Coffee is often considered a strong-tasting, dominant flavour, but in rubs and sauces for meats, and in baked goods such as a chocolate cake, it can add subtle dimension to a dish without tasting explicitly of coffee. While you can detect the coffee in these crêpes, it’s gentle – more like a rich, velvety undertone, playing harmony to the primary orange note. I love an espresso with dessert to counter the sweetness, and the Lock-N-Load Java Warrior Select coffee (incorporated into the crêpes and the Suzette butter) is a delightful twist on the classic French Crêpes Suzette.

For the recipe, click here.

Working with sponsors is a great way to exercise creativity within the bounds of parameters someone else has set for you. Our most recent collaboration at 37 Cooks is a partnership with The Wine Dive in West Palm Beach, Florida – and it involved creating a main dish that included a protein, a starch and a vegetable, as well as incorporating wine in some way.

I’ve always loved how some foods add dramatic colour to others – berries and beets, for example, with their potent dyes, will leave their mark on whatever they touch. And since red wine shares that sometimes wonderful, sometimes distressing staining capability, it wasn’t too far of a stretch to decide upon a red wine risotto.

A traditional red wine risotto typically involves Barolo, but I had it set in my mind that this would be the perfect opportunity to use some quail I had saved in the freezer – and Barolo is much too bold. I researched, agonized, asked some friends on Twitter – and ended up with a 2008 Montecillo Crianza la Rioja – still full-bodied, but lighter than a Barolo would have been. Brightened up with some 15 year-old balsamic vinegar and accented with matchsticks of sweet, crunchy Anjou pear, tart pomegranate arils, and bitter arugula leaves, it was a wonderful match for a pan-seared quail, stuffed with garlic and thyme and rubbed with grains of paradise and allspice.

Get the recipe here.

It’s almost spring! And with that comes all sorts of wonderful things; people shed their heavy coats and tired faces, plants emerge, and there’s a general feeling of lightness in the air. I always associate afternoon tea with spring – not sure why, because it’s lovely any time of the year. Perhaps it’s because afternoon tea would be the perfect thing to serve at a garden party, and the first garden party of the year is always something special. If you’re waiting for the weather to become nice enough to have guests outdoors, why not try out these cookies with your tea at home in the meantime?

Infused with fragrant Earl Grey tea and orange zest, these pinwheel cookies are a twist on a classic, and very versatile, shortbread recipe.

Earl Grey & Orange Shortbread Pinwheel Cookies

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Earl Grey Shortbread Dough
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tbsp good quality full leaf Earl Grey tea (I used a blend called Cream of Avalon)

Grind the tea in a spice grinder until powdery and fine. Mix it with the 1/2 cup of butter and set aside, covered, for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
Cream the tea-infused butter and sugar, until fluffy. Mix in salt and flour, combining well. Shape dough into a round ball, wrap in cling wrap and chill until firm enough to roll without sticking.

Orange Shortbread Dough
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tsp orange zest

With the back of a spoon, press the oils from the orange zest into the sugar until it is orange coloured and fragrant.
Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Mix in salt and flour, combining well. Shape dough into a round ball, wrap in cling wrap and chill until firm enough to roll without sticking.

Assembly
Roll out both doughs to 1/4″ thick rectangles of the same size and dimensions.
On a flat surface, place a piece of cling wrap larger than the dough. Place the Earl Grey dough on the cling wrap, then the orange dough on top, rolling out lightly to adhere the two doughs to each other and eliminate air pockets. Grab one end of the cling wrap and lift to roll the dough tightly into a cylinder/log shape. Seal and refrigerate at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cut dough in 1/4″ slices and spread out evenly on a baking sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly (5-10 min) before transferring to a rack. Let cool completely.

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from many years of experience in eating, it’s this: Always save room for dessert. Some partake only when celebrating an occasion, but I say – why wait for the big stuff? Simply doing pleasurable things is occasion enough, and when it comes to this dessert, every bite of velvety, Tahitian vanilla bean – infused sabayon contrasted with warm grapes that burst with flavour in your mouth and crisp, nutty tuile is worth celebrating.

For the recipe, click here.

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a meat & potatoes type of eater, though sometimes all I want is a big hunk of roasted beef and a side of good ol’ mashed potatoes. It’s comfort food; it’s familiar and filling, and when that’s what you crave, there is no substitute. It also makes for easy cooking – no fussing over the stove, stirring constantly, watching over your soon-to-be dinner lest it escape your careful guidance and run, full-throttle, off a cliff into the land of the inedible. Okay, perhaps I’m being slightly melodramatic. But trust me when I say, it’s happened to me before.

Not so with a roast, for all you have to do is apply your flavourings, choose your level of doneness, and set the oven temperature and timer accordingly. So you might want to sear it first? If you can handle a pan and a pair of tongs, no biggie. Even better, if you choose a tenderloin cut, it cooks in no time at all and is so tender (hence the name – who would have thought?) that you can cut it with a fork!

I have always thought the flavour pairing of mushrooms and dill an inspired combination, after finally tasting some authentic pierogies (prior to which I’d only ever eaten the frozen, doughy kind; I’m not sure you’d even want to call them pierogies after you tasted the real ones). I used a mixture of ground dried porcinis (available from Marx Foods) and smoked alderwood salt to create a simple rub for the tenderloin, and finished the dish, paired with a generous serving of horseradish mashed potatoes and a beef, mushroom and madeira gravy, with a sprinkle of dill pollen – though a sprig of dill would be just as lovely.

Get the recipe, and others from our adventures with Marx Foods here.

How’s the new year been treating you? We’ve been lucky so far; for mid-winter, it’s been sunny and mild. But when there are grey skies, we can make our own sunshine at home. These turmeric rolls are lovely and tender and will brighten up your day with their warm, glowing appearance and subtle savoury flavour. Tear into them fresh out of the oven, serve them with butter, or use them in warm butter chicken sandwiches.

Get the recipe here – and if you love bread and the wonderful smells it brings to your home, we’ve got you covered at 37 Cooks with our latest bread challenge.

Enjoy the winter season – and whatever you find yourself doing, stay warm!

Notre Dame, silhouetted in sunset

It’s New Year’s Eve! And while I’m looking forward to the new year, this soon-to-be-past year has definitely been a good one. One of the highlights of my 2012 was a trip to Europe with my family. You may have already seen a few photos of Bruges, so here are some favourites from Paris.

Happy New Year, everyone – and may 2013 bring you many adventures at home and abroad!

One of my favourite shots from a trip along the Seine River

The obligatory shot of the Eiffel Tower

Underneath the Arc de Triomphe

Gilded sculptures grace the bridges of the Seine

Window clocks at the Musée d’Orsay look out across the river.

Montmartre from a distance; the view from the rooftop of the Musée d’Orsay

After exploring the French sculpture galleries at the Louvre, take a rest on one of the benches in this beautifully arched stairwell.

A giant copper tub of delectable candied chestnuts at Jean-Paul Hévin on Rue Saint-Honoré. I could just dive in…

The famous macarons from Pierre Hermé. We gently devoured these on a bench in the Jardin des Tuileries. Delicate, airy and perfectly balanced in flavour – we are ruined for life as the macarons available here do not compare!

The extensive gardens at Versailles are full of sculptures like this…

…and this.

The biggest fountain at Versailles is right in the middle of all the gardens.

At Giverny; Monet’s house was very clearly an inspiration for his work. It is perfectly maintained today, life imitating art as art imitates life.

Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you’ve all been enjoying the company of your loved ones and gorging yourselves on lots of good food.

This should have been entitled, “Some Days Are Just Not Meant For Making Aioli, and Other Experiments”. But then I realized I have fallen into the SEO trap of making titles straightforward (and dare I say, BORING). You know what else can get boring? Eating the same leftovers, day after day. So I thought I’d re-mix my mashed potatoes into something new.

I had also intended to make a roasted garlic aioli to go with these, but my best efforts were foiled and the aioli kept breaking. Fortunately, these fritters are wonderful on their own – and really simple to make.

Cheesy Mashed Potato Fritters

Makes 18 fritters

1 1/2 cups leftover mashed potato (note: of course, being leftover is optional)
1 large egg
3/4 cup panko crumbs
18 1/2″ cubes of cheddar cheese
oil for frying

Mix together mashed potato and egg (add salt and pepper if necessary; you can also add other things like chopped chives or crumbled bacon).
Take a spoonful of potato mixture and wrap it around a cube of cheese, rolling the potato into a ball.
Fill a deep pot with oil 2″ deep. Heat the oil to 350F.
Dip each potato ball into the panko crumbs, rolling around to coat.
Fry in small batches. Potato fritters are ready when they float to the top and are golden.
Remove fritters with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper-towel lined plate.
Serve while hot.

The above photo also marks my first experiment in working with fluorescent lighting. The result, while not as dimensional and enticing as natural light, isn’t too bad – and should tide me over during the darker months of the year.

That’s it for now – I’d better get back to my family affairs. Wishing a wonderful holiday season to you and yours!

The season of gift-giving, cookie-swapping, and celebrating with family is here! And while palmiers aren’t traditionally associated with the winter holidays, I highly doubt anyone will object to bitefuls of caramelized, crunchy sugar and light, flaky pastry – especially when filled with pistachios and cranberries to add some festive red and green. Even better, they are quick and easy to make when you use store-bought puff pastry. And it’s easy to put your own spin on these by changing up the fillings, mixing spices into the sugar, or dipping them in chocolate.

Click here for the recipe and more Christmas cookies from 37 Cooks!

In the package I received from Marx Foods was a sampler of their Iranian saffron. Did I mention before that these guys are generous? For those unfamiliar, saffron is the stigma of the crocus sativus and is the most expensive spice in the world by weight, given that it must be harvested by hand, and that each flower yields three delicate stigmas.

The best way I can describe the flavour of saffron is hay-like, with a floral twist. Many find the golden colour it imparts to food even more lovely than the taste. It’s a natural in rice and in sauces with seafood or chicken, and a classic baked into bread with raisins or currants in England and Sweden.

I decided to merge Indian and English influences to create an egg bread studded with pistachios and currants, with a hint of cardamom and lemon. The result was a marvelous loaf that’s flavourful enough to eat on its own, and makes a lovely French toast the day after. Get the recipe and 4-strand braid instructions here.