Desserts – Food Woolf

Food Woolf: A Year in Review 2012

It may not be best to dwell in the past, but it doesn’t hurt to look back and appreciate all that’s happened. So rather than write a post featuring top recipes or big news stories of the year, I thought I’d take a little time to write something of a gratitude list for this blog in 2012. It has been an eventful time filled with great lessons, delicious recipes, and outstanding moments for me and my family. I hope you don’t mind me sharing them with you!

Perhaps the most valuable lesson of 2012 was to slow down and appreciate the little things. Despite the whirling speed of new tech toys and cool apps, I began to apply mindfulness techniques to my life, work, writing, and even social media. Slowing down may not have been instinctual when I started this year, but after twelve months of meditation and mindful action–I find that I have much more joy and gratitude for the little and big things that happen throughout my day.

I had the honor of being a keynote speaker at The Big Summer Potluck. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my new internet BFF Maggy Keet and speak with all the good and big hearted people about Mindfulness in the Digital Age.

I was nominated for Best Literary Food Writing in April by one of my most beloved food magazines, Saveur. I might not have won, but knowing that the incredible food writers and editors at Saveur had considered my writing worthy of recognition was award enough.

I continued telling my story about being an LA-based restaurant consultant in my Service 101 essay series. I spoke about the need for restaurants to consider teaching better bussing. I wrote about restaurant concepts that work, why guests should keep an open mind when visiting restaurants, how I enjoy my work in restaurants, and how I am working a compassion practice in restaurant dining rooms.

Other landmarks during the year that was rumored to be the end of the world included a very busy year in my work of opening restaurants. Some of my clients included Milo and Olive, Karen Hatfield’s Sycamore Kitchen, and the artisanal hot dog stand of Neal Fraser, Fritzi Dog. In addition, I celebrated five years of blogging and became the proud mama of a puppy.

I had the good fortune of enjoying some travel during my year. I visited San Francisco and saw my friend Michael Procopio for a great meal and later he suggested I visit the unique/edgy/performance art coffee shop called The Red Door. Experiencing a meal there was revelatory and completely mind blowing.

There were many great meals and restaurant moments in 2012. While I may not have spent half as much time I would have like to writing about the meals I enjoyed during my twelve months of 2012, I did manage to snap several hundred pictures of my repasts via Instagram.

Beyond my meals in restaurants, I found my way into my own kitchen and created a few recipes of my own. A few that I’m most proud of include my simple, and delicious recipes for a Sriracha Chicken, and Kale Salad that was inspired by one of my favorite new restaurants (and clients!), Sycamore Kitchen. My favorite recipe of the year–made so by its versatility and highly addictive flavor profile–is my savory cranberry compote I made last month. Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, I’ve made the recipe a few more times since then. In my last batch I halved the amount of dried cranberries and added dried cherries.

I am grateful for so many things, including my family, friends, and all the great people I have had the good fortune of meeting during this year. Most of all, I appreciate and thank you for reading, writing such kind comments, and supporting my writing. I wish you all the best in 2013 and may all your dreams and goals be exceeded in the new year.

Love and peace to you and your family. Happy New Year!

Cranberry Compote on Greek Yogurt

Of the many uses of the compote (as a spread for sandwiches and a sweet/savory condiment for turkey and chicken), my favorite may be as a topping for yogurt and ice cream. I love how the sweetness of the cranberry sauce compliments the flavors of an unsweetened Greek Yogurt. I especially love putting it on top of Fage: it’s low in fat and super creamy!

1/4 cup of Cranberry Compote
1 cup of Fage (or plain) Greek Yogurt

Put the yogurt in a bowl and top with compote. Stir in to sweeten the creamy yogurt.

Suggestion: Add nuts or granola for an additional, crunchy texture. Enjoy!

May 25January 3

Life is Like a Bundt Cake Pan

Life is like a Bundt cake pan. You can either focus on the big hole in the middle or appreciate the light, fluffy cake it holds.

That’s a bit of unexpected insight I recently found during a meditation I had this week. I was hoping for some insight on how I can ease up on being so hard on myself and this is what came to me. A dessert recipe. For life.

I have to admit, I laughed out loud when the vision of a Bundt pan filled with Angel Food cake came to mind. Divine inspiration, keenly directed towards its audience. I love food so much, it’s easy for the metaphor to hit the bullseye.

It’s up to me if I’m going to stay in the dark void or savor the sweetness of this beautiful life.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the little mistakes, the missteps, the fumbles, and awkward moments that can collect through the day. If I’m not careful, I can waste so much time on the negative, rather than focus on the positives of every day. Rather than see how I opened the door for a mother struggling with the stroller, I focus on how I hesitated too long before I put money in the barista’s tip jar. I can avoid a nice swim in the happiness of my work, to wallow in the problems. I’ll scrutinize every wrinkle on my face instead of marveling on the progress I’ve make with my health. Rather than feeling good about the time I dedicate to my well being and creativity, I’ll beat myself up for not filling the hours with hard, physical labor.

My inner critic sounds a lot like Joan Crawford in Mommy Dearest. And to be honest, I’m kinda sick of the bitch.

I’ve found that the best way for me to stay in the lightest parts of life, is for me to be in action. I need to be of service to others through my work, or to myself through prayer, mediation, fellowship, and exercise. I need to cook. I need to make people laugh. I need to take pretty pictures. I have to take my ideas of faith and put them into action.

Every day I have a choice of where I want to be. There will be negative spaces in life. But rather on focusing on the void, I will choose to enjoy the fluffy, sweet center of it all.

Just as it is in life, this cake didn’t necessarily turn out the way I thought it would. The organic flour and brown sugar gives this cake a unique texture that is a fair bit more dense than a traditional Angel Food cake. The addition of the fruit compote and whipped cream makes this cake super enjoyable.

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Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake
Adapted from a recipe fromMartha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes for Every Day

For the cake:
1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)–if you use organic flour the cake will be dense
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, sifted
14 egg whites (save the yolks to make ice cream!)
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

For a simple mixed berry compote:
1 package of trader Joe’s frozen mixed berries
8 tablespoons water
8 tablespoons vanilla Torani syrup

For the whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
quartered strawberries

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Mix the sifted cake flour with 3/4 cup of brown sugar. Sift the mixture twice. (If you are wondering how to sift flour you can go to www.kitchendaily.com/2010/09/07/how-to-sift-flour/ to watch a video on how this is done! I struggled with this and found a fair amount of sugar clumped in the sifter afterwards.)

Beat the egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until the liquid becomes foamy. Sift the cream of tartar into the mixture and increase the speed of the mixer to hight. Beat until the egg whites are thick and tripled in volume, about 4-6 minutes. Lightly sprinkle half of the remaining brown sugar into the egg whites. Mix until the sugar is fully incorporated. Repeat this step with the sugar. Continue beating until the egg whites become thick and glossy.

Fold the cake flour and sugar mixture in three additions. As you add the final bit of sugar and cake flour, also add the lemon zest.

Spoon the cake mixture into an unbuttered 10-inch angel food bundt pan (Martha suggests you use one with a removable bottom). Run a knife through the batter to break any air bubbles. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the cake is golden in color and is springy to the touch.

Invert the cake on a cooling rack and let cool completely for an hour. To remove the cake from the pan, run a knife around the sides and in the center tube.

Meanwhile, empty the bag of Trader Joe’s Organic Mixed berries into a sauce pan. Add the water and vanilla syrup. Cook over a high heat to melt the frozen berries. When it starts to boil, turn down the heat and let reduce until it comes to a desired consistency. I like to cook things down for about 8-10 minutes. Let cool.

When you’re ready to serve up the cake, whip the cream with vanilla until stiff.

Cut the cake in half horizontally and spread a layer of the whipped cream over the top of the bottom half. Arrange the quartered strawberries over the whipped cream. Add the top layer of the cake and then top generously with the remaining whipped cream.

Serve with a generous spoonful of berry mixture over the top of each serving.

May 17August 17

Greater Than, Less Than

In the equation of life, I liked to put myself on the gaping side of the greater than symbol. To be greater than was the only option I could fathom. It was the strongest position to play. I was an army of one. I was the captain of my destiny. I was greater than any challenge. Should the test or dispute be too great for me, I ran from it. That’s why I avoided baking for so long. I walked away from the possibility of being less than a fallen cake, less than a dense loaf of bread, or less than a failed dessert.

But then I decided to do things a little differently. I started to run towards my fear. When I got too scared, I began to say so and ask for help. I might be strong, but I’m not bigger than the world around me. By admitting my weaknesses and owning up to my vulnerability rather than running away from it, I began to perceive the world in a new way. I started to see my life change. And not just in little ways. I stopped looking at fear as a closed door or a finite choice of NO, and began regarding fear as the gateway to the infinite possibility of YES.

It’s almost funny how I used to approach baking. I would reverse brag, and talk myself down about my inability to make a crust. I’d tell fictional tales based on fears about how I was constitutionally incapable of putting flour and butter together to create anything that resembled pastry. And yet, just the other day, I did just that.

All it took was a little whole wheat and unbleached all-purpose flours, sugar, salt, egg, milk, butter, fruit and a large dose of confidence. The result: a mixed wheat crust that’s earthy, light, and agrodolce (sweet and sour) from the balance of sweet berries and tart rhubarb. One slice to my friends and they rolled their eyes with delight because I proved myself wrong. I CAN bake. I do have the power to transfer love and comfort to their belly through something as beautiful as a Rhubarb and Mixed Berry Crostata.

I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised by the cascading changes that are happening. These little efforts are beginning to add up to something bigger. Ever since I commenced dealing with the core basics (flour, water, perspective, etc.), everything else has followed.

Facing my fear of baking (and everything else in between) is a pivot point that’s bringing about wide and sweeping transformation. With every crostata, each tea cake, and all the baked goods I pull from my oven I can feel my perspective shift from a finite point of view to one that’s much more infinite.

In a simple word I say “YES”, yes to the infinite possibility of it all.

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Rhubarb and Mixed Fruit Crostata

Based on a recipe published in Bon Appetit by Karen DeMasco, Locanda Verde
8-10 servings, depending on how you cut it

Crust

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

1 ½ tbsp sugar

½ tsp kosher salt

1 ½ sticks chilled, unsalted butter. Cubed.

1 large egg

1 tbsp whole milk

Filling

¼ cup cornstarch

3 cups ½” thick sliced rhubarb

1 small container of raspberries

1 cup sliced strawberries

2/3 cup sugar

1 large egg, beaten

Raw sugar or Turbinado sugar for finishing

For the crust:

Combine the flours, sugar, and salt in a processor. Blend for 6 seconds. Add butter and pulse until it is broken down into pea-sized pieces. Whisk egg and milk in a small bowl; add the mixture to the processor and pulse until moist clumps form. Gather the dough into a round ball and then flatten into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 ½ hours. This dough can be made up to two days ahead.

For the filling:

In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 3 tbsp of water; set aside. Combine the fruit, rhubarb and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Stir often while the sugar dissolves and the fruit juices are released, about 4 minutes. Stir in cornstarch liquid and bring to a boil (rhubarb will not be tender and will not be broken down). Transfer mixture to a bowl. Chill until cool, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400˚. Roll out dough onto floured parchment paper until it reaches a 12″ round. Brush the dough with beaten egg. Mound the filling in the center of the crust and gently spread it out, leaving enough of a border for you to fold back the edges to form a crust. Gently fold back the edges (about an inch or more) over filling; pleat as necessary. Side parchment with crostata onto a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbly, about 45 minutes. Let crostata cool on a baking rack. Cut into wedges.

Serve as a breakfast snack or, for a fancy dessert, add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

July 21

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote with Pistachios

Some words carry flavor. Speak aloud the familiar syllables of coffee, chocolate or toast, and the brain fires memories of taste. Flash: a steaming cup of Sumatra, soft and gently acidic washes over your tongue. Your first taste of waxy chocolate Easter bunny as it melted in your mouth. Fresh baked bread, made golden from the heat of a toaster, on a cold winter day.

When I speak the words strawberry and rhubarb, I am given a crystalline remembrance with my grandmother. It’s a summer’s day in the 1980’s. I’m in my Grandmother’s tiny kitchen and staring at a pie she’s placed atop her ancient, four-legged cast iron stove to cool.

“It’s strawberry rhubarb pie,” she tells me. She slices into the golden pie crust and it falls away to expose a pink heart of strawberries and softened rhubarb. I take a bite—it’s the first time I’ve ever tasted these two flavors together—and I am struck by the sweet, earthy flavors of strawberry and tart-like-a-lemon rhubarb. The flavors are complex, almost too adult for me, were it not for all the enticing sugar.

“This is rhubarb?” I say to her, knowing the look of the plant from hours of playing make-believe in our family garden. The stalks of the plant resemble celery and the rough green canopy of leaves grow high enough to make a perfect hiding place for me—a child of five or six–from the sun.

I enjoy another bite of memory and it’s gone.

Though my interest was piqued to recreate Grammie’s strawberry rhubarb pie in my own kitchen, my desire for simplicity got the best of me. Rather than make a crisp (I’m always looking for ways around making a pie crust from scratch), I settled on modifying a recipe for a rhubarb and pistachio compote my friend Louisa Shafia created for her cookbook, Lucid Food.

Continue for an easy, no-bake Strawberry Rhubarb Recipe »

April 19January 18

Spiced Caramel Corn Recipe

I blame Michael Ruhlman for my caramel corn craving. Back in January– soon after we met at Club Med’s Food Blog Camp—Ruhlman started a flurry of debate on Twitter on the merits of cooking popcorn in cold oil. Though I have never before craved popcorn of all things, I realized that my rather serious longing for a spicy caramel corn was not going to go away until I made some for myself.

Let’s just say I’ve made a number of batches since January. Thanks, Ruhlman.

Turns out, caramel corn is a tricky thing. Some recipes I tried were too sugary and encased my delicate corn puffs in sugary straight jackets. Others varied widely, depending on the type of sugar I used. I have tried several batches (and dispatched the leftovers to loved ones across the state so that I wouldn’t eat the entire thing myself), and have finally discovered the best recipe to fullfill for my need for spiced (i.e. cinnamon and nutmeg spiced), caramel corn.

Continue For an Easy Spicy Caramel Corn Recipe »

March 17March 14

Cafecito Organico: a Q&A

Whenever I go to the Hollywood Farmers’ Market, one of the first stops on my trip is to go see Angel for a perfectly brewed cup of coffee from Cafecito Organico. Though carrying produce is always more difficult with a cup of coffee in hand, the flavor of Cafecito’s racy elixir is always worth the juggling.

An interview with Angel Orozco, Founder, Cafecito Organico

Continue To Read My Interview with Angel Orozco »

March 13

Dinner with Infinite Fress

In my rule book, the sign of a great dinner party is a sink full of dirty plates and a table covered in empty wine glasses. Our dinner last night with Marisa and Steve, the lovely couple behind the erudite food blog Infinite Fress, was that kind of a party.

Self-admitted restaurant regulars (The chefs at Hatfield’s and Jitlada know them by name), Steve and Marisa know good food and aren’t afraid to criticize. Cooking for them would not only need to be good, but also needed to show them who I am as a fellow food blogger via my kitchen.

On their blog Infinite Fress, Steve and Marisa craft their true life food adventure stories and restaurant reviews with the care of a fiction writers. The food blog, built as an amusement for themselves and friends, has begun to collect something of a small cult following of hard-core Los Angeles food bloggers. Despite themselves, Infinite Fress is starting to get noticed.

I read a fair amount blogs (maybe too many, my husband would whisper) so it was rather surprising to realize that Infinite Fress may be one of the few (if only) food blogs out there that 1) doesn’t rely on food porn (or any photography for that matter) 2) has me reaching for a dictionary every few sentences. Infinite Fress may be text heavy, but I never want to miss the meaning of any of Steve and Marissa’s well-chosen words.

Dinner Menu

Using a favorite Dan Barber cauliflower recipe as a starting point for the evening’s meal, I found complementary ingredients that helped me create a meal that showcased my talents in the kitchen. To start would be a simple salad of fennel*, wild spinach and mixed grapefruit and nutty cow’s milk cheese. For dinner would be black cod, sauteed oyster mushrooms and cauliflower two ways. For dessert I would follow a Cafe Zuni recipe for chocolate pots de creme and put them in antique tea cups. My husband Hans visited the Wine Hotel for some inspired wine collections (thanks Dan! Thanks Paul!) and Steve and Marisa came bearing examples of two of their favorite wines.

The dinner, for the most part (I mistakenly shorted the dessert two egg yolks—creating a low fat and slightly milky pudding) came together without a hitch. The cauliflower steaks and the pot de crème were a big hit, but by far the most winning element of the night was the company. Steve’s hysterical food adventure stories had the four of us weeping in our wine glasses.

I enclose the following two recipes:

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Cauliflower Steaks with Cauliflower Puree Recipe

Adapted from a Dan Barber recipe
originally published in Bon Appetit February 2008

Makes 4 servings

The key to this recipe is to heating a heavy skillet on high heat and properly caramelizing the cauliflower. This is a recipe that is easily doubled when having a big dinner party.

Ingredients:
2 large heads of cauliflower
3 cups water
2 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1-2 tablespoons olive oil for brushing
fresh whole nutmeg, for seasoning
sea salt and white pepper

Preheat the oven to 250˚F. Trim the base of the cauliflower to remove the green leaves and part of the base of the cauliflower. Place the cauliflower root-side down onto the cutting board. Using a sharp knife, make two vertical cuts to cut away two one-inch steaks (cut from top to stem). Put steaks aside.

Cut the remaining fall-away florets into golf-ball sized pieces; this should measure about 6 cups worth. Combine florets, water and milk in a sauce pan large enough to fit the mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook the mixture until the florets are very tender, about 10-15 minutes. Strain, reserving 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Spread the drained florets onto a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake ten minutes until slightly dry. Transfer florets to a blender in batches. Add about a half of cup of warm milk mixture to the blender and blend until smooth. Continue until all of the soft florets are blended to a smooth texture. Return puree to same saucepan. Taste for seasoning. If desired, add a fine grating of nutmeg to the puree for an additional flavor boost.

Increase oven temperature to 350˚. Heat 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a heavy, ovenproof skillet over medium high heat. Brush the cauliflower steaks with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the cauliflower steaks in the heated skillet and cook until each side is golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until cauliflower steaks are tender, about 10 minutes.

Divide puree equally and top each serving with a cauliflower steak.

*This recipe can be made in advance of meal. Re-warm puree over medium heat.

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Chocolate Pots (Tea Cups) de Crème Recipe
Recipe adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook

Makes four servings

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (save the extra for a garnish!)
1 half pint of heavy cream, ¾ cup for pot au crème the rest for whipping
¾ cup whole milk
2 tablespoons sugar
4 egg yolks
A good bourbon (or Calvados, Frangelico or Cointreau) (Optional)

Preheat the oven to 300˚

Melt the chocolate with ½ cup of the cream in a double boiler (a small metal bowl over a pot of simmering water). Stir occasionally, until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

Warm the remaining ¼ cup cream, the milk and sugar in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk the yolk, then slowly stir in the warm milk mixture. Pour the mixture (through a sieve) into the melted chocolate. Stir to combine. Stir in a splash of your flavoring liquor of your choice.

Pour the mixture into four china tea cups and place them at least an inch apart in a baking pan or rectangular casserole dish large enough to hold the cups. If you don’t have tea cups use 4- to 5-ounce ramekins or custard cups. Add hot water into the baking dish (be careful not to splash water into the cups!) trying to get the water as high up as possible, without the water overflowing the baking dish. The hot water should come to almost an inch below the top of the tea cups.

Bake until custard is just set at the edges, but still quite soft in the center, about 45 minutes. To check, lift a tea cup and tilt it: the center should bulge. The eggs will continue to cook after you pull the custards out of the oven. The chocolate will harden as it cools. If the custard is already firm when you first check it, then remove the tea cups from the oven and set the cups in shallow bath of salted ice water to stop the cooking.

Cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. (They will keep for several days but are best eaten within a few hours of cooking!)

When ready to serve, whip the cream (do by hand with a whisk for a great arm work out or a blender for speed) until soft peaks form. Add a splash of bourbon to taste.

Before serving, sprinkle a pinch of Maldon sea salt onto the top of the pudding (believe me, you’re going to love it!), a hearty dollop of whipped cream and a fine grating of chocolate over the top. Enjoy!

*Marisa claims that this dish converted her from being a fennel hater.

January 18

Meyer Lemon Trifle: a Bittersweet Recipe

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” –proverb

“When life gives you Meyer lemons, make as many things as possible.” –Food Woolf

After eating a mouth-puckering Meyer lemon trifle at Suzanne Goin and (her husband) David Lentz’s restaurant, Hungry Cat, I decided to try my hand at recreating the dish for Leah of Spicy Salty Sweet and my annual New Year’s celebration.

With sweeter juice, supple peel, and approachable acidity, the Meyer lemon appeals to cooks seeking bright and floral citrus notes. For a desert-phobe like me, this one hundred year-old lemon hybrid’s approachability is a siren song that inspired me to go beyond my comfort zone. The process of making the dessert required my utmost attention and care; in the end, the trifle was a bright finale at the close of an incredible meal (Matt Bites polished off his trifle in two, happy minutes).

As I prepared to collect information about the history of Meyer lemons and recipe information, I discovered that the cookbook that could make this dish possible had gone missing. I checked under the stacks of papers on my desk, scoured the trunk of my car, examined the space behind the stove, eye-balled under my bed, lifted dishes (just in case it was hiding between them), and scanned all of my book shelves. From what I can gather, a hungry black hole swallowed the hardcover whole. Surely Suzanne Goin doesn’t have a legion of muses that require karmic payment for inspiration…Or does she?

Ah well, despite the loss, I’m happy; with a dessert this good and relatively easy (this coming from a dessert-phobe), I willingly give an offering to the culinary muses.

photo by White On Rice Couple

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Meyer Lemon Trifle
Inspired by a dish at the Hungry Cat
Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/3 cups fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 large eggs, beaten to blend

small container of heavy whipping cream (1/2 pint)

two lemons
3/4 cup sugar

Optional: home made or store bought cookies or pound cake for crumbling between layers

For lemon curd:

Combine first 5 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Slowly add the beaten eggs—being careful not to cook the eggs by adding them too quickly—and whisk constantly. Once you have added all of the eggs to the mixture, return to a medium-low heat. Whisk constantly, until curd thickens (this may happen within 3-4 minutes). Be careful not to let the mixture come to a boil. Strain curd through a sieve into bowl or medium sized casserole dish if you need to chill the mixture quickly. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd and chill, preferably overnight.

For candied lemon zest:

two lemons
3/4 cup sugar

To make your own candied lemon zest:

Wash lemons. Using a vegetable peeler, cut wide strips of zest, being careful to avoid the white pith. Place zests in a small saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Let boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, drain water, and repeat process two more times.

Next, add 3/4 cup of water and ¾ cups sugar to zests. Cook over low heat until the sugar mixture starts to thicken. Cooking time will be approximately 10 to 15 minutes. *This recipe makes more zest than needed, store extra zests in their candied liquid in an air tight container. Perfect for topping ice cream.

For whipped cream:

In a deep (chilled) metal mixing bowl, beat the half pint of heavy cream until soft peaks form. Use a mixer or a whisk if you want to get an upper arm work out.

Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat until soft peaks return, being careful not to over beat.

To make the trifle:
Fill individual glasses (or bowls) with a layer of lemon curd and whipped cream. Sprinkle crumbled cookies or pound cake on top. Add another layer of lemon curd and whipped cream. Top with candied lemon zest and a cookie.

* Meyer lemon season in Southern California starts in January and can extend to April.

Author’s Note: The missing cookbook was later discovered. It was hiding underneath a stack of ignored bills.

December 22

Christmas Cookies in Los Angeles

Christmas in Los Angeles is a strange thing for an East Coast girl like me. As religious holidays go, Christmas in LA has been, more or less, a disjointed and soulless affair.

Christmas in my hometown was a quiet, snowy thing. Far from the reaches of a noisy city, our snow-draped village was so quiet you could hear the poetic sound of snow falling outside the window. The days leading up to Christmas meant we spent a lot of time thinking about putting on multiple layers of clothing, sturdy hats, thick gloves, weather-proof boots, and using ice scrapers and collapsible shovels in the trunk of our car so that we could venture out into the world an find presents for our loved ones.

Out here in Los Angeles, it’s hard to connect to winter celebrations when flowers continue to bloom and lush palm trees go on swaying in sunny Southern California. LA’s climate makes eggnog too rich and hot apple cider seem frivolous.Without the snow and the chill in the air, Christmas in LA seemed like a hectic, commerce-driven affair. I worked in restaurants through the twelve days of Christmas, serving people that talked about “re-gifting”, casually abused me with aggressive waving or cool comments. I bit my lip when people paid for their expensive dinner and then skimped on the a tip.

But with the global and financial climate changing things for everyone, I see a different kind of Christmas unfolding in LA—one where friendships and family are celebrated with simple gestures. Parking lots of consignment and charity shops are packed with customers looking for simple gifts. Spontaneous craftiness has taken over as homemade gifts top the list of things to give. Suddenly, homemade gifts aren’t frowned upon. Friends all over town give music mixes, tins of cookies and chocolate, and homemade jams and jellies.

This year, I celebrate Christmas with a warm stove, a full glass, a happy heart, and my family of friends around me.

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Lexi’s favorite chocolate chip cookies
From the Martha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes for Every day

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½-2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
* Parchment paper (this makes for easy removal and perfect bottomed cookies!)Preheat oven to 375° F. Cream the butter in a large bowl until smooth; add the brown and granulated sugars. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well blended. In another large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Beat this into the butter mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter onto the paper covered baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes until golden brown.

Remove the cookies from the baking sheets and cool on a rack.

Happy holidays!

September 22

Naked Pie

Skip the step of making a dough and get right down to the best part of eating apple pie: devouring the inside! Caramelized apples, spice, sweetness and a hint of salt comes together in this fast and easy dessert.

If you shy away from making pastries, this is a great dessert that can wow even the toughest critics. This recipe won me a perfect taste score with the Food Buzz 24×24 Iron Chef judges.

Naked Pie: Caramelized apples with Calvados and vanilla Ice cream

6 Spitzenberg apples (or any firm, tart apple like Granny Smith, Arkansas Black, etc.), peeled and sliced
3 tbls butter
3 tbls light brown sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
a pinch of apple pie spices (cinnamon, allspice, clove)
a light grating of fresh nutmeg
pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup Noble Dame Calvados (available at BevMo–or any good tasting Apple Brandy)
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
pinch of Maldon sea salt

Peel, core and slice apples into ¼ inch wide slices.

In a large saute pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. When the butter foams and starts to smell nutty, add the apples, brown sugar, lemon juice, spices and a pinch of kosher salt. Stir the ingredients together and then–resisting the desire to move the apples around–let the apples cook. After 3-4 minutes (when the apple slices are caramelized) stir or toss the fruit in order to allow the apples to caramelize on both sides.

Add the Calvados (be careful of the flame). Cook down the liquor for 1-2 minutes and then add the whipping cream. Do this slowly, allowing just enough of the cream to thicken. Do not add all of the cream if not needed! Cook 2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Taste for sweetness and salt.

Spoon over vanilla ice cream, immediately. Finish with a pinch of Maldon sea salt.

August 1

A dish with Alice Waters

There’s something so wonderful about cooking from a recipe. By following the directions, ingredient for ingredient, you are, in a sense, channeling the culinary spirit of the chef that created the dish. When the dish is complete and you sample the flavors, you are able to take an objective view of the dish. You can marvel at the ideas that brought those singular flavors together. You may note the subtlety of flavor or the unexpected abundance of it. By cooking dishes created by the masters, you begin to understand the inspirations of a Chef from the inside out.

Last night, in preparation of returning my many Alice Water’s cookbooks to the library, I made simple dessert—based on an amalgam of two recipes and what ingredients I had on hand. Some of the adjustments were mine, but the style of the dish is all Alice.

My first bite of this semi-sweet, rustic crisp made me feel like I was enjoying a dessert that Alice Waters and Lindsay Shere had made especially for me.

Nectarine and Blueberry Crisp
Adapted from the Chez Panisse Café Cookbook and Chez Panisse Fruit

½ cup almonds
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
a pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 ripe nectarines, pitted and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup blueberries
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons unbleached flour
zest of one lemon, chopped fine
1 tablespoon aged rum

For the Topping

Preheat oven to 375 F. Toast the almonds until they smell nutty and are slightly more brown, about 7 or 8 minutes. Chop the almonds to a medium to fine consistency. Combine the flour, the sugars, the salt and spice in a mixing bowl. Add the chilled butter in pieces and mix with your fingers until it becomes mealy. Add the nuts and mix until the flour mixture holds together when squeezed. Put aside. (The topping can be prepared up to a week in advance and refrigerated).

For the Crisp
Mix the fruit in a medium-sized bowl and then add the sugar. Taste and adjust for sweetness. (*Note, don’t over sugar the fruit—there’s something quite beautiful about a semi-sweet crisp. Don’t be afraid to let the fruit express itself in its truest form.) Dust the flour over the mixture and stir gently. Spoon the topping into a small cooking dish is just big enough to hold the fruit. Mound a small amount in the center of the dish. Then, gently add the crisp mixture on top. Lightly push the crumble on top of the fruit mixture.

Place a cookie sheet on the middle rack of the oven (to catch any overflow juices) and put the crisp dish on top. Bake in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the fruit juices are thickened and bubbling. The delicious smell of baked fruit will help you know when it’s close to being ready.

Serve with rum flavored whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Finish the ice cream with a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt.

June 26November 14

Keeping it real

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the idea of being a “real” cook. I mean, can you be a real cook if you use pre-prepared items? Do real cooks use pasta sauces from a jar? Do real cooks use frozen vegetables? Do real cooks buy frozen pie dough?

Nancy Silverton, one of my chef heroes, believes that you don’t have to make everything from scratch in order to be a good cook. As a matter of fact, her newest book is based on this premise.

In Twist of the Wrist, she shows home cooks how to make healthy and delicious meals at home with a handful of fresh ingredients and pre-made items that can be found at the local store. So if bread maven Nancy Silverton says it’s okay to cook at home with pre-made items, surely that means you can be a real cook and use store-bought, prepped items…Right?

If you happened to read the great article my friend, writing partner (more about that someday soon) and fellow food blogger, Leah of Spicy Salty Sweet wrote about trying out a recipe from the Twist of the Wrist cookbook, you’d probably end up saying “NO” to that question.

Leah is an incredible cook and when it comes to making a meal, she almost always prefers making everything from scratch. And when I say everything, I mean everything. She makes her own pasta, her own pizza dough, her own ice cream…But then, Leah self-admittedly calls herself a kitchen masochist, which makes me believe that maybe there is hope for the prepared food aided cook. Maybe a real cook like Leah might believe you don’t have to cook everything at home in order to consider yourself a “real” cook. Maybe.

Okay, so I’m obsessing

The reason I’ve been thinking about this subject, is because I recently made a pie with store bought frozen pie crust. Now, if you’ve been reading Food Woolf lately, you’ll know that I’m trying to get over my fear of pastry. Which hasn’t necessarily been easy. I’ve messed up measurements, I’ve had to bake and rebake a cobbler until I got it right.

So when I bought the ingredients for a pie and put together a recipe that was inspired by Fine Furious Life, a fellow food blogger, I was really excited to go into work at the restaurant and tell the girls in the pastry department about it.

“Oh really?” they smiled. “What’d you put in it?”

I rattled off the ingredients. They nodded with interest. Until I told them I used a frozen pie crust. Their eyes went dim. Did I just say “frozen pie crust”? In the pastry department? What was I thinking?

I gulped back my embarrassment as I skulked out of Pastry. I was crestfallen. Until I spied this month’s Bon Appetit. In the June issue, they featured a rustic plum and port tart recipe that, get this, called for a refrigerated pie crust.

A ha!

Victory, I thought! Bon Apetit appeals to real cooks, right? They recommend prepared pie dough. Surely I must be taking all this prepared food item stuff way too seriously.

Yeah. Seriously.

What follows is this delicious, easy, fast and fresh Rhubarb, Nectarine and Cardamom Pie. It’s really great fresh from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Be sure to drizzle a bit of freshly ground cardamom and some Maldon sea salt on the ice cream to make it really special.

Rhubarb, Nectarine and Cardamom Tart
adapted from a recipe from Fine Furious Life
Makes one pie

Two pack of pre-made pie crusts. I used organic pie shells from Whole Foods.
1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, cut in 1-inch pieces
4 nectarines seeded and sliced in 1-inch cubes
1 nectarine cut into wedges
1/2 cup sugar
1 orange, juiced
12 fresh cardamom pods, opened, seeded and ground
2 tblsp raspberry jelly

Bonus points if you use:
Maldon sea salt
A pint of vanilla ice cream
A handful of cardamom pods, opened, seeded and ground

Prepping the cardamom:
To open the cardamom pods, use the back of your knife or a mallet. Take out the black, flavorful seeds and put them into your mortar. Hand grind with the pestle until the cardamom is more like a rough powder.

For the filling:
Combine rhubarb, nectarines, sugar, orange juice and cardamom in a bowl. Transfer to a large skillet. Stir over medium-high heat until liquid starts to bubble. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and simmer until rhubarb is almost tender, stirring very gently in order to keep rhubarb intact. About 8 minutes.

Drain rhubarb and nectarines well, reserving the sugared juice. Add the juice from bowl to skillet. Boil the juices until it becomes a syrup or a medium-to-thick reduction. Mix in preserves. Cool. Very gently add the rhubarb and nectarines to the mixture.

Preheat oven to 375F. Follow the directions for the frozen pie crust (thaw and pre-bake one of the two pie crusts. Reserve the other for the lattice top). Once the pie crust is cooked (about 20 minutes), add the fruit mixture. Line the top of the pie with the nectarine wedges.

Prepare the lattice top:
Carefully transfer the second, uncooked pie crust dough onto waxed paper. Cut one inch strips into the dough and lay across the top of the pie in a lattice pattern.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until filling is bubbling thickly and crust is golden brown.

NOTE: This post was amended on 6/29

June 11

Stone Fruit Cobbler

With summer already on its way, it’s time for a bevy of backyard barbeque’s and dinner parties. The minute I read the June Gourmet I thought I found the perfect party-time dessert. Unfortunately, Gourmet’s original recipe for a stone fruit cobbler didn’t dazzle the crowd as promised. However, after a bit of tweaking, I think I’ve come up with a crowd pleasing version that wows guests and makes them want to dive in for more.

MARKET SUGGESTIONS

Nectarines at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market

If you live near a farmer’s market, I suggest buying stone fruits that are in season. In Southern California, you can find nectarines, plums, pluots and peaches in abundance.

Plums at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market

Peaches at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market

For simplicity’s sake, I suggest using only plums and nectarines in this recipe. That way all you have to do is pit and slice and never have to peel off the skin. Otherwise, if you pick peaches or pluots, you’ll need to remove the skin before cooking. Also, choose firm fruits as they are a better choice for baking.

Stone Fruit Cobbler
Adapted from Gourmet magazine
Serves 8 (or a handful of gluttonous people)

For the filling:
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
¼ cup all purpose flour
3 lb mixed stone fruit, pitted and cut into ½ inch thick wedges (8 cups).
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp pure almond extract
NOTE: I adjusted the amount of sugar required from the original recipe. Keep in mind that after blending together the filling ingredients, you may want to increase the sugar level if the fruit mixture tastes overtly sour.

For the biscuits:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal (not stone-ground)
2 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon (rounded) salt
2 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
3 cups (plus 1 Tbsp) heavy cream
4 Tbsp demerara sugar

Make filling
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F with the rack in the middle. Butter a 3 quart glass or ceramic baking dish.

Toss together filling ingredients in a large bowl. Spread filling into the baking dish. Bake until just bubbling 15-20 minutes.

Make topping
While the filling bakes, whisk together sifted flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Blend together the dry ingredients with your fingers until the mixture resembles a course meal. Add 1 cup cream and stir until a dough forms.

Turn dough onto a floured surface. Lightly dust the dough with flour. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin until it’s ½ inch thick and is 10-inches around in diameter. Cut out dough with a 2-inch cookie cutter (or use the top of a small to medium sized glass). Gather scraps and re-roll once to cut out more biscuits.

Arrange biscuits ½ inch apart over hot filling. Brush tops with remaining Tbsp cream and sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake until topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling in the center. About 25-30 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before serving.

Whip the remaining heavy cream until it forms soft peaks. Serve cobbler and finish the individual portions with a generous dollop of whipped cream.

Suggested dessert wine paring:
Brachetto, a semi-sweet sparkling rosé, or my all time favorite: Vin de Bugey, a semi-sweet sparkling rosé from France.

I’ve brought this cobbler to several parties already. It’s an easy recipe that results in a real show stopping dessert!

March 25

Deconstructed Creamsicle Recipe

Getting to know a place eventually requires a trip to the market. Step into a local market and discover valuable cultural information, right there on the supermarket shelf. City markets filled with ready-made convenience food show a wholly different snapshot of daily life than the mom-and-pop corner store with a deli counter and an aisle of mismatched necessities.

It wasn’t until I started frequenting farmers’ markets that I really started to understand just how different California was from Massachusetts. Back east, vegetables were named simply: potato, lettuce, corn. In Massachusetts I never thought of varietals, hybrids, heirloom, and organics. But at the markets of California, I saw fruits and vegetable I’d never heard of. I experienced produce that tasted more real than anything I’d experienced before.

Suddenly, a tomato wasn’t just a tomato. An orange could be any number of different things.

After scanning cookbooks in search of the perfect ending to a culinary celebration with my friend Leah of Spicy Salty Sweet, I found Suzanne Goin’s recipe for “Creamsicles” and sugar cookies in Sunday Suppers at Lucques. Before thoroughly reading the recipe, it was easy for me to conceptualize the dessert. I would serve sugar cookies with a bowl of vanilla ice cream, topped with freshly squeezed orange juice. It wasn’t until I actually read the recipe that I realized I was about to enter into uncharted citrus territory.

Continue For an Incredible Deconstructed Creamsicle Recipe »

March 23

Mind-blowing candy

Fleur de sel caramel

Boule Bakery
408 N. La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048

It’s amazing when something so small and seemingly insignificant can push your day in an unexpected direction.

A good-looking stranger smiles at you and puts a spring in your step. You find a twenty-dollar bill on the sidewalk and suddenly feel flush with cash. You get an unexpected message from a friend and suddenly you’re in your car alone and laughing so hard you’re nearly crying. And then sometimes, you take a bite of a single ingredient and inspires you to make a journey across the world.

Such is the case with Boule Bakery’s Fleur de sel caramel. Small and life-changing, a single bite of this buttery, salty, crunchy candy makes me want to pack my bags and move to the Northern shores of France. The simple and balanced flavors of browned butter, caramelized sugar and sea-side salt come together in this tiny little candy to create a sublime treat that costs only a dollar a piece.

This isn’t a rip-your-fillings-out-of-your teeth kind of caramel. This is a soft, mouth watering, real-deal caramel that’s painstakingly made from fresh ingredients by master pastry makers. And priced at a dollar a candy, this mind-blowing, sugary morsel is totally worth every penny.

And don’t just take my word for it. Oprah, queen of all things great, named this caramel the “finest (she’s) ever come across.”

January 23

Tea Cookies: an Old Family Recipe

I might have a pretty big sweet tooth, but that doesn’t mean I’m running to the kitchen to bake up dessert. I’d rather drizzle honey over a wedge of cheese, or doctor up a pint of ice cream I bought from the store. I might be fearless when it comes to cooking up a side dish, but I run scared every time I even think about baking. I’m too afraid I’ll ruin everything to even try.

Blame it on the number of pastry chef friends I have (I’ll let them make the hard stuff), or the proximity of my home to a handful of amazing bakeries and dessert shops (Susina Bakery and Milk), but I have had little to no interest in cooking desserts at home.

All that changed a few weeks ago, when I unexpectedly received a cookbook in the mail.

This was no glossy, food-porn cookbook. Rather, it was a culinary guidebook to my past: a plastic-covered, three ring binder with hundreds of recipes collected from the members of Gloucester, Massachusetts’ St. Paul Lutheran church. The cookbook (originally printed over 20 years ago), was a piece of culinary history from the home town of my paternal grandmother’s past.

Past the hand drawn cover of the church’s pulpit, I found the recipes of my grandmother, my Finnish cousins, and Greek and Finnish neighbors of the tiny fishing village I grew up in. This surprise cookbook was from my ever-caring step-mother: a woman that knows the power of food.

Inside, I found a recipe my Grandmother contributed (Greek Bread) and traditional family dishes like Nisu (a Finnish sweet bread), American “Chop Suey” and Haddock baked with mayonnaise. These were recipes I grew up eating whenever we visited.

One recipe that caught my eye was for a recipe my grandmother never got around to making for us.

Finnish Teaspoon cookies recipe was so straightforward, I decided to get over my fear and start baking. I’m so glad I did. The recipe suggest waiting a few days (THREE!) before eating, because flavor improves with time.

What kind of crazy people make a cookie recipe that you can’t eat until half a week goes by?

The Finns. My people.

After tasting the cookies from the moment they came out of the oven and a series of long, long days, would agree that the cookie requires some aging time. But boy, is hard to wait.

Allie Enos’ Finnish Teaspoon Cookie

from the St. Paul Lutheran Church Cookbook

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Strawberry Jam

Brown butter to a pale tan color in a small, heavy saucepan. Let cool. Pour cooled butter into a mixing bowl; Stir in sugar and vanilla. Combine flour and soda; gradually add to butter mixture. Stir until mixture is uniformly crumbly.

To shape cookie, press dough firmly into a teaspoon; level the top with the center of your hand. Tap side of spoon on cookie sheet to gently remove cookies or slide off spoon with the gentle push of a finger. Spread jam on flat side of half of all the formed cookies. Press second cookie to jellied cookies, to create a single, almond shaped “cookie sandwich.” Bake at 325 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Let cool. Put in airtight container and let sit for a few days before eating. Flavor improves with time. Makes several dozen cookies.