Thursday, February 25, 2010

Woo Hoo and Happy Birthday, Eric!

I had a lovely dinner with three of my trusted girlfriends tonight at Pura Vida, which is a place you must try if you live in Atlanta. http://www.puravidatapas.com/ 

A big topic of conversation was the transition from raising kids and having a successful career (well, that part didn't include me) and the big question of WHAT"S NEXT?  None of us had any answers, but we did lament the fact that our kids don't need us much anymore.

Unless it's their birthday.

Which means we are loading up the car and driving to Durham tomorrow for Eric's 26th birthday.  To be fair, it's not a big catering gig this time (thank God) but of course I am taking his favorite birthday cake.  No chocolate for this kid.  Uh-uh, he's a carrot cake kind of guy.

We have multiple reasons to celebrate.  As I mentioned before, he is a PhD candidate.  He passed his written comps last week.  This is a big deal.  GO ERIC!  Of course, now that he is ABD (all but dissertation), he is headed to law school in Philadelphia in September.  Oy veh.  Super Mom will have to strike again and organize the move and the new apartment.  Stay tuned......

But here's the recipe for Eric's carrot cake.  Actually, I call it Carrot Spice Cake.  Most carrot cake recipes call for cinnamon.  That's just fine, but I like the extra addition of a little mace, clove, allspice and cocoa powder.  Gives it a lot more depth.


Preparing to frost the damn thing.
You know how much I love (hate) to do this.

CARROT SPICE CAKE

1 1/2 cups canola oil
1 16-oz. can crushed pineapple, well-drained
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 extra-large eggs
4 cups grated carrots
3 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon good quality cocoa powder ( I used Valhrona)
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.  Butter three 9-inch cake pans and line with parchment.  Butter again and dust with flour.  Set aside.

In a bowl, combine oil, pineapple, vanilla, eggs and carrots.

In another bowl, combine remaining ingredients.  Add oil/pineapple mixture and stir well to blend.

Divide evenly among prepared pans.  Rap sharply on counter once, then place in preheated oven.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove to racks to cool for 20 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely.

Frost with cream cheese icing (see Hummingbird Cake blog entry if you need a recipe).  This cake is good the first day, but even better on day 2 or 3.

Happy birthday Eric and congrats to you!  When we drove to Durham last year for your birthday (to cater a party for 25) we had to drive back in a blinding snowstorm.  Please, oh please, let that not be the case this year!

Much love from Mom and Dad.

Interview: Rocio Ponce and the Skins Spain Project.

Iwrote today my first interview for Skins, El blog, and I would love to share it with you... enjoy it!

Rocio Ponce has a gift, and is the gift of showing us the world through his eyes curious, always expectant to their environment. She began to dream about photography since her very youth, but her real interest was created with about 18 years, when she felt she wanted to live by this art. So she left her high school education and began the High Grade Art Photography at Barcelona.




How were your beginnings, so to speak, "formal" in the photograph?

I began to wonder being a photographer with some 18 or 19 years. By then I had a very basic camera and used Photoshop to make small changes. As I realized that I love this, I decided to quit school and started studying the grade Senior Art Photography, which I'm about to finish shortly.

And how you started to spread your work?

I've always hung my work in the network. At first I was worth of Fotolog, although later I began to use Deviantart and Flickr, the last one I think it's a great tool of dissemination. Internet is a useful tool for this, but also dangerous.

How do you usually focus your work?

As an aspiring fashion photographer, my works tend to be oriented to that world, but personally I like to do more artistic things, express feelings and the world around me through my photos, so that everyone can see the world as I see it.

I enjoy portraying people, especially when they express some feeling, something that is difficult at times. I also like to portray specific moments that make a situation or experience, which transport the viewer to that scenario. 


When did you start to see Skins and how did you come to realize this project?

I began to see the serie after reading an article that was about Cassie and anorexia, that piqued my curiosity. I had insisted to watch the series sometime ago, but when I read about the problems that it dealed and how well it portrays the reality I felt I needed to know more about it. I saw the first two seasons in just a couple of days, and now I recognize that I am totally hooked on the series, and that I love.

Anyway, I thought the project as a way to contribute something to the blog and the forum. I'm not very good at translating and write, but I can capture moments with my camera, so I thought this could be very interesting, entertaining pace.

What character do you think will be easier to find and portray?

Sid's going to be easy, particularly because we've found the perfect person to do it and I think he'll give the type, only need to characterize a little.

And the more complicated?

There are some complicated characters. I think Chris is going to cost a little, but undoubtedly the more difficult will be Toni, because he's very charismatic, with a very strong attitude, and all this must be reflect both the model and the photos. However, I'm sure Toni will find the perfect Spanish version.


 
 


What to do to participate in the project?

Well, in the forum you can find an open issue for this, but the basic requirements are hanging a picture, tell what character you look like or think you might have to take the hit and availability for moving to Barcelona for the session. When candidates get together all or almost all the characters, we'll do the official selection and after that, we'll begin with sessions.


And what can you tell our readers to encourage them to participate?

Well, this is a very nice, original and above all fun, done with love so that we spend a long time ... so do not be shy!

You can read this interview in spanish here.

Pancetta and Pistachio Stuffed Chicken Breasts

  
    
What to do with boring chicken?  Chicken Piccata?  Been there.  Chicken Marsala?  Done that.  Chicken from India, Morocco, Spain?  Check, check, check.  Another strategy for anything is to make it taste like something else, and that can be achieved by stuffing it.  Stuffing something can impart both taste and texture, and once you learn its basics, you can apply it to all sorts of meats.  The other day at the supermarket I was thinking about stuffing a veal chop.  I have several recipes for that, but veal chops are a rare commodity at most markets.  I have recipes for stuffed pork chops, but I had pork for lunch on this day.  So, I decided to apply one of those recipes to chicken and the results were fabulous.  The stuffed pork chop recipes I have come mostly from La Cucina Italiana, an Italian cooking magazine to which I subscribe.  They each use pine nuts, garlic, parsley and a cheese.  Some include capers or olives, but I personally am a fan of neither.  Some of the cheeses they recommend I've never heard of, so I use fontina, which I find excellent for this purpose.  I also like to add a bacon taste and on this evening I opened the pancetta I like to keep on hand.  I was out of pine nuts, so substituted pistachios, which worked wonderfully.  Serves 2.
    
Ingredients:
4 slices of pancetta, diced
1/4 cup pistachios, shelled and chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic cloves, minced
2 skinless chicken breasts
salt/pepper
2 slices fontina cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chicken stock


Directions:
Slice the chicken breasts horizontally on the long end, but not all of the way through like a book, to open them.  Season with salt and pepper.  In a medium saute pan over medium heat, cook the diced pancetta until browned and remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel.  Turn the heat in the pan down to medium-low.  Mix the pistachios, parsley, garlic and cooked pancetta together and spoon half onto each of the open chicken breasts.  Add a slice of fontina to each breast on top of the mixture.  Close the chicken flaps and use toothpicks to fasten together.  If more oil is needed to saute the breasts then was rendered by the pancetta, add some olive oil to bring to 2 tbsp total.  When heated, add the chicken breasts, cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Turn the chicken breasts, recover and cook another 5 minutes.  Uncover and test the chicken breasts to ensure cooke through, perhaps with a small cut with a knife.  If almost cooked, they can be removed to a plate and covered with foil to complete the last minute of cooking.  In the pan, add the chicken stock and deglaze the bits on the bottom, stirring to mix and bringing to a simmer.  Turn off the heat and swirl in a pat of butter if desired.  Remove the toothpicks from the chicken, plate and spoon the broth on top.
      

No more snow please!

We woke up to a dusting of snow this morning! The school I go to on Thursdays called at 5:30am saying they were on a two hour delay today, for just a dusting!! Amazing how we here in Ohio don't know how to deal with snow. The two feet that we got a couple weeks ago was gradually melting too! I can finally see parts of our driveway and we can pull my car behind the gate now, which is awesome! I still have to back out the driveway though because the big piles are still in the driveway and I am afraid of getting stuck if I try to turn around!

I was driving up to Dayton the other night and I saw a sign that was humorous. It said, "Students, please stop praying for snow!"

AMEN!

Steamed Quick Duck Confit



Confit is one of France’s finest gifts to humanity. Tough pieces of meat cooked long and slow in a thick jacuzzi of fat until it is meltingly tender and supremely tasty? Hand it over. Immediately.

Traditionally a method of preservation, the meat would sit quite happily in its fatty suspension for months on end – the surrounding lard preventing bacteria from scuttling in and spoiling the delicious meat within.

Not the most practical thing to do at home, especially in small quantities, confit duck is something I eat only rarely which is why I was intrigued by an alternative method discussed over port and candied fish.

Not only does it require a fraction of the amount of fat but reportedly yields results on a par with the traditional method. Some even go so far as to say superior. Everything that is good about confit in a neat domestic kitchen friendly method. A challenge too tempting to pass over.

Quick Duck Confit

Buy a whole duck. Seriously. Don’t bother faffing about with legs and breasts. Just buy the entire bird and get busy with a sharp knife. It’s much cheaper and you can then render your own fat from the leftover bits and bobs.


[Steamed bum-plings, anyone? Dim Bum?]

Sprinkle the legs with a little salt then put them in a steamer over a pan of water into which you’ve dropped some aromatics – cinnamon, star anise, chillies, peppercorns. Whatever takes your fancy. Bring to the boil and steam gently for 50-60 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.

Bag the legs and refrigerate them for at least 12 hours. Freeze them if necessary but they should keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.

When you’re feeling peckish liberally spread a teaspoon or so of duck fat over the legs , sprinkle with a little salt and roast for 8-10 minutes. If you want crispy skin – and I can only assume you really do – then pop them under the grill for two minutes each side.



The results? Crispy, salty skin. Sweet, juicy tender meat. The merest hint of warmth from the spices. As close to food nirvana as it is possible to get. Whatever your menu plans tonight, change them immediately and do this. You won’t regret it.

More tasty titbits can be found on Twitter