Corduroy Orange

Just yesterday I was cursing my backyard bunny for chewing up my strawberries as they even approached a pinkish hue.  This morning as I walked to the car I decided to take another peek.  Hooray!  One whole, fresh, ripe berry, plus a few others untasted on their way to ripeness.

I considered leaving it there for Angstrom to discover this evening.  But then a little (somewhat selfish) voice inside me asked, “what if the rabbit ate it in the meantime?  Then it would go to waste!”  So I picked it and ate it right there.  So sweet, still warm from the sun: it was fantastic!  And, the others that were almost ripe this morning should be ready for the A man to discover tonight.

I don’t know how many years I’ve used baking powder without noticing the notice to “shake well before opening.” I guess that makes sense, though, that perhaps the leavener and the acid and the anti-caking agent might settle into different strata while the jar sits on your cupboard between uses. Shaking it up would get them all evenly mixed again. Amazing how often you can use something without really looking at it.

I mentioned in my review of the restaurant that the last thing I did before leaving Macraw was to make reservations for my parents.  My dad (sometimes referred to as ‘Papa Razzi’) rarely goes anywhere without his camera.  So, as could be expected, he took some fabulous photos of their meals, which differed slightly from ours but still provide good insight to the level of cuisine being prepared there.  Here’s a link to his post about his meal: http://mrtoadsride.blogspot.com/2012/04/un-repas-extraordinaire.html.

If your travel plans take you to Paris, it is imperative that you schedule a meal at Macraw, and that upon arrival you order the ‘menu decoverture’ (’discovery menu’ en anglais) and submit yourself to chef Jeremie Rosenbois’ culinary vision.  I’ve had a few good meals while I have been in Paris—but most of them have consisted of dishes that I could have (or did!) make for myself.  My meal at Macraw does not fit into this category; M. Rosenbois has aptly named his tasting menu. The flavors and concepts I discovered at Macraw were eye opening and outstanding.

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Today, I picked up some quail from the market and brought them home for dinner.

Once I’d removed their heads and their first two wing joints, I transferred them to a pan with some onion, carrot, and water to make stock.

While they simmered, I prepared a spice rub for the birds: salt, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, thyme, and a bit of crushed red pepper.  I seared the birds in a hot pan with some butter, all over.  When I had browned the birds, I strained the stock into the pan and inserted them into a 110 C oven.

I sliced some onion to a fine julienne and let it sauté in some butter; added some slivered garlic once it had started to brown; then a couple minutes later finished the ensemble with some red bell pepper.

I scooped the seeds from a couple of courgettes and cut think planks, which I seared in butter in a separate pan.  I plated the onion-pepper mix and arranged the zucchini in a swirl over top as the quail were getting ready to exit the sauna.  The result was a table presentation that looked as good as it tasted.

Talk abut unseasonably warm—I’ve already got 4 spears of asparagus coming up in my yard.  Which doesn’t sound like much, but considering that my asparagus patch consists of three plants and that last year I never had more than 5 or 6 spears at a time and considering also that it’s only March 21, it seems like a heck of a lot.  It seems more typical that we would still have snow on the ground than be wearing shorts and basking in 80 degree temperatures.  It just doesn’t seem natural.

One of my coworkers said it seems like the earth didn’t get enough of a chance to sleep, “and you know what happens when you don’t get enough rest—you wake up cranky.”

When done correctly, roasted potatoes are a fantastic treat: crispy, golden brown, and delicious.  When done poorly, they’re sort of insipid, soggy, and blah.  Here are a few quick tips to get great potatoes:

1. Heat is your friend.  Turn the oven up to 450.  Make sure it gets fully hot.
2. While the oven heats, cut the potatoes into about half-inch  to one inch chunks and toss them with canola oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Put the pan (cookie sheet with a lip—I recommend a standard half sheet pan) in and let it get hot before adding the potatoes to it.
4. Don’t worry the spuds once they go in.  If you’re constantly opening the oven to stir them, the temp goes down.  They don’t get the contact with the pan they need to caramelize and get golden.
5. But don’t forget about them either.  Stir them after 15-20, then again after another 10-15.
6. They should be ready after a total of 40-45.
7. Yum!

This recipe is fairly easy to make, bakes much more quickly than pumpkin bread, and tastes delicious!

• 2/3 cup softened butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups mashed pumpkin (see note at end of recipe)
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• dash nutmeg
• 2 cups mixed raisins, golden raisins, and dried cherries

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugars.
3. beat the eggs into the mix, one at a time
4. Add in the pumpkin and the water—reduce the speed on the mixer as you add the water or else you’ll wind up splattering the watery mixture across your counter and onto the floor!
5. Combine the flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.  Beat this mix into the large bowl of liquid ingredients about 1 cup at a time.
6. Mix the dried fruit into the batter.
7. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 25-28 minutes or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Yield: 32 muffins

Note on pumpkin: substitute any winter squash (except spaghetti squash) for pumpkin.  My preferred method for producing mashed pumpkin: peel the squash, cut in half and scoop out seeds.  Dice and toss with oil, small amount of salt, and mixed spices (pumpkin pie spice mix).  Roast at 375 on a baking sheet with a lip for about 30-45 minutes (depending on size of the dice) or until it is soft.  Makes a great side dish, or to prepare for baking purposes, run through meat grinder attachment of your Kitchen-Aid mixer.  Freeze in pint containers and use within 2 years.

Or, if you prefer, use a 15-oz can of pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!).

A lot of us are trying to eat more whole grains.  And why shouldn’t we?  They’re good for you—generally containing better nutritional content than the enriched white grain alternatives (since not all of the nutrition lost by removing the bran and the germ is added back in during the enrichment process).  And there’s a wide variety of store-bought options to choose from: pastas, baked goods, more grains than you can shake a stick at, even the sweetest of breakfast cereals proclaims itself to be a whole grain product.

Problem is, if you try to bake with whole wheat flour, very often you wind up with a product that is much denser than you really want.  I definitely recommend giving whole wheat pastry flour a shot.  It’s ground much more finely than regular whole wheat flour, and the result is that in most baked goods, it’s very tough to tell a difference in texture between something baked with whole wheat pastry flour vs. one baked with all purpose flour.

And, once the taste and texture deficiencies of a whole wheat product have been eliminated, the nutritional differences are that much easier to appreciate.  Here’s a great table that spells out the differences between nutrients.  With very few exceptions, you’ll note that whole wheat flour is the clear nutritional winner across the board.

Whole wheat pastry flour is easy to find, too—it is produced by many flour manufacturers and is in most grocery stores.  Give it a try next time you make muffins, pancakes, waffles, coffee cake, pie crust, or whatever else you would use all-purpose flour in.  You’ll be glad you did.

A Ha!  It is I, the Count who loves to count!

Today i am going to count how many ingredients you need to make my hometown sandwich, the Monte Cristo!

1. One loaf of good, hearty bread
2. Tasty mustard
3. one half pound of fine ham, like prosciutto from Parma Sausage
4. One half pound of rosemary pork loin from Parma Sausage
5. Cheese—tasty, tasty cheese
6. Eggs: 1, 2, 3, 4 eggs (ha ha ha!)
7. Milk
8. 1/2 tsp Paprika
9. 1/2 tsp Dried Basil
10. 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
11. Butter

That’s eleven, eleven tasty ingredients to make my sandwich!

Now, let’s count the steps to make it:

1. Spread the mustard on the bread
2. Layer it with cheese, prosciutto, and pork loin
3. Put the second piece of bread on top of the meat.
4. Repeat for the rest of the loaf of bread
5. Pierce the sandwich with two toothpicks to hold it together
6. Repeat for the rest of the bread in the loaf.
7. Heat your griddle and get it hot.  Turn your oven on to 350 F.
8. Mix together the eggs, milk (just enough to give it the color of eggnog), paprika, basil, and nutmeg.
9. Dip the sandwiches in the egg mix, both sides.
10. Melt butter on your hot griddle.  Cook the sandwiches in the butter.
11. Flip when the first side is golden brown.
12. When the second side is golden brown, transfer it to a pan in your oven and let it cook for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Twelve, twelve tasty steps to make my sandwiches (ha, ha, ha, ha).  That remindss me of a song that I know: 1 2 3 4 5, 6 7 8 9 10, 11 12–da dee da da do do….