on churros, community

Sorry it's been awhile, friends. My computer's life came to an unfortunate end, and the recovery process has been a little painful. Rest in peace, Pippin. (His remaining functional parts are for sale, if you're interested!)

I came to an important realization this past week, which was this: food is best done in community. It sounds a little too obvious to be profound, but for the longest time I really did not understand what that meant at all. While the pleasure of cooking absolutely anything you want the way you want it for and by yourself is undeniable, I am seeing, ever gradually, that there is great richness to be found in the sharing of the food experience. Surveying some of the memorable foods shared over the past week...garlic ice cream (3 times!), garlic fries, garlic chocolate peanut butter cups at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, tacos and coffee and churros at Tacubaya, a late night dash for diner food + ice cream, a too-large batch of yeasted waffles.

Yes, the visible reason for all of these get-togethers was food. But each encounter, in my mind, is characterized less by the garlic and cinnamony-sugary goodness and more by the waves of giggles, time to empathize with each other, insights gained, bonds sustained. It seems that breaking churros together is one of the most beautiful things you can do with another soul.

(Next up: cinnamon ravioli?!)

what the %@$# is cobbler?

Um...hi, friends. Sorry you had to see that.

Anyway, it is summer now, full-blown summer. Triple-digits-every-day summer, walk-around-outside-for-10-minutes-and-get-an-awesome-flip-flop-tan summer, don't-forget-to-wear-deodorant-SERIOUSLY summer. Ah, summer. I love, love, love, love summer.

Guess what else happens in summer? If you said "ginormous $10 flats of peaches!", you are right on. And do you know what happens when the speed at which those peaches are ripening is greater than the speed at which you can cram said peaches into your mouth?

The answer, dears, is peach cobbler.

The problem, dears, when you try to put action to words, is that there is no clear definition of what cobbler actually is. In my mind, it is supposed to look like this, but the kind I've had more looks more like this. And here is a hilarious tale of one woman's quest to define it. Biscuit-like topping or batter surrounding fruit? Some even insist that it must be double-crusted. (Shudder. No. That's a pie.) (To further complicate your life, there also exist fruit desserts in the form of crisps, crumbles, slumps, grunts, buckles, bettys, pandowdys, clafoutis, fools, sugar highs, and headaches.)

This weekend I opted for the batter version. Kind of a cop-out because I really do think that biscuit-top cobbler is the real thing, but I found the batter version scribbled down on a card somewhere in the house. It also closely resembles PW's rendition. Further awesomeness.

This little cobbler went to Alameda.

Friends, any way you assemble it, I promise that this is good! (And it is MANDATORY that you top it with vanilla ice cream. You heard me. Mandatory! Yes, you are responsible for this material for the exam.)

Peach Cobbler


1 stick butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 1/4 cups + more sugar
1 cup self-rising flour (can substitute 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder + 1/2 teaspoon salt)
1 cup milk, room temperature
(at least) 4 cups peaches, peeled and cubed (or enough to cover the bottom of your baking dish + a little bit more)

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter or spray a baking dish. (You can use a 9x13 dish for a thinner cobbler or a smaller dish for a thicker one.)

Combine the cubed peaches in a bowl with a tablespoon of sugar and let sit. This will help get them all syrupy and yummy.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the sugar, the flour, and the milk. Whisk in the melted butter. Batter should be on the thin side and very smooth.

Pour the peaches into the baking dish. Pour the batter on top of them. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the top.

Bake for an hour or so. (A 9x13 pan should take about that long, a smaller pan will need more time.) 10 minutes before it's done (just starting to brown), take out the pan and sprinkle another tablespoon or two of sugar or so over the top. You want it to be crunchy, people.

When it reaches golden brown status and smells amazing, you have yourself a peach cobbler! Awesome! Smother with ice cream.

all ears

It was a mere 6 months ago when I decided to start posting every week. It was partly for you, reader, to be reassured that you could come here every week and hopefully gain a new little tidbit to chew on and hopefully cook or bake yourself. It was also for me, as I hoped I would be motivated to try new things, establish a writing routine, improve my baking and photography skills. I think these things have occurred in middling amounts, but I bet there is so much more out there. However, at this moment...

I feel stuck.

It's not that I lack delicious things in my life. Rather, as this "weekend meditation" so thoughtfully put it: blogging about food is tricky sometimes, especially when what you eat is not particularly unique or attached to a meaningful/witty/interesting story. Case in point: I sat down this week to an untold number of heirloom tomato/fresh mozzarella/basil salads (yes, me, the president of the I Hate Salads club). Wonderful? Yes. Blog worthy? Ehh...

Other noteworthy eats from the past week: polishing off the ice cream brownie cupcakes, these scones (in mini form!), a summer squash gratin gone horribly wrong (I blame the pyromanic oven broiler), the best bbq chicken to ever flirt with my lips, Lois the Pie Queen, my very first cup of Philz, 5 minute pho, fried chicken sandwiches and cookies at Bakesale Betty, Remedy coffee, the most potent hot chocolate I've ever experienced at Bittersweet.

Yes, it was all tasty beyond compare (save the burnt-to-a-crisp gratin). But now that I've returned from la la land (aka the Bay Area), I'm jonesing for newness. This is where you come in.

I need your ideas! Tell me about things you want to learn, things you've always wondered about, things that would excite you enough to get you into the kitchen! Tutorials on how to do X? Explanations on topics Y or Z? Your own guest spot? Better photography? (If so, lend me your camera! :) Every suggestion will be, at the very least, seriously considered. I'm all ears, and if you didn't catch this already, I am in desperate need of inspiration (from you)! Help!!

What do you want to see here?

all of my favorite things! in one!

So. I'm going to get right down to business. Make some brownie batter, grab some ice cream, chop up some chocolate, whip some cream, and make yourself some brownie ice cream cupcakes. Do it. Do it now.

No frou frou talk today. Just the quick and dirty. I want you to make these asap, and yes, I feel like being bossy about it. Tablespoonful of brownie batter in each foil cup. (I used this brownie recipe). Bake till done. Let cool on counter. When cool, stick in freezer. While in freezer, take out whatever ice cream you want to use and put that in the fridge to defrost. When brownie part is pretty cold, fill up the cups with the softened ice cream. Freeze again. Make chocolate ganache: pour 1/4 cup cream, heated to just below boiling over 3/4 cup (4.5 oz) chopped up chocolate, let stand 30 seconds, stir until smooth. Spoon over ice cream cupcakes and return to the freezer yet again. (Oh yes, and don't forget to spread around: otherwise they'll look like some of the Globby McGlobbersons up there.)

This part can all be done ahead. But right before serving: freshly whipped cream Yes, this is necessary.

And stick some raspberries on top. Not quite necessary, but hey. They're in season, it's the country's birthday, and aren't they just so cute?!

Now unwrap. Take the hugest bite you've ever taken because this is going to be good.

You're sooooo welcome.

(Bon Appetit, October 1991 via Joy the Baker. Truth: she has the best ideas always.)

too much of a good thing

is a really, really good thing. Last week combined two of my favorite things: baking and wedding (and baking for a wedding)! Oh, and birthday: the mid-20s have officially arrived, and I'm a little frightened but resolving to deal with it.

Wedding baking part 1: horseshoe palmiers

Yeah, these did not turn out as planned. I need me some Dufour Pastry to make these the proper, buttery way.

Despite the fact that they look like rapidly unraveling butterflies, Sammy wants in all the same.

Here's part 2: mini chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel frosting. Whereas part 1 was mostly failure, part 2 was mostly success, minus the repeat incident of neglecting to add sugar to the chocolate cake. Twice in four months?! Someone needs to revoke my hypothetical chocolate cupcake baking license. At any rate, batch #2 turned out just fine, and the salted caramel frosting was super yummy salty-sweet goodness.

Mascarpone brownies also emerged from the oven this week, as did berry buttermilk cake and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. What can I say? When baking for important events, you want to pull out the very best (which occasionally makes your kitchen look like this)

Surprisingly, the most lauded baked good of the week were these...

Mmmmmhmmmm. These coconut bars hit all the right notes: snappy crust, nutty middle, a wonderfully textured topping. A note: the recipe is from America's Test Kitchen, which means that they've already done all the grunt work for you, tweaking the recipe and such. What's written below is practically perfect in every way. Need I say more?

Coconut Pecan Bars
(adapted slightly from The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2010)

Place an oven rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 350. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray with Pam (I used the kind that has flour in it)

crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (they call for dark; I used light)
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes and chilled

In a food processor, process the flour, sugar, pecans, and salt until the pecans are coarsely ground, 10-15 seconds. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal, 10-15 pulses. Press the mixture firmly into the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while you make the topping and middle.

topping
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded or flaked coconut
1 cup cream of coconut (you can find this in the liquor aisle by the stuff used to make pina coladas)

In a smallish bowl, stir together the shredded coconut and cream of coconut.

middle
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar (again they call for dark; I used light)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Stir in the pecans, then pour the filling over the cooled crust. Dollop spoonfuls of the coconut topping over the top, and attempt to spread it evenly.

Bake until the topping is golden brown, 35-40 minutes. (Inevitably some of it will look kind of patchy and pale, but that's okay. Aim for some dark golden brown patches; that's good enough.) Cool on the same wire rack for 2 hours. Cut into bars and eat!! (These keep remarkably well for a number of days, either at room temperature or in the refrigerator.)

I was especially surprised because I used to hate coconut but I really love it now. Really really. As I referenced in last week's post...don't be surprised if all of a sudden coconut magically appears in your life to solve lots of your problems. The book calls these "dream bars", and for the record...yes, they are dreamy indeed.

fear and loathing in the kitchen

Today I thought I'd talk a little about things that used to scare me.

Frosting cupcakes used to scare me. There is such an intimidating aura built up around them...not for you? Maybe? The fact that I am slightly perfectionistic when it comes to cupcakes could have a little something to do with it. 

But when you plop a huge dollop of frosting on a pretty cupcake...

And then spread it around with an icing spatula...

And then dunk it in coconut...

You're pretty much good to go. 

Then you'll do it again and again and again because it's fun and because people like to eat lime yogurt cupcakes with lime cream cheese frosting. Topped with coconut, of course. Oh, Stephanie from the past...if only you knew what a silly thing it is to fret about cupcakes. When faced with harrowing life questions from now on, I'm going to respond with "coconut". 

What should I be doing with my life? Coconut. What should I wear tomorrow? Coconut. Can I take a nap now? Coconut.

Coconut logic is flawless. 

The last time I wrote about madeleines, I had no camera battery, so showing them to you never happened. I used to loathe making these because they never turned out well. 

But now I can crank them out like an old pro, even early on a Saturday morning. There is no secret, I don't think. Practice is good, extending grace to yourself when mistakes surface is even better. You'll get there!

These cookies freaked me out for a little while as well! They started falling apart a little bit as I was slicing the dough, but a little time spent warming up on the counter should do the trick. Deeply chocolaty and with a salty bite, Dorie's neighbor dubbed these "World Peace Cookies"...he may be on to something here, given that I am sitting here grinning like a fool as I remember how these touch my cookie heart.

World Peace Cookies

(adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

1 1/4 cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Dutch processed)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

11 tablespoons butter, softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda together.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add the brown and white sugars, salt, and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes.

Turn off the mixer and dump in the flour mixture. Throw a kitchen towel over the bowl so stuff doesn't go flying everywhere (cocoa powder, while delightful, is unpleasant when inadvertently inhaled) and pulse the mixer maybe 5 times, 1-2 seconds at a time. Take a peek and see if the flour is mostly mixed in.  If so, take the towel off and stir just until the flour disappears. Throw in the chocolate pieces and stir together just briefly.

Turn out the dough onto a surface and gather it into a cohesive ball. Divide in two, then shape each section of dough into a 1 1/2 inch diameter log. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate up to 3 days. (You just need the dough to get colder so it'll stay together.)

When you're ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a knife, slice dough logs into 1/2 inch thick cookies. If they start falling apart, you can try to warm the logs with your hands or just let them warm themselves up on the counter. Chocolate bits may fall off the cookies; just pat them back in. 

Place on sheets (you can pack them in close; they don't spread much) and bake one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on baking rack before digging in; they're truly better at room temperature.

I'm pretty sure some of you out there have your own cookie recipes that could bring about world peace (give or take an errant nation or two)...I'm asking (nicely). Please share! You know mine.

fashionably cake

I won't say it was the hardest thing, but definitely one of the sticky points of living in Asia last year was the fact that my baking adventures were limited by our toaster oven (capacity: 6 cookies), a general lack of baking pans in the region (save a gutsy trip Jena made to the other side of town to scavenge for appropriate bakeware for Thanksgiving casseroles), and hardly any measuring cups or spoons (I used the teeny measuring cup that came with our ancient rice cooker--learned later it is not a real American cup, much to my horror). We still managed to bake stuff, but I would inwardly pray/cringe every time I would throw what I hoped was a half-teaspoon's worth of baking powder into some would-be pancakes. "Close enough!" was my motto, although I can't bear to use it now.

So when this raspberry buttermilk cake (RIP Gourmet Magazine) made the rounds last June, I dutifully bookmarked it, but the dearth of berries in Asia prevented me from actually baking it. I promptly forgot about it.

Last week this recipe re-sailed into my life via our weekly CSA newsletter! I just about ran to the farmers' market downtown to get me some berries, vowing to not let another year pass before baking the cake. Berry buttermilk cake...mine mine all mine. Tender and not too sweet, this cake is equally good eaten just out of the oven or while stumbling around the kitchen in the morning searching for the coffee (note: it is in the same place every day; I am just not a morning person). It's almost embarrassingly easy to throw together, a fantastic use of summer berries, and will delight pretty much anyone who is lucky enough to get a slice.

I have a feeling it's going to be showing up on a regular basis all season long.

Berry Buttermilk Cake
(adapted from the June 2009 issue of Gourmet)

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup (a half stick) of butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 cup buttermilk (I squeezed the juice from half a lime into a liquid measuring cup, then added half & half until it reached the 1/2 cup mark and let it sit for 10 minutes until curdly)
1 cup berries of your choice (I used blackberries and strawberries because (gasp!) I do not love raspberries)

Preheat oven to 400. Grease and flour an 8 or 9 inch square or round baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a medium bowl for a hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla and egg.

Turn the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk (2 parts) (mixing should begin and end on flour). Don't overmix! You want the cake to be tender.

Scrape the batter into your prepared pan, then scatter the berries over the top. (Hint: if you use raspberries, place them so the open part is facing up. This will prevent them from sinking all the way to the bottom. Have not yet figured out how to prevent the other kinds of berries from sinking, but this is purely an aesthetic issue.) Sprinkle an additional 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar over the top for a crunchy crust.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cake is ready when golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for a few minutes: you can then invert onto a plate or eat out of the pan (the second is my preferred method).

PS: I recently added a list of my favorite food blogs to the right over there, so peruse at your leisure: each is a heavy dose of inspiration for me.