beautiful bones with golden tofu red curry

susan over at food blogga is hosting a special event to honor osteoporosis month and raise awareness of this disease. there is a long list of potential causes of osteoporosis she reprints on her blog. one was asthma, although i wonder if this is more about the medications used to control asthma, rather than the difficulty in breathing itself. for instance, oral steriods such as advair can reduce normal calcium consumption and bone formation.

unfortunately every time my physician asks if i'm taking calcium supplements (because i do have asthma and take advair) i sheepishly say no as if i think it won't affect me. but honestly, i know better. so i was happy to join in this event, and even happier that non-animal sources of calcium were welcome (don't even get me started on the media's industry paid misplaced emphasis on cow milk!)

so here is my humble entry ... the incredible edible amazing tofu!



there are so many different ways of cooking (or not) and serving tofu, but this is one of my favorites, even if it isn't the most healthiest of options. we used this in a simple thai red curry with onions, carrots, scallions, cilantro, red peppers, and farmer's market snap peas that were the freshest things this side of perfect.





golden tofu: serves 2 - 4 (more like 2 for tofu lovers like moi)
adapted from deborah madison's vegetarian cooking for everyone (1997, p. 598)

1 1lb package firm style tofu, cut into 1" cubes
2 tb peanut oil (or other high heat oil)
salt + pepper

1. drain then blot the tofu with paper towels. cut into 1" cubes and lightly salt and pepper.

2. heat oil in medium nonstick skillet over fairly high heat. add tofu and fry until golden. it takes several minutes to color, so let it cook undisturbed while you do something else, then come back and turn the pieces.

3. drain briefly on paper towels and serve up in endless ways!

the daring baker that wasn't ... but here are some peanut butter chocolate cookies instead :)

there's no excuse her ladies and gents. it just didn't get done. along with the human rights paper that i am totally dragging my arse on.

but that doesn't mean it won't get done! i HAVE to finish my paper this weekend and i WILL make that opera cake!

got. to. get. it. together. ugh.

but in the meantime, please go check out hundreds of other more worthy daring bakers than i and their beautiful opera cakes of all shapes and flavors. and for a little sweet to tide you over, here are some chunky cookies i made awhile ago. super easy, super delish!





chunky peanut, chocolate, and cinnamon cookies: makes 5 dozen
from martha's website (click here)

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cups roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
2 tsp vanilla

1. preheat oven to 350F. whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

2. put butter and peanut butter in bowl of mixer with paddle attachment and mix on medium until combined, about 2 minutes. add sugars and mix another 2 minutes. mix in eggs. gradually add flour mixture; mix until just combined. fold in chocolate chips, peanuts, and vanilla. refrigerate until slightly firm, 15 minutes.

3. roll dough into 1 inch balls. space about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. flatten slightly (i didn't, wanted them more humped). bake until just golden, 13 minutes. transfer to wire rack to cool.

martha said to serve these with ice cream ... and who was i to ignore her instructions! ;)

twd: brioche overload with snails and french toast

for this week's tuesdays with dorie, madam chow of madam chow's kitchen choose dorie's ooey gooey sticky pecan buns. everyone loves sticky pecan buns ... except for the mimis. even the gorgeous gooey photo in dorie's book didn't appeal to us.

but brioche ... now that is something even the village idiot would love! i've never made brioche before, so i was up to the challenge. also, dorie's brioche method is slightly different than others i have read, from the way the butter is added to the way it is rolled for the loaf pan. so let's give it a whirl and see what happens!

and a whirrled it went, my poor KA was huffing and puffing and still those butter chunks were just whirrling around the side of my dough instead of getting properly incorporated. no way i could finish this dough on LOW speed as dorie instructs. so a little faster, a little more huffing and puffing, and finally it came together.



for my alternative to sticky buns, i chose a previous TWD selection of brioche raisin snails. yumm. i didn't quite have enough raisins on hand, but i always have a bunch of dried apricots around, so i chopped those up too. i also used armagnac instead of rum for a more traditional flambé. i also doubled the sugar filling because i like it like that.



but oops, i used a pastry cutter to slice my snails and they ended up a wee bit squished. and oops, i don't know what happened but they got really really brown (burnt?) and i cooked them for probably 10 minutes less than indicated. i have an oven thermometer, so i know the temp was right (in fact, it was a little low in the beginning) so i have no idea what happened. but it wasn't anything a little drizzled sugary icing couldn't fix!

a little toasty


meets a little icing


and what about the rest of the brioche dough? we went for the obvious. some classic brioche french toast the next morning. to make myself feel better for all that buttery goodness i tried to pretend i wasn't eating i went out and played two hours of tennis afterwards. somehow it all balances out, riiight? ;)





to get your goo on with hundreds of sticky pecan buns, please check out the rest of tuesdays with dorie!

brioche raisin snails
adapted from dorie's baking handbook (p. 56)

1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
a pour of armagnac or other brandy
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
your favorite brioche recipe
your favorite pastry cream recipe
your usual sugar icing recipe

1. line one or two baking sheets with parchment. mix sugar and cinnamon (you probably won't use the full doubled amount, so reduce if you want).

2. put raisins and apricots in small pan, cover with hot water and let them steep for about 4 minutes until they are plumped. drain raisins/apricots and return to pan, stirring, and warming them over low heat. pour a bit of armagnac on the mix, and ignite with long match or lighter. if your kitchen hasn't burned down (haha, just kidding, really flambéing is easier than you think) set aside.

3. on well floured surface, roll dough into rectangle 12 inches wide and 16 inches long, with short end towards you - oops!! i don't think i did this either! spread pastry cream across dough, leaving 1 inch strip bare on the side farthest from you. scatter raisins/apricots and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mix.

4. starting with side nearest, roll dough into cylinder. with chef's knife, using sawing motion, trim just a bit of the ends if not even. then cut the log into rounds 1 inch thick. put snails on lined baking sheet, leaving some space between each. cover with wax paper and let double in volume, about 1-2 hours.

4. meanwhile preheat oven to 375F. bake snails for about 25 minutes or until puffed and richly brown (or really dark brown in my case, mwahaha!) transfer snails to cooling rack and then drizzle with the good sugary stuff.

grilled pork tenderloin with glaze and mojo

if you were lucky to have nice weather (which we finally were!), like you, the mimis took full advantage and grilled every night this long holiday weekend. every time i think i want to move back to manhattan to be closer to school, a perfect early summer evening arrives and my brooklyn garden is like an oasis. i could never give this up, voluntarily.

so what did the mimis have? one night was boca burger night, but that's not very photogenic, huh? so no photos of that, but tasty as always. the first night we started with fresh grilled clams. if you have not tried this method of clamming, please do! very easy, and super delish.





we followed that with beef kabobs with cubano peppers and onions. the first rule of kabobs is keep it simple, don't go adding on a zillion different vegetables. i have learned that it never works right! the zucchinis never cook entirely and the tomatoes always fall off. and the second rule is to use the best meat. these morsels came from arcadian farms. wow, if there was ever proof that happy cows make delish meat, these kabobs were it!





for sides we keep to our motto of simple is almost always best. our go-to sides include small red potatoes grilled in an aluminum foil pouch, and whatever great green vegetables are around. for late spring, this means asparagus and some snap peas. everything is tossed with a little bit of olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper. once my herbs are a bit bigger, fresh thyme and chives are added too. mr. mimi likes a sprinkle of paprika on the potatoes.



but the crown jewel of the weekend grilling bonanza was what we just enjoyed tonight.

back when the food network was actually about food (i loooved the two hot tamales!) the mimis weren't terribly fond of the popular bobby flay. it wasn't that we thought he was a bad chef, but his show was horribly lame with that token woman and his schtick was just unbearable to watch. but i was cruising around epicurious to find some special grilling recipe, and came across one of his menus. lame show or not, i assume bobby knows a thing or two about grilling.



i promise you, if you try this recipe you will not be disappointed!! mojo is a classic cuban sauce. combined with the glaze, this dish has a sweet and spicy kick that is gorgeous. a clean spiciness, but with half a habanero chile, it was definitely spicy. if you don't like spicy at all, then this isn't for you. if you like less spicy, just reduce the amount of chile. but don't skimp on any of the other ingredients or components, it really just works perfectly together.



grilled pork tenderloin with glaze and mojo: serves 6
adapted from bobby flay on epicurious (click here)

for glaze:
1 cup guava jelly (found in latin markets) or apricot jam (we used the jam)
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup orange juice
salt + pepper

for mojo:
2 tb mild vegetable oil, such as canola
1 small red onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
3 cups orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 habanero chile, seeded and finely chopped
2 tb chopped cilantro leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds (we used about 1/2 tsp ground cumin)
salt + pepper

for pork:
2 pork tenderloins, about 1 1/2 pounds each
2 tb vegetable oil, such as canola

1. make glaze: whisk ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

2. make mojo: heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes (do not brown). add habanero and cook for about 1 minute. add orange juice and lime juice and bring to boil. cook until reduced by half. whisk in cilantro and cumin and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. make pork: prepare hot grill. brush pork with oil and season with salt and pepper. grill, brushing each side often with glaze, until just cooked through (reaching 150F at the thickest portion). be careful not to overcook. remove pork from grill, brush with remaining glaze if desired, and let rest for 10 minutes. cut into slices and drizzle with mojo.

shf: citrus with key lime "cannoli"

sugar high friday was created by jennifer of the domestic goddess. this month is hosted by tartelette and of course she just had to pick citrus ... during my most busiest month of school!! this is the last week to get anything done and i have nothing to show for it yet. time to get the juices flowing, so to speak :)

i bake a lot of chocolate things because that is what is usually requested. but personally i love citrus. i had some mascarpone leftover from these lovely cookies. i searched high and low for a recipe that combined it with some citrus flavor and finally found a recipe from gourmet on epicurious. it was called key lime mascarpone "cannoli" and i should've known better with those rabbit ears. why mess with the great thing that is the cannoli?? but SHF was less than a week away so i plowed ahead.



and folks, let the rabbit ears be a lesson to you all ... don't be fooled!! i'm still including this recipe in the link because the flavor was there and it was definitely yummy. and maybe somebody more industrious and intelligent than i can figure out how to tweak the method to make this work. the shells became too greasy (and sticky when dry) and too delicate. the filling never really firmed up, although i think that was due to my over zealous mixing.



but i can't have these almost there but not quite "cannolis" be my only citrus treat for SHF. i'm hoping to squeeze in one more thing by saturday ...

and un-related, but does anyone know how to get rid of highlights in photoshop (see bad photo below)?? or even better yet, how to adjust my camera/light set-up to avoid this problem?

twd: traditional madeleines ... that drove me mad!

okay, wanna know the real reason i didn't get posted for tuesdays with dorie early like i usually do?

because me and my maddie pan had a fight, and the darn pan won.

i was super excited when tara from smells like home chose madeleines for this week's tuesday with dorie. i love madeleines and made them not too long ago with julia's modified génoise batter. so i was keen to try out a different recipe and see which one i preferred.

dorie's pan from tonight

well, dear dorie you are still not my favorite. not only was i humpless but as you can also see i had a disaster with getting them out of the pan. this is actually what happened last night (monday) and i thought i'd give it another go tonight with even more butter in the pan (tuesday). but the result was the same. wahhhh :(

julia's pan from last month

and so neither dorie (great taste, but stuck in pan) or julia (so-so taste but no sticking problem) won me over. i will confess though, i used the paddle attachment instead of the whip. do you think that was the reason why it stuck? or maybe it's time to let a gentleman into the ring?

ncr: farmer's market salad with spiced goat cheese rounds

even though i am occasionally eating meat again, i feel like my heart and soul will always be vegetarian (shh, don't tell my friends i think i may return to vegetarianism sooner than later). i've wanted to join in the no croutons required event since it first started but kept missing it. and now i'm only one day away from the deadline, but i was determined to come up with something!!



this month, holler from tinned tomatoes is hosting a cheese salad theme for ncr. yumm, almost everything tastes better with cheese! one of my favorite starters at one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants is a simple bistro salad with warm goat cheese. i usually don't follow recipes for salads because they are so easy to compose with almost any ingredient, but i searched around epicurious and found something similar to that favorite, but with a seasoned twist.

i adapted the recipe to what we had on hand and my preference for roasted potatoes. the goat cheese rounds were excellent. i'd love to try this again later in the season with different produce. if you try this salad, i'm sure you won't be disappointed! the recipe reads long, but it is really quite simple and easy to compose. if you want something quicker, you can steam the potatoes instead.



farmer's market salad with spiced goat cheese rounds: serves 2
adapted from bon appétit (august 2007)

for goat cheese rounds:
1 tb sesame seeds
1 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
salt + pepper
4 oz log plain goat cheese, cut into slices

vinaigrette:
1 tb red wine vinegar
1/2 shallot, minced
1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2 1/2 tb olive oil
salt + pepper

salad:
1/2 lb baby new potatoes
1/2 lb green beans
4 oz mixed salad greens
4 roma tomatoes, sliced (because we're out of season, would have preferred grape)
4 radishes, thinly sliced
handful baby carrots
handful olives
olive oil
salt + pepper

1. preheat oven to 375F. quarter the potatoes and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. place on baking sheet and roast until crisp and tender, about 1 hour.

2. meanwhile, make goat cheese rounds. mix all spices in bowl and dip cut sides of goat cheese into spice mixture. chill until ready to serve, but bring back to room temperature.

3. make the vinaigrette. whisk first four ingredients in small bowl, gradually whisk in olive oil. season with salt and pepper.

4. when potatoes are almost done, steam green beans until bright green and rinse under cold water. slice radishes and carrots if necessary. place greens in bowl, add green beans, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, olives, and potatoes. spoon vinaigrette on top and then surround with goat cheese rounds.

a culinary trip to greece

i had never heard of donna hay until i started blogging. a lovely woman from down under, she has legions of fans all over the world. when i was at the bookstore a couple of weeks ago i chanced upon her summer magazine issue. it immediately caught my eye with a gorgeous cover photo, and even more drool worthy photos on the inside. and it wasn't full of every other page of tacky advertisements like some other american magazines that shall remain un-named (but you know what i'm talking about!)

and when i say drool worthy photos, i mean that without an ounce of exaggeration. her clean style, simple presentation, white backgrounds really appeal to me. food is the star here.

even in the stylized pieces, the photos are still so clean but totally appetizing. in this issue she had an article titled "greek odyssey" awash with the most delish looking food and beautiful greek blue backdrops. i knew i had to make something from this.

and what better time than on a unseasonably freezing rainy cold may evening? sure, i could have made a chunky soup or hearty pasta to match the weather. but these tasty greek dishes instantly transported us to dreams of a sunnier, happier place.





spinach and feta pies: makes 6
from donna hay magazine issue 37

1 bunch spinach (550 g), trimmed and chopped
1/2 cup chopped mint leaves
1 tb grated lemon rind
200 g feta cheese, crumbled
3 eggs, lightly beaten
pepper
9 sheet filo pastry
80 g butter, melted

1. preheat oven to 390F. combine spinach, mint, lemon, feta, eggs, and pepper in bowl and mix well. set aside.

2. layer 3 sheets of filo, brushing between each layer with the melted butter. cut into 2 x 20 cm rounds. press pastry into 2 x 11 cm round greased pie tins. fill pastry cases with spinach mixture and fold edges to partially enclose. brush tops with butter.

3. bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden. (we only had 2 cake tins and made 2 free form pies. the smaller, tighter tinned ones cooked and tasted better).






pan-roasted chicken with almond and mint: serves 2 (we used the full amount of almond/mint mixture and had a little leftover)
adapted from donna hay issue 37

1 lb chicken breast
salt + pepper and other seasonings (for chicken)
1/4 cup blanched sliced almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped mint leaves
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice plus an extra squeeze or two
1/2 cup olive oil

1. preheat oven to 400F. season chicken breasts. heat olive in oil in oven proof skillet on high, place smooth side down. once sizzling, turn down heat to medium. slow cook until meat can pull away from pan. the key to pan roasting is don't keep touching the meat, otherwise it will stick. patience is key. you need to just let it sizzle away until it's ready to be turned.

2. flip each chicken breast and put pan in oven to cook to internal 160F, making sure to flip again half way through.

3. meanwhile, place almonds, mint, garlic, sugar, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper in bowl and stir well to combine. spoon mixture over the chicken. it will seem oily, but the flavor is wonderful, and the oil is left behind.

sorry for the bad highlights in this photo, i just received my new flash and i'm still learning how to use it!

brownie cookies with ice cream

who can resist a blog post with a title like that??!



but really, i can't take the credit. even though i have never met deb of smitten kitchen, she has single handedly absolutely positively brought back one of my best childhood memories. no kidding.


and i can't even remember the details! but i do remember loving carvel's flying saucers. actually, weren't their commercials so cute with fudgie the whale and cookie puss? and that green shamrock guy? they'd float around and mr. carvel would narrate with that funny voice. ahhh ... but i digress.

those flying saucers. they came in packs of 6 in that long plastic box. i remember looking into the cooler, past all the fancy new things with nuts or sprinkles. all i wanted was the plain jane flying saucer.



and now i think i have them. these brownie roll-out cookies are certainly good enough on their own. but try it with some ice cream. i promise you'll be swooning.

i halved the recipe, but accidentally mis-calculated the amount of cocoa powder and ended up putting in nearly the full amount. i used dutch process so i wasn't too worried, and all was well, they just came out dark and chocolatey. not too bad a result for a so-called "mistake" :)





brownie roll-out cookies
from smitten kitchen (click here)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 stick salted, 1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup dutch process cocoa

1. preheat oven to 350F. whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in bowl and set aside. mix butter, sugar eggs, vanilla, and cocoa in mixer. gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth. wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.

2. on floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/4" thick. cut into desired shapes. bake on parchment lined sheet for 8-11 minutes, until edges are firm and centers are slightly soft and puffed.

3. transfer to wire rack to cool. scoop a little vanilla ice cream on a cookie, and top with another cookie. swoon away to flying saucer heaven!

martha mondays: round-up and next event

this round-up for martha mondays is all savory (well, except for me, of course!) the challenge this time was to choose a recipe from one of her magazines - living or everyday food.

i was happy to welcome becke from columbus foodie who created a very delish thai chicken and noodle salad. kathy from just the right size also joined us with a hearty farro and porcino risotto. thanks to both for trying out these great recipes!


and while of course i'd love for others to participate, as long as one other person joins me, i'm still happy to continue planning for martha mondays :)

so for the next event we're going all savory. it's funny, you'd think i bake so much because i love sweets. but that is so far from the truth. i'm a salty girl through and through! i'd absolutely positively rather have a side of french fries over a plate of dessert any day!

martha's website has a nice "best quick and easy recipes" feature online. let's see how best, quick, and easy they really are! there are chicken, pasta, and other meat options so plenty to choose from depending on your mood.

to see the recipes, click here.

the no-rules rules of martha mondays (i just added more, haha! - AND the rules just changed!!):

1. choose a recipe from the link above. there are 20 different ideas so surely you'll find one you like! if you really absolutely hate all those options, then you can still join us with some other martha recipe, but it better be a good one!

2. you don't have to tell me in advance, so don't worry if someone might do the same dish you're going to do. that's also part of the fun! you are more than welcome to tweak a recipe, or change the presentation. as long as basically the recipe remains in the same spirit and method. part of this event is to find out how good (or not!) martha's recipes really are!

3. the rule change: post your martha recipe anytime between now and saturday may 31 at midnight my time (new york) and include a link back to me in your post. i will do the round-up on that monday, june 2.

2. email me at marthamondays-at-gmail-dot-com with a link to your post. also include a photo if you have one.

twd: florida lime pie

for this week's tuesdays with dorie, dianne of dianne's dishes choose the lovely dorie variation on the classic key lime pie. after all the more rich peanut butter tortes out there last week, i was really looking forward to everyone's light, refreshing lime pies.



the variation here is the coconut cream layer on the bottom, plus the coconut meringue. i like coconut, but i'm not a fan, i really wouldn't go out of my way for it. so i chose to only do the cream layer. and because i'm even less of a fan of meringue, i also chose to do a simple whipped cream for garnish (although i have to admit i walked away while the lovely KA was whipping, and i came back to almost butter, woops!) i also added a little bit of zest to the filling because i am a firm believer that limey things should be puckery tart!





even though graham cracker crusts are easy enough to make, dorie says that she usually just buys a store crust. well, if it's good enough for dorie, it's darn good enough for moi! especially when i find myself at 22:30 on monday night just starting to make this thing! to make myself feel a little better, i opted for an organic crust. it was 9" but maybe a little shallow because with the cream layer and lime filling, it went right up to the top.

coconut cream layer


i wasn't terribly fond of the coconut cream layer, but mr. mimi liked this pie lot. then again, you'd be hard put to find a sweet treat that mr. mimi doesn't like! just kiddin' hunny!! but i prefer the full tartness of a classic key lime pie. if i were to make this one over again, i probably would at least toast the coconut first.

i really wanted to make candied lime slices and rim around the crust, but again, the 22:30 on a monday night kind of made that a no-go. i hope someone else did, because i'd love to see how it looks! to catch up with all the other TWD bakers, check out here.



florida lime pie: serves 8
adapted from dorie's baking (2006, p. 340)

1 9" graham cracker crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs yolks
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1 tb of fresh lime zest

1. preheat oven to 350F. put pie plate on baking sheet lined with parchment.

2. on medium low, heat the cream and coconut in small saucepan. bring to boil, stir almost constantly. continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and mixture is slightly thickened. set aside.

3. with mixer and paddle attachment, beat egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale. reduce to low and beat in condensed milk. add half of the lime juice and mix. add the remaining juice and zest and mix until well incorporated.

4. spread coconut cream layer in bottom of pie pan. pour lime filling on top.

5. bake pie for 14-16 minutes (should look set but still a little quivery; this time is longer because i didn't use the meringue). transfer to cooling rack, let cool completely, and then refrigerate until cold or next day. serve with dollop of fresh cream!

mm: tiramisu cookies

this time for martha mondays we had the choice of anything from her current newsstand issues of living or everyday food (or really anything, including her books, i'm pretty easy!!) this way some of you savory gals and guys could join up with us too.

but for me, i stayed sweet. and inexplicably even though i hate coffee i chose these cookies. without a doubt the best tiramisu is to be found at noodle pudding. then again, i love it because it doesn't have an overly disgusting coffee flavor, so maybe you tiramisu diehards wouldn't like it as much? but trust me, it's so creamy, and fluffy, and chocolatey, and a hint of coffee. just thinking about it makes me swoon.



these were fun to make, a bit messy because, well ... because i'm still quite a messy baker. especially when anything needs to come out of a piping bag. it's like, ohh, you mean for that to come out of the bottom of the bag and not the top? oops!! despite the stern warnings from the professional (mr. mimi) i overfill my piping bags like i overfill my burritos. it's really not a pretty sight!

and somewhere along the way i also seemed to have made a baking sheet of perfect cookie bottoms that were firm and solid, and came off the parchment easily. and also a sheet of not so great cookie bottoms that were soft and half the cookie stuck to the parchment. so they prolly just needed more bake time, but it made for an interesting night of peeling them off.



and of course, i also forgot to dust the cookies with cocoa before baking. i know, i'm horrible at mis en place!! i'm sure that i would absolutely get yelled at if i ever took a professional class ... fancy teacher chef: mimi, where is your cocoa? mimi: umm, oops, i forgot. fancy teacher: you call yourself a baker, you're a disgrace! and then i'd end up crying, because i'm like that. but thankfully no one yelled at me and i made up for it with a little dusting on the mascarpone filling.



and just like i thought ... i hated them! but mr. mimi, the coffee lover, found them quite delectable!

** if you joined up for martha mondays, please send me an email: mimikatzchen at -- gmail dot com and i will post the round-up tomorrow! **



tiramisu cookies: makes 30
from martha's living magazine (may 2008)

5 large eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
3 tb instant espresso
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 tsp salt
dutch process cocoa powder, for dusting
3/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 tb almond-flavored liqueur
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 oz semisweet chocolate, melted

1. preheat oven to 350F. line two baking sheets with parchment paper (you may want to rule them with lines 2 inches high).

2. using mixer with whisk attachment, beat yolks and 1/2 cup sugar until pale and stiff, about 3 minutes. add espresso powder, and beat 2 minutes. add flour and beat until just combined.

3. clean bowl and whisk; beat whites and salt until foamy. with mixer running, add remaining 1/2 cup sugar in slow steady stream until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. fold whites into yolk mixture in 3 additions until well combined.

4. using pastry bag with 1/2" plain tip, pipe batter onto baking sheets 2 inches long, and 1 inch wide. dust with cocoa.

5. bake, rotating halfway through, until firm 12-14 minutes. let cool completely on the parchment paper on wire racks.

6. stir together mascarpone, confectioners' sugar, liqueur, vanilla until well combined. refrigerate for 15 minutes (up to 3 days).

7. when ready to serve, brush cookie's flat sides with melted chocolate. refrigerate to firm chocolate, about 10 minutes.

8. spread a generous 1/2 tsp mascarpone filling over one half bottom of cookie and sandwich with the other half. serve immediately!

tonka bean white chocolate and apricot cakes

this post is long overdue in coming. way back when this blog was still just a nice distractionn (before the obsession that it has now become. are you, too, obsessed with blogging? please tell me i'm not alone!!) i innocently asked some questions of the lovely helen from tartelette about her beautiful pineapple almond cheesecake. then out of the friendliness that is bloggo-land, she sent me some of my very own tonka beans! yes, she really is that lovely.

and that was two months ago!!! ack! every time i thought of using them, for one reason or another i didn't. they were sitting in the vacuum sealed box in the fridge, right next to the boxes of butter, just waiting to be picked up and tried out. but instead i just guiltily baked one thing after another without them.



well today is as good a day as any. and what better way to start my tonka bean adventure, then with tartelette's very own tonka bean white chocolate and apricot cakes. i admit, i was hesitant. white chocolate?? meh, too sweet. i considered myself lucky that i didn't have quite the full cup listed in the original recipe.

but oh my! this little cake surpassed all my expectations! first, the grated tonka bean was such a dreamy scent. and its flavor was that perfect mix of almond and vanilla. the cake was super moist. the white chocolate sweetened it, but not too much as i had feared. i used my easy cheat foil cups instead of the regular tin, so the cake sides didn't brown, but it kind of made this neat crunchy ridge on the top. but oops, i forgot to dust my apricots with a little flour and they sank. this seems to be my bad habit. uhh, let's think positively here ... maybe it's just my signature look. watch out martha, i've got a new trend!



thank you tartelette!! i'm already plotting my next tonka bean adventure! :)

tonka bean white chocolate and apricot cakes: makes 8 large muffin cakes
from tartelette (click here)

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
1 cup white chocolate, melted
1/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
2 tonka beans
15 dried apricots, cut in small dices

1. preheat oven to 350F. whisk together sugar and eggs until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. add butter and chocolate. whisk well and add the flour.

2. finely grate the tonka bean and add to batter. add dried apricots and mix until incorporated.

3. divide evenly between muffin tins coated with cooking spray and cook for 15 minutes.

* yes, i know tonka beans have coumarin, a compound used in medical blood thinners. but everything in moderation folks!

back to winter?

it was so cold tonight. what happened to spring? waiting for the bus in the windy rain, all i wanted to do when i came home was veg out and order in.

but two things happened. first, i had bundles of energy because i was supposed to play tennis tonight (and once i have something on my brain, it's there to stay). and second, i feel really badly having a delivery guy pedal around my italian, chinese, indian whatever when the weather is this bad. sure, i'll give him a super duper tip in addition to my usual generosity. but i still feel like cripey, if i can't be bothered to go out in the cold rain why should i make some poor mexican fella do it for me?



so we pulled together this easy, totally unseasonal meal to warm us up. it was ... meh. i still prefer my risotto vegetarian, with a bounty of vegetables or an earthy mushroom mix. but if you like prosciutto, then this might be the one for you. maybe served with some seared scallops? ymm, now that would've been tasty!



risotto with peas and prosciutto: serves 4 as main

1 cup arborio rice
1 qt vegetable broth
1 onion, finely diced
1 shallot, sliced
olive oil and 2 tb butter
1 bag frozen peas
4 oz prosciutto
a hunk of parmesan, grated

1. heat up vegetable broth to simmer. meanwhile, heat up oil and 1 tb butter in a rounded bottom pot, sautée onions and shallots until caramelized.

2. add rice and get toasty for about a minute or two. add a ladle of the heated broth, and then gently stir with wooden spoon until liquid is absorbed. reduce heat to simmer. don't stir too much, or constantly, otherwise your rice will become gummy. just a few nice stirs to keep it moist is good.continue ladling and stirring until rice becomes al dente and creamy.

3. add 1 tb butter, prosciutto, peas, parmesan. give a good stir to combine. bring back up to heat (if you use frozen peas), then cover and turn off heat. let sit for 10 minutes.



to contrast with the creaminess of the risotto, we served a side romaine salad, with sliced red onions and a stawberry red wine vinaigrette. slice strawberries, sprinkle a little safflower oil (or other unflavored oil), a little red wine vinegar, a pinch of salt and pepper. toss to combine and then let sit for 10 minutes before adding to salad. super simple, but totally refreshing and light.

sometimes you feel like a nut

... okay, i won't go there. but you know the jingle. and back in the day, i used to love almond joy. so when i was searching around in bloggo-land for something to use up my remaining almond paste, i came across a post titled "almond joy" and i just knew i had to make it. this recipe comes from gourmet, via mary at alpineberry.



these almond bar cookies seemed easy enough. but i think somehow it didn't come out quite right. sure, the photos look good here, but they look nothing like mary's version, nor the photos from gourmet. mine didn't look, nor taste, cookie-like. it sank and was rather dense and greasy. like a bar of nothing but almond paste and butter. which, yes, those are the main ingredients. but somehow i think i must have done something slightly wrong. the crust edge was nice, and if the whole thing came out like that, it probably would've been all very good.



on epicurious some people suggested reducing the amount of butter. not sure if that really would've done the trick. maybe i over-mixed the batter? i used parchment instead of foil, but i also don't think that's the problem. if any one has made these before and has suggestions, please post a comment!





despite it coming out too dense, the flavor was very delish. definitely worth a try yourself! for mary's post with the recipe, click here. for the original gourmet post on epicurious, with some comments about reducing the butter, click here.

twd: orange-berry muffins

do not adjust your screen! i know you were expecting a luscious peanut butter torte. but make no mistake, this is still tuesdays with dorie!

and even though the lovely elizabeth of ugg smell food chose what i'm sure was an amazing torte, i decided to make a pass on it. i'm not especially fond of the rich and heavy desserts (peanut butter, cream cheese, chocolate, and oreo crumb sound a little heavy to me) and plus, with the final week of exams and papers due i felt like i didn't have enough time to do it the justice it deserved.

but school be darned, i still wanted to play around! so i decided to go with the easiest looking completed twd recipe on this list.





because blueberries are not yet in season, i went with the early spring strawberries. they did break down a wee bit and made it a little more watery. but i did add just a handful of chocolate chips, so that made it all better!



the orange was very nice and i would've preferred even more citrus flavor. i do love how dorie makes you moisten the sugar with the zest. i've never read that technique before, in fact i used to *skip* (gasp!) the "add zest" part of any recipe because i thought it was gross. i know, how juvenile! and now? well, now i am a bonafide zest convert and i love how the scent of a little zested sugar makes my whole day feel happy again!

but back to your regular programming ... to catch more peanut butter tortes than you could possibly have imagined your tongue getting stuck to the top of your mouth with, check out the rest of the wonderful twd bakers!

update: i'm submitting the top photo for this month's snackshot #3 the the "muffin" theme, hosted by michelle at the greedy gourmet. the deadline is today; how perfect! for more info, please click on photo badge below.

the best and only artichoke dip recipe you'll ever need!

phew! that title is a windful! it is true, this is simple artichoke dip with none of that extra stuff like spinach or whatnots. but what it has in plainness and unphotogenicness, it makes up with the delish factor.

i first made this for last year's holiday party and it was a perfect start of the evening. then this weekend a friend hosted a party and made a special request, so of course i obliged and it was just as yummy as we all remembered. it is a bit messy to make, but you can always assemble ahead of time the day before, and then bake off right before you need it.





recipe can be found here. i don't usually do the leaves on top. i would also suggest that you not warm up the milk ahead of time. when thickening a sauce, typically the two items need to be of different temperatures (hot to cold or cold to hot). it's not a big deal if you warm it, but you may find it easier to whisk smoothly if you don't. maybe room temperature milk is a happy compromise?

but rest assured, warm milk or not, this will be the hit of your next party! :)

i give up

blogger sucks. thank goodness tomorrow is friday!!

okay, i take it back. sure it took double, triple, quadruple the amount of duplicative copying and pasting but i seemed to have made my post work. the blogger higher powers that be must have felt pity on my temper tantrum! hehe ...

arugula with smoked trout and new potatoes

my shopping cart is majority organic products. but it's a range of dedication and decision. all dairy, eggs, meat, body products, and cleaning products = always organic. salad greens, leafy greens, broccoli, bananas, and berries = most likely always organic. mushrooms, oranges, and onions = probably not organic.

but what i love even more than buying organic, is going to the farmer's market. even though i know many of the vendors use traditional fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, i'd like to think that a smaller production farm needs to use less. i'm happy to spend more and financially support these smaller farms. and really, this freshly harvested stuff just tastes better, hands-down.

farmer's market potatoes

this weekend we found ourselves in union square and decided to check out the market, picking up things here and there, especially focusing on items that are typically not available at our neighborhood farmer's market. i saw a vendor with lovely greens, gorgeous and fresh. i scooped up a little bit of arugula and some radish sprouts.


and then i checked out ... and the bill was nearly $20. for a handful of arugula and a fistful of sprouts, enough for two people. yes, i know it was going to be more expensive, and i support that expense, on principle. but wow, almost twenty bucks. and i couldn't even feign ignorance (like i did last summer in geneva when everything was priced in ounces and my bulk nuts came to like 50 francs. a quick flustered je suis désolée and i meekly only bought half of them).

which brings me to an interesting article i read two weeks ago in the times about the price of organic foods. we all know that almost all foods - organic, local, or otherwise - are going up in price right now and we're all making different changes.

but when organic or local becomes much more expensive (five bucks for a dozen eggs, seven bucks for milk, twenty bucks for salad greens for two, etc) then what happens? how can i say it's better? how can i convince others that it's worth it, especially when they might not have the extra money to begin with? what are the trade-offs? frick, how can i convince myself that it's worth it on my non-profit salary budget? sometimes i can't. i always bought fair-trade organic sugar but now i get the boxes of regular stuff for my baking.


but i know what you really want to know is, well how was the arugula and radish sprouts? was the bunch worth the jackson? check it out for yourself ...

arugula with smoked trout and new potatoes: serves 4
adapted from martha's everyday food magazine (may 2008, p. 96)

1 lb new potatoes, quartered
1 lb smoked trout, broken into smaller pieces
3 tb white wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup snipped chives
10 oz arugula
handful of radish sprouts (or any other crunchy sprouts)
olive oil
salt + pepper

1. preheat oven to 450F. toss potatoes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. place on baking sheet and roast until tender, about 25 minutes (longer if larger pieces).

2. while potatoes are cooking, whisk together vinegar, mustard, chives, 2 tb olive oil. season with salt and pepper.


3. toss arugula, potatoes, smoked trout pieces, and a little bit of vinaigrette. bon appétit!

as you see, i still need to work on my lighting set-up. these lovely shots look like a last quarter of the moon :)




and sorry that some of you may have three copies of this post in your feeder reader! that's the way blogger sucks, huh?