Working From Home - Friday Tagging

Beset by a migraine, I am in a dark room in my house instead of the bright office. This has not prevented me from doing the minute tasks that fill the ends of weeks, nor will it prevent me from the Friday tag wrap-up.

Pistachio Gelato - There's nothing like reading a post that forces you to scour the internet to then buy a product from a website in a language you don't understand, prompting you to ask a co-worker who then reads every word aloud to you. Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't counting the moments until my Bronte pistachio cream arrived. Thank you, David.

Lavender Creme Brulee - I don't know why I bookmarked this since I own the Dorie Greenspan book. Perhaps it was to remind myself to investigate it more.

Apricot Jam - The season is over here, but I stored some already halved apricots in the freezer for jam. I thought the photos were beautiful, though, and have to seriously reevaluate the light in my kitchen if I want to continue posting my own.

Honey Ricotta Napoleons - One of the reasons for wedging a chest freezer into a New York City apartment was so that things like veal stock and puff pastry could be made and kept. Sadly, I bought the freezer during summer when I had little desire to make either. With autumn approaching (drat), perhaps its time to utilize said freezer.

Tomato Paella - Ok, so it has no meat, which will require a little convincing for the man of the house (who, yes, I know, should shut up and be thankful someone cooks for him), but this does look tasty, and I do buy too many tomatoes every week.

Tiramisu Ice Cream - There has been mascarpone in my fridge for several weeks, as I was planning on making cheesecake. Perhaps I should give up the fight and turn it into yet more ice cream.

I am gong to try and jam my plums this weekend, so stay tuned!

Slow week Friday tagging

I am devoting my Saturday and Sunday to the beach. The weather looks to be gorgeous and I know there will be precious few more days to bronze myself for the pale months to come. However, in order to avoid the crushing traffic I anticipate on Monday, I will stay closer to home, and closer to my kitchen (though my mother and I were promised a personal shopping experience at the greenmarket were we to show up on Monday).

I'm definitely going to make my belated attempt at daring bakitude, I need to jam my sugarplums, and I a friend's birthday is on Tuesday, so I think I'll be whipping something up (and just now as I wrote that the final idea presented itself - yippee!). But there are some things from this week's tagging that might also find their way into the agenda (I'm looking at you plum crumble).

Caramelized Tomatoes on Gnocchi - this looks like a great dinner I could even whip up on Sunday night or something. It will necessitate another trip to the market this afternoon to supplement my tomato stocks, but I like a good gnocchi as much as the next girl.

Grilled Merguez with Prune Chutney - I do have a lot of plums hanging around - I just wish the chutney would last longer. Do you think it would freeze? The merguez is a little more difficult to source as I've only ever found it at the market on Saturday, and I hate going to the market on Saturdays (especially when it interferes with waning beach time), so maybe I'll make the chutney, experiment with freezing it, and pick a rainy Saturday to find the sausage.

Plum Crumble - The man of the house is a big defender of crumble. It is the primary bargaining tool I have when looking up at him with my puppy dog eyes and suggesting a full day of apple picking. He's not the biggest of plum fans, but perhaps the crumble will sway him.

Apricot Chestnut Tart Tatin - I have halved and frozen the last of the Red Jacket apricots. I don't see how this recipe would suffer by using the frozen fruit and I'm always looking for something to do with my chestnut flour (when I'm not being overly ambitious and making chestnut fettuccine or something like that). If I do decide to use the frozen apricots, I can hold off on this recipe for a bit.

Strawberry Dessert Quartet - No recipes here, but it's gorgeous. I don't have a lot of interest in eating dinner at Jean Georges (I've heard from trusted sources that it could be better), but now I want to go for dessert and have this (it will somehow make all the times his people have beaten me to the market for strawberries seem, if not ok, then barely tolerable).

For someone who's iffy on tagging

I surely seem to do it a lot.

Nectarine Upside-Down Cake: So much stone fruit, so little time. I might wait until I have yellow nectarines. The white ones I bought this week are a little too sweet without enough tang to sustain a good cake.

Mirabelle Plum and Pistachio Tart: I haven't seen Mirabelles at the market, but I think greengage plums would work just as well.

Spicy Corn Fritters: Mmm...with grilled flank steak and a tall glass of lemonade. How I do love summer.

Prickly Pear Sorbet: Does anyone know where I can buy a prickly pear? I tried the Prickly Pear puree from Perfect Purees but thought they added way too much sugar. Also, they are so much more expensive than the Boiron purees that I'm sort of boycotting on principle - their purees aren't organic, just expensive.

Plum Galette: Making this this afternoon with Wednesday's elephant plums.

Apricot and Olive Oil Crust Tart: I needed this recipe three weeks ago at the height of apricot season. Ah well, filed away for next year.

Some Wines: I am especially interested to try the Saumur-Champigny as I really love the Roches-Neuves version.

Yellow Gazpacho: Because I too am a sucker for the grilled cheese and tomato soup at Bouchon Bakery.

Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes in Oil: I buy way too many tomatoes for this not to be useful. Now I just need more mason jars.

Five Minute Tomato Sauce: So useful. I hate the idea that if I read a recipe that calls for tomato sauce I'm generally shit out of luck.

Friday Tag-Tacular

I may have gone a little overboard at the market this morning, but it was the last day for apricots and possibly sour cherries too (though I was promised greengage plums next week). I bought short ribs for a braised short rib ravioli. But while I defrost my ribs and wonder what the rest of the produce will be used for, enjoy the week I tagged.

Apricot Tart Brulee: Since I went overboard (again) on apricots, they will have to go somewhere. This will also enable me to finally unpack my butane torch and frighten the man of the house.

Summer Berry Pudding: I'll admit, there's something slightly odd about summer puddings to me that isn't odd about bread pudding. Perhaps it's that so many summer puddings call for wonder bread, which is gross. I might try this recipe if I baked a brioche to use as the bread. But it was beautiful.

Cream Cheese Brownies: Again, this is not something I would usually make (or like). I have never gotten really into cream cheese brownies, but I believe in trying things again.

Chocolate Pistachio Cake: Chocolate and pistachios, on the other hand, are never far from my mind. This preparation might take a back seat to an Herme recipe I've been drooling over - one that would certainly necessitate some new pistachios. Details to come...

Dulce de Leche Brioche Buns: Hmmmm... perhaps these would go with the summer berry pudding.

Lemon Bars: No, not yet, not citrus already! I banish this recipe to the recesses of my mind until California citrus arrives in four months.

Good value red wine: I love this site; I hate that his favorite wine store is really really inconvenient. Perhaps on the way back from the beach, we'll take the Holland Tunnel instead and stop by.

More Yummy Paris: Stupid waiting till February to go back to Paris. I've been to several of these places before, and I must admit, I was disappointed by L'Etoile D'Or on my last visit (though I did try a hemp flavored chocolate - a little ick). But I need to start fantasizing about my return in 2008, and this is a good place to start.

Chickpea Ragout: Ok. This looks amazing. The man of the house is a staunch supporter of meals involving meat, but he did like Morocco, and this has that North African vibe going on, and everyone loves fried eggs.

Pappa al Pomodoro: I buy too many tomatoes in addition to too many apricots (oh god, I just remembered the 3 pounds of peaches I purchased), so this will become Sunday dinner.

Chocolate Torte: Simple, elegant, delicious looking. I have a favorite flourless chocolate cake, but this early flourless one looks eminently worthy of duplication.

Lavender Jam: Don't know if I'll like it, but I know I'll try it.

More carnage in the kitchen

I often lament that certain delicious things look like chunder when photographed, which is why there will be no picture of the apricot and strawberry clafoutis I threw together last night. Suffice it to say, it would be difficult for such a simple recipe, using such ripe sweet fruit, to produce an untasty result. The apricots overpowered the strawberries a little, but the bites in which both fruits were included were stupendous. I served it to myself with a scoop of the aforementioned apricot ice cream (which could be creamier actually - more fat next time to combat the liquidity of the pulped apricots) and to my more conservative partner in crime with a scoop of his preferred Philadelphia-style vanilla.

Please forgive the imprecision in the following recipe adapted from Julia Child's Cherry Clafoutis recipe (adaptation also responsible for non-metric measurements):

1/3 c. + 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 c. whole milk
3 large eggs
1 tsp. (or so) pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
12ish apricots
1 pint strawberries
butter for greasing the pan

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter your oven-safe pan (I used a loaf pan which is a mistake as the cooking time is greatly extended due to the depth of the pan, use something a little shallower). In a blender, or bowl, using a handheld blender, combine the flour, 1/3 c. sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla and salt until smooth and without lumps. Pour enough of the batter into the pan to have an even 1/4 inch on the bottom. Cook until a skin has formed.

Remove pan from oven and add the fruit (chopped into whatever you consider a bite-sized piece) sprinkling the 1/4 c. of sugar over it. Add the rest of the battr and return to the oven. In a shallow pan, check after 40 minutes, though expect to wait up to an hour. If using a loaf pan like me because you like leaving your oven running, expect to wait two hours and then pull it out before it's done anyway. The clafoutis is done when a knife comes out without dripping hot raw batter.

The Death of 18 Apricots

I could not keep you all. As plump and juicy and ambrosial as you were, I bought far too many of you. And my weekly Wednesday foray to 14th street fast approaches. I hope you know that I do you great honor, though as you were mashed and cooked and churned you may not have felt it.




Your freshness carried over and your final resting place (or penultimate resting place as soon you will descend into my stomach) is nothing short of evocative. My only regret is that I couldn't scoop you as beautifully as you deserved, even though I ran the scoop under hot water.



Thank you as well to David Lebovitz and the Perfect Scoop for reminding me of the importance of that soupcon of almond extract.

Weekly Wrap-up: What I Tagged This Week

I haven't been sold on the idea of tagging yet. I know people swear by it, but after being an early adopter in my teens and twenties, I'm starting to find myself tired by all the next big things. But, several months ago, at the tail end of the tagging revolution (does anyone know if it has jumped the shark yet?), I dutifully signed up for del.icio.us and started tagging.

Here's the thing, I don't like that my Ice Cream tag is Icecream and that there is no real taxonomy built in (though those in the know have explained that taxonomy and tagging are enemies in a steel cage matchup reminiscent of Spartacus vs. Mothra), but it lets me look back on the things I want to make and the wines I want to try, and for that I'm grateful (though I will be more grateful when next generation tagging emerges with greater functionality).

So here is the week that was:

Guacamole Deviled Eggs: My mouth is having a little difficulty imagining this, but it does like eggs and it does like guacamole. Now I just need an excuse to feed these to others as I'm not quite sure I'd like them halfway through my day on the beach.

Walnut Cakes: I find that my food processor, wonderful though it is, is not quite up to the task of thoroughly pulverizing nuts. This gives my macarons a bit of a speckly look and mouthfeel and I'm going to have to throw in the towel and buy things like pistachio flour and simply look away as the bill is calculated. This recipe seems not to mind the coarse nature of my chopping abilities. I'm thinking it would be lovely to serve it with the Walnut Ice Cream and perhaps a sour cherry compote.

Pear and Hazelnut Bread Pudding: I like pears as much as the next person, perhaps even more, but I am saddened by their recent appearance in recipes. My cup runneth over with every kind of fleeting summer fruit imaginable, and I just can't bring myself to think about apples and pears and the autumn they bring - an autumn bereft of peaches and plums and berries. Still, this looked really good so I'll spirit it away until October beckons.

Homemade Vanilla Extract: Since Clothilde mentioned the vanilla beans available directly from Mayotte, I must confess I've been using very little vanilla extract and instead heaping vanilla beans into my confections - they're too cheap not to use. Still, I have tons of empty pods in ziploc bags. Yes, I've already chopped many up and infused granulated, superfine, and confectioner's sugar with them, as well as some sea salt, but there are so many more pods to dispose of. I'm thinking that if I use a ton of pods in this preparation, it won't matter if the beans themselves have already found their way, by myriad paths, to my belly.

Homemade Flavored Salts: Did I just mention the vanilla sea salt? It must have been on my mind when I perused this. I'm trying to decide what flavor I'd like to make first. I'm thinking cardamom or star anise.

Duck Egg al Tegamino: I almost never go to the Union Square market on Saturdays. It is a madhouse. It is also a time when tons more meat purveyors set up shop and when one can get fun eggs (which someone left out at room temperature a little too long and found herself with something very nearing a true abomination). So another Saturday trip is in order.

Chocolate and Cinnamon Ice Cream: I have made chocolate ice cream a hundred different ways, and am sure I could merely add cinnamon to one of my favorites, but I think ice cream benefits from as many different preparations as possible - this one uses many fewer eggs than I would ordinarily - so I'll give it a whirl this weekend (oh crap, and the apricot ice cream, and the blueberry, and the nectarine sorbet - crap crap crap).

Truffle Sandwich Cookies: I won't be using white chocolate ganache because, well, there are things I love more. I'm thinking a dark chocolate and fig ganache, mostly because when I just went outside I saw the street fruit hawkers had figs, and now I'm looking for places to get good ones.

Tomato Confiture: This site is in French, but considering I am 230 pages through Les Bienveillantes and have been working my way through ph10, I'm less intimidated by it than I might have been a year ago. I know tomato season, though just truly getting underway, will end, but before it does, I will swipe bags of the juicy things and preserve them as many ways as I can imagine.

Apricot Granita: Someone else has my problem: "Food waste is inevitable in my fridge. My seasonal affairs with cherries, peaches, tomatoes, anything juicy and ripe, begins with lustful savoring. Best when they're naked and ungussied. Then, it ends with forgetfulness and the shame of neglect until they rot and get chucked into the garbage can when the next weekly, more appealing batch arrives." Ugh - I know exactly what you mean. I have Nicole's strawberries from this week and last week and Red Jacket apricots from this week and last week - I smell clafoutis, ice cream, and free form tart (or juice - sweet, freezable juice).