Happy Holidays!

 

I know it's been a while since my last post, but there's much more to come in the new year.  

In the meantime, here are some of the yummy macarons I've been making for gifts.

Warm wishes for a lovely holiday season to all, and for a happy, prosperous 2012.

x

Candied Orange & Blackberry Yogurt Parfait

For whatever reason, I really wanted to make candied oranges. Really, they're the easiest thing in the world, but I felt like if I were going to make them, I'd also have to bake a cake because they are essentially a garnish. But, I didn't want to bake a cake, rather, I didn't want to have a cake in my house that I would eat too much of. So, I made them anyway and came up with a much better use. I chopped some up and ate them for breakfast with some blackberries, almonds, honey and greek yogurt. It was divine- now I can't wait for tomorrow's breakfast!

CANDIED ORANGE SLICES

Cut 3 oranges into slices about a quarter of an inch thick. Put 3 cups water and 1 cup sugar in a medium pot, stir them together and bring to a boil. Add the oranges and cook over medium heat- turn them occasionally until the liquid becomes a thin and syrupy and the slices are translucent. This takes about 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the syrup becomes thick and the slices are tender, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Then transfer the orange slices to parchment paper to cool.

Caramelized Fig & Pecan Custard Pie

 

I recently discovered the awesomeness of caramelized figs- so easy, and so tasty. I know they're great by themselves, but found they're even better when plopped on a bed of custard, surrounded by candied pecans, and finished off with a buttery whole wheat crust. 

There are a lot of steps to this recipe, but they're all easy, it just takes a little time.

CARAMELIZED FIG AND PECAN CUSTARD PIE

PIE CRUST: Put 1 cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup white flour + 1 tsp salt in a mixer, Blend together quickly and add 1 stick butter chopped into small pieces + 3-4 tbsps ice water, and run mixer on medium high speed until dough is formed. Shape dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Once dough is chilled, roll out and fit into a buttered pie plate. bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, until edges are browned and crust is cooked all the way through. Let cool.

CARAMELIZED FIGS: Cut 8-10 figs in half vertically, coat liberally with sugar and cook face down in a frying pan for 3 minutes over high heat until sugar caramelizes. Flip over, cook for one more minute. Remove from the pan and let cool.

CANDIED PECANS: This is the easy (ie. lazy) way I have always made them- you need to move quickly and stir frequently though.  Stick a big gob of butter, 1/3 of a stick or so, 1/2 cup sugar, a pinch of sea salt and some cinnamon in a non-stick pan over medium high heat.  Stir them together and once they're all mixed up add 1 cup pecans into the pan. Now, stir, stir stir for a couple of minutes until the mixture starts to brown, and the sugar starts to caramelize. Turn off the heat immediately. Put on a plate they're not going to stick to and plop in the freezer for about 5 minutes until just cool- not frozen.

CUSTARD: You can make your own, but I have a big canister of Bird's english custard and that's what I made mine from. Just make sure to have 1 cup and to chill it once you've made or accquired it.

Once everything is cool, spread the custard on the pie and then top with the figs and pecans. yum.

Butternut Squash & Granny Smith Apple Soup

Hello winter? What happened to fall?

On Saturday I woke up to a snowstorm and the only thing I could think of was soup. 

Aside from being delicious, it's a great excuse to turn on the oven for some extra warmth. 

This soup was so satisfying- it warmed me up, tasted great and seemed kind of healthy too. 

The apples make it kind of tart, and a little sweet, while the squash gave it an earthy, creamy note. It's also super easy to make, and you can swap other types of root veggies, or squash and use the same basic recipe.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH GRANNY SMITH APPLE SOUP

Toss together 1 butternut squash (chopped) + 2 Granny Smith apples (chopped) + 2 tbsp olive oil + 2 tablespoons honey, add a pinch of sea salt and some thyme or other fresh herbs.  Throw it all on a baking pan and roast at 425 for about 30 minutes. Once the roasted squash and apples have cooled, puree them in a food processor until smooth. Put the puree in a big soup pan over medium heat and whisk in 3 cups chicken stock, then whisk in about 1 tbsp heavy cream.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let simmer over low heat until ready to serve. Easy peasy and even tastier with a few pecans thrown on top.

Mexican Food in Paris: Cooking with the Cowgirl Chef

Surely no one comes to France for Mexican food- in fact it's very difficult to find the ingredients you need to make it. That's what Ellise, aka the Cowgirl Chef found when she moved to Paris from Texas five years ago- her attempts to combat homesickness led to some hilarious stories and incredible recipes which are to be published soon in the forthcoming Cowgirl Chef Cookbook: Cooking in Paris with a Texas Accent.

I felt quite lucky to spend the last week of my time in France at work, on location, in Paris to direct the photo shoot for the cookbook. It was great to spend lots of time with Ellise, cooking and shooting at her home with brilliant photographer Steve Legato, and to see a little bit of Paris too. 

Ellise's book, like her blog, cowgirlchef.com is filled with funny stories and truly delicious recipes. It was a delight to spend the week with her and sample her food. 

 

You can read Ellise's post on the shoot here: 

http://cowgirlchef.com/2011/10/13/behind-the-scenes-cookbook-photo-shoot/

All of the photos on this post were taken by and copyright of Steve Legato. Enjoy.

J'aime Hipstamatic

French Holiday

Some photos from a week in the Dordogne region of France, an unbelievably magical corner of the world. Ridiculously beautiful, and made even better by the company of some of my best and oldest friends. 

We stayed in a lovely little house outside of the exquisitely charming town of Sarlat, in Perigord Noir. The area is famous for its foie gras and truffles. The town has a great market twice a week bursting with all sorts of local produce, honey, oils, breads, cheeses, olives and sausages. Not to mention the wine... 

 

Caramel Apples

I love the idea of caramel apples, but hate the corn syrupy, sticky, impossible-to-eat apples on a stick that you see everywhere this time of year. Dipping slices of apple into caramel seems superior to trying to eat the whole thing off of a stick. It's still messy, but your face is spared. Rosemary caramel goes perfectly with crisp apple slices- the tarter, the better- worlds better than that fake corn syrup goo.

ROSEMARY CARAMEL

Combine 1+1/2 cups sugar + 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and let boil until it becomes caramel colored- remove from heat immediately and pour in 1+1/4 cups heavy cream. Return to heat and stir to break up any sugar. Once it's smooth, remove from heat, add 2 sprigs of rosemary for 20 seconds, remove the rosemary, stir in 1 tbsp lemon juice and let cool.

Goodbye Summer

Summer always seems to go faster than any other season, and no matter how unbearable the heat and humidity can be, I'm sad to see it end... And whenever I'm a little sad, a bit of baking will generally cheer me up. So here's an easy galette with what may be the last nice white peaches and blueberries of the season. I added rosemary and ginger to give it a little kick towards those wintry flavors. If you mix a little pinch of the fresh ginger, rosemary, and lemon zest into the dough before it chills, it'll be even more delicious. Enjoy.

TINY WHITE PEACH & BLUEBERRY GALETTES WITH ROSEMARY AND GINGER

FOR THE CRUST: mix together 1+1/2 cups white flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and a pinch of sea salt in a mixer. Add 6 tbsps butter, and mix until the butter is somewhat incorporated. Then add 1 egg (beaten) and 1 tbsp of heavy cream and continue to mix until dough comes together. Refrigerate and chill for at least 90 minutes.

FOR THE FILLING: Chop 2 white peaches and sit them in a bowl with 1/2 pint of blueberries, drizzle with honey, lemon zest, a pinch of fresh grated ginger and chopped rosemary. Let sit for at least an hour so the flavors can combine.

Preheat oven to 375. When the dough is chilled, divide into 6 balls and roll them each out into little disks- about 4-5" diameter. Then place a small amount of the peach-blueberry mix into the center of each one. Leave about an inch and a half of space around the edges and then fold the crust up over the fruit to create little open-faced pies. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and fruit is bubbly.

Homemade Soda

 

It's fair to say I drink a lot of sparkling water. So much in fact, that my boyfriend, recently pointed out that our amount of weekly recycling has quadrupled—ever since I discovered you can buy it by the case at Trader Joe's. So, in an attempt to sweeten the deal for him (as he's the one on recycling detail) I occasionally make homemade soda, which is basically just any sort of flavored simple syrup added to sparkling water. 

You can do a great spicy soda with cinnamon sticks, cardamom, ginger, star anise & a couple of peppercorns; or any sort of citrus-y soda- just simmer the peel in the syrup. Homemade ginger ale is infinitely better than the bottled kind. Just a simple cinnamon soda is pretty damn good too, as is a vanilla one, or a rose one. Follow your tastebuds and use your imagination, the choices are infinite.

So here's a vanilla soda with fresh mint to add a herbal, fresh note. Could not require less effort- in honor of not laboring on labor day.

VANILLA SIMPLE SYRUP/ SODA BASE

Combine 1 cup of sugar (I used brown this time) and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar, add 1 vanilla bean, split open. Let the syrup come to a boil and then simmer for ten minutes. Pour in glass jar and cool in refrigerator. When cold add to sparkling water and ice for homemade soda. 

Comfort Food for Earthquakes and Hurricanes

It's been an unsettling week here in Philadelphia. On Tuesday I experienced my first-ever earthquake. 

And while it may not have been that bad, seeing the walls in my office move definitely seemed like a fantastic excuse for indulging in some serious comfort food. 

What's wrong with extra cheese when the world seems to be ending sooner than later? 

And now, just a few days later, we are waiting to be walloped/ smacked/ demolished (real adjectives from real newscasters) by a hurricane. So instead of what I had planned to be a lovely weekend in Brooklyn, I am home making hurricane preparations. These include stacking up on wine and baking butter-almond cookies. 

Hopefully that will be enough to see us through.

BUTTER ALMOND COOKIES

Preheat Oven to 375 • Cream together 1 stick butter and 1 cup brown sugar • When fluffy add 1 egg and 1 tsp good quality vanilla • When combined, blend in 1+3/4 cups flour and 1/2 tsp sea salt, when batter forms add 1 cup toasted almonds, bake for 10-12 min • makes 24 small cookies

SERIOUSLY COMFORTING PIZZA

Preheat oven to 450  • roll-out pizza dough and pre-bake for 5 minutes • Remove from oven and top with sliced and salted baby heirloom tomatoes, proscuitto, and caramelized onions (I've been adding pimenton de la vera- or spanish smoked paprika to mine, for a great smoky sweet kick) • Top liberally with mozzarella and bake for 7 minutes or so, until crust is golden ad cheese is bubbly.

On Location: Montana

A couple of weeks ago, I flew to Bozeman, Montana to art direct, and prop-style a shoot for a cookbook that I will be designing. The book is called Open Range, and is by Chef Jay Bentley of the Mint in Belgrade, MT, to be published by Running Press in the fall of 2012. It features his delicious food, as well as all things Montana. The food shots are by the very talented Lynn Donaldson and the food styling by the incomparable Ricardo Jattan. The best part for me- sourcing all of the props from an amazing antiques store.
Montana is a gorgeous state, and everyone was incredibly friendly.  Here are some of my favorite snapshots of the trip, and just a tiny preview of what will be in the book...

On Location: Gardens

I took these at Chanticleer Gardens in Wayne, PA. We had to go out and grab some shots of vegetables growing for a cookbook that I'm designing, and it just happened to be a perfect day. Enjoy..

Caramelized Sage

One of my favorite places to go on a saturday, when I'm at home, is the local farmers' market, and yesterday I got to make the trip. I came home with a bag filled with heirloom tomatoes big and small, sweet onions, creamy white eggplants, white peaches, and a big bunch of sage. Last week I had the good fortune to eat caramelized (ok, maybe just fried?) sage for the first time, and it was fabulous. I've been craving the taste ever since and decided to try to recreate the recipe.

Caramelized Sage:

18-24 fresh sage leaves + 2-3 tbsp butter + pinch of sea salt; Melt butter in a hot pan until sizzling, turn the heat down, throw in the sage, add the salt, and watch the leaves closely, turn them often, making sure they get crispy, but don't burn, about 5 mins. Remove from heat, set on paper towels to cool. Eat on just about anything savory or just eat them on their own.