Daring Bakers Challenge: Tuiles and their friends

I am having a funny week. Work has been really crazy, and the world is icy, and I'm doing a lot of slipping around. Let's just say I haven't been so grounded. And while usually my daring baker's challenges have been a real event for me, this one was different, for several reasons which I guess I'll share with you:
1. I failed at this challenge. The challenge was tuiles, which I've never made before, which everyone says are so easy, and mine were chewy. So I overcompensated with other things that would make me forget about the chewy tuiles.
2. I ate this by myself. No, my family has not run out on me. (Although they might soon, if I don't spend more time at home) The dessert I made was a single serving kind of deal, and I had to create it when it was light out so that I could capture it with my camera, and everyone was at school. This eating by myself thing was very nice, but Joey was a little sad to see what he missed when I showed him the pictures.
3. It is Thursday. And Thursdays are are busy and a little bit tired in comparison with the other days.
But I'm here, and I'm very happy to present to you my:
Fried Bananas with sour cream ice cream and salt and pepper tuiles!

I'll tell you the story of how all of these things came together. The challenge was tuiles- any tuiles, and I had this image of sweet salt and pepper tuiles- like potato chip cookies. Alice Medrich makes a sour cream ice cream and this seemed pretty fancy and exciting and I have a friend who really wanted the recipe- so there we have that addition. And when Joey and I were sampling the chewy tuiles and sour cream ice cream, he started talking about how his dad used to give him sour cream and bananas as a big treat, and there the grand picture really developed.
And although my tuiles failed, the dessert on the whole was really really, well, I'm too tired to think of a fabulous word, but I'm sure you would enjoy it.

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Recipe:

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Now from here, I tried out Alice Medrich's shaping method. I lined a baking sheet with foil, buttered it, and spread the cookiesabout 9 on a sheet, uing about a tablespoon of batter per cookie and spreading it in a very thin oval. I sprinkled sea salt and ground pepper on each cookie. I baked the cookies in a 350 F oven for about ten minutes, or until the edges got a little brown. Then I took the baking sheet out of the oven, and gently rolled the foil into a tube shape, fastened it with a paper clip, and let the cookies cool like that, When I unrolled the foil after the cookies had cooled, they were a lovely curled oval shape.

Then, for the ice cream...

Sour Cream Ice Cream from Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert

2 cups sour cream
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk

Put the Sour Cream in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in a little of the milk until smooth, then whisk in the remaining milk. Whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture is warm and foamy. Continue to whisk as the foam subsides and the moisture thickens and begins to boil. Whisking and scraping the bottom and the sides of the pan constantly to prevent scorching, boil steadily but not furiously for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until the mixture thickens slightly and becomes a bit more translucent.
Remove the pan from the stove and whisk for a few seconds to release some heat. A little at a time, whisk the hot mixture into the sour cream. Let cool, cover tightly, and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
Then freeze in your ice cream maker.....

put it over

bananas fried in maple syrup, cinnamon and butter. Drizzle the extra liquid over the ice cream. Stick the tuiles in the whole mess and eat alone on a sunny winter afternoon.

The Beauty of the Braise

I have a little bit of an addiction to buying entire animals. When I find myself face to face with a farmer, and they're offering me a whole lamb or half a pig when butchering time comes around in a few months, I just can't quite contain myself. I don't tend to do a cost analysis, or to think about how much room I have in my freezer, or anything like that. I just look at the happy cows munching on green fields and the pigs rolling in organic mud and I go a little wild.
Luck for me, this is not such a bad vice. When I overbuy, my friends graciously buy the extra, and we end up having meat that can't even be put in the same category as meat I've had before.
It's just incredible.
And a nice byproduct of the whole situation is that I end up cooking cuts of meat that I wouldn't normally choose at the store. Which brings us to the current day and one of my now all time favorite cuts of meat: the lamb shank.
Delicate, and so pretty. The meat of the shank takes flavor in spectacular ways. And how do we cook the shank? We braise it, of course.

A Rich Meaty Braise for Hungry Friends, adapted from Nigel Slater's Appetite
serves 4

4 Lamb Shanks
a little bit of olive oil
a little flour for dusting
2 medium sized onions, quartered
2 carrots, cut into chunks
3 medium potatoes, cut into chunks

for the marinade:
1/2 bottle red wine
3 T sherry vinegar or 2 T white wine vinegar
1 head of garlic, cut in half horizontally
a small bunch of fresh thyme or a few pinches of dried thyme
3 bay leaves
10 peppercorns

Put the lamb shanks in a steel or glass bowl and add all of the marinade ingredients. Admire the beauty of it.

Cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight, turning the meat in the liquid every so often.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pour enough oil in your roasting pan to cover the bottom, and heat it on the stove top. Take the shanks out of the marinade and dust lightly with flour. Place them in the hot oil and brown lightly on each side. When they are done, remove from the pan and set aside. Add more oil to the pan if necessary. Add the onions, then the potatoes, then the carrots. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring often. Then put the browned shanks on top of the vegetables, and pour all of the marinating liquid (and everything in it) over the shanks and vegetables. Cover, and cook in the oven for at least 2 hours, but more if it's convenient.
Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Blueberry Ricotta Coffee Cake

I have this friend, and she and her very fabulous boyfriend (who is also now a friend) came to visit this past weekend. This friend, we'll call her Sarah, because that is actually her name, and I have known each other for 28 of our 30 years, since our single moms joined forces in an attempt to raise their children in an enlightened, free-wheeling sort of fashion. We all lived together for a few clothes-less years, and while our mothers sang their hearts out in the cutting edge New Age choral group, On Wings of Song, we ran around stabbing each other with pencils and pretending that chewable vitamin C's were candy (which they totally are- have you tried those acerolas?).
Anyway, let it be said that these beginnings certainly form a foundation for a strong friendship that doesn't go away no matter what you do to it. And for that I am truly thankful.
But back to 1981, you might be wondering how two single mothers support a family? For children can not live on heart opening melodies alone. All those vitamin C's cost a lot when you are sneaking as many as we did. Well, our mothers cooked together for new age "opening the heart" workshops, of course. And it was over thousands of tofu balls and adzuki beans that the bond between our mothers began.
So it is only natural that so many years later, Sarah and I cook together. And little expansions of my repetoire always occur after these weekends, like rutabagas in shepherd's pie, for example. And when Sarah suggested that we make coffee cake for breakfast, it was one more opportunity for expansion. Because although I make many baked breakfast goods, I'm just not a coffee cake maker. But now I am. And I get a little thrill out of the fact that 28 years ago, if our mothers know that Sarah and I would be making coffee cake together, they would of course be thrilled, but they would really wish that it was a whole wheat quinoa nut loaf instead.
But times have changed. We glanced at the recipe for quick sour cream coffee cake in The Joy of Cooking, and then we messed with it quite a bit. So I feel justified in calling this:

Alana and Sarah's Blueberry Ricotta Coffee Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees:

Sift together:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Combine and beat till creamy:
2 eggs
1 cup ricotta cheese

Add the the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture with a few swift strokes.
Quickly stir in:
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Spread into a greased 9x9 pan. Make the Streusel:

1/2 cup brown sugar
3 T all purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 T cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
4 T butter, melted

Combine in a bowl until evenly mixed. Spread over coffee cake and bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

Beignets

It's cold out here, and it's just getting colder. This week an arctic front is flying in and will apparently prevent the temperature from getting above 5 degrees for a while. And we're trying to enjoy ourselves, we really are. We take out the snowshoes and we tromp around the woods in wonder, and then one of the kids starts hollering, "I'm cold! Carry Me, now!" And as if I would say yes with that tone young lady, but let me just tell you now, my kids are not light and willowy, especially with all their snowsuits and coats and hats and gloves and too big for them boots. And as much as I try to embrace the winter, I'm already thinking about trellising pea plants and lying in the hammock outside at night getting murdered by mosquitoes. But the truth is that winter has just begun, and around here, it goes till May. So what else can we do, but look to our northern neighbors, where they freeze their asses off joyfully and fashionably. Yes, I am talking about Quebec, the coldest and fanciest place I know of. And so, like the French Canadians, let's deep fry some dough.

Beignets (adapted from The King Arthur Baking Companion)

2-3 cups vegetable oil, for frying (This really depends on your pan- you need about 2 inches of oil)
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup melted butter
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (you can use regular all purpose if that's all you have)
1 1/2 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 T sugar
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Maple syrup or fruit sauce for dipping

Heat the oil to 350 in a large, deep pot.
Mix the egg, milk and butter together. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar. Stir together with a whisk until evenly incorporated. Add the milk mixture and stir until smooth.

When the oil reaches 350 degrees, drop the batter in large spoonfuls into the oil. Fry a few at a time, but give them space to expand. Fry the beignets for 1 minute on each side. Use a slotted spoon to remove them and let them drain on paper towels.

Serve hot with powdered sugar and dip in maple syrup, or make a fruit sauce with those berries that you stashed in the freezer last summer- throw the frozen berries in a saucepan and cook until they are bubbling.

Millet Pie

Now, I don't tend to be too uptight about this stuff, but lately I've been worrying a bit that my kids might just be eating things made of white flour for every single meal plus snacks. It hasn't always been this way, but I think that sometimes these things sneak up on you a little, you know what I mean? Joey puts up with it when I bring out the quinoa, but only a little bit, and Rose doesn't enjoy anything that's not called "bread", but when Sadie said, "Mom, I like millet, remember?" I jumped on it faster than she could change her mind.
So then the world takes over, ready to take on the burden of easing my anxiety over the fact that my kids are going to get rickets, and my Mother Earth News arrives with a feature called "Tap the Culinary Wisdom of our Ancestors: DISCOVER MILLET."
Yes! I would like to discover millet! Although I'm not sure if my super British Episcopalian or my very short Austro-hungarian Jewish ancestors were so into millet. Oh, well. I'll tap into the culinary wisdom of someone's ancestors, anyway.
So in excited desperation, I flipped through the article, was reminded that millet has lots of protein, lots of other good stuff, and is way more digestible than wheat or rice or corn. And as by this time I was looking for any possibility to get this wondergrain down my kids' gullets, I found the perfect recipe, millet coated with lots and lots of cheese!
And the result? Sadie, my wonderful, adventurous Sadie, who of course already established that she was a millet fan, ate two pieces. Rosie was a no go, but was hungry so ate only kale for dinner, which eased my anxieties anyway. And Joey? He happily ate half the pie for dinner, but then emphatically refused bringing it for lunch. All in all? A success-ish, I'd say.

Millet Pie (adapted from Mother Earth News, December/January 2009)

2 cups onion, chopped
1 T olive oil
1 cup millet
3 cups water
1/2 T salt
1 tsp dried thyme
1 medium carrot, chopped
3 cups cauliflower or broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
6 ounces cheddar or Jack cheese
2 large eggs, beaten

Heat a 2-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat for a few seconds, add the oil, then the onions. Saute until they soften and sweeten. Add the millet and stir, cooking until the grains are hot to the touch and fragrant. Add the water, salt, thyme and carrot and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and bring heat to lowest setting. Cook for thirty minutes, then add broccoli or cauliflower, cover again and let stand for 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff.
Preheat the oven to 400. Stir in the cheese and egg, and transfer the mixture to a large greased pie pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

kitchen music

What's this?

Well, in my kitchen, there's music. So here you go...this is really what I'm listening to every week around here, so I kind of think of this as getting you into my kitchen a little. Joey and I update these every week or so, so check back when your sick of the last mix.

How do you download these little mix tapes?

Click on the link for the mix that you desire. It will bring you to an uploading site. Disregard the semi- offensive ads. Click the "download file" button, and you'll get a zip file, and depending on your computer, it will show up maybe on your desktop, or in your downloads file if you have a mac. Then drag it to your itunes, and you should be good. Let me know if you're having any trouble downloading the mixes, and let me know what you think of the music!

"what's cookin'" 11/18/11
i don't want love...the antlers
sweetmatter...andrew bird
dimming of the day...richard and linda thompson
i slept all night by my lover...greg brown
alley cats...hot chip
le roi d'ys...beniamino gigli

"what's cookin'" 4/10/11
go places...the new pornographers
caribbean blue...enya (dntel mix)
in every direction...junip
interior of a dutch house...beirut
lindesfarne ii...james blake
teenage thugs...cabezas cortades

"what's cookin'" 9/27/10
autumn sweater...yo la tengo
better things to do...sharon jones and the dap kings
vesuvius...sufjan stevens
fuck you...cee-lo green
a winter chill...chapter
breathe me...sia

"what's cookin'" 7/31/10

red...samamidon

noise...beat happening

convertible balloon...wavves

wolves...phosphorescent

suburban war...arcade fire

toast...heywood banks

"what's cookin'" 6/1
conversation 16...the national
o.n.e....yeasayer
little satchel...samamidon
'81...joanna newsom
home(RAC mix)...edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros
we end up together...the new pornographers


"what's cookin'" 2/28
icarus...white hinterland
hurry up and wait...nocando
girl singing in the wreckage...black box recorder
on the edge...clogs
real love...beach house
solsbury hill...kyte


"what's cookin 2/17"
anonanimal...andrew bird
i feel better...hot chip
two doves...dirty projectors
the high road...broken bells
no cars go...arcade fire
kids...mgmt

"what's cookin 1/11"
citizen...broken bells
no cars go (arcade fire cover)...final fantasy
knocked up (kings of leon cover)...lykke li
roll away your stone...mumford & sons
mercury...kathleen edwards
stillness is the move...dirty projectors


"what's cookin' 12/9"
ottoman...vampire weekend
walk of life...the diamond family archive (dire straits)
do do do...nellie mcKay
the book of love...peter gabriel (magnetic fields)
july flame....laura veirs
bein' green...andrew bird (muppets)


"what's cookin' 10/16"
wide eyed, legless...laura veirs
horchata...vampire weekend
my body's a zombie for you...dead man's bones
the place...mirah
swimming field...memory tapes
custom concern...modest mouse


"what's cookin' 9/28"
galaxies...laura veirs
naomi...neutral milk hotel
you're a wolf...sea wolf
so glad to see you...hot chip
california...low
electric car...they might be giants

"what's cookin' 9/19"
while you wait for the others...grizzly bear with michael mcdonald
the eraser....thom yorke
never seen....lightning dust
greyest love of all...taken by trees
winter's heir....sea wolf
anything you want....spoon

"what's cookin' 8/18"
harry patch (in memory of)....radiohead
day by day....taken by trees
also frightened....animal collective
christmas in the room....sufjan stevens
night in the draw....balmorhea
lisztomania....phoenix

"what's cookin' 7/31"
waving at the shore....throw me the statue
obiero....ayub ogada
challengers....the new pornographers
just like heaven....dinosaur jr.
your ex-lover is dead...stars
home....edward sharpe

"what's cookin' 7/22"
hairukuesque....bibio
come back from san francisco....the magnetic fields
get to the table on time....m. ward
team....bon iver
rebellion (lies)....the arcade fire
black flowers....yo la tengo

"what's cookin' 7/13"
careful....hot chip
blinking pigs....little dragon
i knew....lightning dust
dandelion....boards of canada
hallelujah....the helio sequence
backyards....broken social scene

"what's cookin' 7/4"
combination pizza hut and taco bell...das racist and wallpaper
you love to fail....the magnetic fields
bury me with it....modest mouse
slow down....bowerbirds
the star spangled banner....sufjan stevens
lovely allen....holy fuck

"what's cookin' 6/27"
wanderlust....bjork
orange skirt....discovery
jerusalem....mirah
worried shoes....daniel smith
the world's greatest....bonnie prince billy
thriller....petra hayden

"what's cookin' 6/19"
when you were mine....dump
talby....pinback
unravel....radiohead
L.E.S. artistes....santagold
sadie....joanna newsom
parentheses....the blow

"what's cookin' 6/6"
theme from the stars....stars
all i need....radiohead
BQE movement 3....sufjan stevens
venice....beirut
technicolor....ms. john soda
time to pretend....MGMT

"what's cookin' 5/31"
title track....death cab for cutie
lady don't tek no....latyryx
festival....dungen
gay messiah....rufus wainwright
get a room....jim o'rourke
emax 1....destroyer

"what's cookin' 5/25"
loosen up....the joggers
even numbers.....they might be giants
crows....the gothic archies
possibly maybe.....final fantasy
every shining time you arrive....division day
1234....feist

"what's cookin' 5/15"
le compteur....karkwa
1901....phoenix
rider....will oldham
sleep all summer....st. vincent and the national
the face that launched 1000 shits
let go....frou frou

"what's cookin' 5/8"
beautiful....seito koji
one transmission....jejune
family tree....tv on the radio
the city....milosh
parallel lines....junior boys
cape cod kwassa kwassa....hot chip and peter gabriel

"what's cookin' 5/1"
do i disappoint you....rufus wainwright
the old days....dr. dog
hooves....bowerbirds
the dark ages....bedhead
amazing (ft. young jeezy)....kanye west
blow it all away....eilen jewell

"what's cookin' 4/23"
rockist part 1....school of language
i wish i had an evil twin....magnetic fields
karma police....john vanderslice
this is how we walk on the moon....arthur russell
icarus....santagold
your girlfriend's car....throw me the statue

"what's cookin' 4/14"
ship....throw me the statue
no such thing opening....hal hartley
and I was a boy from school....hot chip
two weeks....grizzly bear
adventure.exe....final fantasy

The Funniest Thing my Kid Ever Said

The other night, we had the good fortune to participate in a celebration of our friend Ben's birthday. His talented and wonderful wife Megan made one of the best meals I have had in recent memory. Our friends Thom and Meg were also present at this lovely event, and they had brought several green chiles from an odyssey across the nation so that were also present on top of the phenomenal hamburgers.

If you haven't had a green chile cheeseburger, then you my friend need to hop on a plane to New Mexico. Let it just be said that many burgers were happily gobbled, ketchup was spread on little faces with perfectly roasted oven fries, and cream cheese frosting (with sour cream!) was licked off moist and spicy carrot cake by many little girls (and not just my own).

And in the midst of all of this fun, we had a little conversation about how we try to share spirituality with our children. And at a pause in the conversation, Sadie interjected,

"Church? I think I've been to one of those. For a tag sale."

OK, OK, I'm doing my best....

Leg of Lamb with Garlic Sauce

Happy new year! And happy almost end of winter break! We've almost made it, and we're doing great. This morning the girls let us sleep in till 8:00, and when they finally politely came in to ask for their promised toaster waffles (a rare delicacy in our house), they accepted my request for 10 more minutes, and then did art together on the table until I got up. Ah, parenthood is such a joy...

today.

But as for tomorrow, we'll see. And we're getting through the rough spots by sustaining ourselves with leftover lamb. It works pretty well. Here is the recipe:

Roast Leg of Lamb (adapted from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food)

For 1 bone-in leg of lamb, about 7 pounds

One Day before roasting, wash, pat dry, and massage with salt and fresh-ground black pepper. Cover and refrigerate. Two hours before cooking, take out of the fridge to let it warm to room temperature. Rub with olive oil and chopped rosemary.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Roast for 30 minutes, then turn the roast over and cook for another 20 minutes. Turn again and continue roasting until the lamb has reached an internal temperature of 128 degrees. This won't take very long. When the roast is done, take it out of the pan and leave it on a platter to rest for at least 20 minutes.

And the Garlic Sauce (adapted from sudairy)

Peel 24 cloves of garlic
fry in olive oil until soft, about 10 minutes
pour the garlic and olive oil into a bowl and mash, mash, mash
then...
take your roasting pan from which you just removed the leg of lamb, pour in a glass of red wine, and bring to a boil. scraping off the brown bits from the pan. Pour this delicious liquid over the mashed garlic, mash some more, and voila, garlic sauce.

Pour over the sliced lamb and enjoy....