I love smaller sized cupcakes and these organic carrot bites are even more tempting baked in colorful Parisian paper pleats --Bleu, Blanc, Rouge, of course!
It took several batches to perfect this recipe: not too sweet and very lush and light. Toasted almonds add a delicate crunch and a zing of fresh lemon zest make for a VERY addictive frosting. I'll post the recipe on my website tomorrow.
Meanwhile, come by and sample these treats all day...with bubbly and other French goodies.
A bientot!
What to do with the leftover loaf after the dinner party? One solution is this:
Slice it nice and thin,
Place on a baking sheet,
Stir some cumin into a little bit of olive oil with a dash of salt,
Lightly brush the slices with the cumin oil,
Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes, until golden.
And voila! The best tasting crackers for crostini or cheese at your fingertips.
Or, you if you have a little extra time on your hands, you can also make an Haute Couture outfit:
This was a one in a series of outfits photographed by Ted Sabarese, collaborating with designer, Ami Goodheart of SOTU Productions for a project called "Hunger Pains", based on the models food cravings.
http://www.tedsabarese.com/blog/?p=10
And by the way, this pre-dated Lady Gaga.
Quenched my thirst at the farmer's market this weekend with fresh coconut water -- an acquired taste, but good.
When I had the very last drop, I was about to toss the shell when I realized it was full of coconut meat so I stopped myself and took it home. I had to do something with it.
Realized that the hardest part of this ingredient is opening the shell --and that had already been done for me at the market to accommodate the straw.
Now all I need to do was get the meat off the shell.
This proved to be pretty easy as the meat from a young coconut is soft and scrapes off fairly easily with a spoon.
I rinsed off any brown shell residue and tossed all the rubbery meat into the Cuisinart with:
1 cup of non-fat greek yogurt, 1/2 capful vanilla extract, a tiny amount (maybe a drop or two) of almond extract and 2 tablespoons agave nectar.
Even though the young coconut is softer than the dry grated stuff you may know from the grocery store, it will not get creamy when you blend it and still lends a slightly grainy texture to the yogurt.
I poured it into small ramekins and they set nicely in the fridge after about an hour without needing any gelatin.
Served with fresh berries, it makes a very subtle and refreshing panna cotta style dessert.
I would use the coconut meat again, but next time combine it with some of the coconut water which would probably enhance the coconut flavor.
I had grown sort of fond of the shell by now, so in one last crazy move ( for today) I transplanted some sage into it to keep handy in the kitchen -- it makes a dandy planter!
Accidental green use of the coconut but had fun with it as it evolved.
Couldn't resist celebrating the offcial start of summer on a hot afternoon...
And oh yes, my second Sunday off, too, yippee!
Just squeezed juice from farmer's market fruit and veggies steal the show with these cooling cocktails
Cucumber-Lime Hendricks Gin and Tonic
Cucumber and lime juice are such a great combo --and enhanced with Hendricks gin.
Pink Grapefruit-Valencia Orange Cape Codder
The splash of sweet Valencia orange juice softens the grapefruit juice just enough and insures a sweet tang to the burst of citrus.
Cheers!
My grandmother passed this recipe to my mom and I have never found an easier one to make.
It is good for both sweet tarts and savory pies.
Perfect Pie Crust
4oz cream cheese
1 1/2 sticks sweet butter
2 cups unbleached flour
You can mix all ingredients in a bowl with your fingers but it is much easier to pulse all ingrdients in a food processor until it forms a smooth ball ( about a minute).
Chill in the fridge for at least a half hour.
When ready to use, sprinkle a flat surface generously with flour and roll out to about a 1/4 inch thickness, adding flour, as needed, to work surface, so dough doesn't stick.
You'll have enough dough to fill an 11 inch round pan with enough leftover to make another little pie or use as to as a top layer or criss cross lattice over your filling.
Click here to see a video demo of this recipe:
http://www.nathalieseaver.biz/pepiecr.html
Delightful and delicious pie decorations courtesy of April R.
Alors, my foray into baking these treats went like this:
Inspired by the memory of amazing fillings and the pretty rainbow of colors, I read a bunch of recipes on-line and was surprised and delighted that it actually seemed fairly simple...I ended up using a recipe from Indulge, a book by Claire Clark ( pastry chef at The French Laundry) http://www.culinate.com/books/collections/all_books/Indulge/French+Macaroons Egg-whites and powdered sugar, caster sugar (superfine baking sugar that dissolves quickly) and almond flour... bakes in 10 minutes. Perfect, as I didn't have more than an hour to play in the kitchen The only place I could find almond flour was Whole Foods and it cost $12 for a tiny one pound bag. So I opted for a $5 bag of almond meal at Trader Joe's. But not so fast, Miss Thrifty: Tips worth noting: The Almond meal cannot really be subbed for almond flour UNLESS you pulverize it again in a food processor to render it super, ultra, powdery fine. I skipped the food processor step and and just sifted the almond meal (twice) and used only the finest bits. I felt very proud of myself for eliminating most of the brown flecks of almond skin...and it certainly looked like a fine powder... However, the almond meal, no matter how well sifted, creates little sandy bumps in your macarons which should appear very smooth. I know now I would have had better and smoother results if I had taken the time to grind it to powder. Definitely recommend the double baking pan bake method, it really helps if you have two pans exactly the same size stacked on top of each other. The open the oven door after a few minutes thing seems to help, too. But I kept it ajar for a few seconds and closed it again. I used a teaspoon instead of a piping bag and the results were fairly uniform --but again, probably would have had even better results if I had opted for the bag method. I divided the batter into two bowls to make two flavors: Chocolate and Lemon: Chocolate: Just a tablespoon of powdered cocoa to the batter was enough and baking went fine in the allotted 10 minute baking time. I made a simple butter/cocoa/powdered sugar frosting instead of a super chocolaty ganache...only because I ran out of time. But they were a quite good, subtle chocolate flavor. Lemon: Adding the tablespoon of rind gave it plenty of tang but also made the batter so much more moist that it required double the baking time AND flattened the batter in the oven. They tasted great but looked flat as a pancake I'll use less zest next time. Used the lemon from the zest to make a curd filling --it was fab and which saved these completely! I'll try these again when I have more than an hour. Update: Kismet: This morning's LA Times has a nice article on baking your own by Dorie Greenspan: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-macaron-20100401,0,6611000.story
Marconda Meats at the Fairfax Farmer's market is one of the best -- if expensive -- butchers in Los Angeles.
However, here's a good to know tip:
Their deluxe odds and ends turn up in spectacular, deluxe hamburger patties. And these individual servings are low fat and made from all their top meat. But skip the grill...
I immediately conjured: Steak Tar Tar. And for a couple of dollars each, this is a very sweet deal.
A little dijon, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, an egg, salt and pepper and garnish with fresh parsley and capers....and add some frites...heaven!
6333 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90001
(323) 938-5131
This year the dinner crowd called for Vegan and Regular eaters... so my dessert contributions were Tarte aux Pommes deux fois:
Vegan with phyllo dough , sans butter
Quite good and light ( and hallelujah for the mandolin)
and Version Original, avec pur beurre
How can you go wrong? (no fear of eating the whole thing when you serve to a crowd)
Happy Thanksgiving
This was one of my favorite discoveries and go to comfort foods when I lived in Paris:
You'll need:
lemon vinaigrette
(to see how to make my vinaigrette, click here)
In a jar:
2 tsp dijon mustard
2/3 inch fresh lemon juice
1 inch extra virgin olive oil
Baby Frisee from the Farmer's Market
Eggs
Bacon
1/4 cup white vinegar
chop, then rinse to remove any grit
Dry salad and place in bowl.
Now, cook up the bacon. I usually keep packets frozen and just cut off what I need into strips of bite size pieces:
Drain the bacon bits on a paper towel
************
Poaching eggs is a lot easier this way:
Set up ramekins (or small bowls/cups) and break 1 or 2 eggs into each for every serving of salad
Fill another skillet or pot with 2-3 inches of water and 1/4 cup white vinegar and bring to a boil
Gently pour the eggs from each ramekin into the boiling water mix and you will have a nice, neat oval mass.
Now, shake the jar of lemon vinaigrette, drizzle over the frisee and toss.
Place the dressed salad on a plate and add a poached egg bundle on top and sprinkle with your bacon chunks
A glass of beaujolais. Or a flute of chilled bubbly. Close your eyes, are you in Paris?
Bon Appetit!
A great gift for any foodie.
Easy to make, with rich, true truffle flavor.
I'll admit, was skeptical. I almost never use any pre-mixed foodstuff. And yes, I suppose you could replicate this with fresh, preserved or dried truffle bits. But there are some other elements in this mix which provide lovely depth of flavor.
A worthy item for your pantry when you have unexpected guests or limited time to prep an elegant meal. This was excellent and a very nice surprise.
Maybe you can find it at an upscale food emporium near you.
Meanwhile you can order it from: www.italianharvest.com
In any case, worth the splurge.
