Happy New Year

In some cultures, and among the superstitious, it is believed that the New Year's Day meal sets to tone for the rest of the year. Needless to say, the year of the disastrous chili in which I forgot to pre-cook the beans (whoops!) still haunts our household. As does the year of the Emeril potato lasagne in which the potatoes never really cooked through even though I followed the recipe to the letter (unlike the disastrous chili).

This year, I decided to keep things simple: no untested techniques, no science experiences, no elaborate baking. The dinner menu: gingery panko-crusted salmon with stir fried sweet potato hash (my new favorite side dish courtesy of the studly and fabulous Minimalist, Mark Bittman) and shaved brussels sprouts with pancetta, garnished with pomegranate seeds for color/kid interest. Do these three items go together? Not particularly well; I probably would have to pack my knives and go if I were competing on Top Chef. But, hey, I've got a 4 month old, a 3 year old, I've spent much of the holiday season cooking/baking like a maniac, and now have less than a week to prep three design classes. I used what I had in the freezer, fridge and pantry. Seriously, this meal required nary a trip to the farmer's market or grocery store. It was done start to finish in less than half an hour; watch out Rachel Ray.

And for dessert (okay, we actually had it for afternoon tea and will probably soon be helping ourselves to round two): the ridiculously easy Sherry Cake that Mark's neighbor kindly made for us on our last trip up to the Bay Area.


A beautiful day for the Rose Parade, yummy food, and—praise all that is holy and good—a new president. I think 2009 is already shaping up to be a fantastic year.

Mmm, Orange Coconut Flan

As far as I'm concerned, flan can be a hit or miss dessert. I've experienced the gamut: from creamy and delicious to cold, wet, gelatinous concoctions. However, after making this version of flan—based on a Design*Sponge post by Lorenza Barrezueta from last week—I think I've discovered the secret: a water bath. Normally I fear the water bath because I associate it with cheesecake and springform pans and quadruple layers of aluminum foil, but since flan is basically cooked in a pie plate, there are none of those pesky leakage issues at play. This recipe is simple, although I would suggest one modification: use less sugar. I like a really dark caramel, so I felt than 1 cup of sugar made a bit too much. I also added my own twist: the zest of one orange (when one has two orange trees in the front yard, lots of recipes end up with zest). I am re-printing the recipe with my own modifications:

Flan de Coco y Naranja (Orange Coconut Flan)

prep time: 20 minutes
time from start to serving: 5 hours

Stove Top Caramel

1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar (vary the amount depending on how much caramel you like)
1 2qt round glass mold (I used a 10 inch pie plate)
1 large roasting pan

Pour the sugar into the glass mold and place over medium to low heat. Cook until the sugar is completely melted and the caramel is a nice medium amber color. Be sure to constantly stir the sugar with a spoon so as to not burn the caramel.

As soon as your caramel is ready immediately remove from the heat (it will continue to bubble off the heat) and VERY carefully tilt the dish so that the caramel evenly coats the sides and bottom of the mold. Let the mold cool, place inside of the roasting pan and set aside.

Flan Filling

1 can of coconut milk
1 can condensed milk
5 whole eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 pinch of salt
zest of one orange

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all of the ingredients in a blender and pour the custard into the caramelized mold. Then pour warm water into the roasting pan to create the water bath. The water should ONLY come to halfway up the side of the mold. Carefully place on the middle rack of your oven, and cook for about an hour. Test the flan to see if it’s done by inserting a knife in the center. If the flan is still soft, let it cook a bit longer until the knife comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool. Cover with foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. When you are ready to serve, carefully run a knife around the inside of the mold to loosen the flan. Place a dessert plate on top of the flan and invert to pop it out. Garnish with some fresh fruit and enjoy.

Kitchen Adventures: Ricotta

my very own homemade ricotta: yum!

Last week I read an article in the NY Times about how Suddenly, Ricotta's a Big Cheese. Ever since, I've been fantasizing about that bland creamy delicious blank palette of a cheese that is ricotta. Naturally, I had to try the seemingly simple recipe for, I kid you not, homemade ricotta.

I can proudly report that I did a load of laundry and made cheese before 8:00am this morning. Making soft cheese is a bit like printing black and white film: simultaneously chemical and magical as one waits for something to emerge from a swirling liquid mass. I loved watching the steaming curds bubble to the surface of hot milk while that little red line on the thermometer climbed to 175 degrees. The process is indeed simple:

Pour 2 quarts of whole milk and 2 cups of buttermilk into a heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over high heat, stirring frequently; scrape bottom of pot occasionally to prevent scorching. When mixture is steaming hot, stop stirring; wait and watch patiently until mixture reaches 175 to 180 degrees on a candy thermometer. Curds and whey will then separate.

Immediately turn off heat and gently ladle curds into a sieve lined with 4 layer of cheesecloth. I have to admit that this is the first time I used cheesecloth for its namesake purpose.

When all curds are in sieve and dripping has slowed (about 5 minutes), gently gather edges of cloth and twist to bring curds together; do not squeeze. Let drain 15 minutes more. Untie cloth and pack ricotta into airtight containers. Refrigerate and use within one week.

Truly amazing: fresh cheese in the time in takes to consume one's morning cup of coffee. I'm thinking Greek yogurt is next.

Fresh ricotta recipe adapted from the super suave Michael Chiarello's "Casual Cooking." Michael, I dig your Napa style.

Clafouti-licious

A couple of weeks ago, I can across a recipe for CLAFOUTI on Design*Sponge. A French dish with a great name that could be assembled in a blender: what more could a busy gourmand want. I knew instantly that I had to add the clafouti to my repertoire of puffy custardy pancake-esque dishes that could be served either for a brunch or at afternoon tea.

The original recipe courtesy of Karen Combs at nama rococo:

PLUM CLAFOUTI

Ingredients:
-4 or 5 fresh PLUMS, pitted and sliced (about 3 cups)

for the batter:
-2 eggs
-2 egg whites
-1 cup buttermilk (235ml)
-3/4 cup unbleached white flour (95g)
-1/2 cup sugar (100g)
-1/2 teaspoon fresh-grated lemon peel (5g)
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5ml)

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180C)
2. Butter a 9" or 10" non-reactive pie pan. Loosely arrange the sliced plums on the bottom of the pan.
3. Put ALL of the ingredients for the batter into a blender and whirl until smooth. Pour the batter over the fruit in the baking dish, and bake at 350 degrees (180C) for 45 – 50 minutes or until the clafouti is puffed and golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Cool for a few minutes before slicing into servings. This tastes especially great if you can eat it while it’s still a bit warm from the oven.

****************

Since plums are not in season, I decided to try frozen sweet cherries (a 16 oz. bag). They worked like a charm and didn't require any pitting or slicing. Since I was too disorganized to thaw the cherries in advance, I just threw them right from the freezer into the batter. This definitely added to the cooking time and I nearly swooned in anticipation when the clafouti-licious aroma wafted through my kitchen, but it was totally worth the wait. I served the clafouti slices with some lightly sweetened whole milk yogurt to which I added some leftover lemon zest: a match made in heaven and a work of culinary inspiration, if I do say so myself.

Animal, Vegetable, Mmm, Marshmallow

I know it's a new year and we're all about healthy resolutions. I just read Barbara Kingsolver's brilliant and eye-opening, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. If you love food and care about its provenance and the impact of corporate farming on our bodies and our earth, this book is a must read. I'm inspired to start my next batch of heirloom tomatoes from seed and to take up canning all manner of sauces, chutneys, and pickles (a fantasy, I'm sure).

But, even after the wake-up call of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I can't help my decadent ways. For Christmas I made marshmallows from scratch after seeing this charming instructional video, courtesy of Readymade. It's actually quite quick and easy to make these little glorious sweeties. With an amazing consistency when melted, they are a revelation in s'mores.

This year, I will try to make less sweet indulgences and more things with chard.