Two (of three) of My Favorite (Panera's) Things

Mmmmm, way better than whiskers on kittens! One of the comforts of being back in Des Moines is the ready access to some of my favorites. It's also one of the most dangerous things! Panera's is my go to for the world's best onion soup (shhhh, don't tell the French!).


The other two favorites? A frozen caramel and a four cheese egg souffle. I am LOVIN' the cheesy egg souffle. Savory, light and fluffy, all wrapped in a sweetish puff pastry.


I've tried a hacked version of this recipe to disastrous results. As soon as I find a decent one I'll be happy to share. Until then, if you are in the Des Moines area let me know...we'll grab one of the above* :D


*or a cinnamon crunch bagel. Lucky and I love them good.

fuzzishu and fuzzi fruits

This past Friday Studio 402 (fuzzishu + MRW studio) had our first annual open studio. In addition to oodles of fantastic art, in my humble opinion ;), there was some tapanade with bite, garlicky hummus, incredibly rich chocolate, and the unveiling of a deeeelish white sangria. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Studio 402 Sangria

4 (750mL) bottles white wine
1 L. bottle ginger ale
1/2 c. peach schnapps
1/2 c. brandy or cognac
1/4 c. sugar
assorted fruit cubes - peaches, mango, strawberry, kiwi, apple, starfruit, orange

Cut assorted fruit into cubes and place them in a bowl. Pour schnapps and cognac over fruit then sprinkle with sugar. Refrigerate at least 30 min. Add wine and ginger ale. Refrigerate several hours/overnight. The longer it soaks the better it tastes. I used a sweet white wine. You can use a dry wine if you prefer

IceCreamMonster strikes again!

I haven't been doing much cooking (except for that delicious Emeril Jambalaya!) or blogging lately...but I do follow bites and pieces of the foodie community. When I read how the Ben & Jerry's Flourless Chocolate Cake flavor was tough to find I HAD to hunt it down.

So today I trekked to our local SuperWalmart (the only place that is carrying this limited edition flavor) to snag myself a carton....or two. ;) I'm happy to report it's as delicious as anticipated. It's like the chocolate fudge brownie ice cream but awesomer. The cake pieces are not quite as chewy as the brownie chunks. I failed to find the 'chocolate frosting ribbon' but it was delicious despite that fact. I plan to do another more extensive tasting tonight and add to this review. Until then....

Keeping my Finger in the Pot...Not Literally, That's Gross

Today pulled a shift over at Electric Burrito. It's been months and I forgot how hectic and crazy things can get in a kitchen. 20 orders in an hour is an awful lot for the inexperienced (read: me). It was nice to stick my fingers back into the cooking game. I've missed it.

The next week will be food oriented as well. Marty is catering the Corning All-Grad banquet for Homecoming. Over 150 guests are expected and in addition to teaching RiNGS classes on Friday and Saturday at the gallery, I will be helping prepare food late Friday night and serving the catered small(-ish) Class of '68 lakeside bbq Saturday night. All before whisking off to Altoona Sunday for a private RiNGS class. What can I say? I am a gal on the go ;)

If you happen to be in the SW Iowa area this weekend feel free to stop by, say hi, grab some amazing food and learn how to make a silver ring. Not a bad weekend plan eh?

....aaaaand we're back.

sort of. sporadically. oh the tales i have to tell about helping to cater events here in town. events with hundreds of people. intimate events with only a few couples. bacon wrapped almond stuffed dates with maple zabligon and fried chicken 'n fixin's made in a garage. but those tales will have to wait. so many new exciting things* have happened that i look forward to sharing but people, i am TIRED. bone tired. i have been on my feet for 12 hrs straight, cooking, prepping, chopping and frying over at my friend J's new restaurant the electric burrito (www.electricburrito.net). sorry i am too lazy to even make the link. today was the opening day and it was utter madness. in a town with one pizza hut, one subway and one breadeaux pizza it is something of a black sheep. a delicious jalapeno flavored black sheep. mmmmm sheeeeeeep zzzzzzz...um, where was i? yes, tired. exhausted. i will try to take photos and update again in the near future but i'm guessing we'll be slammed again tomorrow. so please, if you are near corning iowa drop by, say hi and order an electric burrito and margarita!

as J says...peace, love & salsa


*other new exciting things involve my first wholesale show in las vegas with my jewelry (see http://fuzzishu.blogspot.com), a huuuuge line up of summer shows, a total amazing new line of work and at least a splash page on my website - www.fuzzishu.nu what can i say? i am a busy girl!

Au Revoir Switzerland...Hello Iowa!

After my lovely trip to Interlaken with Mr. X it was time to go. Mom came the next day to visit and help me carry a kitty home, but I duped her into helping me sell off or pack all of my belongings. I don't know if you've ever left a place you'd come to love but it is so difficult. I was incapacitated by tears at almost every turn and everything became a 'last'. Last drink with friends, last fondue, last visit to the Globus.... We finished just under the wire (we celebrated),



the regie came the morning we left and ok'd the place, we rushed for the airport to make the earlier flight. Gizmo, whacked out on kitty drugs, bit me hard enough to make me bleed in the taxi, the turbulence between Geneva and Zurich was terrifying. The pilot missed our landing and your humble narrator almost became a runway pancake. Shudder. Then we had to do it all again to Chicago, another harrowing tale. Suffice it to say, we made it home in one battered but sound piece.

After a short respite at home, I packed my newly purchased old car and headed off to make my fortune...wait wait...no, face my future? anyhow headed off to my new locale. I think you might all like it. Far different from Geneva but special and stunning in it's own way. I'm on the search for foodies, so if you know of any in SW Iowa or surrounding areas, please, don't hesitate to contact me.

BYOC*, News and About Me...a little late.

Big news. Ugly Fruit is moving. Ok, well actually, no, the blog is staying right where it is. I, the IceCreamMonster behind Ugly Fruit, am moving. Time to leave the green green grasses of Switzerland for a new, different, smaller place. Yes, I am moving back to Iowa.

Quick background....even if it is a bit late......
Most readers (those who don't know me in real life) may not know (as I've been pretty hush hush personally speaking here) that I've been living in Europe for 3 years now. Some time studying in Milan and the rest of the time in Switzerland working as a watch designer. It's been a fantastic experience and I love Geneva all the way to the bottom of my little curled toes. However, it is a time of flux and change. Big things. New things. Exciting things. Scary things.

I have left my full time, monthly salaried, 5 weeks of vacation a year job in the heart of Europe to go back to the US (a little sigh) to be a starving artist, I mean, independent jeweler. And as sad as it is to leave, I am so excited for what the future holds, as well as being near my family again rather than visiting only once a year, endless books in English, and being able to find Pace picante salsa and baking powder at 11pm at the grocery store. For every perk of going there is some longing in leaving. I'll miss my daily fresh croissants and endless bread choices at Migros. The amazing view, no matter where you go and tiny jaunts across the lake in little yellow boat. My fantastic fanatic foodie group and the belly bulging taste tingling dinners we had. So much. Big sigh.

So, where does all of this intro lead us? To the party I threw this week, a BYOC* if you will. I had 3 bottles of champagne, 2 rose, and too many reds and whites to mention and what with the international move and all it was well past time to try and finish them all.


BEFORE

That's where everyone else came in. Despite the freakish tsunami like storm there was a good turn out and my foodie friends (Kiriel and Rosa) didn't fail to delight with the offerings they brought.

AFTER

Ever since England I had been dying to try my hand at the mushroom pate I had tasted. This soiree was the perfect opportunity. This is not one of the most attractive dishes, hence the lack of photo, but it is incredibly delicious and vegetarian (not vegan) friendly.

Mushroom Pate (found somewhere on the internet and changed a bit)

4 T. olive oil
3 C. (about 3 large onions) chopped onion
3 cloves garlic minced
1 lb. mushrooms sliced
1 t. fresh thyme chopped
1/2 t. fresh rosemary chopped
1/2 t. fresh sage chopped
1/2 C. herbed bread crumbs
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
2 C. ricotta cheese
salt and pepper to taste (I also added a gratuitous amount of garlic powder)

Saute onions and garlic in oil until onions are soft. Add mushrooms and herbs and continue to cook until the mushrooms begin to release their juices. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the bread crumbs.

In a food processor, combine the Parmesan cheese, cream cheese and the ricotta cheese. Process until combined. Add the cooled mushroom mixture and process until the mixture is pureed smooth. Add salt and pepper (and garlic powder) to taste.

Butter a 2 qt. mold and put a piece of parchment on the bottom. Pour in the mushroom mixture. Tamp down to remove any air bubbles.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes at 400°F. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cover the top with a piece of wax paper and place weights on top. Refrigerate at least 24 hours.

To serve: Remove weights, peel off wax paper and blot any excess surface juices. Turn out onto a platter. Serve with crackers and fresh veggies.

*BYOC - Bring Your Own Cheese...in this case I supplied the booze and wanted people to bring a few nibblys to balance it out. Also, FYI, if you ever want a super good turn out for any sort of event....FREE BOOZE...but you already knew that ;)

Apple of my...Nahhhh.

Hello bloglings. You may ask, why are you posting so late! (or early, depending on how you look at it) If you were noticing the time stamp at all, that is. Well, I have a penchant for starting complicated recipes much later than I really ought to. I started with the recipe below at a decent hour, figuring that baking apples before onions was a good idea. But I didn't plan on the hour and fifteen minutes of baking on the onion dish! You might think that those two dishes make for strange bedfellows but let me digress......

This past winter E came to visit (see grapefruit risotto post here - link coming), shortly after he returned to NY he passed along a recipe from the time he spent in Japan. I've been holding on to this recipe awhile and meaning to make it. Today I followed the advice, not of the mythical messenger, but rather the major shoe manufacturer and 'just did it'. See photo essay below (note: I will add a photo of the final product tomorrow when there's sunlight again. The photos after dark all turned out crap.)


It's a very simple recipe, make sure to slice your apples thin as can be for maximum coverage.


Every thing can be mixed by hand, which is a nice change from all of those 'whip for 10 minutes on extra high' recipes. Mmmm, yogurt.


Use your creativity to cover the bottom layer of batter in fun and unique patterns!

I had planned to decorate the top with a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar but thought better of it and decided to try the recipe as is. The batter is delicious*, light, tangy, full of promise. The cake baked beautifully, toasty brown on top and springy to the touch. Although it's by all means a good and decent cake, it lacked something for me. If I were to make it again I would think about substituting the apples with something a little more hardcore....like apricot jam and dried apricot bits. Something to liven it up and give it some color. The cake ends up being a little more dense than I usually go for (I am a light and fluffy or thick and moist sort of cake lover), in fact it reminds me a bit of mochi and some of the more glutinous dessert offerings out there (rosa, hal and al, this recipes for you!) Do try it and let me know what you think.

Japanese Green Apple Cake

 2 C flour
1 C sugar
1/2 C veg. oil
1 t baking powder
2 eggs
1 C plain yogurt
2 tart green apples
 
-Preheat to 350F
-Peel apples and slice as thin as possible
-Mix oil, eggs and sugar in bowl.
-Add yogurt to mix and continue mixing, then add baking powder and flour gradually. 
-When well mixed (batter will be quite dense), spread half of the batter on a round baking dish that has been thinly coated in
butter and flour along the bottom/sides. 
-Cover the batter w/ apples, overlapping slightly. 
-Cover apples w/ remaining batter. 
-Bake ~50 mins or until golden brown.  
-Let sit until cool/lukewarm (gives the batter a chance to come together a bit)


The experiment I was sitting up and waiting to cool will be posted on tomorrow. It's 2.30 am practically and the foodblogger is tired! You'll just have to be delightfully surprised later ;)





*I know, I know. Bad blogger! Don't taste batter using raw eggs! You've been dually warned.

Pre Star Dining

Last night Mr. X, sharing a passion for good food and good restaurants, kindly invited me to the opening night of a new top notch restaurant, L'Auberge des Groulines.


The restaurants is located about 40 minutes outside of Geneva, in the French countryside. This idyllic location, while rather hidden, provides dinners with a sense of adventure (and accomplishment to find it!) as well as majestic views of the Jura and surrounding mountain ranges.


L'Auberge, while brand new, is very promising. Well situated, well decorated, and fine food served in a well presented manner. Mr. X believes they may be presented with a Michelin star within the next few years. We were feeling adventureous and declined to look at the menu. Chef Patrick Lozach surprised us with a very complete tasting menu. Without further ado....dinner is served.


The experience started off with a small aperitif, a Kir Royale Framboise for me and a Champagne for him.


The mise en bouche was a promising start for the rest of our meal. The small zucchini flower was the perfect packaging for a summer vegetable and baked egg mixture and was accompanied by a zingy grape tomato and olive oil. It was very cool in the mouth and had a good texture, it was wonderfully flavorful but not overwhelming. A tastebud teaser to lead into the next dish.


This 'pressed vegetable' dish was like 'eating a garden'. Chef Lozach continued with his summer vegetable theme and seems to cook in an almost Italian manner (Italian in the sense that the food tastes like what it is. Each item is fresh and bursting with it's own natural flavor), rather antipasti like. The pressed vegetables included were thin layers of zucchini, eggplant, tomato and a small rucola sidesalad adorned with parmesan wafer.


The next dish to tickle our tastebuds was a poisson cru presse dish. Let me mention we also had a bottle of white wine from the center regions of France but I can't recall just now what it was, other than a fine accompaniment for our fresh and light dinner. This dish, while similar in technique to the last one (perhaps presented too closely with the last one to be of the same technique?) was a strange but not unwelcome mix of flavors. There were two layers of fish, salmon and tuna I believe, topped with small sprigs of white and green asparagus. Hidden inside were small diced bits of zucchini and the plate was decorated with an herby yogurt sauce and orange marmalade drop as well as a thin-as-can-be fried sheet of phyllo hiding a ginger paste core. This was Mr. X's favorite dish of the night. I am sticking to the mise en bouche as mine.


Things started to heat up a bit with these tiny bites of rouget surrounded by a baby eggplant stuffed with herbed mashed potatoes and baby zucchini stuffed with mushrooms all topped with crispy fried shoestring onions and tomato peel. It was a well plated dish, very visually appealing and quite tasty as well. The blend of bitter vs. salty vs. tangy was very well balanced and the surrounding olive oil with tomoto and chives was delicious.


The filet de sandre (pike perch?) was rather bland. Summer veggies again made an appearance with some green beans, tomatoes, a slice of zucchini and a baby carrot. The sauce was quite good but in my opinion not enough to make up for the fish. I do offer this disclaimer though, as a born and bred landlocked midwesterner I am not the world's most definitive guru on all things fishy. Where I grew up fish came one of two ways....as a stick or in a can. I'm slowly getting better about it but just saying...


By the time the cheeseplate came around I was practically full til bursting, only the thought of dessert kept me going. The plate featured reblochon, comte, abondance, and bleu de gex varieties of cheese and was accompanied by a fine whole grain and nut roll. Mr. X ended up with most of my cheese, as I said, I was holding out for dessert.


At last, the part of dinner all restaurants really ought to serve first! Dessert wrapped up our meal neatly by finishing up the light and refreshing summer fare (even if the weather didn't suitably reflect the season). A variation on a strawberry shortcake sort of dessert, ours highlighted June by using fresh blueberries, raspberries, strawberries cherries and red currants winking from the whipped like jewels. All of this was loosely sandwiched by two sable type cookies, the only thing I disagreed with. As a light summer dessert it would have been night to see them use some light pyllo sheets like in one of the earlier dishes or perhaps a fluffy meringue cookie like they do in Gruyere.

All in all it was a fantastic experience and a taste of things I shall not forget for sometime. Especially as it was their first night of service and instead of the 5 people they had been planning on there seemed to be a full house with a melange of languages and types of customers. The service was prompt and attentive, the dishes creative and varied, and although quite a bit for me, it was a good amount of food not too much like some tasting menus can end up being. Thank you to Mr. X for inviting me and to the staff of L'Auberge des Groulines for this enjoyable evening.



L'Auberge des Groulines
Juvigny
74100 Annemasse

+33 450 37 03 96

Extra! Extra! Jersey Dairy Delivers!

There was good news for the Geneva branch of the International Ice-Cream Council today, as Jersey Ice Cream announced that a shipment had been successfully transferred from the tiny Island to Switzerland.

Speaking late last night Ross Belhomme, 24, a spokesman for the Company chortled, "We have successfully transported a carton of authentic banoffee* Jersey Ice-Cream to the Alpine state. The Ice-Cream, which is made using the finest milk from the finest Jersey cows, for that authentic creamy flavour long associated with Jersey Ice Cream, seems to have held up ok and
we hope the defreeze was limited by the cold temperatures experienced during flights"

Belhomme, clearly wishing to milk the situation, further blurted "we hope that this delivery will improve relations with our continental based cousins, and feel this is a strong example of the synergys created by our record investment in Ice-Cream Mobility Solutions.." (Ed - read Airplane)

A spokesman from the Iowa based Ice-Cream Review Select Sub Committee merely commented that the news was "delightful".

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The IceCreamMonster is pleased and greedy enough to solicit other ice cream samples from around the world. A 'Best Ice Cream Ever' list is to come.


*For those of you nonBrits and nonAussies, banoffee is a mix of banana and toffee flavors found primarily in candies and sweets in other English-speaking countries.

Sorry Sweeties!

I thought I lost my blog! But no worries, it's been found and I am on the blogpath again. London was something else (Indian food 3 times in 4 days? Yes please! Marks and Spencer food emporium? Hell ya!) and I will soon be posting thoughts on the motherland but let us start with something seasonal. Something springy and summery, when a young lasses thoughts turn to....ice cream. (What were you thinking, you dirty dirty children!) As the tempertures rise the IceCreamMonster is coming back in full force. The local gelateria is getting to know it by flavor preference (chocolate and hazelnut, like Nutella times 1000) Please be on the lookout for any strange creatures with a sweet tooth in your neighborhood.

priceless

train to romainmotier (paid twice, damn their eyes) - 42 francs

easter choral concert in a 10th century abbey church - 5 francs ("donated")

sleeping in the hay in the freezing cold - 15 francs

breakfast at 1063m with an old friend - priceless

Slainthe!

Each month one of our Rotary members is required to give an informal talk on their livelihood, hobbies, or some other personal aspect. This helps us to get to know one another, much like the informal aperos we host in our homes (mine is coming up this week!) Jean Pierre is a member of the local Echanson de la Confrérie des Tastes Whisky Ecossais (brotherhood of whiskey tasters?) and provided our merry little group with the history, geography, lore and variety to be found in single malt whiskeys.


Let me start off by saying I've never had a whiskey in my entire life. Perhaps it will help put this post into perspective.


Our first taste was of Glenckinchie from the lowlands, an 'apero' or easy drinking whiskey, supposedly 'fruity' with notes of smoke, herbs, and spices. My first impression BURNING! AGRESSIVE! TONGUE GOING NUMB!!!

The next was Aberlour from the highlands speyside, more of a 'dinner' whiskey, with an earthy smell, a spicier longer flavor that developes and a bit easier on the palate (or mine had already gone numb.

The third was also from the highlands speyside, a 12 yr old Strathisla. Out of the tasting this one one of the 'hardest' for me. Very harsh, dry, and acidy, almost like a highly tannin'd wine. Very warm and tingly and stayed in the mouth for a long time.

The last from the highlands speyside was a 1994 Speymalt Macallan. I found it to have a slightly sweet smell, light-ish with a more 'open' elegant flavor. The tasting notes say there are notes of chocolate...those I have yet to find!

Second to last was Old Putenay from the Northern Highlands, a not bad flavor and would tend to go well with salmon (which was quite luckily on the menu that night!)

We rounded off the evening with a strong drag at 58% from the Isle of Isla, Lagavulin. This was a very special draught. I can't say I liked it but it certainly stood out from the others. It was very very smokey, so much that it tasted like a doused forest fire. The 'nose' reminded me of bactine and it made my inner ear itch. With commendations like that I can't think why no one else would get fired up about it.

I must admit, I am a heathen. Jean Pierre did a fantastic job and each whiskey was prefaced about the region it came from, the history of the distillery, as well as a written up list on the color, nose, palate, and finish of each. To me, they all smelled like rubbing alcohol and they taste from one to the next varied so slightly as to be almost indistinguishable. And I thought my wine palate was undeveloped! I appreciated this lecture and learned quite a bit, the world of whiskey is a fascinating place steeped in history and secrets. I can appreciate those who appreciate a fine glass of whiskey but for me? I'll stick with my favorite malt product....

on the road

guess who was at a whiskey tasting til late last night? ooooh my head. off for the blog conference in zurich today. posts about both of these soon!

Spice Girl...singular

I just came back from spending 18chf on spices at my favorite local spice shop Lyzamir. That's right, 18 smackeroos for things like tamarind paste and matcha and chickpea flour, oh my! This is all in preparation for next week's themed dinner. Are you hungry yet?



*Lyzamir is a shop after my own heart. It reminds me of jam-packed used bookstores and Mike Fink's office at RISD. It is much tastier but equally as magical. With row upon row of spices, like some food bent alchemist, and sacks of grains I've never heard of it is always a delight for the senses. The only hard part is finding time to cook everything you are enticed to make by browsing there.

Lyzamir Alimentation - Specialities Orientales
3 rue des Corps-Saint
1201 Geneve

+41.22.732.5380

Baby Did a Bad Bad Blog

I have been a bad bad blogger, almost a month sans post. And so close to the first anniversary of Ugly Fruit. And even more, on the eve of a blog conference in Zurich! (more on that soon) I am sorry baby, can you ever forgive me? I have posts to update on two, count 'em, two themed dinners (Spiked! and Aphrodesiac), the trip from Germany, the Chocolate Festival in Paris, my first 'tasting menu' fine dining experience in Chicago, a blind dinner in Basel, and more than one 'meme' Rosa has passed along to me. I hope that this will work to appease the blog gods while I get my act together. And when I do post I will be sure to put up a note indicating the dates to go back to as I want to keep them in chronological order. Now if only I could keep up with all of my foodie experiences!

I still haven't found my jumpdrive and have now managed to lose (with the help of the cats) the cord that I had found that allowed me to update my images. Here are a few previously posted pieces that I have gone back and added photos to....

Chocolate Covered...Wait for it, Pie
Muffins are from Mars
Citrus Rice Dream

And yet all the jumpdrives in the world can't help untimely posts. Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging. Admittedly sometimes I suck about updating. I had hoped I would only have to do this once but it looks like I will have to update in two parts. Here are quite a few events I neglected to write about at the appropriate time. But as they say, better late then never, nu?

July - Paleo
August - Sweet Binney
August - Crepe Cake
August - Lollapalooza
October - Furry Babies (and oh, how right I was!)
November - Turkey Day
November - Layers Dinner

Keep your eyes peeled for future retrospective updates. And thanks for bearing with me.

Makes Mouth Happy

Yet another super fantastic dinner with an amazing turn out. We had 12, count 'em, 12 food minded individuals sprawled in my living room and creating the most convivialist atmosphere in Geneva.






All in a post food orgy haze of course. As this was meant to be February's dinner (we kind of missed last month) a theme of 'aphrodesiac' was decided upon to commemorate Naked Flying Baby Day. Ladies and Gentlemen, love was in the air. Love of flavors bursting on our tongues and seducing us with tempting scents and sights. Luckily it was just foodlust, as the boy girl ratio was 1:11 ;) Too bad for all of the gents I invited that decided not to show, no? On to dinner....see if you can spot the 'active' ingredients (insert wicked grin here)

We started things off with brie puffs and grapes (recipe below)


Then moved right along to a creamy tomato and basil soup (see recipe below)


Hal and Al brought an arugalah pesto with dried cranberries and fresh pasta


I'll add for the record we did have green things and salad. I managed to make my first asparagus dish (yay!) a lemony and garlicy thing, and was quite pleased with the results...no photos though, sorry. (recipe below)

Kiriel started off the spice with her delicate and flaky ginger marinated fish


Rosa continued to heat things up with a zesty jerk chicken dish


Not to be outdone Hal and Al 'kicked things up a notch' with some truly tender flank steak that had been pan seared and smothered in a garlic and chili sauce (I was burping up spice all night and LOVED it)


And then there was dessert. Oh, the dessert we had. Generally at our dinners each foodie claims a part of the meal to bring. This time I do believe we all had to do a dessert IN ADDITION to the already fantastic other dishes we had done. And by god it was worth it. Nothing is sexier than dessert!

Rosa made a deadly flourless chocolate cake (recipe here) with 5 spice creme anglais and Hal and Al made individual sized banana bread puddings


I took advantage of the first strawberries of the season and made a downright homestyle strawberry creamcheese cake (see recipe below)


And Kiriel sweetened the deal with ricotta and pistachio...tartlets you might call them, with a ginger syrup (recipe here)


And then there were none :) The carnage after a typical theme dinner. We got saavy (if slightly less environmentally friendly) this time by using some disposible plates and cutlery. It might not be as classy but MY GOD! was the clean up less painful for all parties involved.



Please join us later this month for the 'real' March dinner...the theme? Hidden Secrets ;)

Apro-dine-iac Recipes from Rai

Brie Puffs

Brie
Phyllo sheets (the thicker pastry kind, not the flaky baklava kind)
bit of butter or oil

I deliberately left the amounts blank as you can make this to suit 1 or 100. This time I made individual bite sized appetizers but the brie works just as well as a whole half wheel. It looks fancy, tastes delicious and is so easy you'll have to hide your smirk when you get compliments on it. Simply take the desired amount of cheese and encase it in some phyllo dough. Be sure to seal the edges so that the cheese doesn't leak out (still delicious, just not as pretty) Brush the tops of the bites with a bit of melted butter or olive oil and bake on a foil covered cookie sheet at 400F (200C) until brown and crispy. Serve with a side of grapes, apple slices, strawberries, etc.



Tomato Basil Soup - by Max, modified by Rai

I originally found this recipe on Chew on That as Max's Fresh Tomato Basil Soup. It was very good the first time around...but missing 'something' to my taste buds. I tried it slightly differently this time and am getting closer but am by no means finished in my persuit of the perfect tomato soup. It's still a fantastic soup. Enjoy

4 C. fresh tomatoes, peeled, cored and chopped (I didn't bother to peel as it's tedious...I strain the whole thing later)
4 C. good chicken stock
10 fresh basil leaves
1 C. heavy cream
1/4 lb. unsalted butter
(I added a bit of tomato paste, or even tomato sauce will do. I like my soups with some zing)
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine tomatoes and stock in saucepan. Simmer 30 minutes. Puree, along with the basil leaves in a blender or food processor. Return to saucepan and add cream, butter and tomato paste or sauce to taste, while stirring over low heat. (At this point I let it cool and stuck it in the refrigerator overnight to let the flavors develop. I then strained it the next day, as I can't stand those little curls of tomato peel on my tongue, and simply reheated on very very low) Garnish with extra basil leaves.



Lemon Garlic Asparagus

1/2 lemon
2 cloves of garlic
1 kilo asparagus
olive oil

Wash asparagus and lie them in a shallow baking dish. Drizzle liberally with olive oil, squeeze the hell out of the lemon and gut for the pulp, and sprinkle with the grated fresh garlic. Bake at 375F until a vibrant green and cripsy/tender. The asparagus is good...but the lemony garlicy juice at the bottom of the pan is worth licking out on it's own later.


Strawberry Cheesecake - recipe by Rai

Crust
1 c. slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 c. crushed graham crackers
1/4 c. sugar
6 T. unsalted melted butter

Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F. Butter a 9" glass pie dish. Chop almonds and mix with other dry ingredients, slowly mix in melted butter until a course meal forms. Press firmly into pie pan and bake 10-12 minutes. Remove and cool, keep oven on.

Cheesecake Filling
1 box cream cheese (8 oz.)
1 egg
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream eggs and cheese. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat 10 minutes on high speed. Pour over cooled crust. Bake at 375F for 15-30 minutes (really keep an eye on it, baking time differs each and every time I do it. Sometimes it's necessary to double the filling amount, obviously before baking...use your own sense). Let cool completely and feel free to turn oven off. Time to focus on the stove now.

Strawberry Topping
5 c. quartered hulled strawberries
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
2 T. fresh lemon juice

Place 2 cups of strawberries in a large sauce pan and squish with the back of a fork. Add sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Stir over medium high heat until sugar dissolves, color darkens, and the mixture begins to boil and thickens, ~3 min. Transfer mix to a large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Stir in remaining 3 cups of strawberries. Chill pie for 2-6 hrs.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Salut Blogaroos, off to Germany but in the words of the Great Ahhnold, "Ah'll Be Back!" and hopefully with some German food reviews! Tchuss.

Swiss Soup Swap

Try saying that five times fast. Actually try "Six semi-Suisse swap scrumptious soups at the Swiss Soup Swap". The inaugural swap went swimmingly, I must say. Rosa came over the weekend before and we made up a big batch of curry brownies (link to come) and had all the appropriate nibbles and wine things. It's Europe, what is a get together without an apero? Check out this spread.



We had 5 international swappers in our midst and a few future potential swappers. Recipes were exchanged, soup and life histories were shared and last but not least....we took a soup quiz. Here's a list of our swappers and their soups, but first, behold the glory of 6 liters of soup 5 times over.



Hal and Al (Norway and the NW US) brought Curry Cauliflower Apple soup, a favorite recipe from epicurious that made it's debut....3 nights in a row! and they thought must be shared

Rosa (Swiss) always trying new things and hungry for spices brought a savory banana soup from Martinique (she also provided us with pesto muffins for the apero. yay!)

Melanie (French) is an off the cuff chef, whatever is in the house gets thrown in. Soy sauce, shallots, zucchini, curry and a few other tasty surprises are hiding in her tomato soup

Satu (Finland) is a girl after my own heart, obsessed with french onion soup. Plus she knew which cheese should top the soup (extra bonus points on the quiz!)

Enrique (Spain) brought a bio version of a beet soup and admits he makes a killer paella....now I am intrigued, Paella Soup. Sounds good! Anyone ever attempted this?

And I made a pot (or two) of Yemenite chicken soup (see recipe below)

Mmmm, can't wait to unfreeze and eat these babies. Thanks to all of my Souper Troopers not only for dragging 6 L of soup by public transportation, no easy feat, but for also dragging them up the 7 flights of stairs cause my lift wasn't working. You all rock. Also, thanks to Knox and the wonder that is Soup Swap Day (see link below)

The $64,000 Question

Would you pay $25,000 for a masterful epicurean dinner if you could afford it? Check out the details here here and please leave comments on why you would or wouldn't shell out some major greenbacks for a once in a life time event like this.