Butter is Love

Wedding Cake Design #1

So, let's be blunt here, I'm terrible at drawing, I'm not going to try to deny it but here's my rough sketch of a Steampunk wedding cake design for my friends' wedding. This is basically drawn like you're looking at half the cake flattened out, which means the bottom tier should also have two half vases on either side because there would be four spaced evenly around the cake. The cake is going to be a hazelnut sponge with a chocolate ganache or buttercream so the background of the whole thing will be brown, anything left just in pencil will be royal icing filigree, things in color will be royal icing filigree painted with various shades of metallic luster dust. It's supposed to be a somewhat abstract representation of a Victorian garden at night. Hopefully you figured that out from my crude drawing skills and fancy iPhone picture.

I thought I'd give you a look at some of the inspiration I used to create this design, just for funsies.

This is the pattern on the wedding dress, used to create the flower pattern around the bottom tier

This, in combination with some pictures of stained glass also from the planned location of the wedding helped me pattern the planter

Yeah, ok, terrible at drawing and I promise to never again resort to using iPhone pictures for such a photo heavy post.

This lamppost stamp was used on both the invitation and on the save the date and is very obviously the inspiration for my lamppost.

The only criteria I was given (other than flavor) was for it to be steampunky and the bride liked the idea of gears in different metallics and a clock incorporated somehow. We'll see how she likes it or if I'll soon have design #2 up.

Restaurant Review: Zuni Cafe

So far my grandmother and I have gone to see the San Francisco ballet twice this season, we precede each Sunday matinee with a trip to one of our favorite restaurants, Zuni Cafe. Zuni is, of course, part of the elite of slow food restaurants with a few standing entrees and seasonally changing salads, pizzas and appetizers. I had never been to Zuni on Sunday mornings before, so I had no idea that Sunday dining also had the additional bonus of having a brunch menu as well as the normal lunch/dinner menu. In other words, I got to eat breakfast pastry and dessert. 

Visit 1

Brioche with meyer lemon sugar and a meyer lemon marmalade. Perfectly moist and tender while remaining light and a little flaky inside, this brioche was absolutely melt in my mouth wonderful. I'm not normally a huge fan of marmalades, but the slight bitterness balanced the sugary outside of the brioche fantastically.

Caramel ice cream with a balsamic reduction. The caramel ice cream was just barely sweet having the depth of a medium to dark amber caramel and the tartness of the balsamic complimented it fantastically. This is definitely for those who don't like their desserts to be too much on the sweet side.

I did, in fact, eat real food between those two things. An egg baked in cream with some sort of greens (maybe escarole, I've forgotten) but I didn't take a picture. I have yet to figure out how to make white food look exciting and delicious. Lack of picture aside, the egg was also delicious and I've decided the eggs baked in cream food trend is one I can fully get behind.

Visit 2

My grandmother and I split this appetizer of navel oranges, blood oranges and a grapefruit/orange hybrid with ginger, chili flakes and just a hint of garlic and very very light olive oil. The salad is also supposed to have sunchokes but the the kitchen forgot them and our server ended up bringing us a little plate on the side, so there aren't any in the picture. This appetizer was a great example of how using exemplary seasonal produce allows you to keep it simple. The fruit speak for itself.

No trip to Zuni is complete without their giant plate of shoestring fries. 'nough said.

I think this dessert was called a Piccola Meringata. It was like a light airy take on a napoleon. Crunchy meringues sandwiched a tangerine chantilly cream with, I think, a marionberry sauce and toasted pistachios. I could imagine eating this dessert constantly in the summer time.

This visit we also split one of their wood fired pizzas with asparagus and pancetta. I'm not a huge fan of asparagus but this is the time of the year when it's usually young, tender and delicious and the asparagus on this pizza was no exception.

If you live in the bay area and have yet to make it to Zuni, I recommend you get over there. Stat.

Matzo Brei with Home Made Raspberry Preserves

For me, matzo brei, like most things my father cooked for me, is one of those ultimate comfort foods. It's hearty and delicious and everyone makes it differently. I remember the first time I ordered it in a restaurant and how confused I was by the omelette with cooked onions and bits of matzo. There are those who grew up with savory matzo brei and those who, like me, grew up with sweet matzo brei, essentially matzo french toast and, as far as I can tell, nobody switches to the other side. Mix up this sweet treat with some tart homemade raspberry preserves for pure deliciousness. It certainly doesn't have to be Pesach to eat it, but since it is, I recommend giving it a try. Mmm...

Ingredients for Matzo Brei:

• half a box of matzo (I used thin salted for this batch, but any type will do)
• 3 eggs
• ¾ c. milk
• 1 T sugar
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1 T vanilla extract
• pat of butter

Ingredients for Raspberry Jam:

• 10 oz. frozen raspberries
• ½ c. sugar
• ½ c. water

Directions for Matzo Brei:

1. Beat together eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, like french toast custard
2. Crumble matzo into small pieces and place into a medium bowl
3. Pour custard over matzo and let sit 5 minutes, or until matzo is thoroughly soaked and slightly softened
4. Heat a frying pan over low medium heat, coat with butter
5. Put all of the custard soaked matzo into the pan
6. Cook, flipping and stirring occasionally until it is slightly browned
7. Serve immediately with jam, butter, syrup or cinnamon sugar

Directions for Raspberry Preserves (method adapted from "The Cake Bible", Rose Levy Beranbaum):

1. Bring sugar and water to a boil (because this is such a small amount of jam, make sure to use a fairly small heavy bottomed pot so it won't scorch)
2. Add half the berries to the syrup, boil one minute, remove with a slotted spoon and drain in a mesh sieve over a bowl
3. Bring syrup back to a boil, add the other half of the berries, boil one minute, place in sieve
4. Bring syrup in the pot and any syrup collected in the bowl to 210˚F
5. Push the cooked berries through the sieve to remove most of the seeds
6. Return the berries to the syrup mixture and simmer about 5 minutes
7. Pour into storage container, let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate
8. Will keep for 2 weeks refrigerated

Labels: matzo, passover/pesach, raspberries

Lemon Almond Pancakes for Passover

Light, fluffy pancakes perfect for replacing your regular Saturday or Sunday brunch. Just a hint of almond flavor with lemon zest-y goodness, they go great with raspberry syrup.

Ingredients:

• 1 c matzoh meal
• 1 c almond meal
• 4 eggs, seperated
• ½ c sugar (divided into two ¼ cups)
• ½ stick butter
• zest of half a lemon (I used meyer 'cause that's what grows 'round here)
• 1 ¼ c milk
• ¼ t salt
• 1 capful vanilla

Directions:

1. Combine dry ingredients (minus ¼ c sugar)
2. Melt butter
3. Beat together melted butter, egg yolks, milk and vanilla
4. Mix milk mixture into dry ingredients
5. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until just frothy
6. With mixer on medium slowly add in remaining sugar
7. Whip egg whites until glossy and forms medium peaks (slightly on the stiffer side)
8. Mix one third of the egg whites into the batter (this is called "sacrificing" the egg whites)
9. Fold remaining two thirds of the egg whites into the batter until well incorporated
10. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat, coat with butter
11. Pour (scoop) batter into pan and cook like regular pancakes!

Dry Sautéed String Beans with Tofu

Dry Sautéed String Beans are one of my favorite dishes. They are the most important deciding factor in whether or not I will return to a Chinese restaurant. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that they are both deep fried and then sautéed in oil and a small amount of sauce. Does that sound like dry sautéeing to you?

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs string beans, trimmed
• 1 lb extra firm tofu, 1" cubes
• 1 t sugar
• ½ c and 2 T soy sauce
• ¼ c and 1 T sake
• 4 t sesame oil
• 2 T minced garlic
• 2 t crushed red pepper
• 2 T minced fresh ginger

Directions:

1. Combine ½ c soy sauce, ¼ c sake, 2 t. sesame oil, 1 T. minced garlic, 1 T. fresh ginger
2. Place tofu in a small bowl and pour sauce over. Let marinate while preparing green beans.
3. Combine 1 t. sugar, 2 T. soy sauce, 1 T sake, 2 t. sesame oil and set aside
4. Heat 2" vegetable oil in a wok to 375°F.
5. In small batches, fry green beans for about 30-45 sec. until bright green. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain. Return oil to temperature between each batch.
6. Pour out oil until just a thin coat remains. Add remaining garlic, crushed red peppers and ginger and sautée slightly.
7. Drain tofu and add to wok. Stir fry until it begins to brown.
8. Add green beans and stir fry about 30 sec. before adding prepared sauce.
9. Stir fry until green beans and tofu are coated in sauce and hot. No more than one minute.
10. Serve with rice.

Potato Leek Soup

Mmm... potato leek soup, possibly the only thing that outranks butternut squash on my favorite soups list. Creamy, hearty and easy to make. I originally just drizzled olive oil on this to make the picture a little less boring (it's hard to make a bowl of off white soup look exciting) but I actually really liked the flavor of our olive oil with the potatoes- if you have some tasty olive oil, give it a try.

Ingredients:

• 2 T butter
• 3 leeks
• 4 medium potatoes
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 qt. chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• milk to desired consistency

Directions:

1. Thinly slice leeks to the top of the light green part and put in a bowl of water to soak out any dirt
2. Thinly slice potatoes (I leave the skins on for flavor and potassium)
3. Heat 2 T of butter in a large pot over medium heat
4. Add potatoes to the pot and sautée until they start to brown
5. Add garlic and sautée for one minute, careful not to burn
6. Drain and add leeks, sautée until wilted
7. Add 1 qt chicken broth and simmer for 30 min
8. Immersion blend or blend in a regular blender (Be very careful if using a regular blender, only blend half at a time. Trust me.)
9. Blend in milk until desire consistency is reached

Maple Ginger Glazed Pork Chops with Cayenne Whipped Sweet Potatoes and Blanched Broccoli

So today was just one of those days where crazy recipe ideas of all sorts swam in and out of my completely unfocused mind. Of all the things I thought of cooking today, this was the thing that kept just coming back and boy, am I glad it did. I'm sure there's a recipe for something similar to this out there, but I was feeling adventurous so I just went where my intuition told me. The sweet, salty and spicy flavors fuse together into pure deliciousness and we'll be eating this again and again.

Ingredients:

• 2 pork chops
• 2 T minced ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ c soy sauce
• ¼ c maple syrup
• 3 small sweet potatoes (yams? the orange ones)
• ¼ stick butter
• splash of milk
• ¼ t cayenne pepper
• salt to taste
• broccoli for two

Directions:

1. Peel and mince ginger and garlic
2. Place into a liquid measuring cup
3. Fill measuring cup to ½ c with soy sauce
4. Add ¼ c maple syrup and stir, set aside
5. Peel and quarter sweet potatoes, boil for 12-15 minutes or until soft
6. While potatoes are boiling begin cooking pork chops
7. Heat a skillet over medium heat, place pork chops in the pan
8. Cook for about 3 minutes or until browned, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes
9. Add sauce to the pan, cook pork chops an additional 2 minutes on each side as the sauce caramelizes and reduces slightly
10. Remove from heat and serve with plenty of the sauce, ginger and garlic
11. To finish potatoes, use a whisk or the whisk attachment on a stand mixer and whip together potatoes, milk, butter, cayenne pepper and salt until fluffy and delicious
12. Somewhere in there blanch some broccoli too...

January Daring Bakers Challenge: Tuiles!

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux. I was pretty excited when I found out this month's daring baker challenge was tuiles (thin, light, easily[ish] shapable cookies) because of the amount of creativity in plating they allow. I paired mine with a rich chocolate chai mousse (recipe coming soon, I'm a little too tired tonight) and made a couple of different shapes.

Tuile Ingredients:

• ¼ c softened butter )
• ½ c sifted confectioner’s sugar
• 1 T vanilla sugar
• 2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
• 1/2 c all purpose flour
• 1 T cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice

Mousse Ingredients:

• 12 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 c whole milk
• 3 T sugar
• 1 T loose leaf chai tea
• ⅔ c heavy cream
• optional: additional heavy cream for serving with whipped cream

Tuile Directions:

1. Decide what shapes of tuile you'd like to make and cut stencils out of thin cardboard
2. Cream together butter, powdered sugar and vanilla sugar
3. Beat in egg whites
4. Gradually add the flour and beat to a smooth paste
5. Cover and chill for at least 30 min
6. Preheat oven to 350°F
7. Place stencil on a well greased or silpat line sheetpan (this is one of those things that for me silpats are absolutely essential for) and spread a thin layer of tuile paste over the stencil
8. Remove the stencil
9. To make chocolate details, mix a small amount of cocoa powder with some of the plain tuile paste and pipe using a coronet or a very small piping tip
10. Bake the cookies for 5 to 10 minutes until they start to brown
11. Remove from the oven and immediately bend to desired shape (this is a good opportunity to work on developing your "baker's hands")

Pancetta Cups with Chevre and Pear

This is a fantastically easy, delicious, impressive looking/sounding, winter finger food. It's easiest if you buy circular pieces of pancetta because as they cook they naturally form a little cup. I made this batch with spiral pieces that sort of shrank into a circle and curled up at the edges but it was not quite as neat as the other way.

Ingredients:

• 1 package circular pancetta
• 4 oz chevre
• 1 pear (a firmer variety is better)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375˚F
2. Spread out pancetta on a sheetpan
3. Bake pancetta for 10-30 minutes (it varies greatly depending on the thickness of your pancetta)
4. Drain and cool like bacon
5. Place a teaspoon of chevre onto each pancetta round
6. Slice pear into small triangles
7. Stick triangles upright into chevre
8. Serve immediately

Shortbread Extravaganza!

Shortbread is one of the easiest and most delicious cookies you can make. The dough can be frozen, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container forever once baked and the variations are endless. In this picture are my espresso shortbread and chocolate and hazelnut shortbread. I also made vanilla bean and meyer lemon using the same basic recipe. They're a great addition to a gift basket or put them in a glassine bag and stick it on the outside of a present as a little bonus. Keep some dough in the freezer and the next time someone calls you last minute to ask if you can bring dessert to a party you'll be ready to go.

Basic Dough:

• 2 sticks of butter (chilled and cut into ¼" pieces)
• ½ c. sugar
• ¼ t. salt
• 2 ¼ c. flour
• Optional: zest of one meyer lemon, scrapings of one vanilla bean, ¼ c. ground roasted hazelnuts or 1 tsp finely ground coffee or espresso powder

Basic Chocolate Dough:

• 2 sticks of butter (chilled and cut into ¼" pieces)
• ½ c. sugar
• ¼ t. salt
• 2 c. flour
• ¼ c. cocoa powder
• Optional: ¼ c. ground roasted hazelnuts, 1 tsp peppermint extract or 1 tsp finely ground coffee or espresso powder

Directions:

1. Combine flour and salt (with cocoa powder and/or hazelnuts) and set aside
2. Paddle together butter and sugar (as well as extracts, vanilla bean, espresso powder or zest) until well incorporated (because the butter is cold it won't get light and fluffy the way it would for most cookies using the creaming method)
3. Beat in the dry ingredients until well incorporated
4. Remove from the bowl and roll into a log about 1½" in diameter
5. Roll the log in colored sanding sugar or ground nuts (or maybe candy canes?)
6. If the dough has gotten to soft, chill for at least 30 minutes
7. Preheat oven to 300˚
8. Cut into discs ¼-½" thick
9. Arrange the cookies spread at least 1" apart on an ungreased sheetpan or silpat
10. Bake 40-50 minutes or until light golden brown
11. Let cool on the pan before moving
12. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place