Poached Pear, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Salad

Do you remember that poached pear salad that I had in Shirlington, VA, the only really tasty thing I ate on my trip? OK, maybe it's not sticking in your memory, but it certainly is in mine. I'd been thinking about it ever since that last night of the trip, mostly thinking how lame I am that I've never truly caramelized onions, and I wasn't really quite sure how. So the other day, Joey and I found ourselves in a pretty amazing situation. For months, we've had tickets to see Rufus Wainwright in our very own little town, an exciting prospect on it's own. And as as luck would have it, Grandpa Chris came to pick up the girls on his way home from work, so that they could go have pizza at the farm (I'll explain that one some other time) and we could go to our show. But before the show, we made dinner! This might not sound so strange, but I'm not sure that Joey and I have ever made and eaten dinner on our own in maybe, well, six years and three weeks.
So the girls gleefully hopped into Chris's car, and what did Joey and I do?
We surveyed our beverage options.

Let it be known here that Joey and I are not big drinkers... at all. I can drink that boy under the table, and I'm just a one drink kind of girl. But we made some drinks, well one each, and I guess they were a little strong, because we were a drunken pair.
For all those childless couples out there, this might be a normal Friday night, but for us, this was entirely unique. I must say, sometimes I just love the girls so much because they make me appreciate the moments when they're not around. Is that horrible? It's just the night was all sunny and warm and glittery, and there was this magic in not being responsible for anything. It was just pure fun. And then I made this salad. And Joey grilled some pork chops from our local pig in the freezer. Glittery, sunny, and really good.

And dinner was so good, we just ate without talking, and then we had to go to the concert, and we left the dishes right there on the table, embarking on a drunken and happy walk to town.

I've got my own little Rufus Wainright, only straight and married to me...

Poached Pear, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Salad
(my own taste buds' adaptation of a salad at Busboys and Poets, Shirlington, VA)

So we've got a few different elements here:

1. lettuce of your choice, washed and dried
2. goat cheese- I use Monterey Chevre
3. caramelized onions- I'm sure you know how to caramelize onions, but I had to figure this one out. Here's what I did:
Slice up 3-4 onions so you end up with long strings. Melt a hunk of butter in a large skillet, add the onions at low to medium heat. Toss the onions with a spatula so that they don't stick and burn. Cook, tossing when you think of it, for about 40 minutes, or until the onions are a nice golden brown. Then dump the onions into a bowl, and you should have a brown crust on your skillet. Pour a few spoonfuls of white wine vinegar, a dash of water, and a few spoonfuls of brown sugar into the skillet. Let it boil, scraping the crust of the pan as you go. Pour this fabulous dark brown substance over the onions, stir it in, and refrigerate.
4. poached pears- I used two pears for this: peel the pears, cut in half from the stem to the bottom, and scoop out the core with a spoon. Bring about six cups of water to a boil, add 1/2 cup sugar and a length of lemon peel. Simmer the pears in the liquid for about 15 minutes, or until they are tender when pricked with a fork. Refrigerate in the poaching liquid- then when ready to assemble, slice.
5. candied pecans- In a medium bowl, mix a few glugs of real maple syrup, a splash of vodka, and a few dashes of chili pepper. Toss a few handfuls of pecans in this mixture. Lay on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes. keep an eye on them- they can burn quickly.
6. vinaigrette- Whisk together about 1/4 cup olive oil, a few dashes sherry vinegar, a few dashes balsamic vinegar, and a spoonful of whole grain mustard. Adjust to your liking.

Assemble together and top with fresh pepper.

Daring Limoncello Cheesecake Cupcakes

It's that time again. Time to be brave, to go beyond the comfort zone, to slave and cry and drop things on the floor and hope that someone swept recently.
Or maybe not.
This month's daring baker challenge was a nice basic cheesecake recipe and a loving encouragement to be creative with it. And good thing! Between my trip from hell and the garden starting up again, the month has passed very quickly, and I don't think a yule log would have really gone so well this month. And as it was, the creativity came from Joey this month. I said cupcakes. And then I asked, Limoncello? And then he said, lemon bar! So I made the lovely (and I do mean lovely) cheesecake recipe, put it in muffin tin, and added the lemon bar top from Alice Medrich's Very Tangy Lemon Bars. We just didn't know what would happen. We bit out fingernails to the quick, asking, "What happens when you combine a cheesecake with a lemon bar?" And then we chilled them, relishing the suspense. The next day, we took them out to join us at the sunny picnic table.

They reassured us. They said, "Yes, you are daring, and that is the way to be. Why live on the safe side?"
And I know that now you too are relishing the suspense. How were they, you ask? Go ahead and try!

Oh! Thanks! You know I don't like to swear in front of my kids, but your right, they are fucking amazing! Mind blowing! Do this! Combine a cheesecake and a lemon bar!

And now I will tell you how....

First, the formalities.

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

This is Abbey's really fabulous cheesecake recipe:

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

This is the recipe for the top of Alice Medrich's Lemon Bars, cut in half:

1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 T flour
2 eggs
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed and strained lemon juice

Stir together sugar ad flour in a large bowl until mixed. Whisk in the eggs. Stir in lemon juice and zest.

This is how I combined the recipes:
I made 3/4 of the cheesecake recipe, and I used Limoncello for the liquor. I used 1 T, but next time I would use 3 T. I filled the muffin tin 3/4 of the way up.

I put it in the water bath on a baking sheet, and then coerced Joey to put it in the oven for me. I was feeling daring, but not so much that I wouldn't spill.


I baked them for 25 minutes. Then I took them out and added the lemon topping.

Then I baked them for another 20 minutes. Chilled overnight. And just fabulous. Be sure to check out some of the unbelievable works of art coming in at the Daring Baker's website. Who knew cheesecake could be so inspiring?

DC travels: PART 2... FOOD

Rosie knew this wouldn't turn out well. We started off our trip with a diner lunch right away. You know when you find one of those diners? And you weren't expecting it, but it's just so fabulous, and they have the best milkshakes and make really incredible muffins?

Well this was not one of those diners.

But we set off from there, some random New York State diner, our bellies full of American cheese, trying to be optimistic. Then there was the New Jersey turnpike. Here's the traffic just at the gas station.
Morale dipping, we soldiered on. Got to Baltimore, where we met up with my old friend Liz and her nice boyfriend Nick, a painter in a leather jacket. They took us to a much better diner with toys glued to the walls.
Unfortunately, it was 10:00 by then. Even the chocolate milk couldn't cheer Rosie up.
Then we settled in at Joey's brother's, where everyone ate a lot of pizza. I made dinner one night in my attempt to save the world in my own way, but not much was eaten, as there was a whole leftover pizza in the fridge which was the object of everyone's desire.
We ventured to Shirlington, VA, a mixed use development a few minute's away from Josh's. This place is younger than Rose, but I was curious to see what people are building these days, and I was excited to visit Cakelove, a bakery started by a guy in an early mid-life crisis who realized that he only loves cake (I guess cakelove sounds better than lovecake). It looked like a chain, and I felt sad about it. Pretty cakes though.

The whole Shirlington thing just fascinated me. The concept of creating a place where people can live and work and shop without driving seems really great, but I felt like I was walking around in a little architectual model.

I grew more and more grumpy. Then we went into DC, and after much grumpy walking, I was saved by a little coffee shop with an even littler alley.
You know when you think you'll never get out of a mood, and a moment just does it for you?
Then there was Ethiopian food.
There were a few more memorable-ish culinary experiences- a really good ice cream flavor called "libido" for no reason except so that an old fat Italian man could say "it tastes like the measure of your sexual desire" to me (not much at that moment, I can tell you), lunch at a Thai restaurant with my surprisingly political and hip cousin Jason, in which I tried to show him how hip, young and political I was, but really just succeeded in feeling like an old lame mom, a few good cups of coffee that I took way too much pleasure in.
And the final night we were there, my friend Liz came to take me away from the family. Liz has been my friend for a long long time.
And it was with Liz that I ate the best and maybe one of the only actually good things I had during this zany trip. It looked so good that I forgot to photograph it until I had eaten half of it.
It's a poached pear salad with caramelized onions, sweet pecans, and goat cheese. It brought me happiness when I really needed it. I'm going to make it tomorrow and I'll give you the details when I figure them out. It was a nice note on which to end a difficult voyage.
Except there was more. The Mexican bakery around the corner from Josh's in which we met our friend Dave gave us a nice belly ache to end the trip. Fitting.


And that's just about it. All I'm going to tell you at least. And really this whole story is here for my sister-in-law Leslie, who was missing due to the need for some R and R (and R). It would have been more fun with her there, mostly because she knows how to get a good laugh out of anything, no matter how dismal. But whoever else might be reading, I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Washington DC via my family drama. It's going to be a while before you catch me back there again.

DC travels: PART 1... FAMILY

So I just got back from a family trip to Washington DC. We went to visit Joey's brother's family, and then their sister came out as well with her two kids. I know that I never had the joy of sibling aggression and drama growing up, but even after being around it for a while, it still never ceases to amaze me. Let me just say that the circumstances around this trip were.... complex. In the hopes of not getting myself into too much trouble, I'm just going to show you the pictures. Well, I might have to comment just a little. You know how I am.

This is me and all the cousins. We're having a nice peaceful walk on the mall.

This is Zion beating on Asher, a bit earlier.

And Asher may look small, but he got Zion back good.

I'm sorry, I just have to say... girls are just easier.

All that kid beating sparked some grown up beating, as is only necessary in any family reunion. Let's just say this might be last time for a while we see the three siblings together.

And then of course Rosie get's grumpy when people start to fight. And she wants her sister, who then pushes her away.
And Sadie just wants to be with Asher, who is coincidentally breeding a nice case of strep throat at the during this lovely walk.

Yeah, and that's just the beginning. And I'm not even going to tell you about most of it. So we're home, eating lots of garlic and vitamin C to ward off the strep, and happy to be back. Sometimes, a family trip is worth it just to come home.

Stay tuned for part 2- I promise there will be food involved...

A Little Weeknight Meal

As I've mentioned, inspiration's been lacking a little bit lately in my kitchen. I spend some time here and there hunched over cookbooks, or better yet, hunched over a blank piece of paper trying to plan out the week a bit. I sit there, muttering to myself about nothing in particular, and I'll think of something, and I'll whisper "chicken soup with dumplings," and Rosie will drift by in her tutu, and will say, "No Mom, I only like squash soup". And I'll curse quietly, and then I'll say, "swiss chard pie!" and Sadie will yell from across the house, "I won't eat it. I hate feta!" and well, you get the idea. And then I just say screw it, you girls won't starve- I'm just making what I want. Sound familiar? Anyway, here's a nice little dinner for you.


Green Frittata with Beet Salad

For the Frittata:
(serves six)

1 large bunch kale, washed, stemmed, and roughly chopped
9 eggs
5 ounces cream cheese
1 3/4 cups milk
4 T olive oil
1 1/2 T white flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Freshly ground pepper

Put eggs, cream cheese, milk, flour and salt in the blender. Blend until smooth.
Heat 3 T of the olive oil in a heavy oven proof skillet. Add the kale and a splash of water. Cover and cook until wilty, about two minutes. When cooked, use the other 1 T of olive oil to coat the sides of the pan. Pour the egg mixture over the kale. Cook on low to medium heat without stirring until the egg starts to firm up around the edges.
Sprinkle the parmesan on top.
Set a rack in the center of the oven and set your broiler to low. Cook the frittata in the oven under the broiler for about five minutes, watching carefully. It will puff up, turn golden, and be firm to the touch. This may take a while, depending on your broiler, so really keep an eye on it. When it looks ready, stick a butter knife in it, to make sure that there is no runny egg. Season with freshly ground pepper and cut into wedges after it has cooled a bit.

For the Beets:

1 large bunch of beets
About 2 T olive oil
1 T mustard
1 tsp sherry vinegar
a handful of parsley, chopped fine
salt
pepper

Peel the beets and chop into bite sized chunks. Steam them for 20-25 minutes, or until tender. Let cool to room temp.
Combine olive oil, mustard, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk together, adjusting to your own tastes. Toss dressing with beets and parsley.

Raw Milk Panna Cotta

Well, I must say I'm really waiting for my spinach to peak out of that cold ground out there. I don't think that it's really going to happen, but when it does, my food inspiration is going to come out with it. I'm being optimistic I know, but one must in these cold April days up here in the frozen Berkshire tundra.
I feel it necessary to confess that I spent a small but substantial chunk of yesterday hiding in my basement eating peanut butter cups while my children whined at me without noticing that I wasn't actually there. "Mo-om, Rosie's breathing on me, and I need spa-ace." "Mo-om, why don't you buy the crackers that I li-ike. I'm so hun-gry." And most often, "Mo-om, my awe-my la do stedahhhhhhhhh......." (yeah I can't understand whiny language either). Anyway, I think a bit of spinach would do us all some good.
But in the mean time, all I want is pudding, and custard, and the occasional peanut butter cup. And David Lebovitz was so kind to remind me how easy Panna Cotta is to make. And Panna Cotta makes me really happy. And it fills up the girls for a few minutes to stop the whining (OK, OK, it's not really that bad- it was just one of those weekends, you know?).
I made his Panna Cotta with creamy raw milk instead of all cream, and then I could eat a lot more of it with out getting a bellyache.

Panna Cotta

Eight servings

Adapted from David Lebovitz, who in turn adapted from Secrets From My Tuscan Kitchen by Judy Witts

1 cup heavy cream
3 cups raw milk (or pasteurized will work too, I'm just plugging for the raw as usual)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)
6 tablespoons cold water

1. Heat the heavy cream, milk and sugar in a saucepan or microwave. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

2. Lightly oil eight custard cups with a neutral-tasting oil.

3. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

5. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, then chill them until firm, which will take at least two hours but I let them stand at least four hours.

6. Run a sharp knife around the edge of each Panna Cotta and unmold each onto a serving plate, and garnish as desired.

Panna Cotta is quite plain and comforting, and it will take any sauce you like. I like to cook up a few frozen berries, and pour them on top.

laugh now

I know this is not usually the way I work things around here, but I just saw maybe one of the funniest things ever. My friend Meg sent it to me days ago, and I didn't really look until now, but I'm not sure if I've ever found food so funny. Make sure that you take the full guided tour of every single Weight Watchers recipe card. I'm serious. Put down what you're doing and look now.

Very Tangy Lemon Bars

It's snowing today.
And I got better after being sick last week, and I felt like a god for being so healthy. I made pink cupcakes for Sadie's birthday using real red food coloring, and hosted all her favorite girls at a Chinese restaurant. I know it sounds like a disaster, but it was a great success. Here's a glimpse:




Then the pendulum really swung from the self pity and sick feeling. Over the weekend, I had the oddest dream- where I was watching myself, and I was like, "I am so cute! Just look at me. I look great!" I kid you not. And I must say, I wish this dream on you, because I woke up feeling like a million bucks. I swaggered around all day, culminating in my evening trip to the local Big Y, where (and I can't quite say why) I had my own personal supermarket party. I danced to the music, I spent ten minutes trying to find pickles without hfcs in them, I bought everything on sale- I was hot. I came back home singing.
And then on Monday I got sick again.
The lesson I should learn? Not quite sure yet. But I'm achy and grumpy again. And did I mention that it is snowing? So I'm reaching back a little to a recipe that just makes me happy and radiates the sun off the plate. I've been meaning to write about this one- I just haven't needed it's presence so much until now. So here you go- if you've never made lemon bars, they are way easier than you think.

Very Tangy Lemon Bars
from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

Makes 16 large or 24 small bars

For crust:

• 8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

• 1/4 c. sugar

• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 c. flour

For topping:

• 1 c. plus 2 tbsp. sugar

• 3 tbsp. flour

• 3 eggs

• 1 1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

• 1/2 c. strained freshly squeezed lemon juice

• Powdered sugar for dusting, optional

Directions

Position a rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of 8- by 8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil.

To make crust: In a medium bowl, combine melted butter with sugar, vanilla and salt. Add flour and mix until just incorporated. Press dough evenly over bottom of pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until crust is fully baked, well-browned at the edges and golden brown in the center.

To make topping: While crust is baking, stir together sugar and flour in a large bowl until well-mixed. Whisk in eggs. Stir in lemon zest and juice. When crust is ready, reduce heat to 300 degrees, slide rack with pan out and pour filling onto hot crust. Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer, or until topping no longer jiggles when pan is tapped.

Remove from oven to a wire rack to cool completely. Then refrigerate for at least one hour. Lift up foil liner and transfer bars to a cutting board.

Using a long, sharp knife, cut bars into 16 or 24 daintier bars and sift powdered sugar over bars, if desired. Stored in an airtight container, bars can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Seedy Wheaty Biscuits

I was an only child until my sister was born when I was nineteen. So this whole sisters thing that we've started in the family is all pretty new to me. Sadie was not even two when Rosie was born, so for most of Sadie's conscious life and all of Rosie's, they've been a pair.
And we totally treat them as such, just out of necessity. They are collectively referred to as "the girls" much more than we actually call them by name. We ask them to take care of each other, and deal with each other's ridiculous requests, and mostly just to deal with it.
But tonight, Sadie is away at a sleepover party. And every so often this happens, and they become separate. And today Rosie is Rosie, alone. And we're spoiling her. So in honor of my temporarily spoiled only child for a day, here's a recipe for the other little ones who live on bread alone.
Seedy Wheaty Biscuits
loosely adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking

2 cups Spelt flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 T baking powder
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 1/2 cups milk, plus more as needed
1 egg white
1/3 cup mixed seeds

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Position rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
In a large bowl, stir the flours, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and use a pastry cutter or two knives to blend until the mixture resembles tiny pebbles.
Use a fork to incorporate the 1 1/2 cups of milk. Handle as little as possible. If the batter feels a little dry, you can put a little more milk in. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter or just go free form, and shape the biscuits to about a 2 inch circle. Arrange the biscuits at least 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with the egg white, and sprinkle generously with the seeds and some extra sea salt.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden. Serve with extra butter.

Mac and Cheese

I'm home sick today, and I must say that there seems to be a nice self pity symptom with this particular virus. I'm not usually like this when I'm sick, I'm just grump and pity. It's sunny out, and in my thoughts, everyone is having a glorious day out there.
So you'll have to indulge me here, and I'm going to bring myself back to a lovely evening last week, when I wasn't sick, and the spring light lit our dinner in a way that made me feel like I was living life in a beautiful photograph. I've been asked for this mac and cheese recipe a bunch of times, and here it is- so I'll sit here mulling over my lovely healthy evening, and you get a recipe out of it. And if you look closely, you can check out the girl's new self induced haircuts. They're not so bad, I think.



Mac and Cheese
loosely adapted from The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

1 pound penne
4 cups milk
1/2 stick butter
6 T all purpose flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dry mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper
10 ounces cheddar cheese
4 ounces gruyere cheese
2 cups breadcrumbs
1 medium sized head of broccoli, chopped into bites (include the stem)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the penne, let cook for a few minutes, then add the broccoli. When the penne is barely cooked, drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Bring the milk just to a boil in a heavy saucepan and set aside.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in another heavy saucepan. Add the flour, and whisk over low heat for 3 minutes. Add the hot milk to the flour mixture, and whisk well.
Add the paprika and dry mustard, and whisk whisk whisk over medium heat.
Keep whisking until the mixture thickens. This may take up to 10 minutes. Don't lose hope. But if for some reason the mixture doesn't thicken, all is not lost, it will still work.
Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
Butter a 13x9 inch baking dish. Pour the penne and broccoli into it. Pour the cream sauce over the pasta and toss to coat completely. Sprinkle 3/4 of the cheese on top. Then all of the breadcrumbs, then the last 1/4 of cheese. Finish up with a little extra paprika and some salt and pepper for good measure.
Bake about 25 minutes. Then put it under the broiler for a few more minutes, until it turns golden.