big you want them. Bake at 350 until golden brown and firm to the touch. If you can pull off biscuits, these will be a cake walk.

Buttermilk Scones

4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
5 oz. cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 1/3 cup cold buttermilk
1 egg
1 cup fresh fruit, diced
*for more in depth instructions on scones, and a variation of the buttermilk scone, see the everbearing strawberry post.*

So Long to the Queen Anne Farmer's Market.....

2007-10-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

...And a"last crop"nectarine tart

Last Thursday was it. It's done for the year. The small, but charming Queen Anne Farmers Market made it's debut this June and was an instant hit with the locals. Especially me. I found out that Queen Anne would finally have it's own market the month we were opening up the restaurant, which was in May. Luckily for us, it's location was to be just a few blocks down the street. Immediately, the idea for a weekly series of dessert specials bloomed in my head.

The last week of June this year, the market opened, and my idea took fruition. "Queen Anne Farmer's Market Finales" made it's own debut on my dessert menu with perfect, fresh raspberries from Jesse's Berrie's in Yakima. They were piled on top of freshly churned greek frozen yogurt, drizzled with local lavender honey, and sprinkled with sugared pine nuts.
I walked down the street after work on the first day of the market with the intent to pick up whatever looked the most beautiful, take it back to the restaurant, and create a dessert special for the weekend revolving around whatever I came back with. I did this every week all summer long. Plump, ready to burst, apricots from Bill's Fruits in Puyallup were transformed into a creamy, yet puckery apricot ice cream. Several trips back to Jessie's Berrie's resulted in a fragrant black raspberry compote draped over a layered lemon curd mousse cake, homey blueberry cobbler with lavender ice cream, Ricotta bavarian cream topped with tiny sweet strawberries and balsamic syrup, and my personal favorite: warm blackberry turnovers served over a thick pool of white chocolate-orange creme anglaise. Making each dish was a chance to experience my craft in the most organic way. Picking out fresh, just picked local fruit in the peak of it's prime, and turning it into a spontaneous dessert that celebrates it's flavor, all the while establishing relationships with local farmers.

This last Thursday, I walked my final walk of the year to the market thinking fall. Perhaps I can find some nice ripe pears to brush with honey butter while they bake onto a round of puff dough. Or maybe they will have some acorn squash for little individual pies. I strolled through the stands somewhat unimpressed by it all. Pears were not very ripe, plums are pretty much gone, and the squash selection was kind of lame. I was feeling uninspired when I came across the last stall. Batista Farms had their last crop of nectarines piled up in their yellowy-pink glory and looking like they wanted to go home with me. Naturally, being that it's October, I was a little wary of their quality. Then, I tasted one.....Whoa! They had a smooth, buttery texture that melted in your mouth- and a flavor that screamed Summer at a blustery autumn day. The next morning, they were turned into a warm nectarine almond tart served simply with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and bits of marcona almond brittle

with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and marcona almond brittle

This buttery rich tart is nothing more than a flaky pate sucree tart shell, filled with frangipane and topped with fresh sliced fruit- I used nectarines this time, but plums, pears, and pitted bing cherries are also delicious. The tarts are then baked until golden and puffy. You end up with a rich, but not too sweet almond filling and perfectly textured fruit who's natural sugars help to create a glazed appearance.

It seems too early to be wrapping up my dessert special series, which was the highlight of each week for me this summer. There are all kinds of goodies coming our way with fall's harvest, which is why most farmer's markets are open through the month of October. But, I am thankful to of at least had a market in my neighborhood this year. So- to Jessie's Berries, Acma Orchirds, Batista Farm, River Valley Ranch, Sidhu Farm, Foraged and Found, and all the other local farmers I had the privilege to visit weekly; thank you for making my job easy with such beautiful produce, and see you next year!

Double C-Cup-Cakes: The Boobie Bake-off

2007-10-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

a nice pair...sorry, I couldn't resist.
Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

As you can see, I'm getting my blog events out of the way for October. The Boobie Bake-off is hosted by Marye at Apron Strings and Simmering Things and requires that we all bake something pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The super cool part is that readers can donate $1 to vote for their favorite on October 31st. All proceeds will be donated to breast cancer research in the winner's name.

I am so 7th grade. I really wanted my pink entry to look like boobs. I know there is nothing funny about breast cancer, but who says we can't have fun while promoting awareness? Another personal rule I gave myself was to leave food coloring out of the equation. With those guidelines, I came up with a deep chocolate cupcake, topped with a sour cherry-cream cheese icing. I used my "old stand-by" chocolate cake recipe, David Lebovitz's candied cherries, and a cream cheese icing from the top of my head. Turns out, they're really good too. I can't say I was crazy about the way they looked though. Pink, though they were, the texture of the icing is just a tad bit runny. Not so much that it hurt the outcome of the cupcake, but I was hoping for a stiffer consistency so I could pipe it into big rosettes. Sadly, the pretty picture in my head did not match the cupcake before me. Having said that, they were so tasty that I ultimately did not care. Plus, they totally look like boobs.

Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes adapted from Richard Sax's Classic Home Desserts
Makes 24 small cupcakes or 12 Large

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 3 T cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup softened butter
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 packed brown sugar

2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper cups or grease with pan spray. Sift the dry ingredients together onto a sheet of was paper.
Cream the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on med-high speed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Lower the speed down to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk in 3 additions. Divide batter amongst the prepped muffin tins and bake for 18-22 minutes.

Candied Cherries adapted from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop

1 # sour cherries, fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 T lemon juice
1 drop almond extract (but I use 1 tsp amaretto)

Heat everything but the almond flavoring in a large sauce pan. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the juice is syrupy. Cool then stir in almond flavoring.

Sour-Cherry Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. soft butter
5 oz. room temperature cream cheese
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup candied sour cherries, strained and chopped, juices reserved

Cream together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add chopped cherries and mix. Slowly add about 2 or 3 tablespoons of the sour cherry juice for pink frosting, or omit it for a sturdier frosting.
Smear on cooled cupcakes

Retro Recipe Challenge #9 "The Candy Man"

2007-10-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

My retro offering to The Candy Man: Whoopie Pies

When I saw the big picture of Sammy Davis Jr. on dolores' blog announcing the theme of this month's Retro Recipe Challenge, which she is hosting, I knew I was going to have to be in on this one. Not only is the super cool Sammy Davis our spokes model for the event, but the theme is something I am somewhat familiar with. Sugar! Yup, in honor of Halloween, Dolores has picked "the candy man" for October. Rules: The entry must be from a dessert recipe published before 1980.

A while back I picked up Betty Groff's Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook which is filled with all sorts of recipes for RRC's. For full disclosure, the book was actually published in 1990, but contains a collection of non-revised "hand-me-down" recipes from generations of cooks from Lancaster County, home of the Pennsylvania Dutch community. This book is chock-full of good old, hearty farm cooking. Including Whoopie Pies. "Perfect!" declared The Pie Lady.

A Whoopie Pie is basically a fluffy, white frosting-like filling, sandwiched between two discs of chocolate cake. No one really knows exactly who came up with the first one, though it is rumored to have been born in the 20's in Massachusetts. Fillings can range from store bought marshmallow fluff, to light meringue based buttercreams. My whoopie would be the latter.

I followed Groff's recipe, for the most part, to the letter. My only revisions are substituting unsalted butter for any margarine or shortening. Recipes written in times of yore are sometimes a little difficult to follow. It seems like they are rarely as precise as modern ones, so ones sixth "kitchen" sense is required when working with them. This one is no exception. Several key instructions are missing, such as the necessary temperature of your ingredients. That is why these retro challenges are so fun! They're challenging!! Anyhoo- I'm posting the recipe as written, but if you have any questions, feel free to post them as comments and I'll be happy to answer them the best I can.

Whoopie Pies

1 cup shortening or Margarine........(use butter instead, you won't be sorry)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup hot coffee

Filling:

2 egg whites
1 T vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound butter

Cream the shortening* and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. In another bowl, sift the flour with the cocoa, salt, and soda. Gradually add this to the creamed mixture alternating with the buttermilk. Mix in the hot coffee. Drop the batter in spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets, spacing them about 3 inches apart. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 8 minutes. Store on wax paper until all the cookies have been baked.
For the filling, beat the egg whites until fluffy. Gradually beat in the vanilla, milk, sugar, and flour. Add the shortening and butter (Brittany sez: butter should be @room temp.) and beat until very fluffy. Take one cookie and spread a generous tablespoon on the flat side. Top with another cookie; they should look like yo-yos. They freeze well if wrapped individually.

*or unsalted butter, at room temp.

Final Verdict: Well....the cake part is really good, and stays nice and soft when frozen. I used good cocoa powder, and butter. The filling reminded us of a the middle of a hostess cupcake. To the husband, with his effed up taste in desserts, that was just fine. I would have preferred a simple, but delicious buttercream. I would absolutely make these again using different variations of icings and spreads. They are basically just tasty and portable little cakes which can be filled with whatever your heart desires. Smear them with ganache or nutella for a decadent whoopie. Cut the sweetness of the chocolate with dollops of creme fraiche of whipped cream for a lighter whoopie. The possibilities are endless, which makes me glad that I have leftover cake discs.

Be sure to check out the Candy Man round up On October 31st to see all the cavity endusing entries!

The October Royal Foodie Joust!

2007-09-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

My entry: White chocolate-lavender ice cream with merlot poached pears
Every month, Jenn, the lovely leftover queen hosts a Royal Food Joust over on the leftover queen forums. Whoever wins the challenge from the previous month, gets to pick the three ingredients for the next challenge. Everyone comes up with a dish including all three of these ingredients. Congrats to Meghan, who won lasts month's challenge of chipotle, buttermilk, and zucchini with her zucchini stuffed chicken breasts with buttermilk chipotle sauce. She chose white chocolate, lavender, and pears for this month's joust. Head on over to the forums to see every one's scrumptious entries and vote for your favorite!

At first, I had a hard time coming up with what I wanted to do with this. I was eager to participate because I really don't like white chocolate. Coming up with a dessert showcasing it, that I would actually eat is just the type of challenge I'm up for. I knew this could be done- when one handles the White chocolate delicately and pairs it with the right flavors, it can be pretty delicious. Lavender was a merciful addition on Meghan's behalf. It is one of those things that just belongs with white chocolate. It cuts the sweetness and adds a deeper, more complex flavor to it. Had she not included it in the ingredients, I would have thrown it in there anyway. It was the pears that were stumping me. They are a great choice this time of year, but with white chocolate? Hmmmmm......

After some head scratching, I decided on a mildly flavored white chocolate lavender ice cream served with a side of spicy merlot poached pears. I am pleased to announce that the pears work beautifully with the ice cream. The contrast of the strong flavored, peppery pears against the creamy and cooling ice cream is a winner. Great picks Meghan!

White Chocolate Lavender Ice cream- makes about 4 cups

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp culinary lavender buds, crushed slightly
5 oz. white chocolate
5 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
pinch sea salt

Bring the cream, milk, and lavender to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and let sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, chop up the white chocolate and place in a small bowl. In a separate, larger bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, and egg yolks. Once 30 minutes is up, bring the lavender infused dairy back to a boil. Ladle about 6 oz. of the hot dairy over the chopped white chocolate. Pour about 6 more oz. over the eggs, whisking them constantly. Pour the now tempered eggs into the pot with the rest of the dairy, and cook over med-low heat, stirring constantly wit a heat tempered spatula. Make sure the spatula never leaves the bottom of the pot, or the eggs will curdle. Once the custard base is thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, strain it into a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Stir the white chocolate-cream mixture until mostly smooth. Pour mixture into the custard and stir to combine. Nest the custard in a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and water. Once the custard is completely cold, churn it in an ice cream maker following the manufacturer's instructions.

Poached Pears

2 cups decent merlot. (nothing too expensive, but you want it to be something you'd be willing to drink on it's own)
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 fresh bay leaf
3 peppercorns
1/4 of cinnamon stick, crushed
1/4 of a vanilla bean, split and scraped

2 bartlett pears, ripe but still firm

Peel and cut the pears into quarters. Place them in acidulated water while you combine the rest of the ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a full boil, then drop in the pears and turn off the heat. Use a tea towel or smaller pot lid to submerge the pears in the liquid, or they will not poach correctly. Let sit until the pears are tender to a paring knife. Transfer pears and liquid to a shallow pan and refrigerate.

To serve

Put 4 plates in the freezer. Drain pears on paper towels while reducing the poaching liquid until syrupy.
Drizzle the reduced liquid on the frozen plates. Place a big scoop of the ice cream over the liquid and fan out pear slices around it. Garnish with lavender buds (though I didn't have much! My plant is suffering in the cold!)

Pie #3: Tom Thumb's Plum

2007-09-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

The fact that Adam asked me if I had ever made plum pie on the exact same day that Frank dropped by to give me 20# of Italian plums from his tree is one of those serendipitous coincidences that one is rarely blessed with. Adam didn't know that Frank was coming, and Frank wasn't sure if I could use the plums. It was luck and good timing that led me to coming up with this pie, which knocked my socks off the second I tasted it.
Adam, the sous chef at the restaurant is one of my favorite guys to bounce ideas off of. He's a great chef who grew up on a farm in Michigan. His knowledge of produce is extensive, and being that he's not a northwest native, things like wild mushrooms, seafood, and huckleberries get him all giddy. It's a joy to work around. We were discussing the Italian plum, which at the moment, are hanging impatiently from neighborhood trees all over Seattle, when he brought up that nursery rhyme....the one with Tom Thumb. Neither of us could really remember much about the story. Only that it involved a plum pie, and something to do perhaps with Tom sticking his thumb in it? Anyway, I had never made a plum pie, nor even seen a recipe for one. About an hour later, Frank, our resident green thumb showed up at the back door in his overalls...always a good sign. That means he's been picking and I get to reap the benefits of his labor!! Frank made my day with six baskets of beautiful Italian plums. Right away, I got crackin' on that pie.

I wanted to really focus on the flavor of the fruit...as I always do with pie. I'm not big on blended fruit pies, or pies with busy fillings. For me, pie is a way to showcase a particular fruit in the height of it's season. I try not to go overboard with spices or sugar either. Perfectly ripe fruit needs very little embellishment. When one takes a bite, the first thought in their head should be "Peaches!" or "Cherries!", not "Sweet! and nutmeg...and I think I taste blackberries too". That being said, most fruit pies need just a little something to pump up the flavor. My blueberry pie has a little ground ginger in it. Not so much that it's over powering, but just enough to enhance the berries and bring them alive on your palate. In the case of Italian plums, I turned to two flavors that attach beautifully to them; a splash of Armagnac and just a pinch of cinnamon.

The Italian plum's soul mate....

Plum Pie

1 recipe of your favorite pie dough (or see the cherry pie post below), must be enough dough for a double crust pie
3# Italian plums
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 oz. Armagnac or brandy (optional, but recommended!)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch sea salt
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 T cold unsalted butter

Wash the plums well, then pit and slice into quarters. Toss with the lemon juice and Armagnac. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and stir into the plums. Let the fruit sit while you roll out the bottom crust. Fill the crust with the fruit, then cut the butter into small cubes and scatter them across the fruit. Roll out the top crust, place it over the fruit, and adhere it to the bottom crust. Trim the edges, tuck them under, then form into a crimped patters. Slice a few steam vents on top of the pie, then sprinkle with more granulated sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Turn heat down to 325 and bake for 1 hour.

I think this has inched it's way to the top of my list of favorite pies. The cinnamon is just right...barely there, but still doing it's job. I doubt many tasters could detect the Armagnac, but they wonder what it is that gives the pie that delightful warmth. I have now found a new way to celebrate fall's arrival, thanks to a man dedicated to harvesting his fruit trees before the birds do it first, and a nursery rhyme.

Jonny Loser's Cheesy Goodness

2007-09-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

One of my sister's oldest friends, Jon (aka- Jonny Loser) works in the realistate biz, but the guy should be a chef. He's got the crass sense of humor that is encouraged in kitchens and he's a natural with food.
A few weekends ago, My sister Brooke and Jon threw themselves a double birthday party/BBQ with the two of them cooking. Brooke made a bright corn and tomato salad and baked beans (probably something else too, but I have forgotten what...sorry B). Jon did all the grilling...burgers and ribs so succulent that they didn't even need his BBQ sauce....but the sauce was incredible, so I dowsed them in it. We were all nibbling and chatting outside, when Jon brought out an unexpected surprise from the kitchen. His homemade macaroni and cheese. When I saw the bubbling casserole dish hit the picnic table, I immediately dumped the contents of my plate onto Trevor's so I could make room for the mac. It was probably the best homemade macaroni and cheese I have ever had. Fancy restaurants like Icon and Veil are putting mac n cheese on their Menus these days, but they are always a little too "dressed up" for me. This one was simple and perfect. That's about the best way I can describe it. Just perfect.

Trevor loved it too, so I had Jon email me the recipe. It's also the funniest recipe for anything that I have ever received. Here it is- warning: this is uncensored!

Hi Brittany,

Here is the mac & cheese recipe

Paprika
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
Milk
Cheese ( I like to use Tillamook sharp or extra sharp cheddar)
1/2 - 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 box of shell noodles (I like to use large shells, but always have to settle for medium)

Take knife and cube up 2/3 - 3/4 of the baby loaf of cheeeeese. Eat some of it cause it's good.

Boil water and put noodles in water once the water boils. Don't put your hand in the boiling water. That sucks.

Make a roux with the butter & flour.

Pour in the milk. I don't really know how much. Probably 2 or 3 cups.

Now you stir it on med-hi heat. Never stop stirring. Stir stir stir. If you stop stirring, it won't be as good. I'm not even kidding. I don't know why, but after years of research we have always found this to be the case.

Once it becomes nice and thick, start to drop in the cheese. But don't stop stirring, ok? Just keep it fucking going.

Once the cheese has all melted into the roux making it look like something you want to eat with a spoon, pour it over the boiled noodles that you managed to put into a casserole baking dish without stopping the stirring.

Then pour the Parmesan cheese into it and mix it all up and around so the shells get filled with cheesy happiness.

Then sprinkle some paprika over the top of it. Then bake it in the oven for like 30 minutes at about 400 degrees, or until you've reached your desired levels of crispiness.

Then you take it out of the oven and let it cool a little. Then you eat it with your mouth and teeth and stuff. Chomp chomp chomp.

Some of us are defiantly used to recipes that are a little more precise. But it seemed to work perfectly for me. I used Tillamook extra sharp cheddar as Jon suggests. I think I ended up using about 7 oz. Taste your sauce as you near the end of cooking it. Throw in a little more cheddar if it needs it, but don't forget that you're about to add Parmesan too. What I think is critical is finding the large shell pasta, which shouldn't be a problem at most grocery stores. With our mouths full, Trev and I agreed that if we were forced to use the medium shell pasta, it wouldn't be quite as good.

You won't see a lot of savory posts on this blog, but I'll throw one in here and there for variety. You'll never see uptight or fancy food. It's just not what I cook at home. If I want duck breast with bing cherries and chicken morel balletone. I go out. If I want macaroni and cheese made with love and elbow grease, I stay in!

All my mise-en-place, complete with a cold beer for the cook!

He means it. Don't even think of "giving your arm a break"- stir, wuss!

Before it's 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven

...and after.

Huckleberry Ice Cream

2007-09-20T23:25:00.000-07:00

What you see is one of the many reasons why I love my home. I was born and raised in the Seattle area and the Pacific Northwest is part of who I am. Fresh seafood, wild mushrooms, bad weather, coffee, Jimi Hendrix....I love it all and I doubt I'll ever move. Huckleberries (also known as bilberries), in particular hold a special place in my heart. These little guys are kind of hard to find. "Loved by bears and humans alike", they grow in the mountains around Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. It used to be that one could only find them in the most random places... gas stations in the middle of eastern Washington would have a man selling them from the back of his truck. Thanks to the growing popularity of neighborhood farmer's markets and local mushroom purveyors, I can get fifteen to twenty pounds of them dropped off at the restaurant per week- all cleaned and ready to go. They freeze beautifully, so if you can ever get your hands on them, buy a lot. Then, place them in a single layer on a sheet pan and put them in the freezer. When they're frozen, pack them up into heavy duty ziplock bags, and you've got huckleberries ready to go at any time of the year. They thaw in an instant and are great tossed into a coffeecake batter, baked in a bundle of puff dough, sprinkled over oatmeal, or my absolute favorite: huckleberry ice cream.

Nothing could be easier than putting this luscious treat together. If you are comfortable with making vanilla ice cream, this will be a breeze. The huckleberries are combined with just a pinch of sugar, cooked down into a chunky sauce, then cooled and combined with an ice cream custard base. The finished product is a creamy mauve colored delight. The berries look like blueberries, but really don't taste like them. They are somehow both tangier and sweeter at the same time. I like to serve this dessert as simply as possible. Just an oatmeal crisp cookie plunged into the ice cream, and a few little nibbles on the plate such as candied orange peel and glazed pecans.

Huckleberry Compote

1 1/2 cups huckleberries, fresh or frozen
3 Tbl. sugar
3 oz. water
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Combine the first three ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Whisk the sauce a few times during the cooking process to break up the berries slightly. Stir in the lemon juice. Cool the compote completely before combining with the ice cream custard.

Vanilla Ice Cream base

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
6 egg yolks
pinch salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 of a vanilla bean or 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Set aside. Split the vanilla pod down the middle and scrape the seeds with the tip of a paring knife into a saucepan. Drop the whole pod into the pan and add the milk and cream. Bring the mixture to a full boil, then temper in about 1/3 of the hot liquid into the yolks. Whisk well, then pour the hot cream/yolk mixture back into the pan. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a heat resistant spatula. Be sure the spatula is continuously touching the bottom of the pan, or the eggs Will scramble. The ice cream base is finished once the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon or it registers at 170 degrees on a thermometer. Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve, then allow to cool in an ice bath. It's best to refrigerate the base overnight if you can. If you're not using the vanilla bean, the extract can be stirred in at this point.

Once both your ice cream base and huckleberry compote are cold, combine them and churn in an ice cream maker following the manufacturers instructions.

Everbearing strawberries......one last goodbye

2007-09-19T01:59:00.002-07:00

It's suddenly fall here in Seattle. It's been raining all week and the breeze has a chilly sting to it...though I am surrounded by ovens, I froze my butt off at work today. That's fine by me- fall is beautiful here in the Pacific Northwest. All the cool apple varieties are showing up in the farmer's markets, as well as squashes, huckleberries, pears, and plums. This is my absolute favorite time of year to cook and bake. Spending a cold day in a warm kitchen, steaming up the windows with goodies from the oven soothes my soul. Having said that, this time of year there is a little surprise that awaits those who disdain the cold season. One last chance to savor the delights of what the summer's sun helped produce. The everbearing strawberry. These little lovelies are available in the late summer for just a few weeks. I always try to pick up as many as I can. A few weeks ago, I made freezer jam with the everbearing strawberry, thinking that was my last chance. Thanks to a brief late summer heat wave (that came to an abrupt halt last Friday), I was able to get my hands on one more flat. All I wanted to do with them was make strawberry shortcake. This is a dessert that I made so much of in June, that I thought I could not stand the sight of it anymore this year. At the restaurant, it was all anyone ordered. I was cleaning, hulling, and slicing strawberries for at least an hour each day to keep up with demand. My fingers were permanently stained for two months. It was the bain of my existence. Well, after having it out of my life for a few months, I suddenly missed it terribly. I needed closure. One last goodbye to summer and the exquisite Washington strawberry.

I make a fluffy buttermilk scone rather than a traditional cream biscuit. I prefer the sturdier, tangier results you get from using buttermilk. It's a wonderful counterpart to the sweet berries and rich cream. Whipped cream or creme fraiche are the obvious choices for a filling, but I went a step further and made a batch of lemon curd, then folded in whipped cream. The lemon doesn't interfere with the strawberries, it just adds a little more depth to the filling, which can often times be too sweet for my tastes.

Prepping the strawberries is just a matter of slicing up only the most beautiful berries of the bunch and dusting them with a little granulated sugar. After a minute or two, the sugar dissolves and gives the berries a beautiful, shiny glazed look. The less than attractive, yet full on flavor berries are pureed with a few spoonfuls of simple syrup for a vibrant strawberry coulis to make the plate extra sexy. A little fresh mint and a shake of powdered sugar and ta-da! A dessert that will help you to properly bid summer 2007 adieu.

Buttermilk Scones (serves 16)

16 servings of strawberry shortcake is probably much more than will be needed. I recommend making the full batch of scones anyway and having them for breakfast with jam.

4 cups pastry flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
6 oz. good quality(such as Plugra) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (if you don't have the real stuff, just omit it)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. In a measuring pitcher, whisk together the egg, vanilla, and buttermilk. Put it in the fridge while making the dry mix.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the dry ingredients. Add the cold butter and pulse briefly until the mixture is crumbly. Dump the crumbs into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk-egg mixture. Mix gently with your hand or a wooden spoon until a loose ball is formed. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and gently pat into a long, narrow rectangle. Cut the rectangle into 8 squares. Then, cut each square diagonally so you have 16 scones. Sprinkle each one with granulated sugar. Bake on a parchment lined sheet pan for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until the scones are golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool, then split down the middle are fill with berries and cream.

A Summer Delight: Thistle honey semifreddo

2007-09-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon a recipe for honey semifreddo a year or two ago while flipping through Nigella Lawson's "Forvever Summer." At that time, I was running the wholesale bakery. Scones, pies (of course), cinnamon rolls, scones, some layer cakes, and more scones were all I was ever making at work. As one might guess, I was going out of my mind with boredom. Thankfully, in March of this year, I shifted gears and am now making dessert for a local urban bistro. The job is perfect for both my tastes and attitude toward food. When planning out my dessert menu, I knew I would have to start playing with that semifreddo of Nigella's.

The first place I would have to start would be finding a great, full bodied honey. I wanted something dark with an intense, yet not too smokey honey flavor. At the same time, it needed to be a honey that wouldn't break the bank and was easy to get my hands on. Tahuya River Honey is my favorite honey in this area, but I've only ever seen it at farmer's markets and the price is just a little high. Each loaf pan of the semifreddo calls for almost 8 oz. of honey- practically a whole jar.

I happened to be having lunch near Pike Place Market with my mom one day, when she mentioned that she needed some dried chukar cherries for her manhattans. I tagged along and stopped by the Snoqualmie Valley honey stand. http://www.honeyexpress.com/ Somehow, I had forgotten about these guys. They hold a regular stand at Pike Place, so it's easy to get. (They will also ship!) Requirement #1 met. Three pound jars of all varieties of their honey is only $15.00. Requirement #2 met. So I started tasting some of them. Firweed was delicious as it always is, but I was looking for something slightly less smokey. Buckwheat honey was also great, but a little too sharp. Thistle honey was exactly what I was looking for. Dark, intense, and complex. We have found a winner!

Ready for it's close up...topped with black raspberries, tayberries, blueberries, and pine nut praline.
Photo courtesy of the Seattle P-I

Next, it was time to start adjusting Nigella's recipe to suit the vision in my head. Her's is a little eggier than what I had wanted and the final product is coated with a thick layer of more honey and toasted pine nuts. My version is slightly creamier, and is served with crunchy pine nut praline. Local berries and a tiny drizzle of honey (thinned out with a little Moscato d'asti) is all this dessert needed for it's finishing touches. Most important: It's totally delicious. I will go back to this dessert annually. It was a hit both with customers and reviewers, and it was easy to keep up on it's prep. Above all, just 4 ingredients is all you need to create this luscious, creamy, and cooling summer dessert.

Thistle honey semifreddo (serves about 12)

7 1/2 oz. thistle honey (or your favorite full-flavored honey)
4 egg yolks
1/2 of a vanilla bean (seeds only)
3 cups heavy cream

line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and set aside. Prepare a double boiler: Fill a sauce pot with about 1" of water and bring to a low simmer. Have ready a bowl that will fit over the pot. The bowl should not be too deep, nor the water level too high.

In the bowl you have ready, combine the honey, vanilla seeds, and egg yolks. Place the bowl over the simmering water and whisk constantly for about five minutes. The mixture will have thickened quite a bit, and will have become pale in color. Remove bowl from bouble boiler and set on the counter to cool to room temperature.

Once the honey mixture has cooled, whip the heavy cream to soft peak. Gently fold the whipped cream into the honey in three additions. Pour the mousse into the prepared loafpan and freeze overnight.

To serve: put a sheet pan in the freezer for a few mintues. When the pan is good and cold, remove it and flip it upside down on your counter. Now you have a nice cold surface in which to slice the semifreddo. Invert the loafpan onto the cold sheet and gently seperate the plastic wrap from the loaf. Slice into 1 " slices and serve immediatley on chilled plates. OR- Place each slice onto a chilled sheetpan, wrap in plastic, and freeze until ready to serve.

Pie #2: Bing Cherry a la Brittany

2007-09-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

Why is it that sour cherries, sometimes called "pie cherries" have reigned supreme in cherry pie recipes? I've never understood that. Sour cherry pie is delicious, to be sure. But when I make cherry pie, it's always with bing cherries. When baking with bings, the sugar can be greatly reduced. Therefore, when you taste the pie, the flavor of the cherry is so pronounced that it practically socks you in the face...in a good way. In the height of their season, bing cherries can be as cheap as 1$ a pound in this area- pies are a great way to take advantage of their cruely brief time at that price.

Tackling the task of pitting the bing cherries for this pie is an effort well worth making. In the pastry kitchen, we liken this to the mind numbing chore of shelling fava beans or de-veining shrimp. Commercial cherry pitters will cut your prep time in half. Decent handheld pitters can be picked up for less than $20.00. However, if you don't want to spend the money for yet another gadget, don't let that discourage you from making this pie. Grab a friend, a couple of paring knives and make it a team effort. Like shelling fava beans, this is the perfect job to do sitting on the porch, dishing with a pal. Just remember to wear your grubbies, bing cherry juice will splatter everywhere, including your clothes.

My fancy cherry pitter....40 bucks at sur la table, and totally worth it

Hot form the oven, with a melty scoop of toasted almond ice cream

PIE DOUGH:
Use a good quality butter for this, you will thank yourself later. I like Plugra, a European style butter which can be found at Trader Joe's. This recipe will leave you with plenty of extra dough.

2 cups pastry or all purpose flour
8 oz. cold unsalted butter
1 tsp sea salt (or 3/4 tsp. kosher salt)
5-7 Tb. ice water

Cut your butter into small cubes, and place on a dinner plate. Put the plate in the freezer while you gather the remaining ingredients.
Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor, pulse briefly to combine. Add the butter and pulse until mixture in crumbly and the butter is pea sized (this can also be done in a large bowl with a pastry cutter or two forks).
Add 5 tablespoons of the ice water and pulse just to combine (mixture should still be crumbly!). Grab a handful of the crumbs and squeeze it together with your fist. If the mixture holds together, it's done. If not, add more water, one teaspoon at a time.
Dump the crumbly dough out onto a work surface. Divide it into two piles (one for the top crust and one for the bottom). Press each pile together so you have two discs of dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

FILLING:
This may seem like a strange method for making a pie filling, but it's necessary to cook a few cups of the cherries with the starch. The pie is still delicious if the pre-cooking process is eliminated (just be sure to omit the water!), however, the juices and starch with fall to the bottom of the pie. This creates a strange gelatinous layer after the pie sits for a while.

4# Bing cherries (weighed before stemming and pitting)
2 Tb. lemon juice
6 oz. water
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 Tb amaretto (optional)
2 Tb unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Stem and pit the cherries. Save any juices that accumulate.
Whisk the sugar, starch, and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
In a large pan, bring the water, lemon juice, two cups of the cherries and any juices accumulated during the pitting process to a boil. Add the starch and stir consistently over medium heat for about thirty seconds. Mixture will be very thick and gloppy. Fold in remaining cherries and amaretto if using. Cover surface with plastic and chill until cold.
Spoon filling into the crust and dot with the butter. Cover with the top crust, seal and crimp the edges. Cut a few steam vents on top and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for thirty minutes, then turn heat down to 350, and continue baking for one hour.

Don't squeeze the jelly bag! The Ballard farmer's market and jam to follow

2007-09-04T10:23:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned that the Ballard Farmer's market is my new favorite thing ever? I will always love the University market, mainly for it's being open all year, but there is something about that Ballard market that makes you feel like you have been swept away from it all. After four or five hours there, I feel like I've been on vacation. Last Sunday, my pal Lesa and I spent the day there wondering around, meeting new people, and tasting all sorts of goodies. We were, however, on a mission. Jam. A while back, Lesa and I were chatting over a bottle of wine, when we revealed to each other that neither of us had ever canned or preserved anything in our lives. My mother made apple butter, freezer jam, and jalapeno jelly when I was a kid. My Mamo has always made strawberry jam (and will always remind me of the flat of freshly picked strawberries she was JUST about to turn into jam, when my mom went into labor with me and she had to drop everything and head for the hospital. Needless to say, they sat on the counter in the hot July sun, never to become the row of ruby red jars that she had hoped for!) The point being, it's ludicrous that I was never tutored in the art of preserving! I love jams, jellies, butters, pickles, and chutneys, but until now, I have always had to rely on the ridiculously over priced jars I would pick up at the grocery store, or the gifts of friends. Those pathetic days are now over.

We began our market trip with a few ideas in mind. Neither of us wanted to do pickles or chutneys just yet. We'll save that for canning/preserving part two. I have been wanting to do the Plum jelly featured in Greg Atkinson's book "Northwest Essentials" for a while now, for one thing it sounded delicious and EASY! Lesa was thinking about preserved peaches. We picked up about 4 pounds of Italian prune plums, as Greg calls for, and some gorgeous red haven peaches. Then, we walked by the "Foraged and Found" stand. HUCKLEBERRIES!!! How could I have forgotten about huckleberries?! Of course, something would need to be done with these. I am a Seattle native. Naturally my love for these northwest berries runs deep. There is no commercial licence for huckleberries, so you will not see them at Safeway. But for the brief late summer months, they are available at farmer's markets, and worth every penny. We picked up a few pounds of them, and headed over to my berry lady. Jessie's Berries is one of my favorite farmer's market stops. She is usually at all the markets. Even the brand new, teeny Queen Anne market. Her black raspberries were the star of a dessert special I ran back in July that people are still talking about. Jessie had some 2nd crop strawberries and this would be essentially the last chance I'd have to savor the washington strawberry. A flat was purchased. I am not sorry. This years second pick of strawberries (also known as the everbearing strawberry) has been better than the first. Next, we stopped for a light lunch and glass of wine at divino, loaded up the car, and headed to Lesa's kitchen. Let the canning games begin!

We started with plum jelly, which takes the longest. Italian plums are split in half, cooked down, placed in a jelly bag (or pillow case-see photograph), juices reduced with sugar and lemon juice, then canned. While the plums cooked down, we tackled the strawberries and huckleberries. Both of us wanted to make freezer jam with these berries, which isn't really canning, but who cares? We both love freezer jam, and I hate to cook strawberries. Something about it depresses me. The huckleberries and strawberries were squished gently with a potato masher, then combined with sugar and pectin. That's all you have to do to create beautiful, delicious jam. Make sure you use plastic containers, and most pectin boxes come with instructions for freezer jam. Next it was time to deal with the peaches. Until we tasted one. It was just too perfectly succulent to peel and can. They needed to be eaten as they were, right then. So, we'll do preserved peaches next time. Meanwhile, our plum juice was dripping from it's pillow case into a bowl....very very slowly. "Don't squeeze the jelly bag!" Lesa would yelp at me everytime I went over to fiddle with it. Greg states very clearly in his recipe...do NOT squeeze the jelly bag. Otherwise the jam will get cloudy. It had been several hours at this point, and we were getting ANTSY! ....We squooze the jelly bag. Naughty, impatient girls. You know what? The jelly turned out to be stunning and not at all cloudy. It was a sparkling garnet color and I think it's my favorite product of the day. The plum flavor is highly pronounced and it has a marvelous texture. I will be making it again this month and saving it for Christmas gifts. Here's a link to Greg Atkinson's homepage, where you'll find his recipe for plum jelly. Spending a beautiful Sunday morning at the market and the afternoon in the kitchen is church for me. I came home that evening feeling high from mastering a new skill. I blabbed to Trevor, who listened politely about all I had learned and the people I had met. Then, we had toast with jam. As he took a bite of buttery white bread, smeared with strawberry jam (something he's usually not a huge fan of), he smiled, then hungrily took another bite. Then, devoured the entire thing. Later that night, he snuck into the kitchen for a PB n J made with the huckleberry. Lesa, I think we done good.

Pie # 1 Unadulterated Rhubarb

2007-08-31T00:16:00.000-07:00

OK, yes I know it's August. Rhubarb is not an August fruit here in the Northwest. Why might one post about rhubarb pie in August? Because I am evil and I like to make people crave food that won't be in season for another nine months.
Actually, the real purpose of this poorly timed post is that I began photographing my rhubarb pie in June for this blog I had intended to start that month. Well, I've finally got my arse in gear and I didn't want to wait until next spring to put it up!
I make a pie each day at the restaurant. People skim past the dark chocolate-cherry gateau and thistle honey semifreddo with roasted figs. Snub the apricot custard tart and tuscan melon sorbet, seeing only the last item on my menu. Seasonal fruit pie with housemade ice cream. It sells out every single night. What IS it about pie?

Unadulterated Rhubarb Pie

1 recipe of your favorite pie dough (my recipe, soon to come...It's a whole 'nuther post!)
(enough for a 10'' double crust pie)
2# 4 oz. rhubarb, sliced (about 8 cups)
2 T lemon juice
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 T cornstarch
4 tsp flour
pinch sea salt
2 T unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Roll out half of the pie dough and gently press it into a 10" pie plate (I like the aluminum ones...thats also a whole 'nuther post)Keep the other half of the dough chilled. Refrigerate the dough lined pie plate while you prepare the fruit.

Prepare the fruit: mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Toss the sliced rhubarb with the lemon juice. Next, mix in the dry ingedients. The mixture will seem pretty gloppy, but while you're rolling out the top crust, the rhubarb will release a bit of juice, creating a "saucier" filling.
Roll out the top crust...if you have room in your refrigerator or freezer, place the dough (on the back of a large cutting board or sheet pan) in there. If not, quickly mound the filling into the bottom crust and dot with the butter. Brush the over hanging dough with ice water and adhere the top crust. Trim off the edge, so you have about 1" of over hanging dough. Tuck the over hanging dough behind the pie and crimp the edge. Slice a few steam vents on top and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes. Turn heat down to 325, and continue baking for 1 hour, or until the crust is evenly browned and steam is coming from the vents.