First things first: thank you to Ali and James for coming to dinner and committing to keeping the night moving. It was such a pleasure to sit in the bathtub together. Secondly, I must say, this is one of those moments I find myself so thankful for this small, creative outlet. Where else could I share my combined love for Barefoot Contessa, dancing, and having friends over for dinner? I hope you enjoy it!
Lentil Vegetable Soup via Ina Garten
1 pound French green lentils (which is 2 1/2 cups lentils, which I think is really really good to know.)
4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large onions)
4 cups chopped leeks, white part only (2 leeks)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
1/4 cup good olive oil, plus additional for drizzling on top
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cups medium-diced celery (8 stalks)
3 cups medium-diced carrots (4 to 6 carrots)
3 quarts chicken stock
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain.
In a large stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions, leeks, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent and very tender. Add the celery and carrots and saute for 10 more minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste, and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until the lentils are cooked through. Check the seasonings. Add the red wine and serve hot, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan.
French Chocolate Bark via Ina Garten
8 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 ounces very good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole roasted, salted cashews (I used peanuts, which worked fine. I think the important thing here is that the nuts be salted and roasted.)
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Directions
Melt the 2 chocolates in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
Meanwhile, line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a ruler and a pencil, draw a 9 by 10-inch rectangle on the paper. Turn the paper facedown on the baking sheet.
Pour the melted chocolate over the paper and spread to form a rectangle, using the outline. Sprinkle the cashews, apricots and cranberries over the chocolate. Set aside for 2 hours until firm. Cut the bark in 1 by 3-inch pieces and serve at room temperature.
Showing posts with label Ina Garten. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ina Garten. Show all posts
7/18/11
Summer Pudding
We're traveling, dear readers! We're on the east coast for a beautiful wedding that took place last night and now we have a week with our family at the Chesapeake Bay. And while it's only the end of our first day here, I already know that it's going to be a spectacular week. How do I know this? Because I can feel the stress leaving my body—and even see traces of it gone from my face. Because I was relaxed enough to have a beer with my lunch. Because I was relaxed enough to leave my cell phone at the house while we grocery shopped. Because I have checked my email only a handful of times since we left on Saturday. (That's a lie. I'm sure I've checked it thirty times or so, but it feels like a handful.) Because I prioritized reading the short story from this week's New Yorker instead of the nonfiction like I usually do. Because right now, I'm about to publish this post without having edited it half as much as I normally do.
The only minor glitch in this whole scenario is that before I left town I forgot to take a photo of Ina's version of this summer pudding, and I really wanted to show it to you as it's clearly the most beautiful dessert in the world. And well, our version doesn't quite do it justice.
I could have fully saturated the bread, but I was greedy. See, we were taking the larger summer pudding to our friends house for dinner and I wanted to make a couple of individual-sized ones to leave at home in case we ate it all and, God forbid, Matt and I were left Summer Pudding-less the following night.
Two aspects really made this dish go from standard-delicious to over-the-top amazing. The first is the rum whipped cream. The second is the temperature outside versus the temperature of the pudding. We ate this refreshing, ice cold pudding on one of those hot Los Angeles afternoons that have the ability of turning our old 1920s-era apartment buildings and houses into tropical havens of hot air. For posterity, it should probably also be noted that we enjoyed it after a few plates of food that looked like this:
My suggestion: make this today. (It won't be ready until tomorrow, but it's so worth it.) See you after vacation!
UPDATE: For the slaw component from the above taco photos, click here. For the rest of the recipe, check back. I'll post it as soon as possible!
Summer Pudding via Barefoot Contessa Family Style
ingredients
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 half-pints fresh raspberries, divided
2 half-pints fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons framboise (raspberry brandy)
1 loaf brioche or egg bread (1 to 1 1/2 pounds)
directions
Combine the strawberries, sugar, and 1/4 cup of water in a medium saucepan and cook uncovered over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add 2 half-pints of raspberries and all the blueberries and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches a simmer. Cook for one minute. Off the heat, stir in the remaining raspberries and the framboise.
Slice the bread in 1/2-inch-thick slices and remove the crusts. In the bottom of a 7 1/2-inch round by 3-inch high souffle or baking dish, ladle about 1/2 cup of the cooked berry mixture. Arrange slices of bread in a pattern (this will become the top when it's unmolded) and then add more berry mixture to saturate. Continue adding bread, cutting it to fit the mold, and berries. Finish with bread and cooked berries, using all of the fruit and syrup.
Place a sheet of plastic wrap loosely over the pudding. Find a plate approximately the same diameter as the inside of the mold and place it on top. Weight the mold with a heavy can and refrigerate. Remove the weight after 6 to 8 hours. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Just before serving, run a knife around the outside of the pudding and unmold it upside down onto a serving plate. Serve in wedges with rum whipped cream.
Rum Whipped Cream:
1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon dark rum
Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar, vanilla, and rum. Continue to whip until it forms stiff peaks. Serve cold.
The only minor glitch in this whole scenario is that before I left town I forgot to take a photo of Ina's version of this summer pudding, and I really wanted to show it to you as it's clearly the most beautiful dessert in the world. And well, our version doesn't quite do it justice.
our version:
photo by Sean Moe
For one, I didn't cut the crusts off the bread as directed. I thought leaving them on might add for a more interesting texture. I was wrong. The texture was virtually the same throughout so all this really did was make it look less pretty once it was unmolded. And secondly, I didn't fully saturate the bread with all of the berry juice. Thus, those non-purple spots above there.
above two photos by Sean Moe
Two aspects really made this dish go from standard-delicious to over-the-top amazing. The first is the rum whipped cream. The second is the temperature outside versus the temperature of the pudding. We ate this refreshing, ice cold pudding on one of those hot Los Angeles afternoons that have the ability of turning our old 1920s-era apartment buildings and houses into tropical havens of hot air. For posterity, it should probably also be noted that we enjoyed it after a few plates of food that looked like this:
Oh, and the following night, the mini version didn't let us down either.
UPDATE: For the slaw component from the above taco photos, click here. For the rest of the recipe, check back. I'll post it as soon as possible!
Summer Pudding via Barefoot Contessa Family Style
ingredients
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 half-pints fresh raspberries, divided
2 half-pints fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons framboise (raspberry brandy)
1 loaf brioche or egg bread (1 to 1 1/2 pounds)
directions
Combine the strawberries, sugar, and 1/4 cup of water in a medium saucepan and cook uncovered over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add 2 half-pints of raspberries and all the blueberries and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches a simmer. Cook for one minute. Off the heat, stir in the remaining raspberries and the framboise.
Slice the bread in 1/2-inch-thick slices and remove the crusts. In the bottom of a 7 1/2-inch round by 3-inch high souffle or baking dish, ladle about 1/2 cup of the cooked berry mixture. Arrange slices of bread in a pattern (this will become the top when it's unmolded) and then add more berry mixture to saturate. Continue adding bread, cutting it to fit the mold, and berries. Finish with bread and cooked berries, using all of the fruit and syrup.
Place a sheet of plastic wrap loosely over the pudding. Find a plate approximately the same diameter as the inside of the mold and place it on top. Weight the mold with a heavy can and refrigerate. Remove the weight after 6 to 8 hours. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Just before serving, run a knife around the outside of the pudding and unmold it upside down onto a serving plate. Serve in wedges with rum whipped cream.
Rum Whipped Cream:
1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon dark rum
Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar, vanilla, and rum. Continue to whip until it forms stiff peaks. Serve cold.
10/16/10
Guest Attempt: Operation Cozy / Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting
With my dear friend Heather Taylor, things/events/situations tend to fall under one of two distinctions: cozy and not cozy. When we were first becoming friends, it was around the time that the now cult classic The Holiday (I kid!) was coming out in theaters, and I distinctly remember Heather and her sister describing it as "porn for cozy people." I laughed and laughed, and now, four years later, Heather and her sister, Megan, are bringing you the coziest post ever to grace the face of Bon Appétempt. Seriously, if this were a drinking game where every time something cozy was alluded to, you took a shot; you would be w-a-s-t-e-d in no time. So, without further ado, I give you their guest attempt: Operation Cozy.
"Are you tired of the same old pumpkin pie?"
The women in my immediate family love fall so much that it borders on fetish. The other thing we love a lot? In the words of Jack Donaghy on a recent episode of 30 Rock, "Her name is the Barefoot Contessa, Lemon." While hanging out at our mom and dad's house on a recent Sunday and flipping through my mom's issue of House Beautiful, we stumbled upon a recipe for Ina Garten's seductively titled "Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting." Alongside the article, Ina says, "The truth is I've never really liked pumpkin pie, so yes, I have another idea this year: pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting! Everyone gets their own individual cake…and the toffee topping isn't bad, either." Uh huh. Keep talking, Ina…
Here's the deal—it's suuuuuuch an easy recipe. A bit of dry ingredients, a bit of wet. Mix them together, stick them in the oven (using your mom's pumpkin-colored bowls in her beautiful kitchen and having what I deemed a mermaid-tail braid in your sister's hair only enhances the baking experience!).
As the sweet and warm pumpkin smell wafted through the house, we could barely contain our excitement about our creation!!!!!
And with the precision indicative of Ina's recipes, the little pumpkin cakes were done in exactly 25 minutes—perfectly soft and luscious. While letting these beauties cool completely, we got going on the cream cheese maple frosting. Room temp butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, confectioners sugar and maple syrup (recipe calls for Boyajian Natural Maple Flavor but we couldn't be bothered with looking for that ingredient! Last I checked, there was nothing wrong with good quality maple syrup, right?)
Once frosted, the best part of this whole recipe comes to fruition. Chop up some toffee, Heath bars to be exact, and crumble, liberally on top of said cupcakes. And it's these here little crunchy bits that put this recipe completely over the top.
Cozy cozy cozy fall dessert completed! Thank you, Ina! And thank you, Amelia for inspiring us to turn it up just a little bit and make a casual day in the kitchen into a Bon Appetempt! Happy fall!
Recipe via House Beautiful:
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting
Makes 10 cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin purée (8 ounces), not pie filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Maple Frosting (recipe follows)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped Heath bars, for serving (2 1.4-ounce bars)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush or spray the top of 10 muffin tins with vegetable oil and line them with 10 paper liners.
2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.
3. Divide the batter among the prepared tins (I use a level 2 1/4-inch ice cream scoop) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.
4. Spread the cupcakes with the Maple Frosting and sprinkle with the chopped toffee bits.
Maple Frosting
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon Boyajian Natural Maple Flavor
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.
Ina Garten/ House Beautiful's version:
Heather and Megan's version:
There are a few FABULOUS things about when my sister comes to town and we inevitably wind up lazing around my parents' house at some point during the weekend, usually on a Sunday.
1. We watch cooking shows off and on all day long.
2. There are piles upon piles of food (and home and fashion) mags, so the kitchen inspiration potential is everywhere.
AND
3. There are crazy crazy baby pics of us everywhere!
Here's the deal—it's suuuuuuch an easy recipe. A bit of dry ingredients, a bit of wet. Mix them together, stick them in the oven (using your mom's pumpkin-colored bowls in her beautiful kitchen and having what I deemed a mermaid-tail braid in your sister's hair only enhances the baking experience!).
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting
Makes 10 cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin purée (8 ounces), not pie filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Maple Frosting (recipe follows)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped Heath bars, for serving (2 1.4-ounce bars)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush or spray the top of 10 muffin tins with vegetable oil and line them with 10 paper liners.
2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.
3. Divide the batter among the prepared tins (I use a level 2 1/4-inch ice cream scoop) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.
4. Spread the cupcakes with the Maple Frosting and sprinkle with the chopped toffee bits.
Maple Frosting
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon Boyajian Natural Maple Flavor
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.
10/3/10
Birthday Sheet Cake & Karaoke Fun Time
This summer, when our apartment refused to cool down at night, Matt always wanted to set up the air mattress in the living room where our only air-conditioning unit resides. And all summer, for various reasons mostly having to do with me not wanting to wake up with an air mattress in the living room, I resisted. This whole summer, I also resisted the idea of turning 29, mostly due to a nagging, super lame voice in my head saying: 29? Really, Amerzzz? Gosh, I expected so much more from you by now.
Well, this past week, it's been record-breakingly hot here in Los Angeles. So hot, that I finally agreed to let Matt set up the air mattress in the living room. It was just going to be for Monday night when the temperature hit 120 in parts of LA, but the heat lingered, and one night turned into two, which turned into three, which, until yesterday, turned the air mattress into a permanent fixture in our apartment. Yep, we camped out all week, and I must say, I loved it. Since we don't have a television in the bedroom, it felt super indulgent and cozy to watch movies each night on the big screen, under covers, in the cool, air conditioned room. And since, this past week, I went ahead and reluctantly turned 29, and part of my birthday present was an offer from Matt to make me any cake I wanted; while in our makeshift movie-watching den of comfort, I spent the week going through every food magazine, cookbook and online cake gallery I could get my hands on. I dog-eared page after page of recipes like Martha Stewart's Spring Garden Cake, Christina Tosi's Chocolate-Malt Cake via Bon Appetit, this Smith Island Cake via Saveur, and the list went on.
So, to review: Any cake I wanted, air-conditioning, watching movies in bed with stacks of cookbooks and magazines nearby, birthday presents and well-wishes from friends and loved ones. I don't know what I was thinking. Turning 29 and sleeping in the living room are two really really wonderful things.
And from all those recipes I scoured, what cake did I finally decide on? Ina Garten's Birthday Sheet Cake. My thinking being 1.) Ina is the best and 2.) a sheet cake would be easy to transport to a karaoke jam at Rosen Music Studio—more on this later.
Having not been the one who made this cake, I asked Matt a little bit about the process. "Anything surprising or interesting about making this cake?" I asked.
"I was surprised how many times I had to use and wash the electric mixer. And, I really liked decorating the cake with M&M's."
My music-birthday sheet cake fit in perfectly at karaoke. And of course it was delicious. It was an Ina classic—tons of butter, sour cream, and heavy cream as always. Though, if pressed I might say that I'm not sure the lemon zest in the cake batter worked for me. It's such a rich and decadent recipe, the zest feels a bit out of place, kind of like when I chose to sing Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" when "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" is the clear karaoke winner.
Thank you, Matt and everyone else for making my birthday sooooo awesome!
"Rah rah ah ah ah. Rom mah rom mum mah. GaGa oo la la. Want your bad romance!"
Recipe via Barefoot Contessa Family Style
Ingredients
For the cake:
18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 lemon, zested
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
For the frosting:
24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Chocolate candies for decorating (recommended: M&M's)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth. Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour evenly into the pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan to room temperature.
For the frosting, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chips are completely melted. Off the heat, add the corn syrup and vanilla and allow the chocolate mixture to cool to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the chocolate mixture and softened butter on medium speed for a few minutes, until it's thickened.
Spread the frosting evenly on the cake. Have the children decorate the cake with M&M's.
Well, this past week, it's been record-breakingly hot here in Los Angeles. So hot, that I finally agreed to let Matt set up the air mattress in the living room. It was just going to be for Monday night when the temperature hit 120 in parts of LA, but the heat lingered, and one night turned into two, which turned into three, which, until yesterday, turned the air mattress into a permanent fixture in our apartment. Yep, we camped out all week, and I must say, I loved it. Since we don't have a television in the bedroom, it felt super indulgent and cozy to watch movies each night on the big screen, under covers, in the cool, air conditioned room. And since, this past week, I went ahead and reluctantly turned 29, and part of my birthday present was an offer from Matt to make me any cake I wanted; while in our makeshift movie-watching den of comfort, I spent the week going through every food magazine, cookbook and online cake gallery I could get my hands on. I dog-eared page after page of recipes like Martha Stewart's Spring Garden Cake, Christina Tosi's Chocolate-Malt Cake via Bon Appetit, this Smith Island Cake via Saveur, and the list went on.
So, to review: Any cake I wanted, air-conditioning, watching movies in bed with stacks of cookbooks and magazines nearby, birthday presents and well-wishes from friends and loved ones. I don't know what I was thinking. Turning 29 and sleeping in the living room are two really really wonderful things.
And from all those recipes I scoured, what cake did I finally decide on? Ina Garten's Birthday Sheet Cake. My thinking being 1.) Ina is the best and 2.) a sheet cake would be easy to transport to a karaoke jam at Rosen Music Studio—more on this later.
Ina's versions:
our versions:
Thank you, Matt and everyone else for making my birthday sooooo awesome!
"Rah rah ah ah ah. Rom mah rom mum mah. GaGa oo la la. Want your bad romance!"
Recipe via Barefoot Contessa Family Style
Ingredients
For the cake:
18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 lemon, zested
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
For the frosting:
24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Chocolate candies for decorating (recommended: M&M's)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth. Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour evenly into the pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan to room temperature.
For the frosting, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chips are completely melted. Off the heat, add the corn syrup and vanilla and allow the chocolate mixture to cool to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the chocolate mixture and softened butter on medium speed for a few minutes, until it's thickened.
Spread the frosting evenly on the cake. Have the children decorate the cake with M&M's.
3/1/10
Ina Garten's Raspberry Cheesecake
I've noticed that a lot of people are talking about why they cook. I first noticed this back in November when I read Adam Gopnik's piece in The New Yorker, What's the Recipe?. I wanted to mention it a while ago, but realized that I didn't really know how I felt about it. He seemed to come to a kind of cynical conclusion on what we get out of cookbooks: "We reanimate our passions by imagining the possibilities, and the act of wanting ends up mattering more than the fact of getting. It’s not the false hope that it will turn out right that makes us go on with our reading but our being resigned to the knowledge that it won’t ever, quite." Back in November was pre-my minor announcement (that I've kind of fallen in love with most things culinary) and I think I sort of liked that Gopnik was getting all grumpy about failed attempts at recipes: "Anyone who cooks knows that it is in following recipes that one first learns the anticlimax of the actual, the perpetual disappointment of the thing achieved."
But then, as we all now know, I've sort of turned a corner and started to embrace the misadventures, the complexity, and even the often called for gadgetry of certain recipes. Speaking of gadgetry, I went to Surfas this past week and got me a springform pan so now I can finally join in on all fun recipes I'd been missing out on. Like, say, Ina Garten's raspberry cheesecake for example.
And that, to me at least, is the crucial question. Gopnik seems to cook for himself; for him it is an act of wanting. I cook for other people, and to me, cooking is an act of giving. When I leaf through cookbooks or magazines I am imagining all the people who will be sitting around my table, and I am looking for food that will make them happy.
And while I'm talking about why I cook, I should mention that Matt made this cheesecake. And it was insane--the creamiest cheesecake I've ever had I think. And Ina is right, it doesn't crack on the top so that you can serve it plain, though, as Ina would say and in fact does say in the book version of the recipe: "The fresh raspberries are so delicious on top, though, why would you want to?" (For some more fun with Ina-esque catchphrases, click here. And much thanks to Heather for leading me to these great works of video montage.)
RECIPE:
For the crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers)
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 whole extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the topping:
1 cup red jelly (not jam), such as currant, raspberry, or strawberry
3 half-pints fresh raspberries
Directions
But then, as we all now know, I've sort of turned a corner and started to embrace the misadventures, the complexity, and even the often called for gadgetry of certain recipes. Speaking of gadgetry, I went to Surfas this past week and got me a springform pan so now I can finally join in on all fun recipes I'd been missing out on. Like, say, Ina Garten's raspberry cheesecake for example.
our version:
Then, a few weeks ago, I was on Ruth Reichl's website and read an entry titled, On Cookbooks, which began, "Rereading Adam Gopnik's New Yorker piece on cookbooks made me mad all over again... Before asking why we read cookbooks, we need to question why we cook in the first place." (At this point, you may want to click over to the entry because I'm about to copy and paste a big chunk of it anyway.) Ruth goes on to describe quite beautifully why she cooks:
For me one of the great pleasures of cooking is that nothing ever turns out the same way twice. Each time you walk into the kitchen you are setting off on an adventure. What will it be like this time? Will it make people happy?
In the end it is their pleasure that will take me back to the kitchen for the next experiment. I love the physical act of cooking - the feel of the knife as it slices through the apples, the scent of the onions as they caramelize in butter, the moment when the cake comes sashaying out of the oven. But more than that, I love to watch as everybody takes the first bite, and then, hurriedly, another. And another.
Blame it on my slight obsession with Ms. Reichl, but I like her thought process and conclusion best.
Things came full circle when I happened upon Michael Ruhlman's blog entry on why he cooks, which was finally straightforward enough to get me thinking about why I cook instead of thinking about how much I like reading the aforementioned pieces. (Rulhman actually out and out asks bloggers to write about why they cook.)
So, apart from my love of taking aerial food shots, why do I cook?
Well, first and foremost, I cook because I love to eat. That one is easy. And I wish I could copy Ruth and say that the second reason was to make people happy, but that's not really a main objective for me. I mean, I'm just not confident enough of a cook to derive too much pleasure from cooking for people that aren't Matt. With that said, I would have to say the other main reason I cook is for the sense of accomplishment, the pleasure in the finished product, which of course increases with the difficulty level of the recipe. This is kinda obvious/how this blog got started in the first place, no?
RECIPE:
For the crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers)
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 whole extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the topping:
1 cup red jelly (not jam), such as currant, raspberry, or strawberry
3 half-pints fresh raspberries
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
To make the crust, combine the graham crackers, sugar, and melted butter until moistened. Pour into a 9-inch springform pan. With your hands, press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and about 1-inch up the sides. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
Raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees F.
To make the filling, cream the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium and add the eggs and egg yolks, 2 at a time, mixing well. Scrape down the bowl and beater, as necessary. With the mixer on low, add the sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly and pour into the cooled crust.
Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 225 degrees F and bake for another 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and open the door wide. The cake will not be completely set in the center. Allow the cake to sit in the oven with the door open for 30 minutes. Take the cake out of the oven and allow it to sit at room temperature for another 2 to 3 hours, until completely cooled. Wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the cake from the springform pan by carefully running a hot knife around the outside of the cake. Leave the cake on the bottom of the springform pan for serving.
To make the topping, melt the jelly in a small pan over low heat. In a bowl, toss the raspberries and the warm jelly gently until well mixed. Arrange the berries on top of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Note: Measure your springform pan. The bottom of mine measures 9 inches, but it says 9 1/2. I put the springform pan on a sheet pan before putting it in the oven to catch any leaks.
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