pepperknit

Since the pantry is just a different sort of stash, I find I get the same satisfaction when I can prepare an entire dish out of on-hand foods alone, just as if I’d knit a gift out of yarn that’s been sitting in the closet.

Since finishing my batch of brownies, I’ve been woefully devoid of breakfast foods here. Muffins—the perfect straddler of the dessert/breakfast food worlds—seemed a good choice, so I turned to my trusty muffin cookbook, which I swear no one else in the world owns, but which I got as a gift and consistently turns out reliably good muffins, Mad About Muffins, and looked to see what I might be able to make without leaving the apartment.

I was lucky that the Asparagus Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding had called for milk and that it was still good, because otherwise I really never have milk in the house, and I wouldn’t have been able to throw these together so quickly. And it’s true that the recipe actually calls for chopped dates and I didn’t have any, so I just upped the quantity of raisins and used the dried apricots I had on hand. (Dates may well make this muffin moister, so I’d like to try it with them.)

All in all, I’m pretty pleased. They definitely tend toward the dry side, but when served warm with some butter, they’ve got that kind of scone/muffin quality that’s really nice. They’re nothing like the cream scones I made a few weeks ago, which were heavy and moist and absolutely decadent. These are the type that’s dry but studded with flavorful dried fruit, sliced almonds, and the key ingredient, coconut flake. I had only unsweetened coconut flake on hand (the recipe doesn’t specify), so the flavor is light—and because I’m not overly into sweet things (despite what posts here might indicate to the contrary!), I didn’t add any additional sugar. But if you make them, know that they are not very sweet. Some other suggestions for upping moisture and adding flavor include: soaking the raisins in rum beforehand to plump further; using cream instead of milk; using packaged shredded coconut rather than dry coconut flake.

There are definitely better recipes in this cookbook, which perhaps I’ll share with you the next time I cook from it, but these were great, if only because I made them without having to leave the house—and now I have breakfast for the next 11 days!

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I might not be a vegetarian, but I’m definitely aware of my eco-footprint. I might actually be one of those people who get smug satisfaction in the fact that I have never owned a car, that I walk or take public transportation (very rarely ride in cabs), that I recycle, etc. But really, I’m barely doing a fraction of what I could be, and Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors has me entertaining romantic fantasies of getting up early to head down to the Union Square Greenmarket every week, eating “Slow,” etc.

Since it’s spring, asparagus is on the brain, and the Asparagus and Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding seemed to leap off the page at me. I had to drop everything and make it as soon as I could. It sounded like a perfect brunch/light supper/room temp entree. I would make this for any pot luck in the future.

Usually I say that everything I make or cook is easy (this is no exception—nothing was hard), but it’s worth noting that there are a lot of steps and you dirty a ton of tools, as you steep the milk, blanch the asparagus, saute the mushrooms and shallots, and then mix it all together in something big before putting it in the baking dish. It’s a great improvising dish, so you can easily make it your own.

But I don’t want to get ahead of myself. You start with the bread.

Now, I don’t know where the flour, sesame seeds, and whatnot are from, but the loaf was baked at a bakery around the corner. It was so good and smelled so heavenly, I slathered the ends in butter and snacked on them while preparing the rest of this meal. It’s best stale, but this was freshly made that morning, so I sliced it up thick and lightly toasted it in the oven before tearing it up and soaking it in the garlic-steeped milk. The recipe calls for a head of green garlic, but I just smashed 3 cloves of garlic.

The asparagus was marked “local,” and the mushrooms are from Kennett Square (as they should be), which, while not truly local, is only 2 hours away.

After cooking the veggies, everything gets mixed together with grated fontina cheese and 4 farm fresh eggs. I shamefacedly admit that the cheese was imported. (Baby steps!) Damn was that cheese tasty. I definitely consumed quite a bit while grating it up. I don’t think I’d ever had straight fontina—somehow, in all my cheese eating, I’d overlooked this more basic cheese. It gets melty and gooey and brought all the flavors together into a savory masterpiece.

So go ahead, organize a pot luck party, and I’ll bake this up, walk over with it, demand that you recycle the aluminum foil I wrap it in, and will generally be that girl at the party who won’t shut her yap about the environment. But if making a meal like this—or anything else from that cookbook, for that matter—is considered doing my part for Earth? Well, let’s all go green!

A chocoholic friend requested “something chocolate” for his birthday, and with that kind of challenge, well, I had to find the most decadent, luscious, ridiculous chocolate dessert I could find. Enter the Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte, from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible, via 101 Cookbooks.

I followed the recipe as told, using Lindt 70% Extra Dark, which I got for a great price at Economy Candy down on the Lower East Side. As recommended in the recipe, I added 3 tablespoons of sugar. I used my 8-inch cake pan because it’s better quality than my 8-inch springform; releasing it from the pan just required about 15 seconds over an open flame. The only thing it needed was some kind of decorative garnish.

A sprinkling of Chinese cassia cinnamon was just the ticket. I cut the 2 and the 9 out after drawing them freehand, and I punched the polka dots out with my fun, new ¾-punch that a friend got for me. (I’d mentioned wanting one, and she surprised me with it. And to think, she thought it was an unnecessary invention!) Taking the stencils off, with a pair of clean tweezers, gave me painful flashbacks to childhood and that horrible game Operation—worst invention ever.

The torte, however, was a resounding success—one taster just kept repeating, “this is unreal.” I think the cinnamon really elevated it from just a chocolate torte to something that had depth and mystery. Which is something we should all have when we hit 29, don’t you think?

I’ve talked food before on the blog, but surprisingly little. Practically no one knows this, but for a short time, I actually had a food blog—eating and cooking are definitely two of my passions. I always kept the knitting and cooking separate, but I don’t really think they are—both are ways to express creativity. Having subscribed to cooking magazines for years, and even editing several food reference books and cookbooks, well, I know a thing or two about food. I have a lot of fellow foodie friends, and we often get together to cook.

This past Sunday, my friend John and I finally had a cooking afternoon—the last time was more than a year ago. That time we made a chicken that involved marinating it, giving it a spice rub, searing it, baking it, then pouring on glaze and broiling it. I still can’t believe how many cooking methods went into that one meal—but it was really delicious.

Two weeks ago John saw an episode of Jamie Oliver’s new show and was drawn to the Cheat’s Pappardelle with Slow-Braised Leeks and Crispy Porcini Pangrattato. But we’re not cheats. So we made the pasta from scratch.

OK, to be honest, John made the pasta, while I prepared dessert. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Jamie’s recipe is a series of wing-it quantities (knob, wineglass), but this recipe can’t really be messed up. It’s one of those “quality ingredients result in quality food” kinds of recipes. The prosciutto, which the guy at Whole Foods let us sample in great quantities in the store, was perfectly salty, the leeks were really fresh, and the whole wheat pasta had a perfect bite.

But the piece de resistance is the dessert, which we made up on the fly while standing in the produce section of Whole Foods. The grapefruit aroma was knocking us over, so we bought two grapefruit, two oranges, and decided to make a granita. And then I had a flash of brilliance and suggested we add basil.

Here’s our “pattern”:

Citrus Basil Granita
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 tablespoons julienned fresh basil, plus additional sprigs
2 large grapefruits
2 large navel oranges

In a saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Toss in the basil and let the syrup cool.

Peel and segment the grapefruit and oranges over a bowl, squeezing the pith to get as much juice as you can. Transfer to a food processor and pulse a few times so that it’s more liquid than solid, but preserving the pulpiness. You should have about 3 1/2 cups of liquid.

Stir the juice and simple syrup (with the basil) in a shallow dish (a baking dish works fine; metal is probably ideal), and place in the freezer, stirring and crushing lumps every 30 minutes for 3 to 4 hours, or until it is a little more frozen than a slushie. Scrape it with a fork and serve in the most amazing dainty cups that were your friend’s mom’s, or whatever bowl you have handy. Garnish with additional basil sprigs.

I’ve posted several times about my defunct annual Valentine’s cookie decorating party, and in general about my absolute and undying love of Valentine’s Day and all its disgustingly sugary motifs. (I don’t even like the color pink!) Living in my postage-stamp-sized Manhattan apartment, hosting that party myself is impossible. So when Pam came to visit for a long weekend, arriving on the 14th, and asked if we could make cookies, well, you know we were immediately at the grocery store for butter and more confectioners’ sugar.

As per tradition, we made only hearts, cupids, and some hearts-with-arrows. The first year of the party, I was a bit of a Valentine’s fascist, allowing only white and shades of pink for the icing–and only hearts (300 of them). It was a big deal a few years ago when I conceded to a different color icing (I think lavender was the first variation) and bought the cupid cookie cutter. I also used to allow only red food at the party, which requires a lot of creativity, a lot of red tortilla chips and salsa, and a lot of shrimp cocktail. This year we cut tofu into heart shapes for the Valentine dinner–because on Valentine’s day, everything you eat must be heart shaped, of course.

Though we’d bought more confectioners’ sugar, we didn’t have quite enough for a lot of variation, and I got a little liquid-happy when I mixed up the second batch, so we had a limited palette for decorating: two piping bags of pink and three “glazes” in white, green-blue, and raspberry. We made do.

We were up til 1:15 am decorating cookies, and we didn’t even finish them all. Which means I have a fridge full of sugary delights. And, thanks to Nova’s ingenious pie Wednesdays, we also baked a pear pie with gruyere crust—more leftovers! No recipe; we just grated approximately 1/2 cup of gruyere into homemade pate brisee and used that for a classic pear pie. Except, of course, it was still our Valentine’s weekend, so we cut the top crust into a whole mess of fluted-edged hearts and a solitary cupid.

It was quite tasty, with the gruyere’s tangy hints playing in the background. But I have to admit, I prefer the overt sweetness of the sugar cookies–fits better with my whole vision of Valentine’s Day as a time when you want to puke, everything’s so sweet.

My weekend with Pam could not have been more fun. I even think I’ve convinced her to embrace Valentine’s Day!

Well, I thought I had.

I don’t know how I keep doing it, but I have forgotten about Eye Candy Friday for the past few weeks. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been taking pictures!

In the last week, I went to the Met with friends and saw some “coloury” goodness.

I got back into cooking again, playing with everything from complex flavor pairings (click the picture for the recipe) to old standbys.

I had my 30th birthday party, which was so much fun and made me really happy.

I got some excellent gifts, some useful . . .

Some pretty . . .

And one that truly blew my mind.

And since this is my birthday week, I’m feeling generous. It’s time I gave away that extra copy of Folk Socks that I have, and there will be a yarny second prize as well. So leave me a comment with advice for me as I hit my thirties! (I’ve already gotten the eye cream lecture, thanks.) If you already own the book, please say so, and I will not enter you into the drawing for the book. The contest will be open until midnight on Friday, November 23, when my 30th birthday comes to an official close. I’ll do a random drawing once I’m back from Portland, Oregon, where I’m celebrating Thanksgiving.

Have I mentioned how much I love doing the eye candy? This week, the eye candy qualifies as actual candy (well, sort of). The recipe has “candied” in the name, after all. White Chocolate Cupcakes with Candied Kumquats, featuring a white chocolate & cream cheese frosting.

I am taking these to the office for a birthday celebration for two coworkers. I tasted one of the ones that “fell” (they have egg whites in them), and it was delish but had “fallen souffle” consistency. I’m only taking the ones that didn’t fall, so keep your fingers crossed that they taste as good as they look! I at least can vouch for the frosting and kumquats. Because really, you must make your own candied kumquats soon (recipe is linked from the recipe above). They are easier than you would think and taste oh so yummy.

My friend and I renewed our lapsed annual Christmas cookie decorating party this year, unfortunately without one of the original founding members and former annual host. I got to her apartment bright and early and we baked until our backs ached!

Lots of people came, lots of sugar was extruded onto gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies, and there was even a contest (in which two of the judges were color-blind. Note for next year: Have judges who can actually see the cookies for all their worth). I managed to not take any shots of my cookies this year, and instead ate my favorite (a butterfly) today. Oops!

Here you can see how the table became totally filled with decorated cookies. (I’m there in the center of the table (no Last Supper composition for me, however). Astute viewers will note that the woman sitting to my left and I are wearing the exact same shirt. We bought them together, but lived in different cities at the time!) The cookie decorating was a great time. I’m totally excited for Valentine’s Day now!

Today was all about treating myself. Treating myself to whatever I wanted. And boy did it feel good!

First, I took some time to decide on the special patterns I’d work on for ME. I’ve always loved the Adrienne Vittadini “Allegra Twist-Front Top” (on the right), despite the fact that the very few bloggers who have managed to get through it have reported ridiculous errors, confusion, and complications. In fact, everyone says that about all Adrienne Vittadini patterns. Am I insane? But it’s so pretty! I don’t even like the lace or patterning all that much–it’s the twist and the seam across the bust. All I really want to do is read the pattern to figure out how it’s constructed, then I can start to build my own pattern out of it.

I also think I’m going to get Wendy of Knit and Tonic’s latest, Sahara, from Stitch Diva. The yarn raises a big issue, however. There’s so many reasons to not buy the Tilli Thomas the pattern calls for (cost, the whole keystone pricing thing, and, most importantly, the fact that it seems to knit up looking more variegated than mottled, and I hate that striping), but what to get instead? I’m not opposed to KnitPicks, really, and various reviews of Andean Silk have been largely positive. But then I thought maybe I’d go to Tess Designer Yarns and treat myself to something special (the silk & ivory is the wrong weight, but I could make it work). Of course, there’s only pictures for a few of the colors; I’d have to call and talk to someone and would have to tell them what color I want, which means I have to know when I call what color I want. Instead of trying to find a sequined/beaded yarn, I think I’ll do the beading myself. I’ve never knit with beads, and it’s about time. So this project will be an undertaking, to say the least. I’m on a quest for yarn and beads. Thoughts?

This afternooon, I treated myself to other things–most notably, new clothing. It was the “friends & family” weekend for the whole Gap co (Banana, Old Navy, Gap), so two friends and I went shopping. And wow, we did some damange. I needed tops in colors and jeans that would fit. I got a little more than that.

We were in the Banana Republic for literally hours. The lines to get into dressing rooms and then to pay were interminable. Afterward, we went to the Gap but I didn’t get anything, and by then we were too exhausted to go to Old Navy. I got everything I needed, anyway.

And then, tonight, I rediscovered my love of cooking. My cooking mojo had been on the fritz for a while–six months? A year? I’d cook, of course, but it was uninspired cooking. I moved to New York, alone, and it got worse–I couldn’t get excited for my “party” of one. But tonight? It was a celebration.

It’s a grilled tuna steak, perfectly rare, done on my grill pan, which just came back to me. Alongside we’ve got balsamic-roasted cipollini onions and sauteed baby bok choy. The tuna and onion combination came from Giada de Laurentis and her Family Dinners cookbook. (Since I’m on the subject of Giada, you must read this. Be warned, you will pee in your pants it’s so funny. At least, I can’t not laugh at it.) Back to the food. This is what hers (or her food stylist’s) looked like, in comparison:

I didn’t do too shabby, did I? The tuna, cut to my specifications at Citarella, was melt-in-your mouth tender. It was amazing.

I’m sitting now in a mess of a living room. I have every single kitchen item known to man in here now (my belongings were returned to me yesterday). So not only is my cooking mojo back, I have all the tools with which to play! It’s gonna be an adventure.

OK, I’m pushing the bounds of this blog, but I get emails from people asking about food in Philly more often than you’d think!

Last night, to celebrate the boy’s birthday, we went to Pumpkin, a delightful byo on South Street between 17th and 18th (two blocks from Loop). We’d never been, though it’s gotten good reviews since it opened, and friends I told during the day raved.

It’s small and cute, quite like Pif and some of the other byos I really like. The service was very hands-off (I saw some negative reviews online), but the real important part is the food, right?

First, we split an appetizer of grilled lamb loin on rosemary foccacia over a ragu of tomatoes and chiles, with a yogurt sauce that was kind of spicy. I cannot say enough good things about this appetizer. We requested the lamb rare, and it was the softest, most impressive lamb ever (and I eat lamb whenever I go out). The flavors were perfectly balanced–roasted garlic offest by the chiles, the smokiness of the grill tempered by the yogurt. Excellent, excellent appetizer.

The entrees were good but, in truth, not as good as that appetizer. I got the hanger steak, served with some kind of potato gratin thing and haricots vert. The steak, also rare (yes, I’m a bloody meat girl), was soft and tender but needed some other punch of flavor. Texture-wise, it couldn’t be beat. The boy got pork two ways–a grilled loin and slow-cooked shoulder. I am not a huge pork fan, but I really liked the shoulder. He said, too, that it needed some other layer of flavor. I’m coming off as fairly disappointed in the entrees, and compared with the appetizer I was, but don’t misunderstand: the entrees were still quite good.

For dessert we split the vanilla creme brulee, which was very nice. I’m a huge custard fan, and the custard was rich but soft. The proportion of brulee to custard wasn’t my ideal (this had more brulee than I like), but it was perfectly well done.

We were there for two hours, never felt rushed once. Go! Enjoy.