Archives for the 'food porn' Category
Frozen cheese and sherbet cake
I’m only human and occasionally I have moments of lapsed judgment. When I was younger that might have entailed too much alcohol, hilarious dancing, and howling at the moon…seriously folks, I was a wide wild child. But now that I’m older I try not to damage myself…so in this case my lapsed judgment involved some organic berries trucked in from Cali. I know…the carbon footprint on those delicate little guys is almost more than I can bear; and although I hesitated, I still did it.
Because that’s when I began to imagine this frozen confection. I had some graham crackers from TJ’s that were nixed for s’more duty by my youngest, so I figured they could be used for a crust, and as I shopped I decided that some raspberry sherbet sitting on top of that crust wouldn’t be a bad thing, especially if I embedded the berries in the sherbet. Then in the back of my mind I’m going over what I could add for the next layer and I decided cream cheese and Greek yogurt mixed together with some vanilla would be a tangy, creamy counter point to the sherbet and berries.
Was it good…yup, it was. Did it have problems…oh yeah…major problems…
- It weighed a ton.
- I forgot to chill the cheese mixture after I whipped it up and when I put it on top of the sherbet it made the sherbet melt.
- Once it was fully frozen it was solid…solid like a rock.
- Did I mention it was heavy?
- The berries were large and when they froze they were like stones.
- It had to sit on the counter for at least 30 minutes before it could be cut.
- It then had to sit on the plate for another 10 minutes before it could be approached with a fork.
- It had the potential to damage teeth.
Obviously I need to rework this concept. Here’s the thing, I like cheesecake but I don’t like cheesecake that’s baked…it’s texture really freaks me out. The cheese portion of my cake was delicious, tangy and cheesy, but alas, frozen hard as a rock. The sherbet was a good addition with its sweet smoothness contrasting nicely with the crunchy hardness of the crust, but it melted before the cheese mixture softened. I think when I try to make this again I’ll use gelatin instead of freezing it…that would give my cheese portion some sturdiness. The sherbet could be substituted with… a fruit puree? Hmmm, I’m not sure about that. I do think the next crust should be made with amaretti cookies, that would be an improvement.
Okay my über intelligent, creative readers…any suggestions on how to fix this?
Steak tartar - forbidden food
While we were in Paris we dined on steak tartar and we loved it. It’s a shame that one can’t order this simple pleasure in a restaurant here in the states; but alas our government feels compelled to protect us from food…cigarettes and other carcinogens, not so much… food, but of course! I’ll leave it at that because if I contemplate it any further and attempt to write another word about it I’ll end up on a ranting screed. I’m sure you can guess how I feel about this issue.
Since we cannot enjoy this elsewhere I made it for dinner the other night. The thing about steak tartar is that there are so many recipes and I guess you just have to pick one and go with it. Some listed ketchup or mayonnaise as an ingredient and others listed anchovies. This is the recipe I used and I wasn’t crazy about it. Next time I will do it as per the instructions of Richard Olney in his book The French Menu Cookbook :
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8 oz beef, sirloin or filet
Salt and pepper
Dash of worcestershire sauce
Remove fat, tendon, and sinew from the meat. Chop the meat finely with a sharp knife. I used my cuisinart and it chopped it too fine…it was mushy. Toss all this together in a large bowl. Divide it into 2 servings and mound it on each plate. Put an egg yolk in a well atop each mound. Around the edge of the plate arrange:
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Red onions, diced fine
Cornichons, diced fine
Capers, chopped fine
Parsley, chopped fine
About 1 tablespoon of each should be sufficient. Also make available oil and vinegar, hot sauce, catsup, and dijon mustard. So each plate can be adjusted to the diner’s preferences.
Ramps…oh my!!!!
When spring attempts to kick off the winter’s covers and finally, grudgingly, hauls her ass out out of that bed she’s been lolling in for far to long, well I don’t mind admitting that I get more giddy than I usually am…yes indeed folks, I get giddier! I start using exclamation marks far more than a woman with my good sense (cough) should and then there’s that almost irresistible urge to use a word that must not be spoken or written by me…you know the three-letter word, it begins with y and ends with m and well, that’s as close as I’ll actually get to saying it out loud or writing it. Honestly it’s not that I dislike the actual word it’s just that it’s been so overused by a certain brunette on Food Network, and I’ll have none of that, thank you.
But yesterday when I opened the crate of our first CSA spring share delivery I was overjoyed because I could smell ramps. I pawed my way past bag after bag of tender succulent greens like a kid looking for a prize in a box of cereal and finally there it was, the holy grail of spring-time, a bunch of ramps. That word popped into my mind and I quickly edited myself and moved on. Giddier, remember? It’s not me, it’s spring fever, right?
Ramps are technically wild leeks and they’re available for harvest for only a week or two in the spring which is probably why I, and others, covet them so much. Because they’re so precious and so flavorful I feel compelled to use them well. Often I serve then up as a bed for some slowly cooked, creamy scrambled eggs but this year I’m giddy so I made a green pizza.
This is so simple. Make the pizza crust and let it rise over night in the frig. Remove it from the frig and stretch it out as you like it, and then place it on a piece of parchment. Cut the ramp leafs from the stem and bulb and slice them into strips. Cut the roots off the end of the ramps and then split them vertically into long strips. Add these to the the leaf strips. I also chopped a large handful of arugala and I added some chives too. Toss this all with olive oil and arrange it on the pizza crust. Add sea salt, some goat cheese and bacon lardons. Bake it in a 425º oven until golden brown.
Yes indeedy, this pizza is worth getting giddy about…the ramps and the bacon got kind of smoky in the hot oven and the crust was chewy yet crisp. The only mistake I made was too much cheese on the pizza…actually it would be good with no cheese at all too.
More giddiness…tonight we see Iron Man and while we’re out watching the movie TivBob will be recording a new BStar and a new Dr. Who….oh I can’t stand it!!!!
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