Butter Pecan Cake...Trying out some Southern Living on a Cold Winter Sunday

The baked good of the week is a butter pecan cake from a recipe I found on Southern Living. What's a girl from New England doing scouting for recipes on Southern Living? Perhaps, I was trying to live vicariously through my food. It did after all snow over a foot a few days ago!

This cake is fantastic. I mean really, really fantastic. I have made a few cakes that follow this same style of recipe with amazing results each time. The cake starts the same way as typical, with creaming butter and sugar. But then, the eggs are separated and only the yokes are beaten into the batter at this stage. The recipe uses cake flour and buttermilk, which are added alternately as usual. But, there are two major differences in this method of cake. The first is that before the flour and buttermilk are added, melted white chocolate is added to the batter. The other variation is that the egg whites that were separated earlier are beaten to stiff peaks and folded in just before the batter is poured into the cake pans. These two simple steps really make for a superior cake. It's moister and lighter than your average cake. A good note here is that although it's a lot of arm work I whisk the egg whites to peaks rather than moving the batter to another bowl, cleaning the kitchenaid bowl and then beating the eggs. If you have a spare kitchenaid bowl or a hand mixer, go ahead and save your arms.

The frosting on this cake starts with toasting chopped pecans in butter.

Toasting the pecans...

This is added to cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar that has been beaten together. Don't skip the chilling of this frosting. Its very important, because otherwise frosting the cake will be very difficult and likely rip the cake. I thought the frosting was very good, but a part of me thought it could be better. In fact, I think I'll make this cake again, but instead substitute a caramel pecan frosting. I just think it'll suit the cake better.

Cakes cooling

Yum!

Three tiers for this cake and a little southern living in NYC.

On the last day of the Olympics...A tribute to Grandma and Canada

I love the Olympics! And, with Canada as the host country, I'm reminded of my Grandma, who in her old age loved nothing more then to lock eyes and serenade you with the entire "Oh Canada" in french (this is not a short song and she wouldn't let you look away!). My Grandma also claimed that despite her 4'10, rotund stature she could have been an Olympic ice skater had it not been for that one time she fell on the ice as a child. Okay, I know I'm not one to poke fun here since I have claimed to anyone that would listen that USA would've won gold this year had I been on the curling team. But anyway, the story here is that in honor of her and Canada I made tourtiere this weekend. What, you say? Translation - pork pie!!!

The final product - Just in time for the Olympic Closing Ceremony

My entire family looked forward to the few times a year that my grandma would make pork pies. If I had to pick one food from my childhood that I loved the most, this would be it. Now, there are conflicting opinions here on the best way to eat a pork pie. I prefer it cold with a layer of ketchup on top, my aunt swears by a hot pork pie, and some of my relatives scoff at the amount of ketchup I smear on my slice. Whatever way you slice it, it's my definition of comfort food. Who knows...maybe it's the reason that I worship all things pork.

The recipe couldn't be easier, but the process is time consuming. The hardest part is making the pie crust and if you skip the homemade crust and go with store bought you've got it made. If you're looking for a pie crust recipe, I've had success with this all butter Martha Stewart one (she also has a good step by step rundown of the whole rolling process that you can search for on her website).

Some people put more spices (such as cloves) or potatoes in their tourtiere. This version is very plain, but it's what I grew up with and what I love. You HAVE to use pork shoulder...no other pork cut will suffice, because it won't have the proper fat content. Most butchers will grind pork shoulder fresh for you. Sometimes, I substitute 1/2lb ground veal for 1/2lb of the pork , which produces a little bit richer of a flavor and is worth the extra cost if available. If you have leftover pork after making two pies, this is cause for celebration. Get a piece of wonderbread and make yourself what just might become your new favorite sandwich. We actually used to cross our fingers that there would be leftovers!


Pork Pie Recipe
Makes 2 pies
(You can freeze one...bake it, cool completely, then wrap tightly in aluminum foil and freeze. When you're ready to eat it, defrost it completely and bake it for about 30 minutes at 350 or until warm in the center).

• 3-1/2 lbs of ground pork shoulder or 3lbs ground pork shoulder and 1/2lb ground veal
• 1 large onion finely diced
• 1 stalk of celery finely diced
• 1-2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• water to cover meat

Once you chop up the onion and the celery, mix them and the salt and pepper with the meat. Put this in a large pot and just cover with water. For this amount of meat this is usually about 1-2 cups of water but could be more depending on your meat.

I know this looks rather gross, but I wanted to show you how much water to put in. And I promise, it looks better when its done

Stir in bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir well. Add more water if necessary. Cover and turn down to low. Simmer for 3-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally (once the pork is brown, taste to see if it needs any more salt and pepper). Take out the bay leaves and chill for about 20-30 minutes.

See, I told you it looks better!

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a slotted spoon, fill the first pie crust with some of the pork (don't strain out all the moisture as you put the pork in the crust, because you want the pork to retain some of the moisture. But don't include too much liquid in the pie).

Filled pie before top crust is added

Brush the edge of the bottom crust with egg wash so that you can form a seal with the top crust. Put the top crust on and seal the edges with a fork. Cut three vents in the top of the pie crust.

Bake for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes until the pie crust is completely cooked and is nicely browned. Serve hot or cold with ketchup.

Pork Pie My Way

Us Fourniers might only dream of having the athleticism worthy of an Olympic medal, but this pie is certainly a contender for gold. Oh Canada!

Snow Day!

When Uncle George gives me the day off because the city gets a foot of snow, how do I celebrate? With a plate of something fried of course! Now that a fry daddy calls my appliance cabinet home, I've been trying to make him feel useful. So, I figured it was time Mr fry daddy tried his hand at one of my favorite genres of fried foods...donuts. It should come as no surprise to you that as a kid growing up in a waspy suburban New England town, I did not eat a ton of Mexican food. With that in mind, you'll excuse the fact that my introduction to the churro was in Disney World's frontier land. After my sisters and I had our first churro, having one became as much a mission of each Disney trip as riding Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean as many times as our parents could endure.

When I read some churro recipes, I was surprised to find how much they had in common with pate a choux dough (you know that dough that's responsible for cream puffs and profiteroles). Why such shock? Because pate a choux is a pretty eggy dough and I've always thought of churros as a rich dough but it never occurred to me that eggs were the culprit. It was with great trepidation that I began making this dough, because I'm very picky about eggy tasting things (chief among them being souffles and omelets).

I predominantly used this recipe from food network's website. I did add a good dash of cinnamon and nutmeg to the dough with the flour to add a bit of flavor to the dough. While I made the dough, I heated canola oil in the fry daddy. By the time the dough was ready, the oil was up to 360 and ready to fry. For the dough, you melt butter and water in a pot over high heat and then stir in flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg over a low flame until the dough dries out a bit and forms a ball. I let the dough cool for a few minutes, because my eggs were straight from the fridge and I wanted to eat churros not scrambled eggs.

Dough ball after flour addition

I stirred in the 3 eggs until they were fully incorporated and then I used a large star tip in a pastry bag to pipe the dough into the hot oil. My churros didn't come out in nice long strips like tradition churros, but I kind of liked the odd shapes (see picture below!). The recipe says about 2 minutes frying per side, but I found that mine took closer to 3 minutes a side. As soon as they were done frying I drained them on paper towels, pipped new churros into the oil, and by that time the first batch was cool enough to toss in the cinnamon sugar.

The end result was good (I would say 3 stars out of 5), but sadly not the oddly amazing churros from Disney and no where close to the homemade churros sold in the NYC subway. As I was afraid of, they were a little more eggy then I would have liked, but the texture was spot on. These were so easy to make though that I'm going to keep at it until I recreate the perfect churro! I'd be lying if I didn't admit that before my next batch of churros I'm going to try something more appropriate for a French Canadian to master...beignets!

I Heart Churros

Let it Snow!

Pistachio Baklava with Orange Cardamom Syrup...

I've wanted to try making baklava for a very long time, but there has always been something stopping me. Some part of me was convinced that whatever I created would just never live up to that amazing first bite of baklava that I had as a kid. I mean, how could I replicate this baffling combination of sugary honey syrup with soft yet crisp layers of pastry and two separate layers of chopped, spiced nuts? Before my first baklava, all the sweet things I had fell into the basic categories of cookies, pies, cakes, brownies, and candy. But where in this spectrum does baklava even fall? It's sweet enough to be candy and is heavy on the pastry front, but neither category really does it justice. Seriously, some things are just magic and I'm no magician.

So you can only imagine that when I read bon appetit's february issue in which orangette conquers her own personal fear of baklava, I knew it was time for me to overcome mine as well.

Sadly, the outcome wasn't the baklava I first fell in love with as a child. Thats not to say it wasn't delicious, but rather that it had a farely pronounced orange flavor rather than the more traditional honey-ish flavor. At first, I only thought it okay and felt a bit let down. However, this orange flavor mellowed and became much better after a few days and the cardamom flavor was the perfect spice combo. When it was all gone, I would be lying if I said I wasn't very sad that my baklava fest was over. Honestly, it became rather addictive. I much preferred this served cold from the fridge, because for some reason the flavors were more in proportion. The reviews from friends and family were overwhelmingly positive and there were many requests for more baklava, which were ignored as I protected my private baklava stash in the back of the fridge.

Some notes on the recipe - I think the amount of syrup in the recipe produced the ideal balance of soft and crisp pastry, but I needed a bit more butter (about 3 tbsp) than the recipe called for to spread on the layers.

Now that I know I can produce some pretty good baklava, I plan on searching for a more traditional honey flavored baklava recipe. But this is a nice, addictive twist on baklava that I'm pretty sure I'll crave within the next few months.

Don't be a turkey, make some baklava

A Lobster By Any Other Name wouldn't taste as sweet

I've never understood people who insist on naming lobsters before throwing them screaming into a pot of boiling water (even those of you who name them after people you hate...they're not voodoo dolls). Okay, okay...I'll admit that as a child growing up in Rhode Island we held races with George and Fred across our kitchen floor, before they made the ultimate sacrifice for the betterment of my parents' lives (my immature palate had no taste for crustaceans at that time). Flash forward 20 years to me staring at the lobsters I was about to throw into a pot this weekend...I'd be lying if I said I was calm, cool and collected or had any desire to see these guys racing across my kitchen (maybe those of you with the voodoo lobsters are onto something). "They" kept following my every move with their sad, lobster eyes. So, a moment of silence for George, Fred, and their fallen kin that I refused to name. Your sacrifice is appreciated. Oh and all of you that are just as worried as I was, you'll be interested to know that because lobsters don't have brains they supposedly don't feel pain. If you don't believe that, then perhaps knowing that the outcome is worth the momentary panic will suffice.

Lobster #2. See...even in this picture his eyes follow you as you move...spooky I know

My inspiration for this weekend's lobster fest was the gorgeous looking lobsters in the tank at Eli's at the Vinegar Factory on the UES. After seeing the lobsters last weekend, I decided that I would attempt to cook a lobster for myself. Those of you in the city, I highly recommend the lobsters at Eli's. The second the seafood counter man lifted the lobsters from the tank they flipped their tails wildly (a good sign that the lobsters are fresh).

After a lot of research into how best to cook a lobster, I decided that I would adapt Thomas Keller's method of cooking them in a quick, homemade broth (from Ad Hoc at Home), changing the broth ingredients to my taste. Then, I made a homemade, herbed mayonnaise and bought some buns. See where I'm going here folks? That's right, a lobster roll (I would've preferred on a hot dog bun, but the ones at my grocery looked too hard, so I went with a regular potato bun).


Whats a lobster roll without a side of fries? I had yet to try out the new fry daddy that my sister bought me for christmas and figured it was about time. To give the fries my own little flair, I went with sweet potatoes fries.


Broth and Cooking the Lobsters...


For the broth, I placed the veggies I cut up in a large stock pot (about 3-4 peeled carrots, 3 cleaned leeks, 1 stalk of celery, and 1 vidalia onion). I added to this 2 smashed garlic cloves, 1 bay leaf, 3 parsley stems, a couple sprigs of thyme, some tarragon, 10 whole black peppercorns, and about 14 cups of water. I boiled this and added 2 cups of sauvignon blanc, the juice of 1 lemon and the lemon halves, a tbsp of dijon mustard, and a little less than a cup of white wine vinegar. Once this came to a boil, I threw lobster #1 in and put the lid on the pot. I boiled it for about 1 minute with the lid on, and then I took the pot off the heat and let it steep 10 minutes. I pulled it out of the pot and let it sit until it was cool enough to remove the meat. There are a lot of really great websites on how to remove lobster meat from the shell, so I won't give you the whole run down here. I will tell you that it's messy, which shouldn't be a suprise given that they have bibs named after them. I thought that this amount of cooking time worked well and resulted in a nice, tender lobster meat texture. After I removed it from the shell, I chopped it and put it in the fridge to chill.

Homemade Mayo

Those of you that have never made a homemade mayonnaise, I have to tell you its really the way to go. It takes about 2 minutes to make and you can season it the way you like it. When I make it, I make a small batch. Start with one egg yolk, add a spoonful of strong dijon mustard, a good squeeze of lemon, salt, pepper, and about a tsp of white wine vinegar. Then slowly whisk in canola oil. The amount of canola oil will depend, but should be around 100-200ml. As you whisk it in, you'll see the mixture become more like a mayo. When you feel that its the right consistency, stop adding the oil and taste the mayo to see if the seasoning is what you like. At this point, I often add chopped fresh herbs - parsley, thyme, tarragon, chive...basically, whatever you like/have at home.

Sweet Potato Fries

The best way to cook regular size fries is the double fry method. The first fry is at 325-350 degrees for about 4-5 minutes (make sure your fries are dry when you put them in the fryer). After you pat these dry on a few layers of paper towels, heat the oil up to 390 and fry them about 2 minutes until they're brown and crispy. Drain them on a few layers of paper towels and season immediately. To go with a lobster roll, I opted for a mixture of salt, old bay, and a pinch of sugar.



Putting it all together

When the lobster was completely chilled, I mixed in the serving size I wanted for a sandwich with enough mayo to coat. I diced up some red onion and celery and mixed it altogether with a squeeze of lime, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a pinch of celery salt. After the fries were done, I toasted the roll, spread a little bit of butter on it, and spooned the lobster salad on top.

With fingers crossed, I took my first bite. Would all that hard work pay off? Thank goodness it did, and then some! The lobster was perfectly tender with a nice sweet taste, the crunch of the celery and red onion was just what was needed for a texture variation, and the herbed mayo and hint of lime made for a simple, tasty salad. Oh and the fries...I think that the sugar may just be the winning secret ingredient here. These were unbelievably good. I ate every last one of them and plan on making sweet potato fries like this time and time again!

Roll with me,