Grrrrrrr-ateful : Dog biscuits with peanut butter

When something is as cute as an Ewok you know your in trouble.
And trouble needs to be fed.

This Thanksgiving I wanted to give a little hot sweet love to my constant companion, Lady Baby O'Gravy.
There is no one who appreciates my cooking more.

Dog biscuits are super easy to make and the ingredients are probably already staring at you in the face when you open the cabinet. Making your own alleviates any fear of processed poisons and with the addition of olive oil and other such add ins you can be sure your pooch is getting a dose of healthy fats ,vitamins and phytonutrients.

This recipe is not intended for everyone but it is a good jumping off point.
Keep your dogs specific nutritional profile in mind when baking and avoid thins known to be toxic or hard to digest for the breed.

Dog Biscuit with P.B.

• 1 1/2 cup stock (I like chicken here but you can use beef or fish)
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
  
• 1/2 cup olive oil
  
• 3/4 cup oatmeal
  
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
  
• 1 cup all purpose flour
  
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  

Mix the wet ingredients together and then add in the dry grains to make a dough.
Working in small batches, add extra flour as needed and roll out to about the thickness of your thumb from finger print to thumbnail - roughly under a 1/2 inch.
Cut out with a cookie cutter, jar lid or free form with a knife. Get creative.
Bake on an open cookies sheet , or the back or a rimmed cookies sheet
(simply place it upside down in the oven ) at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Store in sandwich baggies or a Tupperware container.

Red October - almost. Red Pear and Gorgonzola Risotto with Chicken

Fall got stuck in some traffic this year.
Temperatures are just starting to drop and the leaves have been kind of lazy getting undressed for winter. Don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining,but my eyes have been hungry for fall color and this meal hits the spot.
Coupling red pears with a dusty sage coated risotto this dish packs a nice
one-two punch that knocked my color craving right in the kisser.

Always on the hunt for a good grab and pack snack I can eat between classes red pears materialized on my radar sometime last month like Red October.

Growing up with green and brown pears my curiosity was peaked.
Its worth noting they are a little more soft with a sweet unyielding paper-white flesh.

This recipe came by way of Epicurious, the component of Gourmet magazine. The original recipe would make a great vegetarian meal, but as a proud omnivore I used chicken stock in place of the veggie/wine mix along with a few slices of chicken breast.

Below I paraphrase and add my substitutions. Follow the above link to the original.

Red Pear and Gorgonzola Rissoto with chicken

• 4 cups chicken broth
  
• 2 chicken breasts baked and shreded
  
• 2 tbls olive oil
  
• 1 cup arborio rice
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage or 2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
  
• 1/3 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (about 2 ounces)
  
• 1 red pear very thinly sliced
  

Simmer rice in olive oil untill it is translucent.
Add in chicken stock reserving a 1/2 cup.
Cook uncovered roughly 15 minutes adding reserved liquid as needed.
At the finish mix in the pear, chicken and cheese allowing it all the heat through thoroughly.

I'm a weenie: Oktoberfest Frankfurter Casserole (Vegetarian)

Like any food nerd I have in my possession a motley crew of cookbooks.
Many have been gleaned from thrift stores,yard sales,and then there is the occasional trophy from a weekday eBay bid on company time.
My book shelves are a drunken galleon of wobbly Nikki Sixx stacks and marked up pamphlets precariously leering like so many Tommy Lee-tards .
And
to further extend the Motley Crew metaphor I’ve got going on here, I will add that like M.C. concert, the contents often vacillate between grossly unhealthy and straight up absurd.
Sometimes the collection gets out of control.
I see them for the mess they are and resolve to clean it up.
It’s a tough call but I select a few of the more useless to throw back into the thrift store donation box for another turn of recycling on the karmatic wheel that is Goodwill.
But
just like a less busty but still hot Pam Anderson I keep taking them back bad as they are.
Bizarre and entirely unpalatable as the recipes can be I can’t help but get a little turned on when I pass a greasy McCall’s cover or a dilapidated copy of ,”Family Style in 20 minutes or less."
Really though, Who would’t pop a chubby for hard boiled egg Aspic with paprika cream?
C'mon. Be honest!

Part of my infatuation stems from a love of weird line drawings.
Many of the recipe collections from the 60’s/70’s are real freak shows flanked with drawings of lactating cow bakers and inspiring quotations such as
“A day without wine is like a day without sunshine!”.

However , nuggets of wisdom aside the true root of the problem is my love of the casserole.

This recipe is very loosely adapted from a McCall’s cookbook entry.
While not quite a casserole in the way you may be accustomed to considering them
there are no crumbled Ritz crackers or ,God bless, canned fried onions on top.
It is unerringly simple and comforting, and would have been perfect for October being that October makes me think of Beer and Germans.
And that thought, in the immortal words of Jennifer Coolidge as Paulette in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde,

”…makes me want a hot dog real bad… “

I had planned on posting this during Oktoberfest.
You can see how that went.
I know I'm kind of a weenie for cheating you, gentle reader,
but better late then never.

Of course I love the simple dump and heat spirit of the dish but I tried to make this recipe a little healthier. However this is a comfort dish so don't expect me to get all martha on you with bouegoius groceries or good china.
I used veggie dogs in an effort skip consuming carcinogenic processed meats.
Don't get me wrong I love a good hot dog fresh from the grill , but no one is grilling here and the veggie version is just as good without the lips and meatholes.
I know the butchies in the audience are groaning - go ahead if you want your meat go for it.
You will notice I’ve also teamed up the scurvy fighting power of vitamin C packed sauerkraut with the cruciferous brussel sprout for some hot cabbage on cabbage action.
Sauerkraut is fermented with lactobacillus bacteria which is a pro-biotic found in most yogurts.
I can’t claim with any authority that any lactobacillus remains in the sauerkraut by the time warm it up but it’s interesting to note.
I guess you could try eating it cold.
Just kidding.

Of course as a health conscious young man I made my biscuit dough with freshly milled whole grain flour picked with the velvet gloved beaks of free range black hens in the Alpines.
It was purchased at Whole Foods.

But if you’re a single mom or someone who else who runs all over creation and back on a daily basis , so much so that , say for example , you don’t have time to post Oktoberfest themed recipes to your food blog during the actual month of October, you could just use one of those pop-tin-pre-made-biscuit-dough-thingy’s from Pillsbury.

Not that I did that.
I’m just say’n though.


Oktoberfest Frankfurter Casserole (Vegetarian)

• 1 package soy hot dogs (or you can use the real thing)
  
• 1 package Sauerkraut
  
• 2 hand fulls of brussel sprouts (roughly one fresh container or one box frozen)
  
  
• Chives
  
• 2 tbsp dry mustard powder
  
• 1 large onion
  
• *1 tbsp caraway seeds
  
• *1 tbsp celery seeds
  
  
• *bacon / or "fake'n" slices

For The Biscuits

• 1/2 cup butter or shortening
  
• 2/3 cup milk
  
• 2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 tbsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  
• 1/4 tsp salt

or a tin of premade biscuit dough fresh from your grocers dairy isle
* optional

Heat up the sauerkraut and add in the brussel sprouts. I would suggest cooking in the brine but if you need more water go ahead and throw some in. Add in the celery and caraway seeds if your using them along with the dry mustard powder.

Mix your biscuit dough or pop the tin (don't get scared).
If mixing, add dry ingredients together then add butter / shortening.
Add milk into center and mix until just combine.
knead for a bit and then roll dough into a long thin cylinder. If your including bacon set two pieces on each side of the hot dog then wrap the dough around each hot dog in a spiral.
Sprinkle the tops with chives.

Place in a greased baking dish and bake at 400 for about 10 -15 minutes.
When its finished add in the brussel sprout and sauerkraut mix and serve.

Black and Blue: Black Licorice and Blueberry Ice Cream

Cracking the spine to find a recipe for
blueberry with pinot noir and licorice jam all those weeks waiting for an inter-library loan were worth it. (p.s. libraries are fun places. all the cool kids are renewing their cards...and by cool kids i mean me).
"Mes confitures," written by Christine Ferber the "jam fairy of France" proved to throw oil on my long burning obsession with jam making this summer.
Being a fairy myself I liked the idea of licorice and blueberry together and started thinking about them folded into a smooth ice cream .

When I think of blueberries I think of my parents.
First of my dad - smiling with his infectious grin and giving me the last bite of his blueberry pie in Philadelphia - the greatest sacrifice of love any human being can make for another.
My father grew up in the city and being the worlds greatest dad has always been hyper vigilant when it comes to protecting me.
This applies doubly when considering the dangers of eating unidentified things from the fields and forest's I'd run through barefoot as a kid.
If it could be picked, plucked or picked up I brought it home despite his animated protests of "That stuff will kill ya!"

My mom on the other hand , having spent her childhood in the South was all about being bare foot and twiggy.
I can still remember the magic of watching her pick fruit straight off a branch and bite into a berry. Beautiful in dappled light my mother stood lovingly offering me a small round fruit.I was hesitant at first but her daring gave me permission to taste.
I can imagine how Adam felt. The Garden would have been lost that much sooner if the serpent had a blueberry in his pocket instead of an apple.
We laughed there on the wooded path juice running down our chins.

Being my parents son I could not fight the draw to wander in the woods but was also careful not to ingest every damn thing i picked up.
In time I learned what was OK and what was not.
But until that day I'd walk , eyeing my clenched fists of wild berries with suspicion. Rolling them around like so many rosary beads,
I'd say Hail Mary's on the walk home as a charm against the seductive idea of shoving open palms stained blue with want into my mouth before I reached the screen door.
Like Halloween candy they were suspect and as such needed to be investigated and identified before consumption.
Though fairly certain they were edible I wouldn't take a chance as per my fathers warning.
I wanted to be a good boy.
But I also wanted those berries.
Every so often I'd only make it a few paces before succumbing to an impromptu taste test.
If the berries were too sour my panic would send me into ecstatic fervour praying full force the whole way home. I hoped at least one Hail Mary would cushion my young soul in case my father was right.

Though having completed the northeastern half of their tour, a friend from the local farmers market passed along a quart of late bloomers a few weeks ago.
We tend to romanticize blueberries as being sweet, and they can be,
but they have got much more depth then that.
Their acid content can vary dramatically from one to the next
(as well as their cancer fighting and eye boosting antioxidants - anthocyans).
And
there is an earthy quality to them often unremembered that combines nicely with the gentle spice of licorice root making this combination more reasonable then it sounds at first.



An unpopular candy, licorice doesn't carry pom poms and it doesn't listen to pop music. Madmartigan will even tell you it'll put hair on your chest.
However while it is wearing leather, licorice is not without its lace.
Licorice root is no doubt strong , but much more gentle then the concentrated candy,and easily tamed by a short steeping time and small portions.

Most of the recipes I found (like this one I tried )for licorice ice cream use the candy , and a shot or two of Pernod (which while lending its own flavor is a fickle cousin of absinthe with varying amounts of licorice depending on the maker, invariably offering an extreme amount of anise ).
In case you missed it neither of these things are the root.
I imagine this is in part because its not the sort of thing that you can easily find in your grocers freezer.
My suggestion would be to try your local Asian market or a kick-ass herb store like Frontier.

With Halloween right around the corner I decided to try the candy out in a test batch omitting the Pernod.
Why no Pernod?
Because I couldn't possible imagine a time when I'd bust it out again.
I don't plan on chasing absinthe or entertaining any oompa loompas in the near future and I like alcohol far too much to just allow it to sit useless and stupid in the closet.

Trust me its still plenty liquorishy without the liquor.

I extrapolated my own root based version which you will find below.
The results were different enough to note.
The root infused ice cream subtly lent its warmth in the way cinnamon might to an apple cobbler.
The candy version was stronger, blacker and more predictable.
Of course the original recipe using candy here did not call for the addition of blueberries. That was my own doing, but even without the Pernod it overpowered the blueberries.
A practical note should you try the linked version:
I'd suggest making sure that your licorice is soft.
Soft licorice melts much more easily.Try Panda brand. Not only is it generally "fresher" but the animation on their page is ADORABLE!
I would also use 1/2 to 3/4 of the recommended amount of licorice unless you get your jollies on intense licorice flavor.

Don't get me wrong, I can TRUCK up some candy but this time around
daddy likes it raw.


Black Licorice and Blueberry Ice Cream

• 2 cups half and half
  
  
• 2 cups heavy cream
  
  
• 1 and 1/4 cup sugar
  
  
• 1-2 long sticks of licorice (or two tea bags)
  a little common sense and a little tongue go a long way here kids.
  peel some of the stick and taste it.
  if its strong and fresh use less. If its weak and old more makes it bold.
  
  
• 1 and 1/2 cups blueberries
  
  
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla

Blend up 1 cup of the blueberries and set aside the other 1/2 cup.
Mix the licorice with the milks and sugar in a saucepan and bring to just under a boil stirring all the while.
once cooled add in the berry puree and the remaining whole berries.

Now comes teh most important part.
Taste.
Ice cream loses some of its sweetness while freezing. It has to do with our taste buds and how they function under the duress of cold.
It should taste more sweet then you'd like it when completed and licorice-y.
Take out the tea bags after the mix reaches room temp-ish.
Depending on the distributor it could make your mix more bitter if left over night.
If using sticks Don't take the licorice out until the morning / before freezing.

Freeze ice cream according to your machines instructions.

If you don't have a machine you can place the mix in a long container (like a disposable Tupperware) in the freezer and use a fork every hour or so to scrap it up. You want to make sort of a snow flaky mixture.
It wont have the same consistency as churned ice cream but it will do the trick.

Corn Cakes

Sorry for the hiatus. School started and what can i say, sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes i rhyme quick (p.s. - one of the best uses of a sample eva!).

Job interviews are horrific if only for the onslaught of lame questions you find yourself navigating through. You are left in your khaki and cream with no true north , never knowing what they are really getting at (i.e. "are you married?" could mean "can you work long hours," "I'm interested," or "are you a homo").
My favorite part of every interview is the end.
Not only does that mean its over (and i can rip off my tie and itchy pants), but invariably an interview ends with a "getting to know you" question.
I love these.
Though worn out, the go to still remains,"if you could have coffee with four people, dead or alive, who would they be?"

I always answer, "Stalin, the devil,Ngo Dinh Diem and Martha Stewart. "

No I don't.

Actually I'm never 100 percent sure who will jump out of my mouth.
Though if I'm thinking clearly one of my choices would be Diane Ackerman.
In one of my favorite reads, A Natural History of the Senses, Ackerman takes some time out to wax poetic about corn.
At one point she comments on corn as a staple not only for native peoples pre-dating Chris Columbus ,but for our process laden foods today. Corn has truly left an indelible mark in our gastronomic geography and it is nothing if not ubiquitous.

A golden colored ghost it haunts products you'd think would remain untouched by modernity's hand like yogurt and juice. Popping up like a nightmare circus clown there isn't a product you can bump into at any convenience store that hasn't recruited corn syrup in some form, from sports drinks to chips, and even hair gel.
Just kidding about the hair gel.
It is so common place that tongues greet it with the limpest of handshakes.
Hard pressed to detect it, most people don't recognize its taste.

So now I pose a question to you , gentle reader.
How often do you and corn spend quality time together away from such bad influences as monosodium glutamate?

Enter the corn cake (or fritter or polenta cake...)
These little guys are like the "black" of the food world.
Possessing corn's inherent ability to mix and match with a multitude of foods, you can incorporate them into nearly every recipe.
As cheap and versatile as a weeknight twink, you can top them easily with seafood curries or mexi-cali messes.
(I've done both in the past week alone).
Corn fritters are the ultimate bottom.
Spread them with dollop of sour cream and they are just as snack able on their own (minus the Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt).
You could even try this recipe as a base for arepa's.

Make them thick or make them thin but make them.

I cant wait to hear how you have used them.
Make Daddy proud.

Corn Fritters

• 2 small ears of fresh (jersey) corn
  (or 1 cup frozen corn kernels)
  
  
• 1 small shallot
  
  
• 2 tbp flour
  
  
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
  
  
• 1:1 ratio of cornmeal to hot water
  (1 cup to 1 cup)
  
  
• 1 egg beaten
  
  
• tbsp milk
  
  
• cooking oil
  
  
• herbs of choice (cilantro,chives,etc.)

If using fresh corn boil it and then grate the corn. Once this si completed use a knife to scrap the corn cobbs of the remaing flesh.
seperately mix togetehr teh hot water and cornmeal adding a little more water or cornmeal to get a thick evenly moist mush. stir in a little milk and add the shallot.
add the flour and baking powder.

heat up the oil and fry an ice cream scoop sized amount of batter for a few min. till browned on both sides.

finito!

Spiced Fig and Italian Prune Plum Cake

One of the harbingers of summers twilight, Italian prune plums are like
that hot girl at the party.
Even though you might want to get next to them and talk shop , you can't help hating them too.
But, really , its not their fault they're cute.
And so what? They showed up a little late to the party.

Don't get turned off by the name.
Prune is used as an adjective here describing a type of plum.
It's true.
These little purple grenades are avatars of those infamous fiber fortified prunes. Once dried out and packaged,they serve as a solution for a common "binding" problem. Not usually the kind of thing you get a hankering for unless your into that kind of thing.
But these guys are first and foremost plum's, the likes of which even a sugar plum fairy could'nt shake.

Before making that transformation Italian prune plum's defend an allegiance to all things sweet.
Biting into one they may not seem formidable in the face of the overwhelming choices of fruit available this time of year.
Not quite as succulent and drippy as their more punctual summer produced cousins, Italian prune plums have a suspicious spring green interior that might shock you. They hold onto summers own color with an unfailing grip smuggling it under contrasting purple skin, and carrying it faithfully into fall like a souvenir of warmer months.

Take a breath Sally, and Warm them up.
Once baked they give up the goods - fathoms of fructose.

Sweet and tender, they mix well with quartered black mission figs (also purple and decidedly hanging out this time of year), or cousin plums who make a cameo in my version.



The basic recipe follows.

Its amazing on its own, though fun to experiment with.
As it is a kind of upside down cake, part of the charm is playing with the cut fruit and arranging it into patterns.

Ive turned out a few variations.
My favorite involves using mini pan tins scavenged from a friend addicted to Table Talk Pies. I made mini layer cakes alternating with ganache made from a Calindia bar from Vosges chocolate , and a complimenting jam canned earlier in the month.

Not a single cake survived the day,but nothing beats the unadulterated original.
A little bit of summer slips into fall with each fork-full; plum syrup soaking down into warmly spiced buttery cake.


Spiced Fig and Italian Prune Plum cake

• 3 Dark plums
  
• 4 Italian Prune Plums
  
• 6 figs
  
  
• 3/4 C lite brown sugar
  
• 3/4 C white sugar
  
  
• butter for cooking fruit (a few teaspoons)
  
• salt
  
  
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/4 cup softened butter
  
• 2 eggs room temperature
  
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (make sure it is the real deal - cultured as opposed to flavored)
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoon brandy or amaretto
  
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or allspice
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  

* Optional: orange and lemon zests. roughly 1/2 teaspoon.

Preheat oven 350

Quarter the figs and cut and pit plums. Italian prune plums are super easy.The pit practically walks out on it own. Cut the proper plums into 6 slices each and the Italian Prune Plums into 4 slices each.

Coat the pan in butter with some to spare and cook the fruit, dusting with sugar and flipping with a spatula to ensure both sides get zapped. Dump in the rest of the white sugar and give it a good whirl. Top with a lid and simmer till it reaches a jam like consistency. Don't over cook or the fruit will get mooshy.

Butter a 6-8 inch spring form pan and arrange the fruit upside down in the bottom however you like.Use a slotted spoon to remove the fruit reserving the syrup for a topping at the end. You can either pour it over the fruit before baking or serve it on the side.
Keep in mind you want the fig quarters face down so that when you release the cake their interiors will be facing upward , smiling with seedy grins.

Mix the baking powder, salt and flour along with the spices and zest if your using it.
Beat the butter with brown sugar (be sure to firmly pack the brown sugar).
Dump in a third of the dry ingredients , then half the buttermilk, another third of the dry ingredients, the final bit of buttermilk and then finally the last bit of the dry ingredients.

Beat in the liquor.

Spill the batter like a blanket over the fruit and cook for roughly 35 min at 350.

Interview: Amy Stevens

Stare too long at Amy Stevens work and you might just give yourself a visual toothache. Starting with an idea to make 30 birthday cakes as a marker of an upcoming birthday, Amy's work has cooked up into something with its own pulse. Two parts Lisa Frank with a dash of miss Havisham, her confections are camouflaged or menacing, like wild things colored to warn unsuspecting predators of what might just lay within.Doling out generous portions of pattern and color, Stevens cuts right past dinner and gives you what you really want.
And you don't even have to finish your Lima beans.

I happened across her work at mew gallery this summer,curiously enough on my way to sign up for a cake decorating class. Unfortunately Amy is not the instructor.

She currently has a show up at The Center For Emerging Visual Artist's through September 20th ( 237 S. 18th St., Suite 3A Philadelphia). Opening reception Friday, September 14th 5:30 - 7:30.

Joe: You mention your initial investigation into cake making on your website. Would you mind talking a little bit about why you decided to make cakes in the first place?

Amy: For a little more than a year prior to starting this series I was using cake imagery from my collection of vintage cookbooks in my collage and mixed media work. I was also making abstract paintings that mimicked icing-- as well as incorporating stencils and images of cakes. Before I started making my own cakes, I was a bit of a collector of images of them - but mostly from 1950's cookbooks.

Joe: Did you bake growing up?

Amy: I loved to bake when I was growing up. Cookies, pies, cakes-- anything my mom would let me bake. It's a very precise and methodical process that somehow relaxes me. And I have a sweet tooth!

Joe: The "backdrops" you use work as a pivot in your photographs. It appears that you choose the fabric first, is that true? How do the two relate? Are you working with the pattern or against it?What is your process like?

Amy: Yes. The first ten or so in this series I made the cakes first, but as I made more and more (I think I'm somewhere in the 60's now) the easier it became to choose the fabric first and then see where I could take the cake
as opposed to finding backgrounds to go with the cakes. My cake decorating skills aren't the best, so I may start out trying to mimic and pattern in the fabric and end up with something totally different.Decorating each cake is a very intuitive process and very much the same way I would approach a canvas or any other substrate for my art. The fabric is used as a springboard for color and pattern and I just go from there.

Joe: In college I can remember having conversations at length about pattern.I found it interesting that something seemingly benign like
a decorative border had a lot of power in "the old world."People believed that the repetition would hypnotize and thus entrap evil spirits.Another point i remember is how pattern sets up a visual expectation and can make the viewer feel psychologically comforted since they know what to expect next. Would you agree with that?

Amy: Definitely. It's funny because I love pattern and am always drawn to it,but have never really tried to analyze the meaning behind it and it makes a lot of sense.

Joe: What do you look for in a pattern?

Amy: Color is usually the first one since I have been grouping them by theme,but then it's just based on my personal taste and what's out there. I have a favorite place for buying fabric (reprodepotfabric.com) that never fails to inspire and feed my cravings for great patterns. The wilder and crazier-- the more fun it is to decorate the cakes, so I always take that into consideration as well.

Joe: The palette in your work is so varied and just as satisfying as actually eating a piece of cake. It's like licking icing off a spoon with your eyes. Ranging from play-dough colors (as in confections #26) to more
earthy avocados and turquoise (as in confections #41 and #48),what influences your color choice?

Amy: My past four groupings of work have been related to each other by color theme. As my work remarks on domesticity and decor, I have been making each sub series of work for each new show in a different color theme according to the season. For example, my Inliquid solo show in February was all reds and pinks, this summer I had two shows-- one at The Icebox in a group show with whites and yellows and another at Mew Gallery with Blues, greens and whites. My latest which opens August 30 at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists will be of a botanical theme (for the patterns) and colors are greens, browns and some salmon pinks. For this show I will also be painting the walls to match the work to create an environment.

Joe: How do you feel about the word decoration?Do you feel like your works are "decorative?"

Amy: I know that to some artists the word decoration is a bad word-- some might shudder at the thought that their piece of artwork would actually be purchased because it matches the couch or decor of a room. My work is all about decoration. Many layers of it in fact.

Joe: Where do you find inspiration?

Amy: Other artists, wallpaper patterns, fabric, home decorating magazines.

Joe: Do you eat the cakes when they are done?

Amy: If I ate all the cakes I made I would be obese and diabetic! It's sad they go to waste, but sometimes they sit in the studio a while before I get to shooting or decorating them, so they get a little stale-- probably not the tastiest.

Joe: What kind of cake are they?

Amy: Yellow.

Since I know these don't get consumed, I don't splurge on the finest of butter and eggs-- just the basics to get the job done. Of course when I bake for my receptions-- I get to be creative with the cake and not just the decorating. I've made red velvet cupcakes, chocolate and coconut in the past.

Joe: Do you see a strong connection between your collage and cake making?

Amy: It's all connected-- all of my work.

Joe: What music are you currently listening to?

Amy: Well, let's see, just to name a few of my summer picks: the new Iron and Wine, Andrew Bird, Elvis Perkins, M. Ward, Mary Timony, Spoon, The New Pornographers, Field Music, Thievery Corporation, Astrud Gilberto...

Chicken Under a Brick

Marinated in olive oil, evenly browned in a skillet ,and finally transferred to a hot oven, you can expect a beautifully crisp and flavorful dish permeated with a small battalion of savory herbs.
It is the brick that accounts for the cracker crunchy skin. When you top off your hot skillet with bricks, your adding 2 lb weights that keep that juicy tender chicken down to brown on all points of contact. The result is something sensational.
I realize bricks aren't a part of every ones kitchen cache, but I can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to find one.
In the event that you have chosen a simple life away from suburban sprawl,or
live in one of those parts of town without relentless construction I have other options for you.
The first,though somewhat advanced, involves a twister and dropping a house on one of your neighbors.
Preferably either one you don't like or one with a killer shoe collection.
If that proves too difficult for you (Wussy...) improvise.
Feel free to use an inverted pot lid with something heavy on top.
A leg of lamb retrieved from the back of the freezer, an empty quart of milk filled with water or a toddler will do just fine in a pinch.
Of course, the second method may also be appropriate if you just can't get your head around the fact that a brick is involved in cooking this little blessing.
In that case you will probably also object to the term "chicken under a brick."
You are welcome to call it by its Italian name.
Pollo al mattone.

And now a few notes:

Keep in mind a dish cooked with olive oil, like wine or chocolate (and sometimes your hair),is only as good as the product you put into it. And just like wine or chocolate olive oils are complex creatures.Usually descriptive phrases are reserved for tense bouts of road rage or when someone dogs you in line while your Christmas shopping.
However, A professional olive oil taster(yes there is such a thing) uses them just as freely as a sommelier when dissecting a wine.
There are fruity undertones and woody aftertastes.
I can't speak with much authority on the subject but follow this link for a more in depth discussion of olive oil. It kind of blew my mind a little and now Im trying all sorts of olive oils.The page is easy to read and informative.
I was surprised to learn that like tomatoes, olives are actually a fruit.

I tried Filippo Berio extra virgin.
Extra virgin - because it is generally used for marinating and dressings.
Filippo Berio - because I had a crush on Brian Berio n the 5th grade and I liked the label.
In trying new olive oil's out I figured it was best to go with what you know.

Though I'd suggest marinating at the minimum over night in a cool Frigidaire,I have soaked chicken for 48 hours out of necessity.
Somtimes there isn't enough time.
The chicken was sumptuous.


There is a long list of herbs , but use what you've got on hand.
Though disheveled and wild I have a large number growing in my garden and this is the perfect time of year to take advantage of the soon to dwindle growth.

And one last thing about the brick. \
Be careful.
Don'thurt anybody when searching one out.
I found this little guy the day of my first mission.



isn't he cute?!
I think he is a type of Imperial moth
(Eacles imperialis).
For those of you shaking your heads and saying, "not so much,"
this little guy
will help impress my next point on you.

Wash the brick.
Wash the brick and cover it in foil.
You don't want any little clay bits falling into your chicken.

Keep a few sheets of newspaper by the range (away from the flame) in order to rest the hot oily bricks on once they have completed their task as heavy weight champions of the wok.
Those bad boys get hot and steamy inside their foil cloaks , and the hot oil on the outside renders them torture devices the likes of which have not be seen since medieval England.

Recipe:

Chicken Under a Brick

4 ilb chicken
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic

A handfull of the following:

Thyme
Basil
Oregano
Sage
Mint
Peppermint
salt
pepper

(you could also add in lemon or crused hot pepper. I did not.)


Marinate the chicken:

Place washed chicken in a pyrex dish , giant freezer bag or tupperware container
(be warned if you go the pyrex route it could stink up your fridge).

Crush the garlic cloves and mix with the salt and pepper.
If you have dainty hands you don't want soiled you may complete this task with the tines of a fork.

Rub your selection of herbs all over the chicken.
Rub the chicken all over with the garlic paste , lavishing a good amount of your garlic paste love on the skin.
place some of the herbs under the skin being careful not to shred it up.
Fill the container with the cup of olive oil and remaining herbs/garlic.

let it rest at least over night for the best flavor.

Cooking:

preheat oven 450.

Wash the bricks and wrap them in foil.

Heat up the skillet and then quickly arrange the chicken within.
This with help seal in the juices.
Cover the chicken immediately with bricks.
Cook 25 minutes and try to disturb them as little as possible.

When sufficiently browned flip the chicken pieces over and place in the oven for an additional 25 minutes.

enjoy!

P.S.
The second time I made this I could'nt find my skillet.How you loose a skillet I don't know.However, it is just as easy to do the brick browning in a frying pan and transfer the meat to a baking dish for the oven.

A similar recipe to the one i staretd with can be found here with instructions on how to debobne a chicken.
If you have a good relationship with your butcher you could ask him to do it for you. If you don't, keep in mind most supermarkets sell packaged chicken pieces.

samoas cupcakes

Being a big food nerd means you do some things that "normal" people don't do.
You find yourself sending thank you cards to the manager of the produce department at your local grocery store, insisting on talking about your latest food find even though your friends eyes glazed over 5 minutes ago, and getting excited about organizing your stash of flours...O.K. maybe thast just me.
But one unifying characteristic in the family of food nerds is blog reading. Chances are if your reading this you are , in fact, a gastro geek. If you are not a gastro geek you are either in denial or someone Ive badgered into reading my blog.
(Hi Dad!).
If you are in the first category chances are your already well aquainted with creator Cheryl Porro's new website cupcake bakeshop (formerly chokylit bakeshop).
Scratching your head and making a dumb face? Well then, stop reading this schlop I've written and check it out.
Not only does Cheryl come up with some of the most innovative concepts in cup-cakery since the invention of red velvet cake, but she has benevolantly posted an entire section of troubleshooting techniques and general baking instructions if your less familiar with the dark art. These are based on the second best selling girls scout cookies (the first being thin mints), and do not actually involve the cookies themselves. This means you you can enjoy them all year long.

This recipe first came to me by way of the s.f. chronicle's article on cupcakes.
Lady gets READ..ok?!

I recently made these for my sister's birthday.

Before I repost a reposted recipe, let me say that if youve never made caramel from scratch before know that you could be taking your life in your hands.
Sometimes I insist on making everything from scratch .
Part of that is curiousity and the other part is straight up machisimo.
There is baking and then there is BUTCH baking.
woof.
But don't get lulled into thinking homemade caramel is anything short of perilous. Hot melted diamond sugar might sound all sugar plum fairy but its more like a clingy hell imp bent on singeing your unsuspecting arm hair and torching your finger tips.
I think the experience is best described by this short snipett of a conversation I had with my dear friend Rebecca.Though not exactly about sugar it illustrates the problem with any hot sticky substance.

"...I was eating a lean pocket, some kind of cheese and broccoli something...and when I bit into it cheese erupted onto my chin. Of course, your first instinct is to wipe what's burning you off of your chin with your hand. But then your hand is burning. They are tasty but you need to beware. Hot pocket should be called scalding pocket. It could change your life for the worse. suddenly you become suspiscious of anything in pocket form...empanadas...jamaican meat patty's...mcdonalds hot apple pies..."

sage advice.
I mean really, who wants to muddy up the joy that is Mcdonalds hot apple pie?
Some paths are best left untread.
Sweet table sugar morphs. It becomes goopey and angry.Popping like a cap gun it will spit at you and call you names.
With every stir it lurches closer and closer to your knuckles.
It's like a B movie only ironic,not funny ,and scarey.
Life is hard enough without being attacked by mundane house hold goods.

In a pinch I have used caramel straight from a jar.
Subdued and tame it is just as good, and it will save time.
It might just also save your life.

consider yourself warned.
If you choose to brave it use a tall pot for protection.

Ive considered experimenting with plopping square caramels directly in the center but am unsure of how they will melt or if they will stay gooey. they might prove to be a better option then ice cream carmel which ive used in the past. this works out well for the first few hours but if you plan on keeping these for a day or two the cupcake absorbs the carmel.
If anyone tries the carmel squares let me know how it works out.

also , the basic brown sugar cupacake recipe is awesome. It alsways comes out beautifully brown and gently sweet.

Ganache can be made well in advance and frozen in the freezer.

I've made these a few times from my own notes , and looking over the recipe I just realized that the chocolate ganace is actually suppose to go in the center of the cupcake. Not the caramel. This makes sense - cupcakes with a ganace filling would better imitate the taste of a samoa as they have a layer of chocolate underlying each cookie. This would also solve the problem of the greedy cupcake absorbing the carmel.
I had been filling them with caramel centers and leaving a layer of ganache under the coconut icing. I havent gotten any complaints .



Samoas Cupcakes
by Cheryl Porro of cupcake bakeshopcupcake bakeshop.


INGREDIENTS:
The Cupcakes:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup whole milk

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

The Chocolate Ganache:

2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (i used dark Ghirradeli)

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

The Frosting:

2 1/2 cups shredded, sweetened coconut

2 eggs

10 ounces evaporated milk

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter



Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Stir vanilla into milk.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds. Add sugar, and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds and scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of milk. Scrape down the sides in between, and mix until fully combined.

Scoop the batter into the muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full.

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the top of the muffins springs back when lightly touched, and a wooden toothpick inserted in the cakes comes out free of uncooked batter.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.



For the ganache filling: Place chocolate in a heat-proof bowl.

Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, then pour over the chocolate.

Let stand for 1 minute, then stir until combined. Add vanilla and stir until incorporated.

Let cool to room temperature.



To fill the cupcakes: Fill a pastry bag with the chocolate ganache and insert the 1/4-inch metal tip into the top of each cupcake, squeeze the bag until you feel a slight pressure, which should put approximately 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of chocolate in each cupcake. You should only squeeze for a couple of seconds. Alternatively, cut off the top of the cupcake, scoop out a bit of the center and replace with 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of the ganache.

*(my substitution : as pictured cut out a small hole in the top of the cupcake and lift out a pinch of the center. drip some carmel in the center with a teaspoon and place the cut out piece back on top. cover the top with a thin layer of ganache)*

Save remaining chocolate to garnish tops of cupcakes with stripes.



For the frosting: Preheat the oven to 350°.

*(i use dto think toaster ovens were teh most useless thing in teh world but one would come in hany here)*

Spread the coconut on a sheet pan. Toast in oven, stirring frequently to prevent burning, until the coconut is an even brown color, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a small saucepan and beat lightly to break up. Add the milk, sugar, and butter. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until thick, bubbly, and golden, about 15 minutes.

Press mixture through a fine metal sieve and into a bowl to remove any lumps. Add 2 cups of the coconut, reserving the remainder for garnish, and stir to combine. Let the mixture cool, and spread generously over tops of cupcakes.

With a fine-tipped pastry bag, or the edge snipped off a plastic bag, pipe stripes of chocolate ganache over the top of the coconut icing to look like a Samoas Girl Scout cookie. Garnish with remaining toasted coconut.

Yields 12 cupcakes

PER CUPCAKE: 550 calories, 7 g protein, 62 g carbohydrate, 32 g fat (21 g saturated), 133 mg cholesterol, 275 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.

"Fools Rush In"

Elvis' middle name was aaron,he was an identical twin, his father was a bootlegger, my grand mom tells me he was Hungarian , and he made 33 movies.
Apparently
in his life he also made a large number of fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches which have inspired this new riff on the Reese's Cup.

On occasion the Reese's people get wicked weird.
They do things like use white chocolate, add caramel into the mix or cut out their precious cups to look like Easter eggs, bunnies and Christmas trees.
Then there was that whole Oreo bottomed cup mess.
But I get it.
Sometimes you've got to break out the leather and spice it up.
Hershey's has released this latest hybrid for a limited time to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death on August 16th 1977.

I have a hard on for peanut butter in general and bananas are a daily staple in my diet.
While I don't often eat Reese's cups , they have been known to fall into my mouth like manna from heaven.
They are reserved for special occasions.
Like when one of your girls is visiting from San Fransisco and it's 3am and you're riding through empty back lit streets feeling like your heart could burst at any moment from love.
Sacred, if eaten everyday they would quickly become profane.
I have been practicing the same ritual for devouring them in secret since I was ten.

I was apprehensive.
The seemingly morally unconscionable combination of banana and Reese's is sacrilegious. It sounds like the kind of thing you'd sneak on the playground on a dare or something you'd slide over your lips to gross out your sister while trying not to gag.
perilous.wrong...exciting.

i didn't even hold my nose.

So what was it like?
The banana is no diva.
In fact it proves to be a team player.
You can still enjoy the Reese's-ness of it all.
Though nothing like a banana and peanut butter sandwich,the taste instantly brought back memories of banana Runts.


I say forge some new territory.
Bust out your telescope,put on your tri cornered hat and get your explorer on.
And just think, with every purchase you get a chance to win an Elvis car!

I can't even imagine what that would look like, but I want it.

Under my Plumb. Pluot and Plumcot Lekvar

I don't really care about spelling.

Sometimes I spell things in old english and other times my words don’t even look like members of the English language.
But
sit across the room and ask me how to spell a word.
My inner 5th grade puts down the game boy, steps up to the mic and suddenly i'm in the running.
Akeelah can keep her B cause i've got that jawn on lock down!
So my point?
relax the lever on your correction tape ladies,
I realize I spelled plumb wrong for its use but it just looks better that way.
And don’t give me that look.

Though possibly cause for argument in a heated game of scrabble , Lekvar is a real word.
Lekvar is a Hungarian filling used in pastries making a big appearance in our house around Christmas time when my mom busts out the rosette irons and kipfels. It is usually made out of prunes or dried apricots and constitutes a thick jam that stays put when placed.

This is my attempt at a twist.

Pluots and plumcots are both apricot and plum hybrids. Pluots tend toward more of a plum taste while plumcots tend to be 50/50.
There are also several types of plumcots. They range from perfectly plumb looking to striated green red warbles. I have found this last variety, often called "dinosaur eggs", the best for making jam.

I tried several variants on plumb recipes and settled on this combination. Though not as heavy with pectin as it could be, making it a little more on the loose side makes it more versatile as a jam. You can use a little more sugar if the plumb derivatives are less sweet. I prefer to rely on the natural sugars of over ripe fruit and use less sugar. The general rule is 1 - 1 1/2 cups of sugar to each pound of fruit.
A canning technique post will follow but really it's a forgiving and highly communicative process that lets you know when things have gone awry. If the lids flex when pushed down they didn't seal and so must be used immediately.



Pluot and Plumcot Lekvar:

• 2 ilbs plumcots
  
• 1 1/2 - 2 ilbs pluots
  (roughly 4 1/2 - 5 cups)
  
• 1 lemon juiced
  
• 3 cups sugar (and a handful extra)
  
• 1 package sure-jell
  

Traditionaly lekvar is made in a copper pot and I do believe this makes a difference. Though I can't speak with AUTH-or-it-TAY on the chemistry of it all I know aluminum is the bad guy. Something about it reacts poorly with the acids your depending on to help the jam become jam. Stainless teel is also fine to use. Its my pot of choice at the moment as copper pots are wicked expensive.

I'd also like to say something about the sugar here. The first time i made a bacth it was good but sweet rather then tart and super jelled. The jams consistancey is dependant on the proper mix of acids and sugar along with pectin. The second time I played sugar limbo just to see how low I could go. If your worried about it setting up add or want that thicker consistancey add in and extra cup or two (4 - 5 cups of sugar. 6 if youve got 4 full pounds). After a batch or two you'll get a feel for whats going on in. I've had success with roughly 3 1/2 but mayeb I'm pushing my luck.If your after more of a traditional lekvar consistancey go with 1/2 to an extra 3/4 package of sure-jell.

Pit the fruit and quarter. Leave the skins on. Throw into a pot (and stir constantly over low-medium heat till the juices are expressed.
Dont cook the hell out of your jam or its gonna get soupy. Keep in mind those hot little fruit fibers also need to hold up in the wicked heat of the canning pot.Over cooking isnt going to do anyone any good.
add the lemon juice.
add the pectin and stir thouroughly then add the sugar and boil full throttle for one minute.

At this point your ready to can accordingly.

Good job. You make daddy proud.

Pistachio and panko crusted Tilapia

Panko.
It sounds like something your going to have to clean.
Hard.
Like with a Brillo pad.

In truth nothing could be lighter or more crisp. Panko are Japanese bread crumbs readily available at most Asian markets and increasingly sold at places like Pathmark. Made of a finely worked wheat base ,it makes a beautifully browned and crunchy crust. Think tempura or plumb pork.
Panko is the uber crumb.

Paired with Pistachio it makes a nice overcoat for a good piece of fish or a chicken boob. (ok ok now im making it sound obscene...like a flasher...)
I've seen a lot of similar recipes online that use a lemon sauce or some other accompaniment but I prefer mine a cappella over a simple salad or with some brown rice.

The recipe that follows is approximate. You may need to add more or less of something but its a place to start:

• 2 pieces of fish. I used Tilapia because it isnt "overly fishy."

• 2 cups panko

• a little under 1-1/2 cups crushed pistachios

• large garlic clove minced

• tblsp parsley

• 1 tsp honey

• juice of one lemon

Roast shelled pistachios in a hot oven at about 300- 350 until they are browned and smell fragrant.
crush in a cuisinart or with the side of a large knife. They dont need to be entirely pulverized but make sure they are somewhat fine or you will have a completly different and less appetizing recipe on hand. I like to call it "Panko GRAVEL crusted Tilapia."

Mix pistachio,panko, garlic, and parsley to create your breadcrumb.
At this point you can either choose to simply roll the fish around in it or use some sort of adhesive food to help the breadcrumbs stick.
One time I used lemon juice mixed with a small amount of honey.
Another time i used some fig basalmic.
I say Do it up.


There are two plans of attack.
You can either brown the breaded fish in the frying pan first and then place it in a hot oven (350) for about 5-10 minutes.
or
Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a heat save dish and cook covered in the oven set to 400 for about 10 minutes or so. Flip half way through to ensure the panko is crispy on both sides. The higer heat helps it crisp up.

Mono No Aware (lychee)

A fleeting wrinkle on the produce calendar, I wait all year for this.
Lychee usually makes an appearance in China Town from May through June,beckoning me like so many little fingers of love from branches dangling below tacked up street string.
Lychee looks more like a fossil then a fruit, but their taste is unerringly sweet and deliciously perfumey.
Simply peel the pink shell and savor the translucent flesh, devouring all but the cnetral pit.
The pit is mildly poisonous.(Not quite rattlesnakes or gossip but nasty non-the less).

I've also seen them in supermarkets as late as August clustered in plastic containers off the twig. However, Once off the branch, they deteriorate quickly turning somewhat brown and generally have a shorter shelf life.
You can buy them canned any time of the year but they taste NAR NARS.
The taste and texture of canned lychee is nothing in comparison to the fresh fruit.
They are like two separate species entirely divorced form one another.But even canned lychee have their charms. Forming a formidable fluid, the canned stuff and its associated liquid makes for a damn good martini (or you could use lychee syrup as suggested here).
Ive read that you can order them frozen online , but have no experience with ice-ee lychee.

Fresh lychee is so seductive a fruit that during the tang dynasty (somewhere around 700 - 900) Emperor Xuanzong had horsemen travel to the south of china, riding without rest, to retrieve fresh branches of lychee for his "precious princess consort" Yang Guifei.

Growing up without parents she eventually acquired notoriety for her beauty and helped to establish many of her relatives in public office. Having been orphaned herself, she legally adopted a general, and was eventually killed by palace guards; her family was believed to have spearheaded an insurgent group that left her suspect.
Described as a voluptuous and curvy woman Yang was a prized contrapposto to the emperors rail thin wife. Her favor was well worth the indulgence of a midnight ride for a few knuckles of succulent sweet.

I'd like to think
Beth Ditto would approve.

cuatro leches cake (4 milks cake)

At one of our near-monthly family dinners, one of us bought a shitload of shrimp.

I think it was me.

I was seized by a school-induced cerebral malaise that left me unable to decide on how many pounds of shrimp were appropriate for 4 people. When growing up in an Italian/Southern home, there is no such thing as a small portion. I, of course, bought close to 15 pounds.

Nothing about 15 pounds of shrimp is even mildly appropriate.

I was clearly confused.

"Shrimp-shitload" lead to another family dinner party the following week in an attempt to make good on the overabundance of shrimp.

Rebbecca suggested paella and it was on like Donkey Kong.

Through a series of covert conference calls stolen on the company line during working hours, we decided that the paella was a beast best spearheaded by our combined culinary expertise. The others would work as our henchmen. Our paella was to be a patchwork quilt of effort. Someone would bring peas, someone else mussels, etc. At the last minute we'd toss it together blissfully toasting glasses of sangria to our piece meal of love.

And so this entry was supposed to be about paella.
However, what we expected to be a graceful swan dive turned out to be a bit of a belly flop. Still a dive but a little awkward and, well, floppy.

And it involved our bellies.
I'll thank you to roll with my metaphor.

The paella wasn't bad but it had room for improvement.I'd like to say that this cuatro leches cake was the Greg Louganis to our belly-down.

Like Greg Louganis the cake is thick and strong, able to take a beating, holding up beautiful, toned and supple, surrounded by tons of liquid and the associated pressure.
It's the density of the cake that makes it an ace at absorbing all three of those sweet, gooey leches. The fourth, of course, sits like a golden crown on top of each layer.In addition to being dense and crumbly (qualities which I do not attribute to Mr. Louganis), it was sweet and golden brown (qualities which I *do* attribute to Mr. Louganis).
Someone should have written a book about it.
Besides all that it looks damn good in a Speedo.
Just kidding about the Speedo.
On the cake that is.

The sauce is soft and sweet and the dulce de leche adds a nice smooth place to suckle at the teet of mother sugar cane.
Slices are best cut Karen-Carpenter-thin as a mere glance at this cake could send you convulsing into sugar shock.
If candyland has a Basilisk this is it.

I highly suggest giving it to the mean people in your life.
It might make them sweeter.
Or
maybe just give it to the mean people in your life who
also happen to be lactose intolerant .

Good Head

In our throw away culture there is something really rewarding/exciting about asking your local fish monger to keep the heads. Hell , There is something really exciting about just using the word fishmonger. Though, I have to admit, I was mixed with a strange mélange of pride and carnivore guilt when he handed me the bag. Its not often you walk away with a bloody, fresh and still discernable kill from your local grocers freezer.

“aaww poor fish “ I crooned.
“its your fault” said the fishmonger, “you killed them. “
“ Thanks for that.” I replied. “ Ill be sure to come here again. “
We went back to my friends house and watched "The Deadliest Catch" while we picked over the bones.

I like making stocks.
A stock is like a strong supporting cast member - one that you can stick in the freezer and take out for later use .
Besides the whole alchemy that stems from making pungent scraps into something subtle and endlessly usefull (fish pie, paella , soup…) , it’s the perfect way to spend a few hours on a rainy spring afternoon .Something about fish stock is inherently warming on those first noncomital ,rainy and gray spring days– that inbetween time where you aren’t really sure if its actually warming up or if the sheer will exerted by the tired cold masses is enough to bring up last years bulbs.

I wont lie .I probably didn’t pick the best fish.
You aren’t suppose to use salmon. Ive always been one to challenge authority. I wanted to know why and I found out. Apparently salmon gives up more fat then other fishes and fat can gunk up your flow. There is any easy solution. Fat floats. All that needs be done is to skim the top. You really should be doing it anyway.That being said I feel like salmon made for a "fishier" stock .
I also used some sea bass parts hoping they'd add some depth .

A few other tips :

• Leave some space in the container at the top if you are going to freeze so the liquid can expand. I didnt the first time.
  
• Magazines like better homes and gardens like to suggest freezing in ice cubes trays so you can pop them out and use them like boullian cups when the spirit moves you
  
• boiling fish in water sometimes lends a cloudy broth. Cooking the heads a little bit in a pan before hand will help you keep a clear stock , though its no big whoop.

P.s. there really is no way to go wrong.

But this is what I did based on what was at hand and available on the cheap at the supermarket

• 2.5 ilbs fish parts
  
• a parsnip
  
• one HUGE onion
  
• 2 whites of leeks
  
• 3 celery stalks with leaves
  
• 12 peppercorns
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• dill
  
• taragon
  
• tyme
  
• salt
  
• 2 quarts (8 cups) water
  
• lemon juice
  
• white wine vineagar (1/2 cup or so)
  
• a little wine to mellow the mind (1/2 cup or so)
  

First you want to steam the vegetables and make them soft adding the fish bits toward the end. I let in simmer in a big nelly bottomed pan for about 5 minutes or so (till the heads started to turn white and fall apart) . At this point add the vineagar and or wine. simmer a little longer and then turn the contents into a big stock pot with 2 quarts water.
Boil anywhere from 30 - 50 minutes.

strain.

refrigerate and use withing 3-4 days or freeze that mess and use it withing 4 months or so.

I didnt specify on the herbs etc. use your judgement.
For a change of pace I can say,
it's not me ... its you.

This is not a political blog (chocolate cherry cupcakes)

Remember that acid trip you took as a kid ? It was sort of Muppet's meets the Ren Faire?
No?
Oh well it was called Labyrinth.
Anyway , at one point in the film a pair of door knocker's gives the main character a kind piece of advice , "one of us always tells the truth , and one of us always lies..."


good advice.
nice knockers.

Some would argue that the same could be said of the George's.
This is not a political blog . But circumstances being what they were I couldn't help but post this image.

While daydreaming on my drive to work about what sort of confection to make for a close friends' birthday I barely remembered to pay the toll . I handed the attendant a 10 spot and he placed this gem in my hand with a smirk.
lightning hit and
HUZZAH!
I had my inspiration.


Add together presidents day and this dawdled piece of George on George slander and what do you get?

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes.


remember that whole cherry tree incident? "I cannot tell a lie?"


The recipe comes from Nigella Lawsons , how to be a domestic goddess, and please don’t judge so harshly. It is my first post and really who doesn't want to be a domestic goddess?.
This is the tunnel and bridge version kid's.
I made them a little trashy , a little gaudy and a little more like your stiletto wearing aunt Rita , having spread just a little rum on the top .
(If you don't have an aunt Rita think leopard print leotard).


I had extra batter so I made a small cake having dug a runt of a pan out from the dark recesses of the cabinet . it was seriously small. I think it may be from our second easy bake oven as kids, the first having burnt down into a lump of melted plastic in an unfortunate incident that involved my sister and too many pine needles.
they make great kindling.
who knew?


The cupcakes were mercilessly devoured and so the cake was all I had to photograph.





the original recipe on Nigellas' website is here.


Slight Substitutions were made.


I didn't have self rising flour as the book calls for so I substituted 3/4 cup all purpose and then added 1 tsp baking powder , 1tsp salt and 1 tsp baking soda. Turns out her web site actually forgoes the use of the self rising flour called for in the print version and calls for slightly different measurements . Three cheers for Nigella on making her recipe's more accessible then some of her immortal hearth harpee contemporaries .


I also substituted Morello cherries for maraschino cherries I'd been soaking in rum.
my boy likes Bacardi.

I added in about 1/2 cup of dark cherry and half sweet jam.

However sweet as cherries may be I gave them black hearts.
Retrieving leftover truffles from the fridge i popped one in the center of each cupcake minion before baking and studded the top of my easy bake cake with about six. Afterward I sent them on their way to work dark magic .
Initailly i wanted to sput a white chocolate ganache on top but ran out of time.
i did not ice them but a lite dusting of powdered sugar wouldn't hurt.


If GW wasn't so busy talking trash he might be gnoshing on one of these bad boys.