birthday dinner at home restaurant

brought to you (me) by michael gaertner.

michael designed a menu for my birthday, and i got to pick which dishes i wanted! i chose:

garlic and goat cheese flatbread
endive and herb salad
squid ink pasta with braised octopus
blood orange sorbet

i chose the main course almost as a dare: could he do it?? YES. HE. COULD.

here is the beautiful squid ink pasta. as delicious as the octopus was (and oh so tender!) it doesn't photograph quite as nicely.

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flatbread-- i made the dough for michael and he did the rest! this was delicious.


the salad was awesome... sadly, we forgot to take any more pictures after the above. it was curly endive, and all sorts of herbs: mint, parsley, marjoram, dill, tarragon... maybe more. everything tasted so interesting and exciting out of context. mint and marjoram especially! i made a buttermilk herb dressing to go with it. the dressing was easy and so so so good. in fact, i'm a little worried that i know how to make such a delicious creamy dressing at home-- i'm going to want it ALL THE TIME. whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, vinegar, and seasonings to taste (and until you have a consistency you like.) i used dill, tarragon, and a whole lot of mashed garlic. awesome.

there is not much to say about the blood orange sorbet, except that it was very simple and very delicious. and that it's especially good mixed with a little lime sherbert.

shout-outs

better than the new york times?

b-day/v-day

i don't know why i stopped having valentine's themed birthday parties... they are really the best!! this was billed as a tea party type affair, but it turned into a late night party that necessitated the ordering of heart-shaped pizzas.

on the menu:

chocolate tarts filled with chocolate ganache
vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream
mini pear/strawberry hand pies

colleen made the fantastic strawberry pudding; emily made the delicious eclairs; lauren provided the fun decorations; michael whipped up a fruit punch!





chocolate tart shells (adapted from martha stewart living)
1 c flour
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 t salt
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp
1/4 c sugar
1/2 t vanilla
1 egg yolk

whisk together flour, salt and cocoa powder; set aside. beat butter until light and fluffy, then beat in sugar and beat an additional several minutes. beat in egg (note: martha did not call for this, but my dough was very dry... i'm glad i had egg yolks on hand leftover from my buttercream!).shape dough into two discs and let it chill for 30 minutes. roll dough out to 1/4" thickness. press into desired shapes (i used hearts of various sizes). bake on greased cookie sheet for 20 minutes-- baking time should stay the same regardless of tart size.

the vanilla cupcake recipe i used is a pretty good one (from the chopping block), but very basic. any vanilla cupcake recipe will do. i took this recipe straight out of the class packet-- it wasn't until i had measured out 4 cups of flour, 1 cup of buttermilk, and 1 cup of milk that i realized this recipe certainly was going to make more than a dozen. oops.

i used this buttercream recipe. (i think... i looked at so many.) it was pretty easy, but tasted slightly more buttery than i would have liked... so, i just added a bunch of powdered sugar until it looked and tasted right. my only complaint is that this buttercream is not white. sigh. the perfect and pristine cupcakes of my dreams were not meant to be... regardless, these cupcakes (and especially the frosting) got rave reviews.

i hope everyone had a good weekend! and here's to more frequent blogging!

LOBSTERS

well, we did it. we ate the most summery meal on the most wonderfully summery weekend. it started with a trip to the green city market, where i picked up rolls from bennison's, fresh chives, teardrop and grape heirloom tomatoes, fresh corn, some cheese... and, oh, gosh, i don't even know what else. this was all in preparation for LOBSTER ROLLS. next we went to dirk's fish market, where we spent about twenty minutes debating the strength, meatiness, and size of each lobster. we decided on these two. both are fairly average in size, but if you'll notice, one has GIGANTIC CLAWS!



after dirk's, we had to stop at harvestime for some final items, and for a gigantic stock pot. this 24 quart fellow is actually a tamale steamer:



we then had to wait nearly one hour for the roughly 22 quarts of water to come to a boil. with the water sufficiently salted ("make it taste like the ocean," i read over and over), in went the lobsters. after about 15 minutes, we pulled them out, cooled them off, and extracted all the meat. for this part of the process, we did not use kitchen shears, OR lobster crackers. this was done entirely by hand!!



our lobster roll filling consisted of:
meat of two lobsters, diced
3 celery stalks, very small dice
3 T parsley, chopped
3 T chives, chopped

mayonaisse, salt, and pepper to taste



i made a garlic compound butter which i spread on the toasted buns... et voila!

quick pickles

i have been really into pickles lately. the best part about these is that, although they obviously get better with age, they are pretty darn good right away. no waiting required! last night as i was putting them in the jar, i realized they weren't all going to fit... so i ate two! after 2 hours sitting in the brine (i usually do that step in a big bowl), they already tasted more than decent. this was adapted from a recipe from epicurious, which recommends letting the pickles sit in the brine for 10 days before eating. this is maybe my sixth time making these, and i have yet to make it that long!

6 pickling cucumers, quartered
1 c water
1 scant c white vinegar
1/4 c fresh dill
1/4 c sugar
4 smashed/chopped garlic cloves
1 T coarse salt
1 T pickling spice
1 T dill seeds

combine all ingredients, and let stand two hours. put pickles in jar, and pour brine over. mmm!

zucchini soup

this is so delicious, easy, and simple!! so simple, in fact, that i almost didn't trust the recipe. creamy? impossible! cheesy? but how!? you guys, please try this. i won't go on and on about it, but just trust me!!

2 1/2 lb zucchini
1 large spanish onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 c packed basil leaves

saute onion in 2 T olive oil until almost translucent. add garlic, salt and pepper, and continue to saute until fragrant. meanwhile, cut the zucchini into large chunks-- mine were around 1 inch. add the zucchini to the onion and garlic, and saute until softened. season with salt again. add enough water to cover the zucchini, bring to boil, then let simmer until tender. add basil, then puree. season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. (i also added a splash of cider vinegar at the end.)

cinnamon rolls

I HAVE CONQUERED CINNABON, EVERYBODY. these cinnamon rolls are deeeeeeelicious. i took a few photos of them as they were doing their final rise (to be posted soon, of course)... unfortunately we started eating them before i could get a good picture of the final product.

adapted from dorie greenspan

dough:
2 1/4 t yeast (1 packet)
1/3 c warm milk
2 scant cups of flour
1 t salt
1 1/2 eggs
1/8 c sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature, but still firm, cut into 2 T chunks

filling:
1 stick butter, melted
1 c dark brown sugar
2 T cinnamon

put yeast and milk in stand mixer. stir until yeast is dissolved.

add flour and salt. cover with towel, so you don't get flour all over, and pulse a few times to dampen the flour. increase the speed to medium, and mix a minute or two until a dry shaggy mass forms. you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl in the process.

on low, add eggs, then sugar. increase speed to medium, beat until a ball forms.

reduce speed to low, and add butter in chunks, waiting until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. the dough will be very soft and a little sticky, but not unmanageable.

cover and let rise 40-60 minutes. punch down, cover, and put in fridge. slap down every 30 minutes for about 2 hours, then leave in fridge overnight.

roll out into a rectangle, a generous 1/4" thick. spread melted butter over dough-- leaving about one inch "clean" at the bottom edge. sprinkle with 1 cup of dark brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. roll, starting at the edge furthest from you, rolling toward your body.

cut into 1 inch slices, and put into two greased pie dishes, leaving one inch of space between each roll. let rise 90 minutes until rolls are puffy and touching.
bake at 350 for 40 minutes, until rolls are golden brown.

well then:

i just joined the daring bakers!

restaurants

spacca napoli last night
mercat a la planxa tonight

ending passover in style.

braised brisket

this. was. so. good. i cooked it until it was practically falling apart... leftovers will be delicious as pulled brisket sandwiches. on matzah. until thursday, when they will be put on bread.

1 4 lb brisket
2 large onions
1 bay leaf
1 T tomato paste
1 T paprika
2 T ketchup
1 c diced tomatoes
beef stock

heat heavy pot (cast iron is best) over medium heat. season beef with salt and pepper and sear on all sides. reduce heat and add oil if pan looks a little dry. add onions, with salt and pepper to taste, and caramelize 10-15 minutes. add bay leaf, tomato paste, paprika, ketchup, and saute 2-3 minutes until aromatic. add beef back to pot, along with diced tomatoes and enough beef stock to cover. simmer over low heat, or in a 350 degree oven, 3-4 hours, or until brisket is very tender.

dinner club #3

braised brisket with caramelized onions
sauteed zucchini
roasted pearl onions and grapes
mushroom tart
roasted fingerling potatoes with leeks

homemade marshmallow peeps
chocolate macarons
matzah "toffee"

definitely the best dinner club to date, if i do say so myself.

macarons, continued.

well, that was not an entirely satisfying endeavor. while some of my macarons came out perfect, some of them came out larger, craggy, and lopsided. i know that this batter needs to be mixed lightly and carefully, but maybe i underdid it? or, despite my efforts, maybe i overdid it... i also skipped the step of outlining identical and consistent 1" circles for piping the batter. next time, i'll do it. the sadness of some macarons turning out larger than others is too much to bear!

macarons

tonight i shall make macarons-- these lovely ones from david lebovitz. and i will take pictures too!!

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2005/10/french_chocolat.html

salmon en papillote

yum, yum, yum. i've never done fish in parchment at home before, but i think it's going to become a staple. the fish was so moist and tender it was almost creamy... and so, so flavorful!

salmon, cut into portions
dijon mustard
brown sugar
salt, olive oil

cut out circles of parchment paper, one per each portion of fish. place one fish filet in the center of each parchment circle. drizzle each piece with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and rub with about 1 teaspoon each of dijon mustard and brown sugar. fold the parchement circles so that the edges meet, and crimp/fold the edges so that the package is neatly sealed bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until the salmon feels firm.

**you can also use foil in place of parchment.

i made this with a parsley, celery root, and fennel salad with a mustardy vinaigrette. mmmm! celery root makes me so happy.

pie crust

this is a recipe for the pie crust used in the lemon ricotta tart a few posts down. if you are looking for a good, basic, versatile pie/tart dough, this is it. it makes enough dough for one double crust pie, or two tarts. it's nice to always have this in your freezer...

2 c flour
1-2 T sugar (optional)*
pinch sea salt
1 1/2 sticks cold butter
1/4 c cold shortening
1/3 c cold water

*if using the crust for a savory dish, you may want to omit the sugar, or just add 1 tablespoon. for a sweet dish, feel free to up the ante!

cut butter and shortening into 1/2" cubes. keep in freezer or fridge until ready to use. whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. using a pastry blender, cut the butter and shortening into the dry mix until the mixture is crumbly. you want your largest pieces of fat to be no bigger than pea-size. drizzle cold water (don't pour it all in right away) into dough, and mix until the dough JUST comes together. on a work surface, shape the dough into a ball. cut in half, and shape each half into a disc. wrap each in plastic and refrigerate at least several hours before using. dough will keep several months, well-wrapped, in the freezer (thaw in fridge overnight before using).