Cream Scones

One of the biggest events of the year here in Western Washington is the Puyallup Fair (Pew-allup not Pooyallup). For many, going to the fair is an annual tradition, but I've lived in Seattle for almost 10 years and have never gone. Steven says he can't remember ever going either and isn't particularly interested in it. I guess it's just not our thing, not to mention we have to drive nearly an hour, assuming there's no traffic, to get there. But last year I was really tempted to go, not because I felt like I was missing out on the quintessential fair experience, but for the scones. I had read an article in the Seattle Times about the Fair's most popular and famous food item, the Puyallup Fair scones. People will wait in line for almost an hour, maybe longer, for these buttered and jam smeared scones, and many buy a dozen or dozens to stock up on. So naturally, I wondered what the big fuss was all about. But Steven and I weren't gonna drive all the way down there, pay admission, and wait in line just for a scone.

In the end, we never did make it to the fair last year. Plus, Steven was skeptical, how can a scone be that good? Aren’t scones bone dry, tasteless, and usually served with tea because you need something to wash it down? Then the other day I found a half pint of heavy cream that had hit the sell by date. Don’t worry it wasn’t opened and it didn’t smell funky so I couldn't just let it go to waste. I thought why not try making some cream scones. So what’s the difference between a biscuit and a scone aside from shape (round vs. wedge) and country of origin (American vs. Scottish)? Well, to be honest, I don't really know. The lines are kinda fuzzy but for the most part a biscuit is eaten with savory foods like gravy or fried chicken (or both... mmm mm!) whereas scones are sweeter and paired with tea. Meh, technicalities don't matter, as long as it tastes good!

Oh man did the scones smell good when they were baking! When you think about it, how can something with heavy cream and butter not be delicious? After they came out of the oven, I couldn’t resist and immediately broke off a corner to taste test, you know, for quality control. They were so rich and tender and were hands down, absolutely the best scones I've ever had. After waiting anxiously for the scones to be cool enough to handle, I split one in half and smeared it with butter and homemade blackberry jam. Yummmm... Steven and I are now scone converts. Are these scones better than the ones from the fair? I can't say for sure since I've never had the ones at the fair. I'm gonna say yes because after reading the article more closely, the scones are made from a mix with water! Not heavy cream! On the other hand, the Fair Scones do come with the whole package, the mooing cows in the background or whatnot. But it's good to know I don't have to wait all year then drive an hour to get a good scone when I can make it in my kitchen.

Cream Scones

2 C all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 in cubes
2 Tbsp honey
1 C heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400 deg F and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Using a pastry cutter, two forks, or your hands, rub the butter in the flour until it's pebbly (or you can use a food processor and pulse the butter in the flour a few times).

Whisk the honey with the cream and pour this into the dry ingredients. Fold the cream into the flour, at first it will be sticky, and bring the dough together with your hands without overworking it.

Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out. Form the dough into a round disc then roll it out until it is about 7 inches in diameter. Cut the dough into 8 pieces (first in half, then quarters, then each quarter in half into eighths). Transfer each wedge onto a baking sheet and bake for about 18 - 22 minutes, or until their tops are golden.

Let them cool for 10 minutes and spread with butter and jam. For an extra special treat, mix some honey into softened butter before smearing on your scone, just like the honey butter at the Fair.

Store in an airtight container and they're great the next day warmed in the microwave or toaster oven.

Duck Confit

For the longest time, I've had a food crush on duck confit. It was duck, and I love duck, and it was French, so it sounds all sexy. I knew it had to be delicious, even before tasting it. Sometimes, when you have high expectations, the real deal can let you down. But not duck confit. When I ordered it for the first time, every bite was as delicious as I thought it would be. It was love at first bite.

One of my most prized ingredients is my container of duck fat. I had been saving the fat from my previous roast ducks in hopes of collecting enough to make confit. While I love ordering confit de canard, I wanted to try to making it home, even if it was just once. My main concern was the cooking temperature. Duck legs (the breast will also work) are immersed in fat and slowly poached ideally at 180 - 190 deg F, no higher than 200 deg F, any higher and the meat will be stringy. The problem is that many home ovens can't go lower than 200 deg F, not to mention my home oven is a little unreliable. Then I had the great idea to use my slow cooker since the "low" setting should hold contents at around 170 - 180 deg F.

Instead of buying duck legs, I started with a whole duck since it was cheaper and I like having the giblets and bones. Aside from confiting the duck legs and breast, I made a duck soup with the wing tips, neck, and carcass, braised the wings, gizzard, and heart, and made a pate/rillette out of the liver. After cooking, I covered the confit in fat to ripen in the fridge for a week. Confit was first used as a preservation technique and the meat can be stored submerged in fat for many months, but I wasn't interested in keeping it for that long, I wanted to eat it. Finally, after waiting a week, it was finally ready to be eaten. I crisped up the skin in a cast iron skillet and then pan fried some Yukon Golds in more duck fat to accompany the confit. Potatoes cooked in olive oil is eh, cooked in butter is good, but cooked in duck fat is absolute perfection; the two are just meant to be together. The fat from the confit can be reused many times for confit until it gets too salty but then you can use a little bit to cook with (potatoes, fried rice, vegetables, etc.). I don't think I could ever bear to throw away duck fat.

Duck Confit/Confit de Canard
Adapted from Bouchon

4 whole duck legs (I used 2 duck legs and 2 breasts)
Enough fat to cover the legs, 4+ cups

Green salt
4 Tbsp kosher salt
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp thyme leaves
2 Tbsp packed parsley leaves
1/2 tsp black peppercorns

Add the ingredients for the green salt in a small food processor or spice grinder. Process until well combined and bright green.

Trim off any excess fat or skin on the duck legs, rinse, and pat dry. Rub the duck with green salt, using about 1 tablespoon per leg or breast. Place the duck in a baking dish in one layer flesh side up. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours to cure.

After the cure, rinse the legs (or breast) and pat dry. Preheat the oven to 190 deg F. Place in an ovenproof pot with lid and cover the duck with rendered fat. Place the pot in the oven and cook for 10 hours. Alternatively, place the duck in a slow cooker insert and set the slow cooker to high for 1 hour then turn it down to low for 9 more hours. (A note about slow cookers: some newer slow cookers will heat contents past 180 def F even on the low setting, so be sure to check the temperature of the contents once in a while to make sure it's not above 200 deg F.) The duck is done with it is very tender and the meat will pull away from the bone on the drumstick and shrink towards the thigh. The fat should be clear, meaning that the meat is no longer releasing any juices.

Remove the pot from the oven or take out the insert from the slow cooker and cool the duck slowly to room temperature. When the duck has cooled, gently lift the legs out of the fat and transfer to a container, place them skin side down in the container. Cover the duck completely with fat and store in the fridge for a week. It can be stored for months but you must be extremely careful about not getting any meat juices in the container, as that will cause the meat to spoil.

Save the meat juices. It's intensely flavorful and gelatinous so it will add great body to sauces. It can also be mixed with shredded confit meat and fat to make a rillette. To separate the fat from the juices at the bottom, chill the fat and when it is firm enough, you can remove the fat with a spoon, taking care not to disturb the gelled meat juices at the bottom (the aspic).

To Serve
Bring the container of duck confit to room temperature to soften the fat. Preheat the oven to 375 deg F.

Gently lift the legs out of the fat, scrape off any excess fat. Heat a nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the duck skin side down and cook until the skin is golden brown and crisp, about 5 - 6 minutes. Transfer the legs to a baking pan, skin side up, and bake for an additional 8 minute to heat them through.

Serve with the traditional side dish of pomme salardaise (potatoes pan fried in duck fat) or a green salad.

Duck Rillette
This spread is a combination pate and rillette because it has both a duck liver that came with my duck and shredded confited duck breast. There's really no recipe for this since it was just something I threw together, a duck liver, some shredded duck confit, some aspic (gelatin meat juices) from the confit, and duck fat all mixed together. It was delicious spread on baguette slices with a strong Dijon mustard (like Maille) and cornichons. Soak the duck liver in some milk for a few hours before cooking (to draw out the blood), then cook it in some duck fat until it is just pink on the inside. Puree the liver with duck fat and aspic, then mix in shredded confit meat. Pour a thin layer of melted duck fat on top to seal.


How to Render Fat
Cut the skin and large pieces of fat into small 1/2 inch pieces. Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a simmer then turn down to the lowest heat to slowly melt the fat. Cook until all the water is evaporated and the fat is clear and golden. Don't boil the fat or it will overheat and begin to break down and will be unusable. Strain the fat and reserve the pieces of skin and fat to make cracklings if you wish (bake in the oven at 250 deg F until they are crisp).

Kona Kampachi

When Hannah first contacted me on behalf of Kona Blue asking if I was interested in trying Kona Blue's Kampachi, it seemed too good to be true. I'm not used to getting asked to do reviews so I didn't know what to do. Then I saw a steamy review so I asked Jaden what she thought. Basically it's great fish, a great company, and no strings attached. I love sushi so much, how can I turn down sushi grade fish?! Hannah was also suuuuper nice and answered all of my questions! Thanks Hannah!

Kona Blue was founded in 2001 by two marine biologists who wanted to create sustainably raised, sushi-grade fish. I used to think that farmed fish, like farmed salmon, are inferior in both taste and nutrition to their wild counterpart. However, Kona Blue Kampachi is premium quality fish that's high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids and has no detectable levels of PCBs or mercury (a concern with fish like tuna). Kampachi is native to the waters of Hawaii and is better known as amberjack or kalaha. It's a relative of the Japanese hamachi or yellowtail (not yellowfin, which is a tuna). In the wild, kalaha is particularly susceptible to a toxin that causes serious food poisoning, but through aquaculture and by controlling what the fish eat, kampachi can now be raised sustainably and safely for consumption. The fish are raised in high tech pens suspended in the ocean, fed food made from fish meal and oil from sustainable fisheries and organic wheat, and they are not given any antibiotics or medications. And to top it off, Kona Kampachi has an even higher fat content than wild kalaha, a whopping 30% fat.

When you buy directly from Kona Blue, the fish is shipped overnight to you. I was so excited on the day my fish was to arrive, I kept looking outside the window scanning the streets for the Fedex truck. Inside the package, were 2 very large fillets sitting happily on plenty of ice packs. I've never had so much sushi grade fish in my house, it made me absolutely giddy. The first thing I did was I checked the fish for freshness and gave the fillets a big whiff. There was no fishy smell whatsoever, a good sign. It was pretty much odorless with a slight hint of ocean. I bet you're rolling your eyes thinking "Pssshh smells like ocean, what BS." But it's true, the fish was incredibly fresh! The flesh was firm and shiny, another good sign. I rinsed off each fillet and then removed the bloodline, the dark purply, red flesh on the skin side of the fillets. The bloodline usually tastes too strong, fishy, and just plain funky. It's best to keep fish as whole as possible until you're about to cook or serve it, and break it down into pieces no more than a day in advanced (I broke this rule and had some pieces I cut up 2 days in advance but it was still really fresh 2 days later).

The first thing I wanted to do with the fish was a dinner of sashimi and nigiri. It was so glorious, I couldn't bear to cook it. I reserved 2 large portions for searing the next day. The smaller pieces I used for ceviche and poke, a tribute to this Hawaiian fish. Finally there were 2 pieces of really fatty belly that were too thin for sashimi so I opted to sear these simply with salt and eat with rice for a simple lunch.

The fish is absolutely delicious - quite possibly some of the best fish I have ever had in my life. If purchasing directly from Kona Blue, a whole fish is $8.75/lb and fillets are $17/lb. That's the wholesale price and it's the price that chefs pay. It's still pretty darn pricey! But that's roughly the price I expect to pay for sushi grade fish at upscale markets like Whole Foods. But the deal breaker for me is the shipping, it costs almost as much as the fish itself! Shipping an overnight package from Hawaii ain't cheap, that's for sure. On the other hand, the overnight shipping and plenty of ice does ensure that your fish arrives as fresh as possible. But to be honest I wouldn't purchase this fish online because of the shipping costs. However, all hope is not lost! If you're in Seattle, currently Uwajimaya Market in the International District is the only market in the area that carries this fish ($10/lb for whole fish $20/lb for fillets). Kona Kampachi is already making appearances on menus all across the country. As Kona Kampachi becomes more recognized and more popular, I expect it will be available at upscale markets like Whole Foods perhaps at slightly more affordable prices. Here's the list of restaurants across the country that serve currently serve Kona Kampachi on their menu. So keep an eye out for this fish in the future. If I see this at Uwajimaya or Whole Foods one day, I would definitely buy it as a rare treat. :)

Now here's my Martha moment: Sustainably raised sushi grade fish? It's a good thing.


First a dinner of sashimi and nigiri:

Sashimi
Fish
Shredded daikon (palette cleanser)
Perilla/Shiso leaf (garnish, optional)

Make a mountain of shredded daikon, put some shiso leaves on top, and lay slices of fish on the daikon.

Nigiri
Fish
Sushi rice
Soy sauce
Optional:
Wasabi
Pickled ginger (stay away from the kind that's dyed pink)

The piece of sashimi or fish that goes on top of rice for nigiri should be about 2 fingers wide and 4 fingers across (something I read in the The Zen of Fish but it will vary with the size of your fingers). As for the thickness, that's up to you, but I like a decently thick piece of fish.

There was a whole page in The Zen of Fish dedicated to how a sushi master forms the nigiri rice. The mark of a sushi master is how light and loose the mound of rice is and how most of the rice grains face the same direction. I am no sushi master and the rice grains in my rice mounds definitely don't all face the same direction. But the most important part is to keep your hands slightly wet when forming so the rice doesn't stick all over your hands. Wet your hands, let the excess drip off, and then clap them together to get rid of excess water. Use a gently touch to form the rice mound, don't pack the rice so tight it's like a solid pellet.

As for dipping in soy sauce, never dip the rice part because a well made nigiri will just fall apart. Also never make a paste of wasabi with soy sauce. Most of the wasabi we get isn't even real wasabi, which is notoriously difficult to cultivate, it's horseradish paste with green coloring. The heat of the wasabi dissipates when it hits liquid so don't make that brown sludge with the soy sauce. It's best to dab the wasabi directly on the fish and dip the fish side down in the soy sauce. It's okay to eat sushi with your hands. :)

I never thought I would be sick of raw fish, but after gorging ourselves the previous night, Steven and I yearned for a cooked recipe. The high fat content in the fish not only gives the fish a great mouthfeel when eaten raw but it keeps the fish super moist and delicious even in the high heat of searing. I served the seared kampachi on a bed of cucumber and daikon ribbons and ponzu sauce with rice and cucumber salad.

Seared Kampachi Fillet with Ponzu Sauce

Kona Kampachi or another high content fish fillet will also work
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil for searing

Ponzu Sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp yuzu juice or 2 Tbsp lemon juice + 1 Tbsp yuzu marmalade

Season the fish with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil over medium high heat in a nonstick skillet. ADd the fish and sear until there is a nice golden brown crust on both sides of the fish, 3 - 5 minutes per side.

Drizzle with ponzu sauce and garnish with toasted sesame seeds (optional).

Cucumber ribbons: you can use a mandoline but if you don't have one (like me), hold the cucumber flat on a cutting board and use a vegetable peeler and run it across the length of the cucumber to get a thin strip of even thickness. This works best with baby cucumbers or english cucumbers. Discard the first strip since that one is just skin.

Then the next day I tried two more recipes, one raw and one "cooked". I made a poke, a Hawaiian fish salad appetizer made with raw fish and a variety of other condiments, and ceviche, another type of fish "salad" where the fish is "cooked" in citrus juice. The acid in the juice denatures the proteins in the fish and slowly turns the fish from translucent to opaque, essentially cooking the fish.

I couldn't believe how easy it was to make ceviche. The mango added a really nice tropical sweetness and the toasted corn added a really light smokey flavor.

Ceviche
2 C sushi grade fish like kampachi, snapper, or scallop cut in a 1/2 inch dice
1/4 C lemon juice
1/4 C lime juice
2 - 3 roma tomatoes, 1/2 inch dice
1 C corn
Half a medium onion, small dice
1 mango, small cubes
1 avocado, small cubes
2 Tbsp or more to taste minced parsley, cilantro, or combination
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Add the citrus juices to the fish in a nonreactive bowl. Cover and refridgerate for 3 - 6 hours, stir every hour. The longer the fish marinate in the juices, the more cooked it will be.

Cut the tomatoes into a dice similar to the size of the fish and let it drain in a colander for 30 minutes.

Heat an empty skillet (no oil) over high heat and add the corn. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the corn has toasty brown spots, and is almost popping out of the pan. Set aside to cool.

After the fish has cooked to your liking, drain it from the juices. Add the chopped onions, tomatoes, avocado, mangoes, corn, parsley/cilantro, olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour for the flavors to meld.

Serve with tortilla chips or on warm corn tortillas.

As for the poke, it was mix this and that in and season to taste with soy sauce and sesame oil. I didn't have any fresh seaweed, which is what's traditionally used, so I used some thinly sliced nori.

Poke
1 C cubed sushi grade fish usually mahi mahi, but I used Kampachi
1 - 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 - 2 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp sliced green onions (green part only)
1 roma tomato, 1/2 inch dice
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 Tbsp chopped macadamia nuts
Seaweed (I used some nori)

Mix the fish with the soy sauce and sesame oil. Let it marinate in the fridge for an hour. Start off light and season more later if needed.

30 minutes before serving, add the rest of the ingredients, season to taste, and chill before serving. Don't add the ingredients too earlier otherwise the nuts will get soggy.

No Knead Pizza Dough

I used to hate pizza crust as a kid. I would dread getting to that barren outer ring of crust where there was no more sauce, cheese, or pepperoni to hide the dry and tasteless breadstick. As I got older, I realized the world of pizza extends beyond school cafeterias and nationwide pizza chains. I discovered specialty pizzas, where the crust is the best part! My attempts to make pizza at home never got very far until I got a baking stone about a year and a half ago. The baking stone transformed a flabby, limp crust into a crisp one. But the most important element of great pizza is the dough, and it is also the trickiest part. My idea of the perfect pizza crust is one that's crisp on the outside and has a good chew on the inside. The crust should be thin except around the edge where there should be big, bulbous air pockets. Oh how I love those giant air bubbles. I've made some pretty good doughs but I still wasn't satisfied. Then I had a stroke of genius. Why not use no knead bread for pizza dough. The high water content in the dough will create that really crisp crust and the long rise time means plenty of gluten development for the chewy interior and lots of good air bubbles, just what I was looking for. I started experimenting with this idea a few months ago. But as it turns out I wasn't the only one with this idea (a whole book about no knead breads? Now that's genius). What can I say, great minds think alike. ;) My recipe is based on Jim Lahey's original No Knead Bread recipe. This is by far the best pizza dough ever (and omigosh it requires no kneading!). It's taken time and practice, but I have to say, I make a darn good pizza.


mmm... look at that bubbly crumb

This is the original No Knead Bread Recipe:
3 C flour
1 1/2 C water
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt

For no knead bread, I use unbleached all purpose flour and that gets the job done. But for pizza dough, I want a really chewy finished product so I use bread flour, which has more gluten. Usually when I make No Knead Bread, I use a combination of 2 cups all purpose flour and 1 cup of white whole wheat flour (I like King Arthur Mills). Whole wheat flour is more flavorful to begin with (it's healthier too!) and the extra long rise and fermentation really brings out even more flavor. I wanted my pizza dough to benefit from the flavor boost of WW flour so I kept this ratio for the dough: 2 cups of bread flour (again I like King Arthur Mills) and 1 cup of white whole wheat flour.

I kept the water content the same, preserving the 2:1 flour to water ratio.

And I also kept the yeast amount the same.

The salt content of the original recipe fits my tastes perfectly. Because I would be adding sauce and toppings, I scaled it down a bit to 1 teaspoon. This also makes it easier to halve or double the recipe.

Now for some pizza dough additions:
I'm not sure if anyone else experiences this but it seems like No Knead Bread goes stale really quickly. After half a day the crumb, once moist and delicious, gets a little crumbly and funky (though a little toasting in the oven reverses the staling). I like to add olive oil to my pizza doughs, which adds a great flavor but also improves the texture and the additional fat protects against staling. I like to add 1 tablespoon for every cup of flour, which is a little more than most recipes, so in goes 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Next I also like to add honey, which helps boosts the flavor of the dough and works especially well with the whole wheat flour. 1 teaspoon for every cup of flour, 1 tablespoon total but you can go up to 2 tablespoons.

So here's my final recipe:

No Knead Pizza Dough
adapted from Jim Lahey's No Knead Bread
makes 2 medium sized pizzas

2 C bread flour
1 C whole wheat flour, preferably white
1 1/2 C water, warm about 100 degrees F
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt (if you use kosher salt you will have to use more)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 - 2 Tbsp honey

Dissolve the honey in the warm water. The water should feel tepid and slightly warm to the touch but not hot; hot water will kill the yeast. Whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt to evenly distribute. Add the warm water and olive oil and stir until the dough is well mixed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature (optimal temp about 70 degrees) for 18 hours.


I made 1.5x the recipe and it looked like it was going to take over my kitchen.

No knead bread rises anywhere from 12 to 18 hours for the first rise, and then 1 - 2 for the second rise. For this pizza dough, I like to go for the full 18 hours to get maximum flavor and gluten development, then I let it rise for 2 - 3 hours for the second rise. Typically when I want to make pizzas for dinner, I start the dough the previous day at around 10pm. Then it let it rise all night and during the day when I'm at work. I get home at around 4pm when I shape it, then let it rise again until 7pm and then pizzas are done by 7:30, just in time for dinner. (If this time frame doesn't work for you, see my note about retarding the dough)

After 18 hours, flour your work surface, hands, and a bench scraper. Cut the dough in half. Handle the dough gently because if you're too rough, you will push all the hard earned air bubbles out of the dough. Gather all of the edges of the dough together, almost like a little pouch, and seal the seams. You will have a ball of dough. Brush any excess flour off your work surface to the side. You don't want too much flour on your surface for this step. Flip the ball of dough over so the seam is on the bottom. Flour your hands and lightly flour the sides of the dough. Then cup your hands, and shuffle the ball of dough back and forth between your hands in a circular motion. The bottom of the dough will grab onto the work surface and the circular motion will help the exterior of the dough pull taut and form a smooth surface. If there is too much flour on your work surface the dough will not be able to grab onto the work surface. Repeat this process with the second portion of dough. After you have formed the ball of dough, use a bench scraper to lift it off the work surface since it will be stuck, and transfer it to a floured area to rest. Loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise again for 2 - 3 hours.



Take this time to make your pizza sauce and prep your toppings.

Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, set the pizza stone on the rack, and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F or as high as your oven will go and preheat for 30 minutes before baking. Do not add a pizza stone to a hot oven or it will crack. Place the stone in the cool oven before you turn it on and then let it heat up with the oven.

If you don't have a pizza peel, like me, you can use a cookie sheet with no lip. I place a square piece of parchment directly on the cookie sheet and form the pizza on the parchment. This way I don't have to deal with scattering cornmeal on the cookie sheet which always makes a big a mess and ends up all over my kitchen floor.

When it's time to stretch your dough, oil your hands front and back. The oil will prevent the dough from sticking to your hands and it will also get rubbed onto the exterior of the dough creating a nice crispy crust. Take one ball of dough and gently flatten it. Form two fists and drape the dough over your fists. Let gravity pull the dough down as you turn it over your fists. Once you get a rough circular dough, place it over your piece of parchment. Even out the dough with the heel of your palm, make sure to not thin it out too much otherwise the dough will tear. Top with sauce and toppings but don't overwhelm the dough with too much stuff or it will get soggy.

Take the cookie sheet or pizza peel and slide the pizza with the parchment paper onto the baking stone. Bake the pizza for 7 - 10 minutes or until the crust is a crisp and golden brown and the cheese is spotty brown. After 5 minutes the bottom of the pizza will be baked and you can slide the piece of pachment out from underneath. This way the crust will be in direct contact with the stone and will crisp up better.

After the pizza has finished baked, take your pizza peel or cookie sheet and slide it underneath the pizza or use a pair of tongs and gently grab the crust and pull the pizza onto the peel/sheet.

Cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.


*note:
Not everyone has the option of getting home at 4pm from work so if you want to make this on a weeknight, one possibility (I have not tried this yet however) is to refrigerate the dough after shaping but before the second rise. You will also need to start the first rise earlier around 5 - 6pm and let it rise until the next morning and then shape it for the second rise, cover well and refrigerate. The cooler temperatures will retard the dough and it will continue to rise at a much slower pace. You can shape it early in the morning, retard during the day, and take it out 30 minutes in advance to let it come to room temperature, cold dough will tear too easily.


Salami, kalamata olives, and artichoke hearts. nomnomnom!

Simple Tomato Sauce
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, packed in juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
Fresh basil, chiffonade or torn into smaller pieces (if you have it)

Drain the tomatoes and puree them in a food processor or food mill. Add the garlic and olive oil to a cold unheated saucepan and place over medium heat. Let the mixture slowly heat up together. When the garlic starts to smell fragrant, add the tomato puree. Cook until it has thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Off heat stir in the basil.


A final note: I love making my pizzas with fresh mozzarella. If you have access to a Trader Joe's, they sell 1 pound logs of fresh mozzarella for only $5.

Halibut Cheeks on Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Chive Oil

Last Friday Steven and I visited my favorite place in Seattle, Pike Place Market. We don't go there very often so I took the opportunity to splurge on all kinds of goodies. First we hit up World Spice Merchants, which is in my opinion Seattle's best spice house. If you live in the area and haven't been there you really owe it to yourself to go. They ground my allspice when I ordered it so it was as fresh as can be. Who knows how long that preground allspice has been sitting on that supermarket shelf? Next we perused the produce stands where I splurged on one, yes just one, blood orange. Along the way we tried some 25 year aged balsamic vinegar and some fig balsamic (both of which were simply amazing). We sampled some artisan chocolate pasta that you could eat dry and uncooked. Then off to the butcher for veal shanks ($12.90 a pound, ouch). Finally to the fishmonger, where the selection of seafood is just overwhelming: scallops the size of your palm, crimson fillets of king salmon, and fresh wild-caught halibut cheeks. At $16.99 a pound, there was definitely some hesitation, but I thought what the heck, it's still cheaper than dining out, so I got half a pound.

For the Chinese, the cheek is the most coveted part of the fish, prized for its sweet flavor and tenderness. Chopsticks gently pry this delicacy out from the cavity below the eyes and it is then offered to the guest of honor. The cheek of a typical steamed fish is a tiny morsel about the size of a raisin. However, the ginormous halibut will yield a behemoth of a cheek that are almost the size of a deck of playing cards. Eating a plate of only fish cheeks? It sounds too good to be true, almost wrong... yet so right.

I wanted to showcase the fish cheeks amazing flavor and texture so it required very little dressing up. This beautiful piece of fish requires no fancy sauce, just a little salt and pepper.The buttery taste of yukon golds pairs perfectly with the buttery fish. (I think the best mashed potatoes are made with yukon golds, russets are too bland and boring). The potatoes are topped with a little chive oil for the tiniest oniony kick and finally, a squeeze of lemon juice on the cheeks provides the perfect acidic note to counter the richness of the fish and potatoes.

Oh and what did Steven say?

"Hey guess what?" "We're eating haliBUTTCHEEKS. lol."

Halibut Cheeks with Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Chive Oil

1/2 lb halibut cheeks
Salt and pepper
Roughly 2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp Butter

Mashed Yukon Golds
1 lb Yukon Gold Potatoes
3 Tbsp butter, cut into 3 pieces
Salt and pepper
(optional: 1/2 tsp lemon zest for lemon scented mashed potatoes)

Chive Oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
2 Tbsp olive oil (or more)

Lemon wedges for serving

First make the chive oil, finely mince the chives and mix with olive oil and set aside to infuse.

Scrub the potatoes and dig out any emerging roots. Leave the potatoes whole and place them in a saucepan and fill with about half an inch of water. Simmer until they can be easily pierced with a knife, about 15 - 25 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes.

Leave the heat on. After all the potatoes are tender (smaller potatoes will require less time than the larger potatoes), peel the potatoes, then put them through a potato ricer, a food mill using the coarse disc, or mash with a potato masher. A ricer or food mill will produce the fluffiest potatoes. Rice the potatoes back into or mash them directly in the hot pot back on heat for a minute to dry out the potatoes. Then using a rubber spatula, fold in 3 tablespoons of butter and season with salt and pepper (optional ingredient: add some lemon zest for lemon scented potatoes). Keep warm until serving.

Season the cheeks with a little salt and pepper then dredge them in flour, shaking off the excess. The cheeks cook very quickly, like scallops, and will only take about minute or two per side. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat heat. When the foaming stops, add the cheeks and cook until the first side is golden brown, 1 - 2 minutes. Flip over and cook the second side until golden brown, 1 - 2 minutes.

Place a mound of mashed potatoes on the plate, spoon some chive oil on top, and place the cheeks ontop of the mashed potatoes and squeeze some lemon juice on top. Serve immediately.

Dorie's Perfect Party Cake

This year when Steven and I celebrate our birthdays together in July, I want to bake an extra special cake for the two of us. I don't make many layer cakes because I think they're too fussy to make and frost. I'm more of a muffin/quick bread kind of gal where I only need two bowls and don't have to bust out the KitchenAid. But I just can't resist the sheer beauty and elegance of a pristine white layer cake with buttercream frosting. There's really no substitute for a tall layer cake for a special occasion so I need to get as much practice in as possible before making the official birthday cake. I don't want to screw up like last year because screwing up a birthday cake is something I never want to do again. A white layer cake something I've always wanted to make, it's even on the list! So when Morven chose Dorie's Perfect Party Cake, I really couldn't have asked for a more perfect challenge.



We had a lot of flexibility this month. We could play around with the cake flavor, the fillings, and the buttercream flavors, as long as we stuck to Dorie's basic recipe for the cake and frosting. At first glance, I was shocked by the amount of butter and sugar the entire recipe called for: a full POUND of butter and 2 1/2 cups of sugar (not counting the sugar in the preserves). Oh my! I didn't mess with the butter content but I simply couldn't put 1 1/2 cups of sugar in the cake alone! First I scaled down the recipe by 3/4 for my 8 inch cake pans and then decreased the sugar to 3/4 cups. I tasted a piece of the cake and it was sufficiently sweet so I can't imagine how cloyingly sweet it would have been if I had used the full amount. Many Daring Bakers had an issue with the cake not rising very much and I ended up with the same problem. I used cake flour and followed the instructions to a T and yet my cakes did not rise very much at all. After baking, the layers were about 1 inch high. I worried that my cake would end up like my first chiffon cake, dense and rubbery. I cut off a tiny piece and surprisingly, the interior of the cake was light and fluffy and tasted amazing, it just didn't rise very much. Odd but nothing catastrophic. I compared the recipe to a Cook's Illustrated recipe for white layer cake and found that CI used the same amount of flour, more butter, but also more baking powder and eggs whites. Maybe next time I should try adding a little more baking powder?

I knew I wanted to fill the cake with blackberry jam because I still had a huge gallon size bag of blackberries in the freezer from last summer that I needed to use (to make room for strawberry season). With my recently purchased shiny new food mill, I was able to make seedless jam since the first thing Steven did the last time I made jam was complain about all the seeds. I kept the lemon flavor in the cake because I think it pairs very well with blackberry. Instead of filling the cakes with buttercream and preserves, I boosted the lemony flavors of the cake by making Pierre Herme's lemon cream, also found in Dorie's book, to go inside. I still made the buttercream to frost the outside of the cake but since I had a 8 inch cake and no longer needed it to fill the cake, I only made half the recipe, just enough to frost the outside of the cake. Finally I made some candied lemon slices to decorate the outside. I used my new frosting spatulas that Bettina got me for Christmas for the first time (yay thanks Bettina!). This was my first time frosting a layer cake and all I can say is I definitely need more practice frosting cakes. Even though I did a crumb coat to seal in any loose crumbs, I still ended up with some crumbs on the outside of the cake. Oh well, go figure. And I spent a good 5 minutes trying to get the exterior to look perfectly smooth, but I gave up in the end. I planned to do a shell border on the top and bottom of the cake but only had enough frosting for a top border. At first the buttercream was too cold so it was difficult squeezing it out through the tip, then it started to melt from the heat of my hands and got a little too liquidy. I ended up with only half a dozen perfect shells, the rest were either chunky or blobby. It's okay, practice practice.

The cake was absolutely delicious. The blackberry and lemon flavors were perfect together. The cake was light and the frosting was sinfully creamy. I had 2 slices and then I realized I had just ingested roughly half a stick of butter. Eek! Better not think about that and just concentrate on how yummy it is. This is definitely a cake I will be making over and over for special occasions; it really is the perfect party cake.

I think everyone did the cake a little differently this month so be sure to check out all the great cakes by going to the Daring Baker Blog Roll

Dorie's Perfect Party Cake: Lemon and Blackberry
from Dorie's Baking: From My Home to Yours
Lemon White Cake (for 2 9inch pans)
2 1/4 C cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 C whole milk or buttermilk (I used buttermilk, Dorie says she prefers this with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 stick (or 1/2 C or 4 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp pure lemon extract (I used some vanilla extract)

for 2 8 inch pans
1 2/3 C cake flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 C whole milk or buttermilk (I used buttermilk, Dorie says she prefers this with the lemon)
3 large egg whites
1 1/4 C sugar (<- oh my god that is so much sugar, I used 3/4 C and the end result was fine)
1/4 tsp pure lemon extract (I used 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)

For the Buttercream (I made half of this recipe)
1 C sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 C fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
Lemon Cream Filling
2 tsp lemon zest
1/3 C sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 C lemon juice
8 (1/2 C or 4oz.) unsalted butter, very cold cut into 8 slices

Blackberry preserves (I had some homemade)
(I skipped the coconut on the outside)

Getting Ready
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and adjust a rack to the center position. Butter 2 8 inch (see adjusted recipe for 8 inch pan) or 9 inch cake pans and line the bottom with a round piece of parchment paper. Set aside.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk the egg whites with the whole milk or buttermilk. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar feels moist and smells lemony.

Using either the whisk or paddle attachment, add the butter to the sugar and beat at medium speed until the sugar and butter is fluffy and light, 3 full minutes.

Beat in the extract, then lower the speed and add one third of the flour mixture. If you continue to mix on medium you'll get flour poofing out. The add half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in the rest of the dry ingredients, mix until incorporated. Finally add the rest of the milk-egg mixture and beat for a full 2 minutes on medium speed to insure that the batter is homogeneous and aerated.

Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth out the top. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes (or 25 - 30 minutes for 8 inch cakes) or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Check early.

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pans, peel off the parchment liner, and cool the cakes to room temperature (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Lemon Cream Filling
Bring a saucepan of water to a simmer. Place the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or heatproof bowl and rub the two together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and lemony. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice. Place this ontop of the pan of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 180 degrees. As it approaches 180 degrees it will thicken considerably and the whisk will begin to leave tracks. Be very diligent about checking the temperature at this point. As soon as it reaches 180 degrees take it off heat. With a rubber spatula, scrape the mixture into a blender or food processor and let it cool until it is 140 degrees, this will take about 5 - 10 minutes. When the mixture has cooled, turn on the blender or food processor and with it running, add 3 1-tablespoon pieces of butter at a time, waiting until each addition has been incorporated before adding more. Blend for a full 2 minutes to emulsify and aerate the cream. Chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes before working with it. It will store overnight but you will need to let it warm up and soften before you can work with it.

To Make the Buttercream (I made half of the recipe)
Bring a saucepan of water to a simmer. Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or heatproof bowl and place this bowl over the pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until the mixture feels hot to the touch and the sugar has completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. The mixture will look white and shiny like marshmallow cream.

Using the whisk attachment, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. It will become very white, fluffy, and sticky. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter one stick at a time. Since I was only using 1 1/2 sticks I added 1/2 a stick at each time. Beat the buttercream until it is thick, fluffy, and smooth. At some point it will curdle but don't worry, this is normally and with continued beating it will come together. Gradually add the lemon juice, making sure each addition is absorbed before adding more and finally add the vanilla. I don't know how well buttercream keeps in the fridge. It is best to work with it right after you make it. You can make the cakes and filling ahead of time, but make plan to make the buttercream and finish the cake on the same time. However after frosting the cake you can refrigerate it for 2 days or freeze it for a month.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a serrated knife, gently saw each cake layer into two layers. I like to first slice an outline around the perimeter of the cake then work my way in.

Dab a little frosting in the middle of a cardboard cake round or a cake plate and center the bottom layer cut side up. The frosting will act as the glue so the cake doesn't skid around when you are trying to frost it.

Spread 1/3 of the lemon cream on the layer. Then spread blackberry preserves on top. Place the top cake layer, cut side up. This way the domed top will be face down. Repeat with the spreading of the lemon cream and blackberry preserves. Now place the top layer of the second cake layer cut side up. Repeat with the filling, then filling place the final layer cut side down, the bottom of the cake layer should be facing up.

First apply a thin layer of frosting all around the cake as the crumb coat. This helps seals in all of the crumbs that you don't want on the outside of your cake. Then, use the remaining buttercream to evenly frost the outside of the cake. If you have any leftover frosting you can pipe designs on the outside. I made some candied lemon slices for the outside of the cake.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but it will keep well covered and refrigerated for up to two days or you can freeze the cake (freeze it solid then wrap it well) for up to two months (defrost it well wrapped in the fridge overnight). Bring it to room temperature before serving. I find that the buttercream tastes the fluffiest the day it's made.

Playing Around
You can use whatever flavors or fillings your heart desires and decorate the cake however you like. In the original recipe, Dorie covered the outside of the cake with coconut but but you can also used grated chocolate, chopped nuts, or fresh berries.

Citron/Yuzu Spread

Whenever I go to Trader Joe's, I rarely walk out of there without buying at least half a dozen things that weren't on my shopping list. This citron spread was one of those products that caught my eye.

I've been using citron and yuzu to refer to the same fruit but after doing some research, I was surprised to discover that yuzu and citron are actually two different types of citrus. Yuzu (Citrus ichangensis x Citrus reticulata var. austera) is a cold hardy Asian citrus fruit that originated in China and then introduced to Japan and Korea. Citron (Citrus medica) on the other hand, is a different species that most likely also originated in Asia, but was subsequently spread throughout the Mediterranean. I was searching for the difference in flavor between the two fruits but it was difficult to find a comparison because many people, like myself, and resources use the names interchangeably. Even my jar says "Citron (Yuzu) spread", so now I'm not sure whether it's made with citron or yuzu. My guess is that the flavors are comparable. Yuzu has been a part of Japanese and Korean cuisine for quite some time but recently it has come to the attention of the Western food world and is now all the rage.

Yuzu is rarely eaten as a fruit but both the juice and zest are prized in cooking. The fruit bears very little juice, so it's very precious. The tart lemon-like juice with hints of lime, grapefruit, and pine forms the base of the Japanese dipping sauce, ponzu. The powerfully aromatic zest is used as a garnish on soup. It is also working its way into many sweet applications like cakes and sorbets. A spoonful of yuzu marmalade, similar to the spread I bought, is swirled into hot water to make a Korean drink called yuja cha, used as a remedy for the common cold.

Fresh yuzu are about the size of a small orange and are in season from November to May and can be found at at Japanese or Asian markets but they will be rather pricey ($3 - $4 each). The bottled juice can also be found at Asian markets.

So far I've used it as a glaze on scallops and as a filling in Asian rugelach. As Wandering Chopsticks suggested, it would be great on fish as well. And to satisfy your sweet tooth, Tartelette has wonderful yuzu recipes like this cheesecake or berry salad.

Seared Sea Scallops with Yuzu Ginger Glaze on Greens with Miso Sesame Dressing

I'm slowly making progress on my list. I cooked scallops for the first time the other day and I didn't screw up and turn them into little hockey pucks! Hooray! I usually don't make these type of fancy-pants dishes with mile long names but this one was truly stellar. Now that I know how to sear scallops, I can make this dish for company because it looks and sounds super gourmet. ;) But just between you and me, it's as simple as plating some prewashed bagged greens, whisking together a dressing, and searing the scallops in literally 2 minutes. You don't even need the yuzu ginger glaze but it does add a nice "flavor profile". The dressing itself is my new favorite and it's a nice change from the vinaigrettes I usually make. After seeing how easy it is to cook scallops, now I don't have to pay $15 for a tiny plate of salad or deal with an inattentive waiter, I just get the beau to do the dishes.

Seared Sea Scallops with Yuzu Ginger Glaze on Greens with Miso Sesame Dressing
Serves 4 as an appetizer

1 1/2 pound sea scallops 10/20s (10 - 20 per pound)
Salt and pepper
Vegetable or canola oil

Yuzu ginger glaze
2 Tbsp yuzu marmalade
1/2 tsp grated ginger
Water

Miso Sesame Dressing
1 Tbsp miso (yellow or white)
1 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp mayo
1 tsp sesame oil

Salad
7 oz. salad greens: mixed greens, baby arugula, baby spinach, or watercress will all work (may not need the whole bag)
2 Tbsp sesame seeds (white, black, or combination), toasted in skillet

Since the scallops cook in literally 2 minutes, the prep for the rest of the dish must be done before you begin cooking the scallops. The dressing and glaze can be made ahead of time.

Season the scallops with salt and pepper and keep them sandwiched between two layers of paper towels in order to draw away any moisture from the scallops because they will exude a lot of moisture.

Even though the arugula I bought was prewashed, I like to give it one more wash, then spin dry in the salad spinner. Set aside to dry.

Meanwhile prepare the rest of the components for the dish. In a small saucepan, add the yuzu marmalade and 2 tablespoons of moisture. Bring to boil, lower to a simmer and simmer until it is your desired consistency. Whisk in the minced ginger, remove from heat and set aside.

In an empty skillet add the sesame seeds and toast over medium heat until they are golden brown, about 5 minutes. I use a 1:1 ratio of white to black sesame seeds. It's much easier to gauge the doneness of white seeds but a combination of the two give a better aesthetic appeal.

Plate the greens before cooking the scallops.

Heat a nonstick or cast iron skillet over high heat. You want the pan very hot in order to get a good sear on the scallops. The scallops are cooked in two batches so the liquid doesn't flood the pan and they steam and stew in their juice. Cooking for two is easier since you can divide the recipe in half and cook the scallops in one batch. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and pat the scallops dry right before you add them and add half of the scallops in the pan. The scallops should have plenty of room. Cook them on the first side for 1 - 2 minutes. They should have a golden brown crust. Remove the first batch to a plate, do not cook the second side yet. Wipe out the skillet by holding a wad of paper towels with tongs and add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan again. Wait for the oil to heat up and add the rest of the scallops, cooking them 1 - 2 minutes a side. Now flip these scallops over to the second side to sear and add the first batch back into the pan. Cook the scallops for only 30 seconds to a minute on the second side. The second side doesn't have to be cooked as long or seared for color, you only want to cook them through.

Divide the scallops onto the four plates, with the seared side up for presentation. To glaze the scallops, you can either spoon the glaze on each scallop or just toss all of them in the glaze to coat. I chose to spoon the glaze on, it was a bit more fussy and more work, but it looks a little better. :) Then drizzle the plate with dressing and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Serve immediately.

Almond Cake

Back when I was taking organic chem lab in college, we were assigned a "mystery compound" to identify by conducting various tests like finding the boiling temperature, melting temperature, NMR peaks etc. After going through all of the experiments, I was pretty confident I knew what my compound was, but to double check, I did something that you should never, ever do in ochem - I smelled it. The basic no-brainer rules of ochem lab are don't eat, sniff, touch (ie. rub all over your body), mix together unknown chemicals. I was pretty sure my compound was benzaldehyde, aka synthetic almond extract. So when the TA wasn't looking, I gave my "mystery component" a quick sniff test. Mmm... smelled good. Turns out, I was right, it was benzaldehyde, and I got an A+ in the class. But shh... don't tell anyone and don't do what I did since it's definitely not a good idea smelling unknown chemicals.

I have already professed my love for the smell of almond extract and this cake, one of my favorites, uses plenty of it. This triple almond cake has ground almonds and almond extract in the batter and sliced almonds on top. Cakes made with oil taste more moist at room temperature than all butter cakes (butter being solid and oil being liquid at room temp), but butter cakes have superior flavor, so I used a combination of both. If you plan on serving this cake warm, feel free to use all butter.

Almond Tea Cake
2 C all purpose flour
1/2 C finely ground almonds/almond meal
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C sugar
2 egg
1 1/4 C buttermilk
1/4 C oil
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp almond extract
1/3 C almond slices

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour or spray with nonstick spray a baking pan (tube and round pans will both work, bundt pan can also be used but since the cake will be flipped upside down, skip the almond slices decoration).

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almond, baking powder, salt.

In separate bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs until the eggs are beaten, whisk in the buttermilk, melted butter, oil, almond extract. Pour this into the dry ingredients and fold until the batter is mixed and there are no streaks of flour.

Spread the batter into the prepared cake pan. Spread almond slices on top of the butter (skip this step if you are using a bundt pan). Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25 - 30 minutes* or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

*note: I forgot to write down how long I baked the cake for so this is just a ballpark figure. I think it was closer to 30 minutes but check early so you don't overbake.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Steven recently mentioned something about me making a "good kitchen purchase" (I can't remember what he was referring to) so I asked him what he thought was a "bad" purchase. I personally think all of my kitchen items are great and can't-live-without necessary. That madeleine pan? Yup, absolutely essential, how else am I going to make madeleines, right? ;) He thought for a moment, I'm not sure if he realized he was treading on thin ice here, and said, "pasta machine." I gasped, I protested, but, as much as I hate to admit it, he was right. Ever since I made bought it many months ago, I had only used it once. Instead of trying to justify why I needed a pasta machine, I made it a personal mission to make good use of it and created a long list of fresh noodle and pasta dishes I planned to make. I have to stand up for my gadgets after all, and yeah, I also do want to prove Steven wrong, but he can't complain because he reaps the delicious benefits of handmade pasta.

This was my first time making fresh pasta so I reached for my copy of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking cuz you can't go wrong with Marcella Hazan for Italian. I kept it simple and made the classic alfredo sauce. In the past I've tried to make alfredo reasonably healthy because all that cream, butter, and cheese is a little alarming. My light version was a roux, milk, and cheese, essentially a bechamel and parm (or a Mornay). It was alright, but that's all it was, a bechamel with parm, it was not alfredo sauce. Since I was going through the trouble of making my own pasta this time, I didn't hold back. This isn't something I would make everyday, but when I do choose to indulge, there's no reason to skimp right?

Mmm... cream, butter, and cheese, deeeelicious.

Fettuccine Alfredo
Serves 2 - 3 as a main dish, 3 - 4 as an appetizer

Fresh Pasta
1 C flour
2 large eggs

First make a mountain of flour on your work surface, then create a crater in the center. Add your eggs in the crater. Use a fork and beat the eggs in the crater incoroporating a little bit of the flour at a time. Once the egg mixture begins to look like a batter, you can start incorporating more of the flour into the dough. After incoporporating all the flour, you will end up with a dough. If the dough is still sticky, add some more flour. Knead by pushing with the heel of your palm, fold the dough in half, give it a half turn, and repeat the process for 8 minutes or until it feels smooth. Marcella did not specify to let the dough rest but I let the dough rest (covered) for 20ish minutes.

Cut the dough into 3 equal portions. Take one portion of the dough and press it flat, then run it through the pasta machine on the widest setting. Fold the dough in thirds and run the narrow end into the machine again. Repeat twice more. Do this to the remaining 2 portions of dough. Now you should have 3 portions of dough that have been passed through the widest setting 3 times each. Go up one setting, and run each portion of dough through twice, but do not fold in thirds this time, just run it straight through twice. Repeat with the two other pieces of dough. Go up one setting, and repeat again. My machine has 7 settings and I stopped on setting #3 for fettuccine because I want my noodles a little on the thicker side. After running the pasta through the #3 setting twice more, run it through the fettuccine cutter (the wider cutter). Separate any noodles that did not get cut all the way through. Lightly toss the noodles in some flour.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt the water, then add the pasta. Cook for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Drain the pasta reserving some of the pasta water to thin out the sauce if necessary.

Alfredo Sauce (enough to dress the pasta made from the above recipe)
1/2 C heavy cream
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 C grated parmigiano-reggiano + additional if needed at table
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste

Simmer the cream, butter, and nutmeg in a saucepan over low heat until it has thickened somewhat, about 5 minutes.

Toss the pasta in the cream, add the grated cheese and toss until evenly distributed. If the sauce is too thin, add a little of the pasta water. Add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste, add additional cheese on top at the table.

Pulled Pork

Daffodils and cherry blossoms may be blooming everywhere but winter isn't going down without a fight. Sure yesterday was the first day of spring but... well, just see for yourself.


SNOW? Okay, so the snow is very unlikely, that's rare around these parts even in the middle of January. I don't know what the hell those weather.com meteorologists are doing over there but it definitely ain't meteorologizing. I guess it could be worse, it could actually be snowing, but it's still pretty darn cold, wet, and windy and that doesn't exactly make me crave a light mixed-greens salad or steamed asparagus. I want something hearty, filling, and meaty - something braised. Braised dishes make me happy because, 1. they require little to no prep, throw everything in the pot and you're good to go, 2. it's cheap, transforming lousy tough cuts of meat into 3. something meltingly tender and totally delicious, 4. and best of all, it tastes even better the next day - isn't it great to look forward to eating leftovers? As Martha Stewart would say, "it's a good thing".

Authentic Carolina pulled pork, or simply BBQ, is smoked but I do not own a smoker or know how to use one for that matter nor do I intend to rig some contraption to smoke indoors which would most likely fill my abode with smoke and grease. So I cheat, and use the slow cooker. You don't even have to rub the pork and let it sit overnight. It's partly me being lazy but the whole thing is just gonna get mixed all up anyway so no need to let the flavors permeate right? After a few hours in the cooker, the pork pretty much pulls itself. A few tosses with the tongs and it just falls apart into submission. Then slathered in sauce and piled high on a bun, it makes for a great dinner and lunch the next day.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
3 lbs pork butt (which is the shoulder) or country style ribs are a good substitute
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp whole cumin seeds, smashed or crushed (can use a mortar and pestle or just give it a few chops with a knife or smashes with a meat mallet)
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced (no biggie)
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp salt
1/4 C brown sugar
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 C chicken stock or water

Cider vinegar to taste

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Sear and brown the pork on all sides and transfer to the crock pot or Dutch oven.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the onion to the residual oil in the skillet. Add the chili powder, smoked paprika, pepper, and cumin seeds and cook in the oil to bloom the flavor of the spices, about 3 - 5 minutes. Then add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the cayenne pepper, brown sugar, worchestershire sauce, salt, and chicken stock or water. Bring to a boil and pour the skillet contents over the pork in the slow cooker or Dutch oven (everything except the vinegar should be in the slow cooker now). Cook on high for an hour then turn to low for as many hours as it takes for the pork to be fork tender, 6 - 8 hours for a whole pork butt. Country style ribs are in smaller pieces and will cook faster or you can cut your pork butt into 1 pound pieces for it to cook faster. You can also cut the cooking time down if you cook it on high the whole time, but if the bubbles get too vigorous you will need to turn it to long because boiling will toughen the meat. You want to cook at a barely there simmer. Or if you do not have a slow cooker, use a Dutch oven and transfer the pot to a 300 degree F oven and cook until the meat is fork tender.

Carefully transfer the meat only to a large bowl and use tongs or two forks to pull the pork. If it does not pull that easily, wait for it to cool enough to pull with your hands.

Strain the cooking liquid and discard the spent and mushy onions and any floating impurities. Reduce this liquid in a saucepan by about half, to a somewhat thicker sauce like consistency. It shouldn't be as goopy as bottled sauces but it should have some body. Add the pulled pork back in and add vinegar to taste. In North Carolina the sauce is vinegar based, devoid of any tomato product, so in keeping with tradition, I just used only cider vinegar in addition to the pork's natural braised juices.

Now pile it on high on a hoagie or bun, don't be shy. Devour that meaty, bun soaked goodness.

Chicken Tetrazzini

Steven: "Why do you have to call it a casserole? Why can't you call it something else?"

Me: "Like what?"

Steven: "I don't know... noodle bake with chicken and mushrooms and... sauce."

Me: "Well it's called Tetrazzini but it's still a casserole."

Steven: *grumble grumble*

I made this a few days after I made my green bean casserole to see if I could change Steven's mind about the dreaded "casserole." Of course he remained convinced that casserole is just a code word for bad cooking. Sadly, casseroles have a bad rap, conjuring up the image of overcooked noodles, bland meats, mushy vegetables, and greasy sauces. With proper execution, however, they can be refined and sophisticated, and at the same time homey and comforting - the best of both worlds. Although Steven couldn't escape the fact that this was technically a casserole, he didn't deny that it was darn tasty.

Now fast forward to a few weeks later. As I'm writing this, I turned to him and asked, "Do you like casseroles now?"

"Eh... they're okay."

Alright! Makin' progress! Next up, cheesy tater tot bake anyone? ;)

Notes
- This is great for leftover roast chicken (like rotisserie chicken) or leftover Thanksgiving turkey
- To avoid the culinary atrocity that is mushy noodle, cook the noodles 2 minutes short of the recommended package time. If they finish cooking before you have finished preparing the sauce, shock them in ice water to stop them from continuing to cook.
- And to prevent the second culinary atrocity that is overcooked vegetables, I add the broccoli florets at the end. I cut them into small bite sized pieces and the residual heat of the sauce and the oven time will be enough to cook them.

Chicken Tetrazzini
Serves 8

Bread crumb topping
3/4 C fresh bread crumbs
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1/3 C sliced almonds

Pasta
6 Tbsp butter
1 lb crimini or white button mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, chopped fine
4 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 C white wine
salt and black pepper
16 oz. linguine or spaghetti
4 Tbsp flour
3 C chicken stock
1/4 C heavy cream
1 C grated Parmesan
2 tsp lemon juice
1 - 1 1/2 C frozen peas or 1 C broccoli florets chopped into very small bite sized pieces
4 C shredded cooked chicken meat or turkey

Prepare the bread crumbs. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Pulse the bread a few times in a food proecessor to make fresh bread crumbs. Toss the bread crumbs with a tablespoon of melted butter and spread in a even layer on a baking pan. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until they are light golden. Set aside for later.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat 2 Tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium heat and add chopped onion and a little salt, cook until softened. Add the mushrooms, some salt and pepper, and cook until the mushrooms release their liquid and the liquid evaporates. Add the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the white wine and cook until reduced. Set this mixture aside.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Break the pasta in half lengthwise and boil 2 minutes short of the package time for al dente. If your noodles finish before you are done before you finish preparing the sauce, shock them in ice water and set them aside to drain.

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt the remaining 4 Tbsp of butter over medium heat. Add the flour, whisk and cook until the roux is golden and smells nutty. Add the chicken stock in a steady stream while whisking, making sure to get out any lumps. Season with salt and pepper and simmer the mixture until it has thickened, about 5 minutes. Take the pot off heat and whisk in the heavy cream and lemon juice. Add the broccoli florets or frozen peas, the mushroom onion mixture, the Parmesan, and noodles to the mixture, stir to evenly combine.

Transfer the mixture into a 9 x 13 baking dish, top with bread crumbs and almond slices and bake for 12 - 15 minutes until the bread crumbs and almonds are golden brown and the mixture is bubbly.

You can cut the recipe in half or make the full recipe and freeze half (though I have not tried freezing it).

Steamed Pork and Shrimp Roll

Before I start my project, I need to post all of the old recipes that have been sitting on my computer for way too long. I feel bad bombarding everyone with so many short recipes but this blog clog is getting out of hand! For this steamed pork and shrimp roll, I was inspired by Bee's steamed fish rolls, who was originally inspired Chubby Hubby's and My Kitchen Snippets. Instead of fish paste I used a combination of ground pork and ground shrimp creating something that's reminiscent of one of my favorite dimsum items, pork and shrimp siu mai.

Steamed Pork and Shrimp Roll
Egg wrapper:
2 eggs
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp water
1/8 tsp salt

Pork Filling:
4 oz. ground pork
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp shao hsing rice wine
1/4 tsp freshly grated ginger
Pinch of sugar

Shrimp Filling:
4 oz. ground shrimp (I used my food processor to grind it)
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice wine
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 Tbsp corn starch
Dash of white pepper

1 - 2 sheets of nori

In two separate bowls, mix the ingredients for the pork filling and shrimp filling. Set aside.

Stir the flour and water together making sure to mix out any lumps, then add the eggs and salt and beat together.

Heat a nonstick skillet (I used a 12 inch skillet) over medium heat and add 2 tsp of oil. Add the eggs and swirl the pan to coat the entire surface, forming a thin layer. Cook until the eggs have set.

Prepare your steamer and have the boiling water ready.

Transfer the egg sheet to a work surface. Cover the entire surface with a thin layer of ground pork. Try to spread it out as evenly as you can. Cover the ground pork with nori 1 or 2 sheets depending on the size of your nori sheets. Cover the nori with the ground shrimp mixture and again, spread it into a thin even layer. Then take one edge and roll the entire thing in a tight cylinder. Cut the cylinder in half if the entire length does not fit into your steamer.

Steam over medium high heat for 10 - 12 minutes. Cut into the roll to make sure the interior is fully cooked.

After steaming, the egg roll will release some liquid. You can thicken this liquid with a cornstarch slurry to make a simple sauce.

Rugelach, Asianified

The other day I found some bricks of cream cheese way in the back of the fridge that were pretty darn close to the expiration date. Naturally, the first thing that came to mind was cheesecake. Steven isn't the biggest fan of cheesecake so I made two mini cheesecakes instead of a full recipe. That took care of 2 bars, but there was still one left. I racked my brain trying to think of what else I could do with the cream cheese and the second thing I came up with was the cream cheese based dough of rugelach. The first time I make something, I try to stick to the most traditional recipe as possible. For rugelach, that meant a combination of apricot jam, walnuts, chocolate, raisins/currants, and poppy seeds. But it didn't work out quite like I planned because I didn't have the apricot filling. I grabbed a jar of yuzu marmalade because it was the only jam in the house, and the color is pretty close right? Then I thought well, I'll just Asianify the whole thing! Instead of cinnamon I used fresh ginger and instead of poppy seeds I used sesame seeds. Citrus and chocolate go pretty well together, so I added some chopped chocolate, which ended up being the lone traditional ingredient. I decided against all of the nuts and dried fruit in the pantry because nothing else seemed to match the yuzu and sesame. What I ended up with was the combination of yuzu, ginger, sesame, and chocolate wrapped up in a flaky cream cheese dough. Sounds pretty weird but it turned out surprisingly delicious!

Note: I also included the traditional filling if you want to go that route.

Rugelach, Asianified
Dough recipe adapted from both Cook's Illustrated and Traditional filling adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Dough
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick butter (1/2 C or 4 oz.), cold cut into 1/2 in pieces
4 oz. (half a bar) cream cheese, cold, cut into 1/2 in pieces
1/4 C sour cream

Traditional Filling:
2/3 C apricot jam
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 C chopped toasted walnuts
1/4 C currants or raisins
1/2 C finely chopped chocolate or mini chocolate chips
2 Tbsp poppy seeds (optional)

or

Asianified Filling:
2/3 C yuzu/citron marmalade
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 Tbsp white sesame seeds
1 Tbsp black sesame seeds
1/2 C finely chopped chocolate or mini chocolate chips

Glaze
1 egg beaten
2 - 3 Tbsp raw sugar

In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar, and salt and pulse to mix. Scatter the butter and cream cheese pieces and pulse a few times to cut it into the flour, stop about halfway to add the sour cream. The pieces of butter and cream cheese should still be relatively large before you add the sour cream. Scatter spoonfuls of the sour cream over the mixture and continue to pulse until the mixture starts to form large curds. Don't over work the dough otherwise you won't get the flaky layers.

Turn the dough onto a work surface and press the pieces together. Divide the dough into two pieces, flatten it into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours.

Before you bring the dough out, heat the jam in a small saucepan or in the microwave until it is warm and easier to spread. If you are using fresh ginger and yuzu, mix the freshly grated ginger into the warm jam. If you are using the apricot and cinnamon filling, add the cinnamon to the other dry ingredients for the filling.

If you are using sesame seeds, add both the white and black seeds to a small skillet and toast over medium heat until the white ones look golden brown, about 3 minutes.

In bowl, mix the dried filling ingredients together, for the traditional filling that would be the cinnamon, chopped nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, and poppy seeds (if using) and for the Asian filling that would be the toasted sesame seeds and chocolate.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bring out a disc of the dough and roll it out into a 11 - 12 inch circle. Spread half of the jam over the dough and then scatter half of the dried filling ingredients. Cut the dough into 12 wedges, first cutting the dough into quarters, then each quarter into 3 equal pieces. Roll each wedge, starting at the base of the triangle, the point of the wedge should be on the exterior of the dough.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes or freeze for 15 minutes before baking.

Before baking, brush the tops of the cookies with beaten egg and sprinkle some raw sugar on top. Bake only one tray at a time. Bake in a 350 degrees F oven for 22 - 25 minutes. The cookies should be golden.

Italian Sausage and Mozzarella Pasta Bake

This photo has been sitting in my Flickr for a while now so it's about time I post the recipe. I have a weak spot for extra cheesy dishes and this one has a whopping 1:1 ratio of pasta to mozzarella. The best part is how each scoop pulls away never-ending tendrils of gooey, melty cheese.

A note:
Leave the pasta boil the pasta two minutes short of al dente because it will finish cooking in the oven. If you boil it to al dente, it will overcook in the oven.

Italian Sausage and Mozzarella Pasta Bake
serves 3 - 4

8 oz. pasta (penne, cellantani, farfalle, campanelle)
2 Italian sausages, removed from casings
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/4 C red wine
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tsp Italian herb mix
1/8 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp olive oil
8 oz. mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (preferably fresh mozzarella)
1/4 C grated Parmesan


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and boil the pasta to 2 minutes short of the recommended time.

Meanwhile, heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the Italian sausage and break into bite size pieces. When the sausage has browned, remove and set aside. Add the onion and some salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat until the onions have softened, then add the Italian sausage back in. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1/4 C red wine and cook until almost evaporated. Add the drained diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and herbs, and a little sugar to taste. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to combine. Add half of the mozzarella and mix it into the pasta. Transfer to a 2 quart baking dish. Top with the remaining half of mozzerella cubes and grated Parmesan. Bake until bubbly and lightly browned, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Tomatoes and Eggs Stir Fry: Fan Qie Chao Dan

I didn't have much of an appetite when I was very young and always had trouble eating. In one of my earliest memories, I was sitting on my uncle’s shoulders on the way home from kindergarten and I proudly told him of my accomplishment that day, that I had finished every last bit of my lunch. Of course my uncle asked me what the school served that day and I enthusiastically told him, “fan qie chao dan (tomatoes and eggs)!” Now, sixteen years later, some things have changed; now I always have quite the appetite but this dish still remains one of my favorites.

For the 8th and final dish of this impromptu Chinese Cooking 100 1/2 series I originally planned to make a dessert but instead, I want to introduce everyone to this relatively unknown but very traditional Chinese dish. You’ll rarely see this dish on the menu at restaurants but scrambled eggs and tomatoes is classic Chinese home cooking and comfort food. Whenever I’m sick and don't feel like eating, this is the dish I make for myself: 1 tomato, 2 eggs, and a bowl of rice. Not only does it bring back fond memories of my childhood but tomatoes and eggs are nutrient powerhouses and the meal provides me with vitamins, proteins, carbs, and most importantly, comfort, everything I need to feel better.

Notes:
- If you’re using smaller roma tomatoes use 1 egg for 1 tomato but if you’re using medium sized tomatoes, use 3 eggs for every 2 tomatoes. If you have really big honking tomatoes, use 2 eggs for 1 tomato.
- I would not recommend using beefsteak tomatoes because they are just too tasteless and mealy and will make the dish too watery. Even though it’s not prime tomato season, I was able to find some pretty decent organic tomatoes on the vine for this dish.

Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: Fan Qie Chao Dan

4 tomatoes (see note about tomato to egg ratio)
6 eggs
2 green onions, thinly sliced
Salt
White pepper
Vegtable oil

Cut the tomatoes into 1 inch chunks and set them in a colander to drain.

Beat the eggs in a small bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in skillet or wok over high heat. Shake the colander or hit it against the side of the sink to get rid of any excess liquid. Once the pan is very hot and the oil is shimmering, add the thinly sliced green onion and the tomatoes. You should hear a loud sizzle. Season with salt and white pepper, and cook them very briefly, only about 30 seconds. You want the tomatoes to retain their shape, you don’t want tomato sauce. Don’t stir them too violently or you’ll break them up. After about 30 seconds in the pan, transfer the tomatoes to a bowl and set aside.

Add a tablespoon of oil to the wok or skillet again and heat over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the beaten eggs. Some liquid should have accumulated in the bowl of the stir fried tomatoes so add that liquid to the eggs. Season the eggs with a little salt. Quickly scramble the eggs until it is almost cooked but still runny, then add the tomatoes and stir fry until the eggs are cooked. Serve with rice.