NOTE TO READERS:  Unfortunately a technical snafu occurred and I lost my three most recent posts, so I am going to repost them. Sorry for the repeat…here we go

Though asparagus week is long behind me, it is worth mentioning the last recipe I made. Asparagus pesto turned out to be a gem.  The idea came from an old Gourmet but it needed a little doctoring. Soft and subtle, the asparagus soaks up the flavor of garlic, pine nuts and basil without being overwhelmed. I think it is best with whole wheat pasta–adds nutrition but also a good taste.

Asparagus Pesto with Fresh Tomatoes

1 bunch asparagus
1/4 cup pine nuts
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
8-10 leaves fresh basil
2/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
1 cup rough chopped tomatoes
Wheat penne pasta

Start boiling water for pasta. Snap off woody ends of asparagus.  Cut asparagus in two inch pieces and steam over the boiling pasta water until bright green, about 4 minutes. Quickly remove from steam and run cold water (from the tap is fine) over the asparagus to stop the cooking. Discard water.

In a food processor, pulse in the pine nuts, garlic and salt until finely chopped.  Then add the asparagus, basil and oil until you like the texture.  Transfer this mixture to a bowl and mix in cheese.  Add the pepper and more salt to taste and finish it off with the tomatoes for a hit of brightness.

Somewhere along the line, cook your pasta, but the pesto keeps really well in the fridge for almost 2 weeks.  It is also very good on sandwiches and in scrambled eggs.

Finally, a few fun facts about asparagus. There are a lot of festivals that surround this vegetable, but one of the greatest that I found takes place in the UK and comes complete with an auction, songs, costumes and Shakespeare.

In past years the “famous” auctioneer Colin Jelfs has sold 100 rounds of “gras” for £1200. Its really worth taking a look at their website. I want to go to this shindig, what an experience….

Well, thats the last of the asparagus entries.  Next up, massive amounts of bread baking.

In Spain, April showers bring May flowers just like in the US, but April also brings Easter and the week long vacation called Semana Santa that directly precedes egg painting time.  In cities all throughout the country, the Cofradías, Fraternal Brotherhoods of the Church, process along twisting cobblestone roads, adored in white and gold and bearing statues of Christ and the saints on their backs.

I, on the other hand, watched the festivities on a small television hidden away in the beach town of Peñíscola, about 250 kilometers south of Barcelona.  This April’s Semana Santa did in fact bring a lot of rain, and while I tried to get a little tan (after a short polar plunge in the Mediterranean) my favorite part of the vacation ended up being my lesson in Torrijas, the traditional dessert of holy week.

Torrijas are essentially a fried version of French toast or portable bread pudding- bread, milk, sugar, eggs and spices (honey, muscatel wine and cinnamon are all added to the eaters liking).  Standing in the tiny, very humid kitchen with my Spanish host mother, I began my apprenticeship. Everyone’s recipe is a little different, but in this case, first we mixed milk, sugar, cinnamon, and muscatel wine in a bowl and submerged slices of bakery bread two at a time.  Meanwhile, I beat four eggs in a separate bowl and heated frying oil in a pan. After we had a stack of 12 or so bread slices, we dredged them in the eggs and fried them up.  Delicious? Obviously.  Heart attack?…probable.  This is not what my doctor had in mind when she said watch your cholesterol.

Torrijas, are ubiquitous during Semana Santa.  Bakeries, restaurants and even convenience stores hang sign in their windows—“Hay Torrijas”— to attract the sweet-toothed Spanish population. The classic postre originated in Spanish monasteries in the 15th century as a way to make good and cheap use of leftovers. This year, El Mundo, a Madrileño newspaper, estimated that 3 million torrijas were sold, or said another way, 375,000 kilos (787,100 pounds)!

For me, this pastry came at the perfect time, feeling a little homesick, nothing says comfort like a few warm torrijas and a spanish soap opera.

Here is Mark Bittman’s take on the Spanish treat, and because I trust him implicitly, give this one a whirl.  Plus, the recipe is in English.

While Christmas posts will abound soon, I wanted to share this little gem with you. Pomegranate Ice Cream

I’ve been privileged to grow up next to the best ice cream in the entire universe. Sebastian Joe’s is the tastiest vanilla, my mother is an addict, and I consider it the best base for extrapolation. So naturally, I called them to figure out whether or not to use eggs, egg yolks or no eggs at all for the base of my  Pomegranate ice creams for Thanksgiving.  The verdict: whole eggs.

I’ve made many a quart using Mark Bittman’s Basic French Recipe, which yields a rich and smooth flavor.  I’m curious to see what happens when the whites are included. There is also the Basic Philadelphia style, which has no eggs at all, but that is for another day. 

This had to be one of the best ever. I boiled down pom juice to a thickened syrup, with a little less than a cup of sugar to two cups juice and added it to the custard as it turned in the machine–way good. By brother actually put down his spoon, looked me in the eye and asked: “Ellie, what is this!?! I love it!”  That’s the greatest compliment ever. He’s a tough ice cream judge.

I wrote about the health benefits on an earlier post, but I had to share this recipe.  I used a rough version of the POM Wonderful recipe, but didn’t add nearly as much sugar.  Using my own base custard and ommiting the nuts gave a smooth, silky and intense taste.

Photo curtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/hsquaredthefoodie/2886353002/

It seems to me that there is never a wrong time to make an angel food cake.  In the summer the light, air texture fits the warm breezes and perfectly ripe berries, and in the winter its tender powder white crumb goes tuxedo with chocolate sauce. And near Christmas? A prefect moment for an angel.

First, a pause to address my blogging absence. Apologies for my lack of postings.  The end of the term got busy, busy, busy (though this is no excuse for not sharing my Thanksgiving day post.) Thanks for sticking with me, its much a appreciated.

Now back to the cake.  I adore the eggy angel food cake. I made it this year on my father’s birthday, a man who must vigilantly monitor his cholesterol, but has a pension for cookies of any kind. With no egg yolks and no fat, this was the perfect birthday treat (and lest the day go un-indulged, we added chocolate gelato, raspberries and whipped cream!).

As usual, here’s a little history and a little science.   Though its often overlooked now, this cake was wildly popular in the 1870’s because it was a favorite First Lady Lucy Hayes (wife of Rutherford B).  The cake’s origin is shrouded in questionable information but the story goes that a family from Atlantic City moved opened a boarding house along the Hudson Valley and met a man who gave them the recipe which he got from another friend who’d traveled in India.  He said, she said? I think so. Well, in any event, I’m pleased it made it here.

There are six ingredients in every angel food cake recipe: egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar, flour, salt and flavorings (vanilla, orange, almond other extract), and each do their part. Whipping egg whites can be intimidating, and since the air beaten into the whites is the only leavening agent, this step is vital to get right.   Cream of tartar’s acidic quality helps stabilize the egg whites and is added just as the whites are getting foamy in the whipping process.   When they look like soft, light, clouds, the sugar is added. The sugar gives body to the whites, and when the whites have turned shiny and hold stiff peaks, the whipping is done.  Then any flavor can be added, mixing just enough to incorporate. Then they look like this–>

Finally, the meager amount of flour is sifted over the top of the whites and folded in to finish the batter.  Check here for some good ideas.

I was really happy with the result I got on Sunday.  The texture was little bit more moist than I was expecting, but this only enhanced the deliciousness.  This cake has so many virtues, heathy, taste, and angelic.  I’m going to try some fun things with it next time, I’m thinking tie-dye. Oh, one last thought, save the egg yolks for a homemade ice cream or feed them to your dog.  My golden retreiver knows the sound of eggs cracking…..

Strawberries are gone, blueberries past their prime and I can’t find a fresh local raspberry to save my life. So, in late late summer (ok maybe early fall) I’ve turned my love of jam to the tomato.

Mark Bittman, of the NY Times blog Bitten, featured a tomato jam this august. It was the mention of Barcelona which truly caught my eye (I’ll spend almost 7 months there early next year). I’m all about foods used out of their normal element, and I was quite tired of caprese salad. The jam delivered true tomato taste that and enhanced by the spices.

However, I have to disagree with Mr. Bittman that this is a good morning treat, I much prefer it in the afternoon with a piece of good sharp white cheddar and fresh crusty bread. Because of my affinity for the salty rather than the sweet, I reduced the 1 cup sugar in the recipe to less than 1/3 cup. The jam didn’t suffer, in fact, the tomato’s sweetness was nearly enough to balance the lime’s acidity and jalapeno’s heat. I also increased the amount of cayenne and added some seeds from the jalapeno to kick it to the next level. I think the two types of peppers give this recipe dimension and identity.

Side note about the type of tomato: you want something that will hold up alright late in the cooking process. Avoid mushiness and look for firm-ripe. Romas or plums are actually wonderful in this, but only if you can get the locally grown kind or the really thing from San Marzano.

This is my version of Late Summer Tomato Jam

1 1/2 lbs tantalizingly ripe tomatoes
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar depending on your taste buds
2 1/2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger…oooh what a smell
3/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1 jalapeno seeded and finely chopped
1/2-3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Put all ingredients in a mediums sauce pan and stir to mix. Heat over a medium flame until boiling, stirring frequently.
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the tomatoes have deconstructed and yielded to a mushy goodness, about 75 min. Taste, season, cool and enjoy.

Other suggestions: its great with pork loin (as almost any fruit or chutney is). Try it with a side of scallion studded couscous. Killer, and great for your health too!

In France, by traditional law a baguette can have only four ingredients: flour, water, yeast and salt. But I beg to differ, in fact I think ever neighborhood boulangerie (bakery) added a little bit of sweat and a lot of heart. Corny, yes but oh so true.

courtesy of madeincantal.com

Baking any bread is a labor of love. For the amateur baker, yeast can be intimidating; it’s actually alive and at times uncooperative. Bread rises because as the yeast feeds on the sugars in the flour it creates a gas. This gas gets captured in the flour’s gooey gluten web and forces the bread upwards, not unlike a hot air balloon. For me, the prospect of attempting the archetypal cheese and wine French bread is daunting. (Though the shape actually originated in Vienna!)

Attempts 1 and 2: I love Amy’s Bread, a great book from a great bakery in New York. My first two loaves from batch one did not rise nearly enough. The flavor was good, but the density detracted from my overall experience. Also, I didn’t have cake flour so I subbed all purpose. I tackled the rising problem first, allowing the second batch to sit outside. The Minnesota summer temperature turned out to be ideal. This change in climate and the cake flour created a holey inside and crunchy crust. The paraphrased recipe is below.

1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cups very warm water
3 cups all purpose flour (unbleached)
1 cup cake flour
2 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon cool water

Extra Tools: Baking Stone (pizza stone) Cookie sheet or baking peel, and water spray bottle.

1. Combine yeast and warm water in small bowl and stir until yeast dissolves. Let it sit for 3 minutes.
2. Combine the flours and salt in a large bowl. Then slowly pour the cool water and yeast mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with your fingers until the dough resembles a shaggy mass of gooey excellence.
3. Pop the big flour mess on to a lightly floured work surface and kneed for 4 minutes. It will be “supple and resilient” but not smooth yet. Don’t get flustered and over kneed. Over the little ball with a towel and let sit for 20 minutes. This is called the autolyse.
4. Kneed dough for another 6 minutes until smooth and stretchy.
5. Place your dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let it rise in a warm temp 77 degrees (ish) for almost 2 hours or until doubled in size.
6. Deflate the risen dough gently, and allow to rise again until doubled. (1.25 hours)
7. Deflate again and let rise a third time for 1 hour.
8. Now, this step is tricky so watch the video. Divide the dough in three pieces, then stretch into a rectangle, fold like a business letter, swivel letter 1/4 turn then fold again.
9. Now, elongate each “envelop” with both hands rolling from the center outward until baguette reaches desired length. Place finished loaves on baking peel or upside down cookie sheet covered in cornmeal. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let them sit for 40 minutes. Final rise is short because bread will poof up in the oven .
10. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees 30 minutes before baking time. Place your baking stone in the oven and a shallow pan for water on the grate below.
11. Ten minutes before baking, slash the breads 4 times diagonally cutting 1/4 inch deep. This helps the rising process. The cuts will pop open in the oven and become beautiful! This is called “scoring.”
    
12. With the help of the cornmeal, gently slide the loaves off the baking peel and onto the hot stone. As soon as you can pour a cup of very hot water into the pan and quickly close the door (careful, you might want to ask for another set of hands). This helps create steam and encourages the bread to rise.
13. In two minutes, open the door and spray the oven walls with water (a plant sprayer will do).
14. After 10 minutes at 500, reduce the temp to 425 and bake for 12 to 16 minutes. When they are golden brown and crisp they are done!

I am still not entirely satisfied. I’m going to try the Cooks Illustrated version, which takes much longer….overnight even. I’ll report back. Bake to the boulangerie!