Purple Bliss

This is from a recipe that appeared in the Health section of the New York Times. It became an instant favorite of this household, being both flavorful and healthy! Here's the link to the recipe:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/health/nutrition/05recipehealth.html?_r=1&em

Basically, it's a concoction of eggplant, basil, crushed tomato, chickpeas, onions and garlic. Served hot with whole wheat pita bread on the side, it's fantastic. I imagine cous cous with raisins and pine nuts would go well, too.

Next up on my list of recipes to attempt is jalapenos en escabeche (pickled jalapenos, carrots, and onions). It's one of those yummy things you find at taco trucks and I really want to have some here. This is the link to the recipe I'll be trying (stay tuned for results): http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2386-pickled-jalapenos-jalapenos-en-escabeche

Dancing to a Curiously Hypnotic Beet

We cut into some beets and found this beautiful pattern underneath, it's like a LSD laden tie-dyed party in there.

Butternut Squash Savory Tart (with arugala, onions and gruyere)

This tart is wonderful anytime of year because it's got a whole host of intertwined flavors.

First make the dough- this is just your basic pastry dough you can find anywhere online. We used 1/2 whole wheat because it makes us feel better about eating this tart. It's fun to use your fingers to spread the dough into the pan.

Skin a butternut squash, cut into cubes, rub with olive oil, sprinkle salt pepper and a dusting of cayenne pepper, and roast in oven at 350 until tender but still firm, like 25 min?

Slice onions into thin slivers and sautee with salt, pepper and some thyme until soft.

Create layers of squash, onions, arugala and sliced swiss cheese and bake at 350 until cheese is melty and crust is crusty about 35 min?.

Voila! Just looking at these photos makes me crave some of this lovely pie.

A tale of Sugary Sweet love

Alan and I were making chocolate coated almonds one day and experimenting with making chocolate letters. Well known in our social circles for his knack of making cute tokens of affection, he made me this chocolate heart. Aww....shucks.

The Most Quintessential Raspberry Chocolate Cake

Presenting the world's most decadent 3-layer-rasberry filled chocolate cake. For my mom's birthday, she casually requested a chocolate raspberry cake. Let me say this---it did not disappoint. It was an epic tour-de-force of a cake because it is a 3-layer cake with a meringue-based buttercream frosting. I was handicapped though because my folks only had 1 cake pan and no electric beater. Whipping eggs by hand is brutal--but miraculously it all came together after.

Here's the recipe for the cake, the frosting was based on Martha stewart's buttercream frosting with added coco powder, and the raspberry filling.

To decorate, melt semisweet chocolate in a double boiler. Put into a frosting cuff or tough ziploc bag with a tiny hole. To create letters, write words with chocolate onto wax paper and cool in refrigerator.

You will love this cake!

Tofu Peanut Soup With Brown Rice

Chef Anna speaking. =)

This is the peanut soup topped with tofu that I made the other night. Lately, we chefs here have been trying to eat vegetarian for health and cost reasons. Peanut soup is one of the most delicious vegetarian dishes I know. I've been really into peanut soup ever since I had a bowl of it at a Ghana restaurant in Berkeley. It's very humble really, consisting mostly of some spices, some sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. However, if you bulk it up with brown rice and some golden tofu, it becomes a very satisfying meal.

To make the golden tofu, you need to take a block of tofu, drain it, and cut it up into small squares. Then you want to press down on the squares with a paper towel a few times to remove a lot of the liquid. This will help them fry a nice golden brown color. Once they've been drained of a lot of their liquid, stick them in a pan that contains about 2 Tbsp of peanut oil that has already been heated. Let the tofu cook there until one side is golden brown. Then keep flipping it until all sides are golden.

This link tells you how to make the peanut soup. I prefer to use crunchy peanut butter when making it because I like a little bit of crunch in the soup. We also used brown rice instead of regular rice since we consider it to be a healthier option. Anyways, enough rambling; here's the recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Peanut-Soup-with-Rice-and-Scallions-103559

Bon appetit!

Poached Anjou Pear Tart

Oh my lord this tart is good, so good that after making it the first time, I was making it like every weekend. Fattiness increased--> self-esteem slightly decreased--> more tarts made as comfort food. See how this is a viscious cycle?

First the pears:

1) Boil 3 large anjou pears completely submerged in water with whatever spices you want, vanilla, cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, etc. They are ready when the skins, which were green, turn a light yellow brown and if the skin comes off when you touch it. You don't want to remove the skin too soon before the dough is done because the pear flesh will brown. When you are ready for the pears, peel the skin with your fingers, a knife is too hard and will go right through the flesh of the fruit. Cut 1/2 inch slivers, removing core.

• 
  
• The pastry dough for a 9- inch tart!
• 
  
• 2) In a food processor, pulse together 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 cup of softened unsalted butter cut into small pieces. The dough should be crumby. Don't let it become completely smooth. Stir in enough cold water about 3 TB to pull the dough together. Shape into a disc (so that it's easier to roll out later) and wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350.

3) Roll out pastry dough into a circle that it is about 10-12 inches wide. You can arrange the pears in anyway you want, just leave room for the crust. I'm not sure how to explain the method of folding the dough to achieve the twisted crust pictured about, but you can also just roll the dough over the pears, pinch together loose areas and use a fork tines to add a notched decoration on the crust. Sprinkle the entire tart with sugar. Pop in oven until golden brown. To get the glazed crust as pictured without using a torch, add extra sugar on the crust and after the tart is done baking, put the broiler on and quickly broil the tart so the sugar melts and crystalizes. You must be attentive at this step as you may easily burn your beautiful tart!

Most importantly have fun!

Wonderful Winter Portobello Mushroom Stew

This is Chef Anna speaking. Here's a picture of a really simple meal to make and one that is especially comforting on a cold, rainy day. The portobello mushroom serves as the meat of this stew, making it very satisfying indeed. We got this amazing recipe from Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone," one of our favorite cookbooks so far (other than the Julia Child one I got for Christmas). Served over egg noodles, this stew creates an orgasmic taste experience in your mouth.

Anyways you need these ingredients:

-- olive oil
--onion
--chopped rosemary
-- pepper, red pepper flakes
-- garlic cloves
-- mushroom broth (or water)
-- sherry
--white vinegar
--tomato paste
-- butter
--parsley
-- portobello mushrooms
--white mushrooms

I imagine this stew would go really well with a wine like a Chianti or some other strong red wine since it is so meaty. If you try it with a wine that goes well with it, let me know. =)

Bon appetit!

Flourless "Pterophyta" Chocolate Cake

This is the pterophyta cake that helped us win a nifty little popcorn maker at the PostBacc Bake Off last fall.

The name of this cake is the result of a really really bad pun. All the chefs contributed to this cake, but it's a recipe that Chef Eileen taught us after interning at Chez Panisse. First of all, it's a flourless chocolate cake. Secondly, if you look carefully you'll see that the stencil made by Chef Anna looks unintentionally like a fern. Chef Caroline, our resident biology expert, made the astute observation that ferns (pterophyta) don't have flowers. Our cake didn't have any flours in it. Thus, pterophyta cake was born and the name just sort of stuck. =)

*****

Eileen here: Here is a couple more photos of this flourless chocolate cakes that we've experimented with. I don't quite have an exact recipe, as I've been working mostly by taste. Here's the basic gist though:

Preheat oven to 350.

1. In a double boiler, melt equal parts unsweetened chocolate and unsalted butter. (1/2 cup each) Make sure to use a high coco-butter content chocolate like Guittard (available in the bulk section from Berkeley Bowl). Do not use nestle "chocolate chips" as they will give you a dry burnt mess!

2) Dissolve about 1/2-3/4 c of sugar into melted chocolate mix, or to taste. You may want to make it a tad sweeter than you would like because the rest of the mix will dilute it a bit. Take off heat and cool so that it's not steaming, warm to touch but still liquidy.

3) Whip 5 egg whites until they form stiff white peaks. Save egg yolks! Sometimes when you whip eggs, there will be some liquid underneath the foam that will kinda deflate the volume of the mix so make sure as much of it gets all whipped.

4) Mix the egg yolks into the melted chocolate mix which is warm and shouldn't cook the yolks.

5) Transfer chocolate mix into a large mixing bowl. Fold in egg whites.

7) Butter a 9 inch round or square pan--spring form round pans are the best! Pour in mix to fill no more than half the height of the pan, and smooth out. Bake for 50 minute or until the cake gets a nice crusty top and when you prick the center with a toothpick it comes out clean. Because it's an egg white base, the cake will rise a bit (POOF!) and deflate, but it'll still be delicious!

8) Great with powdered sugar or raspberry puree!