SIMPLE TOMATO AND BASIL PASTA

This has been a heart-breaking year for tomato growers in the northeastern region of the United States, where an unusually rainy summer has helped to propagate infection of tomato blight. Typically at this time of year, my pop's garden would have so many ripe tomatoes that he wouldn't be able to give all of it away. This year the harvest was severely anemic, and of the tomatoes that survived, they were so cosmetically challenged that all you could do is throw them into a tomato sauce.


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Anniversary

Four years ago yesterday I smashed the windshield of an oncoming car with the back of my skull. I broke my pelvis, tore the tendons and ligaments in my left knee, and lost my sense of smell. I don’t remember much about the following weeks. Or months, really. I went from working in the kitchen of a restaurant, on the eve of beginning culinary school, to recovering on a bed in my mother’s living room, enveloped by a haze of pain killers and depression.

This year, yesterday, I baked a cake. It was a simple butter cake. I used brown sugar and eggs, cinnamon and baking soda and flour. I poured it in a pan and I nestled a few neat rows of deep purple plums, cut in half, on top. I popped it in the oven, and when it came out into the kitchen a half hour later the whole room smelled sweet and warm, like fruit and caramel and autumn. A deep purple, nutty brown autumn.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how lucky I am. I lost my sense of smell in a car accident four years ago. With it vanished my ability to taste and my plans to be a chef. But since then, it has slowly returned. It has returned in a curious and fantastic manner, one that ignites wonder almost every day. In fact now, after all these years of thinking and stressing and working on it, I think I can smell better than I ever did before.

I’m lucky because I experienced a traumatic accident, terrified my family and could have died. I could have lost so much more. But I didn’t. I’m here. I’m writing a book about smell and all that it means. The experience, in fact, has given me more than it ever took away. If I lost anything, it was the sense of immortality that at age 22 I really felt was mine. I lost some naivety, and the tendency to ignore the small things in life.

I baked that plum cake in the kitchen of a large, wood-planked house in Woodstock, New York. I’m here for the month of September, quietly tucked away in a small studio to write. There are nine others on the property —writers, painters and composers—all doing the same as part of a residency program up in the hills. It’s so quiet at night I can hear the crickets. I can hear water trickling from down the road. It gets so dark that the moon illuminates the trees, shimmering through the leaves like diamonds, and it’s not hard to imagine all sorts of ghosts waiting just behind the creek.

Crystal Lake Triathlon 2009

Location: Averill Park, NY
Distance: Sprint (800m s, 18mi b, 5k r)
Time: 8am (in waves 4min apart)
Weather: 60deg, raining
Participants: 241

Apparently fall has arrived in Upstate NY! Let's just say when I threw some clothes into my bag for the weekend, I wasn't expecting temperatures to drop below 60. The past two mornings, however, have been quite chilly!

I knew it was inevitable--that at some point, I would have to race in the rain. Today was definitely the day (good weather from now on??)! On the drive to the race there was the lightest drizzle, which stopped as I was setting up my bike and transition area. The break didn't last long, and drops began to fall as go-time got closer :(

Fog draped the lake, creating quite the backdrop for the scene of the swim...

Crystal Lake in the fog

Swim
With such a small race, there were 4 waves of swimmers, and I was in the 2nd wave with most of the females, 4min after the start. Time couldn't pass quickly enough, as I was freezing! Luckily the water was like bath water, although my feet never warmed up :/

about to lose my cap!

I felt pretty comfortable in the swim, actually getting in between people and not getting thrown off by an occasional kick or bump. The fog wasn't too much of a problem, as I used the buoys to sight. Despite this, I finished with a time of 18:56... not sure if it was a little longer than 800m or I went a little off course on the way back in??

Bike
Much like the Webster course, this course was described as "challenging." Indeed, on a good day it would be a challenging ride. Rolling hills, with 4 (I think) good-size ones thrown in. What was I thinking signing up for this race??

The weather, a light rain up until this point, took a turn for the worse and we experienced quite the downpour on this leg. My feet were completely soaked (as was the rest of me, but the squishy socks made it worse), and at one point the rain felt like hail. Not my idea of fun, but the heaviest downpour was relatively short... could've been worse, right? I did take it a bit conservative on turns and around traffic, but I felt pretty good until the last big hill. I managed to finish the ride in 1:06.54, an average of 16.1mph. I was hoping to do a bit better than my last race, but given the conditions and length I feel pretty good about it. Still need to work on my climbing outside!

this time i'm in the blue/white top

Run
After prying off my gloves and giving my socks a squeeze (still on my feet) and grabbing my race belt, I tied my shoes and was off on the run. My feet? Still cold, felt kinda like bricks. Did I mention there was a nice little hill right out of the transition? That was... nice. There were some small hills on the course, and my left ankle felt pretty inflexible, but I passed the two women who had passed me at the end of the bike (hehehe). There was one woman who passed me, and as much as I wanted to keep up, it wasn't happening. I took it out on some guys in my path :)

Approaching the final turn

I finished pretty strong, mud and all ;) Although I didn't feel fast, somehow I finished in 23:05 (an 8:09 pace)--not too shabby! My parents didn't listen to me and came out to support despite the weather, which I can't thank them enough for!! It's always awesome to see them and have people you know cheering you on <3

My final time was 1:54:43, which put me 4th in Females 20-29. Which I'd be thrilled with... except that if I had been one minute faster, I would've been 2nd. One stinkin minute- doh! Ah well, it was a good race and I'm happy with how I did. And that I finished despite the weather. Plus, there's always next year!!!

Daring Bakers: Dobos Torte

Well, I've left the Daring Cooks and joined the Daring Bakers. I think after seeing those milan cookies and chocolate-covered marshmallow ones from the last challenge, I was feeling a little jealous of the great sweets being created. So here I am, baking away!

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

The cake traditionally has six layers. Chocolate buttercream is spread between the layers and used to frost the cake and then the top layer is made into caramel wedges.


I first want to thank Angela and Lorraine for hosting the challenge and presenting the recipe with pictures and very detailed and helpful directions. The notes they added were incredibly useful.

It saddens me to say that this cake, besides the amazingly perfect chocolate frosting (which quite possibly will be my new go-to frosting), was nothing special. It was a ton of work, and I wasn't very happy with the final result. Even though it was challenging to make and it didn't end up being one of my favorite desserts, I still had fun with it.

I decided to make two smaller cakes as opposed to one giant cake. I almost wish I had done even smaller cakes. But I just bought mini springform pans at Crate & Barrel and wanted to try them out, so I made the cake to fit them.

After going through and thoroughly following the recipe, I have some suggestions for making this cake a bit easier to make and a bit tastier the next time. The first thing would be to lose the top layer. The caramel didn't taste all that great. I may have burnt it slightly, but I also saw in the comments from many others that they didn't feel too fondly for it either. I've never made caramel with lemon juice in it, and that may have added to the strange flavor it had.

Making this cake starts with drawing circles on parchment paper that are slightly larger than the size you want your actual cake. You then spread your batter on these circles and bake the cake layers. For what reason couldn't you bake the cake in the pan you want to use and then cut it into layers? And if that's not possible for some reason, why not draw the circles the exact size you want so you don't have to go through the trouble of making the circles smaller afterward? It's time-consuming and leaves too much room for error.

Also, I wasn't impressed with this sponge cake. It was kind of dry -- the opposite of what I'd want in a cake. I much prefer the recipe I used from Mastering the Art of French cooking to make layer cakes for Julia Child's birthday.

Alright, complaints are aired. Let's get to the cake...

Dobos Torte (Recipe that follows is from Daring Bakers with my alterations)

Sponge Cake Layers

Ingredients

6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups confectioner's sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit your baking sheets. It's easiest if you have two baking sheets that you can rotate into and out of the oven. Using a guide (cookie cutter, cake pan, etc.), trace a circle (or your desired shape) 1 inch larger than you want your final cake (this is what I did, but next time I would just make the circles the size of the cake -- so your choice) on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn't touch the cake batter).



Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup of the confectioner's sugar, and the vanilla in bowl of electric mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow, and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes.

In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup of confectioner's sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible.



Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.


Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread the batter, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet (I used a heaping 1/4 cup of batter for my cakes).



Bake on the top rack for 4-5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the center and the edges are lightly browned. While these layers bake, repeat the process on the other baking sheet. When the first pan is done, remove it from the oven, and insert the second pan.


Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool.


Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers (Since I was doing two small cakes, I had 12 layers total).


Completely cool the layers. Trim each cake layer into a neat round of the size you need (or your desired shape). I found it easiest to use a buttered pizza cutter.



Note: The sponge layers can be prepared in advance. I layered mine with plastic wrap, wrapped them tightly, and stored them in the fridge overnight.

Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients

4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup caster sugar (very fine sugar)
4 oz Scharffen-Berger dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

Fill a large saucepan (that your mixer bowl will fit in -- think double boiler) with an inch or so of water and bring it to a boil.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes.

Fit mixing bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl), and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit.

Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.


Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature.


When cool, beat in the soft butter. Make sure to cut it into small pieces to add it to the chocolate. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream (Mine was a bit runny but fine after it was chilled). Chill while you make the caramel topping.


I made my sponge layers and buttercream the night before I did the caramel topping and assembled the cake. This is a good idea if you don't have time to do it all at once.

Caramel Topping (highly recommend doing without this)

Ingredients

1 cup caster sugar
12 tablespoons water
8 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g., grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower) (I purposely bought a bottle of this for the recipe and then realized it was just used to oil the knife -- skip it and use butter to cut cost if you don't have it on hand.)

Directions

If you refrigerated your cake layers, take them out so they can come to room temperature. Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top.

Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper, and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Cut the cake into equal wedges (like you'd cut a pie), but keep them together. I put my springform pans around the cake wedges, as I thought this would work best for holding the caramel in.



Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.

Stir the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-colored caramel.



Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer (or layers if making more than one cake). Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layers.


Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.


Finishing touches

12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
½ cup peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts

Assembling the Dobos

Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of the bottom of each springform pan or whatever you'll be assembling the cake on (a cardboard round is fine too). Press a layer of cake on top.

Spread the layer with chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.

Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.


Here I highly recommend putting the cake back in the fridge for a while so the buttercream can harden. If you don't, your wedges may slide right off, and you'll be left with a big chocolatey mess. Trust me -- I know!

Once buttercream has hardened, prop a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern.


Refrigerate the cake until the icing is set, and then wrap it if not using it right away. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavor.

Phew! And that's how it's done.



Don't forget to check out the Daring Kitchen and see what the other Daring Bakers came up with!

Chicken Quesadillas

I love reading food blogs not only because I get to know so many great people but also because I get to benefit from the wonderful recipes they share!

The other day I saw a recipe for crockpot chicken tacos on Beantown Baker, a blog I recently started reading. I immediately bookmarked the recipe.

By now you know that my boyfriend and I can always agree on Mexican dishes -- whether fajitas, tacos, or quesadillas -- although mine are always loaded with much more stuff.

I love that these dishes are usually quick to make and easy to get on the table. And if you're using a crock pot/slow cooker for the bulk of the work, that's even better!

Truth be told, my slow cooker hasn't gotten much use, if any, this summer. It seems silly since it's so easy to use and doesn't heat up the whole house like the oven does, but I usually only think of using it in the winter for stews, soups, and chili. Turns out it works really well for summer recipes too!

Head over to Beantown Baker for the complete recipe, which starts with making a taco spice mix. I think this is such a great idea. I'm always buying taco seasoning packets, but now I know I can effortlessly mix up a batch of my own that tastes just as good -- if not better! I even have some leftover for the next time I make this chicken... or for use in some other Mexican dish I decide to make.

Then it's as simple as throwing the chicken (I used 4 chicken breasts), spice mix, some broth, and diced tomatoes in the slow cooker. One change I made since this was an after-work undertaking was to set the slow cooker on high and let it do its thing for about 3.5 hours. (If you have 6 hours to spare or know you can start your slow cooker, head out, and be back within a 6-hour time frame, then you can follow the Beantown Baker recipe exactly.) I also rubbed the slow cooker with a little oil instead of using non-stick cooking spray.

During that 3.5 hours, there's plenty of time to whip up some quick guacamole. I simply mashed an avocado with some lemon juice, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. I have to have guacamole with my Mexican food!

When time was up, I pulled out my indoor grill and started preheating it while I removed the chicken from the slow cooker and shredded it. The chicken stayed super-moist from the broth and tomato juices.


Then I took flour tortillas, sprinkled a mix of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese on them, scooped on some of the chicken (avoiding tomatoes for the boyfriend and heaping extras on mine), sprinkled more cheese on top, and then tucked in the ends and folded the tortillas up.

I melted some butter on the hot grill, placed the quesadillas on it, and closed the cover, so they would be nicely pressed and brown all over.


I love how this gets the cheese all gooey and makes the outside of the quesadilla look so enticing!


We enjoyed this feast with some corn on the cob, and of course, I heaped guacamole on my plate.


Note: If you have extra chicken leftover, it still makes great quesadillas the next night. When you store the leftovers, just make sure to add a lot of the juices from the slow cooker to the chicken. Then when you're ready to reheat the leftovers, spread the chicken, tomatoes, and juices on a sheet pan lined with foil, and pop it under the broil for a little bit. I assembled our "leftover" quesadillas the same way as the originals, this time using broiled chicken.

Do you use your slow cooker/crock pot during the summer? What do you make in it?

Summer Eats

Sorry for going MIA, it's been a bit crazy here... Hi to everyone I met at the Healthy Living Summit!! I can't describe how awesome it was to hear "I read your blog!" :) I meant to attend some of the other festivities, but I had to make it out to the burbs to sit this guy...

Perseus

He was tuckered out after our long walks in the heat and humidity of last week! I was pretty much without internet access, so I'm still trying to catch up :/

I did have the realization that zucchini and corn make an amazing pairing! I had sauteed some zucchini with onions in a little EVOO, but didn't have a plan of what to use them in. I thought of combining it with corn on a pizza, but instead of making my own dough I took the easy way out and used pitas already on hand. I made this a few times during the week and varied the cheese (Laughing Cow, goat cheese, or fresh mozz), but I think my fav way was with the laughing cow spread underneath a heaping pile of zucchini and corn, broiled until crispy! Yum...

Zucchini Corn Pita Pizza

I was also beyond excited to find 2 pints of sour cherries at a store when I was looking something for my mom :) I immediately popped them in my basket (let's not think about the fact that I had a basket... when I went in for 1 thing that I could've held in my hands) and began to think about my failed pie. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was the heat and humidity... but I ended up making some Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt! My cherries were actually so good I could eat them plain, so I cut back on the sugar and used amaretto instead of the rum and almond extract. A great way to cool off :)

Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt

Looking at these pictures, I am appreciating all the natural light I get in my apartment :) (These were not taken in my apt) I am off for a long weekend home Thursday, so the next time you hear from me it will likely be another race recap!

Pasta with Chicken and Zucchini

Today was one of those days when I had no idea what to do with the two chicken breasts I defrosted for dinner. There is work being done outside our condo so it's a pain to get to the grill right now and it's been so hot that I didn't want to turn on the oven. After a quick peek in my fridge, freezer and pantry I came up with this. It's so simple that I wondered if it was blog worthy. It's basically a chicken and veggie saute served over pasta. Not that impressive but very delicious. If you notice in the photo there are two different types of pasta there. I had a little bit of penne in an open box and a little gemelli in another. So I used the cooking times on the back of the box. I threw the gemelli in first and then a minute or so later added in the penne. It was fine that way and I've done it before. If you just put it in at the same time you may end up with some pasta that's over cooked or some pasta that's not cooked enough. Different shapes have different cooking times.

If you don't like zucchini or artichoke hearts substitute them with something else. Cannelini beans would be great here, chick peas, eggplant too. Use your favorite combo or try something new!



Chicken with Zucchini and Artichoke Hearts

Ingredients:

1 pound of short pasta, penne, ziti, rigatoni, etc.
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium zucchini, quaretered lenthwise and then cut into chunks
10 frozen artichoke hearts
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
handful of frozen peas
handful of fresh basil, torn
handful of kalamata olives
1/2 cup white wine
1 Tbsp tomato paste
chicken broth
extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder, saute in mixture of butter and a little oil until brown. Remove and set aside. Add in a little more oil if your pan is dry and saute onion in olive oil, add zucchini and leave it a lone for a minute until it browns a little, add garlic and let cook for a minute or so and then add artichoke hearts. They won't really brown but will soften. (*See Note) Add tomato paste and stir, let it cook for a minute. Deglaze pan with wine and scrape up any browned bits that stuck to the pan. When liquid reduces add chicken broth a little at a time to get the consistency of sauce you want. Add kalamata olives, salt and pepper and let cook for about 20 minutes. Add cooked chicken and peas to the pan and stir. Chicken is already cooked so just let it simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the flavors to combine.

While sauce is cooking, boil water for pasta, season well with salt. When sauce is almost ready drop the pasta. When pasta is al dente toss with sauce and serve.

*note - I used some fresh tomatoes but they weren't ripe enough and didn't do anything for the dish so I didn't put it in the recipe. However, if you have beautiful ripe plum tomatoes you could add them here.

LEMON VERBENA STRAWBERRY COBBLER

Strawberries season is just coming to an end in California, and the harvest this year is on track to hit a record volume. On my recent visit to San Francisco, I took advantage of the prolific season by making a favorite summer recipe: strawberry cobbler.

As many dessert lovers know, strawberry cobbler is a huge crowd pleaser that requires very little effort to prepare. After making this dessert for many years, I was surprised to hear of a potentially better version of this old classic: add a fresh herb - lemon verbena.


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Paella for the Sea Fearing - Coast to Coast Challenge 2

It's time for another recipe chosen for Bakespace's Coast to Coast Cooking! This time we chose Paella which can be made in so many ways to please all palates. If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that Steve and I are the rare few Italians that do not like seafood. We like fried calamari and sushi and I'll eat tuna salad but that's about it. So my version of paella contains chicken and chorizo. It's very similar to arroz con pollo but the chorizo gives it a totally different and fabulous flavor.



I learned a few things while researching paella recipes and ingredients. There are different types of chorizo, raw which is like Italian sausage, dried which is like soppresatta. They come hot and mild, portugese, spanish, etc. I used dried spanish sausage called Palacios. In my area this can found at Kings Supermarket, Wegmans Supermarket and Fairway Market. I used one package of it which I think was only about 1/2 pound. It's less than the recipe called for but was so flavorful that I don't think I would have needed any more. The rice that should be used is a short grain spanish rice called Bomba or Valencia. I could not find this anywhere so I used Italian short grain rice called Arborio. This rice is usually used for risotto. I'm not really sure why a long grain rice can't be used for this. I think that it would result in a drier rice which is what I was looking for. Next time, I will try it that way,



The recipe that we used is Paella a la Valenciana. This is a traditional paella recipe that we started with. As always in these challenges, we get to make these our own and change them in any way we see fit. I decided to look for another recipe that doesn't contain seafood and found one by Paula Deen. I followed her recipe and then threw in a chicken breast for Steve and some spanish olives at the end. I didn't use the lemon, I just didn't think I'd want to mask the flavor with lemon. I served this to Steve's family and it was a big hit. I'm glad I got to try this out!



Check out how all the other participants' recipes came out! Spryte and Dani even have guest bloggers who participated in the challenge. Click their links to see them all.



Shane from Culinary Alchemy



Spryte of Spryte's Place



Danielle of Cooking for my Peace of Mind



Monica from Alaskan Dermish in the Kitch





Spanish Chicken and Chorizo Paella



by Paula Deen



Ingredients:



1/4 cup olive oil

1 chicken, cut legs, drumsticks and thighs

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

1 large onion, diced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

4 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 pound Spanish style chorizo links, cut into slices on the bias

2 cups short-grain rice (recommended: Valencia or Arborio)

Pinch saffron threads

1 cup fresh or frozen green peas

Lemon wedges, for service





Directions:



Heat a paella pan or very large, shallow skillet or pot, preferably with 2 handles over high heat.



Cook's note: A large cast iron skillet would work here.



Pour in the olive oil and let it heat up. Season the chicken all over with salt, pepper and paprika. Sear in the olive oil until browned all over. Transfer to a plate with tongs.



Lower the heat to medium and saute the onions and bell pepper until softened. Stir in the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and chorizo. Bring the liquid to a boil and then stir in the rice and saffron. Add the browned chicken pieces. The rice should be completely covered with liquid. Cook the paella without stirring for 20 minutes. When the liquid has all been absorbed, pour the peas over the top of the pot, turn off the heat and cover the pot with a kitchen towel. Let stand 5 minutes and then serve with lemon wedges.