Now We're Talking Turkey

The boyfriend and I traveled to Houston for the Thanksgiving holiday. In addition to catching up with his family there, we had time to sample the "legendary Tex-Mex" at Pappasito's Cantina. Kwesi worked here back in the day, and has always spoken highly of the food. He wasn't kidding! At his recommendation we ordered the chicken and spinach quesadillas and the beef fajitas. Both were absolutely delicious. The quesadilla was stuffed with big chunks of chicken, and the fresh spinach was just beginning to soften under the swathes of cotija and jack. The beef for the fajitas was perfectly cooked--medium rare--and the tortillas were literally hot off the press. They were being made just behind our table. We finished with the capirotada--a chocolate bread pudding served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream. The portions were definitely Texas-sized. We split these two meals and the dessert between three people and we were stuffed!

On the way home from Pappasito's we stopped to grab a few last minute ingredients for the holiday table and at the last minute I thought it would be fun to make a pie for dessert. Thanks to my mom for supplying the recipe as we drove to the market!

As we started home, we passed this sign for another Tex-Mex restaurant. I couldn't resist stopping to take a picture.

Once home, I got to work on the pie. We couldn't decide between the two Thanksgiving classics--should we make pumpkin pie? or pecan? What about one pie that combined the best of both?

The new Gourmet cookbook has a lovely recipe for a pie, with a creamy pumpkin layer hiding beneath a gooey pecan topping. The lemon zest in the pecan layer added an unusual but festive zing to the pie. After the traditional turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, dressing, and cranberry sauce we enjoyed a slice of the double-decker pie with cups of coffee.

I had been looking forward to warmer weather in Houston, but we must have brought Seattle's November with us. It was cold cold cold and windy, but absolutely clear and sunny. Kwesi and I took advantage and spent Thanksgiving morning just down the road at Brazos Bend State Park. I was surprised that it was open on the holiday, but it was a gorgeous day to explore. The park is known for its alligator population but they were hibernating under the mud. We did see plenty of hawks, a huge vulture and some water birds.

This is the view from the top of a lookout tower that was at the west side of Forty Acre Lake. After a short hike around the lake, and through the Hoot Hollow trail (seriously, who could resist?) we headed back to the house to the feast and family.

Three for the Road

One last picture with the delightful Nigella, courtesy my cousin Darby Vigus. My aunt Shirley is the lovely lady on the right.

She Oughta Be in Pictures!

It's midnight, post-Nigella, and all I can say is: wow. What a nice lady--and how gorgeous is she?

We had a lovely crowd at UBS to celebrate the release of Nigella Express. We had a little Rosemary Clooney to soothe the masses, and people snacked on the salmon, tomato salad and rocky road bars. They also sampled virgin "ginger pom" punch (equal parts gingerale and pomegranate juice, add pomegranate liquer if you're over 21).

As promised, Nigella answered a few questions, and then signed books for two hours before jumping on a plane. (Some answers to the pressing questions she addressed: oysters, a bowl of nuts and a glass of wine; Dickens' David Copperfield, Austen's Persuasion, Venetian chicken from How to Eat, preparing soup helps her get her thoughts in order before she sits down to write).

She was absolutely delightful, despite her hectic schedule. She's one class act!

Up to my eyeballs

This is already a great week! I was anticipating a food friendly moment tomorrow, when UBS hosts one of my favorite Food Network stars, Nigella Lawson.

But today I was surprised at the book store by Babbo's pastry chef, Gina de Palma! I love her cookbook so much that I have a little trouble keeping it to myself. (Check out the rave I gave it in my last post!) She stopped into the store to sign stock, and one of the intrepid booksellers remembered that I loved her book, and promptly called my desk to see if I wanted to say hi. Heck yeah! I gushed all over Gina and her book. It's a little embarrassing in retrospect, but hey, who doesn't love a fan?

I've been preparing for my next foodie favorite, Nigella, for some time now. About 9 months ago I was chatting with her publicist about the possibility of a Seattle tour. I put together a proposal and in their infinite kindness, her publishers are sending Nigella to town.

One fun offshoot of the event was a recipe contest that UBS ran in partnership with the Seattle Post Intelligencer. We asked readers to submit their favorite "express" recipes, in honor of Nigella's new book, Nigella Express. Teams from the book store tested and tasted recipes (tough gig, I know!) and we culled the submissions down to nine finalists. These were judged by three famous local foodies (the always delightful Tom Douglas; the man with the flakiest croissants in town, James Miller and Seattle PI food writer, Rebekah Denn). You can read more about the contest here.

Now that Nigella's event is drawing near, I have been cooking in preparation. I spent the weekend shopping for supplies--we're featuring some delicious treats from Nigella Express--and I spent today cooking. If you swing by the event tomorrow you'll be able to sample Mirin-glazed Salmon bites, "Moonblush" Tomatoes and Rocky Road Bars. I'll have pictures tomorrow, and will post as soon as I'm able.

Until then, I'm up to my eyeballs in foodie fun!

Tempus Fugit

Looking back over the posts on sweet/tart, you'll see that the most recent is dated from the beginning of July. It's shocking to realize that it's now mid-October. There are a few reasons for the gap: the planning of WizRockStock, the Harry Potter 7 party for UBS (check out the photos here), and the subsequent planning of our fall season (more info to be found here). I can assure you that even though I haven't been posting, nothing comes between me and my food.

Over the course of the last few months, I rediscovered a wonderful old friend of a recipe, the Coffee Coffee Cake. This cake was a top seller at A. van Slyck catering, the kitchen where I really learned how to bake. Its dense vanilla-scented pound cake is tempered with an intensely sharp espresso swirl. The lily is gilded with a crunchy sweet espresso glaze.

It has the added bonus of being a flexible recipe. One afternoon I was already deep into butter-creaming, and realized that I was out of the espresso required for the marbling (note to new bakers: there's a reason why you're supposed to get your mise en place ready before you begin). No worries though! I quickly mixed together some cocoa powder, a little brandy and sugar, and voila, we had a chocolate marble instead.

I have also had a fun couple of months exploring some delightful new cookbooks: Pure Flavor, the lovely collection from Kurt Dammeier (of Beecher's Cheese) includes the recipe for their crazy good mac & cheese, and challenges you to eat without additives.

Not to be confused, Pure Dessert is Alice Medrich's new dessert cookbook. It concentrates on specific "pure" flavors (like milk, fruit, grains) and offers recipes that showcase those flavors. Many of these recipes are deceptively simple: the whole wheat sables are basically the same to throw together as a classic sugar cookie, but they have a delicate nuttiness, and a lovely toothsome bite.

But my current favorite is the new dessert cookbook from Babbo's pastry chef, Gina de Palma.

Dolce Italiano is a fantastic book--its gorgeous color photos, Gina's personal stories, and the breadth of accessible recipes make this the book to buy for your baking fanatic friends this Christmas.

The zucchini-olive oil cake, with lemon crunch glaze is straightforward but quite pretty, and incredibly moist. It also keeps well, which is always great if you're baking for the week.

This morning, I've been baking the sesame cornmeal biscotti. These came together really quickly--it's a basic butter cookie batter--but the cornmeal adds a little tenderness, and the sesame give them a little crunch and an almost anise-like aroma. It's such a pleasure to discover a cookbook that delivers on all counts. The recipes actually work exactly as the say they should, and the results are absolutely delectable.

And finally, a little tart to even out all these sweets. The boyfriend and I were at some friends' for dinner last night, and after a lovely autumn meal of potato leek soup, Leigh and I experimented with some quince that she had on the counter. She had made some quince compote, and was planning on making quince paste with the remaining fruit. I was curious to see what it tasted like before cooking (I couldn't remember if I had ever had it raw). Leigh obliged, and we cut into one. It was amazing--lemony and floral and absolutely puckering!

We decided to juice the raw quince, and then strained and reduced the resulting juice with just a bit of sugar. We shook the quince syrup with a little vodka and white cranberry juice, and made a sort of quince cosmo. It had "Danger" written all over it, it was so good!

Next we're going to try making quince curd. Stay tuned!

Food for the Fourth

I was lucky enough to be invited to two parties celebrating Independence Day, good food and friends. The first was a pre-fourth barbeque at some friends of a friend. Neil and Nancy take their barbeque seriously, and served the most delicious ribs that had been slathered in dry rub and then smoked. A beautiful, chunky red sauce was served in bowls at the table. The rest of the spread was just as tasty. Sweet corn, just in season; deviled eggs; curried cauliflower with peas; and a classic potato salad rounded out the sides. And for dessert we indulged in an apple cream cheese tart, tres leche cake, honey brownies and the blueberry crostata that I brought. Using the Oscar Wilde motto, "Moderation in all things, including moderation," I tried everything!


I spent the fourth on a boat on Lake Union. We arrived early to share a meal with more friends. While we munched on fresh veggies and watermelon, Randy grilled gorgeous organic steaks on a small deck hibachi. He had gotten these from Better Meat Co. in Ballard. Wowee! Although mine was as big as my head, it was super tender and better for being simply dusted with salt and pepper before grilling. My pal Deborah made a spectacular heirloom tomato salad (with little fresh mozzarella balls and fresh basil), and we also enjoyed steamed asparagus dressed with an Asian vinaigrette and sesame seeds. Just before the fireworks, we served the angel food cake that I brought, topped with raspberries and blueberries and whipped cream. I am not ashamed to tell you that I ate two pieces of cake. It's angel food--that's almost health food, right?


Now for the recipes:

Blueberry Crostata (Adapted)
The blueberry crostata is based on a sour cherry crostata from the newish Gourmet cookbook. Another time I'll tell you just how much I love this cookbook! For now, here's the adapted recipe.


Ingredients:
For pastry
12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon zest

For filling
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
5 1/4 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen (unthawed) )
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. cold water
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. rosewater
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. coarse sugar for dusting
Equipment: 9" tart pan with removable bottom


Method:

Make the pastry:

• Using an electric mixer beat together butter and 1/3 c. sugar until pale and fluffy. Reserve about 1 Tbsp. of beaten egg in the refrigerator for egg wash, then beat remaining egg into butter mixture. Add vanilla. Reduce speed to low and slowly add flour, salt and lemon zest. Mix until batter just forms a rough dough.
• Divide dough into two parts and form each part into a 5-6" disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Make the filling:

• Heat butter in 12" skillet until foam subsides. Add blueberries, any juices, sugar and bring to a simmer. Simmer, while stirring until sugar is dissolved and blueberries release their juices and are tender (about 6-7 minutes). Stir together water and cornstarch into a smooth paste, then stir into simmering filling. Be sure to continue stirring gently, while you add the paste or it will clump. Continue stirring and simmer the filling another 2 minutes to thicken.
• Remove the filling from the heat and stir in the rosewater and cinnamon.
• Cool filling by spreading it in a shallow pan and refrigerating
  

Assemble and bake:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with foil. Place in the center of the middle rack of the pre-heating oven.
• Roll out one disc of pastry (while keeping the other chilled) between two sheets of wax paper. Remove one piece of wax paper and flip the pastry side down into the 9" tart pan. Remove other piece of wax paper. Trim excess pastry, leaving a 1/2" overhang. Fold overhang into pan and press into sides (to reinforce the sides). Roll your rolling pin over the top of the pan to remove excess pastry and give it a uniform top. Chill.
• Using the same method, roll out remaining disc of pastry. Remove top piece of wax paper and cut pastry into ten 1" strips. Slide marked pastry onto baking sheet and chill.
• Spread filling in tart shell. Arrange 5 strips of pastry spaced evenly across top of filling. Arrange the other 5 strips at a slight diagonal to form a diamond lattice pattern. Press the strips into the sides and trim strips flush with the sides of the pan. Brush the lattice work with your reserved egg wash, and sprinkle with 1Tbsp. coarse sugar.
• Bake crostata on hot baking sheet until pastry is golden and filling bubbles through lattice (about 50 minutes). If pastry browns too quickly, use a pie shield or cover loosely with foil.
• Cool the crostata completely before serving. It is delicious with ice cream or whipped cream.

Basic Angel Food Cake (Adapted)
The angel food cake is adapted from another of my favorite cookbooks, The Joy of Cooking. This is a great, all-purpse cookbook to have on hand. As I do in a lot of recipes, I've substituted some whole wheat pastry flour for some of the all purpose white flour. Some say you shouldn't try this with foam cakes (chiffon and angel food) but I still find the cake tender and light.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

12 large egg whites (reserve yolks for brioche or custard--yum!)

1 Tbsp. water

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. sugar

Equipment: 9 or 10" tube pan

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flours, sugar and salt three times. Set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, gently mix the wet ingredients for about 1 minute. Increase the speed of the mixer to medium (not high) and beat until the mixture increases in volume 4-5 times, and looks like soft foam with tiny bubbles. The foam will hold a soft shape when you lift beaters.
• Gradually beat in the remaining 3/4 c. sugar, adding it 1 Tbsp. at a time. This should take 2-3 minutes. When all of the sugar is added, the foam will be creamy white and will hold a soft, glossy peak that bends slightly at the top. Do not beat until the whites are dry!
• Transfer the foam to a large, deep mixing bowl (4-6 quarts is about right) and sift about 1/8th of the reserved dry mixture over the top. Gently fold in the flour until it is almost incorporated into the foam. Repeat the sifting 7 more times, always gently folding the dry into the foam. Don't stir or mix. In fact, use about half the strength you think you should. When the last of the dry has been incorporated, there should be no visible trace of the flour.

Pour this batter into the tube pan and gently spread to level the top. Just look at how luscious this batter is!

• Bake about 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 1 1/2 hours. It's easiest to do this by balancing the pan on 4 glasses.

When it's time to serve, slide a knife or icing spatula around the edge of the cake, pressing it into the pan so you don't cut the cake. Repeat around the edge of the center tube. Place a plate over the top of the cake and pan. Turn the whole shebang upside down and gently tap on the counter. The cake should release from the pan onto the plate.

• I served this with mixed berries that I macerated in a little brown sugar and vanilla. When the berries are this fresh and in season, be sure and start with less sugar than you might think, and add to taste.

Oxbow's Newest Farmer

On Sunday, the boyfriend and I met our friend Julia (and her dog Calvin) at the Ballard Farmers' Market. We were running late, and I was feeling a tad bit on the wrong side of cranky.

As we wound our way through the crowded street, I was looking for my favorite berry stall. But sadly, Jessie was no where to be found. The farmers had begun to pack up, in anticipation of their 3pm close, and I was starting to worry that I wouldn't have time to get my weekly market fix. After a quick, but medicinal cup of coffee from Cugini, and one of those delicious rolls from Tall Grass (you know, the ones with the raisins) I was on my way to see my very favorite farmers (in fact, I often take ownership and call them "my farmers"): Luke and Sarah from Oxbow Farms.

I've been buying their gorgeous veggies and fruit for the last four years or so. And one Sunday, last summer, I even stood in as a cashier, when Luke ran to grab a bite to eat. This last Sunday their tables were almost empty (they're not just my favorites, clearly!) but I was delighted to see that Sarah had brought Oxbow's newest farmer, their 7 month old daughter Pearl! I hadn't had a chance to meet Pearl, and it had been almost a year since I had seen Sarah; she doesn't always make it to the Sunday market. This beautiful little girl was just the pick-me-up that I needed! After grabbing some beefy red beets, my mood was restored and I set about gleaning what I could from the remaining farm stands.

Speaking of gleaning, another of my favorite stands is Jeremy Faber's Foraged and Found Edibles. Jeremy provides wild and foraged produce for area restaurants (Sitka & Spruce notably) and for several Seattle farmers' markets. I picked up a quarter of a pound of beautiful morels that I plan on sauteing with a little sweet onion for individual pizzas later this week. And just wait until he brings in his next haul of wild huckleberries. oh, the pies I'll make!

I can't tell you how much I enjoy this weekly opportunity to connect with the people who nourish me. The trip to the market provides almost as much fuel as the stuff I bring home!