Archive for December, 2008
Frosty Festive Treat
In my family, there is an emerging holiday tradition that takes place between Christmas and New Year’s: a homemade ice cream contest between each segment of our immediate family. My three brothers and their respective families along with my parents and then D and myself all form teams to come up with an original ice cream flavor, which we then all make on the same day and have judged for bragging rights. Trust me, bragging rights are a far better prize than any other, although there’s talk of getting a gold-painted ice cream scoop for a traveling trophy.
This year was the first I participated as I usually had to leave for other engagements by the time the contest took place. I mulled over my flavor options for quite a few weeks. It’s not an easy task to come up with a winning scoop in this family of expert ice cream makers. One of those cartoon light bulbs went off when I hit upon the idea of Peppermint Dark Chocolate Ice Cream. It was seasonal, unique, and I already had a superb creamy rich chocolate recipe in my arsenal.
The day of the contest, last Friday, was chaotic with four teams (one brother bailed at the last minute) hard at work while simultaneously egging each other on with competitive jabs and threats of sabotage. Really, it was a blast. Each ice cream was made with gallons of fresh whole cows milk lugged across the 100 yards from the dairy barn to the house. And for my recipe, I used some amazing local brown eggs with yolks the color of deep golden late summer sunshine.
Four generations crowded into the kitchen for the official judging. A panel of three judges – my aunt, uncle and cousin – were tasked with determining the ice cream with the best taste and texture. They didn’t know who had made what flavor so it was about as fair as it could get within a highly competitive family. The other three flavors were Chocolate Covered Strawberry, Chocolate Cashew, and French Vanilla with Chocolate Chips. All tough and worthy contenders, to be sure.
Oh, and yes, I won.
New Year, New Look
So what do you think? Like the makeover? I had a hard time letting go of the fresh green theme that had been the face of SFTF for nearly two years now. But it’s all about the pictures. When I started the blog, I wasn’t nearly the photographer I am now. Back then, I choose the color and header to catch new readers’ eyes. Today, the artistry of food photography is just as much a part of SFTF as the emphasis on farm fresh produce. As such, I decided to go for a sleeker design that wouldn’t clash so much with the photos. I hope you like it! If anyone’s terribly attached to the old chartreuse, leave a comment and we’ll find a compromise.
Well, now that the new digs have been explained, let’s have a delicious dish to celebrate the new look and the New Year. How about some Juniper Scented Pears in Red Wine? Pears are one of those fruits that stores so nicely through the first half of the winter. It’s about time to use up the last of them though. These particular pears came from the old gnarly pear tree that my grandfather planted long before I was born.
It’s incredible how long a fruit tree will continue to produce as long as it is maintained on occasion with some pruning and fertilizing with compost. If you have much of a yard, be it in the city, suburbs or the country, consider planting a fruit tree (after some careful research and a talk with a reputable nurseryman) to have your own fruit for years to come. Many fruit trees are compact and beautiful, fitting in nicely in the home landscape.
These poached pears are a beautiful – yet sweetly simple – dessert for a festive occasion such as a holiday dinner party. They can be made up to a day ahead and taste just as good warm or cold. I enjoyed mine most with a spoonful of thick sweetened whipped cream on the side to balance out the nip of the juniper in the sauce. You may need to adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe according to the sweetness of the pears you are using.
Oh, and how rude of me, I almost forgot to ask. How were your holidays? Lots of family time? More importantly, how was the food? What was the best thing you ate at a holiday affair this year? I have to say my grandmother’s potato salad is still tops on my list, year after year. My mom made a new candy though that was to-die-for: she made homemade peanut butter fudge, then coated it in homemade caramel and finally dipped it all into milk chocolate. Yup. It was as good as it sounds, just like these pears!
Happy Holidays & A Give Away!
Congratulations to K (comment #3), the winner of this lovely box of tea!!! Thank you, every one, for your wonderful comments!
SFTF is officially on Christmas vacation for a few days. But below is a little slideshow to keep you entertained. Christmas at Longwood Gardens is in full swing. I’ve certainly honed my night photography skills in an attempt to capture the magic.
Also, I’m giving away a box of my handcrafted, organically grown, loose leaf herbal tea. Yep, you guys have been nothing but nice this past year and deserve a little gift. I wish I had a box for all the thousands of you that read this blog regularly (merci!) but since I don’t, it’s time for a yuletide give away! Leave a comment below about your favorite SFTF moment this past year or something you hope to see here in the upcoming year. Make sure the email address you enter is accurate as that’s how I’ll contact you. I’ll put the names in a hat and draw one out after the New Year.
Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season!
Cranberries + Coffee Cake
There are no two ways about it. The holiday season is officially in full swing. The past few years the holidays haven’t been all that festive for me with some stressful situations surrounding them. However, this year I feel a bit more in the merriment mood, having been surrounded by the magic of the Christmas season at Longwood Gardens and a few timely holiday activities like ice skating, wreath making and a little soirée that included an Italian-themed potluck.
The party was the perfect opportunity for me to try out this recipe from this month’s Gourmet. I have to take a moment to thank Deb at Smitten Kitchen for leading the way though, thereby giving me more confidence to tweak it and take an untested dessert to a party. Cranberry Vanilla Coffee Cake with White Chocolate Ganache did indeed pass the test with flying colors. The cake itself is dense and rich while the layer of cranberries cuts through and cleans your palette with a zippy zing. The drizzle of white chocolate on the top just the touch of sweetness that dresses up the cake for fancy holiday dining.
Cranberries are unique to North America, I realize. And I’ve always felt lucky to have the bogs of New Jersey, the third largest region for cranberry production in the United States, close enough to consider them local. While they are actually harvested in October, the past two years I’ve made a point to buy up as many local cranberries as I can find so I can freeze them to use all winter. If you don’t have cranberries at your disposal, I suspect this cake could be made with dried cherries or an orange marmalade.
As an aside, I thought I’d clear up any confusion about the designation “coffee cake”. In my experience, some folks seem to be under the impression that it has to have coffee in the recipe. In actuality, coffee cake is really just any kind cake that gets served with coffee. Months of Edible Celebrations has a great post on the history and definitions of coffee cake. Coincidentally, I was born on National Coffee Cake Day! Fun, eh?
Vanilla Scented Madeleines & A Movie
Those of you who had to take a college literature class may well have read a little book by Monsieur Marcel Proust called Remembrance of Things Past. If you had to read it from front to back – all three volumes of it – I do feel a twing of pity for you. However, Proust did the culinary world a great service by bringing to our collective attentions “those squat plump little cakes called ‘petites madeleines,’ which look as though they had been molded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell”. Some have argued Proust was no wiz at cookie i.d., confusing madeleines perhaps for something more akin to a biscotti or even dry toast. But it doesn’t really matter what Proust actually ate, does it? What matters is that his literary work informed many a tea drinker (and let’s face it, lots of bookworms drink tea) of the existence these superb cookies for dunking in piping hot teacups.
Now that I’ve given my intellectual spiel on the topic, let me tell you how I came to learn of dear crumbly, airy, moist madeleines. I have a penchant for films with strong leading men who drive very fast shiny cars and choose their words wisely. The James Bond franchise is perhaps the best-known example. John Wayne would have been a contender if he’d swapped his horse for a sports car. But it’s a lesser known 2002 French film that really exemplifies the genre for me.
The Transporter, featuring the oh-so-sexy Jason Statham, is about this stoic guy who delivers “packages” for crime lords in his immaculate black BMW. One “package” turns out to be a Chinese girl being delivered, most likely, to her executioner. You can guess how the plot unfolds (or better yet, rent the film) so I’ll skip to the part I’ve always loved best. The two of them end up in a little stone chateau in the French countryside, and she wakes up early to make madeleines for his breakfast. In that moment, when he smells and tastes those freshly baked madeleines, you immediately see an endearing crack in his stoic armor. The day after I watched the film, I went out to buy madeleine forms and found a recipe in my trusty cookie cookbook.
I’ve been in love with these cakey treats ever since. Of course today, you can find them on every Starbucks countertop, but a madeleine is at its best straight out of the oven. I make mine mostly with lemons, although oranges are also common. The citric acid reacts with the baking powder to create lots of little air bubbles in what would otherwise be a very dense moist crumb. It really is the perfect tea cookie texture.
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