Commitment

It's been two months sense we've posted anything here.  I'm so embarrassed.  I have so many excuses... Shop Party kept us busy, and it was a great success!

Shop Party.  Photo by Zohn Mandel

Photo by Zohn Mandel

Holiday festivities made us dizzy, what with all the fancy cocktail parties, Cioppino feeds, our open house, NYE candlelit dinner, and our annual New Years Day brunch.  Unfortunately this out of focus picture is the only thing to show of it.

This year I went against tradition and made some new year resolutions, one of which is to take more pictures.

Then we made hundreds of cookies a dozen cakes for a dreamy Descry event in San Francisco. 

We Dream in the Daytime Too event at Photobooth.  Photo By Photobooth

Devoured dreamy cakes and cookies.  Photo by Photobooth

All of a sudden I came to- and it was February!

Nick and I celebrated Valentines day early and went to Sea View for the weekend.  I prepared a dream lovers menu for us.

Day 1

Mimosa

New Mexican Pinon coffee

Real Belgian Waffles with maple syrup, strawberries, and pancetta

Oeufs en Cocotte

Cheese plate

Roasted fennel & pancetta salad

(this is where the camera battery died)

Roasted balsamic cinnamon pears with vanilla ice cream

Day 2

Broiled grapefruit

Coffee
Toast

Valentines Day has me thinking about commitment... I'm prepared to re-commit myself to this blog.  I'm prepared to share what I'm eating and cooking with greater success.  I hope we haven't lost you for good.  

LOVE

b&r

Life's a Bowl Full of Strawberries

I've been drooling at all the new and beautiful veggies, and especially fruits showing up at the farmers markets.  Berry season can never seem to get her quite fast enough.  Finally we have strawberries!  

My favorite way to eat strawberries is off the vine, slightly warmed from the sun.  When I was little, and it was my turn to pick the strawberries, I would often make myself sick, eating berries by the handful before my basket was even half full.
On occasion I will control myself long enough to make some jam or bake them into something... eggs and cream perhaps.

Cherries Clafoutis is one of my favorite desserts, or breakfasts, or snacks.  Traditionally baked with the cherry pits still in, I like to work (a little) for my dessert.  I also like to remember to SLOW DOWN.  I have an incredibly simple and tasty clafoutis recipe, adapted from The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market Cookbook.  Sadly we don't have a cherry tree.  We do have a strawberry patch.

Cherry Strawberry Clafoutis

Preheat the oven to 400F. 
Butter a shallow 10 inch baking dish.
In a bowl whisk together 1/2 cup sugar, 3 large eggs and zest from one lemon until combined.
Add 1 cup heavy cream (on this occasion we used half and half because that was in the ice box) and 1t vanilla extract.  Whisk until combined.  Add 1/2 cup flour and a pinch of salt, whisk until frothy.
Pour about half the batter into the prepared baking dish then add a pound(ish) of (stemmed cherries) trimmed strawberries.  Ours were quite large so I cut them in half.
Bake until golden and puffed up.  Devour!

Remember:  If you are serving this dish cherry pits and all remind your happy guests before they dig in.  It would be a sad dessert if some unsuspecting friend chipped a tooth. 

The Great Collapsible Paving Stone

This is Birthday week times two.
November 6th was my mom's birthday, and the 9th was Nick's birthday. Truth be told between eating out and eating leftovers we have not been cooking very much. On Monday however we had my mom and Gary over for a birthday dinner. We grilled a bunch of pizzas, had a simple pear salad, and drank plenty of wine.
As for a birthday cake I decided to make a flour-less cake because this particular flour-less cake is amazing, and because we nearly used all the flour we had making double batches of pizza dough.
As far as we know, we have no allergy to gluten. In fact we eat a lot of gluten rich foods. I have often said I could live on bread and cheese. So the motivation behind baking gluten-free is a delicious product, not necessarily for any health benefit. If you do have an allergy to gluten, bake this cake! Even if you don't! Just please, please be patient!

The cake is a Chocolate Pave, pave is the french word for paving stone, and call so because this is a rich often dense cake. This particular recipe is rich, and seemingly dense, but light as air at the same time. The texture is amazing!

Chocolate Pave
Preheat the oven to 350
In a double boiler heat until melted and smooth
7 1/2 oz. GOOD dark chocolate and 15 T unsalted butter [ :) ]
Set aside to cool
separate 6 eggs,

Whist the yolks with 1/2 cup sugar, whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture ribbons, 10 minuets or so (my right forearm is still sore, maybe use the kitchen-aid mixer) fold the yoke into the chocolate.
In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites, gradually add 1/4 cup sugar, and a pitch of salt. Whisk until the whites look shiny and hold shape.

In three parts fold the whites into the chocolate, just until combined. Pour the mixture into a cake pan that has been buttered and flowered (I used cocoa powder)
Bake for 35 to 40 minuets, The top will crack and it is done when the sides our set up and the center is still slightly soft.
This is where the patience  comes into play. It is important to let the cake cool completely before you remove it from the cake pan. This particular morning I was a little over eager and this beautiful cake kind of collapsed.
Before my mom came over for dinner I lightly dusted the cake with powdered sugar in attempts to disguise my "ambition", not that it mattered, we all devoured large sections before giving the cake much of a second glance.

Pumpkin Bread

We get so excited for trick-or-treaters; we dress up, arm ourselves with full size candy bars, light our jack-o-lanterns, and wait. Unfortunately we only get about ten kids, maybe, so there is some down time and we wrap up early. While we wait it is important to have some spooky music on and something warm and spicy to eat and to drink.  This time of year I rarely put away my crock pot, it is full and steaming with apple cider.  To eat, of course something pumpkin...
Spiced Pumpkin Filbert Bread (adapted from The New California Cook)
Preheat the oven to 350, spread 1/2 cup chopped filberts (hazelnuts) on a baking sheet and roast for 5ish minuets, until lightly browned. Set aside.
Beat 4 T soft unsalted butter with1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 granulated sugar until well blended. Add 2 eggs, 1 ts orange zest, 1/2 cup orange juice, and 1 cup pumpkin puree. Blend well.
In another bowl mix 2 cups flour, 1/4 ts salt, 2 ts baking powder, 1/2 ts baking soda, 1/2 ts cinnamon, 1/2 nutmeg, 1/2 ginger, 1/2 allspice. Add the dry ingredients and to the pumpkin mix, mix until just blended. Add the filberts and 1/2 cup golden raisins. Mix just enough to combine.

Butter two 4x8 loaf pans, and divide the batter evenly between the two. Bake for 45 minuets, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cook for 15 minuets before turning out and cooling completely (or however long you and reasonably wait).

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

Folklore and Figs

When I was little I hated figs.  Now I LOVE figs. I love the way they taste, their texture, and the way they look.

Figs are one of the oldest fruits enjoyed by humans, and one of the best for us (I suppose this is just my opinion, but they are high in potassium, iron, fiber and especially plant calcium). In Buddhism the fig tree is a symbol of enlightenment. In Greek mythology, figs are associated with Dionysus, the god of wine, and with Priapus, a satyr who symbolized sexual desire.  Ancient Egyptian priests ate them at consecration ceremonies and figs show up a lot in the Old Testament as well as the New. The beautiful innards, full of seeds, signify unity and knowledge as well as fertility.
What I am trying to say, what history proves, is these are damn good eatin'.


I got a handful from Midori, and decided I would make a fig cake. A fig cake with cinnamon, to give us unifying knowledge and prosperity (cinnamon is ruled by Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love, but also has a long history of use as a herb used for business, attracting wealth abundance). A cake for writing a business plan.

Get Down to Business Fig Cake

 2 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
16 T unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup chopped figs
For the top:
1/2 cup sliced figs (or however many needed to cover the surface)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
ground cinnamon

 Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

Whisk two cups flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl.  Beat butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated into butter & sugar.  Beat in one-third of flour mixture;  add and mix in half a cup of milk.  Add half of the remaining flour mixture, then remaining milk, and finally the rest of the flour mixture. Fold in the chopped figs.

Spread batter into prepared pan. Arrange sliced figs on the top, sprinkle the sugar, and then dust with cinnamon.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 Making friends and family feel more abundant, one slice of cake at a time.

Goodbye Sweet Summer

Blackberries and blackberry picking are quintessentially summer.  There was a short blackberry season this year, and we picked more then we could handle at the time, so Nick and I froze some to use later.  Here they make their end-of-season debut in a Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn cake.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn Yogurt Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 eggs (thanks chickens)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup blackberries (you can use any berry,  fresh or frozen, ours were frozen and not completely thawed)
1 pear cored and thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350, grease a 9 inch pan of some kind
Mix flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold blackberries gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and arrange the sliced pear on top. bake for about 50 (+) minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the cake comes out clean.

 Hello Autumn!

Let Us Eat Mouth Fulls of Cake

I've long held that I am not much of a baker. Baking is science, where cooking is art. I have thrown together all sorts of powders and goos and liquids and out of the oven came salty cookies, rock hard bread, runny gratin, popovers that didn't pop anywhere... just to name a few. It's the measuring of just the right ingredients that held me up.

I've been persevering though and I've had some successes. The main reasons for my success is I've slowed down and I've had faith in my books. I know if I read the instructions, and take my time following them, something magical happens.
I like sweets. I believe sweets should be beautiful. Receiving them and eating them should be precious, like a little gift. I really romanticize baked goods. Pie fresh from the oven! Scones filling the morning with there salty sweet aroma! Hardly being able to wait until the dish has cooled before you burn your tongue on... whatever it is, it's worth it!

I wanted to make something simple, and suitable for dessert or breakfast. I also didn't want to go to the market (baking usually requires a trip, as we are often fresh out of butter or cocoa or milk). I picked up "How to Be a Domestic Goddess" turned to the index and saw Apple Walnut Cake. Without even flipping to the recipe I had made up my mind, I had apples and I had walnuts, it was settled, my mouth began to water. 
When I turned to the recipe I realized I did not have many of the ingredients needed, and without batting an eye I went to pealing apples. I knew that I could make some very simple substitutions without compromising the integrity of the final product. When did this happen?! When did I learn enough about the ingredients in my pantry to know how to use what, when? And to make a cake! I felt creative, clever, artistic! I have to say I impressed even myself. I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I did.

My Apple Walnut Cake
Adapted from Nigella Lawson's "How to Be a Domestic Goddess"
1/2 cup raisins
4 T hot water
4 T port
1/2 plus 2 T canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tea cinnamon
1 1/2 tea baking soda
1 tea baking powder
1/2 tea salt
1 lbs. apples, peeled, cored and cut into cubes
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Put raisins in a bowl with port and hot water
Preheat oven to 350
Beat the oil and sugar, add eggs one at a time, beat until mixture looks like mayonnaise. Add the dry ingredients, until combined. Add apples, walnuts, and drained raisins. Put the cake mix (which will be fairly stiff, almost like a cookie dough) into a buttered 8-inch spring-form pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until the toothpick comes out clean. Let cake stand for 10 minuets, then turn it out and let it cool completely (yeah... good luck).

It turned out delicious! It was nice with a pad of butter fresh from the oven, and the next morning with coffee, or on it's own, by the mouthful as I was passing through the kitchen.