Friday, August 13, 2010

Menu 18: Summer at Its Best

This is a really wonderful summertime menu. Spicy Shrimp with Garlic and Oil, a loaf of crusty bread, your favorite salad or the Cherry Tomato, Mozzarella, and Corn Salad on my June 27, 2009 blog, with a delicious Berry Crumble for dessert. If you want to fancy it up a bit, you could add a first course of cold Yogurt and Cucumber Soup from my August 3, 2009 blog. Happy eating.

Spicy Shrimp with Garlic and Oil
I love the ease of cooking shrimp in their shells. Peeling and deveining shrimp is not one of my favorite kitchen activities. But I also love sucking the juices off the shrimp before peeling them at the table. And the peeling them myself slows me down and makes me anticipate and then fully appreciate their luscious flavor.

















1 pound large or medium shrimp, in their shells
1/3 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic or more if you are a garlic lover, slivered
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon crushed red peppers or ½ teaspoon smoky hot paprika
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

1. Rinse the shrimp and pat them dry.
2. In a skillet large enough to hold all the shrimp in a single layer, heat the oil over moderately high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the garlic, thyme, crushed red peppers or paprika, salt and shrimp. Toss to coat with oil, cook, stirring occasionally, just until the shrimp are pink, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, and with a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a warmed serving platter or to warmed individual plates. Pour the sauce over the shrimp, sprinkle lightly with the parsley. Serve immediately with paper napkins and plenty of bread to sop up the sauce.

3-4 servings for dinner
Adapted from Patricia Wells’ Trattoria

Individual Blackberry Crumbles
I wanted to include this recipe before berries left the Farmers' Markets around the country. Right now in Sonoma, blackberries from Andrea Davis' stand at the Friday market are at their prime but she's worried that the cold weather we've been having may slow down the ripening and sweetening. You'll remember her from my October 8, 2009 blog about her Quarter Acre Farm. Let's hope we have a spell of hot weather so those berries continue to thrive. And the tomatoes.

















3 cups blackberries or comparable amount of blueberries or raspberries or a mix of all three
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup flour plus 1 tablespoon
½ cup firmly-packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons oats (quick-cooking or regular)
2 tablespoons chopped candied ginger
6 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
Serve with vanilla ice cream, lightly sweetened whipped cream, crème fraiche or mascarpone mixed with a little sugar and milk or cream.

1. Place the berries, sugar and 1 tablespoon flour in a bowl and stir to mix. Divide the berries into four shallow ovenproof bowls.
2. Place the brown sugar, baking powder, salt, oats, and remaining flour in a bowl (you can use the same berry bowl) and mix well. Add the butter, rubbing it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. You can also use a pastry cutter.
3. Sprinkle the berries with this mixture. Bake at 400ºF. for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Serve warm with one of the suggested toppings.
You can make this in one larger container, such as a gratin dish, without any changes.

4 servings
Adapted from Bill Granger’s Sydney Food

Cake and Eggs


We were fortunate to belong to a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) group last year.  You know, when you receive a bunch of locally grown fruits and vegetables every week then go into Iron Chef mode to figure out what to do with it all.  I loved that little mini-battle each week, but in this economic climate, it was too expensive to continue.  I miss you, Farmer Neil!

What I really miss are the farm fresh eggs that were delivered each week.  If you've never had the pleasure, let me tell you that farm fresh eggs bear no resemblance whatsover to what you find in your local chain grocery store.  Farm fresh egg yolks are bright yellow and they "stand up" much higher than their supermarket counterparts.  They taste better, too.  Much better.  Cleaner, brighter and (strangely enough) less odorous.  I can get a little creeped out by that eggy smell, but it doesn't happen with farm fresh eggs.

So when Henry came home recently with a dozen fresh eggs from a co-worker who has a farm, I was ecstatic.  Scrambled eggs, welcome back!

This same co-worker has also provided us with squash and zucchini over the past few weeks.  (Good thing, since the stuff I planted wilted and died).  I decided it was time for some reciprocity.

I figured a homemade cake was in order.  If I didn't have a blog, I would have made my favorite pound cake.  However, since I already posted that recipe (link below), I decided to be self-serving and bake up something I could blog about.  Thank you for pushing me outside  my box!

http://nevertrustaskinnycook1.blogspot.com/2009/10/chocolate-v-vanilla.html


MARBLE VELVET CAKE  (adapted from "Rose's Heavenly Cakes" by Rose Levy Beranbaum)

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate (60% - 62% cacao), chopped
6 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, divided
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (I used vanilla paste)
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
9 oz. unsalted butter, softened

For the glaze: (optional)
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted with 4 tablespoons heavy cream
2 oz. milk chocolate, melted with 4 tablespoons heavy cream
2 oz. white chocolate, melted with 4 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350-degrees and set oven rack in the lower third of the oven.  Grease a 10-cup fluted pan (I used a silicone pan which made it a breeze to turn out the cake after baking and cooling). 

Place the chocolate into a small saucepan over low heat, stirring with a silicone spatula every 15 seconds or so until just melted.  Remove from heat to melt completely and cool slightly.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of the sour cream and the vanilla until just combined.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt on low speed for 30 seconds.  Add the butter and remaining sour cream and mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened.  Increase speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes then scrape down sides of bowl.

Reduce speed to medium-low and gradually add egg mixture in three parts, beating on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Remove 1/3 of the batter (1 1/2 cups) to another bowl and stir in the melted chocolate until well-blended and no streaks remain.

Spoon 1/3 of the remaining (vanilla) batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.  Top with dollops of half the chocolate batter and spread gently but evenly.  Top with another third of the plain batter, then with dollops of the remaining chocolate batter,  Spread evenly and top with the remaining third of the  plain batter, spreading it evenly over the top.





Use a regular tablespoon to marbelize the batter lightly.  Dip the spoon in, without touching the bottom or sides and lift up and over in a folding motion (like the roll of a wave) six to eight times, going all around the pan.  Smooth the top.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes then invert it onto a wire rack.  Let cool completely.


When cake is cool, drizzle with the three melted chocolates, allowing it to drip down the sides.  Transfer to a cake stand or serving platter. 

Serves 12 to 14

Wish I could post a photo of the cake after it was cut but I thought it might be a little tacky to give someone a cake with a slice missing!

terharunyeee...


hye kawan-kawan! *ayat KFC kids fun club* tskk. terharu sgt sebenarnye. dlm bulan ini sy mengalami sedikit kesusahan. di mana sehingga utk pertama kalinya sy meminta pertolongan seorg kwn baek sy. tgk-tgk semalam, bertimbul-timbul Allah berikan rezeki. yg selama ni sy tunggu lah kot-kot dapat. tiba-tiba hari ni dgn semlm, bertimbun-timbun rezeki tu dtg. WAAAAA. terharu gile. Allah mmg tahu kan bila masa terbaik nak makbulkan doa hambaNya? T_________T

seriously kita baru berpuasa 3 hari kan? hari ni masuk hari ke-4. tp dlm setiap hari tu ada je rezeki Allah berikan. ada je berita baik yg dikhabarkan. omg, rasa mcm ... *blessed gle* kadang-kadang meremang bulu roma bila terpk ada kebetulan yg mcm Allah saje nak beri sign, mcm wink wink. uhuu. ok, tgk, terus azan subuh. WAAAAA lagi. *berhenti kejap*

kadang-kadang, manusia ni tak reti nak hargai kasih syg yg kita tak nampak dgn mata kasar. tak reti nak hargai nikmat yg dah dibentangkan sejak azan pertama kedegaran di telinga. sbb terbiasa. hurmmm. itu saje, nak solat subuh, ok tata, selamat berpuase! ;)

Braised Banana with Palm Sugar and Coconut Gravy (Kolak Pisang)

Braised Banana with Palm Sugar and Coconut Gravy (Kolak Pisang)

100 gr palm sugar (or brown sugar)
2 (200 gr) medium sized sweet potatoes, cubed
4 (450 gr) ripe cooking banana
4 pandan leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup thick coconut cream
1 cup thick coconut cream, diluted by 2 cups water

In a medium saucepan, add diluted coconut cream, pandan, banana pieces, sweet potato cubes and salt. Bring to boil over medium heat and stir constantly for 10 minutes

In a smaller saucepan, melt palm sugar with 1/2 cup of the coconut water from the first boiling saucepan. When fully melted, strain the liquid to remove foreign objects / insects (very possible to find dead flies trapped in the palm sugar block)

Add the palm sugar syrup and the rest of the thick coconut cream into the saucepan, lower heat

Simmer for another 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, serve warm or cold.

Braised Banana with Palm Sugar and Coconut Gravy (Kolak Pisang)

Braised Banana with Palm Sugar and Coconut Gravy (Kolak Pisang)

100 gr palm sugar (or brown sugar)
2 (200 gr) medium sized sweet potatoes, cubed
4 (450 gr) ripe cooking banana
4 pandan leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup thick coconut cream
1 cup thick coconut cream, diluted by 2 cups water

In a medium saucepan, add diluted coconut cream, pandan, banana pieces, sweet potato cubes and salt. Bring to boil over medium heat and stir constantly for 10 minutes

In a smaller saucepan, melt palm sugar with 1/2 cup of the coconut water from the first boiling saucepan. When fully melted, strain the liquid to remove foreign objects / insects (very possible to find dead flies trapped in the palm sugar block)

Add the palm sugar syrup and the rest of the thick coconut cream into the saucepan, lower heat

Simmer for another 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, serve warm or cold.