An Update Finally - Part II (Christmas Feasts)

So this year, we tried a few new recipes over the Christmas holiday. A lot of them were big successes. I decided to share my three favorites with you all.

On Christmas, we made a crown roast of pork. I brined the pork in cider, water, salt and a little bit of sugar overnight and then pretty much followed the recipe for the rest of it. I really loved this, as did my dad. The stuffing needed a good deal more broth than was called for and I did cook some of it separately from the pork. I also cooked the onions with a bit more butter than the recipe called for because I love buttery onions. The only thing was that the sauce ended up pretty salty so I added a lot more broth and some water and let it reduce to dilute some of the salt. I think part of the problem was that the broth I used had a good deal of salt in it to begin with. So I'd be careful and make sure you taste the sauce as you're cooking it to make sure the seasoning is correct.

The Crowning Glory of the Christmas Table

The other fabulous addition that we'll likely make again and well we even made twice during the christmas week was pureed carrot and parsnips. This was such a simple side and it was really delicious.

My other favorite dish of the week was the salt crusted baked salmon. I can't even begin to describe how moist this fish was. Mom got an 8lb salmon that was caught the morning she bought it. Cooking the fish this way was really cool. I would definitely like to make fish this way again.

I seasoned the inside of the fish with some toasted spices (I actually would try different spices next time as I don't love coriander). As the fish bakes, the salt mixture hardens. Once the fish reached the required temperature for doneness, I took it out of the oven and then with the handle of a sharpening steel I smashed the crust. It took a good deal of force to break through the crust. The cool thing is that the salt took a good deal of the salmon bones out. This was a huge hit with the family. With the leftovers we made some fantastic salmon cakes as well.

Whole salmon baked in Salt

Both of these entree recipes and the parsnip and carrot puree are worthy of special occasions. They certainly made our holidays tastier!

Chocolate Pop Tart Pie...

I am totally embracing this new pie trend that is growing at an exponential rate. I mean how can you not? Now I realize that given the time of year I should be embracing fruit pies, but how can I resist a chocolate pie. HOW? And in all fairness, I did make that strawberry pie not too long ago. But I blame this chocolate thing 100% on the slice of Mississippi Mud Pie from the Little Pie Company (I also had the Sour Cream Apple pie - both were amazing and I would totally recommend them if you're in that neighborhood). In my absolute need to make things that I've had and loved, I made the Mississippi Mud Pie from Cooking Light. I knew there wasn't a chance that this would be as indulgent as the little pie co, but I knew it would make a nice lighter substitute.

It's a pretty easy pie to make. The crust comes together in the food processor in a few minutes and then rests for about 30 minutes. It's also really easy to work with/roll out.

Once you get that in the pie plate, the filling is also a piece of cake (okay pie). The hardest part about the filling is beating the egg whites to soft peaks and well your trusty kitchenaid can handle that task!

So how was it? Well the first bite reminded me of something very familar. Finally, by bite 3, I knew...this pie tasted exactly like a chocolate frosted pop tart. How could I not love it? In homage to my beloved pop tarts, I've stuck this in the toaster oven before having it as my lunch dessert. What absolute bliss - I get a pie and a pop-tart in one!



I hope this pops up on your table sometime soon.

An answer to my Salty Friends

I love my friends. But sometimes, just sometimes, I wish I could change them a little bit. The thing that bothers me the most about a lot of my friends is that they don't have the same love (okay obsession) as I do with all things sugar. I try my best to sway them over to the sweet side...sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail. But no matter what, I keep trying to beat out the more salty snacks. So when I was debating what I should make to bring for my first weekend at my Newport summer house, I knew I hit gold when I came across a recipe for caramel popcorn in the style of cracker jacks. A lot of recipes I saw for caramel corn used corn syrup, which I wanted to avoid. I really liked that this recipe used a real caramel with sugar, water, and butter.

I tweaked the recipe a little bit, because I wanted a sweeter rather than spicy caramel corn. My tweaking involved adding just a bit over 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and decreasing the cayenne to a little pinch with the baking soda. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. A half cup of popcorn pops up to a good volume, so make sure the pot you make it in is large enough to accomodate it (mine was just barely big enough and the lid was lifted up by the popped corn!). I mixed in the peanuts to the popcorn and began the caramel.

So exciting that it popped right over the sides of the pot!

Once the caramel was an amber color, I mixed in the baking soda and spices, poured it over the corn and peanuts, and then gave it a good mix before spreading it on silpats that I had set up in two sheet pans. I like using my silpat for this type of work, because its a good non-stick surface.

The caramel popcorn cooling on the silpat

Let's hope that this combo salty-sweet snack has my friends leaning towards the sweet side! Well that is if the popcorn makes it up to the house. Since it popped, I haven't been able to stop popping bites!

Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks!

Maybe my friends aren't so bad after all!

My New Science Project

The last time I went with my parents to Costco I was browsing the aisles and came across the most amazing deal. Two huge test tubes of vanilla beans with 6 beans in each (yes, I'm such a huge nerd that vanilla beans make me pause and think everything is right in the world). Right there, in the middle of Costco I had an epiphany...it was a sign from the baking gods. I had to start making my own homemade vanilla extract. I had heard about it from various chefs that I've met who never use any commercially made extract and have always meant to give it a whirl myself. Since that fateful Costco trip, I've been dragging my feet and for no reason didn't immediately make my precious extract. So when I noted that the amount of vanilla extract I had left in my pantry was only enough for a few more baked goods, I decided it was far past time to get this vanilla flavor extracting.

You're not going to believe how easy it is when I tell you how to make your own vanilla. Here's what you need:

-2 cups rum, brandy, or vodka (I used dark rum because I always have dark rum on hand and I like Mexican vanilla extract, which is rum-based)

-6 vanilla beans

-a mason jar with a tight fitting lid (I used a ball mason jar that I picked up at my local hardware store)

All you have to do is put the clean mason jar in boiling water for about 10 minutes to sterilize it. Then completely dry the jar. Split each vanilla bean open and leave the seeds inside. Place the alcohol of your choice in your mason jar, place your vanilla beans inside making sure they're completely submerged, and seal the jar. Shake up the jar and store in a dark place. Shake a couple times a week or whenever it occurs to you. The extract will be ready to use in 8 weeks time. I'm counting down the days. I have to say though...It definitely looks like one of those creepy filled jars you see at a haunted house.

I wasn't kidding - It really does look like some crazy science experiment!

It's a very easy project and I can't help but imagine that it'll be more than worth the effort. Don't worry...in 8 weeks time I'll tell you all about the maiden voyage of my homemade vanilla. I'll also try and remember to post pictures of the process.

I know, I know...vanilla and rum! I can't believe that I didn't make this sooner. I believe allfofood just got a bit more flavorful!

Strawberry Almond Cream Pie

I'm 100% convinced that pies are the next big thing. Seriously, I am sure they're going to be the new cupcake. That coupled with the fantastic looking strawberries at my grocery store this weekend led me to make this recipe for Strawberry Almond Cream pie for the baked good of the week.

This pie was easy to make and came together pretty quickly. I substituted cinnamon graham crackers in the crust...do I even have to explain why?! While I baked the crust, I made the strawberry puree (I made the puree before the cream cheese mixture so it would have more time to cool down before I put the pie together). The recipe makes more puree then needed for the pie. So, I've been eating it with my yogurt this week.

Strawberry puree sauce

The almond cream cheese mixture was a piece of cake (okay a slice of pie) to mix together. I loved the combination of the cinnamon graham crackers, strawberries, and almond cream cheese. This pie made for a really nice summery dessert. The only thing I will say is that the crust gets a little soggy after a few days. So, its best to eat the pie within a few days. I know, I know...that's so tough.

Yum...Summer

See for yourself if I'm right...I promise you you'll be proclaiming pie the new cupcake after trying this Strawberry Almond Cream Pie.

Scotcheroo...Woohoo...

I've been making these scotcheroos since last year when I first saw them...I'm sorry, there's no excuse for my not telling you about them before. They are possibly one of the most delightful, sweet snacks I make. Let's call a spade a spade...these are basically grown up rice crispie treats. They make a fabulous summer snack that I love to make and bring to my shore house (it sort of makes us all act even more like we're kids...as if we need any help). Everyone loves them...even my friends that are not huge sweets people delve into them.

Bar #1

These are a very easy treat to make (N.B. I go the light corn syrup route) and don't require any oven time, which is a huge relief in the hot summer months. Plus, who doesn't love nutella, cocoa crispies, peanut butter, chocolate and butterscotch chips? I usually mix up a quick batch put them in the pan and let them cool in the fridge for an hour before I cut them into bars. Honest to goodness, make these...you will be hopscotching all over the place.

A toast to Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies...

I don't know what inspired me to make these cookies. I guess I just wanted a quick, easy treat for the week that wasn't super terrible for me. Since I started culinary school, I haven't been able to do my Sunday baking. The problem is that I still like to have a baked good everyday...you just can't cold turkey on addictions people. I really miss my baked goods (although the limited edition coconut M&Ms have made my predicament a bit more tolerable).



So in my despair, I came across this recipe for Toasted coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies in Cooking Light. The picture in Cooking Light did no justice to this cookie - in the magazine they looked dry. So, again I have no idea what made me make them (maybe I was thinking of the coconut m&ms?). Regardless, I'm really pleased that I didn't let the picture fool me. I mean were these the absolute best cookies I've ever had? No, but they're definitely a cookie I'll make again. And they're very enjoyable for a different little take on a chocolate chip cookie. You begin by toasting the coconut...which smells amazing. Then, its pretty much your typical cream the butter and the sugar and add eggs and flour and leaveners. I really thought from the picture that these were going to come out a bit too crispy but to my delight they were soft with a pleasant little hint of coconut. I will say that I cooked them for 8-9 minutes, because I feared a dry cookie. I also used regular chocolate chips because thats what I had!

mmm...cookies

Not a bad little cookie to satisfy a baked good craving

The Fo Ssam - A Tribute in Dinner Party Form - Worshipping at the Altar of Pork and Chang

Oh boy...I realize as I write this that I never posted about eating the Bo Ssam at Momofuku. Weird. If you read this, you know that I not only love pork, but I love Chef Chang. So, the fact that I neglected to lay praise on both something pork and David Chang is rather extraordinary! Thus, you probably need some sort of evidence that I loved the Bo Ssam. Therefore, I present to you my tribute - "The Fo Ssam Dinner Party"I'm not going to sugar coat it (although I do love coating things in sugar) and tell you dinner parties are a piece of cake, because frankly they're not. But, I love hosting them and find all the work well worth the effort. The good thing about this menu is that most of it can be made in advance and the main event cooks itself without asking for much attention.

Appetizers:

Because I love nothing more than to start with a prosecco or champagne, Karen and I mixed up a pomegranate prosecco cocktail from Cooking Light. This was easy to make, quite delicious, and a nice way to welcome guests and get them in a festive mood.

Dates wrapped in bacon are a great appetizer and easy to make, but they made my place a bit smokey. Oh and I would recommend that unlike me, you use tongs to remove them from the pan rather than burning your fingertip in bacon grease. I wrapped the dates a few hours before the party, so I could just throw them in the oven when people arrived. To make dates wrapped in bacon, buy pitted dates, bacon, and toothpicks. Cut a slice of bacon in half and wrap it around a date and secure it with a toothpick. Heat the oven to 400 or 425 and put the dates on a aluminum foil lined baking sheet in the oven for about 6-7 minutes, then flip them to crisp the bacon on the other side and cook for another 6 or 7 minutes until the bacon is crisped to your liking. Make sure you don't crowd the pan too much with the dates, otherwise the pan will fill up with too much grease and the bacon won't crisp as well. Drain the dates on paper towels and cool for a couple of minutes. The salty, crisp bacon and soft, sweet dates are a match made in heaven and a great kick-off to a party.

"Devils on Horseback" - Though I see no evil in these

My sister picked up some cheeses - an aged gouda and two cheeses that feature truffles. My family pretty much doesn't have a meal without having some cheese and crackers first. And if I had to bet on it, I would put down $100 that my parents have an aged gouda in their fridge as you read this.


I make nuts pretty much everytime I have people over...mostly because they're really easy to make and always manage to wow people. For the Fo Ssam, I made two types of nuts. The first were candied walnuts and pecans - take one egg white and beat it a bit until its frothy, add a tbsp of water, then add about a pound of nuts, and then you can pretty much add whatever you want. If you want candied sweet nuts, add 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2/3 cup of white sugar, a tsp salt, a pinch of cayenne, a tsp of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg. If you want to make more savory nuts, add a few tbsps of brown sugar, some rosemary, thyme, salt, and a pinch of cayenne (I've done garam masala also and this turns out nicely). Put the nut mixture on a baking sheet lined with aluminum and bake at 300 for about 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. Remove and let cool, stirring occasionally to separate the nuts.



The other nuts I made are inspired by Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn and their maple bacon almonds. I make mine differently with the same sort of principal - maple, bacon, and nuts. My best friend and I love these so much and have dubbed them Breakfast nuts. The recipe is as follows:



Fo's Breakfast Nuts:

• 1 lb nuts - I use mostly pecans with some walnuts
• 1/2lb bacon
• 1/2 c REAL maple syrup
• 1 tbsp mustard powder
• 1-2 tbsp brown sugar
• pinch cayenne

1. Using kitchen shears cut bacon into 3/4 inch size pieces. Cook bacon in large skillet until its crispy.
2. Heat oven to 300
3. Add the nuts to the pan of bacon and stir (don't drain the bacon grease!). Add remaining ingredients
4. Pour the mixture onto an aluminum lined baking sheet and cook in oven for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the nuts are done it'll look sugary and bubbly. Let cool and stir occasionally.

Main:

I made kimchi the weekend before the Fo Ssam. I found most of the ingredients at the Asian market M2M on the east side (including the salt shrimp in the refrigerator section), but I was an idiot and forgot the korean chile powder. So, I used american chile powder and learned the hard way that wasn't the best substitute in the world. The "fo" kimchi was a bastardized version, but there was something addictive about it in a non-kimchi way. It was saltier and smokier tasting. Oh well, next time I'll remember the korean chile powder!

I also made the buns the weekend before and froze them. I had made the buns previously when I made Chang's pork belly buns at home (so delicious and another recipe worth trying out). These aren't hard to make, but they are time consuming. Chang actually outsources these instead of making them at his restaurants. I find bread making therapeutic and I LOVE the taste of these homemade buns so much that I don't mind making them in the slightest. They taste a lot like soft white bread and you can wrap pretty much anything in them. The buns cook by being steamed, and its easiest if you have a bamboo steamer because its flat and large enough to steam a few at a time. Once made, I cool the buns and freeze them in ziploc bags. The recipe makes 50, which is a lot more then you'll need for the dinner party and might just be the incentive you need to make the pork belly buns sometime soon! Individually, the buns heat in 30 seconds in the microwave, but when you're thawing a lot at a time it takes a bit longer.

50 little buns rising on my counter

For the 8lb bone-in pork shoulder, I went to Agata & Valentina on the UES, which provided me with a truly beautiful pork shoulder. I also bought a cheap 4.5lb pork shoulder in an experiment of high level butcher vs regular grocery. That, and because I was slightly afraid that my 8 guests would plow through 8lbs in 8 minutes. The price difference between Agata and my regular grocer was about $3.50 a pound but the results were overwhelmingly in favor of the more expensive Berkshire pork from Agata.


Now, my obsession with David Chang has nothing on Martha Stewart's adoration. You can find the full recipe for the Bo Ssam and the sauces on her website. As per the recipe, I rubbed the pork the night before with the sugar and salt mixture and let it sit in the fridge. I also made the scallion ginger sauce and the Ssam sauce that night. These are both very easy to make and well worth it. I made double of both and we ended up using all of each! The ssam sauce is a vinagary chile sauce that goes really nicely with the pork. I added a bit more soy sauce to my scallion ginger sauce and a dash of sesame oil and hot sauce.

Two Little Piggies covered in salt and sugar

The next morning I put the pork in around 10:45 to slow roast for 6 hours. As per the recipe, I meticulously basted it in its own juices every hour it slow roasted. I can't begin to describe to you how delicious my apartment and frankly my entire building smelled from this masterpiece. After it was done, I tented it with foil, and when the guests arrived I rubbed it with the brown sugar mixture and finished it in the oven. My pork only took about 10 minutes for this final step, though the recipe suggests longer.

The Pork Masterpiece...I know - You stopped reading and you're on your way to Agata to get a 8lb pork shoulder

I have to tell you the pork tasted heavenly. It was moist, delicious, sweet and salty. I seriously couldn't have been happier with how it tasted. When put on a bun and topped with ssam or scallion sauce and rice, it made me wonder why I don't do this every Sunday! The smaller pork was a bit on the saltier side and a little less moist, so I would highly recommend making an 8lb one and "splurging" on the pork (pork shoulder is cheap even good pork shoulder is only about $5 a lb).

As a side, we also had rice. To make is as easy as possible, I made the rice in a rice cooker just as people arrived. That way, I could just start it and let it keep itself warm.

The plate - the pork, bibb lettuce, bun with pork and ssam sauce, and kimchi

Dessert:

Since this dinner party had a very Momofuku-ish theme to it, I decided (with some nudging from my older sister) that I would make Momofuku Milk Bar's Crack Pie. This is not the easiest of pies to make. You start by making an oatmeal cookie dough, spreading it thinly on a sheet tray, and baking it until its crisped. Once this cools, you crumble it up with some butter and sugar to make the crust. I have to tell you that I've made the crust a few times now and find that its much easier to combine the crust ingredients in a food processor. I also have a hard time making enough crust for two pies (even when I don't sneak tastes of the cookie dough). The filling is a really easy custard to mix up, which makes up for the hard work on the crust. I find that my filling takes a bit longer in the oven for the center to set then the recipe calls for. Crack pie is, as the name claims, addictive! I find myself in the vicinity of Milk Bar and its pies and cookies a bit too often and I have a hard time not getting a slice of crack pie.

Well you can't very well just serve pie. Which means that I put my trusty ice cream maker to use and made my go-to ben & jerry's coconut ice cream. This is such an easy ice cream to make and because of the can of coconut cream it has a superb coconut flavor. I always use the sweet cream base #2 and in the final few minutes of churning I add a cup of chocolate chips. Karen proclaimed this last time that I should switch to mini-chips and I think that's a great idea!

Sweet ending - Crack Pie and Coconut Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

And that's how I paid homage to pork and David Chang,

Maple Walnut Cake

The smell of maple just sings breakfast to me. Whether it be maple bacon, maple syrup on top of pancakes, or maple frosted donuts, maple means breakfast. When I saw this month's Bon Appetit and the Maple Walnut Cake, I just knew I had to make it. How better to make having cake for breakfast acceptable?!

When I read the recipe, I imagined and hoped that the cake would taste something like a pancake. I was not disappointed. The cake did indeed have this fantastic breakfasty flavor to it. Part of me of course rejoiced knowing that it made it more forgivable when I had a piece before noon. It's sort of like that Bill Cosby skit in which he feeds his kids chocolate cake as the perfect breakfast (arguing that the ingredients include milk, eggs, and wheat ~ viola breakfast!). I love all foods breakfast. Perhaps I love breakfast, because I'm such a morning person and no one else is up as early as I am. So, the only thing I have to do until everyone else finally decides to greet the day is eat!

The recipe is a little bit of a riff on a standard cake recipe. The big difference is that the sweetener for the cake is maple syrup and thus all liquid. I left the toasted walnuts for the cake batter in medium sized pieces (like the size of a chocolate chip), because I wanted a little crunch along with the walnut flavor. The frosting also has a good deal of maple syrup (don't even think about using anything but real maple syrup); and if you're looking for another reason it's okay for breakfast, it has a good amount of cream cheese too!

All in all, I liked that this cake is not your same old yellow, white or chocolate cake. It's a dense cake with a really tasty frosting. The texture was heavier then a pancake, but there was certainly something about the cake and its flavor that shouted "pancake" to me. It's certainly a cake I'd make again...even if I didn't need an excuse for cake at breakfast!

This cake is good any time of day...rise and shine and eat some cake,

Bread...

Out of interest, the other day I took a look at the ingredient list on my pack of english muffins that I usually have for breakfast. As is typical when I look at these lists, I'm floored by how much is in my food and how much I just don't want there (seriously...do they really need caramel coloring?!). So, my new endeavor is to make my own bread/pastry for my breakfasts so that I know what I'm eating. I know, I know this may be a bit ambitious. But, bread freezes well and most recipes make two loaves. And, as luck would have it, my parents bought me The Bread Bible for christmas. Plus, working with dough and kneading it can be pretty darn therapeutic.

I picked the Cinnamon Raisin Bread for my first week of knowing what I eat. It was a pretty easy bread to make. Yes, it takes a long time and there are a lot of rising periods, but the actual active time is pretty short. Beranbaum starts this bread with a yeast, water, honey, and flour sponge and sprinkles the remaining flour over this. This is left to rise for about an hour or so and then the kneading begins. I used my kitchenaid for the kneading. The kitchenaid kneading can be a bit tricky, because with a bread dough the kitchenaid tends to stroll across the counter when its kneading. Hence, you really have to keep your eye on it to make sure it doesn't walk its way off your counter. After it's risen, Beranbaum chills it in the fridge for a little while so that its easier to roll out. When its rolled out, its brushed with egg white and covered with cinnamon sugar and rolled up.

Rolled and ready for the cinnamon sugar

I was astonished by how amazing this bread came out. It was soft, sweet and tasted on par with some of the best cinnamon raisin bread I've had from bakeries. So exciting! And I have two loaves of it for my breakfasts! I'll take that over English Muffins anyday.

My new and improved breakfast - begging to be toasted and topped with butter

Can't wait until breakfast!

Going to the Chapel - Triple Chocolate Cookies

I love cookies. Just the word "cookie" brings a smile to my face like a giddy little sugar obsessed Augustus Gloop-like kid. Seriously, whenever my family senses that I'm getting grumpy, they immediately find me a cookie...they don't even ask if I want one anymore because the answer is certainly yes. And yes, I'm 30 years old, but that doesn't change how at peace eating a cookie makes me feel. I suppose cookies are my drug of choice. The thing is, I also have this side brownie habit that's tough to shake.

Which brings me to this week's baked good...Triple Chocolate Cookies from an old Bon Appetit. These delectable cookies are the heavenly marriage of my beloved cookie and brownie. In fact, this union resulted in a marriage proposal from one of my co-workers who was fortunate enough to try one. The batter is extremely similar to a brownie batter and prepared in much the same way. The difference is largely that the cookies have far less butter than your average brownie (so I guess they're healthier...or maybe that's just wishful thinking?!). Regardless, the outcome is a moist, fudgy cookie with a thin crispy sugar crust that cracks (no drug reference intended) like a brownie when you bite into it.

The recipe begins with melting 10oz of chocolate...how could it ever go wrong?! Then there's the typical butter sugar creaming, the addition of the eggs, and the addition of the sifted flour, leaveners, and cocoa powder. Then comes the chocolate chips, which I think make these cookies. Next time, I might do a little white chocolate/regular chocolate chip combination to see how one more component in this marriage works out.

My kind of recipe...Starting with melted chocolate

Those crazy kids over at bon appetit suggest scooping a 1/4 cup of batter onto the cookie sheet for each cookie, but even I thought that was a tad on the gluttonous side. Instead, I used my typical 1 tbsp cookie scoop but heaped a little extra batter into it than usual. This resulted in the cookies only needing 12 minutes to cook.

Marriage on a Platter

And people complain that marriage is tough!

Cheers to some Irish Soda Bread

Okay...so I'm not Irish. But, I love to celebrate a holiday, especially when that holiday has delicious food associated with it. No, that doesn't mean that I buy into the gimicky green beer on St Pat's thing (or at least I haven't since I gracefully exited my 20's). It does mean however that every St Patrick's Day I make corned beef and cabbage and Irish Soda Bread. The problem is that I have a tried and true corned beef recipe, but I'm still in search of the perfect soda bread one. I mean that was until yesterday.


When I was flipping through this years soda bread contenders, I came across the Bread Bible recipe and my jaw dropped open as I read it. She had me at step one in which the raisins are plumped in irish whiskey...GENIUS! How could I not choose this recipe as the one I tested out this year?

The Raisins bathing in Irish Whiskey...don't you want to dive right in there with them?!

I love a baking recipe that comes together in a matter of minutes and involves a bit of kneading, because sometimes you just want/need a super easy week-night baking project thats hands-on. This recipe has a total active time of about 10 minutes and the bread is out of the oven in 30. You mix together the dry ingredients and then crumble the butter into them with your fingers. Stir in the raisins. Then you pour in the buttermilk and stir briefly before turning the dough out onto the counter and kneading it slightly until it comes together. It's important to remember here that dough like this is alot like most people I know. You over-work it and it gets tough and just something you don't want to be anywhere near. So, when you mix it on the counter, just give it a few turns to make sure that most of the flour is incorporated. Mound it into a 6 inch circle and then with a sharp knife cut an "x" in it, as below:

X marks the spot - the dough just before it heads into the oven

Green with envy

This bread is heaven...Slightly sweet with a soft doughy middle and crisp crust. An ideal breakfast anytime of the year, but something special for the St. Pat's holiday. Oh and I loved the raisins in this (this is definitely not going to be the last time I soak raisins in liquor before adding them to a recipe).


This bread toasted with butter...What a Happy St. Patrick's Day indeed! Heres to finding a go-to Irish Soda bread recipe just in time for the holiday. I believe thats what they call the luck of the Irish.

Irish Soda Bread from Bread Bible as printed in St. Petersburg Times

1 cup raisins (I used a little over 4 of the little boxes of sunkist raisins)

1/2 c Irish whiskey

4 tbsp unsalted butter, cold

2 cups all purpose flour

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 c + 1 tbsp buttermilk

(1) Combine the raisins and whiskey in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let sit for about 30 minutes (you can let them sit for longer if you want but I found 30 minutes to be plenty for the raisins to get plumped)

(2) Drain the raisins...the recipe in the Times suggests making a whiskey butter which I didn't do b/c I was going to have this for breakfast at work and didn't think it was a good idea! Well I thought it was a good idea but probably not a very productive one.

(3) Preheat the oven to 375

(4) Cut the butter in 8 slices

(5) Stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the butter with your fingertips until its coarse crumbs (like a pie crust). Stir in the drained raisins. Stir in the buttermilk just until it comes together.

(6) Pour the dough onto the counter and knead together gently to incorporate the flour into the dough. Remember what I said - don't overwork the dough. Gently push it together about 6-8 times.

(7) Shape the dough into a 6-inch round. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silpat. Make an 'X' with a sharp knife across the top of the dough.

(8) Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 30-40 minutes. Rose recommends that the bread be cooled on a wire rack wrapped in a clean cotton kitchen towel.

(9) Slice, spread with butter, enjoy!

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!