Puff Pastry! Wow!

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

As with some of the previous challenges, I was absolutely convinced this was not going to work. Not on the first try at least. Maybe on the second, most likely on the fifth try, but not on the first. The dough was a bit gummy, the day was hot, and I was covered in butter up to the elbows, watching Michel Richard roll out his pastry with unbelievable grace while I was huffing and puffing over mine. I have always thought that making puff pastry was the Holy Grail of baking. I love using it but never thought I would ever attempt to make it myself. So this challenge was really challenging. Long story short, my puff pastry turned out great, the Vols-au-Vents were fabulous and promptly disappeared at the party later that night, accompanied by "uhs" and "ahs" and marriage proposals.

I used Michel Richard's recipe, though I actually halved it (in case of complete failure I didn't want a pound of butter to go to waste):

Puff Pastry

2 1/2 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 C cake flour
1 tbsp salt (half for sweet preparations)
1 1/4 C ice water
1 lb very cold unsalted butter

extra flour for dusting work surface

I am an impatient reader when it comes to cooking technique or I get lost halfway through (I also hate reading instruction manuals... don't ask how I put together my IKEA couch) so I loved watching the Julia Child + Michel Richard video instead. In fact I watched it a few times. Not only is it very informative, it is also very entertaining:

Michel: Do you like garlic?
Julia: Oh yes.
Michel: Me too. Of course it's hard to kiss your boyfriend after you've had garlic.
Julia: Unless of course he's had some too.

As a matter of fact I made the Tort Milanese last weekend and it turned out FAN-TASTIC!

If you are more of the instruction reading type of person though, here is a site you might enjoy: Baking911 (but beware of the crazy web design).

For the filling I improvised with what was available in my fridge. Considering I had just come back from a 12-day trip and was to be gone for another 5 day the following week, the choices were pretty slim - a peach, butter, cream cheese. So... how about peach cooked with sugar and cognac... topped with cream cheese frosting? Voilla!

Moral: Puff pastry is not as hard to make as most people think.

Fig Bounty

A few weeks ago I was taking my car from the work parking lot when I noticed a large fig tree overhanging the lot, heavy with unripe figs. I thought how fabulous it would be when the figs started getting ripe. The roots of the tree were on the other side of the fence so the tree technically belonged to the house next door. So am I allowed to pick the figs or not, I wondered. My friend Jane was kind to inform me (after I had already done the deed) that according to an ancient Greek law, the fruit overhanging your property belong to you; besides, no one else (except the squirrels) were making use of them and these luscious, juicy black Mission figs were just falling to the ground. So I proceeded to harvest them quite regularly over the past two weeks.

After the first bowl of figs appeared in my fridge I realized I could not possibly eat them all. What to do with a boatload of figs? They are such delicate fruit with very subtle flavor, the best thing is to just pop them in your mouth, close your eyes and sink into heaven. They are best fresh and there are very few things that you can cook with figs. I browsed by cookbooks, I surfed the net, I was restless until I lined up 4 (yes, four!) recipes which I wanted to try.

First came the fig tart. I was responsible for buying food for the Friday social hour at work. If I make a pie just for the sake of making a pie, the poor pie will spend a month in my fridge. But if I bring it to Happy Hour, there will be 15 volunteers to take care of it. Muahahaha. The recipe came from Epicurious. Just read the name and you will be seduced: Fresh Fig Tart with Rosemary Cornmeal Crust and Lemon Mascarpone Cream. Oh, doesn't it just sound delicious?

Mascarpone-Fig Tart

For the crust:
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C yellow cornmeal (not stone-ground)
1 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 Tbs finely chopped fresh rosemary
3+ Tbs ice water

For the filling:
1/4 C plain yogurt
1 C mascarpone cheese (8 oz)
1/4 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp finely grated fresh lemon zest

1 1/2 lb fresh figs

This is made just like your regular tart. Mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and butter, and rub between your hands until the mixture turns into pea-sized crumbs. Add the rosemary and start adding the water one Tbs at a time, until the dough can be collected into a ball. Don't knead. Press the dough into a pie pad and line the walls and sides with a thin even layer. This recipe produced a bit too much dough for my pie pan so I used the leftovers to line a little ramekin for a mini-tart. Poke the dough with a fork and line with foil...or don't - opinions are split on whether you should do that. Bake at 350F for ~25 minutes, until the rim of the tart starts getting golden. Cool well on a rack.

Make the filling: beat the mascarpone cheese, yogurt, sugar and zest together in a bowl for ~30 seconds until fluffy. To assemble, pour the filling into the cold crust, arrange the figs on top. The picture here shows the figs sliced, but I cut them into wedges and it worked just as fine. I didn't brush them with glaze either, but got no complaints.

The tart was fantastic! Everyone loved it and I got thanks for it even 4 days later. So it must have been good. Or people were just really impressed that I baked something. What I really loved about this recipe is how versatile the element are. I'd never thought of putting herbs in the pie dough, for example. I was not a big fan of this particular crust recipe (and will make sure I post my favorite crust recipe at some other point) but including rosemary, basil or thyme in the crust, especially for a quiche or a savory pie would sure be fabulous. Also the filling was to die for! I couldn't get enough of it! (By the way, Trader Joe's carries mascarpone cheese, which is like cream cheese but better). It can be paired with any other fruit - Andrea suggested fresh raspberries, I also think peaches, strawberries, blueberry compote would go just fine on top of this filling. Ah, just more ideas for tasty things to bake!

Following the tart, I proceeded to make two types of fig jam and one type of fig preserve. Woah! That was a lot of work, but the results are so delicious, I can't wait for the winter to come so that I can start opening the jars. (Yes, I have a rule that no jams should be eaten if fresh fruit are available.) First I made the Spiced Microwave Fig-Orange Jam by Elise on Simply Recipes. I know, jam in the microwave?!? It worked great but if you want to boil it on the stove in the spirit of tradition, then go for it. Then I made the preserve with whole figs, which turned out very much like the fig preserves my mom used to make. Finally I made the spiked fig jam (spiced, spiked, I hope I don't get them confused in the cupboard). To prepare the figs for jamming, cut off their tails. I found two different suggested methods on washing the figs - pour hot water on them or wash them with cold water and baking soda. I used the former for the jams and the latter for the preserve.

Spiced Microwave Fig Jam

2 C (well packed) diced fresh figs
1/2 C seeded, peeled orange, diced
2 C sugar
the zest of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cloves (which I forgot to pull out at the end... or ground)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 8oz jars & 1 4oz jar

Combine all the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl, stir and let sit for ~30 min. Place in the microwave and set on high for 20 minutes. As soon as the mixture starts boiling (after 6-7 minutes), stop and stir. Keep stirring every 2-3 minutes and keep an eye on it so it does not boil over. It is ready when it has boiled down to 2/3 of its original volume. You can also check for done-ness using the wrinkle test shown here. Don't just rely on the thickness on the jam because it will thicken as it cools.

While the jam is making (and this is true for jam and preserve recipes), sterilize your jars in a large pot with boiling water. Just let them simmer. They should be well covered with water. Sterilize the lids and bands as well. Once the jam is done, pour it into the hot jars (use a towel or oven mitts), wipe the mouth clean with a paper towel, place the lid on top and screw on the band as tight as you can. Place the jars in a pot of hot water (yes, you can use the same pot of hot water) and bring to boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Maybe this double sterilization is an overkill - sterilize the jars and then boil the jam too - but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Pull the hot jars out of the water and let them cool on a towel (don't place the hot jars on the cold counter-top - they might crack!). Count the pops.

I liked the jam. The spices were very light. On first taste they still seemed to overpower the figs a bit, but things improved when the jam cooled The orange was hardly noticeable. The consistency was fantastic - the vigorous boiling the the microwave made for a very smooth jam.

Along a similar line comes the Spiked Fig Jam. I love adding alcohol to food - it imparts fantastic flavors even if a small quantity is used.

Spiked Fig Jam

1 lemon
4 1/2 C fresh figs, chopped and loosely packed
2 C sugar
1/3 C brandy or Cognac
2 Tbs lemon juice (from the same lemon)
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

3 8 oz. jars

Peel the lemon (thinly, with a potato peeler) and chop the rind into matchsticks. Combine all ingredients in a pot and let them sit for ~1 hour. Bring to boil over medium heat. Turn heat to low and simmer for ~30 minutes, stirring frequently and mashing the fruit. After the 30-minute mark, start checking for done-ness. Again, the jam will thicken when it cools. When the test comes out positive, turn off the heat and pour the jam into sterilized jars. Put on lids, screw on bands and boil the jars for ~10 minutes to finish off sterilization.

This jam turned out sooooooo incredibly good. I barely had the will power to leave some for James to try. I could have easily polished it off.

Finally, the fig preserve. I've always been befuddled by the differences between preserves, jams, marmalades and such. I am learning my way around them as I am making them - while jams are basically purees, preserves keep the fruit whole submerged in a sugar syrup. This old-fashioned fig preserve reminds me of the one my Mom used to make. It takes a long time to boil down so arm yourself with patience.

Fig Preserve

4 C whole figs
2 C sugar
3 lemon slices, seeded
1 C water
pinch of salt

2 8oz jars and 1 4 oz jar

Combine all ingredients in a pot, stir well and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for at least one hour. Continue simmering until the syrup passes the wrinkle test. Pour into sterilized jars, cap, screw the bands on and boil for 10 minutes.

Phew, that was a huge adventure! So much jammin' my head started spinning. And as if that wasn't enough I had another bowl of figs left. In a final act of desperation I decided to dry them in the oven. It took two nights with the oven turned on the lowest setting, probably 100F, to get most of the moisture out, to get the figs all dry and shriveled. All right, that's enough. I'm done.

And if that was not enough for you, here are a few more fig ideas:
Pizza with Figs, Prosciutto, Gorgonzola, Balsamic, and Arugula
Candied Fig, Hazelnut and Orange Cheesecake with Port Sauce
Warm Black Mission Fig, Walnut Crunch, and Blue Cheese Tartlets
Fresh Figs with Goat Cheese and Peppered Honey
Fig-Sesame Jam

Home-made Mayonnaise

Like many other things that appear here, this, too, was James's idea. A few weeks ago he came to visit and brought me a box-full of home-made mayonnaise. He told me about his adventures trying to make it, hand-whipping it, not quite getting the consistency right, adding another yolk and finally finishing it off in the food processor to a grand finale. He made an egg salad and several sandwiches generously slathered with mayo. The consistency and the flavor of the mayonnaise were so light and fluffy you could eat it with a spoon and completely forget about the oil in it. I was hooked. A few days after he left, I made my own attempt at mayonnaise. I started with the blender, broke the emulsion, continued with the food processor, which only made things worse, and finally decided to hand-whip it, which to my utter surprise, did the trick! Oh, so good!

The video below is our join second attempt to make mayonnaise (success!).

Home-made Mayonnaise

1 egg yolk at room temperature
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cool water
1 C oil
1/4 tsp salt

Yields: 1 C

Notes on the ingredients: The yolk needs to be at room temperature. If you want to speed the process, submerge the cold egg in a cup or warm water. After a couple of minutes pour out the water, add some new warm water, leave for a few minutes and keep doing this until the egg no longer feels cold to the touch. The oil needs to be very mildly flavored. I recommend canola oil or vegetable oil or sunflower oil. In the video we use 1/4 C of quite strongly flavored olive oil but the result had a seriously strong olive oil flavor - I would not recommend doing this. Either use very mild olive oil or only add a Tbs of olive oil if you want to impart that flavor.

The making of:
1. Combine the yolk, the water and the lemon juice in a deep bowl. Whisk to combine.
2. Start pouring the oil in a very thin stream and whisking vigorously. The mixture should be smooth and pale, initially very thin. It will start to thicken at the point when you have added about half the oil. Keep whipping until all the oil has been incorporated.
3. Add salt to taste and mix it in. Refrigerate - it will thicken even further.

I don't know about James, but my main inspiration to make mayonnaise came from Michael Ruhlman's new book "Ratio". I came across the mayonnaise chapter when I was browsing the book online and I was stunned to find out that the key ingredient to achieving an emusion (i.e. mayonnaise) is not the yolk but the liquid! Yolks come in all sorts of different sizes. What is important is how much water and/or lemon juice you add. The basic rule of thumb is 20 parts of oil to 1 part of liquid. One cup is equal to 16 Tbs which is approximately 20. There is a wide range of ratios that can be emulsified but 20:1 seems to work and is easy to remember. I think 1 C : 1 Tbs is also easy to remember. If you don't add the liquid, you will not get a thick emulsion. My Mom used to make mayonnaise with yolk + oil + citric acid when I was a kid and it always turned out thin and runny. I am guessing the lack of water explains that.

Finally, before I leave you with our feature presentation, what is a broken emulsion? If you add the oil to quickly the mix will start looking like curdled milk - the oil and the yolk will separate. That's not good, but fear not. Pour out the broken mix into the cup cup with the remainder of the oil, wash the bowl, add a teaspoon of water to the clean bowl and start over, pouring the broken emulsion in a think stream and whipping. That should fix it.

Now get yourself a glass of wine, sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

From Movies

Summer Squash Gratin

This is a true story. Quite a few years ago I had a crush on this boy and after a couple of months of flirting, in a poorly thought-trough attempt to move things along, I invited him over for dinner. Equipped with barely the knowledge how to boil pasta I think I called my Mom five or six times over the course of the next week asking how to make a some of her specialties which mistakenly left her with the impression that I had suddenly become very interested in learning how to cook. The dinner (chicken with potatoes and ice-cream) turned out fine but the boy ended up being a huge disappointment. Many months after it was all over, my Mom sent me a Christmas present - a cookbook! And not any cookbook, but the encyclopedical "1585 of the Best and Tested Recipes" by Penka Cholcheva, which is sort of the Bulgarian version of The Joy of Cooking. Forward 6 years, the book is still sitting on my bookshelf and I don't think I have made a single recipe from it. Until last week that is.

Last weekend I came home from the farmers market with more than two pounds of summer squash. I had given myself an interesting task - pick one from each shape and color of summer squash I could find at the market and ended up with the assortment above. Purrrrtty! And I decided to put them to use by making Mrs. Cholcheva's Squash Bourek. Bourek is typically a dish containing cheese and eggs, but since this one also has a browned top crust I will christen in a gratin. It ended up being absolutely fantastic! The proportions are approximate from what I did to fit a 8x8 inch pan.

Summer Squash Gratin

1 1/2 lb summer squash or zucchini, sliced into thin rounds, ~1/8 inch
1 C ricotta or feta, crumbled
1 C yogurt
4 eggs
1 bunch fresh dill, chopped
salt

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Lightly oil the baking pan you will be using.
2. Salt the squash slices lightly and let them drain for a few minutes until you do the rest of the prep work.
3. In a bowl whisk the cheese with two eggs and the dill until well mixed. Season with salt if using ricotta.
4. In a second bowl whisk the yogurt and the other two eggs. Season with salt.
5. Squeeze the zucchini lightly.
6. Place a layer of half of the zucchini on the bottom of the pan, overlapping rounds so that the bottom is well covered. Pour the cheese-egg mixture on top and spread evenly. Layer the rest of the zucchini. Pour the yogurt-egg mixture on top and spread evenly.
7. Bake for about 45 minutes, until it starts browning on top. Finish of with a few minutes under the broiler to brown nicely. Serve hot or cold. Either way, very tasty, an excellent sink for spare squash and a good source of protein.

Unfortunately, this only used up half of my squash (all the long ones). The round and flying-saucer shaped ones were doomed to another week in the fridge but then rewarded for their patience by being turned into ratatouille... But this is a whole different story...

Panzanella

Tuscany. Just the name sounds so beautiful. Makes me think of green rolling hills, vineyards, cypress trees, sunsets, calm, quiet, cobble-stone streets, red roofs... Imagining Tuscany made me dreamy. And then I realized that I have been to Tuscany and that it is indeed all I imagine. That was a long time ago, seems like a different life now. I remember standing in line to see Michelangello's David and being surprised that the statue was smaller than I expected; climbing the stairs to the top of El Duomo in Florence and being utterly stunned by the view; sitting on the curb in a square, listening to a concert and drinking beer; walking the narrow streets of Sienna. And then, there is the memory of the medieval torture museum in the tiny town of San Gimignano, which still keeps me up at night. But I don' t remember a single meal I ate. So now, a little belatedly, I am trying to familiarize myself with Tuscan cuisine.

Panzanella is a traditional bread summer salad. I only found out about the concept recently, after coming across a grilled panzanella recipe online. And then I found that a whole of three pages are devoted to it in the Dean and Deluca cookbook (which is a fantastic read by the way). It is meant to be a leftover salad to use up stale bread (and possibly other odds and ends). But before I start muddling the water, here is the classical version:

Panzanella

1.5 parts tomatoes
1 part cucumber, peeled
1 part onion
1 part stale bread, de-crusting optional
torn basil leaves
Dressing: 2 to 1 ratio of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, preferably white
salt

Instead of giving exact measures, I am listing the basic proportions (by weight) though these need not be obeyed exactly. The idea is that the salad is dominated by tomatoes and bread, with less prominent presence of cucumbers, onions and basil. The exact preparation of the vegetables is up to you. Dean & Deluca suggest that you thinly slice everything. I prefer my tomatoes in bite-sized pieces and my cucumbers and onions quartered and then sliced. Either way goes. The bread should be de-crusted traditionally, but I left the crust because I like its chewy texture but that brings the bread forward flavor-wise. For a more fluffy and subtle bread texture, remove the crust. What bread to use? The salad works best with a hearty white bread with solid body and a bit of chewiness. It is best if the bread has been around for at least 4-5 day and is quite stale. If you only have non-stale bread, don't despair - just skip the "getting the bread wet" part.



Now, how does it all come together? Slice the onions and cucumbers, toss them with some salt and leave in a colander to drain some of the liquid while prepping the rest of the salad. Chop the tomatoes and add to the cucumbers and onions. De-crust the bread if desired and cut or tear into bite-sized pieces. Place the bread in another colander and sprinkle with cold water until the pieces are moist throughout (taste-test). It's ok if there are dry patches here and there, because these will absorb the moisture from the vegetables. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl, add the basil and toss with the dressing. Do not over-dress, you don't want to over-power the vegie taste. Add the bread and toss again, gently. Serve immediately or stick in the fridge for a few minutes until you are ready to eat it. This salad is way better if all the ingredients are really cold.

Chocolate-Cherry Milano Cookies

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milano Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This is my first Daring Bakers challenge and I feel seriously embarrassed to be flunking it a bit but the result is edible if not as pretty as I had hoped.

On the scale of one to ten of biblical disasters, making these cookies was probably only 1.5. Still I could have easily done without the excitement. It all started with grandiose plans (as all disasters usually do) to make a few different variations of the cookies - some original ones, some black and white ones, some chocolate cherry ones and to color some of the cookies red to match the cherry filling. It all sounded great and I was already imagining treating myself to one of these wonderful cookies along with my coffee on Monday morning (which I did anyways), but my plans deflated as soon as I popped the first pan in the oven .... and the cookies turned into crapes. Things kept going downhill when, after removing the cookies from the oven, I discovered they were glued to the parchment paper and there was no way to remove them from it. Nothing personal against parchment paper, but I prefer my cookies without it. I managed to salvage one cookie. But I was already out of the white batter. Oh well.

I figured I needed to add more flour (maybe too much of egg whites) which I did, realizing along the way that what I had hoped would be red batter was turning bright pink. To make up for it, the chocolate batter was tasty as hell (mmmmm, coooookiiiie baaaaatter). The pink and brown cookies turned out better if a bit too thick. Finally, I ended up with something more resembling deflated macaroons than Milan cookies. I did stick them together with chocolate and cherry jam, so they are chocolate cherry flavored, which I think worked out fabulously - I love the combination of the two flavors. Lesson learned: store bought Milano cookies are better. However, If you are not convinced, you are welcome to try this for yourself. Here is the recipe by Gale Gand on the Food Network site.

I-Miss-Tucson Triple Chocolate Cinnamon Cookies (First Attempt)

It has been almost four months since I picked up and moved from the scorching heat of Tucson, Arizona to the green lawns of Los Angeles, California. Despite the fact that I have moved to better weather and a better job, I am still missing Tucson a whole lot. One of the things I miss the most (along with that special someone) is the Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, the place where I spend the last three months of grad school and a significant fraction of the previous six years too. I am really more productive when there are people around me, when there is talking and music and interesting faces to secretly stare at for distraction. The quiet unnerves me and the hustle and bustle of the cozy coffee shop were a fantastic escape. Being able to get a huge mug of hot coffee and a bagel (ah, those fabulous 9-grain bagels) any time during the day was also a big advantage. Last but certainly not least was their fabulous selection of cookies. Mmmmm, cookies! Especially the triple chocolate cinnamon ones which I discovered one cold December day last year. And my life was changed forever. Seriously.

A few days before I moved away I asked the owner for the recipe. She refused politely but ensured that a big jar of cookies was supplied the next day which was sweet but I still wanted the recipe. And then I found this recipe on Epicurious. Aha! So here is my first attempt at making these cookies. I didn't quite follow the original recipe because of limitations on the available ingredients so here is what I did:

Triple Chocolate Cinnamon Cookies

1/4 C + 1 Tbs flour
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 Tbs sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 C (3 ounces) chopped milk chocolate (or chips)
1/2 C chopped walnuts, raw

Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and set aside. In a big bowl beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs and beat till smooth. Add the melted chocolate and mix in. Add the dry ingredients in two batches, beating until incorporated. Stir in the milk chocolate pieces and walnuts. The dough is done.

Shaping the cookies can be done in two ways - ice-cream-scooping and slicing. I did the latter because I didn't have time to bake the cookies on the evening I made the dough. The scooping is easier: scoop level ice-cream scoops of dough and place them on a parchment-paper, 2-inches apart because cookies will spread. Bake for 12 minutes in the lower third of the oven. Cookies will be a bit soft to the touch and glossy. Let them cool on the pan for a few minutes and then cool completely on a rack. The slicing method is messier because the dough is very soft and sticky. Roll the dough into two logs about an inch and a half in diameter (or bigger if you want bigger cookies) by wrapping it in parchment paper and rolling it. You are bound to have chocolate behind your ears. It's ok. Once the logs are shaped wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in the freezer. The dough can stay in the freezer for a few weeks... if you can wait that long. To bake the cookies, slice the logs into 1/4-inch slices and place on a parchment-paper-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, cool on pan and then on a rack. Eat.

These cookies turned out sooo fabulous! They were soft and chewy, chocolatey with just the right amount of cinnamon and walnuts, so delicious, I could not have just one. Everyone loved them. So did I but they were not quite what I was shooting for. The Bentley's cookies are drier, less chewy and they crack on top. I think I will try making them with all white sugar and adding some more flour next time. I'm going to work on these. Come Christmas, I'll have them perfect!

Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Sweet Miso Dressing

Cabbage keeps well for long periods of time but still this is no excuse for the fact that 2/3 of a head of this leafy green has been inhabiting my fridge for two months. Scary! I even moved the cabbage with me when I changed apartments three weeks ago. Yes, indeed, I am very fond of this particular head of cabbage. But it was time to let it go and last night I made this wonderful crunchy cabbage salad inspired by Heidi Swanson's Chopped Miso Salad recipe.

Hmmm... All the interesting things about cabbage I just learned on Wikipedia! Cabbage, apparently is from the mustard family and has originated in the Mediterranean by selective breeding of wild mustard plants for suppressed intermode length. It was known to the ancient Greek and Romans and was praised for its medicinal properties. The powdery, waxy finish on the leaves is called bloom, the bitterness is due to glucosinolate, and it is rich in riboflavin, vitamin C and glutamine. China is the largest producer of cabbage in the world, followed by India and Russia. South Korea is fourth (kimchi?) and Poland is 6th (cabbage rolls, anyone?). And now that we have covered the basics on cabbage, lets get to the recipe.

Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Miso Dressing

1 smallish head of cabbage
1 bunch chives, chopped
1 C almonds, pan roasted and chopped
1 C cooked garbanzo beans (optional)

Dressing:
2 Tbs miso (I used red miso)
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 C rice vinegar
1/4 C olive oil

To make the dressing, combine all ingredients except the olive oil, in a small jar or in a blender. Mix well. Add the oil. Shake the jar or blend until well mixed. This makes about twice as much dressing as you will need for the salad. I very much liked the dressing and will use it on other salads, but if you don't want extra then halve the recipe.

Chop the cabbage in very, very small pieces. I chopped it like a big onion - cut it in half, put each half flat on the cutting beard and put 5-6 not all-the-way-through cuts lengthwise (from the core to the tip) and then I sliced it very thinly starting from the tip. When I got to the core, I cut around it. Cabbage is usually way too hard and fibrous for me so I always give it my secret family treatment - I put the chopped cabbage confetti in a bowl, salted them lightly and kneaded then for a minute. This can be done with one or both hands, you basically squeeze the cabbage and mix it, squeeze and mix until it's all softened up. The motion is really very similar to kneading. Add the chives, almonds and beans. Add the dressing, toss, chill. This salad can easily keep for a couple of days in the fridge.

This can easily be made into a left-overs salad - a meal to take care of all of last week's Farmer's Marked odds and ends. The dressing is slightly sweet but bright from the vinegar. It goes very well with the cabbage, but you can easily also add lettuce (finely chopped), blanched green and wax beans (cut into 1/2 inch pieces), peas, asparagus, cucumber (chopped into matchsticks), green onions, other green herbs.

The garbanzo beans are optional - I wanted to make a meal out of the salad - and can be substituted with some other type of beans (like navy beans or baby lima beans). I very much recommend that you just buy a pound of dry beans, cook them with some salt and keep them in the fridge or freezer for adding to soups and salads instead of buying the canned stuff which is (a) way more expensive and (b) way worse tasting. You can substitute the beans with stir-fried extra firm tofu too (or maybe even chicken but don't quote me on that).

De-li-cious! Next on my list of summer adventures? Panzanella!

Salad Season is Here!

Every summer I go on a salad binge. In a good way. It's just that I don't see any reason to be cooking and eating bean and potato dishes when I am going to have the whole winter for them. As a matter of fact I don't see much of a reason to cook at all when I can enjoy a crunchy, fresh, flavorful salad with nothing more but a knife and a cutting board (and a steamer basket in this case) in under 10 minutes from the fridge to the table. And so that I don't get into a rut eating the same tomato-cucumber concoction, I always try to find new salads to make. Here are two new finds.

But before I get to the recipes, a quick word on steaming: take it easy! Use the microwave timer and go for two minutes. At the end of that, taste a piece (careful, HOT!) and if the vegetable is a bit soft but still a bit crunchy, end it at that. Better undercook than overcook - we have all had enough of awful mushy vegetables.

Carrot Ginger Salad

3/4 lb carrots
1/2 - 1 Tbs ginger, minced
several springs of thyme, leaves only
1 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
a splash of sesame seed oil
the juice of 1 lime
salt to taste

This salad was inspired by something very similar I had at a bakery last week. The main ingredients were carrots, thyme and ginger and the salad was very lightly seasoned so that the carrot flavor came out. Lacking a significant source of protein this is really a side salad, mild and refreshing.

Chop the carrots in fat matchsticks and steam for three minutes until softened a bit but still crunchy. Cool and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Serve/eat chilled.

Green Bean Salad with Glazed Almonds

3/4 lb green beans
1 C cooked garbanzo beans
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1 Tbs ginger, minced
1/4 - 1/3 C cilantro, chopped
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
salt to taste

1/4 C whole raw almonds
1 Tbs soy sauce

lettuce

A week ago I acquired some phenomenal Blue Lake green beans at the farmer's market and as much as I was enjoying munching on them raw, I really wanted to do something more grandiose with them. I found inspiration in this salad on Epicurious and added beans to make it more substantial. I tossed it with some greens to serve and enjoyed it for lunch yesterday. And for dinner. And for lunch today again. The beans can be steamed ahead of time.

Trim the ends of the beans and cut into inch long pieces. Steam for 2 minutes until bright green but still crunchy. Cool. In the mean time heat the almonds in a small dry skillet over low heat for a ~3-4 minutes until they start to brown. Pour in the soy sauce and stir in with the almonds and continues cooking until the sauce has evaporated. Cool the almonds and chop. Toss all ingredients in a large bowl and chill for the flavors to blend.

So far so good. I have planned to try two more salads this week!

Birthday Brownies

For some reason or another I have always had home-made birthday cakes. I remember the checkered cake I always begged my Mom for when I was little, and the sponge cakes my Grandma used to make, decorated with red and yellow raspberries like strings of Christmas lights in June. But at the point when one pack of candles is no longer enough to mark my age, birthday cakes have lost their charm and birthday celebrations have become more like an avoidance there of. Instead of a celebration, I try to do something fun and memorable. I had planned to run a marathon this year but with the stress of the last three months my training fell off track big time. BIG time! In place of marathoning, I managed to convince several of my friends to go chasing bears (literately and figuratively) in the Sierra Nevadas over a 36-mile hike. And to fuel the hike I lugged a pack of brownies in place of a cake. Yeah!

You might hate me for saying this, but in my opinion as far as deserts go brownies are usually just too much - too sweet, too choclatey, too sticky. But these ones I like. They have more of a cake consistency and don't feel like a cubic inch of a heart attack. I would like to make them with chopped dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips next time. And unless it is agains your religious convictions, do add the walnuts! The recipe is from King Arthur (and can be found on the back of their flour packs). Yep, that's right, King Arthur made brownies.

Best Brownies Ever

1/2 C unsalted butter
1 C sugar
2 large eggs
1/2+ C Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp instant coffee powder (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 C chocolate chips
1/2 C walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350 F and lightly grease an 8x8 inch pan. Place butter in microwave safe bowl and melt in the microwave (watch it - 20 seconds are usually enough). Add the sugar, stir and return to microwave for for another 20 seconds, stir and keep heating and stirring until the mixture is hot and glossy but not bubbling. In another bowl mix the next six ingredients (eggs through cocoa) and add the hot butter while stirring. Add the flour and stir till smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips and the walnuts. Pour in the pan and bake for ~30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool well before cutting. If you can.

Vote with Your Wallet and a Spring Potato Salad

There has been a distinct shift in how I think about food and cooking and in how I shop over the last few months. After reading books like "Fast Food Nation" and "In Defense of Food", I am now convinced of the importance of the whereabouts of your food before it came inside your kitchen. It is an increasingly active movement for sustainable food, one led by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser and a number of other opponents of modern agricultural practices, a movement to change the way we produce food, shop for food, eat food. Recent movies like King Corn and Food, Inc. are trying to give publicity to the movement though I doubt either of them will have the popularity (and the impact) of The Inconvenient Truth. The idea of sustainable food is very multifaceted. On one hand there are the health issues - the food we eat is rich in calories but poor in nutrition (yes, this is true even for your greens if they came from a large commercial farm). Then there is the rich environmental issue - contemporary agricultural practices are responsible for 22.5% of greenhouse gases (47% of methane, 88% of nitrous oxide and 9% of CO2), a major cause for land loss (due to erosion and loss of fertility), a threat to biodiversity and a serious pollutant (where do you think all the cow poo goes?). In addition, transporting food half the way around the world so that we can have watermelons at Safeway year-round is a huge fuel sink. And finally there is the complex social issue - people need food and will need even more food as the population increases but our centralized scheme of mono-cultures is fragile and bad for us and frequently the ones at the bottom of it, the producers, are the biggest losers of all.

It is a long laundry list and it calls for a major over-haul of the food industry. Certainly this is not going to happen overnight but things are starting to stir. The number of Farmer's Markets in the USA has increased dramatically over the last five years giving a boost to small farms and creating a local demand-supply network. The same is true for Community-sponsored Agriculture. Victory gardens are making a comeback, tomato and squash plants peeking through the fences of many of the houses in my neighborhood. My concerns are that so far these alternative food sources are only accessible to a small fraction of the population (the one that has access to them) and that they mainly address the produce portion of the food-pyramid - sustainable meat production is very rare and supermarkets are still full of processed corn-derivatives.

Baby steps, baby steps. What can I (and you) do? In an effort to increase the quality of my food and reduce its carbon footprint, I have made a commitment to purchase all my produce from the Farmer's Market. I am voting with my wallet. I kind-a have it easy though - there is a fantastic and very reasonably priced farmer's market every weekend three miles from my house and I live in California - the Mecca of produce. Does it make a difference? I tried to explain my war on fast food to my parents and they were very befuddled in a "who cares" way, but I haven't spend a dollar at a fast food restaurant since October and I feel great about it. However, I think this decision to source my produce locally is bigger that just a feel-good feeling - it is a vote for and sponsorship of the Farmer's Market folks, of their effort and commitment and ultimately good for me (I eat a LOT of fruits and veggies). I am kissing my demand for instant gratification good-buy.

But enough of the prelude. This aweeeesome potato salad recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen and uses all Spring products (I get really irked by mixed season recipes... pear-strawberry cobbler, anyone?). I love this salad! And just for the record, the ingredients - potatoes, green beans, scallions and basil - cost me ~$4.50 at the Farmer's Market.

Pesto Potato Salad with Green Beans
2 lb new potatoes, quartered
1/2 lb green beans (better go for 1 lb)
2-3 scallions, chopped

1 bunch of basil, just the leaves
1-2 cloves garlic
~1/4 C of olive oil

1/2 C pine nuts, toasted
a splash of mild vinegar
salt & pepper
parmesan for garnish


Wash and cut the potatoes into bite-sized peaces (not too small though, not diced). Place them in a pot, cover with water and boil then until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the beans (ends trimmed and cut into inch-sized peaces) and boil another 2-3 minutes. The beans shouldn't be soft but still a bit crunchy. Drain well and let cool. While this is all happening, make pesto from the basil, garlic and olive oil; add just enough oil to make a paste, not all of it. Stir the pesto, scallions and pine nuts with the beans and potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar, stir, garnish with parmesan, serve. Awesome. (Hint: make more pesto than you need - you are going to love the pesto-potato combination so much, you'll want more pesto. Or use it on some pasta. Or bread. Or just about anything else.)

The bottom line of this very long post is that there is a bigger picture behind the tasty recipes and pretty pictures, the picture of the vast food industry which we are all supporting with our choices of where we shop and what we buy. Support your local farmers. Vote with your wallet. Know where your food came from, who it came from. Be proactive. Do what you can - your actions matter. And enjoy the potato salad!

PS. For more blogs on sustainable food check this review.

Backpacking Food

I am heading off to yet another awesome backpacking adventure next weekend and I am too excited to think about anything else. But before I go, I must solve The Big Question - what are we going to eat for 4 days in the wilderness with no gas stations and vending machines. Even for me it is stretch to spend 4 days of strenuous hiking on bagels and cream cheese. The alternative is the store bought "just add water" meals sold at outdoors stores for ~$5 a meal which is a bit steep for a bag of ramen with some spices. On our last backpacking adventure two months ago, I was introduced to the miracle of freezer bag cooking - home-made "just add water" meals that are delicious, nutritious and easy to prepare for a crowd. We made them for dinner, family-style, all in one pot and everyone (but lazy, post-thesis me) cooked a meal for the whole group. It was fantastic - an amazing warm meal every evening! We had a burrito night, a couscous night and a linguine in cream sauce night. Yum! So for next weekend I readily agreed with James's suggestion that we cook dinners the same way and decided to use the occasion to test and cross-compare some freezer bag recipes. All recipes below are from the Trail Cooking website. More recipes can be found at One Pan Wonders, the Backpacker magazine and on some other websites (search for freezer bag cooking).


Orange Rice with Salmon (for 1 person)
1 C instant rice
1⁄3 C chopped toasted pecans
2 Tbs dried parsley
2 Tbs diced dried onion
1 Tbs dried orange peel
1 1/2 tsp bouillon
1 tsp orange drink mix (such as crystal light or tang)
3 oz pink salmon/tuna (1 bag)
salt
(1 C water)
Weight: 10.5 oz Cooking time: boil water + 5 minutes Calories: 530 Kcal Protein: 22 g Fat: 30 g Carbs: 46 g Price: ~$4.00

Preparation: Mix all ingredients but the fish in a bag. At camp, bring water to boil, mix with the dry ingredients and let it seep for 5 minutes. Stir in the fish. Enjoy!

Review: I was very excited about this and it turned out fairly tasty if a bit strange. The original recipe asked for 1 1/2 C of rice - this makes way too much food for one person so I scaled it back. I am not sure about the orange drink mix - I used Kool-aid and it sucked (too sour). I'd suggest just skipping it altogether. Quite a mix of flavors, maybe a bit too much.


Thai Style Peanut Noodles (for 1 person)

3 oz package ramen noodles
1⁄4 C chunky peanut butter
1 1⁄2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp diced dried onion
1⁄2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp vinegar
salt
(1 1/2 C water)
Weight: 5.5 oz Cooking time: boil water + 3 minutes Calories: 760Kcal Protein: ~21g Fat: ~20g Carbs: ~60g Price: $1.50 (generously)

Preparation: Break ramen into smaller pieces (to save space) and pack in a ziplock bag. Mix all other ingredients in a small plastic jar. At camp bring water to boil. Add ramen and let it steep for 3 minutes. Pour some of the ramen water in the sauce jar (less than 1/4 C) and shake until it turns into a thick sauce. Dispose of the rest of the ramen water. Stir the noodles with the sauce.

Review: Veeeeery peanuty! Oh my! The original recipe asked for too much water in the sauce and too much vinegar so I've changed these. Using chunky peanut butter is fantastic (I used salted). One can add more peanuts if desired. I would like to add some dried vegetables if I make it, maybe a handful of dried carrots.

Swiss Broccoli Mac and Cheese (for 1 person, generously)

1 1/2 Tbs flour
1⁄4 C dry milk
1 tsp dry mustard powder
2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried garlic
1⁄8 tsp ground black pepper
4 oz uncooked small shell pasta
1⁄4 C diced dried broccoli
2.5 oz shredded swiss cheese
salt
(2 C water)
Weight: 8.5 oz Cooking time: boil water + 5-10 minutes (depending on pasta) Calories: 760Kcal Protein: 45g Fat: 20 g Carbs: 90g Price: $2.25

Preparation: Pack pasta in one bag, cheese in a second bag, all other dry ingredients in a third. At camp, bring water to boil and boil the pasta till ready. Without pouring the water out, stir in all the other ingredients until the cheese is melted. Reserve some cheese and parsley to sprinkle on top if desired.

Review: This was awesome! Well, when is mac and cheese not awesome... Total comfort food, rich and delicious. I used Swiss Cheese from New Zealand, found at TJs and tiny alphabet pasta which cooked in under 5 minutes.

Which am I going to cook after all? The Orange-Salmon-Rice is at the bottom in the weigh-price-calories ratio - it is heavy, expensive and low in calories. The race is between the Mac'n'cheese and the peanut noodles. Not rally sure. The peanut noodles are cheap and light. The Mac'n'cheese is a bit on the heavy side but equally delicious. Mmmmm, though choice. Any votes?

PS. Why is this called "freezer bag cooking" if these meals can be much more comfortably cooked in the pot where you boiled the water?

Look at These F***ing Carrots!

I have not been doing much of actual cooking lately, the type of cooking where you combine a list of ingredients and the mix of their different tastes, textures and flavors make something more than the mere sum of the parts. But June Gloom - a weather pattern in southern California which brings weeks of cloudy, drizzly, cool days - has been getting me down. After seven years in Arizona, two weeks without sunshine are definitely giving me seasonal depression symptoms. So I decided to cook myself a soup, with spring ingredients to warm my old bones. How about carrot soup? Why not?

A quick search of the interwebs lead me to this excitingly looking Carrot-Ginger-Lemon soup. And after the acquisition of this beautiful bunch of carrots from the Farmer's Market I was all set to go.

Sometimes recipes drive me crazy. Now, I understand that ingredients should be in certain proportions but if the recipe asks for 1 1/2 cups of onion what are you supposed to do with the 1/3 unused onion you are left with? Or what are you to do with the 1/2 red pepper left over from the recipe which asks for 1/2 cup of chopped pepper? I much prefer recipes which ask for 1 onion or one pepper or two tomatoes, and of course the taste will vary a bit every time you make the recipe but, for a soup, is that so crucial? Anyways, here is the recipe is re-written in whole ingredients:

Carrot Soup with Ginger and Lemon
1/4 C butter
1 medium/big onion, chopped
1 generous Tbs finely chopped ginger
1-2 tsp finely chopped garlic
the peel of 1 lemon, finely chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
3-4 C sliced carrots
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
3-4 C stock (chicken or veggie)

For garnish: yogurt/sour cream and boiled brown rice
Yields: 4-6 servings

Saute onions in butter for 4 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and saute another 2 minutes. Add carrots, tomatoes and lemon peel and saute another minute. Add the stock and boil till carrots are tender (~20 minutes). Pure in batches in blender and return to pot. Bring to simmer, add lemon juice and season to taste with salt and a bit of black pepper. Serve with yogut or sour cream. I added about half a cup of brown rice to give it more substance too - it works great! This soup is fantastic both hot or cold. After a day the ginger lends it a bit of spiciness and the flavors have blended deliciously. A fantastic entry into spring! Yum!

Mozzarella!

Yes, we did it! And it turned out so good, oh so good! Can we call ourselves cheese-makers now? Alright, alright, let me back a little. James visited me last week and making mozzarella was among the many wonderful, exciting, delicious and very much unplanned things we did. We used a very simple recipe - the one included in Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" (read it!). All the recipes from the book can be found here.

Mozzarella

1 gallon pasteurized milk
1 1/2 tsp citric acid dissolved in 1/4 C cool water
1 tsp cheese salt
1/4 tablet rennet dissolved in 1/4 C cool water
or
1/4 tsp liquid rennet dissolved in 1/4 C cool water

Yields: four 2-inch balls
Also helpful: Big stainless steel pot (should fit at least 1 gallon), candy thermometer, sieve, slotted spoon, heavy duty rubber gloves, microwave.

I am not going to explain you how to make the cheese - just follow the instructions here.

Aout the ingredients: You need pasteurized but not ultra-pasteurized milk (a.k.a. HUT milk). Ultra-pasteurized milk cannot be turned into cheese. With the advent of big milk-processing plants, milk distributers wanted to be able to keep milk from spoiling for longer periods of time and thus developed the process of ultra-pasteurization - by heating milk to a higher temperature (280F/138C vs. 161F/71.7C for regular pasteurization) milk will stay "fresh" for up to couple of weeks months. Unfortunately, this also changes the protein structure, so milk will not curdle properly. Frequently, additives need to be included in UHT milk to duplicate the taste and texture of regular milk. To summarize, avoid it if you can in principle, definitely avoid it if you are making cheese.

Rennet, according to Wikipedia, is a natural complex enzyme produced by any mammalian stomach to digest the mother's milk and often used in cheese production. Ewwwww. Luckily, I managed to find some vegetable rennet at a brew-store in Arizona (which is usually derived from mold?). I got a dozen of tablets for ~$7 which will make a whole of a lot of cheese. Rennet can also be found online as well as here and I saw some liquid rennet at Whole Foods the other day (not sure that was vegetarian though... I think it was).

Citric acid ... Hmmm, I bought it from the same place as the rennet. I have also seen it in Middle-Eastern grocery stores. If you live in Tucson, AZ, Caravan (on Glenn and Country Club) is the place to go. Also, use non-chlorinated water if possible and definitely non-iodized salt. The latter is important, for iodine may interfere with cheese making enzymes. Get some cheese salt (which is just nice coarse-grain salt without iodine) or get the box with the girl without iodine.

This is a lot of explaining for such a short ingredient list!

About making the cheese itself. We followed the recipe and things went pretty smooth. We had to heat the curds three times for about 20 seconds each time while kneeding until we reached the desired consistency. The result was very smooth but not as stretchy as I thought it needed to be. I think we just didn't heat it enough because I just saw the pictures here - wow, this really stretches like taffy. The cheese came out a bit dense, but the taste was great! We kept it in a bowl covered with whey to prevent it from drying. The whole batch swiftly disappeared over the course of the weekend - most of it was consumed at a dinner with friends along with some sliced tomatoes, olives, basil and olive oil. The rest went to top our amazing Sunday night dinner.

What next? I think I need some more practice with the mozzarella. But other than that I am thinking of getting Ricki Carroll's Home Cheese Making book to explore some other recipes. Ultimately, wouldn't it be nice to be able to make feta? I think my life would improve substantially if I could do that... Or I'd get fat. Possibly both.

My Favorite Pizza Dough

Some days it is hard to believe that all problems will inevitably be solved and life will get better - apartment hunting is not going all that well, James left town and, most importantly, last night's amazing pizza is gone. I was so sad that I got some shopping therapy... at Trader Joe's. I got some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and milk. And I'm feeling all better now.

I am afraid a lot of people think of pizza as the greasy stuff you order when there's nothing in the fridge (Brooklyn Pizza and Maggpie's are very much excluded from this generalization). Also a lot of people think that making pizza is very hard and time consuming. I am going to try to convince you that this is not the case and that amazing, tasty pizza can be made with minimal effort and ingredients so that you should never have to order the greasy cheesy stuff ever again.

I love making pizzas in the summer, when there is an abundance of fresh vegetables to top them with. I have been using this recipe for about a year now and have made a dozen pizzas, all of them very much successful. The crust itself is so good, it can be eaten all by itself with little more than olive oil, salt and an herb of your choice on top. The recipe is originally from Epicurious:

Pizza Dough

1 envelope active dry yeast
3/4 C lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt
2+ C flour
3 Tbs olive oil
a bit of cornmeal

Preheat the oven to 450F. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water and leave aside for 5-10 minutes until it gets a bit frothy on top. In a big bowl make a well in the 2 C of flour and pour in the olive oil, salt and the yeast mixture. Mix first with a fork until all flour is incorporated. Then flour your hands and knead adding a bit more flour until the dough is not as sticky, but it should still be soft - I usually end up adding another tablespoon. Kneading should be about a minute. Grease the dough with some olive oil, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit and rise while you are preparing the topping.

To make the actual pizza, punch the dough down and knead into a ball on a floured surface. The dough must be soft and all surfaces and hands should be well floured to avoid sticking. Roll it out with a rolling pin (also floured) or just pull it with your hands. It needs to be very thin, almost transparent. Oil the pan/stone and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place the dough on the pan and oil the top a bit. Place in the oven and par-bake until the top starts getting a bit rosy. At this point you may add your toppings and bake for another 5-10 minutes until heated throughout. Voila.

Here are some topping ideas - I am a fan of simple pizzas where you can savor the flavors of the ingredients and not get lost in them:

Tomatoes, mozzarella & basil. Slice 2-3 tomatoes, 3 balls of mozzarella and tear the leaves of a bunch of basil. Toss everything with olive oil. Arrange on top of pizza and salt. Eat right away or bake until tomatoes are soft and mozzarella is melted.

Potatoes and rosemary. Parboil potatoes, peel and slice thinly. Toss with a rosemary, salt and olive oil. Arrange on top of the pizza. Bake. (You can add some sort of cheese id you want.)

Three cheeses. Spread tomato sauce (pasta sauce from a jar would work too). Arrange slices of mozzarella and parmesan and crumble ricotta on top. Bake until the cheeses are melted. Sprinkle chopped fresh basil on top before serving.

Caramelized onions and cheese. Slice thinly 3 heads of onion. Caramelize. Spread onions on top of the pizza and randomly distribute slices of Gruyere or parmesan on top of them.

Of course, the possibilities are endless - more ideas can be found here, here, here (grilled pizza, lots of ideas in the comments), and here (including a recipe for Arizona Pizza).

30-day-notice Strawberry Jam

Because I made this on the night I got my 30-day-notice to move out of my current house. *Sigh.* A girl's got to cheer herself up somehow. I guess making strawberry jam and watching The Dish worked for me. The fresh California strawberries I bought last Wednesday at the farmers market were turning into dehydrated and/or rotten strawberries so I decided to practice my jam making technique for next weekend and make a small batch as suggested by Cooking Up a Story. I also liked her recipe because it uses very little sugar ... so I borrowed it. Here ya go.

Strawberry Jam

3 C sliced strawberries
1 C sugar
2 Tbs lemon juice

Yields: very little

I would recommend that you watch the video but it is a whole of 10 minutes long so here is the abridged version: mix everything in a wide pot, bring to boil and simmer for ~15 minutes until it starts to thicken, pour into a jar, wait to cool, eat. This only made about a cup and a half of jam, not even a full jar so I didn't bother sterilizing and sealing it - I just put it in the fridge for immediate consumption. James asked me to leave some for him to try it. It is Tuesday, he is coming on Thursday... this will be hard...

About that Ricotta

I am not sure where the original inspiration to make ricotta came from. It may have been driven by the frustration to find ricotta at the grocery store and/or by its price once found. I love cheese and I consume generous amounts of it. I have been heard to say that feta can be added to just about any dish (and I have been known to do it too). I guess at some point I may have felt that in order to be able to afford my addiction I need to learn how to make cheese. Can't be that hard, can it?

Making ricotta is as simple as it gets. The ingredient list is short and the whole process, start to finish, takes about 15 minutes, most of them brooding over the milk on the stove. The equipment list is a bit more involved but all the items needed should be present in a semi-well furnished kitchen.

Ricotta

1/2 gallon milk
1 tsp salt
3 Tbs lemon juice

Yields: 1 1/2 to 2 C ricotta

Equipment: one large pot, one large cheese cloth, candy thermometer (optional), sieve/colander (also optional but helpful), stove.

Notes on the ingredients: I usually get 2% generic pasteurized milk but I am sure any milk would work. The question of what salt to use in cheese-making seems to spur a lively discussion on the internets. My brief review and 2-month long experience have led me to conclude that for ricotta it really doesn't matter what salt you use - if you want to be fancy, use that kosher sea salt from the Red Sea, but plain old iodized salt from the box with the girl does a perfectly good job. I have been using freshly squeezed lemon juice because as a result of my friend Tedi's generosity I still have a bag of lemons in the fridge (3 Tbs ~ 1.5 lemons); the stuff that comes in yellow, lemon-shaped bottles would probably work too.

Now on to the very complex process of the actual cheese-making. Pour the milk in the pot and heat over moderate heat until the milk temperature reaches just over 100F (38C). Generally, anything between 100F (38C) and 110F (43C) would work. If you don't have a candy thermometer (such as me until yesterday) you can do the pinky test - dip your pinky in the milk and if it feels just a bit hot (like someone with fever) then it's ready. At that point turn the heat to low stir in the salt and then the lemon juice.

As soon as the lemon juice is in the milk should curdle and the liquid should clear. Leave on low hear for a few minutes. Then turn off the heat, put the lid on and leave for a few minutes undisturbed so that the curds can settle and the liquid cools a bit.

Fold the cheese cloth so that you have 3-4-5 layers, line the sieve/colander with it and place in the sink. Pour the contents of the pot in the cheese-cloth lined colander. Tie the diagonal ends of the cheese cloth together, forming a bag with the curdled milk in it and hang above a bowl or sink of a 2 to 4 hours (kitchen cabinet door knobs make excellent hanging places). Do not leave it overnight unless you want really dry, crumbly ricotta. Feel free to squeeze it once in a while but be careful as the contents may be hot. When you are satisfied with the draining (do taste it to see if it is dry enough) move to a box and refrigerate (or eat). That's it.

If you want to make herbed ricotta, add the herbs (and other desired ingredients such as more salt, parmesan, garlic) after the draining. Mix well and leave in the fridge for a few hours for the flavors to blend.

Troubleshooting:
What if the milk doesn't curdle? This has been happening to me lately... add a couple more tablespoons of lemon juice. Maybe my lemon juice is not acid enough.

Suggested uses: Ravioli, lasagna, sandwiches, spreads, potato and pasta salads, etc.

Next weekend - MOZZARELLA! Excited!