Tarta de Naranjas

Perhaps one of the prettiest tarts I've ever made, Anya von Bremzen's Tarta de Naranjas came out just as expected. Beautiful to look at and tasty to eat. The pastry crust is composed mostly of butter, confectioner's sugar, one egg and a little bit of heavy whipping cream. The recipe made more than needed for a 9-inch tart pan, but it came out just right: sturdy and crispy, sweet and buttery. Preparing the oranges was a serious labor of love, requiring light simmering of the slices for about 15 minutes, in an OJ-orange zest-sugar preparation over the stove. Then the slices must be cooled, and finally pat dry and halved. Once the tart shell had been baked, I added marmalade to the bottom of the pastry, and topped with the orange slices, then put in the oven to bake the oranges. (I had to cover the edges of crust with aluminum foil the entire time, to be sure they wouldn't burn.) The bits of white that you see above are the areas of granulated sugar that did not fully caramelize (the darkened parts prove where the sugar did caramelize).

Again, I cannot plug too frequently The New Spanish Table. Von Bremzen gives excellent descriptions and how-to of the recipes, and they're clearly well-researched, as everything I've made has come out just as expected. Choosing what to make next from it is perhaps the only difficult thing about the book. . . .

Panino

Today for lunch I procured a baguette, prosciutto crudo, and fresh mozzarella (only a step off from the burrata that is creamily good). I split the baguette open, slathered on some olive tapenade and added the goodies above, along with a few tomato slices, to create a nice hearty sandwich (panino), reminscent of Italy's finest. It's not quite the same as eating a sandwich in Italy, but almost as good....

Take Home Nanny

Ok, here's a blog-extra for you. Though I'm no "Millionaire Matchmaker," I am so obsessed with reality TV that this week's Supernanny sparked the idea for a great celebrity match. Supernanny's Jo Frost with Take Home Chef's Curtis Stone! They're both attractive people with lovely accents, and I'm sure that Mr. Stone would find more of a challenge in the confident and headstrong Ms. Frost than in the dozens of L.A. wannabe actresses who swoon and thrown themselves at Curtis in Whole Foods to take them home with him. Just an idea for these two that love may be a tv show away....

Supernanny photo credit: The Sun

Seeing Green

Recently, I've become a huge fan of frozen vegetables. While I never have a problem finding fruit that I like to eat, vegetables can be more of a challenge for me. They're good for you, but often either so bland so as to require lots of fat to make them tasty, or so strong, like broccoli that no matter how they're served they prove difficult to swallow. Since broccoli is supposedly one of the best foods for humans (anyone want to challenge that?), I decided to start buying frozen broccoli instead of fresh--strangely I find it much more palatable. It's already chopped and cleaned; all that is left to be done in preparing it for eating is to defrost and steam it. And I always like the way frozen broccoli turns out, as opposed to when I cook up the fresh kind. As a result, I've become a frequent visitor to the frozen food aisle in the grocery store, buying broccoli, asparagus, spinach, and other assortments of mixed veggies. I haven't given up on fresh vegetables altogether, but it's always nice to know that I have a perishable that won't rot away in the fridge--and is ready for cooking when I need it.

I've been at it again, throwing the fro-veg into my pasta. Saturday witnessed some spaghetti tossed with scallops and thawed broccoli.

And tonight it was celentani (delightful curly pasta) with frozen spinach and goat cheese.

This one is ridiculously easy to make, and it would be ridiculously absurd not to bother making it, since it's so delicious.

Pasta with spinach and goat cheese
Serves two.
2 cups pasta (celentani, penne, rigatoni)
1 cup frozen chopped spinach
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 tbsp goat cheese
zest of 1 lemon
cayenne, pepper, salt
extra olive oil, if desired

Place garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil and let infuse for 30 minutes or more. Place frozen spinach in bowl and cover in hot water to let defrost (about 5 minutes), then drain. Bring large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tbsp salt to water, then add pasta and cook according to package instructions. Add the garlic and oil to a medium skillet over medium heat and let cook for 1-2 minutes without letting garlic burn. Add drained spinach to pan and stir, adding zest and pepper to your liking. Turn heat to low, allow to warm through for 2 minutes. Turn off heat while waiting for pasta to finish. When pasta has cooked and been drained, add to skillet and turn on heat to low. Add goat cheese and stir until it starts to melt, breaking up any large clumps. Once ingredients have been mixed, remove from heat and serve. Bon appetit!

A Much Loved Fridge

And now let me interrupt your nice, long weekend with an image of what I consider to be a "daily miracle"--the fridge/freezer combo in my apartment. If you didn't know me, could you guess (from the picture below) that only three relatively small women inhabit the place? Let's just say it's a tight fit. But we each love our food, and a price shall be paid for it. I kind of visualize where I last placed each food product in the freezer, in order to find it. But even at maximum capacity, I like to think there's always "room for one more" here!

A Much Loved Fridge

Care for a slice?

After all that talk of pizza I began to crave the real, easy-to-make, homemade kind. And yes, it is easy to make! My crust isn't genius, but it's solid and good, with a slightly sweet note from the honey (adapted from the CCA cookbook Breads, originally published in 1985 by Ortho Books, which appears to have been run by the Chevron corporation. Very interesting.). The recipe for the crust takes 15-20 minutes to make, and then 30-40 minutes more to rise. This isn't a 30-minute meal, but again I emphasize its simplicity, and overall deliciousness. Plus, you can have your favorite toppings, and if you happen to find any stray hairs in your pie, you'll know who they belong to. You. I hope.

Easy Pizza
Dough:
2 1/3 cups unbleached flour
1 packet yeast
1 cup warm (not scalding) water
1 tablespoon honey
pinch salt
2 teaspoons olive oil

In a medium bowl, measure two cups flour and make a well in the center. Pour yeast into center, and add about a half cup of the water. Add honey to yeast and stir once. Let stand and watch for yeast to bubble up and form smooth clumps (3-10 minutes). Then add salt and start stirring mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula, scraping the side of the bowl. Add olive oil, and continue adding the rest of the flour and water. Start kneading dough with hands (alternately, use bread hook on mixer to make the dough. Hands are fun, though). Keep kneading until dough forms into a cohesive, not too sticky ball. (Add a little more flour if it's too greasy or sticky. Remember, a little stickiness is good.) When you press your fingers into the dough and it starts to spring back, cover with plastic wrap and set in warm area (I like the next-to-stove location) and let rise for 30-45 minutes. When doubled in size, punch down and let rest for another 10 minutes before rolling out and shaping.

Baking the pizza:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. If you're like me and don't have an applewood-smoked oven, using a simple baking sheet should work just fine to bake the pizza. Using half the dough, roll out until dough is about 1/6 of an inch thick. You don't want to stretch it so that it breaks, but if you like a thin crust, you have to keep rolling it out. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, pricking crust with a fork if it rises up. Remove from oven. Crust should have begun to harden and turn a light golden color. Toppings are up to you: I like to coat the base with a homemade pizza sauce (tomato paste, herbs, water, garlic simmered on stove for about 20 minutes), and then top with additional ingredients. This pizza was inspired with eggplant, mushrooms, garlic oil, fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a tiny bit of pancetta and parmeggiano. Bake in oven for 10-20 minutes, until cheese melts and toppings are cooked.

Remove from baking sheet and let cool on rack for 10 minutes before slicing, unless you like to scald your mouth (as I do) and immediately start picking at it to pull off a slice. Patience is a virtue. And I have little.

Of course, enjoy!

Fajita Special

Sometimes the best dinners are the ones where you end up using odds and ends from the fridge and the cupboard. There's a sense of satisfaction to be had realizing that the can of beans sitting on the shelf from over six months ago has finally been put to use! Or the clamshell of tomatoes--some of which have been slowly withering away--can be finished off before the expiration date. It's a struggle against time, making sure that all the food you once so industriously purchased, thinking it was best to "stock up and save," is put to use before it goes bad.

And now, for a brief photo tour of my fajita special:

Flour Tortillas

+

Chicken with garlic and jalapenos

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BEANS
(Not pictured here)

+

Fresh, homemade salsa

+

Grated cheddar

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Fajita Special

When Is a Pizza Not a Pizza?

If you guessed, when it's a coca, then you hit the nail on the head. This is the Spanish tapa that has recently become the craze of foodie circles across the nation looking for the next best thing since Italian food came overseas.

The article reminded me of a recipe for coca that I have in The New Spanish Table, by Anya von Bremzen (Workman, 2005.) I was intrigued by it before the trend (my mom gave me the book for Christmas in 2006), but I was so taken with the tuna and red pepper empanada that I made from TNST, that each time I wanted to make something Spanish, I immediately returned to the empanada.

I finally called it a day and decided to try my hand at the coca. I liked the concept of using of lager-style beer as leavening in the dough. While Ms. Bremzen offers a couple different coca toppings, I went with a mix, as I didn't have four jars of roasted peppers on hand, and I didn't care to chop four onions--each of which was required for the recipes. (Instead I used just one jar of bell peppers and ended up chopping three onions. OK, it wasn't a tear-free endeavor after all.) What you see here is the coca combo: a third roasted red and yellow bell peppers, two thirds sautéed onions, pine nuts, currants and honey. And lots of olive oil. This one turned out nicely--and I won't print the recipe for fear of permissions issues, but feel free to ask me for it. It's a nice change from plain old pizza. I won't lie to you though: I have no intention of giving up the Italian version for this one!

Brownie magic

Though I love to bake, I rarely make cakes or brownies, figuring that it's easier to buy a mix to make them, and that I'd rather try my hand at making something from scratch instead. That's my logic. But after laboring today to make what I've been craving, I've fallen in love with these brownies, practically polishing off a third of them only a few hours after they came out of the oven.

I decided upon a brownie recipe found on epicurious, always my first go-to for online recipes. I picked a recipe from a 1993 Gourmet issue that had received high praise. As usual, I wasn't able to meet all of the recipe's requirements. It called for two sticks butter, and since I have a hard time adding that much butter to one recipe, I decided that one and a half sticks would do. And what to do with all these delicious sea salt caramels that I have on hand from Trader Joe's? If I don't bake them into something that I can share with others, I'll end up eating them all in one sitting. (As it turned out, I only used nine caramels for this recipe, leaving me with plenty of face-stuffing carameliciousness for yet a few more weeks.) I was worried that the caramels would sink if I placed them in the batter before baking it slightly, but the batter was dense enough to hold them up--they sunk somewhat midway into the baking.

And so my recipe for caramel brownies is born!

Caramel Brownies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks butter

8-10oz bittersweet chocolate

1 1/4 cup all-purpose bleached flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 tbsp vanilla extract

pinch salt

8-10 soft caramels

Grease or spray an 8" square baking pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (Make sure baking rack is on the middle rung in the oven.) In a microwave-safe container, heat chocolate and butter together in the microwave until melted, about 3-4 minutes. Mix together until smooth and well-blended. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; stir til combined thoroughly. In a larger bowl, whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla until well-blended. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled to room temperature, pour slowly into egg mixture and stir until ingredients are thoroughly combined. Then add dry ingredients and stir til you have a fully mixed batter, with no flour clumps. Pour 3/4 of batter into the 8" pan. You will have extra batter which could be used for a separate, smaller, more brownie-like batch. The 8" pan will produce fluffy--yet rich--cake-sized brownies. Unwrap caramels and press gently into batter. Put brownies in oven for about 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Enjoy warm, cold, with or without ice cream!

Quichefflé

One of the great things about where I work is the proximity to South Park, a small tree-filled round, bordered by smart Edwardian-style homes. The park itself dominates the center of this nook, with a number of European cafes looking out onto it. Even the burrito place tries to "take it overseas" with the name "Mexico au Parc." (Euro-fever is never-ending.)

Any friend of mine who enjoys food and lives or works near San Francisco has had the pleasure of dining with me at The Butler and the Chef, a French bistro restaurant looking out onto le parc. Though a bit on the pricey side (for a lunch menu), the food is simple and elegant--and it's just plain good. Most of the time I've played it safe, ordering the onion soup gratinée that I know and adore. The chef uses beef stock in the soup (but, of course!) and two baguette slices top it off, each loaded with gruyere that tends to spill down the sides of the bowl. The menu offers salads, croques monsieurs and madames, crepes and baguette sandwiches as well. But the only thing that has ever tempted me away from the adored soup is the "quiche of the day." A server will alert you to which quiche is available each day before you've had a chance to order. A combo like salmon and spinach is easy for me to resist, but tell me there's bacon, mushroom, artichoke, or red bell pepper in that quiche, and it's all I can do to say no.

It finally hit me three weeks ago. Why say "no?" I had watched a number of heavenly slices pass by me each time I dined there, and regretfully wondered why I hadn't asked for one myself. But something changed that day, and I ordered the bacon quiche. It was eggy pudding and savory tart all in one. This "quiche," as TBATC calls it, is more a cross between a quiche and a soufflé. It's really its own dish, puffing up three to four inches high, with a creamy interior and a flaky dark brown crust that billows up and folds over on itself, like a chef's hat. So original it is that I feel it deserves a better name. I've decided to call it a "quichefflé" (pronounced keeysh-flay).

Now I've made plans to go back there on Friday, and it's all I can do to stop thinking about eating the quichefflé. So forgive me for not posting a recipe of my lemon walnut cake as promised, I've had other things, including the quichefflé, on my mind. I'll try to concentrate again on the duty at hand. Maybe tomorrow. And I'll let you know if Friday's quiche is all that I've made it out to be.

A Weekend In Food and Pictures

The title says it all. We pretty much holed up this weekend and feasted upon whatever was around . . . and whatever I wanted to make.

Saturday morning struck me as good a time as any to make a lemon walnut cake (to follow Saturday night dinner). Incidentally, the cake turned out well (some Meyer lemon rind did the trick, though the cake was a bit dry since I used unbleached flour instead of bleached), but I tapped into it well before dinner and had dessert prepared by the cooks at Osaka instead. The cake holds up well over time; three days later and what little remains tastes good at just about any time of day!

Saturday's rain and gloom later brought on the desire for some stove-popped popcorn. With a light olive-oil flavor and a touch of salt, who would want to go back to microwave or theater popcorn? In any case, I make sure to leave the real stove-top poppin' to the pros:

Saturday night's home-cooked menu got pushed back to Sunday. Take note of oven-roasted pork chops with a lemon-orange-molasses (and dare I say butter?) glaze, lovingly prepared by Chef Fernandez chez Rue de Barcelone. I prepared a mushroom risotto to go along with, but the best addition was that of fresh pineapple rings. After years of eating the "flesh of the islands," I only discovered yesterday that the pineapple's core was not meant to be eaten! See? I'm not as advanced as you all may think. Of course, this meal would pair well with just about any oaky-noted vintage; Joe and I chose to go with the simple and understated Charles Shaw 2006 Sauvignon Blanc.

(That's it for now. Tomorrow I'll share a recipe from the weekend's wealth of offerings.)

Che Buona Pasta!

In Italian, pasta means lots of things, from what we think of as pasta (spaghetti, rigatoni, etc.) to dough, to a general "good guy" (“è una pasta d'uomo,” literally translates into: he's a good dough of a man). However, one pasta dish that Italians might not know about, or care for, is the kind that is transformed into a cold salad. I learned this before speaking the language or having met any Italians myself. My mom made this dish as I grew up, and she always likes to tell the story about how she adopted it from her Italian-American friend, who first made it for her Italian relatives (taken from a Bon Appetit recipe many years ago). Apparently, it didn't receive much of a warm welcome from the Italians, well, mostly because it wasn't, uh, warm. That's us Americans, right? We like to create a new spin on what’s old. We can make warm pasta? Then we’ll make cold pasta too, please. And so "cold spaghetti salad with fontina cheese" was born!

This dish is easy to make and serves many, making it excellent for casual dinner parties. Extra ingredients like roast chicken or sausage can easily be added to the finished recipe if desired.

Recipe for Cold Spaghetti Salad with Fontina Cheese:
1 1/2-2 lbs spaghetti
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb mozzarella, chopped into pieces
1/2 lb fontina cheese, chopped into pieces
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
6 roma tomatoes, diced
20 leaves fresh basil, washed, cut and dried
olive oil
salt + pepper, to taste
parmesan to taste

Bring water to a boil in a large 1 gallon pot. Salt the water just as it begins to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, then drain. While pasta is cooking, add 4 tbsp olive oil to a skillet and add garlic when pan and oil have warmed. Over a low flame, allow garlic to infuse in oil for 2 minutes, then extinguish flame. Once pasta has been drained, return to pot that was used to boil it in. Add garlic and oil to pasta and stir. Add cheese to pasta in pot. It will be very clumpy and difficult to mix. Turn on a low flame and begin stirring pasta. It may take about 15 minutes for the cheese to melt and break up. (Avoid letting the cheese remain in one large clump.) Continue stirring until cheese is largely melted, with smaller clumps of pasta adhering throughout pot. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, and stir. Turn off heat and remove pasta from stove. Add basil and let pasta cool to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or chill it in the refrigerator and serve cold. Add parmesan to taste, and enjoy!