Finally! Somebody took me up on the chocolate souffles!

Here is a photo of the first batch of souffles. I had to bake one off to test my serving instructions. These little beauties are great - they are individually portioned and arrive frozen, so all the client has to do is preheat the oven, pop it in, and Presto! instant gooey chocolatey goodness in 20 minutes. I love these!

I was so happy that my friend Tracy ordered these - I keep putting them on menus and no one bites (so to speak :)

So finally, here we are. I will post more photos, some recipes, and updates soon. It turns out that I actually have to start marathon training tomorrow. That's right, it all seemed so much easier when I first decided to do this three months ago... My thought process went something like this: "So I'll need to train for the marathon, big deal. And I'll need to relearn some French, but that's no problem. And then I'll actually have to run 26.2 miles. Oh well... Details, details."

Now that I am suddenly confronted with the reality of training at 5:45 AM, the process seems a little more arduous than when I was at the planning stage. (Did I mention that I ran a total of 4 miles last week? Oh well, details, details...)

Make this now!

Okay, it takes a lot to make me use the imperative with you gentle readers, but this is it! I insist that all of you make your own cranberry sauce.

Normally I am a fairly tolerant individual, but seeing cans of jellied cranberry "sauce" stacked willy-nilly in the supermarket's Thanksgiving display creates a feeling of increasing urgency around this topic. Admittedly Thanksgiving makes even experienced cooks nervous (myself included). Why? Simple, how many other times during the year do we ever attempt to cook a turkey? In my household this happens once a year - so even though I have hosted many thanksgiving dinners over what is an ever increasing span of time, the total is still only about 15 turkeys, give or take a few. I started collecting the Williams Sonoma Thanksgiving guides in 1995, so it's been at least that long --- btw, even if you don't normally enter a WS store during the year, go about a week or two before Thanksgiving and pick up one of their booklets. They're beautiful, make a wonderful keepsake, and contain lots of info about turkeys, side dishes, etc., including the recipes and menu that the WS kitchens came up with for the year. (Did I mention that they're free?)

Anyway, all of this reinforces my proclamation for all harried Thanksgiving cooks today: Make your own cranberry sauce. This is by far the easiest and most satisfying of all your tasks for T-day. Plus, it is effortless, delicious, and will look just as pretty in a cut glass dish as in a simple white bowl.
Here is the recipe for Cranberry Grape compote:
1 12oz bag cranberries
3 c seedless red grapes
1/2 c water
1 c sugar
In a colander wash the cranberries and seedless grapes. Place in a saucepan, add the water over medium heat. Once it is boiling immediately lower heat and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for 10 to 15 minutes. (The cranberries will pop, which is entertaining for children and adults alike.) Stir in a pinch of salt and spoon into a heatproof container - I usually just put it into whatever I plan to serve it in. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate. This compote will keep for at least 3 weeks in the fridge, and is just as delicious with roast turkey as it is with rotisserie chicken, or spread on toast. Trust me.

This recipe is from one of the Martha Stewart publications, I can't remember which, and I have it ever since we tried it because it is simply the best cranberry sauce in the world. (This is a BLOG - I am allowed to be highly opinionated!)
So, do me a favor and make this. I don't care if you don't make anything else from scratch this Thanksgiving, or if you are going top someone else's house for the holidays. Make it anyway and take it as a gift to the hostess - just don't drop any off at my house because I already made mine.

Vegetable pot pie.

OK, this may actually be the best thing that I have ever made. Seriously. And as usual, it's the result of a fluke. This leviathan of the pastry world is loosely based on an Ina Garten (a.k.a. The Barefoot Contessa) recipe for chicken pot pie. But when I say "loosely based", what I actually mean is "...well, she has fennel in the recipe, but I don't want fennel and asparagus in my pot pie, so I'll just have leeks and peas instead." And so on through most of the ingredients, until I basically ended up with what I want in my pot pie, which as it turns out is celery root, butternut squash, leeks, peas, and thyme. Plus assorted other vegetables, aromatics, and a LOT of pie pastry rolled over a gigantic oval casserole. I'm not even sure how I managed to get it on there without breaking, and I'm really not sure that I can do it again. But for one glorious moment as it emerged burnished and golden from the oven, I experienced pot pie nirvana --- enveloped by heady aromas and warmth I felt like a child in a mother's arms. I guess that's why they call it comfort food.

*Note: I LOVE Ina Garten. Everything she makes is not only beautiful and tasty, it is actually something that you want to eat - like brownie pudding, what a good idea! Speaking of pot pies, I've never made this (and probably never will given the cost of lobster) but the IDEA of lobster pot pie, another recipe that she has done, is so immensely appealing that I find myself smiling just thinking of it. She makes elegant food that is luxurious and homey, and immensely appealing. Bill and Ione always watch the "Contessa" on Saturdays during lunch, and as my 6-year-old says, "if Ina invites us for dinner, I'm going!"

'Tis the Season!

Well it's happened again. I have been so busy cooking, that writing about cooking has just seemed sort of beside the point... Today I delivered the first installment on my holiday gift breads. One of my clients asked if I could make some food gifts for her business clients, and so this is what we came up with. I have to admit to being indecently pleased with the result - all lined up like belles at a ball dressed in satin bows. The pumpkin breads keep well, and are redolent with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg... They make the whole house smell wonderful as they're baking (which is a good thing, since I will be baking eight more in short order.)

Welcome Fall colors menu

The weather for the past few weeks has just been spectacular. I find that I enjoy the wet and cold days as much as the crisp blue sky days, and both kinds of weather make me want to cook!

The menu for the past week was especially suited to the changeable mood of Fall, providing enough soothing creaminess to warm the chill away, and ginger and spice to go with sunnier days. The pumpkin spice bread was a hit with everyone, and I loved making multiple batches of risotto. The butternut squash was sauteed in olive oil with just a dash of salt and pepper before going into the risotto. The caramelized squash added depth to the tang of wine and Parmesan in the rice and lent a sweet dimension to the flavors.

Did I mention that the rolls were fabulous? I love to make bread because of all the amazing smells at each stage of the process. Am I weird because I love the smell of yeast? The smell of bread rising and baking in the oven is one of the best things in life. I also enjoyed making the pear crisp with its triple punch of ginger and sweet almonds in the topping. I could not resist packing some freshly whipped cream to go with the crisp --- oh well, a dollop of whipped cream judiciously applied and enjoyed adds longevity and joy to life.

I am excited about planning more Fall menus. Look for Daube Provencal, Braised Lamb Shanks, and Osso Bucco in the coming weeks. I am also excited to try some new grain dishes to balance some of the richness of these traditional stews. I hope I can talk some of my clients into trying the individual chocolate souffles --- I have been dying to make them, but they have to be baked just before serving (they are made ahead and frozen). We'll see. But they would be REALLY perfect with the Daube...

What I am thinking about this week...

It would be hard not to draw inspiration from this gorgeous weather. Fall always calls out to me with its golden light and foliage, and I love to echo these notes in what I cook. There is some sort of divine affinity between the fruits of the earth and the orchard, pears and butternut squash, pecans and walnuts that calls out for the lingering warmth of ginger and cinnamon to complete it.

So in this spirit, here is a Fall menu:
*Pumpkin and spice bread
*Cream of mushroom soup
*Butternut squash risotto
*Roast pork with fresh sage
*Snap Beans
*Pear and ginger crisp

Holy Mole! (no, not the little mammal, the Mexican dish)

The weeks are whizzing by with the speed that all drivers along Mopac wish that they could attain during our increasingly busy rush hours. (Is it rush hour if it starts at 3:30? Really, what is up with all this traffic?) I keep getting stuck in these long quagmires of cars and getting really angry - which is probably why I am resorting to such belabored metaphors... Between being stuck in traffic, coaching, volunteering with the kids at Mathews, and cooking, the last couple of weeks have been so packed that I can barely remember what happened.

I had a great time experimenting with a red mole recipe that I have had for a while. Mole is a wonderful invention of Mexican cuisine that combines roasted and ground chilies, nuts, and unsweetened chocolate to create an unctuous, complex sauce for poultry and meat dishes. Most people are only familiar with the dark moles, but in searching for a mole recipe that did not contain any nuts, I ran across some recipes that I got a few years ago from the MexicArte Museum here in Austin. The recipes were given out in conjunction with a celebration of Dia de los Muertos during the 100th Anniversary of Frida Kahlo's birth, and were all variations of the more familiar dark mole. The one I used is called "Frida's Heart", and it is for a red mole. You simmer a pork loin roast in water with onions and bay leaves, then use the stock and meat in the recipe. The broth that results from cooking the pork is heavenly. Many Asian soups are based on pork broth, and I can see why... The sauce is composed of ancho and guajillo chilies that are warmed, then soaked and ground into a paste after the seeds and ribs are removed, plus onions, garlic, plaintains, sesame seeds and potatoes. As I tasted I was surprised at how "raw" everything tasted. The chilies were aggressive and blunt, and none of the flavors came together very well. I improvised by adding some sugar to balance the spiciness of the chilies, some unsweetened chocolate for depth, and letting the dish cook for an additional hour or so. By the end of all this I had it --- the rich, multilayered flavors that I had been seeking. I used some of the leftover plantain to make "tostones" and garnished the finished dish with these and more sesame seeds. (I will always sacrifice authenticity for tastiness, and fried plantains are GOOD)

This was the entire menu:

• Maple Apricot Granola with candied ginger
• Cuban Black Bean Soup
• Corn Bread
• Grilled Shrimp
• Red Mole with Pork Loin
• Basmati Rice
• Grilled Asparagus
• Chocolate Mousse

It was definitely challenging to prepare the mole, but well worth it at the end.

Moroccan Breezes

This past week I was thinking about Morocco. Of course I have never been to Morocco, but rather than seeing this as a drawback I chose to view it as an asset. After all, who wants their fantasies clouded with grubby reality? I would much rather imagine the Souq in Marrakesh --- stalls filled with supple leather goods, fragrant spices sold by sloe eyed women, dust and dappled sunlight in the heat of midday... This is probably much more pleasant than the actual experience. The only time I have been in Africa was a stop at Tunis. The visit was difficult. The streets were filled with vendors and hustlers so that you could not take a pace without being asked to buy something, and conversation was impossible. At the same time, there were scenes of startling beauty that made me wish that I could have visited about a century ago.

This week brought my first delivery to the NNC (new New Client), so I am anxious to get their reviews. The menu was:
*Carrot and Ginger Soup
*Chicken Tagine with lemon and olives
*Couscous Pilaf with Pine Nuts
*Stir fried Green Beans with garlic slivers
*Honey Whole Wheat bread
*Molasses Spice Cookies
and blueberry pancakes as the breakfast offering.

The tagine was wonderful - fragrant and rich with deep spice notes and a subtle sweetness from the dried apricots. I especially love the interplay of flavors from the cracked green olives and the strips of lemon zest. The flavor is really indescribable - although olives and lemons are also common in the cooking of European countries around the Mediterranean, there is something utterly different in the flavors that they conjure when combined with the exotic spices of north African cuisine. The chicken is first dusted with flour and browned, then braised with carrots, olives, and a blend of cinnamon, cumin, coriander, ginger and paprika. The finished dish is exquisite, with a slow heat that lingers. The couscous is also very good. I like to toast the grains and then add them to some minced shallots sauteed in butter and whatever liquid I am using. After the grains plump in the broth I fluff them with a long fork and toss in toasted pine nuts. The resulting pilaf makes a perfect companion to the tagine. The house smelled wonderful all day.

After making many batches of the molasses spice cookies that I usually bake, I learned something important. You can only bake one sheet at a time, otherwise the cookies will not puff and crackle correctly. With two sheets baking in the oven, even if you rotate them halfway through, the cookies spread more and are thinner and less chewy than if done one at a time. It turns out that this is an important difference because it really affects texture. (I guess I'll just have to bake a second batch to confirm the results!)

I am looking forward to next week and seeing what it will bring. I am still thinking of warming menus - maybe a Chinese inspired meal? Kung Pao or something equally spicy. Or a Spinach Lasagna with a Mushroom Barley soup... Who knows when and what inspiration will strike.

Busy, busy, busy...

Although I have been inspired to cook, Food Muse has not been inspired to write. Actually this is not strictly true, but the desire to write and the availability of time in which to do so has not coincided.
I am glad to report that I finally had coffee with my wonderful "foodie" friend Suzanna. In her case "foodie" is not just an adjective, it's her job title. Suzanna is the girl in the know at CM. Besides being funny, ironic, smart AND sassy, Suzanna knows food - pretty much anything you want to know that is cooking or product related, Suzanna knows. We chatted and drank coffee at Jo's on South Congress, and bonded over leaf lard. Seriously, how many other women could I possibly sit with and wax rhapsodic about the possibility of acquiring some fresh, locally sourced lard? OK. I actually know one more, my other smart/sassy/funny friend Amy, who also shares a similar love of pork, pancetta, and of course bacon. Amy once cracked me up by declaring that the people on "Survivor" were all morons because they picked such idiotic things to take with them. "Seriously," she said, "if I was going to be stuck on a desert island, and could only pick one thing to take with me, it would be a pig." She'd win too --- as soon as those other contestants smelled bacon sizzling over a fire, it would be all over.
Suzanna told me about a butcher shop, Dai Due, that delivers great products, all locally sourced. I looked at their website and signed up for the newsletter - I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I plan on ordering some of the fabulous charcuterie and planning a menu around it soon. Dai Due is better known as a Supper Club that meets at different venues and cooks a meal around a theme with - you guessed it - all local, organically produced food. It sounds amazing, and their menus have an earthy and fanciful quality that really captures the imagination. Here is a link to their website to check out.
So, back to cooking - last week I made a New Orleans inspired menu. It all started with the rhubarb and fresh strawberries at CM that insistently whispered pie in my ear, but then somehow my thoughts turned to gumbo. I have no idea how gumbo relates to strawberry rhubarb pie, but inevitably, one thing led to another. I also made a rustic, multi-grain loaf that threatened to take over the kitchen until I tamed it with a final rise and some acute slashing. The gumbo was paired with a fragrant basmati rice pilaf, meltingly tender collards simmered with bacon and a touch of apple cider vinegar, and fresh corn fritters. The fritters used the last of the sweet summer corn, and are a little like a savory pancake. The batter is a combination of fresh corn kernels that are pureed with buttermilk and then mixed with corn and regular flour, plus the addition of chopped green onion, diced Pannonia ham, and more fresh corn. I wish I could describe the aroma of the batter as it hits the buttered griddle and starts to bubble. The cakes, once turned, are golden and crisp with a moist steamy interior that is indescribable. My friend Jen said she liked them so much she might marry them. (I love Jen!)
*Gingerbread pancakes
*Rustic multigrain boule
*Gumbo with Shrimp and Andouille
*Basmati Rice Pilaf
*Collards with bacon
*Fresh corn fritters
*Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Sadly I did not have enough time to take photos of all the dishes, but I did get a picture of the bread and the strawberry rhubarb pie.

What I'm thinking about this week...

Every season has its charms - asparagus and fresh peas in the spring, summer's tomatoes, but for anyone who really loves to cook it is Fall that stirs the imagination. I can't help it. The first chilly breeze that sweeps through my Clarksville neighborhood has me pulling out flour and yeast from the cupboard. Soup pans follow closely, and a trip to Fresh Plus for a bunch of leeks seems inevitable.

What a dilemma. When I saw strawberries and rhubarb at CM I immediately decided that pie had to be in this week's menu. Then I thought of gumbo with succulent shrimp, andouille and okra. Of course, you can't have gumbo without rice - a nice firm basmati, cooked just so. And sweet corn pancakes to pay a last homage to summer, with some smoky collard greens to greet the fall. The only thing missing is a sourdough boule. Something crusty and round that can be slathered with butter, and torn into chunks to dip in the gumbo. Ummm. That does sound good...

So where's the dilemma you ask? Well now, I just can't stop. What about a daube? Or silky butternut squash soup with a wild mushroom lasagna and individual chocolate souffles? Or, for that matter, how about baked macaroni and cheese, with gruyere and cheddar and a drift of buttery crumbs on top? Cheesecake Brownies?

It's a curse. I just want to make it all!

Rosh Hashanah Menu

Well, I can honestly say that I am really tired, but it was so worth it. All of the food turned out as I had hoped - the matzoh ball soup was fragrant with thyme and bright flecks of carrot and celery, the brisket was a bronzed beauty with a silky plum and onion confit that just napped its sides in a perfect embrace. The flan managed to unmold perfectly, (as Julia Child famously said, you must flip with conviction!) and bathed in caramel sauce that begged for a stray 6 year-old finger to just graze the surface...

I rounded out this week's menu with glazed carrots, a chunky cinnamon applesauce that comes together in the microwave, and wheat bran and raisin muffins.

Heavens! What will next week bring? I did see some perfect strawberries and lovely dark red rhubarb at CM, practically begging to be made into a pie... Well, we'll see.

Challah

The challah turned out just as I hoped --- fragrant, golden and delicious.

Shanah Tovah!

So, what else should I be thinking about today??? (insert bad yiddish accent)
I am thinking of pillowy golden challah bread... And matzo ball soup. And absolutely without fail, there must be brisket - brisket that has simmered with honey and prunes and cinnamon sticks until its sweet savory fragrance overwhelms the senses. Oh, and apple sauce. Chunky and tart with hints of lemon and sweet fruit. Glazed carrots with raisins. And orange flan, a silken orange-y custard and caramel ending to a wonderful meal.
That's the plan!

New Client!

New client this past week! The family is mostly vegetarian so I wrote up some ideas for additional main courses that might appeal to them. They chose the Tuscan Bean Soup and Manicotti for their main dishes, and granola, potato bread, and a fruit pie for the rest.

I have been enamored with peaches for the past two weeks. Each time I shop at Central Market they have had piles of the most gorgeous, rounded fruit right by the entrance, and I have usually succumbed. I ate two that were ambrosial, but then others in the same batch proved disappointing. I remembered this with dismay after selling the new client on a peach pie rather than the apple pie that she had initially suggested. I love to try things that appeal to me, but it's very different when you are making them for someone else --- after all it's not like you can just cut yourself a slice to see how it turned out. (Here is your pie - no, never mind the chunk that's missing, I just had to take a slice for quality control...)

I also had some anxiety over the soup, which is wonderful with pancetta and the long simmering that the beans, broth and rosemary do together, but which I was not so sure about with the Parmesan rind. The Parmesan rind is supposed to compensate for the loss of the pancetta in the vegetarian version of the soup, but I have to say that I found the results disappointing. Not that the soup was bad, but it was just different. Plus, the rind softens as it cooks and just looks really unappealing - I just removed it halfway through cooking because I couldn't stand looking at it any more. The soup developed a bit of heat that I didn't expect - perhaps the additional fat from the pancetta softens the hit of red pepper flakes in the regular version. I don't know, but I was definitely concerned given that the NC (new client) has two young children and I don't know what their spice tolerance is. I had also had a nice long conversation with her about how I try not to spice my cooking aggressively just because I too have a small child... Great! Of course I immediately had to call Jen in a panic so that she could reassure me that it was okay. (Woman rushed to hospital after experiencing panic attack caused by spicy food! News at eleven!)
Being the wonderful friend that she is, Jen came right over and managed to restore (some of) my equanimity.

Everything turned out fine. I delivered all the food to the NC's home by 6 pm, an she called the next day to let me know that everything was fine. (OK, she actually said that they loved everything.) So I felt better, a lot better.

I am going to try to post photos of what I make each time just to try and create a visual record for myself. (This way when I am struggling to think of what to make next, or what I made when, I can actually have a way to see it.)

Register for Paris Marathon... Check!

I am now officially on the road to Paris. I finally got through on the registration page and am now inscrite in the Marathon - and my Numéro de dossard is 47562. Just by registering I am increasing my french vocabulary - who knew that a bib is actually a dossard? I will never use the word again - from now on I will always call it a dossard, Fancy Nancy be damned!
I had been waiting to register since I first had the idea to do this. Somehow it makes the whole thing concrete.
I had been warned that the marathon always sells out pretty fast, so I had been marking time until September 15, the date when registration opened. Unfortunately it seemed like the website for the marathon hadn't been clued in as fully as I had been, and kept displaying the same message claiming that the prochaine edition would be open on the 15th (Liars! I fumed...) Finally, just before 10 PM I was able to log on and register. Félicitations!
The race commission requires that participants submit a health certificate before the registration is complete, leading me to believe that the french do not like their marathon participants to expire... Good idea I suppose, but one more step for me. I may actually have to break down and have a physical.

What I made today...

With the rain and the beginning of school, it was hard not to start thinking of warmer dishes. The warmth of Fall, of oranges and yellows and deep browns that conjure visions of cozy evenings. (Never mind the heat and humidity...)
This week's menu featured all of my favorite flavors, but nodded to summer with the inclusion of grilled vegetables, and sunny slices of grilled pineapple as a complement to the pork.
This week's menu:
*Blueberry buttermilk pancakes
*Fennel and tomato soup
*Honey whole wheat bread
*Sweet potato puree with roasted pears
*Maple glazed pork tenderloin
*Pesto
*Roasted red peppers
*Grilled asparagus

I am anxious to get the reviews on the pesto, since I tried out a new technique that is supposed to be helpful if you want to freeze it for later. The idea is that you should very quickly blanch the basil in boiling salted water, then plunge it into ice water to revive it. Ideally the blanching is meant to "fix" the green color of the basil and prevent it from browning. In practice however the basil turns into a seaweed like substance that seems really unappealing. I managed to dry it as best as possible and then ground it with the additional ingredients as usual. I also toasted the pinenuts and blanched the garlic cloves very briefly to tame the bite of the pesto (because of the kids).
Notes: Despite the fact that I made 3 tenderloins instead of the 2 that the recipe required, I ended up with waaaayyyy too much glaze, which is a waste considering how expensive maple syrup is... Next time I would use 1/4 of a cup rather than the 3/4 that the recipe calls for.

My first delivery menu

My first delivery menu was created for my wonderful friend Jennifer. Her appreciation and love of food always sparks my creativity, and I will always try to come up with dishes that bring that special sparkle to her eyes.
*Challah French Toast
*Tuscan White Bean Soup
*Potato Bread
*Rigatoni with Sauce Bolognese
*Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables
*Double Chocolate Brownies
I love the recipe that I use for French Toast - it is adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe that I have used for years. I confess though that I do not use my own challah bread for making french toast - I just buy a good loaf from Whole Foods or CM. It just takes too much time and effort to bake bread from scratch to use up for something like this, and there never seem to be any leftovers... The Tuscan White Bean Soup is a gem too. I love the layers of flavor that you get - from the smokiness of the pancetta to the slight piny tang of rosemary at the end. However, I have to admit that the standout for me in this menu was the bolognese sauce. My God! (Did I mention that I am mostly vegetarian? I do taste what I am cooking though and will taste recipes that contain meat now.) This sauce almost single-handedly converted me to a confirmed carnivore status again. It was a revelation of flavors and nuances, somehow both meaty and cheesy (although the sauce does not have any cheese in it). The house was redolent of delicious flavors for days. I really feel like making this again...