Lick My Spoon » Lick My Spoon: a place for all things delicious

Blood Orange Marmalade Tart

Stephanie — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:22:57 +0000

I learned how to make this beautiful Blood Orange Marmalade Tart from Joyce Goldstein, who adapted it from a recipe she learned from the Trappist nuns at the Vineria Cozzi in Bergamo Alta, Italy. Originally called Crostata di Marmellata delle Suore Trappiste, the tart is filled with orange marmalade made by the nuns. In our version, blood oranges are used in place of regular oranges for their gorgeous color and flavor, “like an orange mixed with a rose,” as Joyce aptly described.

This tart has become a staple in my bag-of-baked-goods-tricks. Some of you may remember it from last year when I made it for the Online Bake Sale for Japan. With a certain romantic holiday around the corner, I thought now would be a good time to repost this dessert with step-by-step photos…just in case you wanted an alternative to the slew of red velvet hitting the waves...[Read Full Post]

Best of the Fancy Food Show 2012: Savory

Stephanie — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:58 +0000

Last week I shared my favorite sweet treats from the Fancy Food Show. Well, we can’t very well have the sweet without the savory, now can we? I thought not.

Let’s start with cheese, where all things good begin.

1. Buttermilk Bleu Affinée, Roth Käse

The cheese aisles of the Fancy Food Show are legendary. Booth after booth of master cheese makers showcasing their best; wheels upon wheels of creamy bliss in all forms imaginable – aged, fresh, sharp, mellow – it’s a cheese-lover’s paradise. I have my favorites that I really love, and look forward to tasting again every year at the show, so it takes something special to steal my attention.

The Buttermilk Bleu Affinée from Roth Käse succeeded in doing just that. Insanely creamy with an easy sweet finish, this blue stopped me in my tracks and had me coming back for seconds and thirds, dragging friends with me each time so they could experience this magnificent cheese for themselves. As my friend, Michael observed, “It looks intimidating, but it’s really approachable.”

To make the Buttermilk Bleu Affinée, select wheels of Roth Käse’s standard (very good) Buttermilk Blue are identified as having the potential to be obscenely good. Those special wheels are hand-picked to be the true crème de la crème, the all-stars, the special ops team of blue cheese. Where the Buttermilk Blue is aged 60 days, the Bleu Affinée is cured for a minimum of six months. If I had some right now, I’d make some crazy good mashed potatoes, or stir it into risotto, or melt it on a steak, or simply spread it on a slab of hot bread with some sliced pears…[Read Full Post]

Best of the Fancy Food Show 2012: Sweet

Stephanie — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:46:56 +0000

When the Fancy Food Show rolls around, my husband inevitably starts humming It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. This year, the three-day foodie extravaganza was bigger than ever, with the exhibit halls of Moscone overflowing with 80,000 specialty products from food artisans and importers from around the world. Imagine an avalanche of chocolates, cheeses, olive oils, spices, jams, sauces, teas, snacks...that's pretty much what the Fancy Food Show was like.

It is always nice to reconnect with old friends at the show, like Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog (which turns 20 this year -- Happy Birthday!) or the insanely delicious Whole-Milk Ricotta from Bellwether Farms (which I just want to bathe in), but my favorite part of the Fancy Food Show is discovering new treasures.

Here are the Top 10 Sweet Treats that blew me away:

1. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams

Somehow Jeni Britton Bauer has peered into my soul and created ice cream that transcends hopes and dreams. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams are pure bliss. They are double rainbows. They are creamy dreamy magic. I am head over heels in love with everything about them. The flavors rock -- Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet, Goat Cheese with Cognac Figs, Pistachio and Honey, just to name a few winners. The texture is ultra-luscious, high in butterfat and low in air (Jeni’s is the only ice cream maker we know who uses milk and cream from happy cows that graze grass). Even the marketing is crush-worthy – where else have you ever seen a press kit in the form of a vintage record sleeve? And that font? You are killing me with the cuteness, girl. Everything about Jeni’s Ice Creams is crafted with care, right down to the handwritten labels. Jeni published her first book last year, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home, the last nudge I needed to buy myself that ice cream maker I’ve been wanting for years...[Read Full Post]

Healthy Butternut Squash Soup

Stephanie — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:14:42 +0000

There are times for luxurious butternut squash soup laced with brown butter…and then there are times for a more austere version that doesn’t involve homemade stock, a gaggle of aromatics, bouquet garni, and tedious straining. This isn’t a knock on the former – she’s an elegant special occasion soup, and you can taste the extra fuss that goes into her. Sometimes though, you just want an everyday soup – a practical gal that’s into healthiness, nourishment, and minimum effort.

For times like these, I turn to my Healthy Butternut Squash Soup. Comforting, satisfying, zero-guilt goodness, step right up. Did I mention, it only requires 3 main ingredients? Butternut squash, onion, chicken (or vegetable) broth. How wholesome...[Read Full Post]

Bar Masa {Las Vegas}

Stephanie — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:04:28 +0000

When I first moved to New York as a fresh grad, all bright-eyed and dirt poor, I saved my pennies for pretty shoes and sushi takeout. I would read through my Zagat as religiously as my Vogue and Glamour, and file away dream meals at Per Se and Masa alongside dream shoes by Louboutin and Manolo.

I never would have thought that one day I’d be eating a meal personally prepared and handed to me by Masa himself. (I’m still waiting for Monsieur Louboutin to call me about those custom heels, but you know, one dream at a time).

The 150-seat Las Vegas outpost of Bar Masa, inside the ARIA Resort & Casino, is much larger than the Bar Masa in New York. And it is, of course, done up in high Vegas fashion with soaring, 36-foot, airplane hangar-esque ceilings and curvy red leather banquets. The food? Extravagant to be sure, but not in a haphazard hedonistic way. No, this meal at Bar Masa was elegant and poised and gracious, possessing a poetic lightness of being to it...[Read Full Post]

Porchetta Sandwich + Q&A with RoliRoti’s Thomas Odermatt

Stephanie — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:34:07 +0000

RoliRoti is a gourmet rotisserie truck that travels around to different farmers markets in the Bay Area every day of the week. They make a fine Roast Chicken (free range from Fulton Valley Farms), Rosemary Roasted Potatoes which are brilliantly cooked beneath the rotating spit, catching all the flavorful drippings from roasting meats above, and even Roasted Pork Knuckles on occasion. But the pièce de résistance is the Porchetta.

Perfect, juicy, tender, fatty slices of slow roasted porchetta layered with crispy crackling, piled high on a Ciabatta roll with spicy greens, sweet onion marmalade and a sprinkle of black pepper and coarse sea salt, to be exact.

RoliRoti’s Porchetta Sandwich is legendary. It is perhaps the #1 dish we craved while we were away from San Francisco. It definitely was in the “reasons to move back” column when we were discussing our return to SF...[Read Full Post]

Salted Caramel Apple Pie + Perfect Pie Crust

Stephanie — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:52:02 +0000

I bet you thought you’d see a healthy, cleansing, post-holiday detoxifying recipe here today. Sorry, I’m just not ready for that yet. Don’t worry, it will come in due time. But first, pie. Because 2012 should start with something beautiful and homey and good. The new year should start with pie.

Learning to make the Perfect Pie Crust is a skill I sought early on in my quest for a delicious life. Flaky, buttery, and tender, perfect pie crust is the kind of thing that never fails to bring joy into a room.

My go-to recipe is Martha Stewart’s all butter crust (pate brisee). Here are a few tips I’ve picked up along the way for a successful pie crust...[Read Full Post]

Tastiest Highlights of 2011

Stephanie — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:56:58 +0000

It seems like time is on turbo mode…but yes, it’s true, another year has come and gone. 2011 was full of change. It brought us back to the East coast, to a new city. DC welcomed us with a blistering cold winter…and then made up for it with cherry blossoms and cake. Our adventures continued abroad on a culinary dream trip through Italy, Greece, and France (still sifting through more pictures and stories than I know what to do with). And then finally, we arrived home. Back to this beautiful city by the bay. There was a lot of action in 2011. I feel like I’m still digesting it all.

End of years and new years tend to inspire reflection, goal setting…and all that jazz. I have a feeling about 2012. It’s gonna be a big one. But let’s just take it one bite at a time. Like always, I hope to do more yoga, drink more water, tame my inbox… I predict there will be less sleep in 2012, but I’m ok with that. What’s in your crystal ball? What kind of beautiful things will you manifest this new year?

As you ponder, let’s take a trip down memory lane. Presenting 2011’s tastiest moments:

1. The French Laundry

A meal of a lifetime. Five hours, seventeen courses, ten wines, shared with three special people. Pure extravagance, pleasure, and happiness...[Read Full Post]

Pumpkin Toffee Whoopie Pies

Stephanie — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:03:35 +0000

I have a confession to make. These were really supposed to be amazing chewy pumpkin toffee cookies. Apparently chewy and pumpkin cookies are notorious nemeses. Had I consulted the internet before attempting such a perilous undertaking I could have saved myself much heartache, wasted butter, and trays of puffy pumpkin "cookies" taunting me with their flagrant cakiness.

I felt like a failure. A fraud. What happened? Why did my cookies turn into cakes? It's all the pumpkin's fault. I learned that the high moisture content of pumpkin puree was the cause of my demise. There are two purported solutions: simmer the puree until the moisture is cooked out, or use pumpkin butter instead of puree.

Well, what's done is done. I'll tackle chewy pumpkin cookies when my ego has had time to heal. In the meantime, what to do with these blasted cookie-cakes? Truth be told, while they made god-awful cookies in terms of texture, the flavor was what I was looking for – full of pumpkin spice warmth and tasty toffee bits...[Read Full Post]

Foodie Gift Guide

Stephanie — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:26:32 +0000

Eeeep! Christmas is in five days?! Seriously? Where did December go? You know those people who have all their holiday shopping done by Dec 1? Yeah, I don’t get those people. No matter how hard I try, I always seem to save all the cheer until this last week. Well, no need to panic, my procrastinating friends. Here are some gift ideas for those food-lovers in your life...[Read Full Post]