Kitchen Wench

I have many formative childhood memories involving my dad taking me to get chocolate malts, usually as a special treat after something crappy, traumatic experience (like the dentist).  If that’s not emotional eating, I don’t know what is.  But I digress.   The point is, I have deeply rooted positive associations with the taste of malt powder.  So when I saw The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for malted chocolate chip cookies, I let out a great squee of excitement and rushed home from work to bake these.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of these cookies.  You’re really not missing much, as they are surprisingly unattractive.  I presented one to a coworker and he said, “I’m not sure I want to put this in my mouth.”  But the ugliness becomes a moot point because as soon as you eat one, you find that it’s totally necessary to eat at least five more.  This is an exceptional cookie.  There’s only one slight flaw…

They don’t taste like malt.

The malt flavor is really strong in the dough, but somehow it morphs during baking into this warm toffee flavor.  Don’t get my wrong, these still taste awesome, and clearly the malt is doing something to give it that deeper flavor and a great crisp-chewy consistency.  (And I love that in a chocolate chip — none of that gooey, partially cooked center for me.)  But it didn’t taste like my childhood, which I realize is maybe a lot to ask from a humble baked good. Still, these cookies are fantastic, and I would 100% make them again.  And you should too.

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I recently wrote about paletas, a delicious Latin American version of the popsicle.  It’s been hot as balls in DC, so eating a frozen fruit bar is pretty much the perfect antidote to the heat.  And while you should all get yourselves to the Mt. Pleasant farmers’ market to try some of the paletas from the guys at Pleasant Pops, you can also make them at home.  That’s what I decided to do one night this week, mostly because our refrigerator is on the fritz but, thank god, the freezer still works.

I happened to have an overripe melon I needed to eat, but pretty much any fruit will do here.  You could also add milk, yogurt, or even pudding for something richer and more evocative of Bill Cosby.  I pureed my fruit, but you can mix in whole chunks for more texture.  There are no creative limits here (try adding different herbs, spices, maybe even vegetables?!), so have a little fun with it.

Also, since I didn’t add any sugar, I like to wishfully think that this counts as eating a serving of fruit.

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Let me say a few words about Martha Stewart.

Yes, she broke the law, yes, she is creepily perfect, and yes, she is icy, brusque, and makes  her tv show guests hilariously uncomfortable.  But she has never steered me wrong in the kitchen.  And for that, I love her.

Late spring and early summer is rhubarb season in these parts, and I have a thing for going on seasonal food binges.  I recently bought out the half the rhubarb section of Safeway and turned those sour red stalks into delicious baked goods.

My friend Tracy pointed me to this recipe, and as soon as I saw how much butter was in the cake, I knew it would be a winner.  (Too much butter to fail?  Kind of like too big to fail?  Er, anyway…)  The kicker is the addition of the crumb “topping”, which really ends up being at the bottom of the cake.  This basically boils down to little butter and sugar blobs being absorbed into a sour cream cake batter.  Excessive?  Maybe a little.  A good thing?  Without a doubt.

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If I had to rank my flavor preferences, I would say that citrus-based desserts are generally near the bottom of the list.  I’d rather eat chocolate or berries before, say, lemon meringue pie.  Generally, I don’t like lemon-flavored sweets because they are either too tart or remind me of dish soap.  But Meyer lemons are an entirely different story.

Meyer lemons are a cross between regular lemons and mandarin oranges.  They have a thinner skin, are not as tart, and have a wonderful tangerine-y fragrance to them.  They have a very short growing season (which is happening right now) and are usually rather expensive.  So, when I saw them for sale in Whole Foods for $1.99/lb, my locavore guilt and hoarding tendencies combined head-on with the rush of impulse shopping, and I walked out of the store with four lbs of lemons.

So, what to do with all these lemons?  Some Googling got me this list of 100 Things to Do with Meyer Lemons (it was like they wrote this article for me).  I’ll admit, some of the suggestions are a bit of a stretch (for instance, “35. Throw a Meyer lemon for your dog to catch and play with”), but most are pretty mouth-watering.  This post is all about number 14, Meyer lemon curd.

Lemon curd is surprisingly easy to make and calls for ingredients that you probably already have on hand.  If you’re ambitious, you could can it, but that’s a bit out of the scope of a weeknight project.  It also freezes well, thank goodness, because I made four cups of it.  This stuff is fantastic over fresh fruit, skyr, yogurt, cheese, cake, bread… Honestly, Meyer lemon curd would make an old rubber tire taste good.  I could drink it straight out of the tupperware.  It’s that delicious.

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Cake is kind of my white whale.  For the longest time, I just couldn’t get it right, despite being able to handle seemingly more complicated things (e.g., pie crust) without incident.  After a slew of failures early on in my baking career (bundt cakes that got stuck in the pan, layer cakes that resembled the leaning tower of Pisa, etc), I came to the sorry conclusion that I might just be better off buying a box mix.  But you can always tell when cake comes from a mix — it’s moist and has a nice texture, but it never tastes homemade.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my fair share of artificially-flavored things, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the taste of real butter or vanilla.

But this cake  is practically idiot-proof:  it is tender, moist, and light every time.  Just like a box cake, except it tastes about a million times better.  The secret is in the buttermilk.  I’ve never baked anything with buttermilk that didn’t turn out amazing.

The original recipe calls for raspberries, but you can use any berry you want.  The other change I made is the addition of almond extract.  Having made this cake several times now, I find that it’s a bit dull with just vanilla.  The almond brings out the sweetness and lightness of the cake and contrasts wonderfully with the berries.  If you don’t like almond flavor, some citrus zest would also work nicely.

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My friend Ilana and I had a baking day on Saturday, and we made this bread recipe from Serious Eats (along with chocolate cake from The Atlantic Food Blog).  The chocolate cake was good, but the bread really exceeded our expectations.   It’s like Fall in a loaf of bread! Personally, fall is my favorite season, partly because of the weather, but mostly because of the food.  So, if you’re anything like me, I think you’ll really like this bread.

Pumpkin Walnut Cranberry Bread

From Serious Eats.  Adapted from by The Sweeter Side of Amy’s Bread by Amy Scherber and Toy Kim Dupree.

• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
• 5 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 14oz can pumpkin puree
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• Zest of 1 small orange
• 7/8 cup water
• 4 1/8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoons nutmeg
• 2 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 1/4 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 1/3 cups toasted walnut pieces
• Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top of the loaves (optional but makes a great crunchy top)

1. Position one rack in the top third of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350F. Grease 2 loaf pans.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, cooled slightly, with the eggs. Whisk in the pumpkin puree and sugar. Stir the orange zest into the water then add to the pumpkin mixture and whisk to combine.

3.  In a separate bowl, add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and whisk together.

4.  Pour the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients and fold gently until almost combined, then add the cranberries and walnuts. Finish with a few gentle strokes combine without over-mixing.

5.  Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared loaf pans (batter will nearly reach the top of the pan). Sprinkle the top of each loaf lightly with the turbinado sugar, about 1 tablespoon per loaf, to form a crystal crust.  Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the loaf. [Note: When I made this, I needed to bake them for closer to 75 minutes.  Your experience may vary, but don't fret if it's taking over an hour.]

6. Cool the loaves in the pan for 15 minutes, then carefully turn them out of the pans and place the loaves on a wire rack until completely cooled. Wrap in plastic film and store in the refrigerator. These loaves keep well for 3 to 4 days, and freeze well if wrapped in plastic and then foil.

Makes 2 very large loaves.

This simple recipe is from the September issue of Saveur magazine, one of my favorite food magazines.  Because it doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, it’s one of those dishes where the quality of produce really makes a difference.  In other words, this soup is all about the late summer sweet corn.  Unfortunately, corn in the Mid Atlantic doesn’t compare to Midwestern sweet corn.  If you’ve ever had it, the kernels are plump, juicy, and sweet as candy.  I think it has something to do with the cooler temperatures helping the sugars in the plant develop?  I hear that’s how it works with maple trees… Point being, corn here is not nearly as flavorful.

So, I tried my best with the recipe.  I bought my corn, bacon, herbs, onions, and garlic at the Mt. Pleasant farmers’ market this weekend.  While everything else was great, the corn was small and a little bland.  I had to add some sugar and a fair bit of salt and pepper to punch it up.  If you have great sweet corn at hand, omit the sugar.  Otherwise, with a little doctoring, this makes some pretty tasty corn chowder.

Corn Chowder

Adapted from Saveur magazine

• 4 ears of fresh corn
• 4 strips of bacon, chopped
• 2 1/2 tbsp salted butter
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 rib of celery, chopped
• 1/2 a medium white onion, chopped
• 1 small bay leaf
• 3 cups milk (I used 2%)
• 3/4 lb of red potatoes, cut into 1/2″ cubes
• kosher salt, sugar, and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp sliced fresh basil for garnish

1.  Shuck corn, removing as much of the silk threads as possible.  Working over a large bowl, slice corn kernels off the cob.  Scrape the knife along the cob to remove all the juices.  Reserve 3 of the cobs and slice in half.  Set aside.

2.  In a large pot or dutch oven, heat bacon over medium heat.  Cook until crisp.  Reserve 1.5 tbsp of bacon for garnish, leaving the rest in the pot.  Add butter, dried basil, garlic, celery, onion, and bay leaf.  Cover and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

3.  Add corn, cobs, milk, and potatoes.  Cover and bring chowder to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.  Skim any foam from the surface of the soup with a slotted spoon.  Discard cobs and bay leaf.  Season with salt, sugar, and pepper.

4.  Remove pot from heat.  Using an immersion blender, puree soup to your desired consistency.  (The original recipe calls for pureeing 3/4 cup in the blender.  I got a little enthusiastic with the stick blender and ended up with a thicker chowder.)  Serve with reserved bacon and basil sprinkled on top.

Makes 4 servings.

Lee and I busted out our new blackberry gin a few Saturdays ago while watching the Capital Pride Parade roll through Dupont.  We subbed the blackberry-infused stuff for regular gin to make some mighty refreshing gin and tonics.  Be sure to include a healthy squeeze of fresh lime to balance out the sweetness. You won’t be disappointed.

Blackberry-infused Gin

• 2 pints blackberries
• 2 cups sugar, dissolved in 1 cup of water
• 2 cups gin

Combine all ingredients in a glass container with an airtight lid.  Mash up berries with a potato masher or large spoon. (I used a meat pounder.) Seal and allow to infuse for 2 weeks, shaking vigorously once a day.  Strain out berries, squeezing out excess juice.  You may wish to infuse for more or less time, depending on how intense you want the flavor.

I’ve been trying to come up with a way to use my rosemary-infused vodka, but it’s a pretty distinctive flavor.   Searching for inspiration, I started thinking about how I cook with rosemary: I like it on lamb chops.  I then thought about what other flavors I had kicking around that taste good on lamb (pomegranate, lemon, saffron, cardamom).  Turns out, they also all taste good together over ice.

And then I realized then when you make up a new cocktail, you have to give it a (stupid) name.  I thought about giving it a name that somehow referenced lamb, but that didn’t sound appetizing.  I googled “rosemary vodka” and got several hits for a drink called Rosemary’s Baby. Rosemary’s Baby, as you probably know, was a novel from the 1960s that was later turned into a Roman Polanski film starring Mia Farrow.  I’ve never seen it, so I decided to check out the plot summary on IMDB.

Well, it turns out that the movie is all about SATAN WORSHIPPERS.

I thought… well, I don’t know what I thought it was about, but satan worshippers was NOT at the top of my list.  Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be naming any tasty beverages after that movie.

Not Rosemary’s Baby

• 2 oz Rosemary-infused vodka
• 1 tbsp homemade grenadine (recipe below)
• 4 oz club soda
• slice of lemon
• dash of Sunshine Bitters

This would probably work better mixed in a cocktail shaker with ice, but this method will work in a pinch.  Combine vodka and grenadine in a glass with ice.  Stir to combine.  Top with bitters and soda.  Squeeze the juice out of the lemon, then drop rind into the glass so the citrus oils infuse the drink.  Stir and enjoy.

Rosemary-infused Vodka

• 2 cups vodka
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Place all ingredients inside a glass jar with airtight lid.  Seal and allow to infuse for 4 days, shaking vigorously once a day.  Remove rosemary.  You may wish to infuse for more or less time, depending on how intense you want the flavor.

Homemade Grenadine

Grenadine, as you may or may not know, it actually made from pomegrante juice.  A lot of people dislike the taste of grenadine, probably because the stuff you get in the store is artificially flavored.  Real grenadine tastes much better and is super easy to make.

• 2 cups pomegranate juice
• 1 cup sugar

Simmer juice and sugar until thick and syrupy.  Pour into an airtight container.  Keeps in the fridge indefinately.

Frankly, I don’t like eating cucumbers all that much.  They’re just so… watery.  And kind of, well… blah.  And every time I try to make a nice vinegary salad with them, they release all their liquid and dilute the dressing.  I’m not even sure if cucumbers have any real nutritional value aside from some fiber, which makes them even less worth eating in my book.

But cucumbers in a drink is an entirely different matter.  In fact, I think cucumber and gin might be the next great flavor combination, right up there with peanut butter and jelly or lamb and mint.  I’ve read that some gins (namely Hendrick’s) are made with cucumber, which explains why the flavors seem to pair so perfectly.  In any event, I really encourage you to try making your own cucumber gin.  It’s super easy and completely worth the effort because it takes the lowly gin and tonic to a whole new level.

Cucumber-infused gin

• 2 cups gin
• 4 garden cucumbers (the little chubby ones from the farmers’ market) or 2  supermarket cucumbers

Peel cucumbers and slice lengthwise.  Scoop out seeds and discard.  Slice or chop up cucumber — the shape doesn’t really matter, you just want to maximize the surface area.  Place cucumber and gin inside a glass jar with airtight lid.  Seal and allow to infuse for 4 days, shaking vigorously once a day.  Strain and discard cucumber.  You may wish to infuse for more or less time, depending on how intense you want the flavor.

Cucumber gin and tonic

• 2 oz cucumber gin
• 4 oz tonic water

Combine ingredients in a glass with ice.  Stir.  Garnish with a slice of cucumber, if you like.