Happy Pi Day!

Pie for Pi Day, the geekiest holiday I can think of.

Cheated on this one a bit by buying Pillsbury pie crusts (the kind you unroll and use however you want, not the pre-formed kind), but made the filling from scratch with a mix of fresh granny smith apples and red anjou pears, some of my homemade applesauce from last fall, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a bit of ginger and clove. Baked according to the instructions in my William-Sonoma Essentials of Baking book, it came out perfectly golden brown and bubbly (as you can see). Was reportedly delicious, though I didn't have any myself - my coworkers demolished it before I could get myself a slice.

I was going for simple on this one because I was trying to watch the Rangers win a road game at the same time, and I knew I'd just be bringing it into work the next day. However, J still wants pie, and frankly so do I, and so I'm thinking of challenging myself a bit later to make a lemon coconut meringue pie for our own Pi Day celebration. Guess we'll see how that goes - I'll update this post with Pi Day pie number two should it come out well.

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EDIT 03/15/09



Ta da! My first ever lemon meringue pie, with coconut-scented meringue and shredded coconut toping both the curd and the meringue. It was perfect, lemony and not too sweet with just the right amount of aromatic coconut, and perfectly firm and sliceable thanks to a tip I picked up from this recipe on allrecipes.com: thicken the curd with cornstarch and flour to help it set up into a stable layer after baking and refrigeration. I never would have thought of that on my own, but in retrospect it makes perfect sense. This technique will save my future attempts at lemon squares, which I've always more-or-less failed at, and may make possible an original recipe which also failed the first time around... once I have a chance to try it, I will be sure to share, but for now its my secret. *wink*

Have you ever made pie for Pi Day?

Barefoot Bloggers: Meringues Chantilly

I'm a couple of days late on February's second challenge for the Barefoot Bloggers, but to tell the truth I think I might have been even more late if this dessert hadn't turned out so spectacularly well - I just couldn't wait to tell you all about it!

Ina's Meringues Chantilly, chosen by BMK of Reservations Not Required, are composed of a simple vanilla meringue base topped with orange-scented whipped cream and stewed mixed berries. Certainly a lovely combination on their own. But in my part of the world, its still winter, and not only are berries not exactly at their best right now, but I'm in desperate need of food that evokes memories of warmer weather if I'm going to make it to spring without a serious case of cabin fever. So, I opted to take a more tropical approach to this dish, and man oh man did it work.



I followed Ina's directions for the meringues (which, from past experience and a lot of research, could use some clarification in parts - there's an awful lot of subtlety involved when making meringues, and her recipe as-written doesn't address a lot of the more common tips and tricks and pitfall advice that I've seen in more thorough recipes) though I only made a half batch. For flavoring, I replaced the vanilla extract with coconut and ground up a 1/4 cup of Just Tomatoes brand dried mangoes in my coffee grinder to mix with the sugar that would be added to the egg whites.

If you've never had Just Tomatoes dried fruit, I really recommend checking them out - these aren't soft, chewy dried fruit like you normally find in the grocery store. They're crisp and crunchy with no moisture left in them at all, with an intense fruit flavor that you just can't get otherwise. (If you've ever had Special K Red Berries, think about what the strawberries are like - that's basically what these are.) They can be eaten out of hand or added whole to other things (cereal, yogurt, oatmeal, or baked goods come to mind) but what I'm starting to experiment with is grinding them up to make intense fruit powders. Imagine mixing dried raspberry powder with ground coriander and ginger to make a spice rub for pork, or shaking up some strawberry powder with aged balsamic and olive oil for a super smooth and flavorful salad dressing, or stirring some peach powder into white chocolate ganache for truffles. The possibilities for applications are endless, especially considering the variety of fruits and even vegetables on offer from the company. Don't get scared off by the price - the potential for unique and creative recipes is endless.



The ground mangoes were absolutely perfect here - after the meringues had their long slow bake and even longer drying time in the oven, the mango flavor had intensified and bloomed, yielding a crispy airy bite with the unmistakable sweet-tart flavor of mango and a subtle aromatic whiff of coconut underneath. Some of my meringues came out a bit chewy in the middle, which I think was partially caused by a slightly truncated bake time (forgot to set my oven timer at first and had to guess to make up the time) and some difficulty whipping the egg whites to their proper soft peaks. I really think that Ina has you add the sugar too early, and that the use of regular granulated sugar was a mistake - it was too heavy and weighted down the meringue so that no matter how long I beat it, it never got quite stiff enough. That's why my meringues didn't come out with those nice ridges as well, despite being piped with a star tip - once they hit the heat, they couldn't hold their shape (though at least they didn't spread much).

No matter, the flavor was perfect and that's the post important thing, especially since they would just soften up later anyway under the fruit and cream toppings.



To go along with my tropical mango meringue shells, I decided to make a pair of fruit toppings: a very simple blackberry sauce made with a half-pint of blackberries (the only kind that looked good at the store), a bit of white sugar, some lemon juice and lime zest; and a fresh mango salsa dressed with lime juice, brown sugar, and some fresh basil and mint cut in a chiffonade. The whipped cream topping also got a hit of lime zest and a tiny splash of coconut extract to bring the whole thing full circle.

I assembled them as per Ina's instructions - a dollop of blackberry sauce on the plate, spread out a bit so it'd peak out beneath the meringue that was set on top of it. Top the meringue shell with a dollop of whipped cream, then a big spoonful of the mango salsa and another drizzle of the blackberry sauce. Finish with a small spoonful of whipped cream and some fresh mint, and dessert is served.



This, people, was the best dessert I have ever made in my life. I'm calling this restaurant-worthy.

The combination of flavors was exactly what I wanted, tropical and summery and reminiscent of a hot day in the Virgin Islands, with a nice balance of sweet and tart, verdant herbs and bright citrus, aromatic fruit and creamy dairy. The interplay of textures was exciting - slightly crisp meringue becoming chewy and toothsome under the fruit and cream, tender sweet morsels of mango, smooth cool whipped cream, slightly crunchy seeds in the blackberry sauce. Totally perfect. I do think it tended a bit too much to the sweet side of things, which I would remedy next time by cutting down on the sugar in the meringues, the blackberry sauce, and the cream. The mango in the salsa was also a bit underripe so it wasn't as soft and juicy and intense as it would be in the summer. But even with those small shortcomings, this was excellent. Mouthwatering. Craveable. Totally deserving of a spot at the end of a fancy dinner party, or as a regular offering on a restaurant menu. Honestly, it's THAT good.

And I get to have it again tonight.

I love my life.

Halloween!

So I have to apologize for disappearing a bit recently - I felt like I was sort of on a roll with posting regularly and all, but things sort of got off track for awhile.

There are good reasons for this. To begin with, I was sick with some as-yet-undefined infection somewhere in my head for about two weeks, which left me dizzy and light-headed and wanting to do nothing but perform my best imitation of a lump on the couch. The last thing I felt like doing was photographing our meals and then writing about them. Of course this was almost a moot point anyway, because for those same two weeks or so we were basically on a liquid diet, eating nothing but soup, in an attempt to eat a bit more cheaply and healthily for awhile. Everything we made was quite tasty, but little of it felt blog-worthy. (Though our last meal in the Great Soup Extravaganza of 2008 was actually extremely good and quite pretty, so that's high on my list of to-blog meals right now.)

Then, there was work, which has been kicking my rear for about a month now. My staff and I just launched a major marketing campaign this past week, and the days leading up to D-Day were crazy-busy, to put it lightly. And as I'm sure many of you can understand, after days like that its all I can do to help J with a simple meal and then veg for the rest of the night.

However, I'm finally feeling better, we're back to a semi-normal cooking routine, and I think I'm through the worst at work, for now anyway, so I'm ready to start posting again. I've got a couple of things lined up, and with this month's Barefoot Bloggers recipes on their way and Thanksgiving just around the corner, I think there will be plenty to talk about in the coming weeks.

Right now, though, I'd like to tell you about our Halloween party.

Throwing parties is something that J and I seem to excel in, if you'll pardon my boasting. We love to entertain, and have parties at least 4 or 5 times a year for various occasions (holidays, birthdays, etc.) We plan a bunch of finger foods and appetizers to serve, ask our friends to bring beverages (usually beer, and soda for non-drinkers), put together a playlist on iTunes, and voila! Instant party.

Well, not exactly instant - our parties usually require at least a week of gradual prep-work since they are always so food-centric. But its work we enjoy, and its fun seeing a party slowly come together in the days leading up to the event.

Halloween is probably the one occasion that, among our group of friends, absolutely REQUIRES a party. Its a tradition that started five years ago, when I was living in Queens with three friends after my graduation from college. I think it was the first party we threw together, and it was such a phenomenal success that we've just kept it going ever since. Its the one party that everyone really loves because they get to dress up in costume and be a little uninhibited for awhile, and I think I can say with some degree of certainty that people especially love coming to our house because of the food.

That being said, although I don't feel like we made any more food this year than we normally do, we had a LOT of leftovers afterwards. For some reason, people just weren't eating as much as they normally do. We did try a different layout of our apartment for the party and arranged the food tables a bit differently than normal, so maybe we screwed something up there. Regardless though, we got nothing but compliments on everything.

If you'd like the recipe for any of these munchies, just request it in the comments and I'll be sure to add it to the post. And my apologies if some of these photos are a bit dark or oddly colored - it being Halloween and all, the lighting in the apartment was rather dim and atmospheric, which may be appropriate for a party but doesn't make for good photography.



The hot food table. This was a new development for this party, because I finally bit the bullet and bought one of these buffet-style chafing dishes, and we needed to setup an extra table in order to have room for everything.



Test tube soup shooters. Half are butternut squash, and half are roasted red pepper and tomato. I hate to admit that I got the idea for this from Rachel Ray but, well, I did. And its ok, because I thought they were terribly cute (and the soup, though mostly ignored by our guests, was tasty too). Plus, now we have test tubes to use for custom shots at future parties. I'm rather tickled by this possibility.

And yes, thats a big bowl of marinara in the foreground, which was the accompaniment for...



...bloody bones! A.k.a. shaped breadsticks made with herbed pizza dough, and marinara dipping sauce. Got this idea from some random Halloween recipes website, and used some pizza dough I'd kept in the freezer from one of our grilled pizza experiments. J made the marinara because he's the resident expert. These led to much hilarity as I beatedly realized that once you bite an end off, they end up looking rather more than a little suggestive. Oops!



In front, mummy dogs (pigs-in-a-blanket made by wrapping strips of dough around each cocktail weenie rather than rolling them in crescent rolls) and a handful of herbed pretzels made with the excess dough for the piggies. In back, our famous Asian meatballs with sweet sesame glaze. I think these were one of the first recipes we developed all on our own and served at a party, with J creating the meatballs and me creating the glaze, way back when we first moved in together. We've been making them for almost every party ever since because people just go nuts over them. Oddly enough, we ended up having quite a few extra at the end of the party, but since J made almost 5 dozen of them I guess that's not really that surprising.



Cold food table number 1. There was a simple vodka punch in the cauldron (we fit a punch bowl inside for a pretty neat fakeout effect) made with two 2L bottles of sprite, lemon and mango sorbets, and 2/3 of a bottle of Stoli citrus - this stuff is sweet and hardly tastes alcoholic, so drinkers beware! Its very easy to have a few too many glasses and suddenly realize you cant quite walk a straight line. Needless to say, it disappeared.

In the foreground are some mini pumpkin spice muffins, and my good friend Cristen's signature dark chocolate truffles, made this time around with caramel ganache and fleur de sel. I always ask her to bring truffles to our parties - she's brilliant with them and, well, I'm chocolate-challenged and have yet to make anything even resembling a decent batch.



Also on this table, a plate of antipasto - an olive mix and some marinated mushrooms from Iavarone (I absolutely drool over their mushrooms - I buy containers of them on an almost weekly basis just to snack on), some quick-marinated artichoke hearts that I made that day (in the back of the photo where you can't really see them), store-bought dill cornichons and some of my home-pickled bread and butter slices. Remind me to share the recipe for those at a later date - they are the best I've ever made and, according to J and several of our guests, the best they'd ever tasted. In the middle is a bowl of toasted pumpkin seeds, salvaged from the pumpkins I carved the night before. I followed Elise's method on Simply Recipes and found they came out far better than the ones I remember my mom making as a kid. They disappeared like crazy, so its a good thing I kept some back for myself for later!



Cold food table number 2, offering massive plates of cured sausage and cheese and vegetable crudite, a pate selection, and some sweets (including the requisite dish piled with Halloween candy). The sausage and cheese plate had 4 varieties of each: Iavarone's sweet soppresetta, hard salami, chorizo picante, and smoked andouille for the sausage; aged gouda, emmenthaler, sharp cheddar, and Prima Donna for the cheese. I made the little signs because the selection was a little unusual and I wanted to be sure people knew what they were eating. The crudite plate included grape tomatoes, broccoli florets, baby carrots, zucchini batons, red pepper slices, and celery sticks, and were paired with an easy homemade dip with lemon, dill, and garlic. We had the most leftovers from these two plates - luckily they were easily put to use in our meals the following week. I guess maybe we just got a little too complicated with them?



A selection of pates that we ordered from D'Artagnan and which, I'm sorry to say, we found a bit disappointing. Our previous experiences with pates have been mind-blowingly delicious, life-changing revelations of savory flavor and aroma, and these seemed bland in comparison. I guess maybe the ones we've had the pleasure of sampling in the past were just especially prime specimens, but D'Artagnan has such a good reputation I was really expecting something more. Unsurprisingly, very little of this was eaten, and we still have a lot left which I don't know how to use. They were paired with some whole grain crackers and crostini made from sourdough baguettes cut into 1/2" slices on the bias and toasted under the broiler with a generous brushing of olive oil an a sprinkling of kosher salt and fresh-cracked pepper.



Bite-sized sugar cookie cutouts glazed with colored royal icing. I am rather in love with these little cookies, despite the amount of time it took to make them. Have you ever tried to frost 6 dozen tiny cookies? Its a lot of work. We still have some left and I've been having a couple for dessert every day - they're just sugary enough with a fragrant touch of almond extract, and the perfect size for a little sweet ending to a meal.



I know, not food. But, this is the first jack-o-lantern I've made in probably 4 years, and I was awfully proud of it. I can't figure out if he looks cheerful or menacing!

And just for fun, here's the group before everyone got tired of wearing their costumes and changed into street clothes.



Is it weird that I think this is the best picture taken of me in ages? And fyi, that's J in the background in the Guy Fawkes mask. He made a good V, but I'm really creeped out by masks so I'm glad he didn't keep it on long. (And I am still amazed by Cristen's geisha costume. She looked incredible!)

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

The easiest way to share a pie...

...is to make multiple pies in miniature!



One of the biggest challenges of cooking for two, for me anyway, has been finding ways to experiment with desserts and baked goods. Most people I know would just bake a cake if they felt so inclined, then just keep it around and gradually eat it over the course of a few days or a week. But, truth be told, neither J nor I have ever had a particularly strong sweet tooth, and although we enjoy having dessert once in awhile we tend to lose interest and let things go to waste if we have a lot of a single thing sitting around. And since we've been making a concerted effort to improve our eating habits over the past year and a half or so, even if I were able to produce some fantastic sweet treat that we could both eat forever without getting sick of it, we wouldn't allow ourselves the indulgence.

Of course this doesn't stop me from baking on a relatively regular basis, and both of our workplaces have gotten rather spoiled from being gifted with our leftovers (apparently I have something of a reputation at J's office, and anything he brings in disappears in half an hour, tops). This is particularly easy to do when it comes to things like muffins, quickbreads, biscuits and scones, and even yeasted breads, as they can all travel well and can be either baked in individual-sized portions or divided with ease. These types of things have made up the vast bulk of my baking experiments for nearly three years.

But, there's so many other things I want to try! I'll always love making muffins but sometimes, I just want to do something different and challenge myself a bit. But the additional challenge is always finding a way for J and I to enjoy something new, without ending up drowning in custard and buttercream for a week.

My favorite solution to this problem is to bake in miniature.

Now, I have a particular fondness for all things tiny, so I don't mind much that miniaturizing regular desserts almost always creates twice as much work. Some folks would balk at that, and understandably so, I think - making these itty-bitty apple pies took me a LONG time last weekend, and there are a lot of other things I could have done with that time. But the finished result was absolutely worth it: buttery, flaky, peppery crust filled with sweetly spiced diced apples and topped with decorative pie-crust cutouts, each one just the right size for a single diner's after-dinner sugar fix. J and I were each able to have one the day I made them, and the rest were packed away in tupperware and carried into the office the next morning, to be devoured by my coworkers before 10am. I consider those hours in the kitchen to be time well spent.

Of course, I ended up making too much apple filling, and had to use it up by (you guessed it) baking muffins. I think I'll just have to accept eventually that my destiny lies in a muffin tin.



Miniature Apple Pies

I made these pies using the excess half-batch of dough made for this weeks Barefoot Bloggers challenge, to which I had added a generous amount of kosher salt and black pepper, so my crust was savory rather than sweet. However, I very much enjoy the interplay of savory and sweet in a dessert, probably because my tolerance for sugar is a little on the low side, so I actually thought the crust was perfect for this. You can, of course, use your favorite pie crust recipe, or use store-bought. I promise to look the other way if you do.

Also, as I said, I had way too much pie filing when I made these, so I'm guesstimating on how much you'll ACTUALLY need. I'd recommend making extra though, just to be safe, because there will always be uses for sugared and spiced apples. Put them on yogurt, or in some oatmeal, or just eat them straight out of the bowl. Or, you know. Make some muffins.

Pie Crust Dough (you'll need about the same amount that you'd use for a single-crust pie, whether its homemade or store-bought)
2 medium-sized baking apples (granny smiths are common, but I used a couple of massive sweet Mutsus that we'd picked ourselves a couple weeks ago)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray the cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick baking spray (I'm a big fan of Pam For Baking, myself) or butter and flour them.



Peel and core the apples and cut into a small dice, somewhere between 1/2" and 1/4". Place in a bowl with the lemon juice, brown sugar, and dry spices. Stir to coat every piece of apple with the sugar and spice mixture, then set aside to macerate while you prep the dough.



Roll our your pie dough so that its slightly less than 1/4" thick. Using a round cookie cutter thats slightly bigger in diameter than the muffin cups, cut out 12 rounds of pie dough. Collect the scraps and reroll if necessary.

At this point, if you'd like to decorate your finished pies with crust cutouts, roll out whats left of your scrap and use miniature cookie cutters to make itty bitty crust cookies (or, freehand it with a sharp knife). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place them an inch or two apart. They can be baked as-is or brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with sugar for a crunchy sweet topping (this is what I did). I recommend turbinado sugar.

Now here is the slightly tricky part. Carefully lift each round of dough and place into one of the cups of the muffin tin, and use your fingers to very gently press it into the bottom of the cup, making sure its flush to the bottom and sides with no air bubbles but not tearing it. You may need to work the dough further up the sides of the cups by pressing it upwards with your fingers. I won't lie, this is a fiddly bit of work and its very easy to end up with holes. The good news is that its easy enough to patch those holes by tearing off little bits of dough from your inevitable pile of scrap and just pressing them into the crusts to seal. Just be sure that you do patch any holes that appear, or you'll have pie filling running all over the place when the pies are baked.



Once all your little dough rounds are in and you have a tray full of mini pre-pies, take a fork and prick the crusts all over to allow steam to escape - this is called "docking" and will prevent bubbles from forming in the crust when you parbake it. But don't worry, these holes won't be big enough to cause filling-leakage.

Slide the muffin tin (and the baking sheet with your cutouts, if you made them) into the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, until the crusts are just starting to crisp up and take on some golden brown color - this will prevent them from getting soggy bottoms when they're baked with the filling. Remove from the oven and set the baking sheet with the cutouts aside to cool. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of apple filling into each crust (or more, if necessary - you want the filling to be rather mounded, as it will cook down and become more compact after it bakes, so if you need to go back and add a bit more to each one after filling them all, go ahead). Spoon any syrup that's collected at the bottom of the bowl over the pies for a little extra moisture and flavor.



Return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, until the filling is hot and bubbling and the edges of the crusts are a nice rich golden brown. Remove from the oven and let stand in the muffin tin for a moment to cool - now would be a good time to add the crust cut-outs, so that they'll stick while the filling is still warm and gooey. Then remove the pies to a wire rack to cool completely. Or, eat immediately, if you're so inclined. Mmmmm, warm-from-the-oven apple pie.



Remember, these are designed specifically for sharing, so spread the love! Give some to a neighbor or invite some friends over, or just do what I did and bring them into work. I guarantee, people will love you.

Optional: If the pie-crust cutouts are a little too fussy for you, you could bake the pies "naked" or make a streusel topping from some cold butter, flour, brown sugar, and oats if you like them. Just top the pies with streusel when you fill them, and they'll bake up with a sweet and crunchy topping that everyone will love. I do not, however, recommend actually making these double-crust pies - in their diminutive size, the ratio of crust to filling would be way off.

Poor Man's Surf-n-Turf (+dessert!)

I think the classic surf and turf dinner consists of filet mignon and lobster tail - delicious, I'm sure, but a little rich for us right now. Besides, with my food allergies, its entirely possible that I can't eat lobster at all. I don't actually know, I've been too scared to find out. I know, I know, I'm a wuss. Shut up.

Anyway, this is our significantly-cheaper version of the classic, because even if we can't afford filet and lobster we just can't resist the perfect pairing of tender, beefy steak with delicate, moist shellfish. And when you don't even have to go out for dinner for a great steakhouse meal, well, why would you ever want to?

That being said... well, honestly, this just didn't come out that good. It sounded great in theory, and I think if we'd thought a little more about execution it probably would have been. As it is, the steak was tasty but slightly overcooked and light on the seasonings, and the shrimp were WAY overcooked, so dry and rubbery I honestly couldn't bring myself to finish them. I can't even remember the last time we overcooked shrimp, let alone overcooked them THIS badly. How embarrassing.

It certainly looks good, doesn't it? Sigh.

It wasn't a total failure, because the steak itself WAS quite beefy and plenty juicy, and I think the seasoning would have been great had we ramped it up a notch. It was very simple - just some kosher salt and black pepper, plus a few grinds from my new favorite spice mill, and some finely-grated fiore de sardegna cheese that we toasted into a crust under the broiler right before serving. It needed more of both, I think, because the flavors were there but were a bit subtle for my tastes, and the cheese crust didn't really adhere to the meat as well as I'd like, probably because it was too thin.

I'm not really sure what happened with the shrimp - J cooked both the shrimp and the steak on the grill, and normally he's flawless with that, but the shrimp were in a pouch rather than directly on the grill grates, so I think it may just have been an issue of visibility. They DID taste good, lightly seasoned with kosher salt, black pepper, and lemon, but I just couldn't get around the texture. Not a big deal though, because we've turned out enough perfectly cooked shrimp that I'm willing to call this one a fluke, an error in judgement, and just pretend it never happened. Next time will be better.

However, check out that broccoli up there. THAT was tasty. Broccoli is just about my favorite vegetable in the whole world (I was one of those weird kids who actually got excited when my mom made it with dinner) and I've been cooking it for as long as I've been cooking, basically, so I've pretty much got perfectly cooked just-tender broccoli down pat (although I do still screw it up sometimes). I switch up the flavors depending on the meal its accompanying, but my method is simply to melt equal parts butter and olive oil in a pan over low heat so that the fats in the butter don't burn before it melts completely, then crank it up to medium-high and toss in a whole mess of fresh broccoli florets. (and the stems sliced-up, if I'm feeling frugal and don't want to waste them. Last night was one of those nights.) Then I'll add whatever seasonings I happen to be using - last night was garlic and onion powder, soy sauce, black pepper, and a few grinds of the same dry porcini used on the steak (and yes, I do occasionally use garlic and onion powder instead of fresh when I don't feel like chasing bits of garlic and onion around my plate. Again, last night was one of those nights.) - and basically stir-fry the broccoli until its nice and green and slightly browned around the edges, and is tender but still just a bit crisp in the very middle of the stalks. Mushy broccoli is not something anyone likes. Or at least, I certainly hope not.

This technique works just about every time, as long as I pay attention and don't walk away for too long so that it burns, or add to much liquid for flavor so that it takes forever to boil off and gets mushy. Sometimes I switch up the soy for lemon juice, or use fresh garlic and onions, or use balsamic vinegar and honey, or a sweet chili sauce - no matter what, its always good. And honestly, I don't care that the shrimpwere less-than-stellar, because I can just about always make do with a big ol' bowl of broccoli and nothing else and be completely satisfied. The fact that this time, the broccoli came with a pretty decent steak, was just a bonus. A big bonus.

If you ignore the blurriness of this photo, you'll notice that we were drinking Bedell wine, yet again. This time it was the Taste Red, and it was every bit as good as I remembered and a really lovely pairing with the rich, savory, meaty steak. I do think we just might need to repeat this meal and get it right, so we can have an excuse to buy another bottle.

Now, dinner may not have been a hit, but dessert... oh, dessert was a home run. And it was SO EASY.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up some late season rhubarb at Chelsea Market, wanting to make a strawberry rhubarb pie for J. (Who has never even tasted it. *gasp!* *shock!* *dismay!* I know!) However, being the scatterbrain that I tend to be, I completely neglected to buy strawberries at the store, and lacking the transportation or the strength of will to go back out to the store at the time, I decided to make rhubarb preserves instead, figuring that just about anything I could think to make with rhubarb would work just as well with rhubarb preserves. Besides, the preserves themselves were shockingly delicious - they're extremely simple, made with just about 5 cups of fresh diced rhubarb, 4 cups of sugar, and a bit of water to bring everything together, and although I will admit the preserves might have come out a bit too sweet, and I'll knock the sugar back by half a cup next time, the finished product is shockingly complex on the tongue - sweet, floral, fresh, just barely tart and bitter beneath the sweetness. Delicious.

Finally this weekend I had the presence of mind to pick up a punnet of strawberries, but I found that I was no longer in the mood to go to all the trouble of baking a pie. But I also found that I had about half a container of whipping cream in the fridge, leftover from a batch of vichyssoise last week, and some good aged balsamic vinegar in the cupboard. Bingo!

Forgive the yellow-ness of my living room lighting - I promise that in actuality this was white and red and gorgeous.

Rhubarb Fool with Balsamic and Black Pepper Strawberries

I made this in about 35 minutes total last night, with about half an hour of that time being completely inactive while the strawberries macerated. Yes, it really is that quick, and just about the easiest desert I think I've ever made. But you would never, ever know then when you taste it. This, my friends, is divine.

1 cup fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp aged balsamic vinegar (Mine is an 8 year aged and is sweet and syrupy while still hanging onto the signature balsamic fruity tang. If you don't have a vinegar that is quire that sweet, or if your fruit is on the tart side, you may need to adjust the sugar content.)
1/2 tsp fresh-cracked black pepper (Would love to try pink peppercorns in this!)

1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup rhubarb preserves

Combine the strawberries, sugar, balsamic and black pepper in a bowl and stir to coat the berries and help the sugar begin to dissolve. Cover with plastic wrap and stash in your fridge for at least half an hour, or longer if you can manage it - the longer they sit, the better they'll taste.

Pour the cream into a cold metal bowl and whip the heck out of it, preferably with a hand mixer or a stand mixer if you have it, but go ahead and use a whisk if you have that much arm muscle. You want to whip until you see soft peaks, then add the sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form and the sugar dissolves into the cream. Just don't over-beat, or you'll end up with butter!

Very gently fold in the rhubarb preserves - it doesn't need to be perfectly combined, and actually, little ribbons of preserves running through the cream look quite pretty. And there you go - you've got a fool. (I do love the name of this dish!)

To serve, spoon some of the strawberries into the bottom of a dessert cup or bowl, then gently top with a generous amount of the rhubarb fool, and finally with another spoonful or two of the berries and a drizzle of the sweetened balsamic/strawberry syrup left behind in the bowl. Garnish with a bit of fresh mint if you have it, and serve to your grateful guests. Trust me, they'll love you for this, no matter how mediocre dinner turns out.

A journey of a thousand miles...

We all know the way the quote ends, and we all know the lesson to be learned - that sometimes the hardest part of starting something new is exactly that: starting.

I've tried to get this food-blog-thingamajig started quite a few times by now, experimenting with themes and regular features and clever titles... and never got more than a post or two in before losing interest or giving up because it was too much work, too controlled, not controlled enough, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

I'm really good at making up excuses to be lazy if given the chance.

Thankfully, my boyfriend, J - who has been my partner in kitchen-crime and a great source of motivation and inspiration for the past three years - finally made me see sense. We were enjoying a particularly successful meal, one made better by the complete originality of a recipe we'd developed and executed together, when he said "I don't know why you keep trying to come up with crazy themes and challenges and whatever else for your food blog; THIS is what you should be writing about. This is what we do and what people will be interested in." And he was right.

Or at least I think he is; only time will tell. At any rate, here I am, with a fresh start and a fresh attitude, ready to bring our experiments and experiences in the kitchen to all of you curious cooks on the web, for better or worse. I have to admit I feel optimistic that this time I just might be able to stick with it!

So, to kick things off, I'd like to share one of our more recent meals that I was particularly proud of. You see, one of my great lifetime goals (and one that J certainly agrees with) is to learn to create really high-quality pizzas and other pizzeria treats (calzones, strombolis, garlic knots, etc.) at home. J makes a really fantastic marinara sauce, and I think we've got the topping to sauce ratio down pat, but as most home cooks can attest to, probably the most difficult component to perfect is the dough used to make the crust. I believe that a really great pizza dough can be used to make all those pizzeria goodies we love, but that means I've really got to get it right if I'm ever going to get ANY of them right. A little daunting, you must admit.

However, I'm up for the challenge, and for the last 2 years or so have been experimenting with different recipes from different sources, often making my own adjustments, in search of this perfect dough.

Most of my attempts so far have failed miserably in one area or another - too dense, too chewy, too bland - but this last one has been the most successful yet. Its based on the recipe in Williams-Sonoma's Essentials of Baking, which I've now made on 3 different occasions, making small changes each time. This time around it was flavorful, airy, and crisp when baked correctly (and I've tried two different methods - on the grill and in the oven on a pizza stone). It's still a bit on the thick side, but I have some ideas to fix that for next time. I do feel I'm getting closer though.

This meal was actually made with excess dough from the aforementioned grilled pizza, inspired by a trip home to Connecticut for a family party where my parents served stuffed breads from Bobby's Apizza, something I grew up on and have loved my whole life but haven't had since leaving CT. J, being from New Jersey, immediately recognized the breads as what Jerseyans (totally just made that up) apparently know as 'bolis - strombolis to the rest of the country. He loved Bobby's bread as much as I always have, and immediately requested that we make some at home the following week. Needless to say, I was happy to oblige.

As a filling for our 'bolis, we chose some fresh pork sausage with cheese and parsley from the Italian specialty store where we grocery shop regularly, some fresh green broccoli, and a mixture of 4 cheeses (fresh mozzarella bocconini, aged asiago, and a cheddar-jack blend). I also made a long-simmered sauce from some fresh plum tomatoes for dipping. This was a rather lengthy meal to prepare, and would have been moreso if I'd had to make the dough from scratch, but luckily we planned it for a day when I would be home from work and could spend as much time as I needed in the kitchen. Ah, bliss. I suggest, however, that you plan a day or two in advance to make these 'bolis, as the long rest included in the dough recipe really helps to develop the flavors in the finished crust. Its not necessary, but trust me, its worth it.

Don't be ashamed if this makes you drool just a little bit. Its ok. I understand.

Sausage & Broccoli 'Boli with Homemade Marinara

The dough recipe will make double what you'll need to make two big strombolis, one of which was more than enough for the two of us for dinner (so technically you can use this recipe to serve four). The extra dough can be wrapped tightly in plastic and frozen for later use - just take it out of the freezer and let it thaw for a few hours in your fridge or on your counter when you want to use it. I suspect it would last for at least a few months this way.

Dough (adapted from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking)

2 1/2 packages active dry yeast*
2 1/4 cups warm water (W-S recommends 106-115 degrees; use an instant read thermometer to be sure, yeast can be finnicky)
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
5 cups bread flour (AP can be substituted if necessary, but the texture will be different) plus extra AP flour for dusting and shaping
1 tbsp sea salt
Optional: a tablespoon or two of garlic powder, onion powder, and/or dried Italian herbs like oregano, rosemary, or parsley

In a large bowl, combine the water and sugar and stir to dissolve. Stir in the yeast and let sit for 10-15 minutes until the mixture foams heavily. (This may sound geeky, but I recommend hanging around to watch - if you've never seen yeast "bloom", its really pretty cool!). Add all of the flour, oil, salt, and any of the optional seasonings you decide to use (I skipped them this time around, but I usually like to use a mix of garlic, oregano, parsley, and black pepper in mine). Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to come together and pull away from the sides of the bowl - it will be stiff, so use your muscles! (Or, use a stand-mixer for all this. I'm not one of those lucky people that has one. Not yet, anyway. But someday...oh, someday...)

Once the dough reached this stage, dust a clean counter or tabletop generously with AP flour and turn the dough out of the bowl. Dust the top of the dough with more lour, and probably your hands too, and get kneading. Its hard to say just how long you'll need to knead your dough - it depends on a lot of things, from the quality and gluten-content of the flour to the purity of your water - and you'll really just need to use your own judgement. The goal is a smooth, pliable dough that is slightly tacky but not sticky, and won't rip if you stretch it a bit. I think it took me about 10 minutes of kneading to achieve this. Don't worry if it takes longer though - just think of it as a good workout for your upper arms.

Once you've got your dough properly kneaded, form it into a ball and let it relax a bit while you wash your mixing bowl out and coat it with olive oil. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with a clean tea towel, then place in a relatively warm place to rise for about 1-2 hours or until it's at least doubled its bulk.

At this point, you could theoretically go ahead and make your 'bolis, but I suggest this instead: divide the dough in half and place each half in a sturdy zip-top bag. Toss one half into the freezer for another use, and the other into the fridge to slow-proof for at least 12 hours, but the longer the better.

*This seems like a good place to slip in my note about the yeast. The original recipe called for 2 packages of yeast; I used the extra half because I had it leftover from a previous baking experiment that used very little of the stuff. I mostly did this A)to use up the yeast, and B)because I thought the extra yeast would improve the flavor and airiness of the finished crust. I was right, but the dough WOULD NOT STOP RISING. I swear, it was like some kind of alien blob. Even in the fridge, where the cold temperature should have (or so I thought) stopped the reproduction of the yeast, it just kept rising and rising, albeit a little slower than it did on my countertop. As such, although I really did like the flavor of the dough, I would recommend either sticking to the 2 package amount, or storing it in your fridge in a bag that is far larger than the dough itself to allow for further rising. However good the flavor ends up, its not really worth it for a sticky, doughy mess in your fridge unless you prep ahead.

Anyway, the next day (or two or three days later - I think that the longer you let it sit, the better the flavor will be, but I don't know exactly how long the dough will last, so I wouldn't let it go longer than maybe 4-5 days) you're ready to assemble and bake your 'bolis.

Filling

4 links fresh sausage (about 1lb)
1 small head of broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces (by all means, use the stems as well as the florets)
1 cup cheddar-jack shredded cheese blend
1 cup bocconcini, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1/2 cup finely shredded or grated aged asiago
S&P to taste

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, place it on a rack as close to the center of the oven and let it preheat as well for a minimum of 30 minutes - the hotter the stone gets, the crispier the bottom of your 'bolis will get.

Heat a skillet large enough for your sausages over medium-high heat and coat the bottom of the pan with a small amount of olive oil (you won't need much - the fat from the sausages should help lubricate the pan). One the oil starts to shimmer a bit, carefully drop in the sausages - they may spit and pop a bit - and clamp a lid over them to keep in the heat and avoid splatter. Cook the sausages this way, shaking the pan every few minutes to let them brown on all sides, until the sausages are mostly cooked through, probably around 10 minutes. If they're still a bit undercooked in the middle, thats ok as they'll continue to cook when the 'bolis are baked.

While the sausages cook, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and drop in your broccoli to blanch for 2-3 minutes or so - the broccoli should be bright green and only just tender, we're going for that "tendercrisp" texture that everyone's been talking about here. Lift the broccoli pieces out of the water with a large slotted spoon or spider and immediately dump into a bowl of ice water. This will keep them from continuing to cook from their internal heat, and cause them to retain that beautiful bright green color. Once the broccoli is cool, drain in a colander and set aside.

Once the sausages are cooked, move them from the pan to a cutting board and let them rest for a few minutes so that they'll reabsorb all their juices and cool down a bit, otherwise they'll be hard to handle. Slice the sausages into 1/4-1/2" slices and set aside.

Now, retrieve your dough from the fridge. Dust a work surface with AP flour and dump the dough onto the surface. Divide into two even pieces. Working with one piece at a time, stretch and roll the dough into about a rectangle. It doesn't need to be a perfect shape, but it should be an even thickness, preferably no thicker than 1/8-1/4".

Turn the dough so that the long side is facing you and being to layer in your fillings. You'll want to keep everything in the center of the dough in a vaguely rectangular shape, leaving enough room on either short side to fold over the top of the fillings, and about 1/2" on each of the long sides to seal the 'boli once its folded. Using half of each of your fillings, start with a layer of shredded cheddar-jack, then a layer of sausage slices, then a layer of blanched broccoli, then a layer of bocconcini slices, and finally a layer of grated/shredded asiago. Sprinkle the whole thing with salt and pepper, and drizzle with a bit of olive oil if you like.

To wrap the 'boli, brush both of the exposed long sides with some water. Take one of the bare short sides and fold it over the top of the filling. Brush the top of that piece with some more water, and fold the other short side over it. Use your fingers to press the edge of the dough into the dough beneath it, gently rolling and crimping if necessary to create a tight seal. Then roll and crimp each end of the package to seal them as well. Dust the back of a cookie sheet with some flour or fine corn meal and carefully lift the finished 'boli onto it and set aside. Repeat the entire process with your second portion of dough, using up all your fillings. (Note: I also brushed the top of each 'boli with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled over some coarse sea salt and dry herbs, because I had neglected to add it to the dough itself - feel free to do this as well.) Use the tip of a sharp knife to cut some small slits in the top of each 'boli to allow steam to escape - otherwise the seams may split and the fillings will leak.

Once your oven has reach the proper temperature and your baking stone is hot, open the oven and carefully slide the rack out enough that the stone will remain stable but you can get to the whole thing easily. Being careful to keep your fingers away from the hot stone, carefully lift or slide the 'bolis off of the cookie sheet and onto the baking stone, making sure they are evenly spaced apart. Slide the whole thing into the oven and, if you like, spritz a bit of water into the oven before closing the door - this will help the crust to crisp up. (If you don't have a stone, feel free to use a regular baking sheet. You can even still preheat it, but be sure its sturdy enough to stand up to the high heat we're using.)

Bake the 'bolis for about 20-25 minutes or until the outer crust is crisp, golden brown. Cool on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle, then cut into slices and serve with marinara sauce for dipping. You can use your favorite sauce or the recipe that follows.

Homemade Marinara

I tend to make sauce in sort of a flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants method; I almost never follow a recipe but follow my own intuition. As such, all quantities and directions here are approximate. I suggest that if you use this recipe, you simply use it as a foundation and adjust it to suit your own tastes - that's really the best way to develop your own recipe, anyway.

6-8 ripe plum tomatoes, cored and cut into large chunks
6 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
1/2 cup each diced white onion and carrot
2 cups beef or vegetable stock
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1-2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn or roughly chopped

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a medium skillet and heat over medium heat. When oil begins to shimmer, add the onion, carrot and garlic and sweat until the vegetables are soft. Remove from heat.

Place all ingredients except the basil into a blender and puree until almost smooth. Pour into a large pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and continue to simmer for 2-3 hours - the sauce will deepen in color and flavor and thicken as the liquid gradually starts to evaporate. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh basil. At this point you can use the sauce as is or, if like me you prefer a smooth sauce for dipping or pizzas, either pour the sauce back into your blender and puree until velvety smooth, or use a stick or immersion blender if you have one (its much easier and will work much better). Incidentally, I realize I could have just cooked everything together in the pot first without pureeing the first time and saved myself a step, but I like the way the flavors meld when everything is blended up together and I honestly didn't expect to need to blend it the second time... I found that even after the long cooking time, the sauce had a bit too much texture for my tastes.