Rainbow Parfaits

April is birthday land in my house. My husband, daughter, son and mother all have b-days this month. Lucky for me, while my little girl loves birthdays, she is not so into cake, so for her celebration I get to be b-day creative with something other than flour for one out of the four celebrations. Last year I made these chocolate cups with lemon verbena cream, this year she wanted something with a rainbow, so I made rainbow parfaits. Luscious whipped cream layered with homemade fruit purees: raspberry, passion fruit, mango, kiwi and blackberry. Simple to make, although a bit time consuming, but fabulous, and well worth the effort. I topped these with meringues, another 5 year old favorite. 

 The more labor intensive rainbow treats were reserved for the kids, so for the adults I made a large decadent fruit fool: layers of whipped cream sweetened with condensed milk, layered with passion fruit syrup, and sliced fruit. For another version of this treat I brought to a pot luck later that weekend I added pieces of coconut cake to soak up the juices turning the fool into a triffle.  The passion fruit puree has an incredible flavor and really adds the most amazing accent to these fruit and whipped cream desserts, you can certainly use another orange fruit, but if you can find it, the passion fruit puree is well worth the extra effort!  Look in the frozen food section of grocery stores in areas where there is a latino community, they often carry Goya or La Fey brand frozen fruit pulps.

While the birthday dessert was a huge hit, I think her favorite part of the party was the rainbow candy machine she invented. It was her version of a piñata re-imagined," you don't hit it, papa will shake it and treats with come out wooden slides sticking out the side".  I filled it with chocolates, stickers and other little party favors. 

Food for the party was a rainbow buffet of fruits, vegetables and snacks. The kids ran an obstacle course in our neighbor's driveway, and I basked in the joy of making my little girl's birthday wishes come true for her special day.  

The cheese dish on the right was a big hit with the adults. I had intended to use farmer's cheese, but saw a great looking South American cheese at the market called Aztec Cheese, a fresh cheese, a little firmer and saltier than farmers cheese. I topped it with a drizzle of blood orange flavored olive oil (you could just add a little orange zest to some good olive oil), a good dose of black pepper and chopped scallions. It was delicious, refreshing and a great accompaniment to the rest of the food. 

Rainbow Fruit Triffle

Composed individual version (10 triffles) - simple big bowl version below

1 quart whipping cream (2 pints)

1 can condensed milk (or powdered sugar to taste)

2 teaspoons vanilla

2-3 cups each of a rainbow of fruits, I used raspberries, mango, kiwi and black berries

2 frozen blocks of passion fruit (in the frozen section with goya or other latino food brand products

2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup sugar

Sugar - to sweeten each fruit puree to taste

1. Using fresh fruit or frozen but thawed fruit, make a simple puree out of each fruit by mashing it or putting it into the blender with a little sugar to your liking. I barely sweetened the fruit. Place each puree in a ziplock bag. This can be done a day or two in advance.

2. To thicken the passion fruit juice, put thawed juice or frozen juice into a small sauce pot over medium heat, add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup sugar to taste. Mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with a few tablespoons of thawed juice or water until it is completely dissolved. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the passion fruit juice, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 seconds or so until it thickens. Cool completely and put into a ziplock bag. 

3. Whip cream until thickened, sweetening it with condensed milk, or powdered sugar if you prefer. The condensed milk results in a creamier whipped cream. Place whipped cream in a pipping bag fitted with a small circle tip or in a gallon sized ziplock bag. 

4. To assemble: find small (4oz or less) glasses or plastic cups. I found these at a local dollar store, and have saved them to use again. Snip the corner off of the whipped cream ziplock bag and each fruit puree as you need it. Starting with whipped cream, pipe a thin layer over the bottom of the cup, continue alternating with each fruit puree and whipped cream in color order. I used the passion fruit puree for orange, and the mango for yellow. You can top these with a big dollop of whipped cream, decorate with fruit or make baked meringues as I did. 

Simplified Big Bowl Triffle

1 Quart Cream

1 can condensed milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 frozen packet passion fruit juice
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup sugar or other sweetener to taste

Assortment of fruits, sliced

Coconut or vanilla cake, angel food cake or lady finders, or other treat to soak up the fruit juices (optional)

1. Slice fruit and place in separate containers. Berries can be sprinkled with sugar to help the juices come out. Thaw passion fruit juice, sweeten with sugar, honey or other sweetener to taste.
2. Whip the cream with the condensed milk and vanilla. 
3. Layer all of the ingredients in a glass bowl making a lovely pattern on the outside of the bowl. Each cake layer can be topped with fruit and passion fruit juice so it soaks of the juices. 

Note: if you don't have any cake, the whipped cream and fruit alone make a fabulous decadent dessert. 

Do you have any great birthday food ideas to share?

Passover 2013

This year my mother is doing most of the passover cooking. My grandma is saying the soup pot is too heavy for her, so I'm on matzo ball soup duty, and while I usually jockey for as much space as possible on the dessert portion of the menu, last week's Pie Party pushed me over the edge on sweets, so I'm leaving that up to everyone else this year. If you are looking for some passover menu inspiration, you can check some of my favorites, including some good vegetarian dishes, the basics on chicken soup and a great chocolate sweet potato cake and almond cardamom cake HERE (my essay on passover and slavery from a few years back starts off the post). 

Here are some other good recipe hunting spots:

Epicurious - tons of recipes - it helps to read a few reviews to see which recipes seem like ones you'll like.

NY Times - A long list of passover recipes including sephardic dishes

Smitten Kitchen - Chocolate Hazelnut Macaroon Torte, and I fully agree with her distaste for matzo meal in anything but matzoball soup....

  

For those of you gathering for a Seder, I hope you have a peaceful, contemplative and delicious time.

-Tagan

Get Ready, Get Set....Pie Party 2013

Time to get ready for another Pie Party. That's right, all pie, all night. Savory, sweet, traditional or inventive, a bunch of friends will be arriving later today each with a pie in hand and we will dig in and enjoy.

My inspiration for a Pie Party came from my fabulous sister who lives up in Northampton, MA. She held her annual Pie Party last weekend, with over 100 people...tons of pies, awards (like the one on the left) for things like the best pie name, best chocolate pie, best pizza pie, etc... Our party is much smaller and a little lower key...but we love the chance to get creative with pie. So far I've made a blueberry cardamom pie, and some lemon curd for my son's pie invention. I'll post pictures and final recipes post party. 

If you want to get a glimpse, here are some pics from our last Pie Party in 2011....

...and if you are wondering about my infatuation with pie...check out my How to be a Pie Ninja class. 

The stakes are a little higher this year, as my friend James is coming and I have just discovered that in his 45 years, despite having a sweet tooth, the man has never, ever eaten pie! He's a pie virgin, a pie hater....can he be converted to the world of pie?

Challenge accepted!

Orange Pepper Almonds

Candied nuts have got to be one of the most addictive foods around. Crunchy, a little sweet, a little salty and a peppery kick for fun. These are unbelievably simple to make and take 15 minutes start to finish (including the cooking time). They knock a salad up from standard fare to fabulous meal or make for a great snack when friends are stopping by (which is what inspired them this weekend). You can use any kind of nut you like. Starting with raw nuts (not roasted) is best so they aren't being cooked twice. I love the combination of orange zest, honey, salt and pepper, but really you can use any syrupy sweetener you like and any spices: curry, corriander and cumin, cocoa and chipotle or ancho chili, cinnamon and nutmeg etc... have fun with this...the cooking part, and the munching part. 

Orange Pepper Almonds

2 cups raw almonds (you can substitute any nut you like, walnuts are great too!)

1 tablespoon honey (basically a thin drizzle, just enough to very lightly coat each nut)

zest of one small orange

salt and black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon of raw sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment, foil or a silpat. 
2. Toss almonds in honey until well coated all over. There should be a thin layer of honey on each nut, but they should not be dripping with honey or it will ooze and burn in the oven. Toss in the orange zest and season to taste with salt and pepper or any other spices you like. 
3. Spread onto prepared baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 9-12 minutes until honey is bubbling on the edges of each nut and they are lightly browned, but not dark. If you want to use the raw sugar, pull the nuts from the oven at 7 minutes and sprinkle on a little raw sugar and continue baking until done. Cool completely, enjoy. Store in an air tight container (if you can keep them around). 

Here is a savory twist I sometimes make: just sauté almonds in a touch of butter with salt and pepper or any savory spices you like, and add to curry stir fried rice. A little more protein and crunch for a delicious meal.

What does this inspire you to make?

Spice Roasted Apple with Honey Almond Oats

A bag of apples or pears from Bishops Orchards* is just about the most inspiring thing I can have in my kitchen. From October till they disappear around February or March I keep these apples cooking in my oven or on my stove top. I love them warm: they make a delicious treat for breakfast or dessert and allow me to bake without using any sugar, PERFECT. For this recipe I use honey, but you can bake them with a few spices and their natural sugars concentrate in the oven.

Generally I slice up as many apples or pears as will fit in a pan add a little cider, some cinnamon bark or cardamom pods and bake. Sometimes I make a crisp by adding a sweet oat or flour crumb topping.  For this deconstructed apple crisp variation, I roasted the apples in the oven and made the oat topping in a frying pan. The apples could also be made in a frying pan if you don't want to turn the oven on.

Spice Roasted Apples with Honey Glazed Almond Oats
For the apples:
8 firm apples such as Fuji or Braeburn that don't mush when they cook.
1/2 cup water or cider
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon butter
A sprinkle of any spices you like, I used cinnamon, nutmeg & cardamom

1. Sliced apples in half. Remove seeds if you like, or leave them as is if you're feeling too lazy.
2. Placed apples in a roasting pan face up with a little cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom (clove or allspice would also be nice) and a splash of water, then roast them at 400 degrees until tender. 
3. In a frying pan add a drizzle of honey (1 to 2 tablespoons), a slice of butter, and any juices from the roasting pan. Simmer until bubbling rapidly. Glaze each apple in the heated honey and set on a plate. 

For the Almond Oats:
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 cup dry rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt

1. In the same frying pan, add 2 more tablespoons honey, a teaspoon of water, a pinch of salt and some butter (optional), heat until bubbling rapidly. Add sliced almonds and toss to coat, continue tossing and cook for 20 seconds on medium heat, add dry rolled oats, cinnamon and salt, toss until well coated and toasty hot. 
2. Serve warm apples with hot honeyed almond oats and a spoonful of yogurt or whipped cream (plain or sweetened with a pinch of sugar and cinnamon). Enjoy!

* tip for you super local folk in New Haven, CT - bags of apples from Bishops Orchards are available at Edge of the Woods for only $3.99, way cheaper than at the orchard itself. It's a great way to get locally grown apples well past the pick-your-own season. These are not organic, but they are IPM and very minimally treated, and no wax.

Sweet Potato Fries

I love sweet potatoes, they're like nature candy. I remember in high school bringing baked sweet potatoes to school for lunch (split with a little butter and a pinch of salt). I'm sure I got funny looks from other kids...but that was a normal occurrence anyway. Roasting sweet potatoes is simple and very delicious. We often call these "fries" even though they are baked not fried. All you do is slice sweet potatoes (skin on) into wedges or any other shape you like. Toss them with a little oil, salt and pepper, spread them onto a lined baking sheet or roasting pan and roast at 450 degrees until lightly brown. About 45 minutes for large wedges, shorter if you cut them smaller.  Sweet potato fries are a great addition to any meal, but good luck getting them to the table, this pan was eaten before we even started dinner.

This recipe is also in the New Haven Cooks Cookbook, available at CitySeed (my employer). The recipe was submitted by the Fair Haven Community Health Center, where they teach this recipe as part of the nutrition counseling and cooking classes in their WIC office.

Sweet Potato Fries

Four servings

2 pounds sweet potatoes            

3 tablespoons oil, safflower, canola or olive            

Salt            

Pepper           

1. Scrub sweet potatoes and dry.  Cut into long wedges, place in a large bowl and toss with oil, salt and pepper.
2. Lay potatoes in a single layer on a foil or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
3. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40-50 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.  Check half way through and rotate if necessary.

Note: Try roasting other vegetables this way as well: carrots, parsnips, pumpkin, onion and even apple or pear, can be tossed with oil, salt and pepper and placed in a glass baking dish or lined baking sheet to roast. You can add herbs and spices as well. 

Have you been roasting anything interesting this winter? Please share....

Short Ribs: Happy New Year & Happy Braising!

Short Ribs seared until dark brown, waiting to be slow cooked in tomato and citrus.

Picture this: me as a young chef, a vegetarian no less, the counter of a catering company in Boston spread before me with more than a dozen racks of lamb. I had marinated them the day before, and proceed to sear them off, a rack at a time in large skillets. Week after week I marinated, seared and roasted these racks of lamb and then watched people swoon over them at parties. Eventually, I broke down and tried one, and I have loved lamb (and meat) ever since. I could rarely afford to by racks of lamb, so I moved on to discover  braised lamb shanks, and years later beef short ribs.*

When the weather turns cold, I look for any excuse to turn the oven on for a prolonged period of time. I crave slow braised dishes with rich warm flavors, and want to eat more meat than in the warmer months. Lamb shanks, short ribs or inexpensive cuts of stew meat are top of the list. And while we are not big meat eaters in my house, everyone appreciates these slow cooked cuts that become tender and succulent, glazed with the well reduced sauce they are cooked in.

One important technique in cooking many cuts of meat is to properly sear it, giving it a nice browned exterior. For meat that is roasted in the oven or cooked in a frying pan this searing seals in the juices. For meat that is going to be slow cooked it also adds flavor to the sauce.

The keys to searing meat well are:

1. Have the meat closer to room     temperature than cold, 

2. Make sure the cut is dry (pat it with a towel).

3. Be sure that your pan is very hot. 4. Place the meat in the hot frying pan and don't move it until it starts to brown up the side and releases easily from the pan when touched. 

Flip, repeat and you are done. For short ribs you season and sear each rib and then place them in a pot of sauce in the oven or slow cooker for many hours, until the sauce is reduced, the ribs are tender and almost falling apart. For this recipe I cooked them in a tomato based sauce with rosemary, thyme, lemon and orange zest, and plenty of onion and garlic. Another wonderful version is a soy sauce base with star anise and rice wine vinegar.

The Ribs in the tomato and onion mixture below is pre-braising. Unfortunately, this meal got devoured before I had a chance to snap a pic of the final dish...my sincerest apologies.  I guess you'll just have to give it a try and see this one for yourself.

Beef Short Ribs with Tomato, Citrus and Rosemary

6 Beef Short Ribs, (bone in)

2 large onions, sliced

6 cloves garlic, minced or sliced

1 large can diced or pureed tomatoes

3 slices of lemon peel (no white pith)

3 slices of orange peel (no white pith)

2 sprigs rosemary

3 sprigs thyme 

Salt & pepper

Enough water, stock or wine to just cover meat.

1. Preheat oven to 350. Pat meat dry. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a heavy bottomed frying pan until it is very hot on the stove top. Add a small amount of oil such as sunflower or canola and place the meat in the pan. Cook until the meat starts to brown and releases easily from the pan when touched, about 5 minutes. Sear on all sides until meat is well browned, but not burned. Remove from pan set on a plate or pan to rest. 
2. Remove any burned bits from the pan. Add sliced onions, and a touch of olive oil. Saute until tender. Add garlic cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes and liquid, lemon and orange peel, rosemary and thyme stir. 
3. Return short ribs to the pot, nestling them into the sauce. Add a cup or two of water, stock or wine to the mixture to cover or nearly cover the meat. Bring the pot to a simmer on the stove top. Cover and place in the preheated oven to cook until the meat is tender and falling from the bone, at least 1.5 hours, but up to 3 hours. Check once or twice to see how much liquid has evaporated.

Note: you can add carrots, potatoes or other vegetables to this dish as well. For the soy sauce version, you'll have to experiment or search online for measurements, but I made a delicious version a while back with soy sauce, rice vinegar, star anise, brown sugar, water, garlic and onions....wish I'd written that one down.....

Happy New Year, and Happy Braising!

* As you may have heard me say before, when I eat meat, I try and buy sustainably raised meat, so I know the animal wasn't raised in horrible conditions on a feed lot. Some grocery stores have sustainably raised meat, as do many farmers markets. I have come to value meat as an investment for my family. We don't have a lot of money these days, but good food is something I value (incase you hadn't figured that out), so I buy inexpensive cuts of meat at the farmers' market (CitySeed is my local market) or at local stores and freeze them for once or twice a week treats. Beans, eggs, nuts and yogurt make up much of the rest of our protein source. 

Honeycomb Candy

I know this looks kind of crazy, and not entirely like food at all, but it is sooooooo delicious. Honeycomb candy is the name I know it by. It's a sweet nutty toffee that's light, crispy and melts in your mouth. It also goes by the name Sponge Candy, Seafoam, Fairy Food and Cinder Toffee depending on what part of the USA or the world you are from or discover it in (more info here)... I first discovered this more than a decade ago in a british candy bar called Crunchie sold at Fairway Markets in NYC.

During this season of holidays, sweets and treats, I thought I would try and make this special candy. I brought this batch to a holiday party on the tray I'd made it in and we smashed it to bits at the party. It was a fun, festive and addictive addition to the night. 

Honeycomb candy is pretty simple to make, but it's not a great one to do with young kids, as hot sugar can burn. The one thing to note is that you need to make this in a large pot as it expands by three or four times when you add the baking soda. If you don't have enough honey in the house, you can substitute some maple syrup. Not sure about substituting for the corn syrup, as it is often used in candies to keep sugar from crystalizing, but you might be able to get away with just using honey and sugar.  I added a pinch of salt to mine as I like the sweet/salty combo. 

Honeycomb Candy

1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/4 cup water
pinch salt
chocolate coating (optional):
     12 ounces dark chocolate
     2 tbsp butter

1. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray or coating very lightly with oil.
2. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, honey, and ¼ cup water in a large saucepan. You want to use a saucepan large enough so that the mixture can triple in size and still be safely contained (at least 3 quarts). Stir the ingredients together until the sugar is completely moistened. Using a wet pastry brush, wipe the sides of the saucepan to remove any stray sugar crystals.
3. Insert a candy thermometer and cook the mixture over medium-high heat, without stirring, until the temperature reaches 300 degrees.
4. Once the candy is at the right temperature, remove it from the heat and add the baking soda all at once. Immediately whisk the candy to incorporate the baking soda, and be careful—it will foam up a lot!
5. As soon as the baking soda is incorporated, pour the candy carefully onto the prepared sheet. Don't spread it much as you will deflate the bubbles in the toffee.
6. Allow it to cool and harden completely, then break it into small pieces. Honeycomb can be eaten as-is, or you can dip it in chocolate:
7. Combine the chocolate and butter in a bowl and set it over simmering water, stir until melted. Note that the amount of chocolate required may vary depending on how thick you made your honeycomb and how many pieces you made.
8. Using two forks, dip the individual pieces in chocolate so that they are completely covered, and replace them on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining honeycomb and refrigerate until chocolate is set. Best enjoyed within 24 hours.

Note: Honeycomb cannot be left out in the open for any extended length of time, as it will get sticky. Keep it in an air tight container or ziplock bag. Mine lasted for about a week sipped up tight. These are great dipped in chocolate, but we enjoyed then so much straight off the pan as is.

You can control the thickness of the honeycomb by selecting a pan size based on your preference. If you use an 11x17 pan, the honeycomb will be approximately ¼” thick, while a 13x9 pan yields a ½” candy and an 8x8 pan produces an even thicker honeycomb.