A tiny and delicious sweet fig, filled with goat cheese and strewn with crispy, salty shiitake mushrooms. Temperatures and tastes in contrast.

Lop off the top of a fig, scoop out its innards, and stuff first with goat cheese. Meanwhile, finely chop some shiitake mushrooms and saute in a little olive oil and butter until crispy. Salt generously and throw in some finely chopped parsley. Add the mushrooms to the fig stuffing, and gently spoon over a little of the juicy fig seeds that you scooped out to begin with. I know it’s not fresh fig season, but I froze some when they were at their ripest and they work perfectly when gently defrosted.

Scrumptious.

• 6 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 teaspoons granulated sugar
• hand-held torch

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until sugar is dissolved and mixture is thick and light in color.
3. Add cream and vanilla extract and whisk until blended. Strain into a large bowl, skimming off foam and bubbles. And pour into ramekins and bake in a water bath (half way up the cups).
4. Bake for 50-55 minutes until edges are set, but still slightly loose in center.
5. Remove pan from oven and cool. Then chill for at least 2 hours.
6. Before serving, sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar on each ramekin and melt the sugar with the hand-held torch.

This soup is amazingly easy to make and simply delicious. I served it with crusty baguette and a good bottle of Sancerre.

• 3 T olive oil
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 t minced garlic
• 1/2 t saffron threads
• 1/4 flour
• 2 cups fish stock
• 2 cups ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine (or sherry)
• 1 1/4 pounds white-fleshed fish (I recommend halibut, as it stays together well) and seafood (scallops work beautifully, and I threw in some shrimp also)
• 1 pint scrubbed mussels
• 1/3 t dry thyme (I used fresh and it was lovely)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 drops Tabasco sauce

1. Heat oil, add onion, garlic, and saffron.
2. Stir in flour with whisk.
3. Add fish stock, tomatoes, wine. Stir frenetically with whisk, at first. When blended, cook, stirring frequently, for half an hour. Taste and season — I needed to add quite a bit of salt to balance the flavors well. (This stage can be left to rest for later, if you wish. If you restart later, bring this base up to a good heat before adding the fish.)
4. Cut up fish into large cubes (~2″ squares) and wash everything. Should have about 3 cups total. Last time, I used about 1 pound of halibut, 2 big scallops per person, 2 massive prawns per person, and a bag of mussels.
5. Add fish and seafood to the sauce and cook for 5 minutes with remaining ingredients (thyme, cream, and Tabasco).
6. Simmer gently for another 5 minutes and serve with crusty bread for dipping.

To take a little liberty with Wilde, “It is the key lime cupcake, not the priest, that gives us absolution.”

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 7 teaspoons finely grated key lime peel, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups self-rising flour (if you can only find all-purpose flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt per cup of flour)
• 1/4 cup light sour cream (or buttermilk)
• 4 tablespoons fresh key lime juice, divided
• 12 blackberries (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Using electric mixer, beat 3/4 cup of butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 4 teaspoons lime peel in large bowl until blended, then beat until fluffy and pale yellow. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Beat in half of flour. Add sour cream and 2 tablespoons lime juice; beat to blend. Beat in remaining flour.
2. Drop equal amounts of batter into each muffin liner.
3. Optionally, drop a blackberry on top of each blob of batter, pushing it in only slightly.
4. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted halfway into centers comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan on rack.
5. Meanwhile, blend remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, quarter cup of butter, 2 tablespoons lime juice, and 3 teaspoons lime peel in small bowl. When the cakes are cool, ice.

Poor cabbage is hard done by: underrated for its history of limp, over-cooked, grey hideousness. But cooked right it’s truly delicious and vibrant in color. As pictured here, it is sliced, lightly steamed (no more than about 7 minutes), and tossed with a little olive oil, fleur del sel, and meyer lemon juice. Highly recommended. And I’m not one for appeasement, but here’s hoping it does not further infuriate Osama bin Gallbladder.

Miniature towers of finely sliced potatoes layered with olive oil, fresh thyme and oregano, and a little salt: two kinds of sweet potato, plus a rainbow of red, golden, and purple potatoes and a little parsnip too. Each tower is a perfect, personal serving - baked separately. Sweet, earthy, complex flavors of all the potato varieties come together in what would be superb as a side dish with game or rich red meat.

• Variety of potatoes and/or other root veggies. Pictured here: ruby sweet potato, white potato, parsnip, red potato, purple fingerling potato, golden yam.
• olive oil
• fresh herbs (I used thyme and oregano)
• salt
• Equipment
  • cone or cup shaped form (mine were small, French, non-stick molds approximately 2″ at the top, 2.5″ at the base, and ~3″ tall)
  • pastry brush
  • mandoline slicer (optional)
    

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut very thin slices of each type of potato. I used a simple mandoline slicer to do this, which allowed me to get very thin and regular slices. (I deliberately left skins on; you could do it either way.)
3. Lightly oil your molds and begin layering in slices of potato. Before laying down each slice, ‘paint’ it lightly with olive oil, using a pastry brush. Try to ’shingle’ potato as you go, creating even layers of each color and type. Depending on the size of each vegetable, you may want to do a little trimming to try and make sure you have roughly rounded edges. Press down as you build your tower and in between each change in potato type, sprinkle a little salt and a few leaves of fresh herbs. Fill right to the top of your molds, keeping in mind that your stacks will shrink a little, while baking.
4. Once your cones are filled, put them in the oven to bake for about 40-45 minutes. Check after 35, looking for thorough softness.
5. When finished baking, remove from the oven and after a few minutes turn the towers out on to a plate for serving.

To make these swirls, I prepared 2 batches of shortbread. One I flavored with matcha (green tea powder). The other I divided in two and mixed cocoa powder into half, to make the choco layer. I had extra “green” dough, with which I made some plain matcha cookies. However, you could make 3 full batches, and obviously a lot more swirly cookies, if you wanted to do so. Alternatively, you could just divide one smaller batch into 3 and mix in flavors that way.

These are the ingredients I used to make each full batch. For the chocolate layer, just substitute 1/4 cup of top-notch cocoa powder for the matcha.

• 3/4 cup (2.25 oz) confectioner’s sugar
• 5 oz butter, room temp and cubed
• 1 3/4 cup (8.5 oz) all-purpose flour
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1.5 Tbs matcha (green tea powder)
• 1 egg white for brushing

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the confectioner’s sugar and green tea together in a bowl (if you want to split a batch, simply hold your powder or cocao until step 5).
3. Mix the butter and green tea/sugar mixture until smooth and light in color (use a stand or hand mixer).
4. Add the flour and mix until well combined.
5. Add the egg yolks and mix just until the eggs are fully incorporated and a mass forms. (Here’s where you could also divide and mix in flavors/powders.) You may need to form the mass with your hands, at the latter stages.
6. Form the dough into a disk and chill in the refrigerator until firm (about 30 minutes).
7. Roll the dough out to about a 1/2 or 1/4 inch thickness, depending on the intended style of your swirls. I rolled my dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper, which helped avoid stickiness. Aim for a rectangular shape. I trimmed the sides of each layer, ending up with a neat rectangle of each color, sandwiched between parchment. At this stage, if you need to, you could refrigerate the dough for a while.
8. If you had your rectangles in the fridge, you’ll need to let them come up towards room temperature before creating your swirls. Once they’re ready, lay out the color you want to be the outer layer on its piece of parchment paper. Brush over a wash of egg white. Layer on the next color, brush that with egg white, and so on. Put a last wash of egg white on the last layer to make sure your roll is nice and tight.
9. Using the parchment paper as a lever, roll up the layers, pushing in gently as you go, to create a tight spiral. Now, I recommend a quick chilling of the dough roll, before you slice it. I sliced open the cardboard from a used roll of kitchen-towel and used it as a holder for the roll in the fridge, to stop the roll from sinking out of its shape on a flat surface. After at least 15 minutes of chilling, use a sharp knife to slice off 1/2 inch spirals. If the spirals lose their roundiness at all, as you cut, gently nudge them back into a circular shape once you’ve laid them out.
10. Place your spirals on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350F for 15 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges.

Beware: matcha is full of caffeine; don’t eat a lot of these late at night, unless you’re on a deadline.

This drunken cranberry sauce is so extraordinarily easy and delicious that it would be verging on sinful not to make your own from scratch. The addition of port adds a decadent, velvety touch. This will make about 3 cups of sauce. To make more, or less, just adjust your ingredient amounts proportionally.

• 1.5 cup ruby port
• 1.5 cup sugar
• 18 oz fresh cranberries

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium, non-stick pan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring from time to time. Once it has boiled, reduce heat to low and cook for about 20 minutes, until the liquid looks syrupy.
2. Remove from heat and either bottle (use your preferred canning method) or cool to room temperature before serving fresh.

I made almost 100 of these delicious bites for a big party recently. They disappeared so fast that I never even witnessed them being eaten! If you can find large grapes, give this a try. The flavors are a perfect balance of salty and sweet, and the textures balance too, thanks to the crunch of pistachio.

• The biggest red grapes you can find!
• Salted pistachios, shelled (1/2 to 3/4 of a cup)
• Plain goat cheese
• Equipment
  • cheese cloth
  • tiny, ~10mm melon ball scoop tool (typically found at specialty cook shops and in “Garde Manger” garnishing kits; if you can’t find one, a pairing knife will be workable too, if slower).

1. Using a food processor, finely chop pistachios. Stop before you powder them, as you’ll want some variation in the size of pieces. Reserve in a small bowl.
2. Wash the grapes and for each one carefully slice off a tiny sliver of the grape’s base — just enough to allow each one to stand up unassisted. Then take a slightly larger slice (1/4-1/3 of an inch) off the top of the grape. Using a tiny melon baller, or other tool, scoop out the center, included any seeds. Leave enough of a ledge around the top to allow pistachio to cling on. As you finish cutting the tops, dip each grape into the chopped pistachio nuts, coating the exposed area of the grape and letting extra pieces of nuts fall right into the grape’s central cavity.
3. Put about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of goat cheese into the center of a doubled up piece of cheesecloth. Pull the cheesecloth together and twist, forming a small circle of goat cheese, with a pointy base that you can plug into the open grapes. The cheesecloth will leave an impression on the cheese that gives the impression of an artisnal cheese. Open up the cheesecloth and push each piece of cheese into the top of a grape. Pushing each one in gently, using the cheesecloth to press down, if you need a little pressure.
4. Best served soon after preparation, but if you need to, you can store them for 6-8 hours ahead of time, in the fridge.

Don’t blame these financiers for your portfolio problems. Cousins of the madeleine, these scrumptious little almond cakes have crunchy outsides that conceal chewy, moist interiors. I went a little non-trad here with a variety of shapes (the originals are rectangular) and flavored half the batch with matcha (green tea powder). I prefer the matcha ones, with their earthy and exotic flavor. Financiers are not difficult to make, but are somewhat difficult to make well. Watch your timing and oven temperature closely for success. (Err… just like the stock market… j/k! I know, I know - it’s not funny yet.)

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for buttering molds
• 1 cup finely ground almonds
• 1 2/3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup egg whites (5 to 6)
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• (optional) 1.5 Tbs matcha (green tea powder)

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. With a pastry brush, thoroughly butter the financier molds or whatever you’re using as a mold (mini muffin tins or tartine molds can work). If you’re using mini molds, arrange them side by side, but not touching, on a baking sheet.
3. In a large bowl, combine the almonds, sugar, flour, and salt. Mix to blend. Add the egg whites and mix until thoroughly blended. (I found a whisk was the perfect tool at this stage.) Add the 3/4 cup butter and mix until thoroughly blended. (Add the matcha now, if you wish. I added mine halfway through pouring out the first batch.) The mixture will be fairly thin and pourable.
4. Spoon batter into the molds, filling them almost to the rim. Place the baking sheet in the center of the oven. Bake until the financiers just being to rise, about 6 minutes. Reduce the heat to 400°F. Bake until the financiers are a light, delicate brown and begin to firm up, about another 6 minutes (watch carefully to make sure they don’t burn). Turn off the oven heat and let the financiers rest in the oven until firm, about another 6 minutes.
5. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the financiers cool in the molds for 10 minutes. Unmold. (Note: Wash molds immediately with a stiff brush in hot water without detergent so that they retain their seasoning.)
6. In theory, you can store financiers in an airtight container for several days. Go ahead and try.

tomato jam with goat cheese and a sprig of fresh thyme - originally uploaded by 3m1ly

Here is the long-overdue recipe for one of my favorite inventions. I made this first the summer before last on impulse and have always improvised the ingredients. This time I concentrated in order to pass on the details. The jam is a gooey and rich glop, bearing a complex texture thanks to glistening pieces of tomato skin. Suffused with fresh thyme, it’s brilliant with cheese.

• fresh tomatoes, chopped into 1″ chunks (leave the skins on, for best effect) — I used 8 cups in my last batch
• granulated sugar — you’ll need to match the amount of tomatoes roughly, unless you want to add some pectin. I used about 7 cups here
• fresh thyme — at least 10-15 sprigs… remove from the stems and throw into the mix, but reserve a few fresh sprigs to stab into the jars before sealing them

1. Roughly chop tomatoes into chunks about 1″ in size and place in a very large, heavy saucepan.
2. Add sugar and thyme and bring to a boil gradually. Feel free to add a couple of pinches of salt here, if you wish.
3. Reduce heat a bit and leave to bubble away until most of the excess liquid has boiled off. Mine took ages, by which I mean about 2 hours. Do a jam freezer test to determine when you think it’s ready. You’ll know it’s close, when the texture becomes considerably more gooey and when the color takes on a rich, ruby tone.
4. Carefully ladle into prepared (sterilized) jars and seal according to your habit. (I.e., boil ‘em up or turn them upside down French style.)

pear terrine  originally uploaded by 3m1ly

Thanks to my friend Wendy for inspiring this delectable and delicate pear terrine. I improvised the pomegranate-seed crown on a supermarket whim and they turned out to be a satisfying contrast both in flavor and color.

It’s really a perfectly sophisticated yet light autumn dessert. The pears are set in a calvados jelly, flavored with vanilla bean and cinnamon. I also experimented with a layer of ground almond. Sliced, toasted almonds would be splendid too, and would add crunch. Next time.

• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• seeds from one fresh vanilla bean
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup brandy or other liquor of your choice (I used calvados)
• 4 pears, peeled and cored
• 3 packets gelatin
• ground almonds (optional)

1. Combine sugar and spices with 5 cups water in a medium saucepan (large enough to accommodate the pears upright), and turn heat to high.
2. Put peeled pears into the pan and reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook pears, turning them every so often, until they meet little resistance when prodded with a thin-bladed knife (usually 10 to 20 minutes). Turn off heat, and cool pears for a few minutes in the cooking liquid.
3. Remove the pears from the syrup, while it’s still warm and slice the pears into thin slices. At the same time, mix 3 packets of gelatin with a small amount of cold water and then add to the hot syrup. Stir until dissolved and leave the liquid to cool off. (If it starts to congeal, put on a little heat underneath.)
4. Construct the terrine as you wish, starting with one layer of syrup in the bottom of the terrine mold. After adding each layer of fruit, spoon over additional liquid and then put the terrine mold in the freezer for a few minutes to set that layer. Patience is mandatory or your layers will not end up sitting and settling properly.
5. When the terrine mold is almost full, spoon in enough syrup coat the final layer. Chill until solid.
6. To unmold, gently bathe the mold in a hot water bath for a few minutes. You may also want to run a sharp knife around the edges of the terrine. Turn it out.. and voila!

this is(was) a family secret recipe about to be released. Well when i say family, i mean the females of the family.it’s the best cake ever (in my opinion) so here goes:

Ingredients:

• 4 oz of self-raising flour (110g)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 oz soft butter (110g)
• 4 oz of caster sugar (110g)
• 2 large eggs
• 4-5 drops of vanilla essence
• artificial colouring (green, red, yellow, purple, whichever you want!)
• to finish: butter and icing sugar. the amounts depend on how much icing you will want on your cake.

         pre-heat the oven at 170°C –>325F° (less if you are using a fan oven)and gas mark 3 if you are using a gas oven

       you will also need two baking tins, not too shallow-4 or 5 cm should do the trick, and not too big either.  grease them lightly and line them with greasproof paper (also greased) or silicone paper.

      Take a roomy mixing bowl and add flour and baking powder- you can sift it if lumpy.

      Then just add all other ingredients to the bowl, and whisk them, preferably with an electronic hand whisk-or, if you’re in a hurry or feeling a bit lazy, dump the stuff into a magimix and mix it thoroughly.Check that it’s not too thick: put some on a spoon and tap the side of a bowl with it.If it does not drop of easily, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of warmish water and mix again.

Then,divide the mix into the number of bowls you need, depending on how many colours you have (usually from about two to five) and in each bowl add a few drops of clouring. Mix thouroughly until the mix looks bright enouph, then dolop it out into the prepared tins. You can make it stripy, spotty, sploggy….

Bake for about half an hour, but check at regular intervals and make any needed adjustments to the time or temperature.

When cooked, leave them for about 30 seconds, then slide a knife around the edges and ease them out. Put them onto a rack and leave them to cool.

While they are cooling, prepare the icing:  you don’t need to do this- if you prefer jam, it works just as well.

So, take a clump of butter and cut it up.Add lots of icing sugar and mix together. Just taste to decide the amounts- it’s always fun! You can also add colouring to that as well, it won’t change the texture too much-but it might be fun to make it electric inside at white and innocent on the outside.Cut it and watch the expressions of others!

So anyway, when the cakes are completely cool, put the icing smoothly on and sandwich them together.Decorate them in any way and then they’re ready to eat!

=)

Bonne app’!

the delectable humboldt fog with homemade tomato jam, originally uploaded by 3m1ly

The delectable Humboldt Fog may be my favorite American cheese. It’s a pungent, creamy goat that is truly splendid with a glop of homemade tomato jam. I will get around to posting my recipe for the jam (here it is!), though I seem to improvise every time I make it. It is a heady punch of summer tomatoes, gooey but textured with ruby, transparent tomato skins and sprigs of thyme.

lemon raspberry cupcakes Originally uploaded by 3m1ly

This recipe produced a well-received batch of dense cupcakes, almost like little tiny pound cakes. The fresh raspberry on top was a good addition. I think I’ll try fresh raspberry puree inside next time, to better offset the sweetness of the icing and cake. Lemon and raspberry was a delicious pairing. And my cupcakes were a slightly modified version of a recipe in the April 2008 Bon Appétit.

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 4 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups self-rising flour (if you can only find all-purpose flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt per cup of flour)
• 1/4 cup light sour cream (or buttermilk)
• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
• 12 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon seedless raspberry jam
• Fresh raspberries (for garnish)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Using electric mixer, beat butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 3 teaspoons lemon peel in large bowl until blended, then beat until fluffy and pale yellow. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Beat in half of flour. Add sour cream and 2 tablespoons lemon juice; beat to blend. Beat in remaining flour.
2. Drop 1 rounded tablespoonful batter into each muffin liner. Spoon 1 teaspoon raspberry jam over. Cover with remaining batter, dividing equally.
3. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted halfway into centers comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan on rack.
4. Meanwhile, whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon peel in small bowl. Spoon half of icing over 6 cupcakes. Whisk 1 tablespoon raspberry jam into remaining icing. Spoon over remaining cupcakes. Garnish with raspberries. Let stand until icing sets, about 30 minutes.