In Like a Lion and Out Like a Lamb (I Hope)

It's Spring. It could not have come at a better time, really.
Personally and professionally, this winter has really kind of sucked.

But that's ok, because Spring is here now.

I've been conspicuously absent from my blogging duties this year. I know. I'm sorry. I've made a bunch of new things and taken a LOT of pictures and begun writing a bunch of draft posts but haven't had the time to actually get anything out there.

I swore I'd fix that this weekend. Spring cleaning my camera and all that.

I recently picked up what I know think is my new favorite cookbook, The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones. Even though she has created the recipes to be the perfect size for a single person, they're all easily multiplied and she does an amazing job explaining how to best use all those leftover ingredient quantities in "second and third rounds" to make food that doesn't taste as if you've been eating the same meal repeatedly all week.

She's my hero. And no surprise that the recipes are great, and lovely to read. If I were buddies with Lidia Bastianich, Julia Child, and Madhur Jaffrey, and had spent my lifetime editing their cookbooks, I like to think I'd have picked up a few handy kitchen tips as well.

I have a feeling I'm going to end up making just about every recipe she has in here but when I read the eggs benedict recipe, I knew I had to try it. The whole concept of a single serving of hollandaise was too magical to pass up.

Unfortunately, I failed at hollandaise for one.

Attempt 1:

This is what we call "curdled egg yolk." It's actually pretty tasty...but not exactly a "sauce." More of a spread, really.

Attempt 2, using a double boiler, fared slightly better at first...

Pay no attention to all the semi-cooked yolk around the sides of the bowl.

...until the sauce broke upon the last addition of butter. 

The egg and the butter are separating. Serious frowns.

At which point, I resorted to emergency tactics by squirting in a bit of mayonnaise to re-emulsify things. Which sort of worked. I mean, it worked well enough for serving myself. Good thing no one else had to eat this!

Almost creamy...almost.

After the additions of a little meyer lemon juice and salt, the sauce at least tasted right, even if it wasn't all fluffy and creamy as it should have been.

Deep breath. To paraphrase Kelly Clarkson: what doesn't kill me makes me a better cook.

Time to assemble brunch:

Half an English muffin. (HUGE shout out to Rudi's Organic Bakery for making 100% Spelt English Muffins! Love you guys!)

A bit of ham. This is smoked ham from the Whole Foods Deli. I just asked them to give me a single thick slice. The trimmed bits are in the fridge and I'll probably dice and throw them into some kind of saute of greens later this week.

Nothing says spring like asparagus. I steamed two (fat) spears and then sliced them lengthwise, since they were so thick.

Added a poached egg using my microwave trick.

Poured the sauce over the top.

Added a little paprika for garnish, sliced a few strawberries, and voila!

To complete this semi-serene brunch, I put on Debussy's Clair de Lune, which I just can't get enough of right now, for some reason. Here's the track:




Happy Spring!

Sharing is Caring

I’m a terrible sharer. Know thyself, right? Well, I really am terrible at sharing.

And honestly, I always have been. I remember this moment in kindergarten, when some kid in my class (who will go unnamed because we’re no doubt Facebook friends now) borrowed my beloved box of Cray-Pas – those awesome waxy pastel crayons, and by far my favorite art supply, ever – and broke half of them and gummed up the other half, by, for example, running the light yellow one over a dark purple. I mean, what kind of uncouth barbarian does that to the colors? Ugh.

  

Sharing is something I’ve really had to work on as an adult…for me, it takes active mindfulness to not be fazed when a friend borrows something and accidentally breaks it…or never returns it. My own personal version of therapy for this problem is part of the reason I got a white sofa. If you’re going to be upset about people spilling on your white sofa, you shouldn’t have one. For me, throwing parties and having a white sofa is a lesson in personal development.

I’m not kidding.

I don’t really know what my problem is. Maybe this is all because I was an only child half the time, and a fussily particular one at that. Maybe it’s because the rest of the time I was an eldest child in a house where my personal items – clothing, jewelry, books etc. – were always under threat of disappearance at the hands of an admiring younger sibling.

But as an adult I have come to understand that there are times for being selfish and times for sharing and when four pounds of cured pork shows up at your doorstep, that is definitely a time for sharing. A Tasty Salted Pig Parts Party was obviously in order.

A while ago, Gilt Taste had a steal of a deal on a bunch of delicious cured pork from La Quercia, an artisanal producer in Iowa. You might not necessarily think of Iowa first when you’re thinking of fine prosciutto or coppa, but then again, you also probably wouldn’t think of Iowa as having any ski hills, and yet, I have downhill skied in Iowa. It’s a very surprising state.

Obviously, given the lardo-lonza-coppa-prosciutto bounty delivered unto me by FedEx (and unpacked by dear Meredith while I was on a business trip to no doubt somewhere in the Midwest), I felt compelled to do a vaguely Tuscan theme for the rest of the food. Here was the final menu lineup for the cocktail party:

 

Piggy Parts // Coppa Piccante, Coppa Americano, Lonza, Prosciutto Piccante

Italian Cheeses // Brigante / Asiago / Aged Provolone

Accompaniments:

Assorted Breads / Crackers / Grissini

Melon / Figs / Grapes

Homemade Tomato Jam / Homemade Cherry Jam / Pumpkin Jam from Eataly

Lardo Spread (Which is literally seasoned lard. And it’s awesome.)

Pickled Items // Spicy Okra / String Beans / Olives (All from Whole Foods. I suck at pickling.)

Stuffed Peppadew Peppers // Boursin

Baby BLTs // butter lettuce / heirloom tomatoes / basil mayo / brioche

Crostini Bar

Sauteed Mushrooms / Fontina

Broccoli Rabe Pesto / Fresh Mozzarella

Honey-Roasted Tomatoes / Ricotta

All, served with Grilled Bread

Tirami su

Mini Peach Pies with Amaretti Topping (adapted from here, with this crust)

Baci

Amarettini

Wine / Italian Beer / Campari & Soda

I loved doing the shopping for this particular party because it gave me an excuse to go to North Beach – the "Italian Neighborhood" in San Francisco – to pick up some authentic grissini, Perugina Baci candies, and of course, the Amaretti di Saronno in a new tin from A. Molinari, an Italian deli that's been around for ages. 

Here are some images of the food. I’ve linked the recipes above and included my very favorite Tirami su recipe even though “Tirami su is so passé” (per Mom). Whatever Mom, it’s delicious.

Setting a Tuscan mood with sunflowers. Ok, ok, not really. In truth, I just wanted an excuse to buy flowers.

Peaches, scored and getting ready for their dip in boiling water before peeling.

Peach filling for the mini pies. Are peaches not the most beautiful fruit, all sunny and blushing at the same time? They remind me of the hybrid tea rose Peace, which we always had in the rose garden at home.

I love these amarettini cookies. The best is after the tin has been open for a couple of weeks and they get a little bit chewy. Yum. For the mini peach pies, I crushed them and added them to both the topping and the filling. I had never done that before, and it was a little risky, but I will definitely do it again.

Campari and soda. My favorite aperitif!

Fruits of the season.

MEAT.

I love the ingredients on the lardo. It's disturbing how delicious it is. Delicious enough to consider eschewing butter forever. And I really love butter.

A bad picture of the remaining BLTs.

More meat!

The mini peach pies.

Part of the crostini bar: (clockwise from upper left) honey roasted cherry tomatoes, broccoli rabe pesto, lardo.  The grilled bread (unforutnately unphotographed) was a major hit and so easy. Brush slices of ciabatta with olive oil and throw on the grill pan until they smoke. Done!

Rosemary crostini, ricotta, sauteed mushrooms with fontina.

What was left of the tirami su.

Yum.

I know! You just have to make this, right? 

Ok, here's the recipe:

Vitullo Tirami Su (adapted from The Italian Baker by Carole Field)
 

1 pound 2 ounces (500 grams) fresh mascarpone (get the latest expiration date you can)
3 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
Grand Marnier, approx. ½ cup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ladyfingers – the soft kind, not the crunchy kind. Either get two packages (you can usually get them in the bakery at any big supermarket) or make them from scratch. I recommend the former.
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ ounce bar semi-sweet chocolate (optional)

With a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the mascarpone on medium speed until smooth. (DO NOT OVERBEAT OR IT WILL GET CHUNKY AND GROSS.)
Add the cream, 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar, 3-4 tablespoons of Grand Marnier and the vanilla. Beat on high speed until thickened, smooth and creamy. (It should have the consistency of thick pudding). In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar with a spoon and set aside.

Put one layer of ladyfingers in a 9x13 pan. Brush the ladyfingers with Grand Marnier. (Don’t soak them in booze. The tops of the ladyfingers should be just dampened.)
Spread half the mascarpone mixture on this layer. Sift half of the cocoa-sugar mixture on the mascarpone layer. Add another layer of ladyfingers, brush with liqueur, and spread the rest of the mascarpone on top. Sift the remaining cocoa-sugar mixture on top. If you want to be fancy, grate the semi-sweet chocolate over the cocoa using a vegetable peeler.

NOTE: This is MUCH better if made at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours in advance.
Another note: You can make this in any size pan you want, but I recommend not doing more than 3 layers of ladyfingers or it gets a little overwhelming.

Truffles and Baci in a little piggy bowl.

Seriously, how cute is this?

The best part of the party was actually that I sliced my right index finger pretty aggressively with a huge serrated knife while slicing some of the coppa, just minutes before guests were due to arrive.  I managed to clean up the trail of blood leading from kitchen through breakfast room to bathroom and grab some gauze for my finger before anyone arrived, but I knew the finger situation was a bit dire…it wouldn’t stop bleeding…

Despite personal injury, here's why it was the best part: part of the reason I absolutely love and adore my friends is that when they showed up, I was able to easily hand over the entire party to them (while I made a quick trip to the ER for wound irrigation and assessment of whether stitches were necessary) without batting an eyelash. When I got back from the ER an hour or so later, the party was in full effect and everyone was having a good time. It was kind of awesome.

Big thanks to Jeff for letting people in the door, and Rayleen, Britta, and Blake for ensuring everyone was welcomed, well fed and wine-d in my absence.  And of course, even more thanks to Meredith for accompanying me to the ER and not making fun of me for flirting shamelessly with Dr. McDreamy…er…McDermott.

It was a good party.

Summer has Arrived

Sometimes Summer takes a little time to come to San Francisco. It finally decided to show up this year in mid-June. (Yes, I am waaaay behind on blog posts. Trying to play catch up here!)

Dahlias are in season. I love flowers that look like they grew in someone's garden rather than in a greenhouse.

It's time for summer fabrics. I love being able to break out cotton and linen and great summer prints.

And it's time for tomatoes. Gorgeous red heirloom tomatoes. The kind that actually taste like tomatoes. Not like paste. Or what I imagine paste to taste like. I was never a paste-eater, myself. Epicurean from birth, I tell you. 

With the warm summer weather, a chilled tomato soup was in order. I set off in search of a new gazpacho recipe but found this one from Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein that sounded divine, like the chic uptown version of that Spanish summer favorite.

Heirloom Tomato Soup with Arbequina Olives and Shaved Fennel  (courtesy of Epicurious)

by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein, excerpted from Raw

Yield: Makes 4 servings INGREDIENTS Soup 2 large, red heirloom tomatoes, peeled and seeded 1/2 jalapeño chile, seeded and chopped 1/2 cup chopped, peeled cucumber 2 teaspoons sherry wine vinegar Celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper Garnish 1 3-inch-long baby fennel, thinly shaved on a mandoline (If you don't have a mandoline, maybe try a sharp veggie peeler?) 12 arbequina olives, pitted and quartered (Ok, seriously Charlie? These do not exist in several well-stocked SF grocery stores. I subbed kalamata because it was what I had at home although I might use green olives next time) 1/4 cup peeled, seeded, and diced red tomato (Totally forgot this ingredient. Don't think it affected my end product.) 2 teaspoons brine from olives 2 teaspoons sherry wine vinegar 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 12 micro fennel sprouts or fennel fronds (Micro fennel sprouts, really??) DIRECTIONS Method— To make the soup: In a high-speed blender, combine the tomatoes, chile, cucumber, and vinegar and process until smooth. Ready for blending! You can't tell, but this is an action shot. Pass the purée through a fine-mesh sieve and season to taste with salt and pepper.   Straining the soup (because I didn't peel the tomatoes before blending, and I would suggest you leave your peels on as well) was the only time consuming part of this recipe. And by "time consuming" I mean five minutes, tops. Assembly— Ladle one-fourth of the soup into each bowl. Garnish with the fennel, olives, and tomato. Drizzle the olive brine, vinegar, and olive oil around the soup. Sprinkle with the fennel sprouts.

I put the mandoline to work on the fennel for perfectly thin shavings. The next day, when I ate the leftovers, I set the mandoline one click too thick and ended up with giant awkward pieces of fennel in my soup. Evidently 1/16" matters more than you might think but I guess that's why Six Sigma exists.

For a bunch of stuff just blended together, this soup is surprisingly tomato-y and really fresh and delicious. Plus, it's no-cook. Love!

Happy Summer!

A Lovely Spring Day

There's something about a sunny spring day that makes me just want to throw open the windows and clean house.

I know, I'm weird.  (We've covered this before, no?)

Today was one of those sunny spring days. I got up to do laundry (my most hated chore) and went out for a couple of runs while the loads were in the washers (shorter, more painful, hilly run) and dryer (longer, more enjoyable run and a stop for La Boulange's amazing cold-brewed iced coffee).

I got home, fetched my clothes from our wretched garage laundry room and put the laundry away. I note this because in more lazy times, piles of clean laundry live on the second sofa in my living room for a while. This is the problem with having two sofas, too many clothes, and no roommates. I still have plenty of outfits to wear and a comfy place to sit and watch tv even when the other comfy place to sit is covered in clean clothes and sheets.

Feeling inspired by my responsible adult laundry effort, I elected to tackle my positively nasty stove, cleaning the grates and everything. A Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (my all-time favorite cleaning tool) was put down in the process. But now the stove sparkles. 

I made myself lunch, channeling this post. This time I added a new element - anchovies (three of them, mashed up to a paste) - into the butter. The spring radishes really are so mild. I love them.

I tried on and purged a bunch of old clothes from my dresser and closet. I then tackled a project that's been in the hopper for MONTHS - I put up new hooks on the side of my movers-damaged-bookcase-turned-handbag-and-shoe-storage piece, for displaying all the too-long necklaces that just get tangled on top of my dresser, and to get my gym bag off the floor, for once and for all. Victory.

True that, poster. True that.
Also, I just want to give a shout out to the DeKalb T.J. Maxx which is the best, cleanest, most well organized T.J. Maxx in existence. That's where I picked up that cute pillow. I saw an identical pillow months later in a snooty home store in Sonoma for 5x what I paid. Ha. 

After that I showered. Sorry, there's no picture of that. Trust me, it's better for all of us that way.

By the time all that was done, it was time to tackle the fun chore of bill paying. Woohoo! I got a little ambitious after paying bills and tried to rollover my old 401K into my new one but got confused and decided that it would be better if I just had a snack instead. A ripe mango in the fruit colander was calling my name, so I whipped up a mango-strawberry smoothie.

Kate's Mango-Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients
1 ripe mango, peeled and pitted
8 or so strawberries, washed and trimmed
1 cup Greek yogurt - I usually use 0% because that's what I keep around
1/2 cup milk

Directions
Put everything in the blender and blend it. 
The end.

I just started making these recently, and I'm addicted. They are a favorite new weekend treat. I usually do not add any sweetener - I like the wholesomeness of just the fruit (but I do try to wait until the mango is almost too ripe and I select the ripest strawberries in the container).

For serving, I especially love to rinse out my to-go iced coffee cup and straw from the morning's coffee and drink my smoothie out of that. Drinking smoothies out of straws is so much more fun. Actually, drinking anything out of a straw is more fun. Except hot coffee, of course. Also, I'm recycling!

In spite of today's loveliness, the week preceding was kind of a rough one for me, and I determined that flowers were in order. I love late Spring because it means peonies are in season. They are my favorite (alongside my early spring lilacs), and always remind me of our dear neighbor, Jane Beard, who was like another grandmother to me when I was growing up.

Jane practically had an entire field of peonies in her front yard and they always bloomed at the beginning of June, ushering in summers filled with daytime lemonade stands and evening games of hide and seek.

The tricky part about peonies is that they are only available for a very short window in May and June. Their scarcity makes me want them all the more when I see them.

Tulips and roses are fine when you can't get anything truly seasonal, but I really love old school blooms like these peonies that look like they came directly from someone's garden. They are very lightly scented and smell fantastic - such a nice little bonus.

 

I also picked up the most perfect notebooks for work at Flax Art and Design. I know this place is a San Francisco institution - I remember getting their catalogs at home when I was young - but somehow in two years I'd never set foot in the store. On a lark, after picking up exciting things like toilet paper and dish detergent at Safeway, I stopped in.

I was in crafty heaven. Flax is amazing. Like Paper Source times 1000. I could spend hours upon hours dreaming up projects there.

The notebooks I picked up at Flax are perfect for work (and I don't use that word lightly to describe objects) because they are:

• large (all the better to diagram with),
• spiral bound (so they lay flat - helpful for a left-handed person),
• thin (so they're lightweight and don't take up much room in the already heavy work bag), 
• cheap (duh), and
• pretty! 

I think I am going to start with the robin's egg blue one, although I do love all the colors. I also love the inscription on the front:

"Most advanced quality gives best writing features & gives satisfaction to you."

Indeed, little notebook. Indeed.

I don't know why this picture is formatting vertically. Odd. I suggest turning your computer clockwise 90 degrees.

Happy Spring Day!

Have a Heart

I had an absolutely delightful day today. It went something like this:

I got up at a reasonable hour after a reasonable amount of sleep, for a 9am flight.

I got to the airport and parked in the first spot next to the elevators in the parking garage.

I checked in and got upgraded.

My flight was on time.

I got to Hertz and they upgraded me (which has NEVER happened before) to this:

I drove with the top down 55 miles to Camarillo.

It was sunny and gorgeous. An excellent day for singing in the car.

Somewhere near Thousand Oaks, I belted Eternal Flame at the top of my lungs.

I arrived an hour before my meeting and found a lovely cafe at which to lunch. I had a delicious spinach salad with grilled chicken, dried cranberries, goat cheese, and caramelized walnuts.

I got to the client meeting, and it was delightfully productive.

I drove back to LAX in almost no rush hour traffic, returned the car, and had a quick chat with my favorite Hertz employee, who is so kind and always remembers me.

There was no line at airport security.

I went to the gate area for an earlier flight that was leaving in 10 minutes.

I got a seat on the earlier flight. It was in the bulkhead, so I could put my feet up.

There was no one in the middle seat.

And no traffic on the way home.

I found a parking spot right away.

I checked my mail and got an absolutely wonderful and sweet note from my fabulous stepmom, Lindy.

I sat down to a Valentine's smorgasbord dinner of leftovers from Saturday's party, a menu consisting dominantly of cheese and chocolate.

And now I'm working on this blog entry.

In my world, Valentine's Day rarely gets better than this, a day where everything almost magically goes exactly, perfectly right. It got me to thinking about past Valentine's Days - some of which have been good, some decidedly less so, some downright disastrous. I will leave those stories to my memories. Suffice it to say, food poisoning and potted plants do not make for a romantic Valentine's Day. Trust me.

At some point in my life, I decided that I wasn't going to be a Valentine's hater. What I am a hater about is people bitching about Valentine's Day. What is the problem, people?? It's a day when you have license to eat chocolate without feeling guilty, and project love to everyone. How can anyone be bitter about that? All you need is love! Just because I'm single doesn't mean there aren't people that I love, and who love me. I refer to these people as "family and friends." And I like to celebrate them today, because they are wonderful people.

In all honesty, I didn't get my act together as much this year as in years past - I usually make and send Valentines but the two weeks of traveling prior to today really precluded serious crafts. (I still have those darn cocktail napkins I've been planning to make since October on my project list.) What I did do was manage to get a few things together for a Valentine's-themed party on Saturday. I think it was a good party because the last guests left after 3am Sunday morning. And it's taken me a few days to clean up.

Herewith, the menu:

Savory
Heart Goat Cheese, Heart Brie, Manchego and Mahon with Jams (Pumpkin and Violet) and Grapes
Mango-Avocado Salsa and Chips
Peppadew Peppers Stuffed with Boursin
O-love and Artichoke Heart Tapenade with Crostini and Carrot Sticks
Meatball Parmigiana Sliders

Sweet
Outrageous Heart Brownies
Mini Black Bottom Cupcakes
Peanut Butter and Jam Heart Cookies
Conversation Hearts Candy
Hershey Kisses

Liquid
Cherub’s Cup
Wine, Champagne, Beer

And now, in pictures:


The beginning of the brownies. Lots of chocolate and butter.
These brownies could probably kill you.

Ok, not probably. The will definitely kill you. At least this recipe makes 100+ brownies!

Now, with flour. I used half whole wheat and half all-purpose. It worked well.

Brownie batter spread in the pan.
 I saw this trick on Martha Stewart's show - what a brilliant idea to use binder clips to keep the parchment paper in place! I now keep four of these in the kitchen drawer.



These look done to me. A toothpick confirms the diagnosis.


 

I cut half the brownies into squares for Jen & Ryan's Super-Housewarming-Bowl Party last weekend, then froze the remaining brownies. (They freeze really well.) The day of my party, I took them out of the freezer in the morning and used a cookie cutter to cut them into heart shapes. Super cute and super easy.

   

Peanut Butter and Jam Heart Cookies. Another recipe from Martha. She and her minions are geniuses for coming up with this stuff. I mean, seriously. How cute is this? I can't wait to make these again next year. I might make them "heartless" in the interim. Turns out they are delicious for breakfast, too.  



Valentine's Torta - goat cheese and sundried tomatoes.

I couldn't pass up this heart-shaped bamboo cutting board. It was the perfect way to serve two of my favorite cheeses - Manchego and Mahon.

The olive and artichoke tapenade. Mer (who, along with Christine, came over early to help)

assembled the platter. I normally split my veggies and carbs into quarters instead of sixths, but Mer's way looks better. Definitely doing this next time!



Christine added the "e" to this label on the wine. It looked so professional, everyone thought the wine was really named "Valentine".  (She also took over assembly of the sliders, of which I do not have a picture. But they turned out looking just like the picture in the recipe link above.)

  

Mango-Avocado salsa and chips. Honestly, the salsa was not as well-loved as some of the other things I made, but I had two mangos from the farm box that were ripe and needed to be used. One perhaps slightly inebriated guest who shall remain nameless offered the suggestion that "the guacamole needs to be smushed up more."

Oh well. I thought it was tasty and am looking forward to having it on a piece of grilled fish tomorrow for dinner.

This stuff will knock you on your ass. Kind of like the little diapered man's arrow, I suppose.
(Tito's, for those of you unfamiliar, is the best vodka on God's green Earth.)

Heart-shaped brownies and mini black bottom cupcakes. A veritable tower of choco-love.

Stuffed peppadews. This is the EASIEST "recipe" and a crowd pleaser to boot. Take a jar of peppadew peppers, drain them and pat them dry with paper towels. Pipe boursin that's been softened with a little cream or milk into their centers. The end. (You can pipe them with a plastic sandwich bag with a tiny corner cut off if you don't have a pastry bag and tips.)

Requisite candy.

If it can be made into a heart, I will make it so. No food is safe from my paring knife when there's a Valentine's theme at stake.

Hearts over the bar table.

Red roses, of course!

Happy Valentine's Day!