A HOLIDAY CAKE STORY

I hope you are all getting ready for 2011 and more cooking challenges! I am hoping that the cold weather with a few cold snaps will bring us wonderful stone fruit this summer! And, all that lovely rain will ward off a drought and my plants will have lots of water this year.
I mentioned in my last email that I was going to try to make the Peppermint Ice Cream Candyland Cake from a Bon Appetit recipe in 2007. I saved the recipe because I thought the cake was a showstopper, visually. I can honestly say that this is not a recipe for a beginner. I did not have a pan that was exactly 15”x10”x1” so I used my jelly roll pan and doubled the cake recipe. While it “worked” it wasn’t the best solution. It made the cake too high. I tried Baskin Robbin's Peppermint Ice Cream that turned out to be an unappetizing bubblegum pink color. Good flavor but yucky visually and very expensive to buy 3.5 qts. I then tried Dreyer’s Peppermint Ice Cream and its color was a little better but not great. If I ever do this again, I think I’ll make my own ice cream to control the color.

Also, icing a cake with melting ice cream is not easy or fun. The online recipe had a reviewer who suggested putting the ice cream into the same cake pan and cutting it into thirds after it hardened, the same size as the cake layers. I tried this method and while still a bit cumbersome, was way easier than trying to ice the cake. So I then froze the layers again and then did the final icing with the softened ice cream. Refroze the cake again before adding the candy brittle.

The above two photos show the BR 31 Flavors ice cream and the two photos below are of the Dreyers ice cream version. There's not a big difference in the photos but believe me, the BR color is not pretty! I even tried to lighten it with some vanilla ice cream.

The Candyland brittle was difficult but not impossible. I threw out the first batch because at 300º the sugar carmellized. I took the candy off the stove at 375º and had Bill pour it onto the tin foil (pre-marked to 10x16’…don’t’ use a marking pen because it comes off on the brittle!) and then I immediately smeared it into the marked space and quickly sprinkled pre-chopped and mixed candies onto the hot sugar. In 2 minutes it was hard already so I had to work very fast. I waited 10 minutes and then started breaking off pieces to add to the ice cream frosting layer.

Eating a frozen cake was not good so it worked better to serve the cake slices a few minutes after plating them so the cake part could thaw a bit to make it more tender.

The combination of the dense, moist chocolate cake and peppermint ice cream was delicious & a perfect combo. A definite WOW factor is the candy brittle. Not so wow is making this cake…a 2-day process AND make sure you have enough space in your freezer AND the right size pan. If you don’t care about the color, buy Dreyers Peppermint Ice Cream, only sold at Christmas time (cheaper and better color). Otherwise, add another day to make your own peppermint ice cream. You will have a lot of leftover candy so make sure you buy candy that you like to eat….or are willing to toss so the leftovers “don’t go to waist!”

I’m too pooped now to write anymore! I’m not even sure the cake was worth the effort although other reviewers would make it again without the candy brittle.

BTW, Tina sent an article about Jacques Pepin that she wanted to share with you since we are using one of his cookbooks this year. The Long View: French Gourmand Jacques Pepin (NPR Dec. 29, 2010) It’s an interesting article that I think you’ll enjoy reading. Thanks, Tina!

Cook on with Julia! Date to be announced as soon as I hear from everyone.

Until February,

Sandi

COOKING CHALLENGE

We were taking holiday gifts to all of our neighbors and spent a few minutes talking with Mary and Ken who belong to more of a supper club than a cookbook club. What they and their friends have been doing for 33+ years is pick a theme for the dinner. The host gets to choose the menu and put together the recipes. They have often decorated their homes to reflect the theme: ie. medieval castle for a medieval dinner. Over the top!

Mary shared their last dinner menu. It had a Spanish theme because they had just returned from a trip to Barcelona, Spain. She borrowed our Made in Spain cookbook for some of the entré choices. Because I wasn’t invited to partake in the fabulous dinner, I can’t describe the dishes to you but I thought you’d enjoy seeing what they prepared and the cookbooks they used. The photos on the menu are ones that Mary took while in Spain as well as some she downloaded from the internet. Here’s the menu:





And here are some photos of the dishes they prepared. As you can see, they are beautifully presented and look pretty mouth watering to me!
This dish is the Almond Soup that Sandy prepared for our Spanish dinner and this one looks just a delicious. I wonder if she had to wring out the almond milk as often?

This sardine dish is so yummy that even Ken, who doesn't like sardines, liked it...alot! I love sardines so I am going to have to get this recipe from Mary. Whenever I go to a Spanish restaurant, I always order the sardine dish, no matter how it's prepared. I fish for them in Monterey Bay when they are in season too because there is nothing like fresh sardines.

And the last photo is of the paella that Mary & Ken prepared. I was tempted to show you the photos of the two of them slaving over the paella pan grilled over the barbeque but decided that you'd all rather see the finished product.

Mary and I talked about getting the group together but couldn’t figure out the logistics of such a large group…obviously going to have to be a buffet. Maybe we’ll make it a ‘extra’ dinner and whomever wants to cook and come will come. I always appreciate and learn from other good cooks and I bet some of you would like to be exposed to this group too!

Mary and I will come up with a date and venue and see who wants to come! And, since they are a couples group, this dinner will be a couple’s dinner for us too.

Sounds like fun to me!

2010 HOLIDAY BUFFET

Sunday, December 12, 2010

If you need something to get you into the holiday mood, I’ve found that good food and warm friends will do it. . .with the help of some bubbly! What has become an annual tradition for our Crowing Coq Cookbook Club is our “Holiday Buffet.” It’s the only dinner that we don’t plate and is more informal. We prepare only appetizers and desserts. This year, we could prepare anything from any of the books we’ve ever used over the past 4 years. As a result, a yummy menu! I usually don’t print out the menu because it takes so much space but it’s a good way to see what was prepared at a glance for our blog. I’ve left off last names but did include the cookbook from which the recipe was used.

ken hom's pork riblets big small plates (prepared by janis)
buckwheat blinis with caviar big small plates (prepared by sharon)
fried chicken (wings) ad hoc (prepared by sandi u.)
fritters surprise made in spain (prepared by tina)
coquilles st. jacques a la parisienne mastering the art of french cooking (prepared by george)
orange current walnut cake deborah madison (prepared by annie)
mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches ad hoc (prepared by willie)
chocolate pots de crème zuni café cookbook (prepared by lisa)
chocolate marscapone torte bay wolf cookbook (prepared by marianne)
chocolate ruffle cake baking with julia (prepared by sandi w.)

Wines for the evening from bill’s cellar:
nv graham beck sparkling wine, brut, south africa
nv graham beck sparkling wine, brut rose, south Africa
2007 landmark overlook chardonnay, sonoma valley
2007 cantina zaccagnini montepulciano riserva, italy
2008 quady orange muscat, madera, ca.
2005 meeker vineyards zinfandel frozin, geyserville, sonoma valley


We were all surprised by Janis’s choice of Ken Hom’s pork riblets from Cindy Pawlcyn’s Big Small Plates because she usually brings vegetables or salads. This entré proves that Janis is as good with meat as she has been with vegetables. The riblets were marinated overnight in a soy marinade that was delicious.
Sharon passed her Buckwheat Blinis with Crème Fraiche & Caviar on a tray and they were simply deee-vine! Of course, anything with caviar is okay in my book…I just love decadence when it comes to eating. This was another dish from Cindy Pawlcyn’s book. I, too, find that it’s a book I’ve gone to several times after that memorable dinner in 2008. Her recipes are not only delicious but easy to follow.

I made the Fried Chicken (wings) with the help of Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc cookbook. A whole chicken is brined for 10 hours but I only brined the drumettes for 3 hours and fried them just before bringing to the hosts’ home. Keller says to pop them into a 400º oven for 5 minutes to re-crisp them but it didn’t bring them back to their former glory right out of the frying oil. They were still good but not great…IMHO.
Tina made two kinds of Fritters with chicken and cheese and fried them in oil right before we ate them and they were hot and crispy! This recipe was an adaptation of the fritter recipe from Jose André’s book, Made in Spain. This is another cookbook that I have used over and over. It’s actually turned me into a Spanish food fan and I’m always looking for restaurants that serve tapas or Spanish dishes.
George went over the top with his Coquilles St. Jacques a la Pariesienne from Julia Child’s very famous book: Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Assembled earlier and then just popped into a broiler just before serving is the smart dish to bring to a buffet. They were decadent, rich, creamy, and, delicious…as they should be!

We served the buffet in two flights to give our appetites a chance to recover and prepare for desserts. Our intermezzo was our traditional white elephant gift exchange…and a chance for our crowing coq to have a new foster parent for a year. What was totally cool this year is that his parent for 2010, Janis, took him to a jeweler to have repaired so he now crows again when his timer goes off. Thanks Janis, you were the perfect foster mother. There was a lot of stealing and great gifts this year.

After our gift exchange we started on the desserts. With the exception of Annie’s very moist Orange Current Walnut Cake from Deborah Madison’s book, the desserts were all chocolate. Annie’s cake was both simple and complex in that it was a moist and light orange bread and also a complex blend of orange, walnuts and currants without being like a fruit cake. It’s a dessert I want to try soon.

The chocolate desserts, while all chocolate were so different in their textures, execution and presentation. Willie made Thomas Keller’s Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cookies from his Ad Hoc book. This is like taking an ice cream sandwich to it’s ultimate level. This rich ice cream was sandwiched between two buttery and chocolatey cookies. I am a big fan of Keller’s ice cream although if I made it very often, Bill & I would be as wide as barns!

Lisa made the Chocolate Pots De Crème, also from Keller’s book, that were topped with a dollop of Chantilly cream and even though chocolate is not my favorite flavor (I know, I’m weird…), I thought this dessert was what chocolate pudding should taste like! Bravo, Lisa!

Marianne made a Chocolate Marscapone Torte from the Bay Wolf Cookbook. It too had a dollop of Chantilly cream and was a light chocolate torte. I loved it because of the fact that it wasn’t a dense chocolate but for the chocoholics in the group, it probably wasn’t chocolatey enough…of course, for the chocolate addicts, very few dishes have enough chocolate!

However, the last dessert fit that need to a “T,” er, "C". Sandi’s Chocolate Ruffle Cake from Baking with Julia, was not only a beautiful presentation but tasted as good as it looked AND had enough chocolate for the addicted. As you can see from the photo, it was a fabulous presentation. The crème fraiche fillings (there was a chocolate crème fraiche layer and a vanilla & fresh raspberries layer and then a topping of plain crème fraiche) complemented the dense Valhrona chocolate cake. These desserts were all perfect endings to a festive evening.

After desserts we sat down to select our books for 2011 and here are the choices:
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child (both Vol. I & II)
It will interesting to see who does the beef bourguignon and the deboned duck dishes...

We also decided to try Mexican cooking this year with any book by Rick Bayless, including his TV website. We had a brief introduction to Mexican food with Cindy Pawlcyn's book and everyone really liked it so it will be fun to go totally Mexican with one of our dinners this year. Mexican food is typically seen as "fast food" or "cheap food" and I love that it's moved into the "gourmet food" category. The flavors are complex, not overly hot as many people think and brings out the tastes of fresh ingredients.

And, last but certainly not least, we are going to try Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pépin. I think we decided to start with a Rick Bayless'book and then move on to Julia and Jacques? Or did I lose another marble? UPDATE, 12/16/10: Darn, there went another marble! Sandi emailed me to remind me that we decided to start the year off with a Julia dinner so get your Mastering the Art of French Cooking book out and start cooking! Either Volume I or II.

I am also going to arrange another “educational field trip” for us. I am thinking of a cooking demonstration with dinner afterwards by a local chef. There will be a second field trip to Sharon’s home near Grass Valley that she is going to organize for the group. 2011 is going to be another year of fine wining and dining!

Thank you everyone for being adventurous and willing to try challenging recipes. Your efforts have given me courage to try more difficult recipes and as a result, I am a better cook and have learned new skills. Bill appreciates what you’ve all done too since he gets to eat all of my trials (as well as errors)!

Holiday wishes to you and a year of no kitchen mishaps for 2011.

Cook on!

Sandi