citrus equals goodness.

Tonight I'm going to "Salt Cafe", a hangout for 20-30s folks at a local church I've been attending, and since my chocolate chip cookies were a hit last week, I decided to bring another sweet treat for peeps to enjoy. Baked goods are one of the finest tricks to meeting new people and making friends. Plus it's just an excuse to exercise my baking arm. Earlier this week I got my April issue of Gourmet and while I perused it, I noticed an article on lemon-y desserts. The last recipe in the article, Lemon Glazed Butter Cake, caught my eye and I immediately folded over the end of the page. It sounded so simple and yet so delectable. Angels in heaven were singing "Make this recipe! Hark, the Lord, has spoken, bake this cake!". Okay, maybe that's not EXACTLY how it went down, but close enough. So, in case, this fine first day of spring harkens you into the kitchen, perhaps you should give this cake a go:

Lemon Glazed Butter Cake (April 2009 issue of Gourmet Magazine)

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Rounded 1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. + 1 tbps. whole milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. lemon zest

1 stick unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

3/4 c. white sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 c. confectioners sugar

1/4 c. fresh lemon juice

Garnish: confectioners sugar, for dusting (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8" cake pan.

2. Whisk together in a bowl, the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Whisk together in a measuring cup, the milk, vanilla, and lemon zest.

4. In an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar til its nice and fluffy - approx. 2 minutes.

5. One at a time, add each egg until combined.

6. On low speed, add flour in 3 batches, alternating with the milk mixture. You should begin and end with flour.

7. Pour batter into pan and tap the pan gently to release any air bubbles.

8. Bake until golden and toothpick comes out clean (30-40 mins).

9. Let cool in pan for 10 mins, then invert and cool on rack.

10. Whisk together until smooth, confectioners sugar and lemon juice - brush as much as you like onto cake. Cool completely.

dim sum anyone?

When you crave something, they say you should give it to yourself, otherwise you won't be happy. I dig this philosophy and fully embraced it over the weekend. I've been craving dim sum. Luckily back in Los Angeles, I had the pleasure of going out for dim sum on a regular basis, being that I worked downtown. Empress Pavilion, baby!! Dim sum is definitely a different style of eating. When you go out for dim sum, usually you're sitting in a big banguet hall and servers are pushing carts filled with all sorts of delectable treats. You kinda hail then down, like getting a taxi in NYC, and order what you want. Think of it as the Chinese version of tapas. One of my favorite dim sum treats is Sew Mai, steamed dumplings of ground pork and chopped shrimp. Dipped in a mixture of garlic chili sauce, hot mustard and soy sauce, I could easily drown in these delectable treats. I conveniently own a bamboo steamer, which is a cost effective steamer, not only for dim sum, but for veggies or meat too. I got this recipe from the New School of Cooking in Culver City, California, where I took a dim sum class a couple of years ago. Another reason I love making these is that they are a breeze to freeze, in fact last night I just popped a bunch back into the steamer until they were heated through and enjoyed.

a homemade life.

I want to plug the heck out of this book, and perhaps the above photo of the Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Crystallized Ginger will do the trick! It's the first recipe from Orangette's, A Homemade Life, that I made and successfully, I might add. Folks at the office really enjoyed it, especially with a cup of freshly brewed coffee (that was the buzz around the water cooler). Last night after a laugh-out-loud telephone conversation with my friend, Lydia, I snuck into bed, bundled underneath purple flannel sheets and finished the book. I've had the book for about a week and it was my intention to make it last as long as possible, but a week later, here I am, done with it. I tried my hardest, I really did, but each chapter was so deliciously enjoyable, I couldn't resist but read some more, which is truly a high compliment. An added extra bonus is that I want to make at least half of the recipes included, which says alot. Often memoirs offer a few recipes I'm interested in trying, but the real reason I read the book is for the "story". In this case, I read it for both. I'm a regular over at Orangette and the book has inspired me to continue blogging, writing restaurant reviews, etc. So thanks, Molly!

cheesy broccoli soup.

This past weekend marked Midwest Munchies' first birthday! Hard to believe it's already been a year, but I'm glad I stuck with it, hope you are too! I was perusing my recipe box a couple of weeks ago, while planning some meals and happened upon a "goodie" - Cheesy Broccoli Soup. It was passed onto me by a legal assistant I used to work with in downtown Fort Wayne. She is as passionate about food as I am and she loves to entertain the masses. She gave me this recipe and it was a hit! It's super easy and delicious, though, if you're watching your waistline, you might want to save this for a non-watching waistline day. However, indulging in this soup every now and then won't kill you........

Cheesy Broccoli Soup (serves 4)

1 head of broccoli

1 onion, chopped and sauteed in a bit of butter or oil (your choice)

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 1/2 + 2/3 c. half and half

1/2 lb. pepper jack cheese

1/2 lb. Velveeta

Chop broccoli and steam separately. Chop velveeta in squares and shred pepper jack cheese. Heat over medium heat the can of cream of mushroom soup and half and half. Add cooked broccoli, sauteed onion, and cheese. Heat and stir until cheese is melted. Voila, it's ready to serve.

A dash of freshly ground pepper is a nice finishing touch. if you're not a fan of pepper jack cheese or velveeta, you can substitute with monterey jack, sharp white cheddar or whatever else you fancy. I like a good kick and the pepper jack is delish!

On a side note, I wanted to plug Molly Wizenberg's book, A Homemade Life, which was released this week! Molly is behind the coveted Orangette, which was just named #1 food blog! I haven't bought a book in a while, but I wanted to support Molly's work. Her blog is so wonderful and the 60 pages or so that I've read so far are absolutely delightful! So if you can swing it, buy it!

Patatas Bravas.

Yum yum. Wasn't that the first thing that popped in your head? Perhaps its nature's way of comforting us during these chilly winter months, but potatoes have recently become a problem in my house. Well, not that an intervention is necessary, at least not now....but....I made this traditional Spanish tapas dish the other night. It was my meal. Yes, I ate potatoes for dinner, so sue me. (I also ate sweet potato fries in LA for dinner too). I've had this lovely book called Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America by Jose Andres (well known Spanish chef in the D.C. area) and with my recent addiction to the PBS series, Spain: On the Road Again, I pulled this from my dusty shelves in hopes of introducing some of Spain's tapas dishes. This was the first recipe I was drawn to make mainly because of the potatoes. These potatoes are poached in oil (to cook them) and then fried in the same oil a second time to get all nice, brown, and crispy. The tomato based sauce simmered on the stovetop with garlic, bay leaf, some olive oil and the classic, pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika). This is one of those instances where regular paprika will not suffice, go out and spend the money on some good pimenton, it's absolutely worth it. And you can use it in a variety of other dishes that call for paprika. Patatas bravas is also paired with the classic aioli (garlic mayonnaise) - here's another confession, the last couple of times I've attempted to make aioli, I have failed miderably. I doomed myself as "aioli illiterate" (though I made it before successfully). However, I managed to redeem myself with Jose Andre's modern aioli recipe in this book, I'm sticking with this one! Jose Andres also has a PBS series called Made in Spain, I recently rented the first disc from Season 1 and love it! His enthusiasm is infectious and his creativity is mind boggling. I want to book a trip to Spain so bad as a result of it. One day, I will....one day. Until then I can recreate some of Spain's delicious dishes here at home.

Easy as 1, 2, 3.

Why do we make cooking so complicated? Why do we insist on over the top? Why do we think if it doesn't take an hour, it won't be delicious and good for you? Maybe, I'm on this soapbox all alone, but I highly doubt it. Those of us who value cooking as an art form, perhaps even a form of therapy, do not mind investing the time into preparing a lovely home cooked meal. But let's face it, with the weak economy and penny pinching, it's important to get all you can for your hard earned money. I usually am notorious for meal planning, if I don't plan it, I won't make it. And while this requires some extra effort, there is often a great reward, for the most part. In an effort to save money myself, I'm constantly looking at recipes that I can "half" or use for something else, or something that is easy on my tummy and my pocketbook. You know there's at least one cookbook, you turn to when your mind is blank and belly is screaming, for me, that's How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Recently, this cookbook celebrated it's 10th birthday! This cookbook ranks up there with The Joy of Cooking, in my humble opinion. Anyhoo, last night I made a simple and delicious stirfry with chicken and Napa cabbage. I piled two scoops on top of some fragrant, nutty brown rice. It was food for the soul. Not only was it tasty, but super easy to make!

On The Shelves - Cookbook Review

Check out page 20 of this week's Whatzup to read my cookbook review of The Art & Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet! Enjoy!

The World's 50 Best Food Blogs

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article5561425.ece

Like we need an excuse to waste the day away by staying on the computer more....this article features the world's best 50 food blogs named by the London Times. Cheers to blogging!

my funny valentine.

Valentine's Day 2009 - all by myself...don't want to be all by myself....yes I'm singing Celine Dion as I type this post! In all seriousness, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I treated myself to a matinee of He's Just Not That Into You, it was rather entertaining. A post earlier in the week (on The Wednesday Chef) motivated me to try and make this "no-knead" pizza dough. I had some left over mozzarella and feta cheese. I made a simple tomato pizza sauce thanks to Tyler Florence's recipe on Food Network (Super simple, 1-2 garlic cloves, minced, 2 tbs. evoo, 1-28 ounce can tomato puree, 1 tsp. dried marjoram, 1 tsp. dried basil (Note I substituted Italian seasoning for both dried herbs) and simmer for at least 30 minutes once you bring it to a boil). I'm not the most adept at tossing the pizza dough, but the texture of it was magnificent! Now if I could only master....how thick or thin....without losing the air bubbles, which create lovely air pockets for the dough. The crust was super duper! Rustic indeed, but I think with a little practice, I could become good at this.

moussaka. greek style lasagna.

I simply adore Greek food and it's a shame I have to make it myself (Fort Wayne lacks a booming authentic Greek community, let alone restaurants), but I suppose the lack has forced me to experiment and cook! Thank you to The Olive and the Caper, a Greek cookbook I've had sitting on my shelf for years. I bought it at the suggestion of one of my favorite radio food shows, Good Food on KCRW in Los Angeles. You can listen to it online! Anyhoo, I've been craving one of my favorites, moussaka. Essentially, it's a greek version of lasagna minus the pasta. Actually, it's more like a greek version of eggplant parmigiana. Anyhoo, its layers of baked slices of eggplant (or you can fry them), a ground lamb mixture of tomatoes, cinnamon, allspice, olive oil and salt and pepper, topped with a bechamel that includes feta and parmesan (I don't have access to the greek cheese it calls for and used this as a substitute). It wasn't as tasty as the moussaka at The Great Greek in Studio City, California, but it did satisfy my craving.

Disfigured.

I know the purpose of this blog is to celebrate the joy and passion I have for food, but we all know the truth. Food can be your friend or your enemy, depending on your perspective. Last night I watched an independent film called Disfigured. I saw it in Hollywood Video one night, it intrigued me and I added it to my Netflix rental queue. Mind you, it wasn't the "best" picture I've seen but it raised alot of issues affecting women, weight, the means we go to get that "ideal" weight, body image, self acceptance, sex, and more. The storyline involves a woman involved in a fat acceptance group and during one of their meetings a struggling anorexic shows up to the meeting, because she feels fat. The group doesn't accept her, but these two women end up becoming friends. The struggle is essentially the same, though these two use food for different means. The story is powerful and raises equally important questions about our bodies. Perhaps food, no matter how much or how little of it we eat isn't necessarily the issues, but how we perceive ourselves. How society often dictates cultural beauty. What is beautiful? What does it mean to love yourself unconditionally, no matter what your body looks like.

unwrap this - birthday bread.

Tomorrow is my boss' birthday. He's not a particularily "birthday celebration" kind of guy, but I wanted to do something nice in his honor. So I decided to bake him some birthday "quick" bread. You gotta love quick breads, not only are they rather easy to squeeze in between everything else, they also can easily adapt to becoming a snack, dessert or breakfast treat. Quick breads are the baker's multitasking dream recipe. Functional, easy, tasty and interchangable. This "coco-nana bread" features a not-so-traditional banana bread, chock full of cocoa powder and chunks of bittersweet chocolate. Skimming through my vast collection, I found this gem in Baking: From My Home to Yours by the infamous Dorie Greenspan and figured it would be a safe bet. (Side note: pictures of her kitchen on her website might encourage drooling, though I am not legally responsible for the mess). My kitchen smells like heaven, of course, cutting off a slice for myself would be rude and anti-birthday-quick bread etiquette, so if it tastes as good as it smells, I think we have a winner here.

A sweet gesture.

I can take credit for pretty much everything here on my blog, but all I can take credit for on this one are the photos. Upon my return from Los Angeles, a few weeks ago, I found this in my fridge. Paul made me a key lime pie as a "welcome back" gesture, shocking, and yes, true! It was his first time making a pie and my first time eating key lime pie, and boy was it delicious. He used a recipe from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook. Since this was a first for both of us, I was plesantly surprised at its extreme tart qualities in addition to its sweetness. It's not subtle, whatsoever. I think the graham cracker crust was one of my favorite parts, it was dense, sweet and crunchy, a perfect accompaniment to the tart custard. He took presentation liberties by topping it off with toasted coconut and lime zest.

Good Times.

These smiles are a result of martinis, sweet potato fries, baked pastry filled with artichokes and cheese, vegetable pizza, wine and champagne. Thanks to Lola's in West Hollywood, me and my girls had a swanky time. I kid you not, I ate sweet potato fries for dinner that night. Perhaps I'm going vegetarian?!? LOL! I love these girls and I miss them dearly.

This is just one of the beautiful sunsets I got to watch when I stayed in Long Beach with my BFF, Laurel. Yes, we were sipping on Chardonnay and eating a cheese plate. Such is the life.

I admittedly do not like this picture, but I now have proof that I visited NapaStyle in Pasadena. Michael Chiarello (PBS and Food Network) has his own catalog, but now you can shop in store too. There are several stores in California and I wouldn't be surprised if they expanded further. From olive oils to dips, spreads, to beautifully crafted, artisan handiworks, this store will make your mouth and your pocketbook water.

Now we are talking....a plate of gorditas from Tres Hermanos. Laurel and I made a pit stop there for some authentic Mexican grub. This was one of my "usuals" when I hit that spot on a weekly basis. Yes, you heard me, I said weekly. The problem is it's reasonable, delicious and super close to my dad's house in the valley.



Laurel, Deborah and I met at Electric Lotus in Los Feliz for some girl time and Indian food. It was so cool that we sat below this gorgeous Shiva painting. One of my favorite Indian restaurants in Los Angeles. The restaurant is mysterious and dark, sari prints hanging everywhere. Plus the spread is to die for....as you can see below. Garlic naan, chicken stuffed naan, a dish with roasted cauliflower and potatoes (the name escapes me), raita, and chicken tikka masala. Spicy, warm, complex flavors that keep us coming back for more and more.



I have more pictures from latest trip to Los Angeles, which I will post on my facebook and myspace accounts. It was great to get away, though the circumstances are sad. I'm so lucky to have awesome friends and family. I have never felt so much love and support. It's amazing. And if anything, it's amazing to see how friendships and the sharing of food bring us together.

chicken curry-licious.

Right about now if you walked into my house you would still smell the remnants of Indian food I cooked last night. In the January 2009 issue of Bon Appetit, I found a recipe for chicken with a red pepper and shallot curry that screamed my name. I simply adore Indian food. I adore the complex combination of spices. Indian food is rich, deep and above all else, delicious. The chicken thighs were baked in a tomato-yogurt mixture that included cumin, cayenne, paprika, cloves, cardamom, celery seeds, salt, pepper, canola oil, garlic and a few others that have escaped my brain at the moment (13 in all). While the chicken was baking and the basmati rice was steaming, I made the red pepper and shallot curry that included red and yellow bell peppers, shallots, tomatoes, jalepenos, paprika, turmeric and cumin seeds. Spicy and intoxicating. This dish warms your spirit and your belly. The perfect ending would've been a Bollywood movie, but we settled on the Superstars of Dance. So sue me. Perhaps during this new year you will take a culinary train ride and dive into some new recipes! Whatever your intentions may be for the new year, I wish you well!

a cookbook review.

Check out this week's issue of Whatzup and read my first cookbook review on page 24.

Calamari Time.

Perhaps this isn't a typical snack food in your home, but come on, party people, live it up every now and then! Always a fan of calamari, it is often an appetizer I'm drawn to when dining out. I've had it on my mind for a while, and I finally gave it my very first try. Here in Fort Wayne, the closet thing we have to a Whole Foods is The Fresh Market, where I purchased my calamari (previously froze, but clean), only $4.99 a pound. I choose a recipe from my big yellow Gourmet cookbook. Often restaurants will serve this creature deep fried in what I assume is all-purpose flour. In fact I would venture to say that these creatures might get a double dip in the fryer too. The Gourmet recipe suggested frying the calamari in rice flour, which I was able to find at a local grocery store. The difference is quite substantial, the rice flour coating (which aside from the rice flour included salt and pepper, but I think I will add some herbs next time) was very light and delicate. I wasn't able to achieve the deep golden brown we are all used to, but I think I was having "hot oil" issues to boot, not to mention that fact that I ran out of canola oil. I think next time I will try peanut oil instead too. I made a warm marinara sauce to go with it (drives me nuts when a marinara sauce is served cold with this dish), blended a can of chopped tomatoes, slowly cooked with a couple of garlic cloves, salt, and red chili pepper flakes. A perfect accompaniment, but not too long ago, I ate calamari served with a basil aioli. It's all a matter of personal preference, I suppose. Be careful not to over-fry them, they lose their chewy edge.

review of baker street

Check out page 15 of today's published Whatzup magazine for my third restaurant review! I reviewed a new steakhouse in town called Baker Street.

biased and braised.

Clever, eh? I admit it, I'm totally biased at the moment. I'm in an "Alice Waters" fixated state and the only other genre of cookbook that can pull me out of this are baking books. Are you sick and tired of me rambling on and on and on about how wonderful Alice Waters is, how she's so cool, fabulous and utterly worthy of culinary knighthood? Well, tough noogies. I recently renewed my "borrowing" of The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters from the library, her ninth cookbook in fact. Over the weekend I opted to try her recipe for Braised Chicken Legs with Tomatoes and Garlic. I served it with fragrant rice to soak up all those lovely juices. Known for her devotion to ingredients and attention to simplicity, Alice Waters exemplifies the essence of cooking, whether your in a professional kitchen and for the home. Braising is such a wonderful cooking technique, not employed by many home cooks during the week as it requires time and above all else, patience. The benefits of such work are definitely worth it though and braising chicken is effortless really. One of the added benefits of braising is that you only require the use of one pot so clean up tends to be minimal. Once you've mastered a few braising techniques, you can pretty much create your own recipe. This is usually the braising protocol:

1. Brown meat in olive oil.

2. Remove meat and saute veggies and aromatics (garlic, herbs, seasonings).

3. Deglaze the pan with either wine or stock.

4. Add meat back to the pan and simmer covered (the chicken took about 45 minutse, but toughter cuts of meat will take longer).

5. Remove meat and reduce stock to a sauce.

These are only the essentials. Another great resource is All About Braising by Molly Stevens, a devout braiser, Molly breaks down the techniques and offers delicious recipes to practice this fine art. This isn't calculus for cooks, it's algebra, folks. And here in Indiana, our first snowfall has already doused us and nothing speaks volumes in the winter than a home-cooked hearty meal.

half is better than nothing at all.

It's a running joke between Paul and I, I am half Jewish and often this cultural heritage ends up being a scapegoat for many of my quarky characteristics. Though I am only half (and let's be honest a conservative synagogue woldn't even recognize me because it's on my father's side), I was lucky enough to benefit from some of its pastimes and traditions. The most important one being food. The majority of this heritage was mainly celebrated when my grandmother was alive, though my parents were friends with Jesus. Christmas mornings featured "bagels" for breakfast and matzo ball soup was often the only source of comfort when I was sick with the flu. When I moved to the midwest, it became obvious, my boyfriend had no clue what a matzo ball was, let alone, a real bagel. Often compared to chicken and dumplings (but there is truly no comparison), matzo ball soup is a step up from the traditional chicken noodle soup most are familiar with. Matzo balls are light and fluffy in comparison to dumplings which can often take the unlikely turn for hockey pucks. The wonder behind this simple soup is its chameleon-like ability. Some joints serve it in broth alone, others with noodles. I prefer a combination myself - some left over chicken, tiny pasta granules, diced carrots and onions, compliment this comforting soup. On days like we've been experiencing (30's), it's the perfect soup to warm your spirit and your belly.