dessert

Strawberries and cream crostini

June 25, 2015 by Edlyn 1 Comment

You see that deck in the photo above? It needs sanding. There are a few beams that have seen better days and I worry about falling through. To the right and not pictured is a door that leads you into the kitchen. I have gone from having only one door open, to no doors open to both doors open while I’m in there. There is no clearer sign for me to stop what I’m doing and notice that I don’t feel the weather. That really is the best feeling. I portion out blog/other eating tasks like they were their own ingredients. I break it down so that I don’t have to miss out on other things. Mostly, I just want to stand near the door eating cherries and spitting the seeds as far as I can, in the hope that I’ll have a surprise tree next year.

You see that dog in the photo? Say hi to Chevy. He sees nothing beyond food. He and the brother that he didn’t choose are having the best time chasing squirrels. It’s their only job and they do it well. They are the happiest when that door knob clicks signalling that the yard is theirs. They can chase to their hearts content and then track all the insects, trees branches, those things that fall out of pine trees and dirt into the kitchen. I won’t be mad.

You see me sitting behind this computer screen? Of course you don’t. I’m hammering at the keys trying to think of exciting things to say. I may or may not want to swim in the lake on Saturday. I may go on a hike or 5. I may not go camping for the first time this year. Whatever. I grew peas. I ate them. They were so sweet. I made an ice-cream sandwich and ate it outside so it would get melty. I won’t see my family until December. I’m going to volunteer at Rock Camp! I will be IN Rock Camp. I haven’t decided between bass and drums. I have countless plans of feeling, truly feeling summer breezes. This is not a list. I realise that I can’t measure my life in list form. I would only put climb mountains if I could.

Maybe that’s what I need to do. That and try not to fall through the deck.

Strawberries and cream crostini

The best part about this recipe is that it’s not really a recipe. I like taking basic ingredients and elevating them with the most minor albeit delicious adjustments. That’s how we should all cook in peak growing season – do more with less. This crostini (little toast) breaks up the tasks required to put it together. So if you feel like doing this all on one day, you can. But if you feel like going at your own pace, that’s also acceptable.

The creme fraiche will need to be made 2-3 days ahead. If you want to skip this step, you can just whip a cup of heavy whipping cream together with a teaspoon of lemon juice until it form stiff peaks. You can also buy packaged creme fraiche in some stores.

Ingredients

For the creme fraiche

From Renee Erickson’s A Boat, A Whale and A Walrus as seen on The Vanilla Bean Blog

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup buttermilk

Whisk the ingredients together in a bowl until combined. Cover the bowl with 2 layers or cheesecloth/muslin cloth and let it sit on your kitchen counter at room temperature for 2-3 days. When it’s ready, stir it gently and spoon it into a jar. Place the jar into the fridge until it’s ready to use. The creme fraiche should keep in the fridge for a week.

For the roasted strawberries

1 pint strawberries, tops removed and halved
1 tsp cane sugar (add more or less depending on how sweet or tart the strawberries are)
A pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup of fresh mint leaves, whole or coarsley chopped

Heat the oven to 375F. Line a cake tin with foil.

Place the strawberries into the foil and toss with the sugar and a pinch of salt. Put them in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the juices have thickened. Take the cake tin out of the oven and let the strawberries cool. Pour the strawberries – juices and all – into a small bowl. Sprinkle the fresh mint on top.

To assemble crostini

1 french baguette, toasted until crisp and sliced 1/4 inch thick
Creme fraiche
Roasted strawberries
Honey
Fresh pepper
More fresh mint (optional)

Spread the creme fraiche on top of the bread. Spoon some of the roasted strawberries on top. Drizzle the top of the bread with honey. Sprinkle a little fresh pepper on top and add more fresh mint leaves, if you’d like.

Summer fruit crumble (YAY!)

June 16, 2015 by Edlyn 3 Comments

I’ve been waiting for me to get my business together so I can finally come say hi to all of you, blog-style hi – with dessert. As much as I love food – and right now is the peak of food-showing off season – I just want to throw a can of baked beans over a campfire. Sunday we made this fried chicken, I invented a coleslaw (sorry America) and ate a can of Bush’s baked beans (YEAH!). It’s been beautiful. I wish I could say I was writing my first book or stand-up paddle boarding but that would be untrue. Instead, most of the day involves commuting, book-reading, bubble teas, and me hanging with the tomatoes. The biggest and best strokes of inspiration comes to me when I’m shopping for fruit-vegetables, making impulse purchases and kitchen cabinet exploration trips taken to the back of the shelves…the parts we rarely ever see. This dessert is a food baby of all these things. It’s okay to not want to cook. It’s sunny. Who needs the pressure? Not me.

Watch Broad City instead. Then come back and quote all the quotes with me.

Summer fruit crumble

This recipe makes approximately 4 ramekin-sized crumbles and is one of the easiest fancy summer desserts to put together. It’s important to have that one go-to dessert that will never disappoint and leaves you with enough time to frolic with your tomato plants or whatever it is that made it to your summer 2015 bucket-list. You can also eat it for breakfast. We did. Put this one down

You can change up the flavour by subbing cardamom with other warm spices like nutmeg or ginger. You can also swap out the fruit with whatever is in season. Don’t forget to top it with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream at the end. It’s the best best best.

The crumbles can be baked and stored in the fridge, well-covered, for 2 days. However, it tastes best when freshly cooked. But you already know this.

Ingredients

For the crumble

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup corn meal or corn grits
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup cashew nuts, coarsely chopped

For the fruit filling

1 slightly heaped cup apricots, halved and pitted
1 slightly heaped cup cherries, halved and pitted
1 (slightly heaped) cup strawberries, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp dark brown sugar (you can use more or less depending on how sweet or sour your fruit is)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix together the whole wheat flour, corn meal or grits, baking powder, cardamom and sugar in a bowl. Cut the cold butter into cubes and add it to the crumble mixture. Using your finger tips, cut the butter into the flour until the butter is pea-sized and the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Cover the bowl and place it back into the fridge so the butter firms back up just a bit. The firmer the butter stays, the crumblier it will stay.

Toss the prepared fruit with the vanilla extract and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add the fruit to the ramekins until about 3/4 full. Sprinkle about 3-4 tbsp of the crumble mixture on top of the fruit. Make sure you don’t fill it right to the top. Sprinkle the rolled oats and cashew nuts over each ramekin. Leave a little breathing room, because the fruit will bubble and maybe spill over.

Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and put it in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top brown and fruit starts to bubble. Take it out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes before digging in. Serve with ice-cream or fresh whipped cream.

(PS: ^ Sneak peak at my new comic titled “Gillian”)

Baking 101: Mini chocolate layer cake with dark chocolate ganache

February 19, 2015 by Edlyn 3 Comments

We’ve had sun (SUN!) these past few days in the PNW. The kind thay warms your bones when it still feels cold on your face. But it’s sun nonetheless and if I have to be even two steps away from it, you might as well lock me indoors because that is torture.

If you think I’m only going to talk about the weather for the next few months, you’re right. Seasons are a new thing for me. Come to think of it, seasons are a new thing for itself! Themselves? I don’t know. All I know is that there are giant piles of snow in Massachusetts and the mayor sounds like he should be in The Departed. If I ever go to Boston, I’m just going to make them say “Baaahhstin”, “car”, “park” and “park my car at the car park” all the time. I’d do the same thing if I met the Brad Pitt from Snatch. Except I’d make him say “dog”.

(Sorry, America’s northeast. It’s going to rain tomorrow, if that’s any consolation. Oh and Washington wants me to tell you that it’s terrible here and it rains ALL THE TIME. ; ] )

Speaking of rain, I made my very first chocolate cake last week just in time for Valentine’s Day. I rarely talk about the food I make while writing my posts but I was really excited about these guys. I’ve been trying to understand baking more as a science lately and less as a magical end result-producing thing. That’s how I do linear equations and I’ll be damned if I’m taking that habit to the kitchen. Stay, linear eqs! It’s a wonderful feeling to set out with a plan and have it work out.

So what’s the big deal, you ask? Well here I am, telling you in my loudest inside voice – that you can make this chocolate cake. You can use two kinds of chocolate, the barest of baking essentials, an oven and YOU. CAN. DO. THIS. I want you to. If you feel like you want to surprise the best person of your whole life, jump on this cake. If you’re sitting on the couch in the evening watching The Mindy Project (always) and you want something deep, dark and delicious to sink your teeth into, this is that cake. If you’ve already seen every episode of The Mindy Project, OMG share my excitement!!!

Also share my excitement over this cake. Rarely does something so formulaic make me so happy. I’m a free spirit. In my mind, I’m not bound by rules. If somebody does something and calls it the coolest thing ever, I want to do the exact opposite. Formulas, yikes. Cake formulas, that I can do. I’m here to give you the basics because I had to dig up the internet just to find me a simple recipe for chocolate cake and I still didn’t see one. Simple is hard to come by in the world wide web of clutter. What I did find instead were encouraging words from Shauna on Gluten-free Girl about cake ratios.

1:1:1:1
1 part flour
1 part sugar
1 part butter
1 part eggs (which in my case, I broke it up into eggs and sour cream)

I thought: “Why not give myself a confidence boost while teaching myself something new?” It looked like an easy enough plan and so I did it. I’m happy about this chocolate cake. I’m really happy about this chocolate cake. While the rest of the internet keeps churning out flavour combinations that can blow your mind, here I am, claiming my space with the simplest of simple. The easiest party trick in the book and yet, the most glamorous. I’m hardly bragging about my chocolate cake. Instead, I’m trying to tap the non-bakers on the shoulder and say: “If I can do this you’re already on step 3 icing this baby.”

Just like we got early spring, you got this cake. As if chocolate wasn’t a good enough reason.

Mini chocolate layer cakes with dark chocolate ganache

Notes:

This cake uses four 4″ ramekins that make 2 mini layer cakes.
The ganache cane be made up to a week in advance. Store well-covered in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. Once you are ready to use it, bring it to room temperature or to a more spreadable consistency. You can do this much quicker by putting it in the microwave for 10 seconds in 5 seconds intervals. Check it to see if it’s smooth yet firm enough to frost the cake.
The chocolate ganache recipe makes more than called for. However, this is by no means a bag thing. You can make truffles (with zillions of toppings), cookies, brownies, fudge or you can just plain eat it with a spoon. You can also freeze it for the next time you want to make a cake.
This cake is a perfect dessert for 4 people which is why I ate almost 1 whole cake by myself. If you don’t want to be like me, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and freeze it till you want to eat it. Bring it to room temperature before you do, of course.
You can leave out the sour cream and add another egg instead (40 gms though). Remember the eggs have to weigh a total of 140 gms.

Ingredients

Adapted slightly from Martha Stewart

1 tbsp of unsalted butter, to grease the ramekins
2 tbsp (approx) unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa powder, to dust the ramekins
89 gms (1/2 cup) bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao or higher)
1/4 cup unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder
1/4 cup hot water
140 gms unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
140 gms unsalted butter (1 stick + 2.5 tbsp), at room temperature
140 gms (1/2 cup + 1/8 cup) granulated sugar
2 eggs (100 gms), at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp sour cream (40 gms), at room temperature
2 tbsp toasted almonds, to sprinkle on top

For the chocolate ganache

3/4 cup heavy cream
227 gms bittersweet chocolate chips
A pinch of salt

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F and get the ramekins ready for the cake batter. Grease the ramekins with the butter and dust them with the cocoa powder. Just put a bit of the cocoa powder into the ramekin and tap the edges until it coats the whole container.

Put a small saucepan of water on the stove and heat it till the water is simmers. Place a heat-proof or glass bowl over the simmering saucepan and fill it up with the chocolate chips. Whisk in hand, stir the chocolate chips until they are just beginning to melt. As soon as the start to melt, take the bowl off the heat and keep whisking until the chocolate is completely melted.

Use a 1/4 cup of the water from the saucepan and spoon in a 1/4 cup of the cocoa powder. Mix it well until it forms a smooth paste. Set aside for later.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Using a stand-in mixer, your (trusty) hand or a hand beater, cream the butter and sugar. The two should combine and be light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time to the mixture, making sure that the first egg is completely incorporated into the butter-sugar before adding the second one. Next, add the vanilla extract and the whiskey and mix until just combined. Right before the flour, add the melted chocolate and the dutch-processed cocoa powder (that you mixed in hot water). Beat until the everything comes together.

Now comes the flour addition (finally, right?). I recommend doing half the flour at a time. Add the first part of the flour and beat it in until just uncorporated. Add the sour cream and the remaining flour and mix just until no visible streaks of flour can be seen. Don’t over mix. Also, don’t forget to scrape down the bowl and getting in all the flour that sticks there.

Spoon about 3-4 tbsp of the cake batter into the 4 ramekins, filling it to 3/4 level (it might take more or less batter but as long as you stick to the 3/4 level, you’ll be okay). Smooth down the top of the batter ever-so-slightly. If you have a baking sheet, it would come in handy at this point. Place the ramekins on the baking sheet and place it in the oven on the upper-middle rack for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean (if it has some crumbs on it, it’s okay. What you don’t want is the toothpick to be coated with unbaked batter).

Let the cakes cool completely before unmoulding them. Cut off the tops to with a serrated knife just to flatten the cake, making it easier to spread the ganache. You now have 4 mini cake layers that will make 2 mini chocolate cakes.

For the ganache: Put the chocolate chips in a small glass bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until bubbles form along the rim of the cream. Pour the heated cream over the chocolate chips, let it sit for 30 seconds and then whisk until the chocolate chips are completely melted into a smooth, creamy liquid. Let it cool for about 15 minutes and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the ganache for about two hours or until it turns firm.

To assemble: Spread a thick layer of ganache on top of two of the layers. Place the other two layers on top of their buddies. Spread the rest of the ganache over the entire cake. Top with toasted almonds. And enjoy!

Lemon tartlets and a little crazy

February 3, 2015 by Edlyn 9 Comments

Elbow deep in house painting, I have come to realise that there is no such thing as the perfect home. All those corners you died over on Apartment Therapy? Those don’t exist. Not over here at least. I’m sorry but it’s the sad, sad truth. Ultimately, junk mail piles up, clothes don’t get put away and you can only hide so much under the bed. Our home has been a lesson in patience and paint buckets, colours and negotiation and knowing when to let go and embrace the mess. There’s a word for people who function below their capacity in clutter – Type A, is it? I am NOT that. I am somewhere in between that and a person who says “F this” and goes for a walk.

The stuff you learn from having a place of your own is life-changing. Through the worst of the disorganisation, you find the plateau of peace where time is too precious to sweat the small shit and money is an asshole. Home improvement for us has been one big sigh of good and bad. Honestly, I can only list contradictions because it’s all I’ve seen so far. Plus, I’m a Gemini and that’s what we do. The kitchen is a stupid happy yellow and as of today, my newly-christened “art room”-formerly couch-TV room is a green that took maybe six samples of paint to get to. The moment we start a project, we are stopped right in our tracks because a) There are holes in the wall b) Walls first or trim first? c) We usually have no idea what the hell we’re doing [YouTube rules for that stuff, btw] If you’re going through similar motions in your own existence right now, stop. Stop, breathe and concede imperfection. It’s freeing…revolutionary and will pull the carpet from right under perfecthome.com. The time we spend on couch and TV island is all think off on the bus home from work. The meditation space is set at the cheapy card table that sits right in front of the biggest window in the house (that’s forever fogged up because it wasn’t sealed correctly). It’s covered with art supplies, crayons chewed up by rascal puppies and books. I sit on a rolly office chair because that’s all we got. And I like to spin around while I’m thinking. This is where we’re at. This is wonderful.

Two weeks ago while I was writing this post from the corner floor of our bedroom, I hear nothing and then suddenly I hear “FUCK FUCK FUCK* like there was blood pouring out of the human I live with. I didn’t want to go look but I couldn’t not, right? I walked over to now-wonderfully green “art room” (but still sort of couch-TV room) and said, “WHAT HAPPENED?!” as loud as I could, expecting blood. “I JUST DROPPED A BUCKET OF PAINT ALL OVER THE CARPET, THAT’S WHAT.” “Oh I thought you cut yourself. Calm down,” I said, ironically. For about a minute, we were headless chickens, trying to figure out the best way to make it all disappear. Finally, we gave up – him in disbelief – knowing well that the carpet was always going to have a big white splotch on it. We then went on to painting three rooms worth of trim. Score. Today as I ran my foot over the part of the floor where his life fell apart, I remarked how hard the carpet felt. “Yeah,” he said, regretfully but with a hint of “moving on…”. As the day’s work came to a close, he was walking around like the most masterful home-improvement dude. “It looks sooo niiiceee.” I agreed. This stuff makes me smile.

For the world of imperfect that surrounds us, I’m thankful we can find the perfect. It’s always in the middle of the mess and it’s forever granting me perspective.

Lemon tartlets

The Baking Bible was a Christmas present from a chef and lady who has fast become a close friend here in Washington. Always encouraging and so full of wisdom, she would be able to do everything from the book with her eyes closed but she’d much rather let me learn for myself. This sweet cookie tart crust is the first thing I’ve attempted (with adjustments) from the book. Thumbs up, people! It works wonderfully. Also, happy birthday to the other baking inspiration in my life – Gayle. This is only the start of great things. Love every second of it.

Notes:

The edges of the tart will cook faster than the rest of it so if you feel it is not yet set after the recommended cooking time, cover the edges with a foil ring and bake for 5 more minutes.
A good way to tell when the tart is ready is to check if the pie weights/beans (in my case, split green peas) are still sticking to the dough.

Ingredients

For the lemon curd

Follow this recipe for lemon curd here. You can make it a day or even a week ahead.

For the Sweet Cookie Tart Crust

Adapted from The Baking Bible

85 gms/6tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes
150 gms/ 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
37 gms/3 tbsp turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)
1 large egg yolk (19 gms)
2 tbsp (29 gms) whole milk, cold

Cut the butter into cubes and place back in the fridge until it’s ready to use. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour and salt.

Next, process the sugar in a food processor until it’s super fine. Add the cold butter to the sugar and pulse until the sugar gets incorporated with the butter. Add the flour mixture to the food processor and pulse until the butter turns to the size of small peas.

In a separate bowl, stir the egg yolk with the milk. Add the mixture to the food processor and pulse just until incorporated. The original recipe suggests to pulse eight times. The dough will be crumbly, like wet sand.

Scrape the dough from the processor into a dry bowl and knead it lightly a few times until it stays in one piece. You should not be able to see any visible pieces of butter. If you do, press the down and spread them out. Roll out a piece of plastic wrap and place the ball of pastry in the middle of the plastic wrap. Roll up the pastry tightly in the plastic wrap, flatten it and shape it into a disc. Chill the dough for 30 minutes until it firms up.

Once you’re ready to prepare the tart to be rolled out and baked, set out two pieces of parchment paper. Lightly flour the surface of the paper. Roll out the pastry dough until it’s about 1/8 inch thick all around. If you feel the dough is sticking while you’re rolling it out, dust with a little flour.

Take 1 of the tartlet shell moulds and place it face down onto the rolled out dough. Cut the dough around the tartlet mould about an inch larger than the circumference. Repeat for the other moulds. If the dough softens after you cut it, refrigerate it for about 5 minutes until it’s firm again. It it’s too firm it won’t sit well in the mould so keep that in mind when you put it in the fridge.

Take the cut out pastry and place it into the mould. Press down and against the sides into the mould using your fingers. If it’s too thick in parts, flatten it out a bit using your fingers. The dough gets puffier while it bakes. Using a knife, cut off the excess pastry dough from the top of the mould.

Cover the tart and chill it in the fridge for an hour.

Place the oven racks at the middle and lowest levels and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a fork, gently make a few holes on the surface of the dough, being extremely careful not to poke right through. This will cause your filling to leak out and make you angry. Place pie weights or uncooked beans on the surface of the dough. Transfer the tartlet moulds to the baking sheet and place on the lower rack of the oven for 5 minutes. Bake for 5 minutes and then turn the oven temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 15-20 minutes more, until the pastry has set. Bake until pale gold in colour. The edges of the tartlet will be a deeper brown.

Carefully move the tartlet moulds to a cooling rack and let them rest for 10-15 minutes. Just like cookies, they get firmer while cooling.

Unmould the tart shell when cooled and spoon in the filling, like in the picture. Refrigerate to let the curd set for about an hour. Eat and enjoy while cool.

(It’s DELICIOUS)

Citrus mess with lemon curd and candied ginger

January 15, 2015 by Edlyn 4 Comments

One beer in me and I know I have to write. One beer in me and I’m a damn poet and a maker of promises I’m not sure I will ever keep. I have a beer in me right now and I have a story for you. I gave my fingerprints and smiling face to the government one more time today and consequently had an out-of-body experience. The man held my hand, as he placed each finger on a tiny print-reading box and I stared directly at my data. My identity stared right back at me…my skin, with DSOUZA EDLYN G on the very top. The guy asking me for my hands had a huge Northwestern, lumberjack beard that was slightly shorter than when he took his ID badge photo. I observe everything in case I end up on a surprise crime show. Just moments after I was made to sit in queue facing a TV playing Madagascar, I was done. Goodbye, animated lemurs!

Don’t pardon any of my language but isn’t it fucking weird that to cross imaginary lines on this living sphere – as it spins around in a big black, endless abyss – you are compelled by this man-made law thing be documented just so you can “fit in”, drive a car, make a living? Isn’t it enough that I know I’m here and I’m good.

Nope. It’s not. So I’ll probably have to do this again in maybe 10 years. My bearded friend (yeah, we’re friends now) might be promoted or have a kickass coffee brewing job – both of which I see him excel at. Beards are unicorns on male faces. I might lose a lot but I’ll try to be here and tell you all about it. Most of all, I’ll day drink a beer because I’m a writer. And that’s what writers do.

Male unicorn beards. Haha. How did I make that up?

Citrus mess with lemon curd and candied ginger

This recipe is brought to you by the sunniest lemons of Arizona. I have never been to the state in December so I was like a kid in a candy store seeing all the citrus all the time. These lemons are the only thing I brought back home with me. This dessert is inspired by me waiting to see a doctor and the pile of old magazines that they had for people to read. I’m fine, thanks for asking.More specifically, this dessert is inspired by a Yottam Ottolenghi recipe I saw in a Bon Appetit summer issue in late November. I took photos of all the recipes in that issue and while I was looking through my phone a few weeks ago, this one jumped right out at me. I decided to make my own winter version of it in the hope that warm outsides hurry the hell up.

Notes:

While separating the eggs for the lemon curd, make sure that none of the yolk is in the egg whites. You will be using these egg whites to make the meringues. They will not turn out even if a tiny bit of yolk gets into the white.
The cleanest way to separate an egg is to do it while its cold. But before whipping the whites for a meringue, it needs to be brought back to room temperature. 30 minutes outside on the kitchen counter is enough to achieve this.
The candied ginger, lemon curd and meringues can all be made a day or two ahead. Just assemble when you’re ready.

Ingredients

For the candied ginger bits

Adapted from Good Eats

1 oz fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch slices
1 cup water
1 oz granulated cane sugar (approximately) + more for sprinkling

Put the sliced ginger in a small saucepan with a cup of water. Bring the water to a boil on medium-high heat. Once it reaches boiling point (in 5 minutes approximately) reduce heat to medium and let the water simmer. Cook until the ginger is tender. This should take 25-30 minutes.

Drain the ginger water into a small bowl and leave the ginger in a strainer to get rid of any extra water. Weight the strained ginger and measure out an equal amount of granulated sugar.

Place the ginger, 1/4 cup of ginger water you saved from earlier and the sugar back into the small saucepan on medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the liquid starts to boil. Once it boils, reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer, while still stirring. In about 10-13 minutes, the syrup will begin to thicken, coat the ginger pieces and start to look “stringy” as you stir. Take the saucepan off the heat once you notice the syrup is barely there and the sugar has begun to crystallise.

Using tweezers, place the ginger onto a cooling rack and let it cool overnight or for about 4 hours. Once it has dried, place the candied ginger in a small glass jar with a lid and sprinkle about 1/2 to 1 tsp of sugar on top. Shake the jar to coat the ginger. Chop the ginger into smaller pieces and place it back in the jar.

Ingredients

For the lemon curd

Adapted from David Lebovitz

Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
50 gms (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
85 gms unsalted butter, cut in smaller parts
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks (save the whites in a separate bowl)

Zest the lemon in a small bowl and set it aside. Place a strainer over a medium-sized bowl to strain the lemon curd at the very end.

In another medium-sized bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolks together, until barely combined.

Juice that lemon and 1-2 others until you get half a cup’s worth. Pour the juice into a small saucepan along with the sugar and the butter, and stir infrequently on medium heat until the butter melts and the juice mixture is warm.

When the lemon juice mixture has warmed, hold a whisk in one hand and gradually pour the contents of the saucepan into the bowl with the eggs, stirring continuously as you pour. Not stirring will cook the eggs so make sure your attention and stirring skills are focused at this point in the recipe. Once the lemon juice mixture and eggs are combine, pour the contents back into the saucepan.

Using a spatula, stir the mixture constantly until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. This step takes about 3-4 minutes so watch carefully. When the curd is done, take it off the heat and immediately pour it through the strainer. Once the curd is strained, stir in the lemon zest. Let it cool and then store in a glass jar in the fridge.

Ingredients

For the meringues

2 egg whites (saved from the lemon curd earlier)
1 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Poppy seeds, to sprinkle

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and heat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Place the egg whites in a clean medium-sized bowl. Add the vanilla extract and salt to it and then beat the egg whites with a hand beater starting at a slow speed and gradually increasing it to medium high. Beat until the whites turn foamy. This should take about a minute.

With the beater still on, gradually add the sugar a little more than a tablespoon at a time. Mix well to dissolve the sugar between each addition. Once all the sugar is added, keep beating until the mixture turns dense and forms medium stiff peaks. The best way to gauge “medium stiff” is to slightly dip a finger or a whisk into the bowl and pull it back out. If it peak lifts up, stays and then falls back down, it’s done. This process should take about 8-10 minutes.

Using a tablespoon from your kitchen silverware, scoop some of the meringue onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle some poppy seeds on top and place the sheet in the upper-middle of the oven for 4 hours. Turn the baking sheet around at the halfway mark so that it cooks evenly.

At the 4-hour mark, turn off the oven and crack open the oven door halfway. Let the meringues sit in the oven for 30 more minutes. Pull out the baking sheet once the time is up and let them cool. Store in an air-tight container until you’re ready to use.

To assemble

Meringues
Lemon curd
1 pomegranate
2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced
Candied ginger bits
Sprinkle of poppy seeds, young pine needles (optional) and lemon zest to garnish

Release the pomegranate seeds from the fruit. The best way to do this is to cut it in half across the middle and hold it over a bowl seed side down in the palm on your hand. Whack the back of the fruit with a rolling pin. The seeds will fall out easily.

To cut the blood orange, follow this simple video.

To assemble the dessert, place the meringues in the bowl. Top with a few dollops of lemon curd. Add the cut orange slices and pomegranate seeds. Sprinkle the candied ginger bits, poppy seeds and lemon zest to garnish. Eat: Immediately.

Chocolate chip cookies + All the best people

December 20, 2014 by Edlyn 3 Comments

I’ve been trying, trying, trying so, so hard to get into the spirit of this whole thing that we get pushed right into here in these United States but I’m unable. I don’t want to do it. I feel so lost and right now. In a few short days, we will be headed to much warmer Arizona. I have amazing relatives there (my mama’s brother). They are the kind of people that I know value the term “family” and yes, I have spent more than a few Christmases with them over the years while I was still living in India. They visited once every 2-3 years and us cousins would count the days till it was time. They were the closest far away cousins to us and that hasn’t changed much.

What I’m most looking forward to is Christmas mass. It’s something we’ve started the day off with as a family and something I like to keep close no matter how the symbolism seems to changes as I get older. I was hoping – just like last year – to have a traditional Goan sweet recipe up with the help of my sisters in time before Christmas but I might have to give it a miss. My mama, who usually initiates the sweet-making like her mother before her, did make some delicious marzipan (per usual) but she hasn’t been feeling too great with her medical issues so they’re keeping it simple. I’m hoping for some photos of the sweets they do make. If I do get some, I’ll post it for sure. I miss all of them. I miss not being the one to give out sweets to our neighbours. I never liked doing that as much as I liked eating ALL the bebinca. Layers. Yum.

Last week (or five days ago) I was sitting on the couch with the iPad, looking through the photos on it, like one of the very few people that actually take photos with an iPad. Or is it not a few anymore? It’s been a while since I’ve done that kind of travelling. I scrolled through and reached this photo. It was maybe the second photo I took on the thing after buying it. The first was me with two dogs on either side of me. It was a photo I took on the drive home from the airport. It had been a little more than a year since I’d left (the heartbreak!) and on our way Sidney decided to stop the car, cross the road and buy us choris pao (traditional Goan sausage bread). I thought nothing of it. These are the kinds of things Indians tend to do and have the option to as well. Whereas here in America we stuff our bags with granola bars and hope we don’t starve (FYI: Not me at all. I’m more of a get-home-eat-the-fridge kinda gal). Our roads have the BEST food. Make all the jokes about dysentery if you want. I don’t even care. My home wins anyway. Oh and about the photo on the iPad: It was taken exactly a year to the day I looked at it again. The feelings are bubbling, people.

Enter the kitchen. I’ve not wanted to do much, except mope since the Thanksgiving break passed. It’s one of the reasons I’ve not documented anything in detail. Last week, out of nowhere I got two signs that I had to get it together. Two people that play a big role in me still being alive in this country plonked two things in front of me and I knew I needed to bake again. It helped me, a lot. I meditated on butter, flour and voila: Cookies.

I know there are a lot of you going through much worse during this “You’re supposed to poop rainbows” season. I sincerely wish I could magically make that go away. Life isn’t cruel. It’s mostly wonderful but life is the way it is. Surround yourself with the people you love and make the most of the moments you have together. Live the deep life. That stuff works.

Happy December.

Everybody has their say on what the best chocolate chip cookie is. I am no expert but I did read through the entire Food Lab article of the science behind it and I’m a believer in this recipe. I’ve used it twice and the second time, it was markedly better than the first (the first time I just half-batched it). If I could give you any tips it would be to:

a) Let the dough sit overnight it in fridge. Resist the urge to bake it all off and hide it from cookie monster husbands.

b) Have your oven up to the temp specified before you pull out the cookie dough and shape it into little balls. I said balls.

c) If you’re not sure how much water is in an ice cube, just do the most brilliant thing and empty the ice into a bucket. Spoon water by tablespoon into one square in the tray. You need an ice cube worth 2 tbsp for this recipe.

d) I don’t own a cookie sheet because I’m not a fan of appliances that have just a single purpose in the kitchen. Cookie sheets do aid in heat distribution so what I did was flip over my baking sheet and baked the cookies on the bottom. It gave me the cookie sheet experience without having to buy one.

Now, we begin.

Ingredients

Adapted from Serious Eats and all opinions are my own

227 gms (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ice cube (2 tbsp frozen water)
283.5 gms/10 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tsp kosher salt
143 gms/5 oz granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
143 gms/5 oz light brown sugar
227 gms/8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, roughly chopped with a knife into 1/2 inch chunks

In a small saucepan, melt the sticks of butter over medium-high heat. This is the part where you’re browning the butter for added flavour. Swirl around the pan a bit to get the butter going. Once it’s all melted just let it sit, swirling from time-to-time until it gets all bubbly and frothy. This should take a little more than 5 minutes. Once it starts to bubble, use a spatula to move the froth aside and check if the butter has changed to a darker colour. It should smell nutty and have some milk solids settled on the bottom. Transfer it to a bowl immediately and place the ice cube into the bowl. Cover and put the bowl into the fridge to cool for 20 minutes. Stir the butter occasionally while it’s cooling.

While the butter is cooling, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside. Using a hand blender or a stand in mixer, cream together the granulated sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Scrape the side of the bowl to get it mixed evenly. Whisk on medium-high speed until the colour turns to a pale yellow and it falls off the whisk in thick ribbons. This should take 5 minutes or a little longer if you’re using a hand mixer.

Not forgetting the butter, peek into the bowl in the fridge to see if it’s ready to use. You’ll know it is if a ring of slightly solidified butter has formed along the sides and the middle is starting to turn translucent. Add the brown sugar and butter to the egg mixture and blend on medium speed until it’s combined. This shouldn’t take very long. Lastly turn down the mixer speed to low and add the flour. Mix until just combined, about 15-30 seconds. The original recipe says it’s okay to still see some dry flour remaining. Add the chocolate chips in at the end and mix on low for another few seconds. Scoop the dough into an air-tight container and refrigerate overnight (or up to 3 days). If you can’t wait, two hours should be okay to let the moisture spread evenly across the resting dough.

Is it tomorrow yet? Yes, it is time to bake these mother ships.

Heat your oven to 325 degrees F and place the baking racks on the upper and lower middle positions in the oven. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. You could also use a non-stick baking sheet and skip the parchment liner. Using an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, scoop about 2 tbsp of the dough. Roll it in the middle of your palms into a smooth round ball and flatten it just a little before placing it on the sheet. Each sheet should have about 6-8 balls of dough, well spaced.

Pop the sheet into the oven on the upper middle rack and bake for 16 minutes. A quarter into the baking process, turn the sheet back to front. At the halfway mark, put the baking sheet on the lower middle rack in the over and let it bake for the remainder of the baking time. The cookies are ready when the edges are dark brown and the middle is still soft and browned. Pull the sheet out of the oven and let it sit for about 3 minutes. Next, place on a wire rack to cool completely. But if you ask me, they taste best sightly warm. Store in an air-tight container and it should keep well for a week. Repeat the same baking process for the rest of the dough.

PS: I wrapped these in plastic wrap as presents for my lovely co-workers and friends. A little twine, a pine leaf cutting and their name written with pencil on paper made for a simple, yet delicious home-made present. If you’re wondering what to get without leaving the house (assuming you have a stocked pantry), this could be it.

Orange-rhubarb cardamom cake + An interview with mama

May 9, 2014 by Edlyn 16 Comments

She already questioned me on what I was going to do with her answers when I thought it was very simple and obvious. My mother’s name is Jaqueline D’Souza. People call her Jackie. She lives in Goa with my father and works at a bank. She’s worked for herself and her family ever since I can remember. I had this one person say to me: “I don’t know how mother’s can work when they have kids. That’s just wrong!” To them I will flip a big bird. Because what’s a mother if she can’t take care of her children the way she chooses? She has done it all without asking for the spotlight and as much as she’s going to hate being the subject of this post, she deserves it. Every mother does. Happy Mother’s Day, mama. Even though you don’t…sorry, try not to eat sweet things, cake is an indication of celebration and you need to be celebrated….from one million kilometres away….on this place we connect.

1) I’ve always wanted to ask this question so here it goes: What is your favourite colour?
Blue

2) Do you like when your children remember it’s Mother’s Day?
I am kind of embarrassed because I am not the kind of person who seeks attention. Also, I need to know you feel the way you do year round and not just that one day.

3) If you could eat a whole cake, which kind would you pick? (Please say Orange-cardamon!)
I would like a vanilla cake with ground almonds – just plain. Yummy!

4) What are your top 3 favourite vegetables?
Cauliflower, baked cherry tomatoes, green beans

5) How did you meet your husband (hi, father!) and how did you start having googly eyes for him?
Random visit to our house by husband. I guess he had to force me to make googly eyes at him. Persistent is what he was.

6) Did you re-gift your wedding presents?
I don’t remember. Maybe the common ones. Some I still have.

7) What made you do something so insane like have three children?
Put that down to not attending marriage formation courses!

8) Okay, what’s your favourite part about being a mother of three insane children?
Watching you all grow up into pretty lovely and talented girls (all on your own merits).

9) Do you read my blog?
Very avidly. I am disappointed when you don’t keep writing. I check on a daily basis for new updates.

10) Imagine yourself as a human fulfilling your own needs rather than the needs of 2 pesky children (not including me). What would be your greatest wish for yourself that you could fulfill in the blink of an eye?
I wish I was younger and didn’t have the health problem I have so I could travel a bit. I would love that.

11) I really don’t want to ask this questions but can you tell me some of your biggest regrets?
My greatest regret is not really listening to my mother (she probably was asking for just some comfort and companionship which I did not realise until it was too late). Second regret is that you live too far from us, and I miss having you around/home (but Matt is a good person, so I will take that back).

12) Can you overcome these regrets?
No. I just have to grin and bear it. Nothing can be done about it. Too much water under the bridge.

13) If yes, can I help? If no, can I help?
No

14) Do you believe in fate?
Yes. It’s inevitable.

15) What’s your favourite childhood memory?
Do I have any? My childhood was not very pleasant. But I do and always picture my dad waiting for me at the airport when I went there on holidays. And he did stand out above all the other people. In my mind, I still have that picture. He always dressed smart. There was this other one, my mum would take me to the market to shop (though I found it a pain, because she was always bargaining and never did buy me anything). There was this blue checkered dress with a matching sling bag that I really did want. As always, my mum never bought it for me. Later, there was this cousin of my dad’s, Aunty Phil, who gifted me the same dress on my birthday, and I was over the moon!

16) Tell me a wonderful story about Grandma from when you were growing up.
Grandma had this amazing talent to sew, crochet, knit, cook, etc. She was good at all she did. I never did pick up that from her. She stitched me this lovely pink dress with motifs and did up my hair for my birthday. Also for my First Holy Communion and Confirmation, she made me clothes. We never ate out because she always cooked at home.

17) You know she’s watching over you, right? She’s part of your DNA. You can’t escape her.
Yes, she will always be a part of me. She once told me she was relieved when I was born. Guess that’s why I don’t have a sister. I would have liked to have one, then I would not be so lonely.

18) Are these questions okay for you?
They make me want to cry! (Editor’s note: Oops)

19) Do you love your life?
I am content. I don’t think I would be comfortable being one of the rich and famous, or the other extreme. We are comfortable and that is enough.

20) Last of all, who’s your favourite daughter and why?
Why would you think that I have a favourite daughter? I don’t put anyone above the other, so there (you were hoping I would say you!!!!???) (Editor’s note: Yes)

Happy Mother’s Day, to you women who are crazy enough to parent living beings and do it oh-so-well. This cake’s for you!

I feel slightly proud of this recipe. I came up with it (FIRSTIES!) using the amazing cake ratio Beth shared on her latest blog post over at Local Milk. I am not much of a baking genius. I feel I get lucky a lot (wink wink) but I’m really trying to be a little more calculated with baking, a far cry from when I’d say “Hey! That looks like cake batter” and put it in the oven at some temperature I’d just Froogled. Googled. The cakes did not taste like diapers. They were amazing. Just don’t ask me what I put in them. Cake maths is a wonderful, magical thing so go read the very helpful link that gave birth to this cake.

Ingredients

125 gm all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground cardamom seeds, save the skins
Zest of 1 orange
125 gm cane sugar
95 gm honey
2/3 cup milk, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg (62.5 gm), at room temperature
62.5 gm unsalted butter, at room temperature and softened
3 whole cardamom pods
1/4 cup water
2 stalks rhubarb, chopped
Powdered cane sugar to sift on the top
Orange slices to decorate

This cake was baked in a 9-inch circular cake tin. An 8-inch tin would work well too. Once you’re sure that your main ingredients (milk, eggs, butter) are at room temperature, you’re ready to begin.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix the ground cardamom seeds and the orange zest into the flour. The smells from this to-be-cake batter might make you want to stop and eat flour but I urge you to carry on. Next, mix in the sugar and honey until it’s well incorporated into the flour. It will be slightly lumpy owing to the honey but that will disappear when you whisk/beat it with the liquids.

In another bowl, whisk the egg and milk by hand. If you have a cake mixer, use it to mix in the butter with the egg-milk mix. If not you can use a hand blender (electric cake whisker, if that’s what you call it) and mix them until the butter is mostly all disappeared into the liquid. You can also use a whisk but it will take you a little longer. Keep aside for a quick run to make “cardamom tea”.

In a small pot, add about 1/4 cup of water and 3 cardamom pods + the used skins (if you saved them). Bring the water to a quick boil and then take it off the heat. Quickly put a lid over the pot and let it steep until the water is warm to the touch. Discard the pods and keep the water. With your hand blender on, pour this warm cardamom tea into the egg-milk mixture. Mix while pouring slowly. Once it’s in, pour the liquid into the large flour bowl and blend together the contents until they’re smooth.

Heat your oven to 325 degrees F. Butter the cake tin and then line with parchment paper. You can also butter the parchment because it makes the cake less likely to stick to the tin and that’s a wonderful thing. Pour half the cake batter into the tin and then add the chopped rhubarb to it. Pour the last of the cake batter to the tin and then pop it in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. If you notice that the top of the cake is browning too fast and the cake has not cooked completely yet, cover the top with aluminium foil and keep baking in 5-minute installments, keeping a close watch on it.

Let the cake cool completely before taking it out of the tin. Dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar and add the sliced oranges on the top. Consume voraciously.

The meaning of this all + Chocolate cashew nut marzipan

April 14, 2014 by Edlyn 7 Comments

I recently found myself wondering about the personality of a personal blog. I’ve come across myriad voices – some so breath-taking, some so warm. Some just love food and others aren’t afraid to bare their work, whatever shape it may take. Well, I do read a lot of food blogs, in case you were wondering. All of which make me wonder about mine.

And why I still keep it….you know, the usual.

If I go way way way back back back to the beginning, I feel not an ounce of regret to say that the first food blog I fell in love with was The Pioneer Woman. I introduced her to my baking-loving sister who can make anything just by looking at Ree’s photos. “I like to see the pictures,” she says. For me, I was all about Ree’s writing. She was funny and maybe I wouldn’t eat exactly the way she does but her sense of humour made me have serious heart eyes for her. And oh my gosh her cinnamon rolls! That was a part of my life where I was trying to impress this guy that loved butter and sugar and all things we (rightfully?) assume Americans are about. This guy is now my husband and yes, our love sometimes warrants cinnamon rolls.

I run a lot.

I’m a completely different type of blog reader now. No wait. I’m exactly the same. I still go straight for the writing. I wolf it down and then think about the food that begged for this story to be told. It’s all always beautiful. When you have such a great selection in front of you, why wouldn’t it be? For the bloggers that write from the heart: I want to be you. I want to be you even more when you share your life at its most difficult points. It is equally important to be able to express every emotion and for me, the best food writers do just that. I was most inspired to pick my writing off the floor after reading Revati and then came her food – which was just as comforting as her writing. I almost feel my spirit move whenever I read Kelsey’s work. I find joy in her honesty and her wisdom is something 26-year-old me could use from time to time. Shauna is a writer from start to finish. I’ve made her gluten-free pumpkin pie once, but I go back to her space for her stories. I love her stories. Damn. A good damn.

I was lying in bed yesterday scrolling through Orangette, Molly Wizenberg’s masterpiece in her array of other awesome achievements. I would’ve never heard of her if I didn’t move to Washington, start my own blog, corresponded with a reader (Hi Shvetha…if you’re still reading) who told me she loved Shauna and then discovered Orangette, because somehow Seattle (and around) food bloggers tend to be a very tight knit group of encouraging folk. Anyway, there I was, reading her when I clicked on – of allll her hyperlinks – this (excerpt) of a talk she gave at Food Blog South on, well, blog writing.

Her words were my reason (I urge you to read it). These words precisely:

“That’s when I started to understand that maybe, what I love so much about food is stories. I love the shape food gives to my life – the stories it tells me about who I am, about the people close to me, about the city I live in, all of it. Food is a very sharp lens for looking at what matters to us, and suddenly, I wanted to find out what else it could show me. Those were the stories I wanted to tell.”

The reason why I think it is okay for me to do what I do – telling you some crazy story about how my life feels like its falling apart but HEY! I still have my tastebuds. But my life has rarely fallen apart. This is my journal. A place I can go back to anytime and be grateful that I still have a good life and a meal to be proud of. Some of it might not matter to every person who ends up here but I believe that when an experience is shared, it helps build a community. What is community if not a source of happiness? And what is a community without food? It is through food that I have drawn literal and creative strength.

I’ll admit, I do feel slightly uneasy writing about myself – the exact same feeling I had about making this space. But a personal blog is nothing without personality. I know this and I read it through all your other bloggers every day. You are geniuses (Hi Lindsey!), inspirations, laugh riots and you do a lot for me by just deciding to write stuff down.

I guess I will never have a clearer reason for writing my blog and consciously (?) letting it take shape. I get to be a part of this community. I do! Because I write. We’re the best damn things.

Chocolate cashew nut marzipan

I’m not sure if I can call this kaju barfi (an Indian sweet that is like a cashew fudge) or even pure marzipan (I used a lot less cane sugar than what was called for in this recipe). It does however, taste like an interesting blend of the two. Plus I added chocolate. Like a crazy person! And SPRINKLES! I believe the only way to say the word “sprinkles”, is by yelling it with joy. This dessert is my way of welcoming spring and new things AND and and letting you know that no matter what you’re worrying about, it’s going to be okay. Because, SPRINKLES.

Ingredients

300 gm unsalted cashew nuts
100 gm cane icing sugar + more to help bring the marzipan together
1 egg white, lightly beaten
113 gm semi-sweet baking chocolate bar
Sprinkles, (unsweetened) coconut flakes, or other toppings that go well on chocolate

Using a food processor, chop up the cashew nuts to a find powder. Once they have a sandy texture, add the 100 gm of sugar and process them nuts some more. You’ll know when it’s done when you pinch the ingredients, they stick together like dough. The cashew nut powder will also start sticking to the sides of the processor. This happens once the cashew nuts release its oils etc.

Scrape out the cashew nuts into a bowl and add the egg white to it a little at a time. Have a bowl of about 200 gm more icing sugar close by. At this point, the mixture will become one big wet, gooey mess. I assume that you could add the egg white to cashew mixture when it’s in the food processing stage but that’s not how I’m used to seeing marzipan being made. Coming back to the gooey cashew nut mixture, you can now add about two tablespoons at a time of icing sugar to the mixture, while constantly mixing the marzipan well with a) a spatula b) your hands. You will no longer need to add sugar once the mixture comes together. You should be able to pinch off a small piece and easily roll it into a ball without it sticking to your hands. It will still have an oily texture but that’s normal. Dust it lightly with more sugar and store it in a bowl (covered) in the fridge for about an hour so it hardens a bit.

An hour later, pull out the dough and in roll it out till it’s about 1 inch thick. Do this in between two sheets of parchment paper. Use a knife or a cookie cutter (depending on the shapes you want) to cut out the marzipan, Remember that you will have to dip them into chocolate so cut pieces that are easy to hold. I cut mine into square bite-sized pieces. Still difficult to dip but oh so worth it in the end. Divide the cut pieces into two batches and place them in the freezer while you melt the chocolate.

Chop the chocolate bar into smaller pieces. To melt the chocolate down, you can either use a double boiler, or in a dry heat-resistant bowl over another pot of simmering water (not boiling, the heat needs to be consistent and not high). First put in a 1/3 of the chocolate and melt it down, whisking it constantly until it’s no longer solid. Add the remaining chocolate to it and keep stirring until it’s smooth enough to dip things in it. Take it off the heat.

Pull out one batch of the cold marzipan shapes and dip them face down into the melted chocolate. You can either coat the whole piece or just one side like I did. Do this quickly so the marzipan doesn’t soften with the (still) slightly warm melted chocolate. It becomes really hard to dip if it does. Place them back on a plate or cookie sheet and add your toppings: SPRINKLES, coconut and sea salt were my ideas. Put them in the fridge and repeat the dipping with the other batch.

Once the chocolate has sufficiently hardened in the fridge, eat ’em all up! Store in the fridge if your self-control is a force of nature and you didn’t just eat them all in one go.

Nectarine-blackberry galette

August 10, 2013 by Edlyn 4 Comments

It’s been two days since I’ve given myself permission to get out there and make some money for myself. On the second day I was late. That wasn’t very good at all but like every commuter I glance at and then proceed to ignore, I’m trying to understand this commuting thing. I’m not sure if my feet like me very much since I stand for five hours straight but I’m doing this anyway.

This being the food cart business called “I love my GFF”, where I do a little of everything they tell me to do. On Thursday it was mixing a lot of chicken and doing dishes. On Tuesday it was chopping carrots (thankfully, already grated carrots), doing dishes and something else I can’t remember. I knew it was going to be hard work and I had a good idea of this and that, which is why I did it anyway. Photography and then this. You might think I was trying to copy Jane and Gayle. I might be. It’s because I know trying new things for the first time leads to better things. I might not be able to measure all the good stuff monetarily but who cares about that stuff anyway? Do what you love and it will take you places. Little by little.

I got out of the car an hour ago after hiking for a bit today and I told Matt that I wasn’t sure why I was doing this. It didn’t seem creative enough (and we KNOW that’s what I’m all about) for me. I still don’t quite know but I told him it keeps me out of his hair for a while and that seems like a good gift to him.

Tomorrow I’ll be working 10 hours and four of which will be at the exact same farmer’s market in Capitol Hill that I’ve been shopping at since the start of summer. I’d like to think it’s some sort of great coincidence. I love that market and if I get the time to look around, I’ll get a $1 vendor discount! I’ve always wanted to work at a market! This is not quite it but it’s perfect. I’m a vegetable nerd all of a sudden. This side of me is very new and very strange at the same time. Like a superpower.

While I figure this whole work thing-blog work thing out, I’ve decided I need to pace myself with my food writing. It’s difficult as it is to commute to Seattle and then come home and scramble to cook something, with photographic proof. I can totally do that but who am I fooling? I’ll just want a beer. I’m going to write my best but at the most it will be once a week. I feel a lot more productive that way and it lets me actually think recipes through. Yesterday, that’s exactly what I did. I had 2 nectarines I bought last week and a street full of blackberry bushes with fruit bursting out like crazy. I was that girl with a bowl stretching for the berries on the higher branches that nobody of average height can reach. Those were the ripest. I also didn’t have the excuse of running out of blackberries because I ate them all. I can always get more. At least for a few more weeks. Then I made a galette.

Because after the day has ended and you’re done with the adult world for the time being, there’s really nothing quite like cooking for yourself (+1).

Ingredients

For the dough

175 gms (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
100 gms butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 tbsp raw powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
50 ml (1/4 cup) ice water

For the filling

275 gms of fruit (I used 2 nectarines and blackberries)
1 tbsp raw granulated sugar
2 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1 egg, for egg wash

For the whipped cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Few sprigs of fresh lemon thyme

To start the dough, you need to make sure the butter is chilled and hard. If you’ve cut it up after the chill part, then chill it again. I hate being the boring one here but these things matter in the grand scheme of kitchenry. Also wipe your counters. No, don’t. Well, only if you must.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt to a point where you won’t be able to tell them apart. That usually happens in no time at all. Bring out the pieces of chilled butter and mix them into the flour until it turns into a coarse, crumbly meal. You’ll need to use your magican swaying arms to break down the butter (like you just don’t care). If there are still some pieces of butter that are not quite the right size, it’s okay! You are a great baker and you’re on your way to a gorgeous galette. Mix in the ice water, a tablespoon at a time and using just the tips of your fingers, mix the flour so it all comes together. Don’t mix the dough too much. It should come together as a not too dry-not too moist chunk of dough in about 3-3/1 tbsp of water. If it’s too wet, add more flour and it it’s too dry, add a little more water. Once it looks like a dough and says “Hi, I’m dough!”, split it into 2 halves, form them into discs and chill in plastic wrap for about an hour (or more if you need to rest the feets).

While the dough is chilling, heat the oven to 355 degrees F and place the baking rack in the middle of the over. Slice the nectarines in the middle and around the seed in the middle. If it’s ripe the fruit will split in two very easily giving you easy access to the seed. Remove the seed. Slice the nectarine. I state the obvious but trust me, it’s necessary. For my well-being. Leave the blackberries as they are. Unless they need to be rinsed. Cold water, minimal touching. Them blackberries are moody.

An hour later, pull one of the discs of dough and put them on the counter. Dab both sides of the disc with flour and roll it to about 1/2 inch in thickness. You can roll the dough between pieces of parchment paper. Sprinkle the granulated sugar leaving about 2 1/2 inches around the edges. Add the pieces of butter here too and then place the nectarine slices in a circle. Fold up the edges, making it like a container. Add the blackberries at this time. Brush the outside of the dough with egg wash. Put it in the freezer until the dough hardens one last time (for 3 minutes tops) before you put it in the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the crush turns golden brown.

While the galette is baking, using a hand blender, beat some heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla extract until it stiffens. Put it in the refrigerator. When the beep of the time tells you it’s galette time, pull it out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Serve it up with a dollop of cream, topped with thyme sprigs.

It’s legit. Your summer just had many summer babies. You’re welcome.

Can’t live without being insane Thursday + Brown rice date ‘spring’ rolls

May 2, 2013 by Edlyn 7 Comments

I have definitely lost my mind. Well. Maybe it’s not THAT bad. I’m probably dramafying this more because “woe is me, I need your attention”. Did I get it? Never mind. I’ll get you next time. I signed up for another run.

Huh? What? I didn’t say anything. The run? Oh that. I thought you weren’t paying attention. You see I have this thing where I like doing things that I’m not quite sure I can even do (Like this). Part of me feels heroic when I do but the other part wants to turn around and march right back home. Not surprisingly, the first part always triumphs. But still, I can’t. stop. feeling. like. I’m. nuts.

Crazy. Bonkers. Yes, I signed up for another 5K race. As if the 10K that’s two weeks from now wasn’t enough to stress me out. I felt I needed a mini challenge before the big challenge. A little boost of confidence and maybe a clear sign that my body is not going to fail on me. Refer to previous paragraph if you skimmed through and have no idea what I’m going on about (which is probably all the time, right?). Of course, there was the minor detail of a free drink? Margarita, or something of the sorts, for every runner and also – tacos.

Wouldn’t you have done it? “Sure, Edlyn. Of course I would!” I feel better. I do love motivating words and the people in my life are also accomplice to this insanity. I have a friend, whom I used to work with in Bombay. She’s teeny-tiny and smart enough to intimidate me. People who read a lot do that to me (how could they not?!). We’d sometimes ate lunch together at our desks and she would always make me take more of the dal khichdi. I didn’t mind except that she never ate much at all! I would never share my food with someone if I knew they were big eaters. She made me the big eater. She also ran a marathon.

A marathon. I feel like typing it might make it seem more real but it never works. Motivation #1: And this is in no way comparing a measly 5K to a MARATHON (never ever works) but if she can do it, I can. Not the marathon, the 5 and 10 kilometer race-a-thon. The slightly awkward cousin called the lame-a-thon. I should give myself more credit. I run because I enjoy it and that’s motivation #2. Right now I feel incapable and a bit of a show-off. I guarantee you I’m not either.

Motivation #3 and the final motivation (or so I think) of the day: It’s May. That’s right. The big fat May. My favourite month of the year and yours two. Stop arguing. If I can do something entirely spontaneous and slightly deliberate, I can do it in May. I can do it ALL in May. If last year’s trip to Bangkok and the previous years trip to Kashmir was any indication, I got this. May is always going to be reckless, rambunctious and pretty darn amazing. In another 2 days, I’ll have run my first 5K with a hoard of other free margarita lovers. After that, my first 10K. After that, I’ll be content.

I’ll be sort of short of sanity and breath but damn I’ll be happy.

First of all, I have no idea why there are chocolate chips in this picture. I must’ve been snacking but HEY it’s a great strategy while photographing food. Second of all, I love rice paper. It does take some getting used to because it’s so sticky and flimsy but it’s such great fodder for imaginative cooking. The possibilities of what to wrap are endless like my love for you.

Ingredients

4 sheets of rice paper or tapioca starch paper (the kind I bought was circular in shape)
3/4 cup dates, chopped
3/4 cup overcooked brown rice
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tsp honey
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Start by cooking the brown rice like you usually do (or how it says to on the bag). If you don’t buy it in a bag, I’ll help you out here. Cooking brown rice is the same as cooking white rice except that brown rice takes longer to cook. Take 1/2 cup of brown rice and to it add 1 cup of water. Put it on medium high heat until it simmers. As soon as this happens, turn down the heat and cover the pot. It should take 15-20 minutes for all the water to evaporate. Don’t continuously open the lid to check because you don’t want the steam to escape. Just check once at 15 minutes and if the water looks like it’s almost gone, add more to cover about 1/2 of the now cooked rice. This will make the grains more glutinous and perfect for your recipe. Take the rice off the heat and let it cool.

While the rice is cooking, chop up the dates (vertically in the middle and then 3 or 4 times horizontally) and roughly run a knife across the walnuts. Put the dates in a bowl and mix it with cinnamon powder. Add the date into the food processor along with the rice, walnuts, honey and vanilla extract. On the low setting, let the ingredients come together in a sticky mess. You don’t want it to turn into a puree so let the processor run for about 10 seconds each time before you decide on the perfect crunchy/sticky consistency. This should take not more than 30 seconds. Put this mixture in a bowl and set aside.

Fill warm water into a shallow basin or even a deep skillet that has a 2-3-inch wider circumference than the rice paper. Keep a clean and moist tea towel ready on the side of the water container. Immerse the rice paper into the water for about 3-4 seconds till it turns soft. As soon as its state changes, gently lift it out of the water and place it on the moist tea towel. Leave it be for about a minute or until the towel soaks up the excess water and makes it easy to roll. You might get a bit annoyed with the rice paper at first but it works out, I promise. Just take a few tries to get comfortable with it.

Once the rice paper is dry enough, add about 7 tsp of the date and brown rice filling along one edge of the circle (the edge you will be rolling from). Try not to overfill it or the paper might tear. Lift the edge and fold it over the filling, making it fit snugly. Fold the adjacent (if I can call it that) left and right side of the rice paper inwards, so as to close the the open ends of the roll (refer to the fourth picture). Now you can keep rolling like you first did until you reach the other end of the circle. Repeat until you’ve run out of the filling. You can cut the rolls in half or eat them whole. If you’re not going to eat this on the same day, store it in the fridge for a day with a moist tea towel covering it.

PS: If you have the luxury of coconut in your backyard (which I did until I chose to be poor), you can add grated and toasted coconut to the filling too.

PPS: The run is on Saturday and I love the colour blue.

PPPS: There might not be a Sunday post (MIGHT) but it all depends on how much my knees like me.

*Goa people you get rice paper at Magsons. American residents, you can check the Asian section of your grocery shops.