soozphotoz

Ooey Gooey Goodness

Pioneer Woman Cookbook

I've admired and guffawed at The Pioneer Woman's blog for year now. Recently, I received her Cookbook from a dear friend (Sandy V) as a most excellent Christmas gift. With the recent blizzard enabling me some extra time at home, I decided to try my first recipe from the cookbook....Pineapple Upside Down Cake...yes, even in my newly acquired iron skillet (God Bless Amazon.com).

First, let me say that this cast iron skillet is my most valued purchase since my KitchenAid stand mixer (and nearly as heavy). Yes, it means that I'm frying more foods...but they taste better too. And now that I know I can bake in it as well...just let me say a hearty Hallelujah!

The recipe is super easy to follow and don't those maraschino cherries look so darn 50's sitting pretty in the middle of the pineapple rings?! I would have linked to this recipe on PW's website, but she doesn't have it listed there....sorry :(  Can't say that I blame her, though.

I used a 10 inch skillet so the cake took about 5 minutes longer than the recipe called for. Aside from that everything came out just as yummy as I remembered (it's been YEARS since I've had PUDC).

Trust me, it tastes even better than it looks! (btw...it's not burnt, it's just that I used dark brown sugar because I'm saving the light brown sugar for tomorrow Toll House cookies :)

homegrown chilies

speaking of prosciutto...

Not here yet...but I will be in just 4 days!

Over the weekend we watched Bella Martha...a German film about an A-type chef who becomes the guardian of her pre-adolescent niece. I recommend the movie if only for the mouth-watering food scenes (in fact, Netflix has created a category just for me, Food Films). In one scene Martha, her niece and a co-chef-and-eventual-love-interest have an indoor picnic. One of the anti-pasta dishes includes prosciutto...yum!

Knowing that I had to have some prosciutto, I stopped at Balducci's last evening on the way home because I reasoned that they would be the only grocer to sell prosciutto...but I get ahead of myself.....KNOWING that I was going to stop for said prosciutto, I searched online for recipes that included prosciutto but not pasta. I found one for a prosciutto and ricotta frittata...yum again!

I love Balducci's. I don't shop there often but when I do I usually cannot avoid getting one of their Decadent Brownies (their name, not mine)....imagine brownie dough ever so slightly baked on top...the remainder really ooey gooey and then chilled...they're heaven, pure and simple. But the best part is that they are soooooo decandent that they last at least two days (truly...I'm not making this up...they're really decadent). But I digress...back to the frittata...

The frittata was amazing! The recipe is HERE. A few NOTES: It calls for Swiss chard but I think that spinach would be a good substitute if chard is hard to find. Also, next time I will omit adding any salt because the prosciutto was salty enough...additional salt is not needed. I wasn't sure that two eggs would make a large enough frittata for two but with all of the other ingredients, it was filling. The only side "dish" I included were a couple of those long skinny Italian bread sticks. Make this dish...it's easy, it's fast, and it goes well with Pinot Grigio...what more could you ask of a recipe?!

NOLA - I Love that Voodoo that You Do so well...

Voodoo dolls in the French Market

I don't know much about New Orleans voodoo (not a big Anne Rice fan) but I do know they sure do food well in the Big Easy! And let's face it, that's why Maria and I go to New Orleans....food, wine and an elegant Afternoon Tea. Bourbon Street? Nah, BTDT.

Beignets and chicory cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde

We started our Friday morning with the requisites at Cafe du Monde...I've finally mastered the art of wolfing down the beignets without choking on the excessive (but oh-so-yummy) powdered sugar.

Jackson Square

It was freakishly hot and humid so we trudged around the Quarter for a while to walk off our breakfast before heading back to the Windsor Court for 2pm traditional Tea. Unfortunately, the lighting was not conducive to photos but the finger sandwiches and scones were most scrumptious!

A classic Garden District home

"New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin."
Mark Twain (1884)

Desk Stills & Organic Wines

I started with just a simple photograph of the corks from Thursday night's Womens Wine Tasting but things escalated as you can see below.

I set up this simple little "still" because the quick photo I took at the actual tasting event disappeared somewhere in Cell Land. And as if that faux pas weren't enough to discredit me, I cannot find my tasting notes so must rely on my questionable memory...

The wine choices for the evening included organic wines. I learned that organic farming is more about sustainable farming. The University of California explains that  "Sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." In other words, the pesticides and fertilizers used in other farming methods deplete the soils naturally occuring nutrients to the degree that they never really return in a viable way. So it's not all about Birks and dancing naked under the moon (not that either of these are undesirable, you understand).

The resting cork in the photo above is one of the wines I purchased...it's a wonderful Pinot Noir and I will have to take a look at the bottle later for the name. It's interesting how everyone is so attentive at the beginning of the tasting as Claudette shares a small bit of her vast knowledge...but as the night goes on the crowd gets chattier and chattier :-) I admit to having seconds on a few of the selections just to be certain I was making a wise purchase...

The King Edward cigar box on my collaging desk contains old photos and tintypes so I began playing around with a couple of those...

More trivia...the red rock is from my recent trip to Sedona. I'm going to write a  poem about this photo...but no time now!

As I was about to retire the camera, I noticed these Post-Its lined up on my desk and could not help thinking of Becca's wonderful post HERE...so this rather bizarre photo is dedicated to her and her story which will make me smile everytime I see a Post-It note :-)

Wine - German Rieslings

Durnstein, Austria

On Thursday evening I went to my Women's Wine Tasting Club (finewine.com) which I had not been to for the 2 previous months either because I was out of town or otherwise occupied (with what I cannot imagine!). Each month we sample a varietal which is usually paired with samples of food. This month the focus was  on German Rieslings; the food pairings included various Dim Sum tidbits.

I was introduced to good Rieslings on my visit to Austria in Spring 2005. However, in blindly purchasing different types of this white varietal upon returning to the States, I would often be disappointed because my selection was often much more sweet than I like. But I discovered at the tasting that the sweetness of Rieslings which I would not drink as a cocktail, is tempered beautifully by the spiciness of Asain dishes. I learned how to read German labels which, as you can imagine, is very helpful in selecting a German wine. Three examples and their remedial interpretations below them (I left my notes on the table I think...after six samples and a few more second round samples, I guess you can understand why. So these notes are from my feeble memory.)

 

 

In reading the label above...starting at the top:

• Urziger Wurzgarten is the name of the town (Urziger, towns often end in "-er") and vineyard (Wurzgarten)
• Riesling is the variety of grape and Kabinett indicates the season of harvest with Kabinett being an early harvest (In Germany the harvest times are government regulated. Like all wines,the longer that the grapes stay on the vine, the sweeter they become. So generally, if you like a dryer Riesling, look for a Kabinett. For a sweeter wine, look for Spatlese on the label.)
• Weingut Karl Erbes - the wine producer
• Mosel is the wine region and, frankly, I don't have a clue about the other two words, I was probably chatting it up  :-)

In conclusion, the fruitiness and minerality of Rieslings make them a very nice choice for a refreshing summer wine. Prost! (Cheers)

Madeleines

She (Marcel's mother) sent for one of those squat plump little cakes called "petites madeleines," which look as though they had been molded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell … I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure invaded my senses …

And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray … when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Leonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane …. and the whole of Combray and its surroundings, taking shape and solidity, sprang into being, town and garden alike, from my cup of tea.

~Marcel Proust, The Remembrance of Things

I will be the first to admit that my Madeleine's do not make whole towns "spring into being" but they do make for a nice Sunday morning breakfast. They also taste a bit better than those you can buy at Starbucks. Perhaps, like many things that we produce by our own labor, it is the process itself that increases the enjoyment of the thing we created. I am reminded of how Sara or Aron would present me with a scribbled drawing, their faces beaming at their creations. Children delight in the task so much that the final product is almost inconsequential. If we are lucky, we do not loose the joy of creativity even if the outcome isn't quite what we had in mind. But I digress...

I truly meant to just discuss the simple joy of cooking. Hmmm. Honestly , until this very moment I  never considered that famous cookbook title.  I have probably always had a copy of The Joy of Cooking as long as I have had the responsibility to (sometimes) cook....but never have I read the Introduction (assuming there is one).But in more recent years, after many years of cooking so that my children would not starve, I get it.

Early yesterday morning I began my mise en place (literally, to put into place). I learned this term, and more importantly concept, from my son when he attended culinary school. This may be commonly known but the teacher in me must explain because that's what teachers are compelled to do. Mise en place is simply the preparation one makes before the actual process of cooking or baking begins: reviewing the recipe to make certain we have all necessary ingredients and equipment; gathering these items in the work area; doing preliminary peeling, chopping, cutting of ingredients; preheating the oven, etc. We all do these things before we cook or bake...it's just nice to know that there is a fancy French term for it.

Ingredients

• 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract (I also add a little almond or vanilla...but just un petit)

It is a Good Thing [snicker] that I did review the recipe because the eggs needed to be room temperature. I like le look of the ingredients assembled next to my fire engine red mixer. I like the feel of having everything ready and organized...undoubtedly because it is a unique feeling for me. Eggs ready...it is time commencer!

1. Heat butter in heavy saucepan over medium heat until it is golden brown and fragrant (approx 5 minutes or so). Pour into a ceramic (cereal, etc) so that it will cool while you continue.
2. In a small bowl stir together the flour, baking powder and salt with wire whisk.
3. In electric mixer bowl, beat eggs at medium-high speed. Add sugar and continue to beat until the mixture thickens and produces a ribbon effect when the beaters are lifted. Reduce speed to medium and add extracts.
4. Check to see if the melted butter has cooled. If not, put it into the refrigerator while you do the next thing. Also preheat the oven to 375 degrees if you have not already.
5. This is my favorite part: FOLD the flour mixture into the egg mixture, adding just one third of the flour mixture at a time. (Think of stirring as whipping up bubbles for your toddler's bathwater and folding as turning a sleeping infant from it's stomach to it's back.)
6. FOLD in the cooled melted butter.(Save a little melted butter to grease the tins.) This takes a while but eventually the mixture will not seem so glossy and separated.
7. Using a pastry brush, grease the Madeleine pan but try not to let excess butter pool in the bottom of each cup. I found it easiest to then use a fine mesh strainer to dust the buttered tins with flour.
8. Drop generous tablespoons of batter into the ceter of each mold. These little cookies/cake are suposed to have a little "hump."
9. Bake 12-15 minutes until the edges are golden brown and appear to pull back a little from the mold.
10. Smack the tin on the edge of the counter to loosen the Madeleines. Cool on a wire rack and dust with powdered sugar (optional).
11. EAT and enjoy!

These are also delicious if you slice them through the center (like slicing a bagel or English muffin) and fill them with raspberry jam or orange marmalade.

Also, the most fun place by far to get Madeleine pans is E. Dehilleran in Paris. You can also get them inexpensively at CHEFS online.

For a great sounding Pineapple Upside Down cake recipe and really cool art layer cake be sure to stop by Caro's Lines. (It looks like I keep copying her topics but I don't really...this is the second time in about a week we have written on similar topics...the first being the Wardrobe thing....great minds....)

smothered, covered or chunked

Not Disney...but definately entertaining! I loved the Waffle House. Yes, the waffles were cheap and delicious, the coffee was hot and goooood, and the waitresses were efficient and friendly. What I really like, however, was the ambience...waitresses yelled orders at the cooks, plates clanked constantly, and the joint positively buzzed with activity.

Chianti

...when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore... ~Dean Martin

While mincing the garlic and sipping a half glass of Chianti, I decided to take a couple of macros just for the fun of it. I love the combined smells of sauting garlic and Chianti so why not add a visual element to the experience. I'm certain that tonight's dinner is the result of listening to the Moonstruck soundtrack on the way home from work. Gotta go, the water's boiling...arrivederci!

feelin' groovy

Got no deeds to do,
No promises to keep.
I’m dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morning time drop all it’s petals on me.
Life, I love you,
All is groovy. ~Simon & Garfunkel

I baked cookies today to sounds of silence and dangling conversations...not your traditional Christmas music but almost as familiar and nostalgic. As I was sifting the flour it occured to me that now that both of my children are grown, I finally have the time to do the things I wish I'd had the time to do when they were young.