Vanilla Souffle

 

 A few weeks ago, I made the vanilla souffle recipe from I Know How to Cook.  It was really fun!

It was really my first time using a real, whole vanilla bean.  I split it down the middle, added it to a pan of milk (1 3/4 c.)  and sugar (1/2 c.), and brought it just to a boil.  After the sugar dissolved into the milk, I got to scrape the vanilla beans out of the pod and into the hot liquid.  It was neat seeing the tiny black specks spread out in the milk.

Once the milk was thoroughly flavored with vanilla, I stirred in a scant half cup of flour and half cup butter, ensuring I whisked enough that there were no floury lumps.  I took the pan off the heat and waited a few minutes.  By then the milk's cool enough to add 5 egg yolks, which thickens and richens the mixture.  

I got Georg to beat with an electric mixer the 5 remaining egg whites while I preheated the oven to 375 degrees and greased individual ramekins with butter.  I've heard that using an upward motion when greasing the ramekins will allow the souffles to rise even higher.  Once Georg had whipped the egg whites into stiff peaks, I gently folded them into the egg and milk mixture, and spooned it into the ramekins.

I think the individual souffles baked for about 15 minutes--although the time would depend on the size of your baking dish.  I monitored them very closely and removed them from the oven when they were browned and just set on the top.  It's important not to overbake them; overbaking can cause the air bubbles from the beaten egg whites to bust and the souffle to fall.

Immediately after the souffles come out of the oven, they must be served.  I unfortunately waited a few minutes and the souffles fell partially before we could eat them.  Apparently every souffle falls sooner or later, and you just have to eat it right out of the oven for it to be its fluffiest.  As this great article on souffles says, "The nature of an airy souffle is to rise and fall, sort of like ancient Rome."  You wait for the souffle, not the souffle for you.  I will definitely follow that advice next time I bake a souffle.  

Still, the souffle tasted like a wonderful vanilla cloud.  The sensation of putting the hot, perfumed fluff into my mouth was awesome.  I'm very excited about my souffle experience because now I can't wait to make all sorts of different souffles.  Chocolate souffle, lemon souffle...even savory carrot souffle.  I will keep my readers updated on my souffle adventures!

Mar-a-Lago Key Lime Pie

Donald Trump has a club in Palm Beach, Florida called Mar-a-Lago.  This key lime pie is the club's most requested dessert.  It was recently celebrated on Oprah and ended up on her website, which is where I found the recipe.  Key lime pies evoke feelings of warmth, summer, and Florida, so they can be nice in the middle of a dreary winter when you need a bright, tart little pie in your life. 


As it turns out, key lime pie is pretty easy to make, especially if you just use regular limes (not those tiny, labor intensive key limes).  It cuts down on the time it takes to juice 2/3 cup of lime juice and I've heard that you can't really taste the difference in the limes in the finished product.  I ended up needing about 5 juicy limes.  I always pick fruits that seem to be heavy for their size as this seems to indicate an extra juicy fruit.

To make the pie, you first have to make a graham cracker crust.  This is done by mixing 3/4 pound graham cracker crumbs (which can be bought or made by mashing and grinding graham crackers with the end of a drinking glass) with 4 tbsp. sugar, 1/4 tsp. salt, and two sticks of butter.  I must caution you that 2 sticks of butter ended up to be excessive, at least for me when I was making the recipe; I'd add the butter bit by bit and stop when you've added enough butter for the crumbs to just stick together.  Otherwise the excess butter will prevent a crisp crust.  After pressing the crumbs into the bottom and sides of a pie or tart pan, you bake the crust in a low oven (325 degrees) for ten minutes.


While the crust is baking you can whip together the filling.  The filling is simply 4 egg yolks, 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk, 2/3 cup lime juice, and the zest of a lime.  First you beat the egg yolks and zest with an electric mixer for five minutes until they're fluffy, then you beat in the condensed milk, and then finally, slowly, the juice.  Pour into the baked pie shell, and bake for 15 minutes until done.


After the pie had cooled, it was really pretty to sprinkle some additional lime zest on top.  I opted not to make the vanilla whipped cream contained in the recipe; for me, whipped cream distracts from the tart pleasure of desserts like this.


I loved a couple of things about this pie.  First, I loved the crust.  I usually avoid graham cracker crust desserts precisely because of the thin, overly crisp, preservative laden taste of commercially produced graham cracker crusts.  This crust was fresh, slightly sweet, a little salty, and rich with the flavor of butter.  It was able to form a thick, perfect bed for the tart custard.  The custard was also everything I'd dreamed it would be--it had a smooth, light, sparkling lime flavor.

Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Dried Fruit, Toasted Almonds, and Lemon-Cumin Vinaigrette

I want to share this quinoa salad with you because not only was it delicious, but it's also really healthy.  Quinoa has been around since 3000 BC, but mainstream society seems to have just now discovered the health benefits of this little pseudo-grain.

Quinoa is native to South America, and is actually the seed of a plant related to such leafy greens as beets and spinach.  Since quinoa is a seed and seeds store all the nutrients they need to survive and grow on their own, quinoa is rich in protein and contains all of the essential amino acids.  In fact, it's such a superfood that it's been developed into a cereal to feed undernourished children, and is also being researched by NASA as one of the crops they should try to grow in space since it is such a complete food.  Pretty amazing for a tiny little seed!

I think I first heard about quinoa about 3 or 4 years ago, and now you can find it in regular grocery stores.  While I am really glad that it has become more available, there isn't a great wealth of recipes out there using quinoa, which is probably the only reason why I don't cook with it more often.

Recently I did stumble on a recipe that intrigued a coriander, cumin, and lemon lover like me: Deborah Madison's Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Dried Fruit, Toasted Almonds, and Lemon-Cumin Vinaigrette.  It can be found here on Fine Cooking's website.  Besides being excited by the spices and lemon, I also really liked the idea of nutty quinoa with buttery texture of avocado and the chewy tartness of dried fruit.  In addition, the salad contains avocado and almonds, two other "superfoods" that health experts are always recommending that we eat. 

I followed the recipe exactly, except I substituted the raisins and dried apricots for dried cranberries and dried apples (the fruits I had on hand).  The flavor of the salad exceeded my already-high expectations, and I felt really good about eating so many things that are good for me all at once!  I imagine this would also be good over mild salad greens for a complete (or rather, more voluminous) meal. 

An Attempt at Brioche

For Christmas, Georg got me Ginette Mathiot's translated, updated, classic French cookbook Je sais cuisiner (I Know How to Cook).  It's a brick of a book which contains nearly 1500 simply-written (but not simplistic) recipes that any French home cook should have in his/her repertoire.  Interestingly, it was translated into English and updated to suit the modern cook by Clotilde Dusoulier, the Parisian author of the food blog Chocolate and Zucchini.

I like the book...many of the recipes are beautifully photographed and the illustrations are interesting and eye-catching.  I also find it well organized and there really does seem to be a recipe for almost anything you'd want to make.  The writing doesn't get too superfluous, which I appreciate.  In the index lie several special treats...my favorite being menus and corresponding recipes written by famous chefs all over the world that you can use when you want to throw an impressive dinner party.

I usually find myself drawn to unusual recipes, but this cookbook has gotten me thinking about cooking French classics: vanilla souffle, green beans nicoise, baked eggs.  As a special first recipe to immerse myself into the world of French home cooking, I selected the I Know How to Cook recipe for Brioche.

Brioche is a dense, rich, buttery bread I've had on a few occasions.  It's soft and slightly sweet, and makes great French toast.  The dough contains yeast, sugar, milk, flour, and three eggs.  After this combination has had a chance to rise, you knead in a whole stick of butter to add to the richness.    

The dough turned out to be quite difficult to work with.  At first it was far too dry, and after I added a bit more milk it was sticky and stiff.  It was really difficult to knead.  I was worried, but my fears were assuaged when the rested dough rose to a big, yeasty pouf.

I proceeded to knead in a whole stick of room temperature butter.  The book said to add the butter a lump at a time, and to knead until each lump disappeared.  I followed the instructions faithfully, but in the end I didn't feel like I had the smooth, elastic dough I was supposed to have created.  I let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight, and the next evening shaped the dough into one large and one small boule, which I then stacked on top of each other (this is a classic French shape for brioche).  I let the shaped dough come to room temperature and I even allowed it an hour or so of final rising time (which was generous, as the book didn't suggest rising any rising time).  When I felt like enough was enough (I had started the bread the previous day's morning) I brushed it with egg yolk, and then baked the brioche. 

On the plus side, it turned out shiny and nicely browned.  On the minus side, it turned out a much more rough and crunchy on the outside than I knew brioche was supposed to be.  The flavor is good--it's got the rich taste of eggs and butter, and you can't beat the fresh, yeasty flavor of bread that's just popped out of the oven.  But the texture is a little off.  Brioche is dense, but this bread didn't rise much after I took it out of the refrigerator and is almost heavy.  

A sampling I took from the brioche boule

I am still perfectly happy to slather the brioche with even more butter and some marmalade and eat it before I've even left the kitchen at completely unscheduled moments in the day.  I am looking forward to trying the brioche recipe again--I think I have to just be more assertive with the dough and knead it more thoroughly into submission.  I will probably also avoid refrigerating it for nearly 24 hours before baking; I wouldn't be surprised if the extended chill forced the yeast into dormancy.

Since I got I Know How to Cook, I also tried a delightful, layered, garlicky tomato and eggplant dish that turned out perfectly.  My next conquest will be vanilla souffle...stay tuned!

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

I was really lucky at the beginning of this month to get to see a part of the world that not many people get to see...the Canadian North.

 It's funny, because when I was in college I randomly met this guy, and somewhat by chance, he got a job in Edmonton.  We moved to Edmonton and then, completely by chance, I got a job that I hadn't really been trained for at all, and through that job, I ended up traveling to this beautiful, remote part of the world called Yellowknife, where buffalo roam and the sky is in a constant state of sunrise and sunset.

Yellowknife was beautiful to visit and a place that I feel blessed to get to see.  While there, I bought caribou jerky, went dogsledding, and saw the Northern Lights.  It was awesome.

 

 

 

Christmas 2009

A beautiful centerpiece

A great bottle of wine

A festive salad

Traditional trout

Plenty of presents

and an Abundance of tickets

A wonderful Christmas do make.

Merry Christmas!

Vanillekipferl

Vanillekipferl are classic Austrian Christmas cookies.  They're small, delicate, crescent-shaped, and flavored with vanilla and almonds.

The perfect vanillekipferl has a most delicate texture that crumbles almost instantly when you put it in your mouth.  Last time I tried to make vanillekipferl (a few years ago) with a recipe I found on the internet, it was a total disaster.  They were hard as rocks!  This year, Georg's mother emailed me the recipe she uses, and it worked really, really well.

                                                                               

 

You need:

150 grams butter

2 egg yolks

80 grams sugar

1 package of vanilla sugar

200 grams flour

100 grams ground almonds

50 grams powdered sugar

2 additional packages of vanilla sugar

To make:

Cream the butter and sugars together, beat in the egg yolks.  Stir in the ground almonds and finally the flour to form a crumbly dough.  Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Form the dough into 2 inch long ropes, then shape into crescents.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes, or until cookies are done (the length of time will depend on the size and thickness of the crescent shapes).  While the cookies are baking, mix together the powdered sugar and the packets of vanilla sugar in a pie dish.  When the cookies come out of the oven, allow them to cool just slightly (or else they will break when you try to dredge them in the sugar).  While the cookies are still quite warm, carefully place them in the plate and coat them well with the sugar.  Shake off the excess sugar, and then place on a plate and allow to cool fully.

 

                                                                               

Piparkoogid and a Christmas Tree with Georg and Laura

      

My friend Laura has some Estonian heritage and makes Piparkoogid (Estonian spice cookies) with her family during the holiday season.  This year, she decided to share her recipe and make Piparkoogid with me!

Laura's recipe comes from a recipe book that her grandmother put together, which features not only recipes, but also helpful tips, drawings, and some of her favorite sayings.  It was really fun to look though it.

The dough is flavored with a spice syrup, which you make by warming golden syrup with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and cardamom.  Laura informed us that the dough tastes even better than the baked cookies, so we ate a lot of dough before we started baking.  The flavor of the dough and eventually the cookies was very good--a very complex warmth from the spices and butter.

Piparkoogid are decorated before baking, by applying colored sugar and almonds to the dough which has been made slightly sticky with a brushing of beaten egg.  I think they are typically cut into Chrismas shapes (gingerbread persons, stars, and trees) but we didn't have any Christmas cookie cutters, so we had to make do.

We didn't end up doing a very elegant job of decorating the cookies, as you can probably see from looking at the rather sad Christmas tree to the right.  As we found out, it is really hard to sprinkle colored sugar precisely!

We ended up making kind of a joke out of it, and most of the cookies ended up looking totally bizarre.  We took them to work and everyone ate them though!

The same day, Laura was gracious enough to drive us to get a Christmas tree so we wouldn't have to convince some cab or bus driver to let us take it in their vehicle.  We ended up getting the most beautiful, symmetrical, densely-needled Christmas tree I think I've ever had!

                                

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Chestnuts and Sage Butter

 

This was my second time making gnocchi.  Oddly enough, the last time I made gnocchi, I made it with butternut squash, which means I must only be up to making gnocchi when it contains a non-traditional ingredient.  Sometime I should try making plain gnocchi--gnocchi, after all, is a delicious and cost-effective dish that deserves to be made in its most plain state anytime!

I picked this particular recipe because it is so fall-like.  I baked sweet and regular baking potatoes in the oven until they were tender, peeled the potatoes, and then blended them with a bit of egg, flour, cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Every time I watch someone making gnocchi on TV, I hear that it's so hard to make and so easy to mess up.   That's not necessarily true--my gnocchi came out perfectly pillowy and delicious.  I just think the preparation requires a couple of hints.  I think it's important not to overmix the dough mixture after the flour has been added.  This just makes scientific sense--mixing the dough forms strings of gluten and renders the gnocchi chewy and rubbery.  I think it's also important to know how to form the dough--if you don't know, and are endlessly fooling with the dough to get it into its proper shape, it's also going to get overworked and chewy.  But these are the basic things you need to know.  It's not impossible to make decent gnocchi at home.

Some recipes, such as the one I used, will instruct you to simply press a fork into a piece of cut gnocchi dough.  This is not the way to do it.  Texturizing the gnocchi is a good idea, since more surface area means more space to which delicious sauce can cling.  But just pressing a fork into the dough and leaving it at that will yield a flatly shaped gnocchi.  Rather, you have to use your thumb to not only impress the fork upon the gnocchi, but to roll it up slightly from the fork into an oval shape.  It takes a little bit of practice, but becomes easy after you've done ten or so.

To cook the gnocchi, you slide them into boiling, salted water, and cook until they rise to the top of the cooking liquid.  Then you transfer them to a pan of whatever kind of good sauce you have waiting.  I have had excellent gnocchi in plain marinara sauce, in bleu cheese-tomato sauce, in wild mushroom sauce, and more, but this time the recipe called for a sage-brown butter sauce.  Basically, I cooked some olive oil and butter with sage until the butter was browned, then tossed the gnocchi and some chopped chestnuts in it.  It was very delicious and seasonal dish.

Salt and Pepper Shakers: Georg's Gift to Me on our 5th Anniversary

For the fifth anniversary of Georg's and my fated meeting, Georg gave me these cute, loving salt and pepper shakers (among other things).  They are awfully cute hugging, but can also be posed in lots of other adorable positions.  I love them!  Thanks Georgie!