Cream Puffs In Venice

One of the Very Best

admin — Sat, 05 May 2012 20:34:30 +0000

When it comes to baking or cooking, I try to avoid using the "best" moniker. In my opinion, there's always a better chocolate chip cookie recipe, pancake recipe or roast chicken recipe waiting just around the corner. So when I say that this Almond Olive Oil Cake from Serious Eats is one of the best cakes that I have ever baked and eaten, I'm serious. I mean it. It's one of the very best ever. So what's so great about this cake? For starters, it's a Gina De Palma recipe. I am a tremendous fan of De Palma's. Her book, Dolce Italiano, is one of my most treasured cookbooks. I admire both her skill and her creativity as a pastry chef. A Gina De Palma recipe is going to be a good one. But what else makes this cake so great? Well, the cake batter has a small amount of almond flour in it. I am constantly impressed how nut flours affect the texture and flavour of baked goods. Even though I've been baking for a long time I'm pretty new to using nut flours and the more I use them the more I appreciate them. The almond flour adds another layer of almond flavour but also gives the cake crumb a slight density in texture that's very pleasant. The cake is tender, but doesn't fall apart. It's toothsome and I think the almond flour has a lot do with it. The cake batter also calls for olive oil as opposed to butter. I am late to the world of baking recipes that rely on olive oil as a fat instead of butter or something else. To be honest, the first time I saw a cake recipe that called for olive oil I thought it was a bit odd. Olive oil is for savoury, or at least that's what I always thought was right. When I finally tried a cake made with olive oil, I was blown away. It's incredible how mellow the olive oil is in the finished product and most importantly, the cake is absolutly not oily. You could probably forego the almond glaze, although I loved it. A sifting of icing sugar would be just as nice or a dollop of yogurt and some fresh berries on the side would also be lovely. Bottom line is that I plan on making this cake again and again and again. It is lovely. It truly is one of the best ever. Lemon Almond Olive Oil Cake Slightly adapted from Serious Eats. Makes 1 9-inch cake 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup blanched or natural almond flour 1 1/2 tsps. baking powder 1 tsp. kosher salt 3 large eggs 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. pure almond extract Grated zest of 1 medium lemon 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice For the glaze: 2 tbsps. unsalted butter 1 cup icing sugar, sifted 3 tbsps. whole milk 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup sliced, blanched almonds, toasted and cooled Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt. Lightly whisk the eggs in a bowl. Add the sugar and whisk vigorously for about 30 seconds. Add the olive oil and continue whisking vigorously until the mixture is thickened and paler in colour (45 seconds to a minute). Add the vanilla and almond extracts, the lemon zest and the lemon juice. Mix well. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and whisk until they are thoroughly combined; continue whisking until you have a smooth, emulsified batter, about 30 more seconds. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake the cake for 30 to 45 minutes. Test the cake for doneness by inserting a cake tester or a tooth pick in the centre of the cake (it will come out clean). The cake is also done when it springs back when you press it with a finger. Remove the cake from the oven and let cook for 10 or 15 minutes before removing it from the pan. Let it cool completely before glazing (you can also serve it as is with a sprinkling of icing sugar.) To make the glaze: Melt the butter in a small pan. Once melted, let it cook just a bit more until it begins to brown slightly. Remove from the heat and let the butter sit for a 2 or 3 minutes. In another bowl, combine the sifted icing sugar and the milk. Whisk until smooth (it will be thick). Slowly whisk in the butter. Add the lemon juice. At the end, stir in the sliced almonds and then pour the glaze over the cake.

Magazine Mondays: Paris in the Spring

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 02:12:46 +0000

Something is going on. While I have a deep fondness for Paris ever since my trip there in 2010, the past few weeks have been filled with an almost unbearable longing to go back. Maybe it's the cover of the latest issue of Bon Appétit. Maybe it's the promise of spring. Maybe it's all the French cheese I've been eating. Whatever it is, I want to go back. Desperately. This longing wasn't helped when I opened Issue 116 of Fine Cooking only to come across an article by Dorie Greenspan that included a recipe for Vanilla-Bean Sablé Cookies. Have you ever heard of Punitions? They are buttery-crisp cookies made famous by the ubiquitous Poilâne in Paris. I trekked across the city to buy some of those precious buttery wafers. I carried them home with the kind of care and attention that one would devote to a Fabergé egg. If you've never tried them, do so and you'll understand. I seized upon Dorie's recipe and they, temporarily at least, have eased some of my Paris yearning. This is the recipe where you want to use the very best butter that you can find. It's worth it. Buttery, crisp with a melt-in-your-mouth quality and redolant of vanilla, they are quite simply beautiful. If you can't get to Paris, bring Paris to you.

Waffling.

admin — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:47:38 +0000

It is still amazing to me that there was a time when I regularly skipped breakfast. It seems almost unfathomable that there was a previous me that had so little regard for what is now such an important part of my day. The importance of breakfast is often measured in nutritional value; it's the most important meal of the day, etc., etc. I measure the value of breakfast in more emotional terms. Breakfast is like my first and biggest meeting of the day: the meeting with myself. Now I don't want to give the (mistaken) impression that my breakfasts are grandiose. I'm just like most other people. My mornings are generally an exercise in rushing, scrambling and hurrying to get ready and get out the door. But even if it's a quick cup of coffee and a piece of toast swallowed in about 15 seconds, I have to have that meeting with myself, however brief. This probably explains why I spend so much time thinking about breakfast. Once or twice a day, I will think about next day's breakfast. Should I have yogurt with fruit or yogurt with granola? Do I need to make more granola? Will I feel like a poached egg? Should I make a double batch of oatmeal, to save some for later? Can I get up early enough to make pancakes? What shall I make for weekend breakfast? Weekend breakfast is special because unlike weekday breakfast, there is more time. Because there is more time, I can entertain more elaborate plans such as firing up the waffle maker. While pancakes reign supreme, waffles are very dear to me as well. There is something infinitely satisfying about a hot waffle with butter melting into each little pocket. Further filling each pocket with maple syrup is one of my most supremely fulfilling breakfast acts. It's worth getting up a little earlier. Whatever you have for breakfast (or if you don't have anything for breakfast), I urge you to take a moment and consider it. First thing in the day, treat yourself first. (The waffles pictured above are from a recipe out of Serious Eats: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are. They are yeasted waffles, which gives them a bit of heft and substance. They soak up butter and syrup very nicely. There are a number of yeasted waffle recipes available on-line, including this one, which are worth a try. Enjoy!)

Magazine Mondays: Have a Cookie.

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:44:48 +0000

I could bake cookies forever. Endless recipes. Endless variations. Endless yummy. Cookies, in my humble opinion, don't require a lot of commitment. A cake is commitment. A pie is commitment. Cookies, not so much commitment. Think of those lovely cookie trays you see at parties or better yet, the mind-boggling tables and tables of cookies you see at wedding showers (that's how we roll at Italian wedding showers). You don't have to eat all the cookies on one tray or in one plate. You can pick one from here, one from there and still have room for 20 more. I love cookies. In my repertoire, the sugar cookie remains elusive. I've tried many a recipe but have yet to find "the one". That may have changed with the recipe you see here. From the November 2010 issue of Cook's Illustrated, I give you the Chewy Sugar Cookie. What I like about this cookie is that it is light and has the clean flavour that a sugar cookie should have, but it's also not insubstantial. And it's not overly crispy. Sugar cookies are one of the cookies where I do not enjoy a crispy texture. I like my sugar cookies to have a toothsome balance between soft and firm. Whatever the al dente equivalent is for cookies, that's how I like my sugar cookies. In my variation, I like to add a touch of lemon oil to the cookie dough. This imbues the cookies with a lovely lemon essense that's hard to resist. I know because I ate them all. What's particularly interesting about the recipe is the addition of a small amount of cream cheese. As the original article notes, the cream cheese helps to give a richness to the cookie. In closing, in case you haven't already figured it out, I love these cookies and I encourage you to try them. This is my entry for this week's edition of Magazine Mondays, the little event I created back in 2007 (was it that long ago???) to help manage the magazine piles. I'm not sure how successful I've been at managing the towers of magazines stacked everywhere, not to mention the endless folders of clipped recipes. However, I am having a lot of fun. Joining me for this week's edition are the following fearless MM'ers:

Tina of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor made Chicken with Peach and Bourbon Glaze from from Redbook magazine. Recipe Sleuth from Eye for a Recipe made Bucatini with Red Clam Sauce Hot Pepper from the April 2012 issue of Martha Stewart Living; and Chipotle Shrimp with Couscous from the February 2012 issue of Chatelaine. Nicole of discojing made Black Bean Burgers with Pickled Onions from Everyday Food. Anuja of Simple Baking made Apple and Raisin Muffins from the January 2012 issue of BBC GoodFood India.

Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies Adapted from the November 2010 issue of Cook's Illustrated. Makes 24 cookies Ingredients 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus an additional 1/2 cup for rolling 2 ounces cream cheese, softened 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 large egg 1 tablespoon whole milk 1 teaspoon lemon oil (if you can't find lemon oil, try using 1 tablespoon of finely grated lemon zest) 1 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used less vanilla extract than the original recipe so it wouldn't compete with the lemon oil.) Instructions 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make sure your rack is set to the centre of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. 3. Place 1½ cups sugar and cream cheese in the bowl of your stand mixer. Place remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a shallow dish and set aside. Pour warm butter over sugar and cream cheese and mix on medium speed (using the paddle attachment). 4. Whisk in oil until and then add the egg, milk, lemon oil and vanilla extract (if using lemon zest add that in at this point). 5. Add flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined (don’t over mix your dough). 6. Divide the cookie dough into 24 equal pieces. Roll the balls of dough in the reserved sugar that you set aside. Place the balls of dough on the prepared cookie sheets (12 cookies per sheet). 7. With a drinking glass or mug, gently press down on each ball of dough to flatten it slightly (don’t flatten it too much). 8. If there is any sugar left in the shallow dish, sprinkle it over the flattened cookies. 9. Bake the cookies, one tray at a time (you can put the unbaked tray of cookies in the refrigerator while the first tray is in the oven). Bake the cookies for 11 to 14 minutes (in my oven it took 14 minutes). You want the edges of the cookie to be every-so-slightly golden and the cookies will be nicely puffed. 10. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Once completely cooled, the cookies should be stored in an air-tight container.

Happy Easter! Buona Pasqua!

admin — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:03:15 +0000

From my family to yours, I'd like to wish everyone the happiest of Easters! Our day started with a most delicious Hot Cross Bun Loaf (from this book). I hope that wherever you are there is sunshine, family, friends and good food!

Magazine Mondays: St. Joseph’s Day Fritters!

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:22:53 +0000

March 19th marks the observation of St. Joseph's Day in the Roman Catholic faith. Growing up in an Italian family, marking saints' days was a very big deal - especially if you were named after a saint. My brother and I remember well the annual parade through the streets around our church on St. Anthony's Day (my brother is named Anthony). When you are named for a saint, the celebration of the saint's day is known as onomastico. In fact, to this day, you will often hear people greet you with buon onomastico on the day that marks your patron saint's celebration. Now, I'm not going to lie to you. Most of the time a significant amount of the excitement around these celebration days stems from the food you know is forthcoming. For Italians, the celebration of St. Joseph's Day means zeppole. If you've found yourself in the vicinity of an Italian bakery around this time of year, you have undoubtedly seen Zeppole di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's Day Fritters). Typically, the zeppole are round, filled with cream and topped with glazed cherries. I should note, however, that as with all pastries, when regarded at a national level, you may not find zeppole in all parts of Italy. You're far more likely to see these pastries in bakeries in southern Italy, than you are in northern Italy. And even in southern Italy, you won't find them throughout. Here in North America, however, Zeppole di San Giuseppe are common at bakeries that carry on an Italian baking tradition and if you have the chance to sample them, I recommend it. I've had this particular version of zeppole bookmarked for exactly a year, ever since I first saw the recipe in the March 2011 issue of Saveur. These were delicious. The pastry is prepared by heating milk, sugar, rum and butter and then adding in flour. Like choux pastry, you then beat in eggs until you have a thick and glossy batter. If you have a pastry bag, now is the time to break it out. You can certainly make these without piping them (dropping them by the spoonful into the oil is an alternative) but they won't look as nice. Once fried, the zeppole go for a dip in cinnamon sugar. Not sure how traditional that step is but hey ... I'm not complaining! The filling for the zeppole is a mixture of ricotta, icing sugar, cinnamon and orange zest. In Italy, these would be topped with preserved sour cherries (amarene). I happend to have candied cherries on hand so that's what I used. Really, these were so good. Even though St. Joseph's Day has passed, I encourage you to give them a try. This is my entry for this week's edition of Magazine Mondays. I have one entry to point you to this week for MM: Anuja of Simple Baking made Molten Marshmellow Cupcakes from the October 2004 issue of Sunset magazine. Have a great week, everyone!

Magazine Mondays: Paris Brest

admin — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:17:22 +0000

The very first time I heard about Paris Brest, I had no idea what it was or that it was called Paris Brest.

Some very good friends of mine were waxing poetic about a dessert that their aunt would make for holidays. It consisted of cream puff dough, piped into a around and baked. The resulting ring was then split in half and filled with custard and strawberries.

It sounded foreign and completely delicious to me.

Naturally, being obsessed with all things cream puff, it remained filed away in the little recipe box in my head.

Several years later, I finally came across Paris Brest in a dessert book. Once I realized it was a dessert whose base is made with choux pastry, I put two and two together and figured it out that the little recipe card in my head was one and the same with the recipe I was looking at.

Who says I’m not good at math?!

While I was taken with the idea of this dessert the moment I first found out about it, oddly enough, it was only recently that I tried to make it for the first time.

The November 2011 issue of Cook’s Illustrated has an excellent article on Paris Brest, with an accompanying recipe (and on-line demonstration video).

Inspired by the article, I decided to finally give this elusive dessert a try.

I was not disappointed.

The Cook’s Illustrated recipe was fun to make and the results were delicious. My favourite part was the hazelnut paste that I made to use as part of the filling.

I can’t wait to try this again in the summer, once strawberries are in season and I can use them in the filling!

Now that I’m (hopefully) back to blogging on a more regular basis, I’m hoping to feature Magazine Mondays more regularly seeing as how those magazine piles seem to always be there!

Remember, Magazine Mondays is the little event that I created to help manage all those clipped recipes we all have hanging around (you know you do!).

Here’s who joined me for this week’s edition of MM:

Victoria of Flavors of the Sun made a Fresh Fruit Tart from Oprah magazine; Osso Buco-Style Chicken from Cooking Light; Cauliflower Steaks with Olive Relish and Tomato Sauce from Bon Appétit; and Sticky Toffee Banana Pudding Cakes from Bon Appétit.

Tina of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor made Light Italian Bread from Southern Living.

Susan of Wish Upon a Dish made Mario’s Italian Grilled Cheese and ham Sandwich from Food & Wine and Polenta Torte with Goat Cheese Sauce.

Poppy of Poppy’s Patisserie made a Fig and Almond Tart from BBC Good Food magazine.

Anuja of Simple Baking made Ham and Bacon Pie of BBC Good Food India magazine.

Nicole of discojing made Sriracha and Wasabi Devilled Eggs from Food & Wine.

Remember, if you post about a magazine recipe on your blog, send me the link and I’ll link to it in my next Magazine Mondays round-up.

Have a great week, everyone!

Well Hello There!

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:43:56 +0000

My friends, I have not forgotten you! Nor have I forgotten my blog. I’m in the midst of an exceptionally busy time right now but I had to take a moment away to show you my new look.

So … what do you think?

I’m a bit nervous about it all but I felt like it was time for a change so there you go. There are still a few small kinks to work out but I couldn’t wait to tell you about it anymore.

Let me give you a little bit of the back story.

Almost two years ago, I started to think about the look of my blog and I knew I wanted to change things up a bit. (What can I say … I’m slow …).

What I really wanted was an image or a snapshot, if you will, that said something about me and summed up, in a picture, what my blog was all about.

Various internet journeys brought me Daria Jabenko, a tremendously talented illustrator who designed the lovely image you see at the top, lefthand corner of my banner. She helped “visualize” a look that I was going for and that little image became my inspiration.

While it took me considerable time to actually get going (like … two years), I finally got the ball rolling on a new design when I contacted the amazing folks at Freckled Nest. I was drawn to their spirit, creativity and to the fact that they’re Canadian!

While I enjoyed the previous look of my blog, I wanted something very simple, very pared down and very clean, which is in line with what I’m going for in my personal life right now.

I think I got what I wanted.

I hope you enjoy the new look!

I want to thank Daria Jabenko of Daria Jabenko Illustration and the amazing Zoe and Kyla of Freckled Nest who helped me every step of the way and gave me the blog that I wanted.

Me and Mr. P.

admin — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:30:41 +0000

Folks, I’m in love.

His name is Mr. P. and next to my dear papa’, he is the man of my dreams.

There’s a lot of love in this world and I’m blessed to have a lot of it in my life. I’m blessed with a beautiful family and some pretty amazing friends.

One of my very dearest and sweetest friends (she’s my little sister now because I said so) invited me to her family home to enjoy a dinner prepared by her father, a chef by training.

Actually. Wait. That’s not right. He’s not a chef by training. He’s a chef by nature, he just also happened to choose to study cooking.

As he rightly pointed out over dinner, cooking is about passion and he’s got it all.

Mr. P. is ADORABLE with capital letters, bold, italics, squiggly lines, exclamation marks and every other punctuation point you can imagine.

And I was his honoured guest.

Here’s what he made for me. Be jealous.

He flirted with me over a sublime lobster bisque with chunks of lobster meat.

He impressed me with a crisp Ceasar salad (homemade dressing, thank you very much).

He wooed me with Beef Wellington (with my initial on it … I mean come on!) accompanied by braised endive and spinach-stuffed tomato.

He had me at dessert – a poached peach with vanilla ice cream and chocolate balsamic reduction.

When a man poaches a peach for you because he knows you don’t like pears, that’s love people.

Mr. P., thank you for sharing your beautiful food with me. Thank your for raising your two incredible daughters.

Thank you for reminding me that love is out there and always worth it. In all its forms.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Ciao!

Magazine Mondays: We Got Buns!

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:10:42 +0000

What’s better than sleeping in on a weekend morning and waking up to the smell of warm, buttery, citrusy buns just coming out of the oven?

Nothing! That’s what … nothing’s better than that!

If you agree with me then I have the buns for you: Saveur‘s Sweet Orange Buns.

To me, this is the perfect weekend recipe. You mix it all up the night before, leave it in the fridge to rise overnight, and then bake it off in the morning once you’ve woken up and are ready to leave the comfort of bed.

Many times, with yeasted doughs, it feels like you’re a slave to the dough. This dough waits for you, not the other way around.

I could wax poetic for many more paragraphs but I won’t. Just try these buns. Enough said.

This is my entry for this week’s Magazine Mondays – the little non-event I created a few years back to help tame those food magazine piles everywhere. (Seriously? Where do all these magazines come from?!)

Here’s who joins me this week:

Sweet Liliana from My Cookbook Addiction made Apple Charlottes from Fine Cooking.

Poppy of Poppy’s Patisserie made Chocolate Muffins and Chocolate Custard from BBC Good Food magazine.

Melissa from Baking Makes Things Better made a Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart.

Ranjani of Four Seasons of Food made Bloody Mary Tomato Salad from Bon AppÃ©tit.

Tina of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor made Shrimp and Saffron Rice from Real Simple.

Have a great week, everyone!

Ciao!