the new year starter

i think it was 2 years ago that i saved a glass jar from used up tomato sauce (about the same time we stopped buying tomato sauce and started making our own) to make sourdough starter. i carried the glass jar with me to my sister's house where i stayed for the summer and it stayed unfilled. it migrated with me to my townhouse, where it emptily watched me complete my junior year of college. i wrapped it up in newspaper (probably a remnant of my crossword puzzle habit addiction serious, life-consuming problem) and brought it back to vp's house, determined to fill it during my second summer there.

yesterday morning, i got the incredible urge to fill the jar. i thought about it, sitting idly, waiting for me to put some yeast and water inside to grow happy, yummy bread (so to speak). i also thought about how i had no idea where it ended up. i vaguely remember not bringing it back to school with me, but i also vaguely remember seeing it in my baking box... i searched the black-hole of all the crap that's fallen off my moving truck on trips between school, summer housing, and breaks. to no avail, my poor little jar is gone.

luckily, my father has an array of jars full of old paint from our various houses on a shelf in the basement. as if just waiting for me to come, one sat clear and clean between the "taupe 03" and "light summer forest 06."  happiness.

after doing some googling, i came across a few pretty solid, reputable, well-tested recipes. i combined parts, but the general form is based mostly off of this wild yeast sourdough starter, using regular unbleached flour instead of whole grain or rye. we had a spiral ham with grilled pineapple on sunday, so i strained out some of the juice from the leftover pineapple.

today and tomorrow, i will add another 2 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of flour to sally (yes, i've named her sally). on saturday (day 4), i am supposed to stir it down (assuming it does something), reserve 1/4 cup of the glop, and mix that with 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup more flour. i should repeat that step on days 5, 6, and 7. by that point, i will be able to store it in the fridge and feed it (day 4-like) once a week! i'm very excited. progress will be noted.

before i made sally, i tried out the basic white dough recipe from the dough book i mentioned earlier. easiest dough, and i used the easiest rolling. mine looked a little bit like naked mole rats when they baked, but they tasted fantastic!

thoroughly pleased. and, BONUS, these rolls fit in the new "12g of sugar a day" thing that mom and i are trying out. apparently you have to limit your carbs, too, but if you're going to make me stop eating cookies and fruit (FRUIT! what kind of diet eliminates fruit!) and my kashi go lean, i will need bread. happy, happy bread.

=) please think good thoughts about sally! she would like to be very yeasty. and tall. very tall.

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one tiny cupcake

september was cake month, and i am not complaining about it (there's still a tiny, tiny sliver of the birthday cake on our counter -- no one wants to be the evil person to eat the last slice and make all the roommates jealous).

i've never been a huge fan of chocolate cake (unless it's dark, fudgy, and actually a brownie, not cake), but i've never met an ina recipe i didn't like. i assumed this one would change my mind. i was right. since i was planning on making them into hostess-like cupcakes, i opted just to use the leftover frosting from the birthday cake and not attempt the one associated with her recipe. it seems rather fantastic, though.

my problems with depth perception leach into my baking periodically, causing me to overfill cupcake tins (remember the epic guinness cupcake failure of july 4th?). and it happened again. though no one else really gets to enjoy the cake, lyss and i thoroughly enjoy sampling all the goopy bits that end up all over the pan. like broken cookies, messed up globby cupcake overflows have no calories. if these weren't going to the tailgate, i wouldn't have cared that after i cut them the cupcake papers were brown. but i couldn't bring surgically demented cupcakes to the tailgate, so i had to start over. as you saw in the previous post, my batch of hostess look-a-likes turned out just fine.

somewhere in all of the mess that happened in my oven, one, lone little cupcake decided to defy the man and stay within his boundaries. he was defiant, not breaking ranks to join the sloppy party of crazy kids. i like this one. he doesn't go out on tuesday nights or dye his hair on a whim. he drinks espresso and reads books and likes good beer. he ties his shoe laces and zips up his coat and combs his hair. if you find him in real-life form, and he's 21 and single, please send him my way. for now, i'll just be friends with an inanimate object made of flour, sugar, and chocolate. sigh.

beatty's chocolate cake
chosen by mary of passionate perserverance
also found in Barefoot Contessa at Home on pages 165-166

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken (i made my own with milk + vinegar)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (extremely strong, because my roommates and i are addicts)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. (i used paper cupcake tins in 2 pans)

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. (if cupcakes, cool them upside down on the rack. no soggy bottoms!)

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

i hope yours are full of perfectly buttoned up little cupcake boys, and not rowdy over-flowers =)

ciao,
j

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why i love fall semester

fall semester at psu is arguably better than spring. there is football, which means tailgates, screaming with 110,000 friends, joepa face stickers, pom-poms, tailgates, pins with witty slogans, tailgates... =)

our tailgates are far more than a way to pump up for the game... they are an opportunity to out-cook, out-create, and out-eat eachother. the overall theme for last week's game against syracuse was "classics day," where all the students were encouraged to wear tie-dye tshirts and sing 60's songs. natch, we chose to celebrate at our tailgate with a plethora of retro recipes.

lyss made a fab green bean casserole, which, unfortunately, isn't as photogenic as it is delicious. my homemade hostess cupcakes, however, turn out a little better for the lens:

i have to admit, i used a boxed cake mix for these. friday night baking sessions require short cuts... especially when the game on saturday begins at noon. the icing was the same chocolate ganache from ina's birthday cake (previous post -- a barefoot blogger challenge), and i filled them with the fool-proof seven minute frosting. it kind of got absorbed into the cupcakes, but that kept them moist and good as leftovers.

the other great thing about penn state fall that's non-football related are the weekly farmers' markets held downtown. every friday (and a smaller version on tuesdays), local farms come and shower us with their goods. if i saw a zucchini over a foot-and-a-half long at wegmans, i'd be worried about crazy growth hormones, but the little mennonite boy can't possibly do anything but sing to it to make it grow that big.

this eggplant stew is a favorite fall recipe of mine. it takes advantage of the fresh produce in abundance in PA, and it's full of fresh flavors. it has an italian flare, pulling flavors and ingredients from a traditional panzanella (the inclusion of the crusty bread makes it hearty). it makes me want to pull out my scarves and boots and jump in some leaves.

farmers' market eggplant stew

1 medium-to-large eggplant, chopped in 1" pieces

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 to 2 red tomatoes, chopped and de-seeded

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (may substitute 2 of these with red wine)

1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning (i use chunky california style)

1 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary

2 slices crusty bread, diced

1 clove garlic, chopped or pressed

3-4 leaves fresh basil, chopped

pinch red pepper flakes

heat the oil over medium heat in a skillet (i used cast iron). add the onion and bell pepper, and cook until medium soft and shiny. add eggplant, can of tomatoes (with the juice!), diced tomatoes, salt, pepper (to taste), lemon pepper, and rosemary. cook until tender, but make sure there is still liquid in the pan. add the garlic, fresh basil, and balsamic vinegar (and wine, if using). turn down the heat and cook until almost all of the liquid has gone. stir in the bread cubes and continue cooking. sprinkle in the pinch of red pepper flakes and cook for 2-3 more minutes. remove from heat and let sit for 3-4 minutes. then you may immediately devour.

makes a lot, depending on the size of your eggplant. it's great as leftovers... and you can serve it with polenta, rice, potatoes... i find that the bread cubes make it starchy enough, but i do love carbs.

<3 ciao,

j

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let them eat cake

first barefoot recipe of september: birthday cake! it's not my birthday, nor is it anyone else's birthday that I know, but birthday cake is still a happy addition to any thursday.

my first attempt at this downright failed. the outside burned while the inside didn't cook. i blame my oven.

luckily, the 2nd shot turned out perfectly. the cake was a bright, golden yellow with the right amount of crumb to moisture, even though i used yogurt instead of sour cream. i'm usually a white cake fan, but this just might be my new favorite.

head on over to Susie's blog, Everyday Gourmet, for the recipe. 


ciao,
J

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no words, just food.

local tomatoes, thyme, and olive oil.

simple and divine.

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barefoot... another late entry

i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry.

i actually made this recipe like 3 weeks ago (the same day as the mango smoothies) because i knew it was the first week of classes and i'd have NO time or ambition to make it. i suppose i forgot to take into account that i'd probably not have the ambition to blog about it, either.

not that it's any consolation or even a good excuse, but i was out from 6pm until... sometime early this morning... celebrating my first thursday night out at psu. it was hilarious, and today's rainy weather was a very good excuse to stay inside and cook warm, tangy pasta sauce and make homemade spinach pasta. yum.

but back to the matter at hand.. my white pizza with arugula turned out fabulous, and i even created a fantastic dip/spread in the process.

though my lactose intolerance is much better, i wasn't ready to take on that load of cheese. improvisation was necessary. i ended up mixing a can of cannellini beans with a few garlic cloves, some thyme, parsley, and a wedge of the laughing cow light garlic and herb cheese. after a few whizzes in the food pro, it spread nicely on the perfect dough. it was also great on crackers as a snack and for a sandwich the next day.

winner.

check out andrea's blog, nummy kitchen, for the recipe, and head over to the BB blogroll to see other lovely creations.

ciao,
j

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un dîner français

because i'm a slightly masochistic overachiever, i only got 10 days at home between my internship and going back to school to help with orientation. i kept these 10 days as open as possible, allowing plenty of time to lay on the couch, read, and coach my mom at the gym (my parents joined the new fitness center! i'm proud!).

but laying around on the couch gets boring, and i inevitably turn to the kitchen, use up my mom's ingredients, and fill the fridge with food. my mom and dad work all day (both at home, usually), and i like to make them dinner so they can relax.

last monday, i decided to take them on a trip back to my second favorite meal of the summer (et voila was easier to duplicate; nora would have been significantly more pricey): steamed mussels in white wine with crusty bread, lettuce soup, and crepes (i had macarons at the restaurant, but i didnt feel like fighting the august humidity in pennsylvania).

all four components of this meal were new adventures in cooking for me, and i was excited for the challenge. with the help of many of my trusty online food "friends" (i clearly do not actually know any of these people), the dinner was mostly a success.

i started with mark bitman's recipe for french bread from how to cook everything. the recipe couldn't have been easier. i may have overcooked it slightly, so be careful with that. french bread should be crusty, but my dad had to cut it for me. once it was dunked in the soup and mussel broth, however, it basically melted in our mouths.

the soup was inspired directly by the first course v and i had at et voila. it wasn't on the menu, but as soon as the waitress described the dish, we both looked at eachother and decided instantly we had to try it. mine didn't turn out quite as vibrantly green (it's in the background of the bread above), and i think a foodmill would have produced a better texture than the immersion blender (still my favorite kitchen tool!). regardless, the flavor was spot-on.

but the pièce de résistance was the mussels (click for recipe). thank you, my idol ina garten, for not letting me down. wegmans had 2-lb bags on sale for $5, and i took advantage of the ridiculously expensive vile of saffron threads in my mom's spice cabinet (yes, most college kids steal liquor from their parents... i steal saffron). they were cooked perfectly, and we only lost one to an early death. the little bits of shallot, tomatoes, and garlic stuck to the juicy mussels, and the wine and saffron mixed together for an extremely savory, vibrantly orange, tangy broth.

devine.

we celebrated the bounty of delicious summer berries by wrapping them up in a not-too-sweet blanket of pastry, topped with a drizzle of honey and dusted with powdered sugar. no need for any whipped cream or pastry filling... just ripe blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries. a very simple ending to an elegant dinner.

i'm hoping to be able to enjoy this meal (or something like it) IN france next summer... the stars are aligning and making my dream trip even more closer to reality. the psu scheduling gods have smiled upon me, and there is a french 001 class being offered monday-thursday afternoons in the spring: NO FRIDAY CLASSES! i'm signing up.

and even better than speaking the language, i'll be able to EAT!! (runs around the room excitedly) i've been holding out on this news, not wanting to jinx my sensitive system, but.....
i can eat dairy again!!! the first sign came from the malted milk martini, strawberry tirimisu, and pounds of chocolate i inhaled at the bw 10th anniversary party at coco sala at the beginning of the month. it was further supported by the addition of laughing cow cheese to my sandwiches, trader joe's lobster ravioli (in the sauce, may i add), queso dip at mangos, sour cream and onion potato chips, and cream cheese with my smoked salmon. no side effects. i feel fabulous... and, to add to the excitement, i've gained at least 10 pounds since may and don't have to go see dr. parkman again for a WHOLE YEAR!

i'm going to complete the test with a taste of creamery ice cream. cross your fingers, please!

recipe:
potage de pere tranquille

1 large head boston lettuce
4-6 cups chicken stock
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup milk or cream
salt and pepper

carefully separate and wash the lettuce leaves and slice into ribbons. in a large soup pot, cover the lettuce with chicken stock and bring to a boil. meanwhile, tie the thyme sprigs together with kitchen twine (may wrap in cheesecloth). reduce the heat on the soup, add the thyme sprig, and simmer until the leaves are tender, about 20 minutes.

take soup off of heat and remove the thyme bouquet. puree (food processor, blender, immersion blender, or food mill) in batches until no stringy pieces of lettuce remain. return to pot and season with salt and pepper. stir in the milk or cream and cook until warmed through. serve warm or chilled with crusty bread or croutons.


ciao,
j

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barefoot thursday.. err, friday

okay. i'm a day late. but i have good reasons! it was the first night of preseason! we were replaying the cardinals in an epic rematch to prove that yes, we were supposed to win the superbowl.

anyway.

this month's first barefoot recipe was a great nod to my 21st annual summer of existence: mango banana daquiris, chosen by veronica of Supermarket Serenade. once again, my failure to check what we actually have at home before going to the grocery store (no, we did not have bananas) forced an adjustment to the recipe (original found here). i omitted the bananas, used frozen mangos, changed up the liquor, and made it into a sorbet!

my dad is working at home this week, and he was on a conference call at the kitchen table-turned office all afternoon. like the quick-thinking, adaptable chick that i am, i simply took my operations to the laundry room and closed the door.

my recipe: reduce 1/2 cup of dark rum mixed with 1/4 cup of coconut rum in a small saucepan over medium heat by 1/3. working in 2 batches, combine rum, 2 bags of partially thawed frozen mango chunks, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, and honey to taste in a blender until smooth. transfer to ice cream maker. churn for 30 minutes, transfer to a freezer-safe bowl, and chill for a few hours.

the alcohol in the sorbet will keep it from freezing solid, which i found to be a problem with my last sorbet.

i don't have any photos of the sorbet, as we haven't eaten it yet. i'll post something fun once it's consumed.

ciao,
j

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foodie fight!

because a barefoot challenge, baking club, bworld (explanation to follow later this week), and the epic sinus infection weren't enough, i decided to go to atlantic city this weekend and then come home and make my entry for foodie fights!

i've been rather busy and ignoring my blog email for awhile, and i decided to catch up on it while in the car on the way to atlantic city on friday night. lo and behold, i'd missed a notification from food fights that'd been chosen for the july battle of eggplant and white wine. OYE.

my karma is out of control; i bought 2 baby eggplants at the farmers' market last weekend and only used on one my pizza this week. so i didn't have to worry about the ingredients, but coming up with a recipe that i could make on sunday night after a weekend in AC was a bit daunting.

luckily, irma never lets me down. i tweaked the recipe for chilled eggplant from the joy of cooking and came up with a pretty solid version of babaghanoush in roughly 40 minutes. the recipe follows the photo, in paragraph form as per irma's style.

bring a pot of water to boil and cook until smushy, about 15 minutes:

one small eggplant, about 5-6 inches long

while the eggplant is cooking, saute in 2 tablespoons olive oil until brown and tender:

1/2 medium yellow onion

1 garlic clove, pressed

remove the eggplant from the boiling water and dice into 1/2 inch cubes.

once the onion is brown, add:

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

eggplant cubes

salt

pepper

deglaze the pan periodically with water and mush up the vegetables with a potato masher or a large wooden spoon. continue to cook.

after 15-20 minutes, deglaze the pan one final time with 3-4 tablespoons dry, white wine. stir in 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. cook for 5 minutes more, mushing up the vegetables until almost like a puree.

chill in the fridge overnight before serving.

if i had the time, i would have made pita bread to go with this. considering how freaking easy it was, a remake and some pita bread is totally probable.

stay tuned later this week for an explanation and mouth-watering photos from my adventure into my heritage with the zwetschgenkuchen i made for the cultural potluck at work =).

ciao,

J

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barefoot thursday: peach and blueberry crumble

whether by coincidence or by design, this month's second barefoot bloggers challenge was perfect for the fruits in season. way to go, aggie (of aggie's kitchen) for being so on par! peaches and blueberries are 2 of my favorite fruits, and the takoma park farmers' market had a lovely variety to suit my needs.

i'm still battling my sinus infection and the horrendous side effects of the antibiotics, so no witty stories or musings. just a few pictures and a recipe. the only tiny

detail i changed was tossing in a tablespoon of vanilla rum. everything is better with rum.

Peach and blueberry crumble

from the barefoot contessa at home

For the fruit:
2 lbs firm, ripe peaches (6-8 peaches)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
(1 tbsp rum, vanilla or plain)

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)

For the Crumble:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 lb (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water. Peel the peaches, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, (rum) and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into ramekins or custard cups (i used one big casserole dish).

For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and back for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature (with blackberry ice cream, obviously). If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles in the refrigerator and bake before dinner. (it also goes back in the fridge and reheats very well. Serves 5 to 6.

ciao,

j

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brown paper packages, tied up with strings

i've been derailed like a dc metro train thanks to a killer sinus and upper-respiratory infection. i can't breathe; my head is throbbing; my body is somewhere around 9000 degrees; and my voice sounds like a 2-year-old. however, i kept my end of the bargain in our weekend meal plan and tackled tamales while adam took on pupusas. we like to pretend we're hispanic, even though we're all straight from germany and the ukraine.

fue muy impresa con los resultados. aqui esta unos fotos de nuestra cena el domingo:

muy rico, que no?

hasta,

J

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let them eat tarts

it just so happened that my first real "baking club" entry was due the week of bastille day. given my current francophile leanings, i was thrilled. i took this as the perfect opportunity tackle the previously-feared pie crust, and while it was an ooey-gooey experience, i was pretty impressed with the results.

i used a recipe from patricia wells, reprinted by the new york times. the original article ran on july 31, 1988, 2 months after the most glorious day on which i entered the world. it was fate, and who am i to mess with that?

the crust was a lot stickier than i had thought it would be, perhaps due to the fact that i had to use earth balance vegan buttery sticks instead of the impossibly-good french buerre i'm sure the original relied upon. i made the crust on sunday night. i basically had to rearrange the entire fridge to fit the two pans in there to chill over night, and i was worried about the whole "removable bottom" tart pan thing messing up the dough if bumped. i stacked them with a wooden cutting board between, which solved that problem.

i had to make 2 tarts to meet the 30-person baking club requirement, so splurging on the $10 for 4 ounces of ridiculously good chocolate from whole foods was out of the question. the ghirardeli bittersweet baking nibs worked out great and fit the budget much better. i covered one with sliced almonds before baking it, and left the other plain to be allergy-friendly.

the best part about recipes that require tempering chocolate is that it is impossible to get every bit out of the bowl. getting to stick my face into the chocolate-coated bowl takes me back to my childhood when i'd barely let the beaters stop spinning before i licked them clean of mom's magical brownie-batter. raw eggs, you don't scare me.

while i didn't win the challenge (derek's "gorilla bread" -- a monkey bread variation using cream cheese that was well worth the stomach ache i got after eating it... you think i'd learn that simply insisting that i'm not lactose intolerant does not actually make it true), i really liked my tarts and am no longer scared of crust! thanks, patricia wells!

Tarte Au Chocolat Amer (Bitter-Chocolate Tart)
adapted from The New York Times

for the pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1 small egg, lightly beaten

for the filling:
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, perferably Lindt or Tobler
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar, for garnish
(1/2 cup sliced almonds)

To prepare the pastry:

Place the flour, salt, sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process just until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 seconds. Add the egg and pulse just until the pastry begins to hold together, about nine times. The dough will be very soft and supple, like a cookie dough. Turn the pastry into a 10 1/2-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Using a spatula, and working quickly, evenly distribute the dough in the pan. (i covered the pastry with wax paper and used my fingers to press it in... it will stick. be careful.) To avoid problems with shrinkage as the pastry bakes, build the dough a bit higher than the height of the pan. Prick the bottom of the shell with the tines of a fork. Chill, uncovered, for one hour (or overnight, covered with plastic wrap).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Line the shell loosely with aluminum foil, pressing well into the edges. Fill with weights of rice or beans -making sure you get all the way into the edges - to prevent shrinkage. Bake just until the pastry begins to brown around the edges and seems firm enough to stand up by itself, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking until the pastry is lightly and evenly browned, about 10 more minutes. Watch the pastry carefully, for ovens vary tremendously and pastry can brown very quickly. Cool for at least 10 minutes before filling.

Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Stir and melt over medium heat. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the egg, egg yolks and granulated sugar and beat until thick and lemon-colored. Add the chocolate and whisk until thoroughly combined (do this slowly and in small bits so as not to cook the eggs).

Pour the chocolate mixture into the prebaked, cooled tart shell, spreading it evenly (sprinkle with almonds if using), and bake just until the filling is set, about 10 minutes.

ciao,

J

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barefoot thursday and some photos

i'm not going to apologize for not updating since the last barefoot post. i am going to link you to my photo album of adventures to serve as my excuse:

summer adventures in and out of the district

as you can see, i've been busy going to artomatic, eastern market, calvert cliffs, new york city, and atlantic city. i don't like to sit still.

and now i will detail the culinary happenings since the last post:

i joined the baking club at work and had an "initiation bake" last week. while in nyc, i snagged some candied ginger for super cheap, so naturally ina's ultimate ginger cookies were a must. i shook things up by adding in some dried apricots (leftover from the couscous) and dried papaya (homemade from the same source as the ginger). while the initiation round wasn't voted on, i still maintain i won. they were fantastically chewy, sweet, and spicy. a perfect combination. bonus: the whole house smelled like christmas, and every time someone came by and opened the box on my desk, so did my cube =).

we had a bit of an overflow problem with the guinness cupcakes for the 4th (cake recipe from here), but the oozing just forced me to eat all of the extra bits before frosting them. i consider this a serious perk and not at all a problem.

martha's seven-minute frosting covered up any snags from the overflow and added a marshmallow-y goodness to the boozey cake (though it turned into foam the next day -- not good for leftovers). next time, i'm going to try reducing the guinness to give it a stronger flavor and possibly replacing some of the water in the icing recipe with the stout. perfect chocolate cake texture, though.

and finally: it's BAREFOOT THURSDAY! i was excited to see an easy dish that didn't include three pounds of butter and chocolate (i'm still recovering from the outrageous brownies). i've also maxed out my baking and summer bbq palate for awhile, so pasta was right up my alley. i omitted the mozzarella (obvious reasons) and olives (v doesn't like them), and i added chopped tomatoes into the pureed sauce instead of whole in the pasta. the sundried tomatoes gave it an almost meaty texture, and serving it warm right out of the pot made it a very substantial dinner (note the bruschetta in the photo: sundried tomato and basil bread from panera mimicked the pasta ingredients; what a great compliment -- thanks a!). the sauce would be great on chicken or fish, and i'm sure the recipe would make a really good cold pasta salad for a picnic or tailgate. head on over to Cat's blog, Delta Whiskey, for the recipe =)

thank goodness it's almost friday. i'm going sailing on saturday with the other summer consultants (yes, i'll be on a boat with my flippy-floppies), and my parents are coming down for a visit on sunday. looking forward to a fun weekend =).

ciao,

j

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barefoot thursday: gazpacho

i really didn't mean for this blog to become so intermittent, but i've been putting in really long hours at work and the last thing i want to do when i come home is stare at the computer some more. don't believe me? between 7am yesterday and 7am today, i was only in the house for 6.5 hours, 5.5 of which were spent asleep and the other one spent getting ready for work today. granted, 3 of the 12 hours i spent at work were at a dinner with the partners/principals, most of my day consisted of importing and manipulating excel tables, sitting in a meeting, and riding public transportation.

if you don't happen to live near dc, you may have missed the epic metro crash that happened on monday. one in-bound train slammed into the back end of another, and 10 people died. it's the worst crash in the history of metro, and the first fatal crash since the early 1980s. my belief in karma is even stronger now, because had i not felt compelled to wash out my coffee mug and take 5 minutes longer to leave, i would have been on the red line when it happened -- going in the opposite direction, but still. while my heart goes out to everyone involved, and i'm thanking my lucky stars that no one i know was hurt, i can't help but curse it all just a little for adding 45 minutes to my commute this morning and evening, making me not get home until 12:15 last night, and keeping me from going into work on tuesday (okay.. so that wasn't that bad). i just got an email from metro that everything is cleared. let's keep our fingers crossed.

on to happier things.

i mentioned my birthday party a couple of posts ago... turning 21 was fab, and i've been enjoying the benefits of having a legal id. more on that later. back to the birthday. i served grilled shrimp tacos, spicy slaw, and chips and guac, but i needed a good appetizer. barefoot bloggers to the rescue!

the day before my birthday, the recipes were announced, and i wanted to hug meryl of my bit of earth for choosing ina's gazpacho. it was fate.

served in a martini glass, obvi.

gazpacho is probably my favorite summertime food. my "sponsor" took me out to lunch on my first day of work, and i had a gorgeous yellow tomato gazpacho with crab. whenever we splurge and go to whole foods, i have to stop myself from buying the whole shelf of it from their prepared foods section. last summer, i would duck down to marvelous market and indulge at least once a week -- what's more perfect than soup you don't have to heat?! but by far, the gazpacho at mon ami gabi is my favorite. ina's came dangerously close.

i made a few changes [in italics], trying to get it just like mon ami:

gazpacho
adapted from ina garten’s “the barefoot contessa cookbook”

servings: 4 to 6 [i got filled 10 juice glasses with half]

1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
4 plum tomatoes [two cans of whole, peeled tomatoes, drained with juice reserved]
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups) [made up the difference from the canned tomatoes with clamato]
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

[1 tablespoon fresh minced cilantro]

[a few dashes of tabasco]

[juice of 1 lime]

1. roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes and red onions into 1-inch cubes. put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped [i failed at the "each vegetable separately part... turned out fine, just a really full food pro]. do not overprocess!

2. after each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper [plus lime and tabasco]. mix well and chill before serving. the longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop. [add cilantro just before serving]

my camera is full, and i'm waiting until i buy some new photo software with my paycheck next week to unload it (i'm actually just really lazy, be glad you got a picture). i'm going to atlantic city this weekend, and after that i promise, promise, promise to update. 6am tomorrow morning is going to come too quickly. it's time for some sleep.

ciao,

j

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barefoot thursday: curried couscous

as a college student with limited access to a grocery store and even more limited access to time, i became quite a fan of one-pot rice dishes this year. many, many of my dinners consisted of putting some sort of grain or pasta on the stove and adding in whatever ingredients i could gather up in the time it took to boil (which is longer than you think when your electric burners are crooked and from 1600 A.D.) this month's first barefoot recipe, curried couscous chosen by ellyn of recipe collector and tester, was a happy reminder of the comfy food i'd eaten all year and a nice break from the grill/bbq/drinking fest i've been on since moving down here:

not that such a fest (see more at silver spring foodies) hasn't been enjoyable, but sometimes all the effort and time of making an elaborate meal is lost on me. most of yesterday was spent staring at the computer converting pdf tables into excel and trying to act casual when i walk past the same person's desk for the 15th time because i've gotten lost in the maze of the 7th floor again. by the time i got home, i just wanted something warm, cozy, and immediately on my plate.


enter curried couscous. the recipe (found on ellyn's blog, here, or on p. 94 of the barefoot contessa cookbook) is simple and quick. i managed to make the whole thing while V and A re-heated up the stir-fry from tuesday. i down-sized it to make a single serving, but a large quantity would keep nicely for lunchtime leftovers. i added in some baby zucchini from saturday's farmers' market trip and used dried apricots instead of raisins. the sweetness from the dried fruit is key.

it's also convenient that my favorite color is yellow =)


ciao,
j

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epic failure of posting, but lots of pictures

my apologies. it seems that i've fallen a bit behind in the blogging, but by no means in the cooking or adventuring.

since moving down to silver spring, md a little over a week ago, my non-food adventures have included:

1. turning 21 and ordering 2 drinks without getting carded
2. going to the beach
3. starting my first real internship and working 2 hours of overtime in the first week
4. drinking my first legal pint of guinness and doing a lemon-drop shooter at murphy's (again, not carded)
5. meeting 9 incredibly awesome kids i'll be working with all summer
6. buying 2 cases of beer from the shadiest liquor store ever in college park
7. going to my first happy hour with 6 of the 9 above mentioned cool kids and ordering my favorite glass of wine (got carded this time)
8. celebrating the end of my 21st birthday week with a party that merged my high school, college, and summer program friends plus two new acquaintances
9. watching the pens try to take the stanley cup (game 6 currently in progress)
10. going on a SEGWAY TOUR of DC (and getting paid for doing so) with other summer consultants
11. lost my phone to an epic technological failure and had to argue with the at&t store as they tried to give me a $100 refund that i couldn't accept without the original credit card and ended up buying a $100 blue-tooth headset to be shipped home and returned by my mother (oye)
12. out-driving a torrential downpour/thunderstorm this afternoon with a plastic bag stuck to the grill of v's car

as you can see, i have plenty of excuses for not blogging. the excessive alcohol content of my adventures was due completely to the fact that i turned 21. i do not take my milestones lightly. in addition to celebrating with drinks, i also have gotten to do a lot of fun cooking:

1. before moving down here, i made black-pepper brown-sugar salmon with grilled pineapple for my parents
   
   
   
   
   
2. i made my own birthday cake: a pink-lemonade double-layer cake with raspberry filling and almond buttercream icing (topped with sprinkles and candles, and enjoyed with a toast of 1+2=3 cava)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   



3. i used a's antique kitchen-aid to mix up a batch of margarita cupcakes (a vctotw recipe) with a tequila-lime glaze (adapted from the vctotw green tea glaze)

i served the cupcakes at my first ever dinner party (point 8 on adventure list), along with grilled shrimp tacos, a spicy slaw, tomato gazpacho, and mojitos with mint fresh from the garden. it was a huge success.

and i have been staring at the computer (with a break for the segway tour, the ride home, and dinner) since 8:10am. i am tired, my eyes are sore, and i need to watch the pens keep the series alive (go black & gold)!

this week is a barefoot week, so another post is coming. it promises to be yummy, and i promise to update more.

happy june!

ciao,

j

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