Presidents Day

Hello lovelies!

(Oh wow, um, this is really horribly horribly delinquent! Sorry folks, life has been, well, a but crazy lately - in a good way of course! Anyhow...an overdue account of er, Presidents Day weekend. Yes, the holiday that happened last month). 

I woke up Sunday and knew it was going to be a good day. After about 10 hours of sleep (heaven!), we got up, got dressed for the day and headed out to our favorite place in Brooklyn (and maybe even New York City proper) for brunch: Mile End. Boy almost always gets the smoked meat hash, and I get either the Beauty (salmon and tomatoes, capers, onions and cream cheese on a bagel trucked in from Montreal) or the  Smoked Whitefish (smoked fish with chives, pickled asparagus and celery on a sesame bagel). I ordered a mimosa for the first time for brunch and it was delicious (because of the freshly squeezed OJ of course!). Brunch was followed by DANCING LESSONS!! How cool is that? I love NY. Now, understand this isn't a normal occurrence - this was a Valentines Day gift. We learned the Foxtrot, the Waltz, The Swing and the Salsa - all in 3 hours! Was so much fun. But on to the cooking.

So I'd been neglecting poor TK, and the truth is, it's been 2 months already into this year, and I'd only done 14 recipes (yikes!). I decided to tackle a bunch at once and make it big meal. We invited some close friends of ours over, so of course I had to round out the menu with some extras like dessert and salad.

Dinner (at 8:30pm) prep started at 3:45pm. I don't know how all this got done, but I have to say I felt like I was in a groove. You know how some nights you're just "on"? Well, this was one of 'em. I must also give Boy some credit, because we actually made the meatballs - as in GRINDED the meat with my new Kitchenaid and attachment (fun!). The 15. Meatballs with Spaghetti called for four kinds of meat, which all required measurement and double grinding. After boy'd cubed the meat and ground it together twice, he mixed it with 16. Dried Breadcrumbs (that I almost burned in the oven!). These were made into 12 huge balls, and stuffed with a cube of fresh mozzarella. That done, I turned my attention to finishing the 17. Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce (made with 18. Sachet) that was meant to accompany the meatballs and spaghetti as the main. Suppose I must come clean that I literally forgot an ingredient and had to improvise. In the end, I'm not sure fennel seeds vs. actual fennel weren't an ok substitute, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be making that sauce again, so will have to get back to you on that one. Assembled it tasted great, though I must admit, I'd failed to remember the one major rule about serving pasta: it gets cold so quickly. By the time it was served and we were eating it, it was warm...well maybe not even. Must must must remember that for next time. Anyhow, here it is, with 19. Fried Oregano Sprigs on top. Of course you can't have spaghetti and meatballs without garlic bread, so I smashed about 6 cloves of garlic, diced some butter and sprinkled some sea salt on a crusty baguette. MMmmmmmm. Hungry yet?

Next up was the 20. Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Red Beet Chips. This one had quite a few steps. I also scorched the veggies a little (the chopped cauliflower, onions, leeks and garlic). I was supposed to have used this parchment paper lid thingy, which is nothing other than a circle of parchment paper with a hole in the middle. Maybe I made the hole too big and too much steam escaped? Eh, who knows. I'll have to do that again at some point, so probably good to make a mistake so I learn from it, right? Anyhow, once I added the cream and pureed it with my amazing hand blender (which is really one of my most favorite kitchen tools), it started really coming together. There's a little bit of curry in this soup that gives it just the right kick and complements the flavor of the cauliflower in a way that wouldn't have occurred to me ever. The fried beet chips and 21. torn croutons just put this over the top. Will definitely make this again as it really was heaven.

Lastly I whipped up some 22. Simple Vinaigrette for the greens I'd bought, really to help balance out the meal more than anything. I've been trying to eat greens, whether they be spinach, mixed lettuces, arugula, you name it, for the past few months and I have to say it's really improved er, digestion and overall really just made me feel better. Especially when I'm eating a big meal. There's no picture of the salad because well, it was just a simple salad.

As if anyone would still be hungry after all this, I quickly whipped up some Lemon Mousse with cream and blackberries. This isn't in the TK book, but I was trying to do something simple and speedy and not super heavy after everything else. It ended up being just the perfect finish to a delicious meal. The recipe? Lemon curd + sweetened whipped cream = Lemon Mousse. It's that easy (and I promise will be impressive to your guests!). Now, this presentation was a little 'simple', but that was kinda the whole theme of the meal, so am not going to make any excuses because the taste was spot on!

Now, including the little breakfast I made the next morning with leftovers. What we have here folks is "Meatball Breakfast Benedict" (don't you love it!). Really, boy would be happy with anything as long as hollandaise sauce smothered it!

Busy Bee

So ladies and gentleman I have been so delinquent in this cooking project because I've been busy caking it up!! That and I was out of town for a weekend. But really, there's been no excuse other than I've just had too much to do to fit in the TK recipes as well. So here's what I've been up to. 
 

First week of February was filled with a slew of birthdays for some lovely ladies with whom I work (who shall remain anonymous for now). I made them a big tall birthday cake with Almond Buttercream, toasted almonds and some raspberry coulis. This pic won't make it on my website because it's not that great, and even though it really was beautiful in person, it didn't photograph well. But it was absolutely DELICIOUS. 

Last Friday (was it only just last weekend? It feels like forever ago already), was KP's birthday. A big one: 3-0. And of course I had to make an extra fabulous cake for this extra fabulous girl. That and, she was having a big party so the whole ordeal was a big to-do (remember, I'm a big fan of to-dos over birthdays!).  Because the almond cake had been such a hit the weekend before (and because TK is a big believer in doing things many many times so you learn vs. just do), I decided to do that one again, but spruce up the exterior a bit. You see, KP is quite the little party animal, so it needed to look a certain way. I call this DISCO FABULOUS 3-0 cake. Isn't it great?! Did the big long sparklers for candles as well (which I learned you can't really 'blow out' per se, you just have to wait for them to fizzle out, oops!). Either way, it was a hit and the b-day girl sent me the most kindest thank you note ever.

So post Disco Fabulous cake, we all shuttled out to a club in mid-town Manhattan. Whoo hoo! And partied like we were all still 23. I got up at 10am to get started on cake-baking part 2 (15 vanilla cupcakes, 15 chocolate cupcakes and a 9" Ruby Red Velvet cake). These were all for a birthday party as well, but for a different kinda crowd (4 yr olds and their parents).  Saturday was a lonnnnngggg day in the kitchen. Add in that I needed to deliver these by 5pm and get my butt out to Brooklyn for a dinner party that started at 6:30pm (wha?? who starts dinner parties at 6:30pm?). Both chocolate and vanilla batters were super runny and I made such a mess in the kitchen. Remembered just before I put the red velvet in the oven that I'd forgot an ingredient, so I had to dump the batter back in the mixing bowl, rinse and regrease my pans and cut. more. parchment. paper. I abhor cutting parchment paper (it is my absolute least favorite part of cake making). Let's just say I'm not sure I was entirely 'there' due to the previous evening's festivities. I finally got all of it done, but was about half an hour late, and had to leave a sink full of dirty dishes (which I hate). Anyhow, I didn't get any pics of the cupcakes, but here's the red velvet (used the same swirl technique I used on Missy's cake in January - am really liking it!). When I delivered it the couple was very excited about the little silver dragees on the dots.

Ok, so now we're in the homestretch of Valentine's dinner (Monday night). Several times I thought about bailing. I couldn't find an inspiring recipe (I decided I was going to go off the beaten TK path), so I settled on one I'd done before and really liked: "Mushroom Gnudi with Truffle Sauce, Pancetta and Fried Sage". I remember this being incredible the first time. But I also remembered I'd made this while drinking LOTS of wine with my friend while doing it. Because I swear this time it turned out differently (not bad, just wasn't the same).  But boy loved it and he gave me chocolates and tickets to the ballet!!!! Am I not the luckiest?? He got a foot massage. As it turns out he's actually quite ticklish, so this was a funny sort of activity. All in all, great valentine's day!

Whew, this blog posting is almost as exhausting as the weekend itself!

Sticky Pans

A big part of my endeavor with this project is to learn precision. I have to tell you I don't think I'm doing so well. I'm just not sure it's in my nature (well, maybe it is with cakes...but even with cakes and baking I don't go overboard). I've had this conversation a few times with little Missy who works for me. A lot of people in the ad business - well, at least account people - are detail-oriented, project machines. I'm not one of those people. I like being able to dip in and out of projects, and I like having a lot going on at all times. This, compared with little Missy who needs to be ALL in, ALL the time. I'm a 70/30 girl myself - meaning, most of the time, I need about 70% of the information available to make a decision and move on. The other 30% is gravy, and I'm not going to spend my energy chasing after it.

So...last night's dinner. I started out by making some 11. Clarified Butter, which, I'll admit, I've made before (shame on me, but hey! it's in the book!). This was made for the 12. Caramelized Sea Scallops that took several more steps than I expected. I've made scallops before and have always wondered why they didn't turn out as yummy as last night's did. First of all, you have to brine them a bit. Scallops taste wonderful on their, own, but who woulda thought 10 minutes in a brine would bring out so much flavor? Yum. Also, I was careful to rinse and dry them on paper towels. People forget to do this step all the time (um, people like me, actually). You want a good sear on them and unless you mop up all that excess moisture, you're going to have soggy scallops. Yuck. Now, here's where the 70/30 principle failed me. Thomas Keller's recipe for Caramelized Sea Scallops takes up 2 large pages - it's a beautiful spread of a recipe, with detailed instructions and pictures. I read the recipe several times, and although I "resisted the temptation of using a non-stick pan", I somehow missed the amount of clarified butter I needed to put in the pan. So, my sear was real good on those scallops, but unfortunately, a lot of it adhered to the bottom of the pan and not my scallops. Damn non-stick pan! And stupid me. Why didn't I just look at the pictures!? I think I got a little cocky. :(

Anyhow, I redeemed myself on the other side (when I flipped them over), thus why the picture below looks pretty darn good. The .13 melted leek rounds was a perfect complement (though I did not use the full amount of butter the recipe called for - those leeks would have been swimming in oil...gross). To round out the meal, I used the rest of my garlic confit to whip up some 14. roasted garlic vinaigrette that dressed some arugula. Topped the salad with some toasted walnuts, sauteed baby portobellas, and gorgonzola. Bon Appetite!

(I should note that Boy had very little to say about the meal. I couldn't help but notice he didn't go back for seconds, which he always does. But I wonder if it's that he doesn't like scallops very much. He mentioned "that feeling" you get on your teeth (I'm at a loss to describe this other than saying it's a little like eating raw spinach with no dressing). Oh well. I thought it was a nice meal.)

Another Birthday Cake!

This one was commissioned by some friends for a double birthday. Love that! The brief was Red Velvet with blue, white and some red. I thought it turned out very nicely and we got some great stock shots for the website (thanks to my photographer boyfriend). Whoo-hoo!

10 down, A LOT more to go

So, listen, I'm just not going to be able to detail out each and every recipe as I do them. Because frankly, I don't think I'm going to have enough interesting content and this project is going to go on all year. However, I will say that I'm done with the first 10 and I'm loving this cookbook. The sweet onion tapenade was INCREDIBLE! I served it on water crackers with some smoked salmon and whipped cream cheese. Boy doesn't even like olives and he liked it - whoohoo!

The tomatoes were a bitch (7. Oven Roasted Tomatoes). First of all, we are in the dead of winter, and there's just no getting around the fact that good tomatoes are scarce, if non-existent. Trouble is, a good handful of these recipes call for the oven-roasted tomatoes, so I'm going to have to make them several more times. Let's hope I do a better job in the future, because I butchered the ones I did last weekend. And, they weren't amazing with the meat (which was quite good on its own, and perhaps didn't need anything except the onions). Oh well. I thought the meat was good (skirt steak), but a little on the greasy side. Keller uses as much if not more butter than Ina Garten (how is that possible??), and these were swimming a bit.

This week, I made dinner for me and the boy on Thursday. I did 8. Herb-crusted rack of lamb with 9. Creamed Spinach made with 10. Mornay Sauce. I am still learning how to make a good sauce, so was excited to try this. The whole dinner was killer, I have to say. The lamb chops set me back $24 for 4 of them, although the fellow at Esposito was kind enough to french them and grind the scraps for some tasty meatballs I'm going to make next week. But they tasted that expensive - wow. The breadcrumbs had minced anchovies and garlic with the herbs and it was just delicious. The creamed spinach was fantastic as well - a perfect complement to the lamb. I also did a risotto but about half way through cooking I realized I had no parmesan. Oops! A dash of truffle oil and some salt made brought it home.
All in all, delicious! (Now, this picture is not so great...I need to work on that).

Birthday Cakes!

Getting my website ready to publish is proving to be more difficult than originally intended (well, aren't these kinds of things always that way??), but meanwhile, cakes are being made! Here are two I did (the same weekend as the wedding cake...whew what a whirlwind that was).

This one is for my Leah (who used to work for me, but is such a rock-star she got promoted into my role when I left my old agency for greener pastures). Leah is one of those people you meet and you feel like you've known your whole life. And when you're in a conversation with her, she is 110% IN (people who live in New York will appreciate this - how often do you find the person you're speaking with you watching, looking, staring at anyone but you!?). Anyhow, it was delish and she was happy!!

And this Ruby Red Velvet, made for Missy (who will remain anonymous for now :) was super fun to make - I'm so glad the swirls on the side held up! I think I might have to try that again it worked out so well... Missy loves Red Velvet, so of course I had to make it for her. :)

Chicken Dinner Americana

As we sat down to our first Ad Hoc meal, Boy asks me "so what cuisine is this exactly"? Good question. The chicken was paillard-style with yellow curry and sweet paprika with a white-wine, shallot and tarragon sauce. Hmmmm. I said, well, I suppose it's American, but maybe with a twist? 

Wikipedia defines "New American" as "combining flavors from America's melting pot with traditional techniques, New American cuisine includes ethnic twists on old standbys, Old World peasant dishes made from luxury American ingredients and molecular gastronomy." Let me reassure everyone that there will be NO molecular gastronomy taking place in my house any time soon. I can't even turn around in my kitchen - there is absolutely no room, even with the fold up table I bring out. Last night we broke a bowl (it had salad dressing I'd just made in it...) because we were just trying to do too damn much in too small a space (ps, a tomato press is an acceptable sub for a food mill but takes up a ton of room). Anyways...the kitchen size is not going to change. More about that in a bit.

So I have to say I was very pleased with the way things turned out. The three recipes I tried (Chicken with Tarragon, Puree of Garlic Potatoes and Garlic Confit) were the perfect first recipes to try out of this book on this cold winter night. I'm not a huge curry (which I associate primarily with Indian food) person...this is something I'm trying to be open to because I really want to like it. But I didn't grow up with it, and well, I think a lot of it smells like BO. I know, I know. I'm working on it. Anyways, I have to say that all of these flavors just came together so beautifully. And I didn't overcook my chicken (easy to do when it's that thin) and the pan sauce came out fantastic...oh I do love white wine sauces. I'm trying to pay attention to the heat of my pan when I load things in, the temperature of ingredients when they come together, the balance of acid to fat. This exercise I call being mindful in the kitchen. I'm secretly hoping this will transfer to other areas of my life, as I've heard does happen for a lot of chefs once they get it down. I am about the clumsiest person you'll ever meet - I have the bruises on my hips and legs to prove it! - so maybe being more "mindful" will help me also be more cognizant of my surroundings :)

The garlic confit and potatoes were soooo good. Thanks to Boy for putting that tomato press to work and for praising my efforts: "these are the best mashed potatoes I've ever had". Ahhh, music to my ears. Do I think they could have been better? Depends on how you (or I) qualify "better". They could have been richer, for sure. But I think something else I should learn through this is not to cloud or mask flavors. I have a tendency to overdo things and before I know it, I've killed a dish with too many ingredients, garnishes, seasonings, you name it. I want to learn to sharpen my palate and to let dishes be what they're meant to be. And sometimes this requires shockingly simple preparation...so I have to learn to stop myself.

Another word about the kitchen. I'm in it for another year, so I better make the most of it. This means I think I need to rearrange some things to make them a little more accessible. I think it's time for a trip to the home depot and container store.

So here is dinner - with a green salad mixed with a champagne & green tobasco vinaigrette I made up on the spot, which was quite good!: