The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Pragueby Rick Rodgers.

In case you hadn’t noticed and just thought that everyone in the foodblog world suddenly decided to make Apple Strudel for some inexplicable reason, today is Daring Bakers’ reveal day!

I did make the apple strudel, thank you very much to our lovely hostesses Linda and Courtney, but it’s been a crazy week so I’m not giving you the fill post … today.

Just a little tease until I can give you the rest of the details …

Ciao!

In early May, a coworker asked me if I’d be willing to make a birthday cake for her sweet, little daughter, who would be turning nine.

Of course I said yes.

I was particularly excited by this request because my coworker wanted a tiered cake. This represented a new baking frontier for me because I have never made a tiered cake before.

Initially I was a bit nervous because having not had any experience with tiered cakes, I was worried that if my coworker wanted something elaborate or complicated, that I wouldn’t be up to the task.

Thankfully, she wanted a three-tier cake comprised of one chocolate layer and two vanilla layers. She didn’t want any fillings in the cake nor did she want it to be elaborately decorated. Instead, she wanted something pretty but simple that would be appropriate for a little girl’s birthday party.

This calmed me somewhat and thanks to her confidence in me, I felt that I was up to the challenge.

For the cake layers, I used my trusty favourite chocolate cake recipe from The Cake Book and for the vanilla cake layers I used my trusty favourite vanilla cake recipe from More From Magnolia: Recipes from the World Famous Bakery and Allysa Torey’s Home Kitchen.

For the buttercream, however, I decided to finally try a recipe that I’d bookmarked from an issue of Gourmet magazine.

I’ve actually written about the particular cake in that article before. Last year, when I was hired to make a nut-free cake, I used the cake from the Gourmet article as visual inspiration. This time around, I thought I’d give the Vanilla Buttercream recipe from that article a try, as it seemed straightforward. Also, I needed a recipe that I could easily double and I felt comfortable doing so with the Gourmet recipe.

I have to say that May has been a great month in terms of my Magazine Mondays choices. I made some incredible cookies and some beautiful halibut and this week, on the last Monday in May, I’m happy to share my experience with what I now consider to be the best Vanilla Buttercream recipe that I’ve ever tried.

It was incredible! The buttercream is a perfect balance between that lovely butter taste and that lovely vanilla taste. Texture-wise, it was easily spread and looked very pretty on the finished cake. I had no troubles with the recipe as the instructions were clear and easily followed. The only difficulty I experienced was the constant struggle with my desire to stick my entire head in the mixing bowl and just eat the icing up.

I’m happy to share the recipe with you with the highest of recommendations.

I know that you’re supposed to be modest in life, that’s what Mamma and Papa Cream Puff always taught me, but I have to say that I was very proud of myself upon completion of this cake.

I don’t think a tiny bit of immodesty will hurt in this case.

Here’s a photo journal of my tiered cake adventure:

I applied crumb coats to each cake layer (a thin layer of icing that goes on the cake before a second, thicker layer is applied). Here’s the crumb coat on the chocolate layer.

When I unmolded my final cake layer from the baking pan, look what happened!

But I did not panic. All problems can be fixed. With some creative icing technique, I covered up the missing cake piece and you couldn’t even tell.

I made royal icing flowers in pink to decorate the bottom and top layers of the cake. Here I’m applying them to the bottom layer.

To add visual appeal to the cake, I covered the second layer in tiny pink buttercream polka dots.

Getting the third layer on was a bit tricky, but I was patient and it worked.

Here’s a view of the finished cake from the top.

In the end, the tiered cake was very successful. It served 40 people and it didn’t topple over or fall apart (although I did not experience the ordeal of transporting it as my coworker came and picked it up). While I can’t say that I’d want to make a lot of tiered cakes, it’s nice to get this first one under my belt.

As always, on a Magazine Monday, I have some links to share with you. Here are some other food bloggers who went toe to to with their magazine piles and won:

Wandering Coyote of ReTorte made Spicy Molasses Cookies from Canadian Living Magazine.

Mandi of Red Dirt Mummy made Zucchini and Rosemary Bread from Australian Table.

Joy of the Cooking of Joy made Sage and Apricot Shortbread Cookies from Better Homes and Gardens and Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream from Gourmet.

Emiglia of Tomato Kumato made Panko Pork Cutlets with Pineapple and Ginger Salsa from Bon Appétit.

Tamy of 3 Sides of Crazy made Pickled Eggs.

Biz from Bigges Diabetic Loser made Farro Saltato con Capesante, Gamberetti e Salsa di Zafferano from La Cucina.

Kyle from Thin Crust, Deep Dish made Fennel, Sunchoke and Apple Salad from Saveur.

Remember, if you have a magazine recipe that you’ve tried, send the link to me and I’ll post it in my next Magazine Mondays post.

Have a great week, everyone!

Ciao!

Do you know Meeta?

I bet you do. If you don’t, you must meet her here and now! Allow me to make the introductions.

Meeta is the gentle force behind What’s for Lunch Honey? and The Daily Tiffin.

She is a warm, passionate and lovely person, and I’m happy to consider her a friend, even though I’ve never actually met her in person.

I came close to meeting her, mind you. In 2006, when I was in Berlin, Germany, we almost managed to meet up but sadly that didn’t happen. I wasn’t too upset, though, because I know that one day, we will meet (right, Meeta?!)!

Meeta hosts a monthly event called the Monthly Mingle. For May 2009, the theme was Spring Cakes. I’ve never participated in one of Meeta’s Monthly Mingles, but have wanted to so many times, so I decided this would be the perfect opportunity.

Early in May, a coworker asked me to take on a baking project for her and I wanted to practice some decorating techniques so I thought that Meeta’s event would be a wonderful chance to do this.

Naturally, I missed the May 13 deadline.

But as they say, better late than never.

I’d really been wanting to try the recipe for Buttermilk Cake (p. 40) from Flo Braker’s The Simple Art of Perfect Baking. I’m always looking for a great base cake to use in layer cakes and I thought I’d give this one a try.

To fill the cake layers, I had some lemon curd leftover from my Triple-Layer Lemon Cake so I mixed that with some freshly whipped cream. For the bottom layer of the cake, I added sliced strawberries.

Having filled my cake, I decided to try the Classic Buttercream recipe (pp. 263-264) from Braker’s book, but this met with less success than the cake.

I’ve made buttercream many times over the last few years and have become comfortable with adding hot sugar syrup to beaten egg yolks or egg whites. In this recipe, however, the hot syrup is poured into the centre of the beaten eggs (the machine is not running) and then you’re required to whisk quickly to incorporate the ingredients while preventing the eggs from being cooked.

I didn’t have a lot of luck with this. While my eggs didn’t quite cook, I found that the finished buttercream did have this unpleasant cooked egg taste to it. People who tried it said the buttercream was okay, but I didn’t like it at all. The buttercream also didn’t have the same smooth texture that other buttercreams that I’ve made have had. While the Buttermilk Cake was delicious, I wasn’t as thrilled with the Classic Buttercream recipe.

I soldiered on, though, and decided to really use the opportunity to experiment in terms of colours and also to continue to practice my decorating skills (I use the term skills very loosely).

I overdid it a bit with the colours. The cake ended up looking a bit garish for my tastes, but I think in its own way it had some springtime charm. More like springtime on the grounds of an abandoned English estate … not quite the effect I was going for but not bad. Most importantly, I got to put in some much-needed baking and decorating time, which always makes me happy!

Just like Meeta always makes me happy.

Meeta, I’m sorry the cake is late, but here it is. Should we ever meet in person, I guarantee I will give you something much more fitting!

Ciao!

I recently tried two desserts that I’d previously made for a second time and I wanted to blog about it, because they were both, if possible, even better the second time around.

The first dessert in quesion is Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake, which was the April 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge. I made the cheesecake but didn’t get to try it because I gifted it to some coworkers that helped me through a particularly busy period at work. After reading about how everyone loved the cheesecake, and loving it myself, I decided to try it again so that I could taste it.

In one word, this cheesecake is sublime.

It really and truly is the best cheesecake I have ever made. I followed the recipe without making any alterations (recipe below), and I made a very quick strawberry sauce using fresh strawberries, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar and water.

I am not ashamed to say that I ate 97.6 per cent of the cheesecake on my own. The other 2.4 per cent is unaccounted for.

I suspect Mama Cream Puff.

The second dessert that I recently tried again is the Triple-Layer Lemon Cake that I made for my Zia Don’s 50th birthday late last year. When I made it for the birthday party, I had to increase the cake size and make other variations to the recipe so that it would feed a much larger group of people. This time around I made the cake as per the recipe and it was just delicious. The recipe is from Issue #63 of Fine Cooking, unfortunately, it’s no longer available free on the Fine Cooking site. However, you can sign up for a free trial and print a copy of the recipe.

I sometimes find that recipes don’t stand up to second and third attempts. In this case, these are two recipes that will likely stand up to the test of time.

Ciao!

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake

For the crust:

2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the cheesecake:

3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker’s choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil “casserole” shaped pans from the grocery store. They’re 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

Halibut and fava beans.

Two foods I don’t eat nearly enough of.

While fava beans, obviously, are not in season for long, whenever I do eat halibut I always ask myself: why don’t I eat this lovely fish more often?

The opportunity arose to enjoy both of these lovely foods when I saw a recipe in the April 2009 issue of Bon Appétit for Halibut on Mashed Fava Beans with Mint.

While I miscalculated slightly when buying the fava (I didn’t buy quite as much as I needed), this was a tremendously delicious dish. The halibut was light and smooth and the spicy fava bean mash was the perfect accompaniment.

Today is Victoria Day in Canada so it’s a national holiday. I’m off to enjoy the enjoy the day but before I go, here are some more entries from other foodbloggesr who have tackled that magazine pile!

Wandering Coyote of ReTorte made Beginners’ Bread from an old issue of Canadian Living.

Janie of Panini Girl made Fava Bean and Arugula Crosini from Gourmet.

Remember, if you have a magazine recipe that you’ve meaning to try, send me the link to your post and I’ll include in my Magazine Mondays round-up!

Have a great week, everyone!

Ciao!

Last week, in a fit of pique, my PC decided to have a little break. Of course the fact that said break clashes horribly with this whole blogging thing I have going meant little to my PC. She was miffed, and that was that.

After several days of cajoling, bribery, the PC equivalent of a luxury manicure and pedicure and of course, some money, my PC is back to behaving.

Thank goodness!

I never quite realize how much I miss my blog until I can’t have easy access to it.

I’m back and happy to be so.

When last I left you, it was the 14th of May, which was quite the glorious day for those of us that belong to The Daring Kitchen for that was the day that newly launched Daring Cooks revealed their first ever challenge.

Hosted by my partner Lis and myself, The Daring Cooks were challenged to make ricotta gnocchi.

Let me begin by saying that making ricotta gnocchi is very different from making the better known potato gnocchi. A different process and different ingredients obviously yields an end result with a very different texture.

Ricotta gnocchi are soft and almost creamy (but not to the degree that they should fall apart). They’re mild in taste, unless of course you flavour them strongly or you use a sharp sauce or cheese with them. Well-made ricotta gnocchi should be light but with enough substance to hold their shape.

As our go-to recipe for Ricotta Gnocchi, we decided to go with the best of the best and used a recipe from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco’s Beloved Restaurant by Judy Rodgers. Both Lis and I are tremendous fans of this books so were excited to give the recipe a go.

I have a photo journal of my Ricotta Gnocchi procedure below, so I won’t bore you with the details, especially since I’m sure that you’ve read more than enough posts about this dish in the past few days.

But what did I think of the Ricotta Gnocchi?

I found making them to be fairly straightforward. I cooked half of the gnocchi as soon as I made them. I gently placed the cooked gnocchi in a pan of sizzling butter and added lemon zest and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano to the mix.

Everyone, myself included, loved them. They soaked up the butter sauce beautifully and held their shape nicely, although they did puff up considerably. They were light, but not insubstantial.

Are you sensing a “… but”?

Here it is.

I froze the second half of the gnocchi and prepared them for dinner about a week later.

Sadly, they were awful. First of all, they puffed up considerably more than the first batch when boiled. Secondly, while the first batch was compact and relatively dry after cooking, the frozen batch took on a sponginess that was unpleasant. They looked kind of icky, too.

I know icky isn’t exactly the best word to use when describing cooking but have pity on me, that’s the best I can think of.

To be honest, I ended up dumping out the second batch as we just couldn’t eat them.

So what’s my final verdict?

Making these and serving them fresh was worth it, but I’d never freeze them again.

I am glad, though, that we tried the recipe and I’m happy to see how The Daring Cooks embraced the challenge.

As The Daring Bakers approach two-and-a-half years of life, it’s exciting to see the birth of a new group. Here’s hoping that it will be just as successful!

Here’s my photo journal of my efforts in making Ricotta Gnocchi:

The strained fresh ricotta.

The ricotta gnocchi mixture, prior to forming the gnocchi.

Scooping the mixture into the flour.

Gently forming the gnocchi.

The formed gnocchi.

Dropping the gnocch into the boiling water.

Watching the gnocchi boil.

Cooking the gnocchi in the butter and lemon sauce.

The final product.

Ciao!

Zuni Ricotta Gnocchi
Source: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco’s Beloved Restaurant by Judy Rodgers.

Yield: Makes 40 to 48 gnocchi (serves 4 to 6)

Prep time: Step 1 will take 24 hours. Steps 2 through 4 will take approximately 1 hour.

Tips:

- If you can find it, use fresh ricotta. As Judy Rodgers advises in her recipe, there is no substitute for fresh ricotta. It may be a bit more expensive, but it’s worth it.
- Do not skip the draining step. Even if the fresh ricotta doesn’t look very wet, it is. Draining the ricotta will help your gnocchi tremendously.
- When shaping your gnocchi, resist the urge to over handle them. It’s okay if they look a bit wrinkled or if they’re not perfectly smooth.
- If you’re not freezing the gnocchi for later, cook them as soon as you can. If you let them sit around too long they may become a bit sticky.
- For the variations to the challenge recipe, please see the end of the recipe.

Equipment required:

Sieve
Cheesecloth or paper towels
Large mixing bowl
Rubber spatula
Tablespoon
Baking dish or baking sheet
Wax or parchment paper
Small pot
Large skillet
Large pan or pot (very wide in diameter and at least 2 inches deep)

For the gnocchi:

1 pound (454 grams/16 ounces) fresh ricotta (2 cups)
2 large cold eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon (½ ounce) unsalted butter
2 or 3 fresh sage leaves, or a few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg, or a few pinches of chopped lemon zest (all optional)
½ ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (about ¼ cup very lightly packed)
about ¼ teaspoon salt (a little more if using kosher salt)
all-purpose flour for forming the gnocchi

For the gnocchi sauce:

8 tablespoons (227 grams/1/4 pound/4 ounces) butter, sliced
2 teaspoons water

Step 1 (the day before you make the gnocchi): Preparing the ricotta.

If the ricotta is too wet, your gnocchi will not form properly. In her cookbook, Judy Rodgers recommends checking the ricotta’s wetness. To test the ricotta, take a teaspoon or so and place it on a paper towel. If you notice a very large ring of dampness forming around the ricotta after a minute or so, then the ricotta is too wet. To remove some of the moisture, line a sieve with cheesecloth or paper towels and place the ricotta in the sieve. Cover it and let it drain for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Alternatively, you can wrap the ricotta carefully in cheesecloth (2 layers) and suspend it in your refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours with a bowl underneath to catch the water that’s released. Either way, it’s recommended that you do this step the day before you plan on making the gnocchi.

Step 2 (the day you plan on eating the gnocchi): Making the gnocchi dough.

To make great gnocchi, the ricotta has to be fairly smooth. Place the drained ricotta in a large bowl and mash it as best as you can with a rubber spatula or a large spoon (it’s best to use a utensil with some flexibility here). As you mash the ricotta, if you noticed that you can still see curds, then press the ricotta through a strainer to smooth it out as much as possible.

Add the lightly beaten eggs to the mashed ricotta.

Melt the tablespoon of butter. As it melts, add in the sage if you’re using it. If not, just melt the butter and add it to the ricotta mixture. Add in any flavouring that you’re using (i.e., nutmeg, lemon zest, etc.). If you’re not using any particular flavouring, that’s fine. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the salt. Beat all the ingredients together very well. You should end up with a soft and fluffy batter with no streaks (everything should be mixed in very well).

Step 3: Forming the gnocchi.

Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil. When it boils, salt the water generously and keep it at a simmer. You will use this water to test the first gnocchi that you make to ensure that it holds together and that your gnocchi batter isn’t too damp. In a large, shallow baking dish or on a sheet pan, make a bed of all-purpose flour that’s ½ an inch deep. With a spatula, scrape the ricotta mixture away from the sides of the bowl and form a large mass in the centre of your bowl. Using a tablespoon, scoop up about 2 to 3 teaspoons of batter and then holding the spoon at an angle, use your finger tip to gently push the ball of dough from the spoon into the bed of flour. At this point you can either shake the dish or pan gently to ensure that the flour covers the gnocchi or use your fingers to very gently dust the gnocchi with flour. Gently pick up the gnocchi and cradle it in your hand rolling it to form it in an oval as best as you can, at no point should you squeeze it. What you’re looking for is an oval lump of sorts that’s dusted in flour and plump. Gently place your gnocchi in the simmering water. It will sink and then bob to the top. From the time that it bobs to the surface, you want to cook the gnocchi until it’s just firm. This could take 3 to 5 minutes. If your gnocchi begins to fall apart, this means that the ricotta cheese was probably still too wet. You can remedy this by beating a teaspoon of egg white into your gnocchi batter. If your gnocchi batter was fluffy but the sample comes out heavy, add a teaspoon of beaten egg to the batter and beat that in. Test a second gnocchi to ensure success. Form the rest of your gnocchi. You can put 4 to 6 gnocchi in the bed of flour at a time. But don’t overcrowd your bed of flour or you may damage your gnocchi as you coat them. Have a sheet pan ready to rest the formed gnocchi on. Line the sheet pan with wax or parchment paper and dust it with flour. You can cook the gnocchi right away, however, Judy Rodgers recommends storing them in the refrigerator for an hour prior to cooking to allow them to firm up.

Step 4: Cooking the gnocchi.

Have a large skillet ready to go. Place the butter and water for the sauce in the skillet and set aside. In the largest pan or pot that you have (make sure it’s wide), bring at least 2 quarts of water to a boil (you can use as much as 3 quarts of water if your pot permits). You need a wide pot or pan so that your gnocchi won’t bump into each other and damage each other. Once the water is boiling, salt it generously. Drop the gnocchi into the water one by one. Once they float to the top, cook them for 3 to 5 minutes (as in the case with the test gnocchi). When the gnocchi float to the top, you can start your sauce while you wait for them to finish cooking. Place the skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Swirl it gently a few times as it melts. As soon as it melts and is incorporated with the water, turn off the heat. Your gnocchi should be cooked by now. With a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi from the boiling water and gently drop into the butter sauce. Carefully roll in the sauce until coated. Serve immediately.

Freezing the gnocchi: If you don’t want to cook your gnocchi right away or if you don’t want to cook all of them, you can make them and freeze them. Once they are formed and resting on the flour-dusted, lined tray, place them uncovered in the freezer. Leave them for several hours to freeze. Once frozen, place them in a plastic bag. Remove the air and seal the bag. Return to the freezer. To cook frozen gnocchi, remove them from the bag and place individually on a plate or on a tray. Place in the refrigerator to thaw completely. Cook as directed for fresh gnocchi.

Well, it just figures that at the same time that we’re supposed to be presenting the very first Daring Cooks challenge, my PC decides to misbehave.

It hates me. I know it does. Maybe I have to bake for it more … sigh.

Anyway, for those of you that don’t know, The Daring Kitchen now officially includes The Daring Cooks, the partner group to The Daring Bakers.

June 2009 marks our very first challenge, which just happens to be Ricotta Gnocchi based on the amazing The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco’s Beloved Restaurant.

The challenge is being hosted by myself and my DK partner Lis.

If you have some time today, I hope you’ll check out all the ricotta gnocchi posts you’re likely to be seeing in foodblog world.

Once my PC has calmed down and decided to behave like a proper PC (hopefully in a few days), I will have my ricotta gnocchi post up.

Until then … I hope you have happy dreams of ricotta gnocchi!

Ciao!

Last week I mentioned in my Magazine Mondays post that the March 2008 Food & Wine issue had an excellent feature called “How to Cook Like You Own an Italian Villa”. I tried many of the recipes and loved them all. By far, however, the recipe for Jam-Filled Mezzaluna Cookies was my absolute favourite.

I try so many new recipes in a year, both from magazines and cookbooks. And I would say that in a year, there’s probably only a handful of times where I come across a recipe that becomes part of my recipe family.

And this recipe has now been officially adopted.

While they’re more than a cookie, these treats are buttery pieces of pastry heaven meant to enclose the jam of your choice.

They were incredible. I don’t know what else to say about them other than to say that when I bit into one, warm out of the oven, I just had this image of eating one of these lovely treats with a steaming espresso at the kitchen table in our little house in Italy.

It was love at first bite.

As with all Magazine Mondays, I’m always happy to share with you links to posts from other food bloggers who have squared off against their magazine piles. Here’s who made a dent:

Wandering Coyote of ReTorte made Roasted Garlic and Sundried Tomato Bread from Canadian Living.

My Jenny of All Things Edible made Brownies from The Brownie Project.

Janie of Panini Girl made Pea and Parmeson “Wanton” Ravioli from Gourmet magazine.

Tamy of 3 Sides of Crazy made Golden Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting.

Amy I. of Playing House made Vanilla Bean Shortbread from Cooking Light.

Andreas of Delta Kitchen made Asparagus Pizza.

Here’s a photo journal of the Jam-Filled Mezzaluna Cookies:

I had a lot of fun rolling out this very tender dough. I used a 4-inch tart ring to cut out the pastry circles.

I used some lovely cherry preserves to fill the cookies.

I very gently sealed the cookies.

I placed the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I brushed them with egg wash and sprinkled on sugar. The recipe instructs that you sprinkle on sliced almonds but I omitted that step.

Ciao!

Is there anyone out there that doesn’t like the potato?

Especially when said potato is deep fried and then kissed with a light sprinkling of salt?

Anyone? Anyone?

Honestly, I can’t think of one person I know that would turn down a french fry. Clearly, I know the right people!

Going into the weekend, I’ve had french fries on the brain almost the entire week and this is all Martha’s fault. I blame her. If it wasn’t for Martha Stewart’s Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook, wherein lies a very clear and thorough guide on how to make a good ol’ honest-to-goodness French fry, I would be thinking about other things.

Such as … opening my mail. Or … buying a new coffee table. Or … whether we need a layer of top soil in the garden. Or … ah, who am I kidding?!

I’d be thinking about food in some form or other and the food of choice this week just happens to be one of the most perfect things in the world: the French fry.

I love fries. Love’em! Growing up, we always had fried potatoes but Mama Cream Puff would cut them into cubes for us (which I also love). And unlike a true French fry, she would fry the potatoes once until deeply golden.

The proper French fry, as Martha so capably demonstrates in her book, is fried twice. It is fried once at a low temperature to cook the inside of the potato (this is called blanching). It is cooked a second time at a considerably higher temperature to crisp up the outside of the potato until a glorious goldenness is achieved.

From that point forward, the French fry becomes the canvas upon which ever person can paint whatever they wish. Some people like to paint the French fry with lots of ketchup. Some people use malt vinegar as their medium. Some people (me!) choose to express themselves with sea salt and rosemary. It doesn’t really matter. Point being, French fries are pretty much awesomeness in every sense of the word.

I would use the same word to describe Martha’s book. No use beating around the bush. It’s good. As some of you may know I sometimes have had issues with some of the recipes in Martha’s magazine. Visually they are promising but often, the end result is just a tad disappointing. But no disappointment with this book.

It is exactly what it promises to be. An excellent manual on how to cook everything. Cream Puff recommends it highly.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some French fries to fry and a masterpiece to follow.

Ciao!

Here’s a photo diary of my French fry adventure:

I used Yukon Gold potatoes.

While I do own a mandoline, I decided to cut the potatoes into fries with a knife.

For the blanching of the potatoes, I heated my oil to 300 degrees F.

I cooked them for about 4 minutes before removing them to a paper-towel lined tray to drain.

I let the oil temperature come up to 350 degrees F. for the second frying.

I cooked the potatoes for about 2 minutes in the hot oil. About 30 seconds before they were done, I threw in a sprig of rosemary. I drained the potatoes on paper towels and immediately sprinkled them very liberally with lots of sea salt (there is nothing worse than an underseasoned potato!).

I ate them all. All of them.

I didn’t know very much about Cinco de Mayo until my Aunt D and Uncle M moved to San Jose, California more than ten years ago. The holiday became a bit more significant to me because my Aunt D would often mention it in conversations.

When Uncle N and I visited my aunt in May 2005, I came across references to the celebration as I read up on Californian food culture.

A few weeks ago, I came across a recipe for Chipotle Shrimp Tostadas on the Food & Wine site (the recipe is from the September 2008 issue).

I made them for dinner on the eve of Cinco de Mayo as a nod to the holiday and also as a promise from me to me that I’m going to get back to California soon!

As I expected, they were delicious! I mean they were really really good. I scarfed mine down and enjoyed every bit of it. I don’t often cook foods from other cultures so I really enjoyed making these as well.

Happy Cinco de Mayo to those that celebrate the day!

Ciao!

The March 2008 issue of Food & Wine magazine is probably one of the best issues in a long time. I bookmarked numerous recipes, in particular a series of recipes in one of the issue’s features called “How to Cook Like You Own an Italian Villa.” For this edition of Magazine Mondays, I decided to share with you a recipe from that feature called Roasted Cipollini Onions with Sherry Vinegar.

Just one problem, the picture you see above does not feature cipollini onions. When I went to the grocery store, I actually found cipollini and was so excited but in my excitement, I ended up picking pearl onions, instead.

Pearl onions are small, round onions that are perfect for pickling, but can also be used in stews and casseroles. Cipollini, which are also quite small, tend to be flatter and yellower than pearl onions.

In the end, though, it wasn’t such a big deal and I went ahead with the recipe. I’m so glad that I did. These were easy and so delicious. In fact, in the month since I tried this recipe, these roasted onions have become one of our very favourite side dishes.

You can double and triple the recipe and then store the reserves in a jar in the fridge with some added vinegar and they’ll keep for up to a week. We like them warm, but they’re also very good cold in sandwiches. I hope you give them a try.

Once again, there a number of people out there who have been diligently attacking those pesky magazine piles. Here are some fellow Magazine Mondayers:

Georgia of Oh Kitchen, What Won’t You Do? made Curried Eggplant with Tomatoes and Basil from Real Simple.

Elizabeth of thewaspyredhead.com made a Strawberry Layer Cake from Cooking Light and a Couscous Salad from Bon Appétit.

Biz of Biggest Diabetic Loser made the Beer-Battered Onion Rings from Cooks Country.

Debbie of Taste of Sweetness … made Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp from Cooking Light.

Cathy at Noble Pig made some incredible Individual Grape and Vin Santo Cakes from Gourmet.

Alisa of One Frugal Foodie made a Simply Scrumptious Cinnamon-Apple Sauté from Natural Health Magazine.

Tamy of 3 Sides of Crazy made Delicious Fried Chicken.

Mandi of Red Dirt Mummy made a Lamb and Pasta Bake from Good Taste.

Sweet Christie and Ian of Coco Bean have sent along a Mashed Potato Gratin with Caramelized Onions an issue of the LCBO magazine.

Jen of Baking and Dogs made my favourite … Pancakes!

My apologies to Katerina of Culinary Flavors … I somehow missed this entry! It’s a gorgeous Bougatsa with Cream.

One last note before I wish you a great week, people are always asking me about where to get great recipes (besides cookbooks) and of course I’m always happy to help. Your best resource is the Internet and individual magazine sites. I’m sure you all know the usual suspects but one particular site that I’m a big fan of is the Better Homes and Gardens site, which has a very thorough and extensive recipe section. And of course, since you know I loooooooooove my dessert, I have to take a moment to point out their dessert section, which not only includes recipes, but also some very helpful baking tips and hints.

Please remember that if you post a magazine recipe, send me the link and I’ll put it up in my next Magazine Mondays post. You can post any day of the week … it doesn’t have to be a Monday!

And that’s that, my friends. Have a wonderful week!

Ciao!

When I was a little girl, it seemed our weekends were always filled with visiting, going on family outings and entertaining friends and family. It was all very simple, mind you. In fact I’m not even sure if we would refer to it as “entertaining”, in today’s context.

Nowadays I sometimes feel that entertaining comes with an unnecessary and unrealistic pressure to be something that you’re not. As though if you don’t have the perfect dinner setting, or that must-have tablecloth, that you might as well not waste your time.

“Entertaining”, to us, simply meant gathering somewhere and making sure there was lots of food and lots to drink. The fabric covering the chairs you sat on or the quality of the drinking glasses meant zilch. Seriously.

We were too busy having fun to worry about that kind of stuff.

Now don’t get me wrong. I like fine linen as much as the next person, but I don’t think you need it to enjoy yourself or your guests.

And now that I’m on this little soapbox, what happened to our weekends, people???

Why is it that when I was a kid, it seemed like we had all the time in the world to fit in socializing. In fact, that’s what the weekend was for. Those two end-of-week days were for events with family and friends (picnics, trips to the beach, dinners, etc.) and there was always time for that. Nowadays, I sometimes feel like Saturday and Sunday are just an extension of the work week.

What happened? Where did we go wrong?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this for two reasons. First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been busier in my work life than I am now. I’m not complaining, mind you, but I’m finding it difficult to maintain the line of separation between work and home. All too often I find myself spending my evenings thinking about work and worse, thinking about it over the weekends.

The other reason why this examination of how I spend my weekend time has come about is because of a cookbook that I had the opportunity to review: Katie Brown Celebrates: Simple and Spectacular Parties All Year Round.

To be honest, I didn’t really know who Katie Brown was until I received her cookbook. But when I did some research, I was surprised to discover a personality that I would consider a kindred spirit. Artistic, creative, charming and calming. That’s how I would describe the Katie Brown that I read about and that I came across in the pages of her book.

As for the book itself, as you might expect it’s a pretty book filled with lots of beautiful photos and tonnes of great entertaining ideas that include recipes but also ideas for making your own party decorations for any occasion.

When I was a kid, that’s what we used to do. We’d decorate everything ourselves with whatever we could find around the house. We were encouraged to be creative and to use everything and never throw anything away.

Something about the book struck a real chord with me and it just got me thinking about weekends and lots of cooking and just doing nothing but enjoying yourself.

While I wanted to try everything, I only tried three recipes. I started with these amazing Apple Popovers with a Brown Sugar Mascarpone Cream (mascarpone cream not pictured). These were so good and they’re a fast and easy way to use leftover apples. You can serve them with ice cream warm out of the oven.

I made Cinnamon Crisps with a Crème Fraiche Dip. These are like palmiers, but with lots of cinnamon and the dip was the perfect accompaniment.

Lastly, I made Feta Herb Puffs, which we enjoyed before our Easter lunch. These were easy: a bit of mashed feta and cream cheese in packaged puff pastry. And they were delicious!

The book is filled with so many recipes that are quick and easy but delicious. And it just has a really warm and fun feel to it that I guarantee will have you dreaming of the weekend throughout the year!

Ciao!