Hello Sunshine...

Wandering through the Farmers Market, touching, smelling and delighting over all of nature's spring offerings is but a distant memory.
We have no less than another 6 - 8 weeks before the good stuff starts to arrive.

I had (foolishly) thought that perhaps we would make it through this "winter" without anymore blustery days...  Ridiculous I know, but a girl can dream.

This is the time of year when I start yearning for the heat of summer.  I want sand between my toes, the sounds of the waves crashing and the cry of the seagulls to fill my ears.

Although this winter doesn't even begin to compare to the apocalyptic snowfalls we endured last year and all things considered I really have no right to complain; it is cold and gloomy, windy and gray.

Try as I might to summon the sunshine, a bit of citrus will have to do and for this girl it comes in the form of a tart.

Sunshine Tart

First we will start with the dough. 

• 1/2 lb unsalted butter
• 1/4 lb sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 lb all-purpose flour
• 1/4 lb cake flour

1. In an electric mixer: cream butter and sugar together until very light.
2. Add eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until fully incorporated
3. Sift the flours together and using paddle attachment, stir in flour until completely incorporated.
4. Remove dough from bowl and shape into a disk.  Wrap in plastic and chill for several hours.
5. Roll dough to about 1/8 inch thickness.
6. Line a ring mold with dough, pressing against the sides.  Dock the bottom with a fork, cover with a piece of parchment paper and fill with dried beans.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 - 25 minutes.
8. Cool and set aside.

using an off-set spatula to smooth the top of the tart

For the curd:

• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 lemons, finely zested
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 lb unsalted butter, room temperature
• pinch kosher salt

1. Cream the butter and add in the sugar and lemon zest.
2. Add the eggs and yolks, 1 at a time, then add lemon juice and salt.  Mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Pour into a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until thickened (about 12 minutes), stirring constantly.
4. Do not let curd come to a boil (the eggs will scramble), lower heat if necessary to keep it at or just below a simmer. 
5. When mixture has thickened, remove from heat and let it cool.
6. Fill tart shells when completely cooled.
7. Garnish with whipped cream or meringue

meringue ready to be torched

Sunshine Tart with a tan...

And the award goes to...

Picture it...  Ohio, early 1980's.  A girl and her Momma, glued to the television watching movie stars walk the red carpet.  We used to watch the Oscars as if it were a runway show during fashion week.  I feigned interest in the actual awards part of the show, but to be perfectly honest I didn't really care who won "Best Picture".  My Mom was letting me stay up past my bedtime and that was award enough for me.

I have friends who host elaborate Oscar parties and I must admit the thought of it has crossed my mind on more than a few occasions, but considering the size of my shoebox apartment it doesn't seem to be an option this year.

However, just because I won't be hosting a gathering doesn't mean I can't make some good party food...

I tried to keep it fairly simple, with options that could be served warm or at room temperature.  These can also be transported fairly easily if you are a guest bringing a little something to the festivities.


Mini twice baked potatoes with creme fraiche & caviar

• 12 baby Yukon potatoes
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
• caviar
• 2 or 3 pieces chives
• a few tablespoons of milk
• 1 tbsp. butter
• salt & pepper
• olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut potatoes in half (or if very small, just trim the top off) and then cut a small piece off the bottom so the potato will sit level on a plate.
3. Using a small melon baller or a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon,  scoop out the potato.
4. Toss the cut potatoes in a few tablespoons of olive oil, salt & pepper and roast for about 20 - 25 minutes until a knife can easily pierce them.
5. While the potatoes are roasting, use the scooped out bits of potato to make mashed potato with a few tablespoons of milk and the butter.  Season with salt & pepper.
6. When roasted potatoes are done and cooled, fill with mashed potato, top with creme fraiche, a piece of chive and caviar.

  

Mini Quiche

• 24 mini shells, blind baked
• 1/2 cup quiche filling (bacon, onion, spinach, mushrooms, etc.)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. salt 
• pinch freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Make quiche custard by whisking together milk, cream, eggs, salt & pepper
3. Fill quiche shells with cheese and vegetables or bacon (whatever you've chosen to use)
4. Pour custard into shells and bake for approximately 12 - 15 minutes.

*You will have custard left over.  As quiche is baking, the filling will settle and you may have to top off the quiche with a little more custard about halfway through.

Quiche Suggestions:

1. Lorraine: caramelized onion, bacon & swiss
2. spinach & goat cheese
3. mushrooms & manchego
4. smoked salmon, cream cheese & chives
5. red pepper & goat cheese
6. caramelized onions & gruyere
7. broccoli & cheddar
8. asparagus & truffled pecorino

L is for Libation

With Valentine's Day upon us,  I wanted to do a special drink for those of us who will not be amongst the throngs of people in crowded restaurants with overpriced dinners and less than stellar prix fixe menus.

I had been given a jar of  hibiscus flowers in syrup as a sample at a food show and I've been dying to try them out in something,  but I needed to exercise restraint and wait for just the right thing...  Well friends, today is the day!

So bring home a bottle of bubbly, some flowers and kick back with the one you love... sipping champagne with a lovely flower dancing in the bottom of your glass.


LOVE-ly Libation

• 4 hibiscus flowers in syrup
• 1 shot hibiscus syrup
• 1 shot Chambord (raspberry liqueur)
• rose champagne

1. Drop 2 flowers in the bottom of each champagne flute.  Evenly divide Chambord and syrup between the two glasses.

2.  Top with champagne.

Happy Valentine's Day

Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup.  Just the name evokes thoughts of over-the-top Italian affairs, with miles of food and a Venetian hour that would make any diabetic go into a sugar coma just from looking at it.

Italian weddings in New York are a sight to be seen.  If you've ever watched "My Sweet Sixteen" or any of the wedding shows, then you are familiar with what I'm talking about.

Everything is over the top, extravagant and then maybe just a little more...   I was invited to an event of this magnitude last year and let me tell you, it was AWESOME.  They even had someone making cotton candy...

Although these affairs are a sight to behold,  I doubt that was what someone had in mind when this recipe was born.
Its origins actually have nothing to do with weddings at all, but with the "marriage" of meat and greens.  There are hundreds of variations of this soup, but the one common thread is meat (usually in the form of tiny meatballs) and greens.

This happens to be one of my favorites, as it covers most of MY major food groups (meatballs, noodles & veggies) and as is the case with all meals of this sort, you will have leftovers for lunch the next day.


Wedding Soup

• turkey meatballs
• 10 - 12 cups chicken stock
• 1 large onion, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 5 oz pkg. baby spinach
• 3 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
• 1/2 pound thin noodles
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

1. First, make the meatballs.  Brown them in batches over medium-high heat and set aside.  Don't worry if they aren't cooked all the way through,  they will finish cooking in the soup.
2. Add olive oil to a large stock pot and allow to heat up over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until translucent and soft, then add carrots & celery.  Season with salt & pepper.
3. Cook for a few minutes until vegetables begin to soften.  Add garlic, stir to combine and then add meatballs.
4. Pour the stock in and let it come up to a simmer.  Season again with salt & pepper.
5. Add the spinach and stir to combine as you are adding it.  It will look like too much initially, but spinach wilts down to nothing.
6. Add the noodles and continue to let it simmer.
7. Whisk eggs with 2 tbsp of the Parmesan cheese and add to the soup while stirring.  It will form ribbons of cheesy egg goodness.
8. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle a little Parmesan on top for garnish.

Mangia!

For the Love of Pork...

It may not be 100% authentic Alsatian, but how can you go wrong with three kinds of pork, sauerkraut, apples and a bottle of beer poured over the whole mess?!

Traditionally, Choucroute Garni is made with white wine.  However, being the good Midwestern girl that I am, beer seemed the natural way to go.  These flavors are more familiar to me...  cooking with beer is not exactly a foreign concept.  The smell of bratwurst & onions simmering in beer is something that greeted me as I came in the kitchen door of my parents house after school on many afternoons.

This is the kind of meal that you gear up for, like Thanksgiving dinner.  I'm in no way suggesting that you make this every week.  Like Thanksgiving,  this is reserved for once in a while when you need a good stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal.

The sharpness of the sauerkraut cuts the fattiness of the pork and it is complemented beautifully by the sweetness of the apples. This is French comfort food at its best.


Choucroute

• 3 lb pork roast
• 2 - 3 lbs assorted sausages (bratwurst, knock wurst, kielbasa...  whatever you like)
• 1 bottle beer (an Amber beer is perfect)
• 5 strips of bacon
• 3 medium apples, cored & quartered  (I like honeycrisp or gala)
• 2 lb. sauerkraut, drained
• 3 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 large onions, peeled & quartered
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 black peppercorns
• 6 juniper berries
• mustards for sausages (grainy, hot, sweet, dijon...)

photo: Food & Wine magazine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a small piece of cheesecloth, tie the juniper berries, peppercorns & bay leaves into a sachet.  If you don't have cheesecloth, add them to the pot and remove before serving.
3. Line the bottom of a Dutch oven (or large, enameled cast iron pot) with the onions and half of the sauerkraut.
4. Place the pork roast on top of the onions and place the carrots, potatoes, apples and sausages around the sides.
5. Place the spice sachet in the pot.
6. Layer the remaining sauerkraut on top of everything, lay the strips of bacon over the sauerkraut and pour the beer over everything.
7. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and bake for 3 hours. 
8. Serve with assorted mustards and a good beer.

Doing My Part to Prevent Scurvy...

Every now and then I buy random things and hope I can make something good with the various items that have found their way into my cart.   Once in a while I'll stumble upon something magnificent, on (thankfully rare) occasions it's been a disaster, in which case the pizzeria is on speed dial and more often than not it's pretty good, although I'm in no way getting sassy about it...
One of the ingredients that found their way home with me were finger limes.

They are rather interesting... inside the lime are little pearls that resemble caviar.   It's a great garnish for fish, drinks, hors d'oeuvres or even desserts.

A beautiful piece of wild grouper had also found its way home with me in my ever-present quest for eating healthier, so this was my jumping off point.  A couple of years ago, on a trip to Punta Cana in the  Dominican Republic I had grouper grilled on the beach and that is where my love for this fish was born. 

Grouper is a mild whitefish, similar in flavor to snapper or orange roughy.  For those who don't care for "fishy" tasting fish, this is a great option. 

Soy-Glazed Grouper with Crispy Skin

• 2-  6oz pieces grouper
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy)
• 1 tbsp sriracha (or other hot sauce)
• juice and zest of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 finger lime
• sauteed spinach

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Make the marinade: combine soy sauce, kecap, sriracha, lime zest & juice in a bowl.
3. Place the fish in the marinade for 10 minutes, remove and pat dry. Season with salt & pepper.
4. Heat an oven safe saute pan over med-high heat.   Add canola oil.
5. When oil is hot, place grouper in pan skin side down.  Cook undisturbed for 2 - 3 minutes.
6. Turn fish over and slide into the oven for 5 - 6 minutes.  Remove from oven and let fish rest for a few minutes before serving.
7. Serve over sauteed spinach and garnish with finger lime.

Mason Jar Dressings

A very good childhood friend of mine sent me some salted caramels over the holidays and I have been rationing them out on a daily basis.   Needless to say, when I see commercials for all of the various weight-loss companies it makes me cringe a bit knowing I'm a few bites away from needing an intervention.
Therefore, I've taken it upon myself to get back into the swing of things.  Like everyone else, I get a bit out of control during the holidays and then, when all of the over-eating makes me feel like Jabba the Hutt, the pendulum swings back the other way and I get myself back in line.

As you well know from previous posts, I have no shortage of mason jars in various shapes & sizes cluttering my cabinets and there is a reason for this,  besides canning.   They are useful for many different things,  quick salad dressing being one of them.

It honestly couldn't be easier...  pour everything in & shake it up.   The best part of making your own salad dressing aside from it being much less expensive, is that you know exactly what's in it.   There are no dyes, no high-fructose corn syrup, no ingredients that require a Ph.D. in Chemistry to pronounce.

The basic ratio for a vinaigrette is 3:1 or 4:1 (oil:vinegar) depending on how acidic you like it.  I love vinegar so I tend to go a bit on the acidic side with my dressings, which consequently means less oil and that is usually a good thing.


Orange Ginger Dressing

• a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled & grated
• zest & juice of 3 oranges
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Add all ingredients to a jam jar & shake.
I use grapeseed oil because of its neutral flavor.   The orange and ginger should be the stars here, not the oil.   Olive oil, although it is delicious isn't what I want to taste in this particular dressing. 

 Lemon-Fennel Vinaigrette

• juice of 3 Meyer lemons
• 3 tbsp finely chopped fennel fronds
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup olive oil
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

I purchased fennel for the "roasted roots" and I only roast the bulb, so I had the frilly tops just sitting on my counter and didn't want them to go to waste.
I decided to use them in place of other herbs for a salad dressing.  This is generally my mind set about throwing things in the garbage... in a professional kitchen, very little goes to waste.
The first time I made this dressing I put it in the blender.  It came out a shocking flourescent yellow-green color, so if you chose to do this...  don't be disturbed. 
I often still put it in the blender, but if you are running short on time or energy the jam jar works just fine.