sinful things to do with tomatoes

what you see is roasted tomatoes, nicely caramelized in a 450-degree oven, sitting on top of saffron and smoked paprika scented rice. what you see is gorgeousness. let us all worship at the altar of tomatoes and rice.

this is a slightly revised version of mark bittman's tomato paella from the new york times food section. i've made this three times now: once when i was sick and could barely taste anything, once for my parents while i was home, and once for a couple of my roommates.

in the article that accompanies the original recipe, mark bittman says that you have to try it at least once with just tomatoes, and i would have to say that with respect to this paella, i've become a tomato purist. for the purposes of this post i'll be ignoring any issues regarding the authenticity of this particular paella, because when something tastes this good, you ignore pretentions like authenticity. this rice is pretty fantastic: the smoked paprika and saffron give the rice an earthy, unplaceable flavor and aroma that's balanced by the tomatoes. if you make this in the summer, with homegrown or locally grown tomatoes, i guarantee you that the tomatoes will taste like tomato-infused sunshine.

about the recipe: i would say that the saffron is indispensable - it's unbelievably better with saffron, so go to the grocery store and get some, even if it's really cheap. also, get the best tomatoes possible. i've upped the tomatoes significantly from the original recipe because i found the proportion of tomato to rice to be a little too low in the first go. also, i have no idea what kind of rice mark bittman was using, but my paella consistently takes about 45 minutes in the oven to finish itself off. however, the upside of this is that the tomatoes get roasted and start caramelizing because they're under hot heat for so long, so overall this is a big win. it's a snap to prep - which for me, lover of involved mises en place, is saying something - and once it's in the oven, it's off your mind and you can do something else.

as for additions: surely you could add anything to this, but would you really want to mess with a good thing? if you must, i tried fried egg today, which was pretty good - fried so it's crispy. i made the eggs sunny side up, which was good, but i wish there had been a bit more crunch to them to contrast with the softness of rice and tomato. there's not really any need for meat, unless you were to do up some good-quality bacon and cook the onions/etc in the rendered fat; or perhaps chicken thighs or something like that - but no weak meats like chicken breast, because the acidity of the tomatoes can only be balanced by a nice earthy meat. whatever you do, make sure that you leave the pan in the oven long enough to let the rice start to develop a bit of crustiness - i didn't do this in the most recent permutation, and i missed it. this will also maximize your tomato caramelization time, which is ideal.

tomato paella
3 1/2 cups stock or water
2 to 2 1/2 lbs ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into thick wedges
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
large pinch saffron threads
2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons Spanish pimentón (smoked paprika) - i used smoked paprika from balducci's
2 cups spanish or other short-grain rice - i've tried both goya spanish rice and sushi rice, and slightly prefer the spanish rice
preheat oven to 450 degrees. warm stock or water in a saucepan. put tomatoes in a medium bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. toss to coat.

2. put remaining oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. add onion and garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, 3 to 5 minutes. stir in tomato paste, saffron, and paprika and cook for a minute more. add rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is shiny, another minute or two. add liquid and stir until just combined.

3. put tomato wedges on top of rice and drizzle with juices that accumulated in bottom of bowl. put pan in oven and roast in the middle of the oven, undisturbed, for 35-45 minutes. the rice is done if it's dry and just tender - take a taste to make sure. you can add more liquid if the rice is dry but not done yet, though this shouldn't be a problem. when rice is ready, turn off oven and let pan sit for 5 to 15 minutes (it absorbs the liquids fully and gets a little stickier).

4. remove pan from oven. if you like, put pan over high heat for a few minutes to develop a bit of a bottom crust before serving.

[serves 4-6]

a little speed (homemade ricotta)

no, not speed with respect to the homemade ricotta, but rather, with dinner made from the ricotta. however, despite the lengthy instructions, the actual production of the ricotta is very easy and short. most of the work is prep work. the best ricotta i have ever had was in a salad at chez panisse (the restaurant, not the cafe) - it was light, creamy yet with definitely definable curd, pressed into a triangular slice. i think it was drizzled with olive oil, which is, i have to say, a really excellent way to eat ricotta. but if my memory is failing me, then i definitely had ricotta drizzled with olive oil on bread at some restaurant in the past.

i was thus particularly excited about homemade ricotta because it looked so easy to make. i shouldn't have been surprised, as jessica and i made paneer in much the same way in our cooking class (paneer is a slightly different mix of milk and yogurty ingredients, and is pressed and weighted instead of allowed to drain). this ricotta is richer than supermarket whole-milk ricotta, even though it's also made with whole milk, but is a bit hard in the curd - i wonder if letting it drain less would have been more ideal.

the accompanying recipe that uses the ricotta is pretty fast (maybe half an hour at most) and is prety excellent. the rotini is key, unless you have a suggestion for another pasta shape that holds ricotta as well as it does. the bell peppers and shallots provide some counterpoint to the ricotta, and the pasta essentially acts as a starch...you could also just spread the ricotta-pepper mixture on bread.

homemade ricotta (adapted from michael chiarello)
1 gallon whole milk (or some mixture of 2% and whole milk)
1 quart buttermilk
1 package of cheesecloth
candy thermometer (optional)
herbs (optional)

1. combine whole milk, buttermilk, and herbs (if using) in a large saucepan (ideally, some kind of stockpot). heat over high heat, scraping bottom of the pot with a rubber heatproof spatula to prevent the milk from scorching. it will seem like the heat is too high, but it's not. it would be good to use a heavy-bottomed pot. set up a large-bottomed colander lined with a large piece of cheesecloth, folded to a thickness of 5-6 layers (it will be about 1 1/2 feet square).

2. when the milk is warm, stop stirring it (you can give it a stir very infrequently if you're a compulsive stirrer) so the curds can form.

3. when the milk reaches 175-180F, the mixture will curdle so that you can clearly see white curds and slightly cloudy clearer liquid (the whey) around the edges of the pot. the surface will look like a white raft of foam and curds. remove from heat immediately. place the colander in the sink and ladle the curds and whey into it, making sure you don't break up the curds. when most of the liquid has drained, tie the ends of the cheesecloth over the faucet and let the curds drain weighted by its self-weight for about 15 minutes.

4. scoop ricotta into an airtight container and let cool. when cool, cover and refrigerate. the ricotta will keep for about a week.

[makes 3-4 cups]


rotini with ricotta and red peppers
1 lb pasta
1 T olive oil
2-3 large shallots, chopped finely
2 red bell peppers, sliced into small 1/4"x1" batons
1 1/2 to 2c ricotta, either whole or part-skim, or homemade
salt and pepper, and a little bit of sugar

1. heat water in a large saucepan to boil, for the pasta. add 1/2T of olive oil to a medium skillet and heat on medium-high. add shallots and saute, stirring every now and then, until shallots are translucent, about 8 minutes.

2. add remaining 1/2T oil to the skillet with the shallots in it, and then add the bell peppers. saute until soft (but not too soft), about 10-15 minutes. when water boils, add pasta and stir every now and then.

3. if your ricotta is fairly hard (this will be the case with the recipe for homemade ricotta), add to the bell pepper mix in the skillet and heat to soften for about five minutes. keep the mixture warm over medium-low heat.

4. when pasta is done, drain and return to saucepan. add bell pepper mixture; if you have not yet added the ricotta, add it now. season with salt and pepper, plus a bit of sugar to balance the salt. serve while warm.

[serves 4-6; can be halved]

orange-scented banana layer cake

carrie : and when we go to star, we could get -
me : pork loin!
carrie : yeah, that too...but i was thinking of ice cream.
(24 hours later)
carrie : last night i had a dream about rare meat...i think it was the pork loin.

* * *
i am having a minor allergic reaction to the tiny bit of chocolate-hazelnut shortbread dough that i ate. hmph. well, now the shortbread is in the oven and it shall be mine. hopefully the tea i'm drinking will make the itch in my throat go away. i sweetened it with lyle's golden syrup, which i used last sunday to make a caramel sauce. it's one of those british things you'll only understand when you use it. but it's perfect for caramel sauce - it just has this kind of caramel-sweet flavor to it. it's also the thickest liquid i've ever seen in my life. shake it, and it just doesn't move at all. wonder why it's so viscous. it's not as good a sweetener as honey, but it does the job, and when else am i going to use it?

the story about the pork : a couple days ago i came home to find carrie scarfing down some focaccia from star. while browsing, she came upon a pork loin sale - huge pork loins for $1.99/lb. we didn't go last night, but as of last night's desperate-must-have-ice-cream-and-tosci's-is-closed run, we are proud owners of a ten-pound pork loin. it was the runt of the lot, but had the best marbling and the least fat on top. we have plans for this pork loin...

* * *
(the shortbread comes out of the oven.)

carrie : we're missing one thing.
me : what?
carrie : milk.
me : we have cream...

* * *

whoever combined chocolate and hazelnuts was a genius. a genius. such a genius. the recipe we used was from the past issue of gourmet (which still has ugly covers, by the way), and the only substitution we made was hazelnuts for almonds. the almonds are probably a little more subtle and don't whack you upside the head like the hazelnuts, and certainly wouldn't draw as many comparisons to the ferrero rocher candy, but in all reality i prefer hazelnuts. they do taste a bit like the candy, but so does every other chocolate-hazelnut combination. the shortbread is tender but crumbly (note that this is when the shortbread is about 15 minutes out of the oven), and has, in addition to the chocolate-hazelnut flavor, a nice, rounded buttery flavor, and a bit of a crunch from the granulated sugar. i really like recipes like this one, where each ingredient has a clear and simple role in the flavor of the finished product, whether it lends something to texture, smell, or aesthetics.

to go back a few days to the place where i left off in my previous post, let's talk about the banana cake i made for alice's potluck. it was saturday night, i was tired and had no intention of going anywhere, but i wanted to make a banana cake. so...after perusing epicurious, i found a cake that perfectly suited the ingredients i had on hand. more specifically, i combined two recipes - one for a banana layer cake that used oil (not butter, of which i had half a stick left in the house) and one for a chocolate buche de noel. i used the layer cake from the banana cake recipe, and the gelatin-stabilized, orange-zested whipped cream from the buche de noel. the whipped cream is fantastic because it has very little sweetener in it, and so it's really a fantastic foil for anything that's heavy or really intense. i didn't have any vegetable oil, so i used olive oil and crossed my fingers (it was fine). i also didn't have any vanilla, so i used orange oil instead, thus making the commitment to a banana-orange cake rather than a straight banana cake. the original idea had been a boston cream pie, essentially, with banana cake in place of the vanilla sponge cake - kind of like bananas foster as a cake. i thought the pure flavors of the cream and a caramel sauce would be great with the banana cake. as it happened, i added another flavor that maybe wasn't really the right thing to do, but it went over fine at the potluck.

i had bought the cream - four pints of it, mind you - when it was on sale at star market, 2 pints/$3. quite the deal, though perhaps not when you go through said pints of cream in a week and a half. good thing i didn't eat all of it myself, huh? anyway, the abundance of cream gave me the vision of thin layers of cake sandwiched with layers of pillowy whipped cream. it was saturday, though, and the potluck was on sunday, so i stabilized the whipped cream for two reasons - one, so that it would hold up overnight, and two, so that the cream would withhold the pressure of the heavy cake.

we also made a quiche. i made the crust from richard sax's home desserts, and i was afraid the dough would never come together. finally it did, and then i worried that it would be tough. well, it was fine. it was flaky enough - it could have had a bit more butter - but quiche is rich enough without having equally rich pastry. this quiche was also made from what we had on hand on sunday afternoon (by which time my parents had replenished my stocks of butter) - a mixture of parmesan, cheddar, gruyere, and herbed goat cheese; eggs, cream, and milk; and broccoli, onions, and caramelized onions leftover from making pizza. it turned out well, though, despite the slapdash nature of putting it together. i like quiche and bread pudding because you can really mess with the ratio of eggs and cream before it ruins it. quiche is certainly more susceptible to mediocrity than bread pudding, because the egg-cream custard is front and center, but it's still pretty flexible. i can't remember the last time i've ended up with a bad quiche with respect to the filling.

life in the cutcat kitchen has been fairly uneventful since the potluck. yesterday carrien and i made dinner, though. we made a spinach-cream sauce for pasta (bucatini rigate) from our incredibly sandy boston organics spinach, our remaining pint of cream, parmesan cheese, onions, and rosemary that we sneaked home with us from central kitchen - it had had a former life as a garnish. the sauce, loosely based on the spinach cream sauce from how to cook everything, was fantastic. i really like the combination of spinach, cream, and onions in the first place, and the rosemary was a surprise welcome addition. add the salt of the parmesan cheese, which also thickens the sauce, and you have a great, viable pasta sauce that's more than creamed spinach. we also boiled some green beans and broccoli and tossed 'em with olive oil. can't go wrong there.

and without further ado, here are some recipes.

orange-scented banana layer cake
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon orange oil
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

4T boiling water
2t gelatin
2 1/2c cream + 1/2c cream
1/8c to 1/4c sugar
2t orange zest

caramel sauce (optional)

1. mash the bananas coarsely, add sugar, and whip with an electric mixer until smooth. add the oil and beat until smooth. add eggs, buttermilk, and orange oil, and beat until smooth.

2. sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. add to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. grease and flour two 9" cake pans and divide the batter between the pans. preheat the oven to 350F and bake the cakes for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown on top and a tester comes out dry. cool the cakes and then split into two layers each.

3. to make the whipped cream, sprinkle the gelatin over the boiling water. let stand 10 minutes. heat the 1/2c cream until warm and then slowly stir into gelatin mixture. let the gelatin mixture cool to room temperature. whip the 2 1/2c cream until it reaches soft peaks. add the orange zest and sugar and whip until combined. add the gelatin mixture and whip to stiff peaks. if the gelatin mixture is not at room temperature, the whipped cream will curdle; stirring the gelatin mixture will help it cool down.

4. assemble the cake : place one layer on the cake platter. smooth about 1/4c caramel sauce on the layer, if you're using it. spread a quarter of the whipped cream (1 1/2 to 2 cups) on the layer and repeat until you have used all of the layers. you'll have four layers of cake and four of cream, ending with a layer of cream on top. refrigerate at least two hours, and preferably overnight. before you serve the cake, drizzle it with caramel sauce.

[makes 10-12 servings]

caramel sauce (from the pie and pastry bible, via epicurious)
1c sugar (7 ounces = 200 grams)
1T Lyle's Golden Syrup (refiner's syrup) or corn syrup (0.75 ounce = 21 grams)
1/4c water (2 ounces = 60 grams)
1/2c heavy cream, heated (4 ounces = 116 grams)
2T unsalted butter, softened (1 ounce = 28 grams)
1t pure vanilla extract (i generally omit this)

1. in a heavy saucepan (with a 5-cup or larger capacity), stir together the sugar, syrup, and water until the sugar is completely moistened. heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is bubbling. stop stirring completely and allow it to boil undisturbed until it turns a deep amber. immediately remove it from the heat and slowly and carefully pour the hot cream into the caramel. it will bubble up furiously.

2. use a high-temperature heat-resistant rubber spatula, or a porcelain or wooden spoon to stir the mixture until smooth, scraping up the thicker part that settles on the bottom. if any lumps develop, return the pan to the heat and stir until they dissolve. stir in the butter. the mixture will be streaky but become uniform after cooling slightly and stirring.

[makes about 1 cup]

store at room temperature, up to 3 days; refrigerated, at least 3 months. to reheat: if the caramel is in a microwave-safe container at room temperature, microwave it on high power for 1 minute, stirring twice. if cold, it will take a few seconds more. alternatively, place it in a bowl in a pan of simmering water and heat, stirring occasionally, until warm, about 7 minutes.

notes
* refiner's or corn syrup helps to prevent the caramel sauce from crystallizing when stirred. It also lowers the caramelization temperature.

* unrefined sugar, which contains a small amount of natural molasses — which caramelizes at a slightly lower temperature — provides a flavor that is deliciously reminiscent of butterscotch. the "impurities" in unrefined sugar can cause crysallization so if you use it, care must be taken not to stir the caramel too much.

* to further prevent crystallization, try not allow any sugar crystals to get on the sides of the pan, and be sure to moisten all the sugar with the water. stop stirring entirely as soon as it comes to a boil.

* use a pan that conducts heat well (such as unlined copper, aluminum, or anodized aluminum) so that cooking stops soon after it is removed from the heat. do not use a pan with a tin or nonstick lining, as its melting point is below that of caramel.

* soaking utensils in hot water will remove hardened caramel.

* after the caramel is prepared, do not stir it too much, as this may eventually cause crystallization.

pasta in a spinach-cream sauce
2T olive oil
1 large onion, sliced thinly into rings
10 oz fresh spinach, washed
1c cream
salt + pepper, plus a bit of sugar
1/2T fresh rosemary, chopped fine (optional)
1/2c microplaned parmesan cheese (please don't use pregrated or kraft parmesan cheese)
1/2 lb to 1 lb pasta (preferably a ridged long noodle pasta)

1. heat the olive oil in a medium skillet, over medium heat. when it's hot, add the onions and stir. saute until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. add the spinach (it might overflow the pan but pack it down) and cover it. let the spinach cook until it's wilted. remove the cover and let cook uncovered.

2. add the rosemary. in a separate large pot, start heating water to cook the pasta. when the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook it (drain it when it's done). let mixture cook until the water has almost completely evaporated. as it cooks, break up the spinach into bits with a spatula (it should be soft enough for this to be easy).

3. add the cream and simmer until the mixture is fairly thick, about 10-15 minutes. add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. stir in the cheese until it's cooked. toss the sauce with the pasta and serve.

[serves 4]

chocolate hazelnut shortbread
1/2c whole hazelnuts
1c flour
5T sugar
2T cocoa (preferably valrhona - this is not a recipe in which you could use cheap cocoa)
1/4t salt
1/2c butter

1. pulse nuts with flour, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a food processor or blender until very finely chopped. if you're using a blender you might have to stir up the ingredients a couple times so the mixture is fairly homogenous.

2. if you're using a food processor, add the butter in small pieces and pulse until a dough forms. if you're using a blender, dump the dry ingredients into a medium bowl and cut in the butter until a dough forms - don't overwork the dough.

3. press dough evenly into an ungreased 9" square baking pan. cut dough into 16 squares with a sharp knife, then cut squares diagonally to make a total of 32 triangles (optional - you can make whatever shapes you want, but follow this cutting process).

4. bake until cookies are dry to the touch, 15 to 17 minutes. while cookies are hot, recut in the pan. cool completely in the pan.

[makes 32 small cookies]

a glut of cooking

it occurred to me that there are phrases that make recipes sound better to me (or to other people). for example, i always am attracted to recipes that include the word "icebox" in their titles: i get an image of a white refrigerator a la petit larousse in an immaculate, sunny 50s-era kitchen. perhaps i'm also attracted to the thought of opening the fridge to find it empty, save for a cake or a pie... another phrase that i don't particularly care about, but imagine other people do, is the "double-chocolate" or "triple-chocolate" appellation, which can mean anything from a combination of chocolate and cocoa to the inclusion of milk, dark, and white chocolates. also, "margarita," "drunken," "tequila," "heirloom," and any recipe where the title is in a different language. in all reality, your "pomme frites" are going to taste the same whether they're called pomme frites, frites, fries, chips, or deep-fried potatoes, but for many people the fact that they're eating "pomme frites" somehow makes them better. do they understand what the literal translation is? no. but they don't care - the only thing that matters is that it's in another language.

anyway, tonight we're eating leftovers from dinner yesterday: roast chicken, butternut squash-sage risotto, roasted potatoes and carrots, and green beans. keith and carrien got back yesterday, so i had intended to be in the middle of making dinner when they got back. the chicken was stuffed with an onion and half an orange, with sage-orange zest butter stuffed underneath the skin. same trussing as usual - foil around the legs and wings pinned with toothpicks. i also roasted some carrots and potatoes around the chicken. the risotto was pretty typical: render the fat from some bacon, saute the onions, add the rice and liquid. the squash pretty much melts into the rice and colors it a beautiful orange color. i used delicata squash that came with our boston organics shipment, and a bunch of roasted butternut squash my mother gave me. carrie also made some green beans (boiled, then finished in some extra bacon fat).

the risotto was quite good, and we made a lot of it - 2 1/2 cups rice, dry, which the three of us consumed a small amount of on thursday, then ate and fed to our friends on friday, and finished on saturday with our friends. note to self : a little rice goes a long way. the chicken was also quite good - the salt-sugar-pepper-paprika mixture on the skin always gives the skin this wonderful, salty-sweet crackling skin. mmm. after dinner i picked off all of the extra meat, and made soup with the carcass. it was also pretty basic : carrots and onions, divided, and the first half sauteed with thyme. i added the chicken bones and sauteed them briefly, and then added water. i boiled the chicken for a while - maybe an hour or two - and then added the other half of the vegetables, sauteed separately. i also picked out the bones and added some diced potatoes. finally, we added some pastina (too much, it turned out - i am not good at estimating these things!). probably, the most important addition was the thyme and the salt, pepper, and sugar - it's always important to put in enough of all of the seasonings, because if you oversalt soup you can always water it down a little, whereas if you add too little it will simply be flavorless. i am also a big fan of balancing the salt with sugar. anyway, this was probably the only chicken soup i've ever liked beyond my mother's chicken soup with pastina and tomatoes.

friday i had lunch with rob and rocco at bluefin, in the porter exchange. having just read an nytimes article about katsu don and tekka don, i ordered katsu don and shared an eel-sweet egg omelette roll with rob and rocco. mmm...katsu don is like the countless teriyaku rice bowls that i consumed during the summer from tokyo lunch box, except with better-seasoned rice and a wonderful combination of slightly sweet scrambled egg and fried pork. i surprised myself by eating the entire thing. however, then i didn't eat anything until rather late in the day.

eric had some friends over to watch various new episodes of shows on the sci-fi channel, and while they did so i made chocolate zucchini cupcakes for the brunch i was going to have on saturday. they turned out pretty well; since i didn't have any chocolate chips, i filled them with nutella and blueberry preserves. the recipe i used (from www.101cookbooks.com) reported that you have to watch them or they'll get overbaked. i thought this was slightly strange, as zucchini breads generally never require cautions like these, as the zucchini imparts ample moistness to the bread. however, i heeded it anyway, and probably for no reason - they were extremely moist on saturday.

for the brunch on saturday, we made baked eggs, french toast, crumpets, bacon, and carrie made a galette des rois for the epiphany. the french toast was standard, and could have been made with better bread (which then would have made it better), but it was the more economical choice. a little rum in the egg mixture went over pretty well, and i turned the leftover bread and egg mixture into a bread pudding. the recipe for the baked eggs is below, and is a modification of this recipe from epicurious, based on the ingredients i had on hand. it went over quite well, and slices very well. make sure that it's baked in the middle. i had assumed it would be quiche-like but it seems to need a bit more time than you would think than if it had been a quiche, which is to say that it should be completely set before you take it out. the galette des rois was excellent, probably because i really love almond paste, and the interior is, for all intents and purposes, almond paste (we used the almond paste that jessica made us).


i had made some caramelized onions for the brunch, and used the leftovers in a spinach-onion quiche that's currently in the oven (the quiche consumed most of the spinach from boston organics, and the rest i ate with some basil and a balsamic vinaigrette). it's a pretty typical quiche, with a mixture of cheddar, asiago, and gruyere for the cheese. it's also a deep-ish dish quiche, and we'll see how that works out instead of the typical pie-pan or tart-pan quiche. i'm a little worried that there wasn't enough butter in the crust, or it got overworked, or that i may have added too much water - it looked a little pale and doughy to me.

edit : hmm...i am really kind of ashamed to admit that i made this crust. it looks fine, but it's just...tasteless. obviously overworked, and i added too much water. hmph. the filling should still be fine, though (it needs to finish setting).

baked eggs with sundried tomatoes and thyme
1/8 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped fine
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
9 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (6 oz)
1 cup whole-milk ricotta (8 oz)
1 cup grated asiago (2 oz)
1T fresh thyme, chopped fine

1. sift together flour, salt, and baking powder into a small bowl.

2. beat eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until doubled in volume, about 3 minutes. add butter, flour mixture, and cheeses and mix well at low speed, then stir in tomatoes and thyme. 3. pour into a buttered 9.5-inch glass pie plate and bake in middle of oven until top is golden brown and a tester comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. let stand 5 minutes before serving.

[gourmet reports that this makes 6 servings; but those seem rather large unless this is the only thing you're having for breakfast. i would say that it's probably closer to 8-10 servings.]

chocolate zucchini cupcakes
the original recipe for these cupcakes can be found here.

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup vegetable oil (note : i used olive oil because it was what we had, and it was fine)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk (i used the add-lemon-juice-to-milk trick and it curdled a bit, but turned out fine anyway)
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup cocoa, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

1. pre-heat oven to 350F. lightly grease the muffin tins, or use muffin cups. if you aren't using muffin cups, greasing the muffin tins is essential to them coming out without breaking.

2. in a medium bowl mix together the sugar, butter and oil. beat in eggs one at a time until well incorporated. stir in vanilla, buttermilk, and zucchini.

3. in a separate bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients (if you wanted to be lazy like me, you could just add all of the dry ingredients directly to the wet ingredients). add the liquid ingredients and mix until well combined. spoon batter into large muffin pans. if you want to fill your cupcakes, fill the muffin tins a third of the way, spoon about a half-teaspon to a teaspoon of preserves or nutella on to the batter, and cover with more batter until the tins are almost full.

4. bake in the center of the oven for about 35 minutes (12 minutes for mini cupcakes). when they've completely puffed, they're done - you can check them with a toothpick if you like. wait for the tins to cool completely before you take the cupcakes out, or you will get increased breakage. once they've cooled completely cover loosely - they'll stay moist from the zucchini.

[makes 9 large cupcakes, 20 standard cupcakes, or 70 mini cupcakes.]

the beet ravioli again

the day before i had my last paper due, i decided i needed a break, and sent myself off to miriam's and josh's pre-hannukah party with the bottle of champagne that lauren dropped off. said bottle of champagne, incidentally, went to toast the impending end of finals, and miriam's new job at nelson/nygaard (much thanks to lauren).

if these smallish informal dinner parties are what real life consists of, i'm more than ready for it. in honor of hannukah, we had latkes and doughnuts (sufgiyanot, i believe the proper spelling is...) at the kitchen table, which, on occasions like this, is pulled away from the wall, the leaf put in, and chairs of all kinds pulled around it - it's kind of like eating in the galley of the ship. close quarters - fridge, stove, and sink all within an arm's reach - and thoroughly enjoyable. we also had roasted broccoli and pot roast, the latter having been bought at star on a whim (supermarkets are so good for those).

as part of the guest party, carrien made beet ravioli with the golden beets from our boston organics shipment, and i, having nothing to show for the past week but copious drawings, a model, and a poorly written paper, brought along the bottle of champage, which i had stuck in the fridge the day before in anticipation of thursday. i had had my first favorable encounter with beets the year before, when somebody at lmf (i think it was mika since carrien has no recollection of it) made beet risotto. beets are actually good. not that i'd ever thought they were bad, per se, but i had had quite enough pickled beets in lisbon. fresh beets are another matter entirely. i encourage you to try beets the next time you are at the supermarket. the beet ravioli were particularly good, and i of course ate too many of them.

however, this is all a buildup to the point of this post, which is to say that i am making the beet ravioli for new year's eve tomorrow at nora's. this is partly a desire to make the beet ravioli myself, and partly a desire to make tiny, labor-intensive things for a manageable number of people (5). i'm going to do them in wonton wrappers like carrien did, and make them a bit smaller, because then they will go in soup. i really think they would go best in a plain chicken broth with some peas or scallions or something, but in that case, the only kind of acceptable chicken broth would be the from-scratch variety, which isn't going to happen. as an alternative, i'm planning to make a plain tomato soup with the vegetables sauteed in rendered bacon fat, in hopes that the acidity of the tomatoes will go with the beets, and the smokiness of the bacon will with both tomatoes and beets. the garnish will probably be sour cream, and of course, the poppy seeds still figure into the equation (the original ravioli were sauteed in butter and poppy seeds). perhaps also some peas for color and flavor? i don't know. anyway, more to come on this later - i have no idea how this will all turn out because i can't really imagine the flavors well enough to put them all together in a foolproof manner.

beet ravioli with poppy seed butter
2 large red or golden beets (about 14 ounces)
1/2 cup fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs

1 pkg wonton wrappers

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. preheat oven to 400F. wrap beets individually in foil; place on baking sheet. roast until tender when pierced with knife, about 1 hour. open foil carefully (steam will escape). cool. peel beets; finely grate into medium bowl. add ricotta cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. stir in breadcrumbs.

2. place small bowl of water next to work surface. spoon 1 tablespoon beet filling onto a wonton wrapper, dampen the edge of the wonton around the filling with water, and seal, pushing out as much air as possible. press the edges firmly to seal; the ravioili can be sealed in any shape you like. transfer to a nonstick surface, dusted with flour.

3. melt butter in large skillet over medium heat and stir in poppy seeds; keep warm. working in batches, cook ravioli in large pot of boiling salted water until cooked through, stirring often, about 2 minutes (alternatively, you could nuke these in a microwave, probably, if you put them on a plate with a bit of water). using slotted spoon, transfer to skillet with melted butter; toss to coat. divide ravioli among 8 plates; sprinkle with Parmesan.

[makes 8 first-course servings]

quick, fake italian pasta

fettuccine with eggplant in a tomato-onion cream sauce

1 28-oz can whole tomatoes
3 onions, halved and sliced
1 medium eggplant, cut into 2"-3" long strips
2T olive oil
1/4c cream
1/2c parmesan cheese, grated
salt to taste

1 lb fettuccine

[1] heat oil in a large skillet. add onions and cook until translucent. add eggplant and cook about 6 minutes, until mostly translucent.

[2] add juice from whole tomatoes, then cut up tomatoes in larg-ish pieces and add to pan. let simmer 10-15 minutes, until eggplant is completely translucent and tender. meanwhile, make fettuccine.

[3] when eggplant mixture has thickened to the consistency of a thick soup, add cream and salt to taste.

[4] toss with pasta and parmesan cheese. add more parmesan cheese if desired.

[serves 4]

potato chip heaven

mmm...i had potato chips yesterday, for the first time in months. potato chips are wonderfully satisfying when you have a craving, if potentially artery-clogging. when i was a kid, my parents used to buy "krunchers" brand potato chips when they went on sale; though they weren't particularly crunchier than other brands of potato chips, i suppose psychologically there was a difference, just because of the name. we also bought them for the flavors: regular, bbq, and jalapeno. after eating a handful of those jalapeno chips, you were doomed: your mouth was literally on fire, but you couldn't stop eating them. and eating them. you see how this is a vicious cycle...

i haven't made much of anything this week, due to apathy. actually, i just keep on scheduling things to do that don't involve cooking (shame on me!). i fully plan to cook for 2 weeks solid once my summer internship is concluded. living 10 minutes away from star market, harvest, and whole foods is a blessing and a curse. in the works: the beaumes-de-venise cake on epicurious.com, a nanaimo bar fest (only viable when mika comes back), blintzes, and various dinner foods (including coq au vin with a real rooster, beef goulash, stovetop mac + cheese, moroccan chicken pie, saag paneer...). oh, and indian pudding. hmm, let's add chocolate angel food cake to that list, too. next week i will have three opportunities to embark on new adventures, with dinner planned for tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. rats. i just remembered that the menu is set for two of those three days. ah, well, i will sneak some surprises in there somewhere.

this week's adventure involves very little originality, unfortunately. i was sitting at work, pondering things to make, and i set upon one thing that i really wanted: the spinach-onion-yogurt thing that celina made for her persian menu. i would have liked to have made the pomegranate-chicken thing, too, but didn't feel like expending all that effort. the recipe for borani esfanaaj is kind of strange at first glance: wait, a whole kilogram of spinach? even when it cooks down...that's two pounds of spinach! however, i like borani esfanaaj. a lot. so, two pounds of chopped spinach later, i was ready to indulge myself. first you saute the onions and garlic, then add the spinach (which i had to add in batches, as the pot wasn't big enough to accommodate the volume of spinach - roughly one and a half times the size of my head). let it cool, then add the yogurt, and some salt and pepper. yum....

borani esfanaaj
2 lbs spinach, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, diced
1 cup plain lowfat yogurt
salt + pepper
vegetable oil

[1] heat the vegetable oil in a dutch oven or large skillet over medium high heat. add the garlic and onions, and saute until pale golden, ~ 10-15 minutes. add spinach and cook until spinach is cooked through and releases liquid.

[2] let the spinach mixture cool, then add the yogurt. season to taste with salt and pepper.

[makes about 4 cups]

moroccan@44

(sorry, no witty title; i think i'm just not gifted in that respect.)

one of these days, i will actually get around to planning a real dinner party, where all of the details are planned out, but the whole shebang is still nice and relaxed. specifically, what i really want is a coffee table to put in the middle of the living room, so we can eat around it instead of on plates in our laps. i also believe in carpets (or at least a swiffer to clean our circa-1900 hardwood floors).

the menu last night:
* djej m'chermel (chicken tagine with lemon and olives)
* vegetable tagine
* vegetable couscous
* ice cream with homemade hot fudge sauce, fresh cherries, and fresh blueberries

i had intended to go to star (how is it that i end up going there every other day? i'm so spoiled...) on wednesday evening, before heading over to lmf to make cookies. instead, i fell asleep for an hour. then, i intended to go to star on the way back from lmf - i was going to leave at 10 p.m. instead, i left at 11:30 and crashed into bed. so before my head hit the pillow, i set my alarm early enough to get myself to work at 8a.m.

it's surprising how different it feels to leave work early (at 4 p.m.). i don't feel that i arrived at work significantly earlier (i usually arrive between 8:30 and 9, depending on when i can drag myself out of bed), but i sure felt like i got to leave really early, as if i were on holiday or something. anyway, short trip home to change, and off to star i went.

when i got back, i started my mise-en-place right away. usually i wouldn't bother, but given the time restraints (about an hour and a half to make dinner), i needed to actually be efficient. in general, anyway, a mise-en-place is useful when cooking, not as useful when baking. at any rate, it's usually separating eggs and measuring out spices that's the annoying part, rather than chopping things.

once i had chopped everything for the vegetable tagine, josh arrived with allie, to help cook. :) with their help, dinner was ready by 7:30, on our slightly lame stove with only 3 working burners. lots of pot and pan juggling there - between the two tagines (which you can think of as stews), the vegetables for the couscous, and the couscous itself - there was a lot to do.

not so much was remarkable about the actual preparation of the food - both tagine recipes are from the new york times, and the couscous recipe is from epicurious. we put extra cooking liquid from the vegetables for the couscous in the liquid (vegetable broth instead of water) for cooking the couscous. (not only is it fun to say "couscous," it's such a fun grain to eat...)

in regards to the vegetable tagine, i think this is the first time that i've eaten fully cooked chickpeas. i had never really liked their texture before when people put them in chili and various other dishes, and last night i realized that is was because they weren't cooked through anyway. instead of being hard, they were firm on the outside, but creamy on the inside, with a remaining bit of bite. small food revelation there. :)

i think the vegetable tagine went best with the couscous; i didn't quite like it on its own. i'll have to go back and taste it, but it just didn't seem like it had enough depth of taste. maybe the spices weren't quite right; it was the sort of thing where you just want to add a whole bunch of potatoes - as a whole, the stew just didn't have enough oomph. it could have also just needed some salt. i'll have to try it again and see (lucky for me that things with so many spices in them only get better as they age - until that threshold of impending mold, of course). oops, i just realized that i told fred the wrong spices when he asked which ones were in the chicken. since i had no idea where to get zaatar (i have a vague inkling that formaggio kitchen might have it, as they have the most exotic spice collection i've ever seen), i used the suggested substition - ground sesame seeds and dried thyme. unfortunately, i only had regular sesame seeds, so i pretended to grind them a bit in a bowl with a spoon for a while...anyway, the zaatar went into the vegetable tagine, not the chicken tagine.

i really liked the chicken tagine, though. the addition of the lemon zest at the end added some depth to the flavor, and in my opinion, really improved it. since i like olives, the addition of olives was also a good thing. the spice combination was also just right - gotta remember that one. the chicken had simmered for a long time, so it was almost falling off the bones.

the vegetable couscous was good as well; we used zucchini and carrots as the vegetables for it. it was a great base for the rest of the meal, in which everything really just got mixed together. we used regular raisins instead of golden, but if you make it, go for the golden - i don't think there's really a taste difference, but there is a psychological difference. somehow i like eating golden raisins with couscous, much more than regular raisins. hmm. they look prettier, too.

dessert was just ice cream with some toppings. when i went to star, i bought yet another carton of ice cream - vanilla - to join the grashopper pie, butterscotch blast, and chocolate. currently we have a wall of ice cream in our freezer... i made a hot fudge sauce (also from the new york times) to go with the ice cream, and it turned out quite well. it had a bit too much cocoa powder in it even though i put in less than the recipe called for, but as it cooked a bit more, got better, and was really good over the ice cream. there's nothing healthy in that sauce, of course, but it acted just like it should have, which is just very pleasing, for some reason - it hardened as it hit the ice cream and everything.

as a whole, i enjoyed this evening more than i've enjoyed any of our past gatherings at 44 columbia (including our enormous parties, where all i seem to be able to do is tire myself out for the 10 hours preceding our party, so that i feel antisocial during the actual party; gotta work on that one). probably because it went so smoothly kitchenwise - we even got to clean up as we went, so there wasn't an enormous pile of dishes at the end of the night. i think choosing a simple dessert (read: no work) was a good thing as well. guests were lmfers, plus caitlin from 4.101 and her boyfriend steve, who's course 6 at harvard (giving him, keith, josh, AND mary lots to talk about).

and now, the recipes. this is the first time i've tried any recipes from the new york times (there are no readers' reviews!), and i'm quite happy with the way things turned out.

NOTE: all spices are always ground, unless otherwise specified (ie, "1/2t cumin seeds"). all ginger is ground ginger (the spice) if a teaspoon or tablespoon measure is mentioned. raw, fresh ginger would be something like "1" worth ginger, minced." parsley should always be flat-leaf, rather than curly.

djej m'chermel (chicken tagine with lemons and olives)
3-4 lbs chicken (either thighs and drumsticks, or an entire chicken, cut into 8 pieces; you can add the liver and giblets if you want)
4T butter
2 large onions, minced (because more onions never hurt)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (i omitted this due to a lack of garlic at the apt)
2t paprika
1t ginger
1/2t cumin
1/4t turmeric
4T cilantro, chopped
4T parsley, chopped
1t salt
1/2t freshly ground black pepper
1/4c extra-virgin olive oil (i would recommend using a bit less)
1 1/2c water
peel from 1 preserved lemon, pulp discarded, cut into long narrow strips (use zest of 1 lemon if you can't get preserved lemons)
1c green olives, pitted
juice of 2 lemons

[1] in a large saucepan or dutch oven, over high heat, brown the chicken in the butter, skin side down, until the skin is golden brown. reduce the heat to medium low and add the liver + giblets (if using), onion, garlic, all spices (including salt and pepper), and olive oil.

[2] warm gradually, turning the ingredients for a few minutes, then add enough water to cover (don't add too much more than 1 1/2c though). bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered, occasionally turning the chicken in the sauce, until almost tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.

[3] add the lemon peel or zest, olives, and lemon juice and continue to cook until the chicken is very tender, about 15 minutes longer. (this recipe can be prepared in advance up to this point; allow to cool, refrigerate, and serve within a few days). taste the seasonings and adjust if necessary. serve immediately.

[serves 4, generously]

vegetable tagine
2T butter
2 onions, diced
2 fresh small chili peppers, thinly sliced (i substituted a teaspoon or two of ground chili peppers, available in any indian food store)
1T paprika
1/2t cayenne pepper
1t ground cumin
1c dried lentils
4 tomatoes, chopped
1/2c tomato puree
1 can chickpeas, drained
1c carrots, cut into a 1/2" dice
3 small zucchini, sliced into 1/2" disks and quartered
3/4c green peas, frozen
1/2c parsley, chopped
1T zaatar (use equal amounts ground sesame seeds and dried thyme as a substitute for this)
salt and pepper to taste

[1] in a medium or large saucepan over medium heat, warm the butter. add onions and chilies and cook until the onions begin to soften, about 10 minutes.

[2] add the dried spices and continue to saute until the onions are tender and fragrant, a few minutes longer.

[3] add lentils, tomatoes, and tomato puree, then water just to cover. simmer for about 20 minutes.

[4] add chickepeas, carrots, zucchini, and peas. simmer until tender, 15-20 minutes more. add parsley and zaatar during the last five minutes of cooking. season to taste and serve immediately.

[serves 6 to 8]

moroccan couscous
1T olive oil
3c mixed cut-up vegetables (red onions, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, etc)
1 1/2t cumin
1 1/2t coriander (i had none, so substituted with a bit of turmeric and a bit of ginger)
1c dry white wine
1/3c golden raisins
3/4c canned vegetable broth
extra cans of vegetable broth
1 5- to 7-oz box couscous

[1] heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. add vegetables, cumin, and coriander; saute until vegetables just begin to soften, about 3 minutes. add wine and raisins. boil until wine is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. add broth. partially cover skillet, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes. season with salt and pepper.

[2] make couscous according to package directions, substituting vegetable broth (and leftover liquid from vegetables if there is too much liquid) for the water.

[3] mix together vegetables and couscous in a large bowl. serve immediately.

[serves 4]

hot fudge sauce
2c heavy cream
4T butter
1/2c dark brown sugar
3/8c sugar
4-6 oz bittersweet chocolate (i used chocolate chips so i wouldn't have to chop refrigerated chocolate)
3/4c good-quality cocoa
1/2t vanilla

[1] in a medium saucepan, combine cream, butter, and sugars. bring to a simmer over medium-low heat (this takes about 10 minutes). simmer 45 seconds, then add 4 oz of chocolate and whisk to dissolve. reduce heat to the lowest setting, and add the cocoa powder, whisking to get rid of lumps.

[2] taste the sauce (it will thicken) and add more chocolate if there is too much of the cocoa taste. simmer for a minute or two longer, whisking constantly to prevent lumps from forming. remove from heat and whisk in vanilla. serve immediately. to reheat sauce, warm in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly (do not let boil).

[yield : 3 cups]

web links to recipes:
djej m'chermel
vegetable tagine
quick vegetable couscous
homemade hot fudge

a side note: i have officially fallen in love with the tour de france. i suppose it's a combination of my love for les triplettes de belleville, as well as patriotism regarding lance armstrong, but i've become addicted to the new york times' live multimedia dealie...