Lavender-Lemon Fairy Cakes

After watching about ten episodes of Masterchef in the last week, I got the urge to be"Experimental Chef Macaroni", the contestant/cook who never quite appeals to the pub-hungry judges but manages to make it to the quarterfinal anyway. While narrating my trip to the grocery store in a deep and serious British accent, I decided to make these:

Ingredients for the Cakes:
3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 T lemon zest
juice of 1/4 of a lemon
1/2 cup butter, softened
7 T sugar
2 eggs
2 T pine nuts, crushed
2 T lavender milk (see below)
2 t vanilla

Ingredients for the Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese (softened)
3 1/2 cu powdered sugar
1-2 T lavender milk
2 t vanilla
36 raspberries

Ingredients for the Lavender Milk:
1/2 cup whole milk
1 T lavender


Making the Cakes
First, you need to make the lavender milk, which you should do about half an hour before you start baking:

1. Put the milk and lavender in a small saucepan, and bring just to a boil, remove from heat, and cover with tin foil. Let sit for another ten minutes, then strain the milk to remove the lavender, and put aside.

The rest is quite easy once you've gotten everything prepared.
Preheat the oven to 400˚ and place cupcake linings inside 12 cupcake tins.

2. Put all of the ingredients except the milk in a bowl or food-processor and pulse until mixed.
3. Add the milk while stirring, bit by bit, until incorporated.
4. Divide the dough evenly between the cupcakes. There will not be much dough in each, but these are not American MonsterCakes!!! They are dainty. :)

While the cupcakes are baking (which should take between 15 and 20 minutes), make the frosting:

5. Soften the cream cheese in the microwave, and mix with the confectioner's sugar.
6. Add the vanilla and the milk, and incorporate.

When you take the cupcakes out of the oven, let them cool and remove the paper lining.

7. Cut the tops off of the cakes to make them flat.
8. Glaze them with the cream cheese frosting.
9. Top with raspberries, and if you'd like, dust lightly with confectioner's sugar to finish.

Tart and sweet and herb-y, these are delicious and taste like the beginning of Spring, and, in that spirit, I've left my bedroom window open...

Gambas al Ajillo

An excursion to Di Bruno Bros. awakened a latent passion for this Spanish classic. For many years gambas al ajillo had been a personal favourite of mine at Dali Restaurant and Tapas Bar in Somerville, Massachusetts. The dish was such a delight that I never forwent ordering it--despite the effects of consuming large quantities of garlic--simply for social niceties. But now, left to our own devices many miles from Boston, we were guided in our 'at-home' version by the fine folks at Cooks Illustrated. Here's how we did it:

Ingredients:
14 cloves of garlic (2 minced, 4 sliced, and 8 sliced)
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and vein removed
6 Tbsp and 2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 bay leaf
3-5 crushed red chillies (and 1-3 whole for garnish)
1 tsp sherry vinegar or 2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp fresh parsley

1. Place the 1 lb of shrimp, kosher salt, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, and 2 cloves of minced garlic in a bowl. Toss and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
   
   
2. Gently cook 4 cloves of sliced garlic in 6 Tbsp of olive oil in a 12" skillet on medium low. When the slices are a light golden colour, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon. This will infuse the oil with a sweet garlic flavour. Place the pan aside until the shrimp have finished marinating.
   
   
3. Slice the remaining 8 cloves of garlic and put them into the skillet on low heat with a bay leaf and the red chillies until the slices are tender, not brown. Increase the heat to medium low and add the shrimp. Cook until the oil bubbles gently (about 2 minutes) and then flip the shrimp over and cook for another 2 minutes. Then turn the heat up to high. Add the vinegar or lemon juice and the fresh parsley. Cook until boiling vigorously (15–20 seconds). Serve immediately.

*Do note that long after the shrimp are gone, the remaining oil and golden pieces of garlic are simply divine on a fresh piece of bread--have some on hand.

Wine-braised pears

Because Thanksgiving dinner is full of stodgy main courses, sides, and desserts (ahem, see below), I wanted to make something that would contrast with the usual--in a good way. Whether these pears are a side dish or a dessert is up to you.

Ingredients
6 Bosc firm bosc pears
5-inch stick of cinnamon, cut into about five pieces
1 t whole cloves
1 T vanilla
Almost an entire bottle of dry red wine (I used Merlot)
1 c white sugar
3-4 T lemon juice

Preparation
1. Pour wine, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla into a large stockpot (preferably one that is tall but not too large in diameter).
2. While you are bringing the mixture to a boil (making sure the sugar is dissolved and doesn't burn), peel the pears. I didn't peel mine completely, but the more skin you get off, the prettier the jewel-tone will be at the end.
3. As soon as the liquid is boiling, turn the heat down.

Now, at this point you have a choice. I cut the bottoms off of the pears--just enough so that they would stand up straight--and placed them in the pot. Unfortunately, the liquid didn't reach all the way up to the stem and after half an hour of braising, only about 3/4 of each pear had that nice, purple tone. I ended up having to flip them over for the last fifteen minutes just to get the color even, negating the whole point of the bottom-removal and straight-uppedness.

I recommend instead that you:

4. Cut the pears in half, lengthwise, and de-seed them with a melon-baller or a spoon.
5. Place them in the liquid in whatever orientation allows as many of them as possible to be covered with the spiced wine.

Then:
6. Cover the pot and bring everything to a very gentle boil.
7. Allow the pears to cook, covered, for about an hour.

What you're watching for is tenderness and that deep, royal color, but you don't want to cook anything so long that you end up with pearsauce.

8. Remove the pears and put them on a serving dish.
9. Take excess liquid and reduce it to approximately 1 cup of liquid, until a syrup forms.
10. Pour the syrup over your pears.

I added some of the extra toasted hazelnuts from the Gratin to the top of my pears, but there's no real need for that. In fact, if I could sprinkle anything on top it would probably be a gentle dusting of toasted pecans and a very, very small amount of gorgonzola or sharp cheddar cheese. The point of this recipe though, is to be as cheeseless and fruity as possible, so... well, if I ever add the cheese, I will do it in secret.

Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin

I'm not going to pretend to have invented this recipe myself; I took it almost verbatim from epicurious. However, I changed a few of the proportions and the cooking temperature, so I feel like there are enough differences to warrant a retyping (though I'm leaving the link in just in case the original sounds better to you).

Ben and I had this last Thanksgiving when we were able to cook together, and this year both of us cooked it separately for our friends/families. So far, it's been popular wherever it went, and I'm definitely making it again (just as soon as I can find leeks and butternut squash at the grocery store--for some reason both places I went today were frustratingly squashless).

You'll need:

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 3/4- to 1-inch cubes
Olive oil
Coarse salt
2 T (1/2 stick) butter, divided
2 t white or black pepper
3 cups leeks, cut finely
3 t chopped fresh sage, rubbed
1 5.5-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked, coarsely chopped


Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 475˚
2. Place the squash in a large baking dish, pour olive oil, salt, and white pepper on top. Mix.
3. Cook for about half an hour, until the squash is tenderly fork-pokable.
4. While squash is cooking, saute leeks and sage in butter until the mix has cooked down but is not yet brown.
5. When the squash has been removed from the oven, mix the leek mixture in.
6. Lower the oven temperature to 375˚.
7. Layer the squash and leeks, alternating with goat cheese. I started with the squash, then crumbled (well, chevre doesn't really "crumble"... but it doesn't glop or pour, either. I'm at a loss for words) the cheese, and was able to make two more layers of each, with cheese on top.
8. Pour in the cream, making sure that it spreads throughout the dish as evenly as possible.
9. Sprinkle the chopped toasted hazelnuts on top.
10. Bake for about half an hour.

Let the cheesey warmness enfold you in its holiday-licious arms...

Martha Stewart Braidsticks!

This isn't my recipe (it's Martha's from the November magazine), but the picture was so enticing I couldn't eat lunch this afternoon until I'd made some of her braided breadsticks. Even though they were a little fussy (rolling 16 two-foot-long, quarter-inch-wide strips of dough is only fun for .2% of the actual time required), the dough itself is really simple and, without the braiding, easy to make!

Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 t salt
2 t sugar
2 T butter
3/4 cup whole milk

1 egg yolk
1 T whole milk

large-grained salt

What to do:
Preheat oven to 350˚.

1. Mix flour, salt, and sugar until combined.
2. Add butter and milk, stirring and then kneading on a floured surface. Don't knead more than enough times to just get the dough into a ball.
3. Divide the dough until 16 equal-sized balls.
4. Roll each ball into a strand about 2 feet long (it should be around 1/4 inch thick, maybe a little thicker... it doesn't REALLY need to be this length... I think mine were about 75% that).
5. Braid in a four-strand braid, folding over and under at the end as shown.
6. Let dough rest for about half an hour (I didn't do this step, as it took me so long to braid the darn things that a half hour had passed by the time I finished them all).
7. Brush top of completed wreath with egg yolk/milk mixture, covering liberally.
8. Sprinkle salt on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown on top. If wreaths don't brown, turn up the heat a bit and keep and eye on them until they do!

I had my braided wreath breadstick with a bowl of orzo-chicken-hamburger-mushroom-spinach-thyme-oregano-bay leaf soup (which is much more delicious and harmonious than the confused description would have you believe).

This is just a basic recipe, obviously. I think it would taste delicious with some fresh rosemary crushed into the dough or even with the salt level halved and a bit of cinnamon with some honey on top. But that's just me, and I won't vouch for anything I haven't tried (yet)!

The love isn't gone; Ben and I just haven't been together much lately (oh, school, boo!).

I'll post something soon, though. I think I have pictures of some pumpkin muffins, a prosciutto bleu-cheese sandwich, and some stew/soup on my hd somewhere.

<3
t

Summer Vegetable Pasta

Ok, ladies and gentlemen. I know what asparagus does to some of you, and I have the same problem. But I love it, and wouldn't give it up for the world.

This pasta is simple, so I won't adorn this post with a lot of photos, either.

Ingredients
3 cloves of garlic
1 red onion
Bunch of asparagus, bases cut off and cut into thirds.
1 bell pepper
3 or 4 tomatoes
Basil
Olive Oil
Sweet/Bell Pepper
Salt
Hard, Salty Italian Cheese (I usually use Parmesan, but for some reason the only Parm at the store today was $7.00 for a tiny piece. FroGro had some Pepato that was just as delicious and half the price of their Parmesan).
Pasta (I used orechiette)

Method
1. Mince garlic and chop onion, sautee until cooked but not brown.
2. Precook the asparagus for about 1:30 minute in the microwave, then add to the pan with the onion and garlic.
3. Start boiling water for pasta, and cut the bell pepper into bite-sized pieces.
4. Add the pepper to the pan, chop the tomatoes and basil.
5. Add olive oil if necessary.
6. When water is boiling, add pasta and cook. Orechietti take about 10 minutes.
7. After pasta has cooked, drain and add a bit of olive oil to keep pasta from sticking.
8. Turn down temperature in the frying pan and add tomatoes and basil, salt and pepper. Cook just slightly, for about three minutes.
9. Plate the pasta, then the sauce, and grate the cheese on top of it.

Marinated Caprese

For lunch today I made a variation on a Caprese Salad that normally consists of Mozzarella, Basil, Tomato, and Olive Oil arranged artfully on a plate in a sort of card-flipping-trick fashion.

This one, however, is a more eclectic version that Ben showed me how to make last summer; he in turn learned it from an old Italian grandma he lived with for a few months one summer. I love it, and not just because it has balsamic vinegar and onions which intensify the flavor, but because it keeps well for a number of days (in the fridge), and if you're very careful, the olive oil and vinegar and salt leech out liquid from the tomatoes and gain fragrance from the basil and onion, making a wonderful salad dressing that you can use after the cheese and tomatoes themselves are gone! For a packrat like me, the idea that part of a meal I make on Saturday could live until next Saturday makes me squeal with glee.

You'll need:

Plenty of fresh basil
Two small balls of mozzarella
Four or Five tomatoes, depending on size
One red onion
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

The directions are simple. Cut everything up into similar-sized pieces (mixed food, like macaroni salads and stir-fries, are supposed to be more aesthetically pleasing when the ingredients have some sort of internal coherence or something. I don't know if this is really true, but it makes it a lot easier to eat, and that's what I like about it), drizzle on a good glog of olive oil and a helping of balsamic.

I know, I know. The "tender flavor" of mozzarella is supposed to be coddled and cared for rather than covered with loads of pepper and vinegar. "Bah!" I say! In this recipe, the delicateness doesn't so much disappear as it does put on a beautiful ball gown and go out dancing. In loads and loads of delicious Juice. Mmmm...

Kiwiburger

After going into overdraft on my Lloyds' account due to a Gourmet Burger Kitchen version of this very burger--and consequently owing the bank upwards of £400--and after a move into my new apartment that left me a) tired, b) longing for red meat, and c) eager to try out my new kitchen, I decided to try this complex-tasting yet simple-to-assemble burger.

A warning, though: at almost six inches tall, it's almost impossible to eat without a knife and fork. Still, if you can wrap your mouth around this sweet and tart mound of protein and veggies, you'll never go back to a normal cheeseburger ever again...

For one burger, you need:
1 hamburger patty
2-3 slices of pickled beets, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 slice of pineapple, about 1/2 and inch thick
Cheddar cheese (enough to cover one bun)
1 egg
1 slice of tomato
1 hamburger bun (I used a challah roll because I had it on hand, but a crusty sourdough roll is ideal for this hulking sandwich)
Salt and Pepper and Mayo and Ketchup to taste

1. Begin cooking the hamburger patty in a frying pan on medium heat. Salt and pepper both sides of the burger and squeeze out some of the juices as it's cooking.

2. Cut the pineapple, beets, and tomato into the appropriate sizes if you haven't done so already. I only had a whole pineapple in my kitchen and was afraid I wouldn't be able to hack it (literally!), but my large Dehillerin knife was up to the task!

3. Place cheese on bottom of half of bun and microwave for about 30 seconds, until melted.

4. Depress the pineapple slices into the cheese--this will keep them from slipping quite as much.

5. Just before the burger is done, fry an egg in the same pan, salting and peppering to taste. Flip it, and cook until the yolk is runny, then tip it over onto the hamburger and put the burger on the pineapple. The stack is getting taller...

6. Carefully place the beets and tomato on top of the egg, and the bun on top of them. If the yolk breaks, even better! This isn't a delicate sandwich, so you might as well get used to it early on!

7. Ketchup up and eat away!

Authentic Spanish Paella

Inspired by a recent viewing of 'Posh Nosh' and the purchase of an unseasoned paella pan from E. Dehillerin, we recently turned our attention to making an authentic Spanish paella. This traditional dish from Valencia begins with rice, saffron and olive oil; the garnishes are cooked along with the rice in a pan called a paellera--hence the name. Although original ingredients included chicken and snails or frogs and eels, the dish took on different flavours as it became popular throughout Spain. At first we were guided by two recipes from the large Phaidon cookbook, 1080 Recipes, by Simone and Inés Ortega. At CAq we know that budgets are tight and seafood is expensive, so here's our attempt at an economical version of this traditional dish completed with shrimp, mussels, chorizo, and vegetables.

Plan a-head
Like it or not, a good paella calls for (at least in part) a seafood stock. If you have the time to shell your own shrimp or can find a merchant that will sell these to you and create a stock this way, go right ahead. We went down to the local fish monger (who had cleaned out all of his shrimp detritus) and he suggested boiling a fish head in salted water for 1.5-2hrs. Since fish heads make a stronger stock than simple shrimp, this was more than enough time for 2L of seafood stock. Although the smell was pungent, the flavour of the stock was suitable for a paella. After the allotted time, remove the head and strain the stock through a cheesecloth to remove and fish parts and scales. Combine with a chicken stock either freshly prepared or from boullion. Keep warm. [If you aren't wedded to the idea of authenticity, chicken stock will work just fine.]