Chocolate Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting July 16, 2008

I heard through the grapevine a friend was wishing for loads of peanut butter and chocolate for her birthday. This addiction could be stemmed from the fact that I made chocolate peanut butter cupcakes for Boy’s birthday a few years ago that friends went loony over. I was in the middle of moving but made a little time for some cake baking. The reason that I decided to do a chocolate banana cake is because my friend is commonly known as Hana Banana. So perfectly appropriate!

I baked two pans of Joy of Baking’s chocolate banana cake so that I could stack them for a double layer cake. I stuffed the middle with a banana filling made with chopped and mashed bananas, buttermilk, and a spoonful of peanut butter frosting. The frosting was made with an excellent recipe I found online which calls for equal parts of butter and creamy peanut butter.

The cake turned out delicous! Chocolate and peanut butter is a sweet combination I love. One thing I didn’t take into consideration was how many bananas would actually make up the cake after I double stacked it and stuffed it — seven to be exact. Let’s just say the cake weighed a ton. But with a cute fondant banana cluster on top and lots and lots of chocolate and peanut butter a birthday wish was fulfilled.

Summer Dinner Nights July 15, 2008

Tonight was the third night in my new apartment and also the night of the second dinner I’ve hosted. This time it was for a close college friend of mine whose birthday (way past) I wanted to celebrate (way late) with a nice dinner. Although it’s only been three days since I fully moved in I feel home here. And I’m starting to like the emerging pattern of these summer dinner nights.

Since I had already decided that I would be doing two dinners back to back in a new environment, one with only a teeny bit of counter space, I went about it smartly by incorporating a lot of the same ingredients.

I started us off with a heirloom tomato caprese salad using Mandara buffalo mozzarella which is sooo delicious. Creamy, tender, milky. I dressed the salad with a basil meyer lemon olive oil dressing. I pounded basil into a paste in my mortar and pestle and then whisked into it lemon juice and the meyer lemon olive oil. A well made caprese is one of my favorite simple pleasures. The Italians know what they’re doing.

For the main course I made grilled rib eye steak with muhammara, duck fat fries and arugula. I made a fresh batch of fries of course with rosemary salt. The muhammara which only gets better with time and paired deliciously with the steak and peppery arugula. We drank Ruffino Chianti Il Ducale with this. I forgot to take a picture of the main course but it has a high resemblance to the duck confit plate, with the fries, arugula and muhammara providing the main colors in the dish. Except this time it was was a juicy rib eye.

Once again the warm nectarine crumble & honeyed ice yogurt showed its summer head again. When I made my first batch yesterday I saved half of the topping for today. Dessert was ready in a few minutes. All I had to do was chop up nectarines, top it with the premade crumble mixture and dot it with few tablespoons of butter. The honeyed ice yogurt was all ready to go in the freezer. Bites of warm nectarine crumble and cool tangy sweet frozen yogurt sure does make summer feel good.

A Dinner… Heirloom Tomato, Duck, Nectarine July 14, 2008

I decided to cook two of my close friends a nice birthday dinner this year instead of buying them a gift. This would be perfect timing since I had just fully moved into my very own apartment yesterday. Today was the dinner. Talk about breaking in the apartment right? I told each friend of the plan and told them they could bring one guest to celebrate with them. I cooked, they ate, we drank. I feel totally settled into my apartment now.

Heirloom Tomato Salad, Nicoise Olives, Feta Mousse, Meyer Lemon Olive Oil

I started them off with a simple seasonal salad adapted from Gavin Kaysen’s Greek Salad with Feta Mousse recipe. I dressed my version with meyer lemon olive oil, lemon juice and a touch of sherry vinegar. I sprinkled fresh marjoram on top which I’ve been getting addicted to lately. The aroma is so lovely. The creamy milder feta mousse was a nice departure from the crumbled sorta deal one usually eats in a Greek salad. Sippin’: Gainey Vineyard 2006 Riesling. (thnx tash!)

Grilled Duck Confit, Muhammara, Duck Fat Fries with Rosemary Fleur de Sel, Arugula

Next up was duck confit. I know you’re probably thinking again?! I love duck confit. Also it’s pretty fuss free and you can prep a whole batch ahead of time and easily crisp up the skin right before serving. I grilled them this time for a change instead of throwing them in a blistering oven. I paired the duck confit with muhammara which is a Middle Eastern dip usually served with pita as an appetizer. It’s made with roasted bell peppers, walnuts and pomegranate molasses. Now I can’t waste all the that duck fat that was left over. Duck fat fries were in order. These were made with yukon gold potatoes and seasoned with mortar & pestled rosemary fleur de sel. These were addicting. A small bundle of arugula was lightly dressed and tucked between the duck and the fries. Sippin’: Newman’s Own 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Nectarine Crumble, Honeyed Ice Yogurt

I kept the dessert super simple but super delicious. Plump juicy nectarines from the farmer’s market were baked with a delicious brown sugar, oat and almond crumble mixture and served with homemade ice yogurt sweetened with acacia honey. Sippin: Lindemann’s Peche Lambic.

I think my friends enjoyed the dinner. Thanks to Boy for helping too.

Kolachy June 7, 2008

A few weeks ago when a friend was talking about kolachies I had no idea what they were. I got on the net of course and thought “oh those!”. Although I didn’t know the name of those tasty treats I definitely remember eating these many times. The more research I did the more I learned about the various kolachy, kolach, kolacky and kolache recipes out in the world. It was confusing at first since the spellings were only slightly different from each other but basically it came down to Czech yeast-based breads or Polish cream cheese dough pastries. The reason I was doing my little research was because my Polish friend Kasha’s birthday was coming up and I wanted to make something nice for her. Good thing I figured out which pastry was right for her.

I made two varieties - one with apricot jam and the other with a homemade poppy seed filling. Yay another reason (and a very legitimate reason at that) to use my poppy seeds. I adapted a recipe I found on the web substituting black currants for dates since that is what I had around. The filling never thickened though probably because I use the currants which are quite unstickier than dates. I loved the crunch of the seeds but the filling was not sweet enough. For next time I was thinking of combining poppy seeds and fruit preserves into a single filling. The jam would hold everything together and make an actual filling, not scattering seeds. Is that totally against kolachy rules though? I made a few hybrid ones today with the leftover dough scraps and they were pretty good. Fruity, sweet, jammy and with the unmistakable crunch (and look) of little poppy seeds.

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Kolachy - Polish Cream Cheese Pastries
recipe from Epicurious

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 2 teaspoons water for egg wash

Make dough:
Whisk together flour and salt in a bowl until combined.

Beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes in a stand mixer (preferably fitted with a paddle attachment) or 6 minutes with a handheld. Reduce mixer speed to low, then add flour mixture and mix just until combined.

Divide dough into 4 equal pieces and wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, about 1 1/2 hours.

Assemble and bake cookies:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.

Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining pieces chilled) between 2 (12-inch) sheets of well-floured wax paper with a rolling pin into a roughly 11-inch square. (If dough gets too soft, transfer dough in wax paper to a baking sheet and chill until firm.) Discard top sheet of wax paper and trim dough with a pastry wheel or sharp knife into a 10-inch square. Cut square into 4 equal strips, then cut crosswise in fourths again to form a total of 16 (2 1/2-inch) squares.

Working quickly, place 1 heaping teaspoon filling in center of each square. Brush 2 opposite corners with egg wash, then bring corners together and pinch firmly to adhere. (If dough becomes too soft, freeze it on a baking sheet for a few minutes.)

Arrange cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake until golden, 17 to 20 minutes, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough and filling on a lined cooled baking sheet.

*I used Trader Joe’s Organic Apricot Preserve for one of the fillings which was delicious! and easy.

Lemon-Poppy Seed Cupcakes with Lemon Curd & Meringue June 1, 2008

My friend Erika was celebrating her birthday today and I wanted to make her something delicious and pretty. Cupcakes always seem to bring a smile to people’s faces and are fairly easy enough to make that even I can do them. My next pantry project is to use up the huge container of poppy seeds I bought two years ago when I needed just a pinch to garnish scallop carpaccio. I love lemon poppy seed cake so I decided to do a cupcake version of it. Meringue frosting would add a unique twist to it and look beautiful. Then I thought why not stuff it with lemon curd? In the end this cupcake became a perfect smashup of lemon poppy seed cake and lemon meringue tart.

I used Joy of Baking’s vanilla cupcake recipe as the foundation and added the bright lemon flavor to it. The lemon curd was store bought to save some sanity on my part. I had a little taster of the cupcake and it was delicious! I loved the lemon flavor of course and the crunchy poppy seeds added a great texture and also a nice visual effect once the cupcake liner was peeled off prior to devouring. But he toasted meringue frosting was the cherry on top though. Aerated, glossy, and nicely browned just on the edges.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes with Lemon Curd & Meringue Frosting
makes 12 regular cupcakes

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (60 ml) buttermilk
2 tbsp lemon zest
juice of half lemon
3 tbsp poppy seeds
about 1/2 cup of lemon curd

Meringue
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixer cream sugar, butter and lemon zest. Add eggs one by one until incorporated.
In another bowl whisk flour, baking powder, poppy seeds and salt.
Add half of the dry mix, then buttermilk, then remaining dry mix and lemon juice. Mix just until the ingredients are incorporated.
Line cupcake pan and divide batter evenly.
Bake for 18-20 minutes and then cool on a rack.
Once cupcakes are completely cool stuff each cupcake with a generous teaspoon of lemon curd. I used the cone method from Cupcake Bakeshop by the talented Chockylit.

Now make the meringue by beating the egg whites. When it gets foamy add cream of tartar and slowly start adding the sugar. Beat until hard peaks. Use your favorite piping tip to apply the meringue to the cupcake. I used a #4 open star tip and then broiled it just enough to get the ridges nicely toasted.

Girls’ Dine In May 5, 2008

Opportunities to host dinner tend to be few and far between since I live at home with my parents. But just my luck, the past weekend my folks were off to a wedding up north and I would have the place all to myself. So I snatched up this chance to have a little dinner gathering with my girl friends. I kept the menu quite simple and assigned each girl to match a wine to the course of their choice to make things little more interesting.

We started off with the romesco queso fundido which was basically a base of romesco sauce, a layer of smoked gouda, pepper jack, gruyere, and lastly a topping of sauteed peppers and onions all blasted together in the hot oven until the cheese was bubbling beautifully. This was an adaptation of Rick Bayless’s queso fundido con rajas y chorizo - melted cheese with roasted peppers and chorizo. We scooped up this cheesy goodness with French baguette toasts and accompanied it with a glass of refreshing prosecco provided by Han Nah.

Next up was a farmer’s market salad of baby chard, baby romaine, frisee, radicchio, baby spinach, toasted hazelnuts, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and parmigiano reggiano. I dressed it simply with lemon juice, red wine vinegar and olive oil. This salad satisfied my vegetable needs. I could have eaten another plate of this nutritious goodness. Natasha matched this salad nicely with a Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Marlborough. This wine was great - light, fruity and nicely acidic. The palate descriptions on the website state that it is “a full flavored, medium-bodied wine, with an abundance of archetypal currant and gooseberry flavours, that linger on the dry, clean finish.”

I recently got a manual pasta roller so I finally got to try my hand at fresh pasta. This was my first batch so I gave a fair warning to the girls beforehand but the noodles actually came out edible and dinner disaster was averted. I made fresh pasta with white asparagus, black truffle butter and fines herbs. It was finished with a beautiful shower of parmigiano reggiano. Yum. I paired this with a 2005 Lacrima di Morro d’Alba, a DOC designated medium-bodied ancient vine Italian red. The flavors of this wine are described as violet, lychee, berry, and rose. Honestly all I remember is that it was delicious and that I will be looking for another bottle soon.

We finished the meal with homemade ice yogurt and macerated strawberries. We sipped on Lindeman’s Framboise while enjoying the sweet juicy strawberries and the tart and cold ice yogurt (aka frozen yogurt). It was a nice relaxing time eating some good food and gabbin it up with the girls. What’s better than the combination of good company and good food?

Sorbet & Ice Cream March 31, 2008

Can you guess what flavors these are?

Blood Orange-Rosewater Sorbet & Pistachio Ice Cream!

Dinner for the Folks March 28, 2008

Often when my parents have relatives or friends visiting they ask me to cook dinner for them. My immediate answer is usually maybe since I would have to give up a chunk of my leisure hours to undertake the project. But then my mind gets churning with ideas and I start thinking of menus. There’s no turning back at that point. Plus since my parents would be paying for the ingredients I have an opportunity to be a bit more extravagant than usual [although trying to convince my parents they must have Champagne and caviar on their menu hasn't come to fruition]. My great aunt and uncle were visiting recently and here is what I cooked for them and my parents…

Gougere - Lillet Blanc

I started off the meal with hot gougeres straight from the oven accompanied by a glass of lillet blanc on ice. Gougeres will be the death of me - I inhaled three as soon as they were puffed, browned, and crusty on top. As you can see these were huge.

Scallops, Forbidden Rice, Braised Endive, Vandouvan Butter - Donna Luna Fiano

Next was seared scallops served on forbidden rice with braised endive and a drizzle of vadouvan butter. To my delight Julie got me a bag of vadouvan, a French curry mix, from Le Sanctuaire for my birthday which inspired this dish. I paired this with Donna Luna Fiano which I previously had with my truffle butter pasta. The medium body of the fruity wine and the touch of acidity paired well with the butter sauce and the touch of citrus in the curry spice mix.

Romanesco Veloute, Foie Mousse, Crispy Pork Belly - Domaine La Bastide Roussane

For the third course I served romanesco veloute with a quenelle of foie mousse and deep fried slivers of pork belly. I was planning to make the foie mousse myself but once I got to the store they told me I had to preorder them. Duh! So instead I got premade foie mousse I think from D’Artagnan, which actually saved me some time and sanity. For the soup I made a light veloute sauce in which I simmered the romanesco florets. Once tender I put the mixture through the blender and sieve to ensure a velvety texture. Then finished it with butter, cream, and egg yolks to enrich and thicken it. This dish was inspired by the veloute and royale I had a Manresa. Taking a cue from their wine pairing I wanted to pair my veloute with a Roussanne also. Simon over at Larchmont Village Wines chose the inexpensive Domaine La Bastide for me which went great with the velvety soup and the bit of rich foie mousse.

Red Wine Braised Beef Tenderloin, Aligot, Shiitake Frites - Red Shed Cabernet Franc 2004

The final savory course was beef tenderloin that I had seared and braised in red wine and beef stock. I served it with aligot potatoes and “frites” for a meat & potatoes or steak & frites kind of deal. Aligot is a potato dish from Auvergne, France, made with tomme cheese and beat into an elastic texture that leaves it with a cheesy-stringy texture. I substituted Cantal since I could not find tomme d’Auvergne. I didn’t achieve the correct texture perhaps because I didn’t put enough cheese in. For about 2lbs of potatoes I put in 1/2lb of cheese. However the potatoes were soooo tasty. I mean really tasty. The “frites” were made my dredging shiitake slices with panko and deep frying them. I salted them when they came out of the oil. Simple as that and also very addicting.

Cowgirl’s Creamery Red Hawk & Gruyere

I added a small cheese course and served Cowgirl Creamery’s delicious triple creme Red Hawk and Gruyere.

Boca Negra with Dark Chocolate-Orange Ganache, Pistachio

Then finally dessert. I stick to easy things when baking since I’m really more of a savory person. I baked a boca negra which is a flourless chocolate cake loaded with chocolate and eggs and also a good amount of booze, in this case it was whiskey. I topped it with a warm dark chocolate ganache flavored with orange zest and sprinkled toasted and chopped pistachios on top.

There was a lot of room for improvement but in the end I was happy with what I cooked because more importantly the diners were happy.

Candy Cane Joe Joe’s-Mint Ice Cream February 7, 2008

I’m not an avid consumer of mint related confectionaries or mash-ups of chocolate and mint, especially chocolate chip-mint ice cream. The combination is not bad but definitely not great. The pharmacy green-hued chocolate chip-mint ice cream was also a big turnoff whenever I hit up ice cream shops in the younger days. However during this holiday season I ran into a sweet treat that actually inspired me to make mint ice cream. That would be Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Joe Joe’s.

These candy cane-studded filled oreo knockoffs were calling out to me to be crushed into ice cream like an oreo mcflurry. Last time I had that was about eight years ago (scary!) and I remember how good the oreo chunks and bits were in the soft ice cream. The only problem was that there wasn’t enough oreos in the mix. There would be none of that nonsense in my version. And since I surprisingly found these minty Joes Joe’s rather enjoyable I ran with it and decided to make a mint flavored ice cream. At least if I still wasn’t feelin the mint ice cream deal I knew Boy would be there to finish the pint since chocolate chip-mint is one of his favorite ice cream flavors. But the ice cream turned out rather delicious - creamy, generously cookie studded and refreshingly minty. And most definitely not green. I added some dark chocolate chips in there too. Best served with the Candy Cane Joe Joe’s on the side for some extra oomph.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream Sandwiches January 7, 2008

Finally, pumpkin pie ice cream sandwiches! I say finally because there were long overdue. I was planning to make them around Thanksgiving but finally got around to them last week. I made a custard base of equal parts whole milk and heavy cream, regular sugar, brown sugar, and a few egg yolks. Then I added pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices. I used canned pumpkin puree from Trader Joe’s but next time I think i’ll make my own kabocha puree for yummier results.

I wanted the sandwiching cookies to taste a bit like graham crackers. I made a chewy sugar cookie base and added vanilla, cinnamon and honey. Oh, and I also substituted 1/4 cup of wheat flour for all-purpose flour. I scooped the dough with an ice cream scooper for size consistency (all hope would be lost if I tried to make same-sized balls with a spoon) then dipped one side in turbinado sugar and baked them sugar side up. Man these cookies were bomb! I totally underestimated the potential of American sugar cookies.

Now sandwich the pumpkin pie ice cream between two graham sugar cookies and you got yourself a nice sweet treat.