AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: A Point of Clarification DATE: 1/22/2010 09:55:00 AM ----- BODY:

Most cooking techniques involve some form of fat or oil. Marinades have oil, sautés and stir-fries require a thin layer of fat in the bottom of the pan, and broiling works better if the food has a thin sheen to protect and also help brown the exterior. Steaming and poaching are low-fat methods that usually require no added fat.

But back to the fat…the question becomes, which fat do you use when? And how can you effectively substitute if you do not have the required ingredient on-hand?

There are three ways that fat/oil is used in recipes: as a cooking medium, as a flavor enhancer and as a moisture additive (I just made up that term). Each way requires a different way of looking at the issue.

Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire
Most of you have heard of smoke points, right? This is the temperature that oil begins to smoke… not to be confused with the flash-point, the temperature when oil will catch fire. So when choosing oil for sautéing, frying or other high heat cooking you want to choose an oil with a high smoke point – oils with lower smoke points turn bitter and lose their lubricating qualities when over-heated.

In general, refined oils have a higher smoke point than unrefined. This holds true for olive oils as well. What does this mean for your cooking? Using extra-virgin olive oil for high heat cooking destroys the flavor. It’s a waste of a high-priced, high-flavor oil. Better to use 100% pure olive oil, which is from the second or third pressing and has a higher smoke point.

Many people use olive oil for cooking because of its purported health properties. It’s ratio of mono and polyunsaturated fats make it a better choice for raising HDLs and lowering LDLs. Canola oil is rivals olive oil in this area.

Similarly, butter has a higher smoke point when it’s clarified. The milk solids in butter (which make up 5%-15%) burn at a much lower temperature than the butterfat. By removing the milk solids, butters smoke point increases to 400F.

Oils for High Heat Cooking
Peanut, Canola, 100% Pure Olive, Clarified Butter, Grapeseed.

I use canola oil when I don’t want any flavor from the oil. When I’m frying banana spring-rolls, or another dish where I know it will absorb the flavor of the oil, I use clarified butter. I avoid peanut oil because (1) I’m allergic to nuts and (2) lots of other people are too, and it becomes a hidden allergen.

I save the extra-virgin olive oil for salad dressings and low-heat cooking where I want that distinctive flavor.

Photo Credit: Ellen Callaway

Banana Spring Rolls with  a Drizzle of Chocolate and Ginger

Spring Rolls
3 bananas
6 tbs. brown sugar
¼ cup clarified butter or plain oil
12 spring roll wrappers
melted dark chocolate


1. Cut banana in half lengthwise, and then in ½ again width-wise
2. Lay a spring roll wrapper on a work surface with a point facing towards you. Put a piece of banana on the wrapper a little bit off center, and ½ tbs. brown sugar on top. Roll the spring roll like a burrito – pull the sides over and then roll it up.
3. Repeat process to make 11 more spring rolls
4. Heat oil or butter in a large skillet to medium high. Cook spring rolls until brown and crispy on all sides. Serve with crème anglaise and a drizzle of melted chocolate.

Crème Anglaise
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup half -n- half
3 slices of fresh ginger

Scald half -n- half with ginger. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and sugar. Slowly add half -n- half, stirring constantly. Return to heat and continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula until the custard thickens. Remove from heat immediately. Strain out ginger.




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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Reeni DATE:1/22/2010 10:58:00 AM These sound absolutely delicious! I have spring rolls that have been hanging around - what a great idea to make a sweet dessert with them. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous noble pig DATE:1/22/2010 06:07:00 PM Wow, this sounds fabulous, I mean FABULOUS!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger grace DATE:1/24/2010 04:28:00 PM what a wonderfully informative post! it's all useful knowledge, but my favorite little portion is the part where you include the recipe for a phenomenal treat. excellent write-up, julia! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger PG DATE:1/24/2010 07:16:00 PM Thanks for the short lesson. I rarely notice the flavour of oils unless it's in a salad dressing. I also don't notice the difference between butter and margarine in baking, unless the recipe calls for a lot of butter. I should probably pay more attention. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lori Lynn DATE:1/25/2010 05:55:00 PM Very helpful post. Thanks Julia.
LL ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Simply Life DATE:1/27/2010 08:07:00 AM wow those rolls look DELICIOUS!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Nirmala DATE:1/27/2010 05:24:00 PM I like your cooking philosophy. I'm trying to do the same in the Bay Area. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Kathleen DATE:1/27/2010 09:23:00 PM These sound incredible! I've had something similar at Thai restaurants with coconut ice cream! ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Tupelo Honey (Recipe: Honey Cake) DATE: 9/16/2009 10:19:00 AM ----- BODY:

My adopted blogger Katie from Eat this. favors honey in her cooking because it’s an unprocessed sugar source. And Tupelo honey, which is derived from bees buzzing around the Florida Tupelo trees, is considered to be one of the best in the world. She deftly describes its virtues here, so I won’t repeat. But suffice it to say, it’s delicate flavor is delightful.

Katie very graciously shared a few bottles with me. Of course, the first thing I had to make was honey cake. Though I typically only eat it at Rosh Hashanah, I love it year round.

Honey Cake
This recipe comes from Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America. I modified the ingredients by using raisins instead of the recommended almonds. Also, I did not have a bundt pan so I used a 9-inch square pyrex dish. I baked it for the first 30 minutes at the recommended 350, and then an additional 40 minutes at 325.

3 ½ cups flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs, separated
1 tbs. lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/3 cup oil
1 cup honey
1 cup black coffee
½ cup raisins

1. Sift together flour, baking powder and soda, salt and cream of tarter into a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the sugar, cinnamon, egg yolks lemon juice and zest, honey, oil, coffee and raisins. Incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry.

2. Whip the egg whites until stiff. Gently fold into batter. Pour into a greased 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger PG DATE:9/16/2009 04:16:00 PM Happy holidays! I volunteered to take salad to a friend's for Rosh Hashanah...but now I'm thinking I should do dessert and make a honey cake instead. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:9/16/2009 05:06:00 PM I have such bad memories of honey cake. Every year my mother would send me one for the new year. The homemade ones had the shape and consistency of bricks, and the store-bought ones were not much better. I haven't been able to get near a honey cake for many years. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Katie DATE:9/16/2009 06:30:00 PM I'm glad you're enjoying the honey!! I've never had honey cake, and that needs to change. I had a piece of cake in Greece that was somewhat similar, but I'm sure that it didn't have raisins or coffee, and it was probably different in other ways, too. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger adele DATE:9/17/2009 10:09:00 AM Mmm. I was thinking that it might be nice to bake something for Rosh Hashanah - this looks good! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lori Lynn DATE:9/18/2009 08:19:00 PM L'Shana Tova Tikatevu!

I'm about to make Rosh Hashana dinner, with honey, of course. and now I am listening to Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey...Happy New Year. the cake looks great.

Lori Lynn ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Suspiciously Delicious DATE: 7/27/2009 08:32:00 AM ----- BODY:
Yep, that's Dina picking up a plastic bag of green stuff from a prearranged drop-off. Not suspicious at all, nope.

Hopefully, my neighbors don’t call the cops on her. This is Cambridge, MA, after all. And we know what could happen. Despite all the controversial media, I left a bag of mint on the front porch for Dina. I think I’m safe, though, since my neighbors also partake of my bounty of herbs: I regularly find 4-year old Oliver in the mint patch having a little snack.

Lord knows, I can’t possibly consume all the herbs on my own. I enjoy what I can throughout the summer, and freeze more for the winter. But even still the garden produces more than I can enjoy. I joke that I’ll start a farm-stand at the end of my driveway and peddle my excess herbs (and vegetables).

On Saturday evening, Dina returned for dinner with Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. Seems like a fair trade, don’t you think?

This recipe comes courtesy of www.epicurious.com. It sounds like the same as the one Dina used.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)

In a blender blend cream, milk, and mint until mint is finely chopped. In a saucepan bring cream mixture just to a boil and cool 15 minutes. Whisk in eggs and sugar and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and a thermometer registers 170°F. (Do not let custard boil or it will curdle.) Pour custard through a fine sieve into a bowl. Chill custard, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 3 hours, and up to 1 day. Chop chocolate. Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and stir in chocolate. Put ice cream in freezer to harden.


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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous noble pig DATE:7/27/2009 11:37:00 AM My favorite flavor of all time...looks delish! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Reeni DATE:7/28/2009 08:12:00 PM I bet this is just amazing with the fresh mint! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Juliana DATE:7/29/2009 06:12:00 PM Oh! This ice cream looks delicious...unfortunately I do not have an ice cream maker. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous limeduck DATE:7/29/2009 10:05:00 PM So let me get this straight... you leave a bag of "herb" on the porch in the morning, and this "Dina" picks it up and brings back *ice cream* that night?

This might be the Peoples Republic of Cambridge, but there must be something illegal about that.

Unless you share it with us, that is... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Callie Durbrow DATE:7/30/2009 12:59:00 PM Mint chocolate chip is one of the best. It looks even better home-made! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Unknown DATE:8/01/2009 09:20:00 AM Amazing...looks yummy...Just stumbled and submitted your site to http://Viralogy.com. Hope you get some great traffic from it. Your blog is here http://www.viralogy.com/blogs/my/13148 ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Happy Birthday, Liz! DATE: 3/14/2009 06:45:00 AM ----- BODY:

Most people think of March 14th (3/14) as “Pie Day”… a word food play on the number represented by the Greek letter Pi: 3.14. To me, March 14th is my sister’s birthday. So in her honor, I made a carrot cake.

I used the recipe from the Blue Moon Cookbook. This is one of those old, Junior-League style cookbooks from Montgomery, Alabama. The Blue Moon Inn inspired the cookbook and the recipes. My mom remembers the place as a “private dining room.” It was more like a private club that opened only for special occasions and parties. My mom’s graduation party was there, as was the rehearsal dinner before her wedding to my dad (they just celebrated their 43rd anniversary!). The restaurant closed a few years later, so my sister and I never had a chance to eat there. Nonetheless, we treasure the cookbook. The bread pudding is a staple at our Thanksgiving dinner. And I’ve been making the carrot cake for as long as I can remember.
The book oozes culinary history – from the style of recipes (aspic and spinach ring mold) to the ingredient specifications. The recipe for carrot cake, for example, specifies the brand of oil (Wesson) not the type (vegetable). Other recipes specifically call for Hellman’s mayonnaise, Frito’s Corn Chips and Accent.

Over the years, I’ve tried experimenting with this recipe, but discovered that it’s perfect just the way it is… with one exception: it needs ½ tsp. salt. This year, I made a few other modifications. Halfway into organizing the ingredients, I discovered that I only had 1 cup of oil in the house (and it wasn’t even Wesson, it was the Whole Foods 365 Canola). I knew from past experiments that an all butter substitution created a dense cake, so I melted 1 stick of butter with the oil hoping for a better outcome. And since I was heating the oil anyway, I opted to infuse it with a Tahitian Vanilla bean.


The other modification resulted in trying to use up leftovers rather than shop a second time. The traditional recipe calls for a cream cheese frosting. Since I had sour cream only, I made vanilla butter cream and folded in the sour cream to give it a bright tang.

Happy Birthday, Liz! I love you very much and feel so blessed to have you in my life.

Here’s the original recipe (with the salt addition)…

Blue Moon Carrot Cake

3 cups shredded carrots
1 ½ cups Wesson Oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, well beaten
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon (I used Vietnamese)
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chopped pecans (I used raisins instead)
3 cups grated carrots

Mix Wesson oil and sugar and beat well. Add eggs. Sift together dry ingredients twice and add pecans (or raisins). Grease and flour 2 – 9” cake pans. Fill pans and bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes. Cool. Remove from pans and ice with the following icing.

1 – 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 stick butter (4 oz)
1 box confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:3/14/2009 11:01:00 AM dear Julia,
Even though I sign on as Anonymous, I am the mom who verifies that what you say is true. Fun to see what you treasure from the Once in a Blue Moon Cookbook. I especially love the Mocha Cakes. I had not realized (in all these years) that the carrot cake is a favorite for you. Learn something every day... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger White on Rice Couple DATE:3/14/2009 11:16:00 PM Love the cake and the stories. It's so cute your mom was the first to comment, too. Mine does the same. Happy birthday to your sister. Todd ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger jesse DATE:3/15/2009 05:47:00 AM Hahaha, I love your mom's comment. You guys are just too adorable! Lovely cake, it's just begging to be eaten! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:3/15/2009 11:11:00 AM What a great sister you are! Happy birthday. I love carrot cake. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:3/15/2009 12:31:00 PM Thanks Hooliya (this is what Julia's sister, Liz, calls her)for the beautiful cake! Sadly, I live in Virginia (not Boston) and didn't get to try it with all the interesting adaptations. But I hear through the grapevine from some of my Boston spies that it was delicious.
Maybe I'll try it next year...
Love, Liz ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:3/15/2009 05:23:00 PM I adore books like that and have amassed a tidy collection. they are my go to books for appetizers and casseroles... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Heather DATE:3/15/2009 08:11:00 PM happy birthday, liz! this sounds lovely - a good carrot cake sounds like a super tasty present! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lori Lynn DATE:3/15/2009 09:47:00 PM Happy birthday to your sister.
Nice looking cake!

And hey, I wonder why I can't get my mom to comment on my blog? I'll ask her. Ha. We'll see.

Ma, are you reading Julia's blog? Comment here!

LL ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Raaga DATE:3/16/2009 02:41:00 AM I love places like that... full of memories. Whether or not we were a part of them... our loved ones were.

the cake looks delicious. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Mary Bergfeld DATE:3/16/2009 09:21:00 AM I love old cookbooks. I hope your sister had a great day and enjoyed her birthday cake. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:3/16/2009 09:33:00 AM Mom, I'll have to try that Mocha cake... now that I know it's YOUR favorite.

WORC -- Nice to know you have a supportive mom, too! :)

jesse -- thanks. I agree, my mom is adorable.

noble pig -- thanks.

Liz -- I'll make you another one the next time I visit.

jo -- there are always hidden treasures in this books.

Heather -- I agree. If I had know it was your blog-a-birthday, I would have made one for you too.

Lori Lynn -- Guilt. It works every time :)

Raaga -- Thanks for visiting my blog. And yes, it's wonderful we can preserve the memories.

Mary -- thanks. And she appreciates all the extra birthday wishes. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger adele DATE:3/16/2009 11:00:00 AM I've been looking for a good carrot cake recipe. This seems promising. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger grace DATE:3/16/2009 12:49:00 PM carrot cake rules, and cream cheese frosting is simply unbeatable. and i must say--that writing atop the cake is better than most people can do on paper. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:3/16/2009 05:31:00 PM dear Julia,
Nice to get so much mileage from commenting on your blog.
LL, this is for you too.
Julia's mom, aka Judith ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:3/16/2009 09:19:00 PM Re LL's comment on moms and daughters, my mother used to say she never minded car-pooling for her kids (in Montgomery, Al, in the 50s)--because that was how she knew what was going on. We would never tell her directly but kids in the car would talk much more freely to each other than to a Parent, and she could hear directly. I feel that way about reading Julia's blog: it's a nice way of knowing something about what is going on. Also, since I am such a fan of Julia's cooking, it is a way of knowing what she IS cooking. Judith, Julia's mom. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:3/28/2009 04:26:00 AM Hey i thought it was called blue moon carrot cake i guess you forgot to state that the removal of carrots was a new modification blue moon cake ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:3/28/2009 06:36:00 AM Anon. -- Good catch! I did omit the carrots when transcribing the recipe. But they're there now.. 3 cups shredded. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Bouche de Noel DATE: 10/13/2008 08:14:00 AM ----- BODY:
My friend Leslie is teaching a class on Bûche de Noël - the classic French Christmas Treat. In preparation, she wanted to do a trial run to test the timing of the class, and also to get pictures for the class posting.

We all know, I’m not a good baker and more a salt-head, than a sweet tooth. Nonetheless, I have a secret dream of being a star, cake decorator. I even bought a cake turn-table for when the urge strikes. Probably once a year, I make a few pounds of butter cream, a couple of cakes and decorate to my heart’s content. They look like pouffy wedding dresses reminiscent of the 1980’s (read: overdone and not particularly fashionable), and I never eat them, but it’s fun. That being said, I couldn’t miss an opportunity to watch and learn, so I offered to take pictures (just for her, I SWEAR!)

According to Wikipedia:

One popular story behind the creation of this dessert is that Napoleon I of France issued a proclamation requiring households in Paris to keep their chimneys closed during the winter, based on the notion that cold air caused medical problems. This prevented Parisians from being able to use their fireplaces, and, thus, prevented them from engaging in many of the traditions surrounding and involving the hearth in French Christmas tradition. French bakers, according to the theory, invented this dessert as a symbolic replacement around which the family could gather for story-telling and other holiday merriment.

The cake, which ultimately looks like a tree log with mushrooms, can be made with either a vanilla or chocolate sponge cake and filled with chocolate or vanilla buttercream. The cake is lighter than traditional genoise which makes it easy to roll. This cake batter is so light that it can only be used as a sheet-cake and can’t stand up to a layer cake. The mushrooms are made with Italian Meringue.

Before you can even think about assembling the cake, you must assemble all the parts: cake, filling, icing/glaze. For the garnish: rosemary sprigs to look like pine needle covered in ice and meringue mushrooms. The special equipment is limited to a piping bag with a round tip, a “decorating triangle” (used to texturize the icing to look like bark) and a good icing spatula.

For the Cake and the other components:

Cake
6 large eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
12 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup cake flour, sifted
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Whip the egg yolks with sugar until they are thick and pale. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites sugar to stiff peaks. Fold the whites into the yolks. Sift the cocoa powder and flour onto to the egg mixture and gently fold to combine. Bake on a sheet tray for 15 minutes at 400F.




The filling is less persnickety. You can use a traditional buttercream or a modified version of simply beaten butter with white chocolate. The filling can also be used to glaze the outside of the cake or you can use a chocolate ganache:

Ganache
1/2 cup whipping cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon rum or other favorite liquor

Heat heavy cream over medium heat until bubbles form around the edge. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Continue to stir until chocolate dissolves.

For the mushrooms, make a French meringue.
½ cup egg whites
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar.

Dissolve sugar in egg whites over a pot of simmering water, whisking constantly, and heat until 110F degrees. Remove from heat and then whip until stiff peaks. To make the mushrooms pipe out mounds to be the caps, and pipe up 1” stems. Bake at 200F for 45 minutes and the 175 for another 30 minutes to dehydrate. When they are dried, you can brush the bottom of the mushroom caps with melted chocolate. Using a small paring knife, cut a little indentation into the base of the mushroom cap. Use chocolate or icing to glue the stem into the cap.

To make pine needles, dip rosemary sprigs in beaten egg whites, then roll in granulated sugar.

Assembly
Ice the sheet cake. Roll it lengthwise, and roll the seam to the bottom. Slice the cake, 1/3 portion, on a bias to create two pieces – on that is twice as long as the other. Put the longer piece on a serving platter. Take the smaller piece, and align the angled side along the longer piece. This should give you the basic shape of a log. Ice the whole cake to cover the seam, but leave the ends un-iced to show off the roll. Run the decorating triangle along the outside to texturize.






Garnish with mushrooms and pine needles.


To register for Leslie’s class, visit: www.helenrennie.com

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger PG DATE:10/13/2008 01:53:00 PM Here it is! The post I've been waiting for. Looks beautiful. Your pictures make it look easy. Maybe our problem was rolling it before cooling - or the type of cake. At some point, I'm going to try jelly rolls again and I'll come back to this post. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:10/14/2008 06:27:00 AM PG - Sorry to make you wait so long! I think the real secret is in the cake recipe you use... minimal amount of flour and a goodly amount of sugar. I'll be curious to hear about your next attempt! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger judith_deecee DATE:10/15/2008 09:24:00 AM Julia, this is beautiful--Leslie must be very devoted. judith_deecee ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:10/15/2008 10:24:00 PM Great step-by-step photos. I'm not a baker either, but I'm still glad to know how to make this, in case the urge strikes. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Helen DATE:10/19/2008 09:37:00 PM Hi Julie,

I was just browsing through your delicious blog and found this post. Your step by step pictures are wonderful. I am sure the students in the class will find them helpful.

Cheers,
-Helen ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:10/20/2008 06:58:00 AM Judith_deecee, Indeed she is.

Lydia, It was indeed a long process, so I was glad to capture all of the steps (though, I could have posted a few more)

Helen, I'm sure the students will have a great experience! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:10/21/2008 05:58:00 PM That is an inspiration - I will definitely have a go! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:11/09/2008 06:20:00 PM Being French, I always make at least one Buche de Noel every year: one for us, small ones to send them to in-law family members instead of cookies, and sometimes to pot-lucks. My favorite version uses very little cream, lots of dark chocolate and chestnut puree. You can add Marrons Glaces bits to make them a little more exuberant.

They are fun to make. Not difficult at all and always look so good. Always a hit at Pot Lucks (even more than my Upside Down Pineapple Cake).

I also like the version with ice-creams...

Thank you for the well illustrated article which demystifies Buche de Noel, Julia.

Sylvie
http://www.LaughingDuckGardens.com/ldblog.php ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Dina's Concord Grape Tart DATE: 10/02/2008 09:31:00 AM ----- BODY:

I spent the Jewish New Year with Dina and her family. Dina, living up to her usual standard, created an impressive and delicious Concord Grape Tart. The recipe comes courtesy of Martha Stewart... but the decorative flourishes are all Dina.

Ingredients
Makes one 9-inch pie
• All-purpose flour, for work surface
• 7 1/2 to 8 cups Concord grapes, rinsed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 1/2 to 5 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 large egg

Directions
1. On a lightly floured work surface, roll 1 piece of pate brisee into a 15-inch round. With a dry pastry brush, sweep off the excess flour; fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate, pressing it into the edges. Trim to a 1-inch overhang all around. Crimp edge as desired. Cover with plastic wrap; chill pie shell until firm, about 30 minutes. Repeat process for rolling out dough. Using a 4-inch grape leaf cookie cutter, cut out 4 leaves from dough. Transfer to a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
2. Remove skins from grapes by pinching the ends of each grape, reserving both the pulp and skins separately, discarding any accumulated liquid.
3. Place pulp in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until the seeds separate from the pulp and the pulp breaks down, about 6 minutes. Strain mixture through a sieve into the bowl with the reserved skins; discard solids. Let cool to room temperature before placing in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove grape mixture from refrigerator. Stir in sugar and cornstarch. Pour into prepared pie shell. Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush edge of pie shell with egg mixture, reserving any remaining mixture. Transfer pie to oven; bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and continue baking until filling jiggles when shaken, about 30 minutes. Transfer pie to a wire cooling rack; let cool overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove reserved grape leaves from refrigerator and brush with remaining egg and water mixture. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack; let cool.
6. Before serving, place grape leaves on top of filling.

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:10/02/2008 11:12:00 PM Beautiful decorating! I love the idea of the cut-out in the top crust. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:10/03/2008 08:24:00 AM Lydia, Dina does an impressive job, doesn't she! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Dina S DATE:10/03/2008 12:35:00 PM Thank you for the compliment--I wish that I could take credit for the idea, but it was all Martha... At least, though, I recognized a good thing when I saw it! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Maggie DATE:10/09/2008 09:33:00 AM this is SO beautiful!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger judith_deecee DATE:10/15/2008 10:04:00 AM Julia, Thanks for pointing this out to me. I had not noticed this (new-to-me) posting. The cut-out top crust besides being beautiful, is witty. Judith_deecee ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Homemade Ricotta DATE: 9/24/2008 12:48:00 AM ----- BODY:

It first occurred to me to make fresh ricotta when I was approached to teach a class at Williams-Sonoma. I was going to demonstrate how to make fresh mozzarella (which I learned at Restaurant Nora). To give the class a theme, we decided on “Homemade Cheeses.” I had never made ricotta before, but I was a quick learner.

Since then, I’ve revised my theme to “The Ultimate Homemade Lasagne.” With the exception of the parmesan, I can make everything from scratch: pasta, Bolognese, ricotta and mozzarella. I can even use the tomatoes and basil from my garden! It’s truly rewarding to do it! The satisfaction of making a meal entirely from scratch, but also how deliciously amazing lasagna can be… the ultimate homemade is really a different beast.

Ricotta is the simplest recipe of the whole process. And it doesn’t require any special ingredients: just milk, cream, salt and lemon.

Combine ½ gallon of whole milk with 1 pint of cream and 1 tablespoon of salt in a large pot, stainless steel pot. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat.

While the milk is heating, squeeze enough lemon juice to yield ½ cup. Line a colander with cheese cloth or coffee filters.

When milk starts to simmer, stir in lemon juice. Stir just enough to combine. The more you stir, the smaller the curds (which is a bad thing). Let sit for 20 minutes to let the curds separate from the whey. They whey will be a translucent, white liquid.

Scoop out the curds into the colander and let drain for about 1 hour, or until the curds are dry. Keeps for about three days. Yield: 3 cups.

Serving suggestions:


CROSTATA di RICOTTA

Crust
1 cup sifted all purpose flour, plus extra for “dusting”
6 tbs. butter, room temp
2 egg yolks
4 tbs. sugar
4 tsp. Marsala
1/2 tsp. freshly grated lemon peel
1/4 tsp. salt

Ricotta filling

2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. freshly grated orange peel
2 egg yolks
3 tbs. raisins, rinsed and drained
2 tbs. slivered, blanched almonds or pine nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Make the crust: In a large mixing bowl make a well in the flour. Drop in the butter, egg yolks, sugar, Marsala, lemon peel and salt. Mix the ingredients together, but don't overwork the dough. Roll out the dough on a floured surface until it is about 1” around wider than the pan, and about 1/8" thick.

4. Lightly butter the sides and bottom of a 9 1/2" false bottom pan. Carefully, press the pastry into the bottom of the pan and around the sides. Be careful not to stretch it. Trim excess.

5. Combine cheese with sugar, flour, salt, vanilla, grated orange peel and egg yolks; beat until they are thoroughly mixed. Stir in the raisins. Spoon the filling into the pastry shell and smooth with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the top with slivered almonds or pine nuts. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 1/2 hour, or until the crust is golden and the filling firm. Remove from oven and let the pie cool before serving. Garnish with fresh strawberries, if you like.

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger giz DATE:9/24/2008 07:52:00 AM This recipe falls into a category that I would call just dreamy. Making your own ricotta - wow - I bow before you. In my mind I always think it's something I would love to do - it feels so organic - yet when it comes right down to it the ease of picking it out of the store cooler just wins. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Bernz DATE:9/24/2008 09:08:00 AM What about the recipe for the lasagna? O, Wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger samaBlog DATE:9/24/2008 11:48:00 AM Isn't this kind of cheating? I mean, isn't ricotta supposed to be made with teh leftover whey after having made other cheese already? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Melissa DATE:9/24/2008 06:39:00 PM I actually have a recipe for this jotted down from Michelle at Thursday Night Smackdown. I will make it for the autumn for my homemade lasagna, definitely.

I remember telling my husband I was all excited to make it for him and he made a face (he doesn't like cheese) and said "why would it be something I would care about?"

"Ummm, because I use ricotta in a lot of our pasta dishes."

Doofus. :P ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:9/24/2008 11:11:00 PM My cooking group loved it when you taught us to make this! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:9/25/2008 06:53:00 AM Giz, It is truly easy -- you should try it at least once. And the difference is amazing!

Bernz, I can't give it all away at once! Gotta keep you coming back for me. Stay tuned.

Samablog, I had heard about this, but have never seen a recipe that makes ricotta in that manner. I feel like I'm cheating because I'm not using rennet as some recipes call for.

Melissa, Can't wait to hear about your lasagne. And you can explain to your husband that fresh ricotta is a totally different beast and he should try it!

Lydia, Thanks! I had fun with your cooking group that night! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:9/26/2008 06:09:00 PM Samablog - yes indeed, original ricotta was made using whey left over from mozzarella. You re-"cooked" the milk (or rather the whey) to make the ricotta (that's what ricotta means, by the way, "re-cooked"). Today most ricotta is made from milk, not whey, just as most buttermilk is not what's left after butter is made...

How do I know this? I started to make my own Mozzarella and Ricotta last month... so of course, I had to research the process.

I love it! I will be posting some recipes featuring those cheese soon. Lasagna and ravioli are definitively there, now that the weather is really cooling off!

Sylvie
www.LaughingDuckGardens.com/ldblog.php ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger michael, claudia and sierra DATE:9/29/2008 10:08:00 AM beautiful!
now if you can find sheeps milk, you just MUST make it with that ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:9/30/2008 08:12:00 AM ceF - what a great idea! I'll definitely look for some sheep's milk. Have you tried it before? ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Misnomer Cupcakes DATE: 9/08/2008 08:48:00 AM ----- BODY:
I recently confessed that I’m a salt-head. I’ll take a salty snack over a sweet snack any day of the week. Every once in a while, I crave a sweet or I’ll peruse a dessert menu. There’s little rhyme or reason to what I like, but it’s never nutty and it’s usually pie or cake. No overly sweet confections for me. Except when it comes to cupcakes.

Whole Foods came out with a line of sweets, “Two Bites.” Two bite cupcakes, two bite brownies… you get the idea. For me, the chocolate cupcakes were the perfect little treat: just enough sweet to finish off a meal. The cake was moist and light with a creamy, chocolate butter-cream frosting. For a while, I was buying a 12-pack a week. But then they ran into production issues and the cupcakes were consistently stale. Sadly, I had to give them up.

Kick-Ass Cupcakes recently opened in Davis Square, and soon received a “Best of Boston” award and Boston’s Best from the Improper Bostonian. I tried desperately to avoid the place, knowing full well that if I found a suitable replacement for the Whole Foods cupcakes, I was in big trouble.
Last week, temptation got the best of me, and I went in. They have an astonishing variety of cupcakes… traditional variations of vanilla and chocolate cake and/or icing, mojito cupcakes (soaked with rum and mint), lemon, cinnamon, and a rotating list of specialty flavors. They also have twice-bake cupcakes dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with m&m’s – a variation on biscotti?

For the first round, I opted for the vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. The frosting, supposedly butter-cream, was too dense and too rich, and the chocolate too dark. The ratio of frosting to cake was good, but since I didn’t like the frosting, it didn’t matter. To shake it up in round two, I opted for the chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. The frosting was indeed buttercream, but the texture was grainy and I couldn’t taste the vanilla nor the butter. The cake was dry and crumbly. By this point, my head and stomach hurt from all the sugar. Perhaps the mojito cupcake would have been better – a better textured cake from the rum soak, and a refreshing minty icing. My guess is that the twice baked cupcakes were the batch that accidently got overcooked. I will never know. At $2.75 for a modestly sized cupcake (read: small), it’s not worth the experimentation.

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:9/08/2008 11:11:00 PM Whew -- saved by the price! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger michael, claudia and sierra DATE:9/09/2008 11:39:00 AM cupcakes are so OVER
ok not really
but in my mind
we have become inundated with cupcake venues - even in nashville!

but what a great name of a business. now they need to live up to it... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:9/12/2008 01:21:00 PM I still love cupcakes, but luckily we don't have any bakeries nearby to buy them. If I want some, I have to bake them myself! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:9/12/2008 03:54:00 PM Lydia, You know me... I don't mind spending money if its worth it. But I can't be too upset about $2.75

Claudia, Are the cupcake venues in Nashville any good?

Kristen, you're lucky... it's an easy way to keep from over-indulging. Rosie's bakery -- which makes 2-3 varieties of cupcakes a day is painfully close. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Baking for Non-Bakers DATE: 7/09/2008 11:59:00 AM ----- BODY:
Culinarians and Business-People are divided into two categories: cooks and bakers. Cooks are free-form and whimsical in their approach – a little of this, a pinch of that. Precision is not necessary, and often balked at. Bakers, on the other hand, are very structured. Recipes must be followed precisely to get the desired result. An extra pinch of salt could ruin a dessert, whereas with a savory dish, it could further enhance.

I am a cook! The exclamation point comes as a result of the only time I was fired from a job: as a pastry chef. Despite this setback, throughout my career, I’ve needed to make desserts – when at Chez Henri and the pastry chef was on vacation, the task fell on me. Or as a private chef, I always made my own desserts. I’ve learned to get by, and by home-cook standards, I’m pretty good. By professional standards, well… I’m a cook not a baker.

I have a few desserts that always impress. Their simple preparations don’t require the same level of precision as many other desserts. Surprisingly, one of my favorites comes courtesy of Thomas Keller. To be sure, he is not known for his simplicity. Each dish, each dessert, has several different components. The trick, for me, has been to determine where the line of diminishing returns is. Thomas Keller, of French Laundry fame, dolls up the French classic, “Ile Flottante” by filling them with chocolate mousse. Ile Flottant, or floating islands in English, are poached meringues “swimming in a sea” of crème anglaise. . He elevates it further by serving them with chocolate tuiles, mint oil and a chocolate shaving salad seasoned with sea salt. I opt against the tuiles and the chocolate salad.
Instead of mint oil, I sprinkle freshly julienned mint for both the color contrast and flavor. I take my own liberties by adding Tahitian vanilla to the meringue which gives the dessert an expansive, yet melt-in-your-mouth feeling, almost like cotton candy.











Floating Islands Filled with Chocolate Mousse
5 egg whites (save yolks for crème anglaise)
1 cup sugar
½ Tahitian Vanilla Bean

3 egg yolks
4 tablespoons sugar
1 cup half-n-half
½ Tahitian vanilla bean

3 ounces dark chocolate, melted
¾ cup heavy cream

Berries and Mint for Garnish

Make meringue: Combine egg whites and 1 cup sugar in a mixing bowl.

Set over simmering water and whisk until sugar dissolves and the mixture is about 110 degrees (slightly warmer than body temperature). Remove from heat and whisk with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside ½ cup.

Brush 6 ramekins with oil.

Fill each ramekin with the remaining meringue. Put in a baking pan with high sides. Fill the baking pan with water to come up half way on the ramekins. Cover with foil.

Bake meringues for 30 minutes at 300F.

Remove ramekins from water bath, and let set in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the crème anglaise:

Heat half-n-half over medium heat with the vanilla bean. Whisk the egg yolk and the sugar. When small bubbles form around the edges of the pot, slowly drizzle the half-n-half into the yolks while whisking vigorously. Return the entire mix to the pot and continue cooking over medium heat, while stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat instantly and let cool.

Make the chocolate mousse: Whip the cream until stiff peaks with an electric mixer. One third at a time, fold the cream into the chocolate. When completely combined, fold the reserved meringue into the chocolate mix.

Hollow out the inside of the cooked meringues with a spoon, making sure to keep the exterior intact. Fill the cavity with the chocolate mousse. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve, invert the floating islands onto a plate. Spoon crème anglaise around. Garnish with mint and berries.

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:7/09/2008 06:26:00 PM I am definitely a cook, not a baker. In fact, I joke that I have measuring cups and spoons in my kitchen just for show! I often agonize about dessert, and default to fruit and cheese. This looks like something I might have the courage to try. Maybe. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:7/10/2008 11:18:00 AM Good luck, Lydia. This is a particularly nice summer dessert because it's so light. Let me know how yours turns out. ----- --------