Easy Does It

There are things in life that just work. The perfect cup of coffee, weekly brunch dates, long bike rides on the first warm day in the spring,  pajamas and reruns. Routines, traditions, patterns.

There are also thing in life that you have to work at; friendships from afar, love on opposite schedules, family ties being stretched thin, career in constant adaptation and change. They need effort, they need attention, they just need more of myself than I have been giving them. As my career is taking up so much of my time, sometimes I feel that the other areas of my life suffer. They get neglected, pushed aside. Just until tomorrow, I tell myself.

This concept of 'tomorrow' finally materialized. I was able to fly home for a short 48 hours to try to pack in as much as I could. And pack it in I did, by meeting new babies, spending some girl time with my sister and mom, sharing meals and wine with my dad and soon to be brother-in law. So many sentimental and rather emotional activities in such a short period of time left me kind of a mess, exhausted and a bit emotional myself. But I would do it again in a second, because you know what? It works. I just don't have the time off or the money to travel home that often, so when I get the chance I make it work, no matter how short the visit, or sad the goodbyes.

When I get a bit of time to myself, sometimes I can let my brain overload on all the possibilities of things to do, new recipes to try, and crazy projects in the kitchen. Lately though, I have been focusing on easy, simple, and classic. A disc of leftover pate brisee hanging out in the freezer, some berries on sale at the grocery store, and just enough eggs left in the fridge to make pastry cream, it just came together without much effort. For those few hours alone with my coffee that morning, it was the perfect thing to keep my hands busy and let my mind wander. Its something that doesn't happen as often as it should these days, plus pastry cream with fresh berries is just one of those things that works. Always has, always will.

Pate Brisee Crust

(this is enough for 16-20 3-inch tarts)

400 grams (14 oz) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar

100 grams (3 1/2 oz) granulated sugar

2/3 cup water, chilled

665 grams (1 lb 7 1/2 oz) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

Remove butter from fridge 20 minutes before mixing.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, water, and vinegar, stir to aid the dissolving of the sugar. Set aside in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Then, stir again to completely dissolve sugar.

In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together a few times to combine. Add the butter, and pulse in one second bursts about 3-4 times until butter is cut in and evenly dispersed. You should have visible chunks of butter in your flour mixture, this is where the flakiness comes from.

Pour mixture into a large bowl and make a little well in the middle of the flour. Pour the vinegar water mixture into the well, along with the almond extract, and gently mix liquids into the flour with a fork. When liquid is evenly dispersed, dump dough out onto a clean surface and knead gently a few times, just until dough comes together in one cohesive ball. It may be a bit shaggy or falling apart, but that's okay, while it is resting the moisture will bind everything together.

Cut ball of dough in half and shape each half into a disc about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours, or overnight. Take dough out of fridge about 15 minutes before you roll it out. For the 3-inch sized tarts, I cut each disc in half, rolled it out into a square, 1/8 inch thick, then cut the disc into four pieces, placing each one of the four pieces in a tart mold. How you roll the dough out will depend on the size and shape of the tart mold you are using. Always start in the center of the disc and roll outward, turning the disc 30 degrees after each roll to get an even thickness throughout. Carefully move the dough to your tart pan and press evenly into all corners, pinching off the excess.

Dock with a fork (meaning poke a bunch of tiny holes in the bottom of the tart crust with a fork) and freeze for twenty minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Place a piece of tin foil over your tart shell, pressing it down to fit the form of your tart, and fill with beans or rice or pie weights. Blind bake your tart for 15 minutes, flipping the pan front to back halfway through. Remove the pie weights and tin foil and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until the crust is golden brown (the times on this will depend again on the size of your tart pans) . Let cool completely.

Orange Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
(makes enough for 16 3-inch tarts)

1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 oz butter, chopped into small pieces
1/2 vanilla bean
zest of 1 orange

In a medium sized sauce pan, heat the milk, 1/2 cup of the cream, and the vanilla bean pod, split and scraped. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let steep for about 20 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh seive, then return to burner. Add the sugar and bring to a boil. While mixture is heating, combine the eggs, yolks, cornstarch, and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth.

When the cream/sugar mixture reaches a simmer and the sugar is completely dissolved, temper into the egg mixture,  whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens.

Since it has cornstarch in it, it does technically need to come to a boil for it to thicken properly, so once that first bubble pops, remove from heat and immediately put through a fine sieve to ensure that no scrambled eggs make their way into your pastry cream. Whisk in butter and orange zest and chill about 4 hours or overnight before using.

Tarts - Assembly

Pipe the pastry cream into each of your tart shells, using just enough to cover the bottom. Arrange blackberries on the surface of the pastry cream and top with chopped pistachios, and more orange zest. These are best eaten within a few hours, if you are making them much ahead of time, I would spread a thin layer of apricot jam onto the pastry crust before filling to keep the shell from getting soggy.

Duo of Fabric Inspired Cakes

The first wedding cake of the season is complete. It was a great warm up, simple, small, and bold, it got my piping hands geared up for the rest of the summer, that's for sure. I also completed my first ever baby shower cake, which was a total departure for me, tons of color and polka dots, buttons and flowers. While these two cakes are so, so different from each other, they have one thing in common. They are both derived, more or less, from fabric.

The wedding cake was a very specific request. The bride wanted something very simple, no flowers or hearts or any of that mushy stuff, but still wanted the cake to stand out and be bold and modern. She loved a paisley print cake she had seen online and had some fun colors to incorporate. Paisley can be totally overwhelming and busy, (think colorful 70's polyester shirts) but it can also be a striking motif when you restrain it a bit. 

I remember saying that I had been wanting to do a gray and yellow cake for a while, and now it seems like grey is the wedding color of the year. Each wedding cake I have slated for this summer has gray on the palette, and I couldn't be happier. I hadn't piped anything in a while, so it was off to a shaky start, but by the end I was a dot-piping machine. 

The second cake was for a friend of a friend's baby shower. The design for this cake was a cinch after seeing their baby registry. All of the baby blankets, quilts, and pillows have this multicolored pattern of fabrics around the edges and it was something they wanted to incorporate into the cake and cupcakes.

Having already picked out a name, the initials of the baby were placed front and center. This was such a fun project, though I always forget how difficult horizontal fondant bands are to get straight and even. I will never learn.

Between the color palette, and the patterns, not to mention the yummy lemon cake with raspberry buttercream, I hope this cake made the shower day a little extra special. 

Lemon Cupcakes & Raspberry Italian Meringue Buttercream

cake adapted from Bon Apetit Magazine

(This batter would probably be enough for 18-24 cupcakes, I only made 12 and baked the rest of the batter in a cake pan) 

Cake:

1 3/4 cup cake flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (8 oz) butter, softened

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

juice of 1/2 lemon

zest of 1 lemon

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. 

In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In your stand mixer cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition, and mix each one in until completely incorporated. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest, mix well, and scrape bowl. 

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, scrape, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, scrape, and repeat ending with the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated after each addition. Using a ice cream scoop, fill your muffin tins about 2/3 the way full and bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick entered into the middle comes out clean and the cake is just turning a light golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes, then remove from pan and let them cool completely on a wire rack. 

Raspberry Italian Meringue Buttercream

4 oz egg whites

2 oz water

8 oz sugar

12 oz butter

3 tablespoons raspberry jam

pink food coloring (if desired)

Place egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and begin whipping the whites on medium-high speed. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and using a candy thermometer, heat the sugar to soft ball stage, or 240 F. The eggs at this point should  be voluminous and frothy. Slowly pour the sugar into the egg whites in a steady stream, while the mixer is on high. 

Let the mixer run on high (I usually set it to one number below the very highest setting) until the mixture has cooled completely. Switch to the paddle attachment, and add the butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing on a medium-low speed. Once all the butter has been added, turn your mixer to high and whip for 3-5 minutes until frosting is light and smooth. Add the raspberry jam and food coloring and mix to incorporate.

Just a Hint of Spring

**This post was originally published on HonestCooking.com, a brand new online food magazine, for which I am a contributor. The website launched this past monday, and it is a great new resource for recipes, travel, restaurant reviews and foodie opinion pieces. Check it out here!**

When I say a hint of spring, I am talking a very teeny-tiny hint. One day over 50 degrees here in Chicago has made me ready for full-on sunshine, budding flowers, chirping birds, fresh produce, and all those other things that make spring such a wonderful season. Last year about this time, I had practically handcuffed myself to my Dutch oven. I was kicking and screaming and praying for snow, so I could settle in and spend the entire day over a bubbling pot of soup. I was just not ready to let winter go. All the braised meats, stewed vegetables, heavy soups, and thick pasta dishes were taunting me. I was having a little trouble moving on from those wonderful dishes and my winter hibernation.

Oh what a difference a year makes! This year, it is more than just the physical changes in the weather, or the different types of foods cooking on my stove that are making me long for spring. As the middle of March approaches, I am finally ready to make some 'new year's' resolutions. A few months late maybe, but January is such a depressing, bleak, dark month and with so many weeks until the warm weather arrives, it can feel completely futile to make resolutions for the coming year. Maybe this is why so many people don't keep their resolutions, present company included.

Spring is different. Plants are sprouting, produce is plentiful, neighbors are emerging from their hibernation. In the springtime, there is a natural motivation to get outside, exercise, try new things, and meet new people, that just isn't present in the dead of winter. For me, this particular spring is full of hope and exciting opportunities, new jobs and challenging classes, friends getting married and having babies. Life seems to finally be settling into place, and heading in the right direction.

In my kitchen, I am delicately transitioning from winter into spring. I am not quite yet letting go of my winter comfort foods, but am finding small and subtle ways to add a bit of brightness to an otherwise cold weather dish. Some orange zest added to a formerly dense and heavy pound cake turned out to be a gentle way of coaxing spring into my cooking and I find myself welcoming the season with open arms.

Orange Pound Cake
adapted from williamssonoma.com
makes 6-8 mini loafs, 2 regular loafs, or 1 Bundt

2 3/4 cup (6,5 dl) flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2,4 dl) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (3,54 dl) granulated sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup (2,4 dl) whole milk, room temperature
zest of 3-4 large oranges

Preheat oven to 350 F, placing a rack in the middle of the oven.

Butter and flour your loaf pans, shaking out all excess flour and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk or sift together, set aside.

In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and cream together with butter on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the egg, beating thoroughly and scraping down the sides between each addition. Add the vanilla and beat just until incorporated, about 1 minute.

Add one-third of the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until incorporated, then add half of the milk, beating again until incoporated. Scrape down the sides in between each addtion. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture, then the remainder of the milk, then the remainder of the flour. Gently and quickly mix in the orange zest.

Spoon batter into your prepared pan(s), filling about 3/4 the way full. If you fill them too high, they can overflow and make a big mess. (Rest assured though, they will still be delicious!)

Bake for 20-30 minutes, (can be more depending on what size pans you are using) until golden brown, and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

If you want to add a little something extra to these cakes, mix together 1 cup powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons orange juice, and 1-2 teaspoons orange zest. Pour over the cakes for a simple, quick, and tasty glaze. This helps moisten the cake, and helps keep it that way for a few days. It also helps it taste like a donut, which in my book, is never a bad thing. They would also be delicious dipped in chocolate, or served with whipped cream.

Welcome to spring, where the possibilities are endless.

Sometimes You Just Need a Salad.

Sometimes, after all the noodles and rice and pork and chicken, you just need some green. Lonely Planet told us it would be in our best interest to stay away from salad greens and other potentially washed-with-tap-water uncooked food while on vacation in Cambodia and Thailand. Not wanting to risk the effects of a stomach bug while 30 meters underwater, I figure it was best to play it safe and not risk it.

By the time I got home, all I was craving was an obnoxiously huge salad. Like the kind they serve at restaurants as your entree, and when they set it in front of you, you think there is no way you are ever going to eat it all, but you do anyway, cause you know, it's mostly lettuce right? Right? What was I talking about again?

Oh yeah, so I made this salad, and it hit the spot. Roasted red beets, creamy refreshing avocado, tangy goat cheese, pistachios, fresh spring greens, all topped with an orange-mustard vinaigrette. It was almost my perfect salad. I had an apple out and ready to cut, but my salad was growing to gargantuan proportions so I left it out. I wish I had cut it into matchsticks and put it in to add another more crunchy/crisp element since the salad was pretty creamy all around.

The funny thing is, is that if you knew the teenager version of me, you would be astounded at me now proclaiming my craving for a salad. I wouldn't touch lettuce up until sophomore/junior year of college (and that wasn't that long ago folks). Ah, how times and tastes have changed. I sure am glad they did, because this, ladies and gentlemen, is pretty close to salad perfection in my opinion.

Roasted Beet and Avocado Salad with Orange-Balsamic Vinaigrette
makes one gigantic salad

Two things about this salad. First, the measurements are not important here. Pile the toppings on until your stomach says enough, and mix the dressing according to how your taste buds like it. Second, most people roast beets whole, then peel and chop. This is all fine a dandy, but I prefer mine in nice crispy and caramelized bite sized pieces. I accomplish this by taking the outer skin off by cutting the beet in half, then slicing the skin off with a sharp knife. Think about peeling sweet potatoes, or ginger, or a pineapple for that matter, same principle, just on a smaller scale. Cube, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, then cook for maximum roasted surface area.
2-3 red beets, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 avocado diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup shelled pistachios
1 oz crumbled goat cheese
1/2 apple, cored and cut into thin matchsticks
big handful of mixed greens, or whatever kind of lettuce you like
1/4 cup olive oil + extra for tossing with beets
juice of one orange
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Toss diced beets with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 15-25 minutes, until caramelized and cooked through.

Meanwhile, in a seal-able container (such as a Ziploc or mason jar), mix olive oil, vinegar, orange juice, mustard, and salt and pepper. Close tightly and shake the crap out of it until the dressing has emulsified.

Plate your greens, and top with, in no particular order, the beets, avocado, apple, goat cheese, pistachios, and drizzle on your dressing. Go ahead and eat the whole damn thing, cause its mostly lettuce right? Just humor me and say "right Bria". Thank you.

Bagels Round Two : Gettin Fancy

I can't believe it's almost February. I feel as though the waning days of winter are creeping up on me way too fast, and the weeks are starting to fill up with road trips, friends visiting, bridal showers, concerts, and dinner dates. It's hard to find time to spend a weekend in the kitchen with a schedule like mine approaching. I will long for the lazy days of January when I had time to devote an entire day just to baking.

It may be a while before I have the time to whip up a batch of bagels again, so the ones in the freezer will just have to last me until April. My first attempt at bagels back in July went swimmingly, and I decided now that I got the basics down, it was time for some flavor! Taking a nod from Ina Garten's flavor combo in my favorite scone recipe, I made a third of the batch with dried cranberries and orange zest, one third topped with everything (onions, garlic, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and salt) and the last third plain and boring (but equally delicious).

I think this round of bagel-making secured my confidence in baking, and I am ready to keep on making my own baked goods, and veering a bit from the recipe books.

At the fault of this new found confidence, I now have three egg whites 'aging' on my counter top, waiting until tomorrow when they will be whipped into a batch of french macarons. I have been saying for the last few months, as soon as I get myself a Kitchenaid stand mixer, the first thing I am going to make is macarons. Well, I was a good girl this year and Santa brought me one for Christmas. Actually he brought me two (I must have been REALLY good), one from my family and one from my boyfriend (guess I gave enough hints huh? Subtlety is not my strong suit).

So with this being one of the last few weekends with an open schedule and no work, I will embark on what is supposedly a very tricky and fussy cookie, but is said to be well worth the effort and patience. Stay tuned!

Cranberry Orange Bagels and Everything Bagels

adapted from Peter Reinhardt's the Bread Baker's Apprentice

Sponge

1 teaspoon instant yeast
4 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour (I could not find bread flour, let alone high gluten bread flour, but I did find Vital Wheat Gluten Flour which I swapped one tablespoon of all purpose flour for the vital wheat gluten PER CUP of flour. So I ended up with 4 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten and 4 cups minus 4 Tablespoons of All Purpose flour)
2 1/2 cups water, room temperature

Dough

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
3 3/4 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
2 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons malt powder or 1 tablespoon dark or light malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar (see note below)
2/3 cup orange flavored Craisins (or plain dried cranberries) chopped finely ***
1 tablespoon packed orange zest***

***I only made a third of the dough into cranberry-orange bagels. These are the measurements for a third, if you are making the entire batch cranberry orange, I would triple the amounts of cranberries and orange zest. ***

To Finish

1 tablespoon baking soda
Cornmeal for dusting baking sheets
1/4 cup each of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried garlic, and dried onions, plus a dash of salt***

***Again, I only made a third of the batch into everything bagels, but I had a good amount of extra toppings leftover. If you are making the entire batch into everything bagels, you can probably get away with 1/3 cup of each***

Day 1: To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the counter top - mine did not fall, and it wasn't super foamy or bubbly... but they still worked out just fine.

To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour and all of the salt and malt. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining 3/4 cup flour to stiffen the dough - again, mine did not go quite so smoothly, I had to skip to the next step way before I was able to incorporate the 3/4 cup of flour in the bowl. Its okay, you can just work it in as you are kneading.

Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). The dough should be firm but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour and all ingredients should be hydrated. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77 to 71 degrees F. If the dough seems to dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.

If you are making cranberry orange bagels, during the last two minutes or so of kneading, work in the chopped cranberries and orange zest, kneading until it is evenly incorporated. I made a third of this dough plain, a third everything, and a third cranberry orange. So before incorporating the fillings, I divided my dough into three even pieces and just kneaded the orange and cranberry into one of the thirds. If you are making one big batch of the cranberry orange, there is no need to divide the dough at this point.

Immediately divide the dough into 4 1/2 ounce pieces for standard bagels, or smaller if desired. Form the pieces into rolls.

I do not have a kitchen scale (yet) so I pretty much just kept cutting the dough in half until the pieces looked like a good size. I ended up with about 36 small-ish bagels.

Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.

Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment (I used sil-pats, but parchment works as well) and mist lightly with spray oil. Poke a hole in each ball of bagel dough and gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it to approximately 2 1/2 inches in diameter (half of this for a mini-bagel). The dough should be as evenly stretched as possible (try to avoid thick and thin spots.)

Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pans. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded (meaning they will go into the fridge and slow proof overnight) when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days).

If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the temperature of your kitchen, humidity, time of year, color of shirt you are wearing, mood your cat is in...okay those last few may not affect it, but sometimes it can seem that way.

Day 2: Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.

Mix the poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, onion, and salt together and spread in a thin layer on a large plate. Set aside for later.

Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 90 seconds flip them over rand boil for another 90 seconds. If you like very chewy bagels, you can extend the boiling to 2-2.5 minutes per side . While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour.

For the non-topped bagels, remove them from the boiling water with a spider or a slotted spoon and place them on the prepared sheet pans. For the topped bagels, remove them from boiling water and place them directly onto the plate with prepared toppings. Press them down gently to get toppings to adhere (be careful, they are hot) and then move them to the prepared baking sheet, topping side up.

When all the bagels have been boiled and topped, place the pans on the 2 middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 5-7 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450 degrees F and continue baking for about 10-15 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown.

Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving. Before you do this:

Or this: