red velvet cake

i got a call for a cake for this weekend, kinda short notice, but when they are calling- i can't say no! i got to pick what i did, and i choose red velvet cake. i can't find the scrap of paper that i wrote the recipe on, so we'll just talk about what i do know for sure.

red velvet cake is fun to make! there is red food coloring involved! and i didn't get it on my new shirt! this recipe made for a very moist, dense cake. which means that it was easy to work with.

i cut the cakes into layers. on each layer, i spread a bunch of strawberry juice that i got from macerating strawberries in sugar overnight. then a layer of white chocolate mousse. for covering and decorating, i made a pretty basic cream cheese frosting- then folded in a bunch of the leftover mousse. yum. good thinking, sierra.

and for those of you looking for cakes- this one is a 9" round, i bake two cakes and layer to about 4" or 5" high. i bet it serves about 20. i am charging $2 - $3 per person depending on what all is going on.

endive

this looks like a party. and it is! endive leaves used to hold a dollop of goodness: creamy cheese, lots of fresh shaved parmesan. roasted pears, carmelized onions, crispy bacon, fresh basil, a bit of paprika. a little sweet and a lot savory. the pears were too perfect, so we had to eat some fresh ones too.

tomato tarts!

same tart dough as used below. this one is "late summer tart". a basil pesto: a few cloves of garlic, a bunch of parsley, basil, olive oil, red wine vinegar, s & p. salted tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, baby peas.

tarts!

made a whole crap ton of these little buggers. called it "early fall tart"- i'll tell you about the tart dough- but on top there was a dijon-naise. carmelized onions and fennel. mixed olives. gruyere cheese and some of the pretty fennel topper chopped up.

tart dough: 2 1/2 c. ap flour. 2 sticks of cold butter cut into little chunks. sprinkle of salt. mix it until like sand, add cold water till it comes together, less than half a cup. chilled for an hour or more, then rolled out on a floured surface. baked at 375 in the way of a pie.. with some weights, then for a few minutes without. flakey, buttery, savory.

why?

tonight i will be attending the much anticipated musical performance by one of my most favorite bands- why? so obviously this post isn't about food, but my other soul-feeder, music.

i love why? not because they went to my high school, although that does make me especially fond. i connect to this band because of the witticism and word magic in their songs- two of the skills i most prize in authors, songwriters and all other humans. also the good old-fashioned themes: the suffering of losing love and alternatingly trying to shake it/keep it close; the pain of being overly self-aware and the awkwardness that results; the constant references to the past and its present influence; wonderings about now and when...

and its somehow not as depressing as that makes it sound... think all those themes presented in a package of childlike piano and thumping drums and vocals of abstract tonality.

the only thing missing tonight will be my sweet sister. it is hard to think of her missing this show for a hospital stay. boo. we travelled together to see why? in seattle two tours ago. she got so wasted that night that we only caught the openers and skipped yo la tengo in an effort to get back to the ace hotel in one piece. how much life has changed! how much it sometimes hurts to keep living normal life without my favorite sidekick...

grape cake

to honor the end of the summer and the homesick (for walla walla) feelings that this time of year brings (the smell of ripe grapes in the air, the energy of all the good wine-making folks running around and working hard, blue skies and dry wheat fields, cool nights, bright stars....) i made this grape cake.

2 eggs and 2/3 c. sugar beaten up. 4 tbsp. melted butter, 1/4 c. olive oil, 1/3 c. milk and vanilla mixed in. sifted 1 1/2 c. flour, 3/4 tsp. baking powder, pinch of salt and zest of a lemon. poured wet into dry and mixed with a spoon. folded in about 2 cups of mixed grapes. being situated in the midwest, i just scrounged up a bunch of different colored grapes. who knows the varietal: red, black and green for our purposes. cut each color into a different shape for appearances. poured the batter into a cake pan, baked about 15 minutes at 350 and then put another cup or so of grapes on top. baked until springy in the center.

i will be serving this as a sweet treat for a group this weekend. am thinking about a ginger sort of glaze for some moisture.. it is a very dense cake and could use some loosening up.

make some good juice this year, friends- here's to 2009 being a great vintage!

moerlein marzen

shepherds pie

oops. backwards photos again. i always forget...

homecooking to the hospital tonight, and the request was for shephards pie. so of course i had to make it different.

stewed onions, carrots, celery, garlic and beets in some oil. then i added the softer veggies- mushrooms, corn, peas, the beet greens, zucchini. heated up the pan pretty hot and deglazed with some red wine. then dumped in a whole carton of beef stock. cooked until the liquid was reduced to almost nothing.

meanwhile, i boiled some spuds until soft and mashed them with butter and sour cream. yum.

in a casserole, beet stew on the bottom and spuds on top. mmm. beet-y!

tamarind sorbet

gathering inspiration from my most favorite late summer cocktail, i came up with this sorbet. i can't remember what jim would call it, but as far as i can remember- and sometimes the memories of those drinks are pretty dim- it was kinda like what we called a japanese caipirinha. lemons instead of limes. but this drink also had a tamarind tincture, muddled ginger, anise garnish...

for this sorbet: juiced about 6 lemons and 6 oranges on my NEW ELECTRIC CITRUS JUICER! whoa. whenever i get myself a fun new toy like this, i just have to wonder why i waited so long. this bad boy is going to send my sorbet producing capacities thru the roof. next thing will be another freezer! ok, citrus juice.

the most fragmented recipe ever: i visited findlay market yesterday (and it was beautiful and sunny and there were tons of people there. i also got to taste DOJO gelato for the first time) and the colonel had a tub of "thai tamarind", a paste of ground tamarind and water. i mixed about a half a cup of that with an equal amount of simple syrup. tamarind syrup.

i also added about a cup of cachaca- the sugar cane liquor from brazil. a few tablespoons of orange curacao. about an inch of ginger, sliced. some cardamom pods and a few star anise. i let all this mingle together overnight, then strained and churned.

as any sorbet with an alcohol added, this one has got a great smooth texture. it is sweet, but the sweetness doesn't linger around on your tongue and get all sticky. i think that is the tamarind playing as a natural balancer. and laxative! ha.

tomato bomb

scooped out the flesh of a big heirloom tomato. mixed with basil pesto, parmesan and herbed goat cheese. then stuffed all that back in her. roasted in a hot oven until right before it split open.
dug into hot cheese, sweet summer tomato with a crispy toast.

segway catering

this segway store has been open a while, but tonight they are having a grand opening. i guess you get to have a grand opening party whenever you feel like it! cool!

they got a bunch of bites from us- i did stuffed mushrooms, some crostinis, empanadas and bites of the chocolate cake from the other day..

stuffed mushrooms: roasted them in a lower oven, about 350 with a bunch of garlic oil, salt and pepper. made a filling of creamy cheese, bacon, candied walnuts and pears sauteed in bacon fat. yup. they are pretty great.

crostinis. white bean spread: beans mashed with garlic oil, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and paprika. basil pesto: pine nuts, oil, balsamic and lemon juice. i did the figgy one for them too: blue cheese melted on the toast, topped with carmelized onion and fig.

empanadas: i think the dough recipe is still on here somewhere... filled them with roasted red peppers, chorizo and goat cheese. made a cilantro oil for dipping, but these are full of flavor on there own. and the crust is so nice and buttery. when they come outta the oven, i can't help but take a bite and sing "hot pocket" like mr. jim gaffigan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9c9lAfXQHs careful, you might pee your pants.

for dessert: sweet little bites of that super rich chocolate cake with a raspberry for health.

PS- i heart segways

pear sorbet

roasted pears with a drizzle of honey and a few shakes off some dried lavender- until softish. mashed and soaked in a syrup of sugar and honey. strained and chilled and churned.

chocolate!

i am starting to feel like i am just posting sweet things on this blog! you have to know that i ate lots of amazing, not-sweet things yesterday. my first lunch at take the cake. moroccan chicken soup full of sweet potatoes and ginger. then a roasted vegetable salad with goat cheese on greens. and a crazy chocolate bread pudding. i was so full i was planning on making that last the whole day, until we decided to visit at city view tavern. had to get a beef bbq sandwich. with yellow cheese and slaw on top, grippos on the side.

but this flourless chocolate cake is what i made when i got home from all that. doing another catering this week (thru work) for SEGWAY! i am pretty excited about it, because whenever i see the owner of the segway shop, he lets me take a spin. and i would imagine he'll be there when i drop off the food! segway rides!

this cake is very, very easy and sooooo rich that you will definitely die a little with each bite. but it is worth it. melt 18 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, adding 12 ounces of butter. whisk together 9 whole eggs with 1 1/2 c. sugar. slowly add the melted chocolate and butter to the eggs and sugar. pour into a buttered pan and cover with foil. put the pan in a water bath and bake it till its firm at 350. let it cool and it should tip right out of the pan.

i promise i will post pictures of all the SAVORY bites that i am doing for this gig. i don't want to get a reputation as a pastry chef or anything.

clementine & cream

clementines. juiced. zested. with syrup. chilled and churned. if you guys aren't getting the picture, i don't know what else to tell you..

jenna says its just like a clementine without all the hassle!

ms. sharona was my third customer this week! i am charging $5 a pint, $10 a quart, and have been known to deliver!

website

this is not the slick website that i envision coming someday soon, but just so y'all know- i can also be found on the internets at http://www.forkheartknife.com/. if you go there, you pretty much get back here, but that's ok. sometimes its fun to go in circles.

lemon ice

a bunch of lemons, juiced with some zest and syrup. and i have started thinking seriously about an electric juicer.

radicchio

this was a good dinner especially after it started feeling so fall-like tonight... had some heads of radicchio around and was wondering what to do with them..

chopped into chunks and sauteed them till softer, deglazed with white wine and stewed in chicken broth. reduced stock and the radicchio was red brown beautiful. added some carmelized onions, gorgonzola and parmesan. perfect compliment to steak and red wine. yum.

strawberry corncakes

now that one of the gang isn't working, and the others of us are trying to be smart and resourceful, we have been eating an increasing number of sunday brunches in. this week its pancakes and i have still been thinking about those cakes from annabel's.

made the pancake batter: 2 c. ap flour, 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 3 tbsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 eggs and 1 1/2 to 2 c. milk. added some pinches of cornmeal. poured on the griddle and poked with strawberries. with maple syrup from the bee keeper that uses the work compost. nice.

black/raspberry sorbet

there was this park in walla walla where i would walk everyday, sometimes twice with my code. around this time of year all the blackberry bushes would be in full fruit. code and i would start and finish our walks with a pause for some snacking on fresh berries.. so good.

the berries here are coming from the store, but this flavo flave takes me back.

cooked blackberries on the stove with sugar and water. pureed and strained and added the leftover raspberry puree from the cake. some fresh lemon juice, chambord and a bunch of syrup.

i think it would be amazing with a little lemon ice on top. might have to make two flavors again this week! come try at pizza night..

fig gelato

i cut the fresh figs into quarters and put them on the stove with some sugar. then i mashed them and strained them and added some lemon juice. warmed some milk, sugar and vanilla bean and mixed everything. chilled and churned.

it tastes so fig. when i was researching this i was looking at this fig aperitif called figoun. apparently its got vanilla, angelica- the stuff of chartreuse, oranges and red mandarins. hmm. don't know if i can get that around these parts, but i would be curious to have something in there with the fig gelato. something to add some other point of reference for depth.

cake, to go

i got a second customer! this week was busy with me dreaming and acting on getting things going.. locked in the website for my "brand" and even spent a bunch of hours trying to figure out how to set up a little website. it is passable now, linking here to my blog and giving out my digits for future customers. thank goodness a friend is going to help me get it looking a lot more, um, professional.

in the meantime, i am feeling very positive about all the extra cooking that's going on around here. this cake was really fun. the customer was at the wedding and had that cake. she wanted the exact same cake for a shower this weekend. i had a lot more fun layering this one, knowing that i would be able to make it come together.

lemon cakes layered with fresh raspberry puree (the berries are crazy good and cheap right now!) and a lemon mousse. a vanilla buttercream icing all over the outside. super sweet and light and there is lemon mousse leftover!!

BLT

shadeau ciabatta. both sides buttered. on the griddle. hellman's mayo. blue grass meats bacon. dirty knees collective tomatoes with a nice sprinkle of salt. crispy, cold romaine. i love eating food.

tomato ice cream

more tomato, used the chunky half of the preserves. heated with a quart of heavy cream and a quart of half and half. it was so thick i added a quart of whole milk too and some vanilla bean. tempered into 12 yolks and 1 1/2 c. sugar. warmed everything slowly on the stove till thicker. then chilled and churned.

even more than the sorbet, this one tastes like fall and pumpkin. then at the very end, it gives you the sweeter acid and garden taste of the tomatoes. the texture is great, it is not too sweet. and this recommended caramel sauce is a good idea.

for the caramel, i just eyeball the sugar and water, more sugar than if it was a simple syrup. cook on low till it gets a near brown, take it off the heat. then stir in some cream and some salted butter. the ny times recipe that i am working off has some of those tomato preserves in the caramel too. but oops! i already used em all...

and i just want you all to think about things when you are playing around with hot sugar. it's like my dad would say about working with electricity: you just have to have a healthy bit of fear about the whole business. getting some of that hot sugar on you will be the worst burn. so watch it!

tomato crazy

it is definitely different than any sorbet i have ever had. the tomatoes were stewed in sugar, ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves and lemon slices for two days. i pureed them and then strained out the juice. the juice went to the sorbet, the mash went to the ice cream. this is about the sorbet, ice cream coming next...

about 4 quarts of tomato juice. i added about a cup of lemon juice and maybe a quart of simple syrup. and churned it. it has a wonderful color and texture.. more jell than a normal sorbet.. all that pectin from the tomato stew. the flavors of cinnamon and clove make it taste very fall. which i guess it is getting to be...

i think that i have to appreciate it as its own thing, i am having a really hard time coming up with descriptors. i want to put more of it in my mouth, but it is just so strange!

elderlemonflowerade

today is beautiful and i've been enjoying a refreshing drink.. lemon juice and elderflower syrup in equal parts topped with soda water and some fresh ginger.