Addendum II

For inquiring bakers, I present an image of a tart pan:

Although I don't own one myself. I prefer to use a baking stone and just roll out the pastry like a pizza and fold over the edges. I like the rustic look of it.

Addendum to Tart

A friend kindly pointed out to me that I had left off the rest of the directions for the tart pastry recipe I posted--quite a long time ago now, unfortunately. When I get busy all I seem to want to write about is food. And our garden. But technically our garden also falls under the food category because we don't have much in the floral department... I guess food is my comfort topic?

Anyway, back to the important topic of tarts...

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Place peach mixture on tart (I spiraled them out to make them pretty) and make sure to leave a 2 inch border for the crust. Once you've put all the peaches on, bring the pastry edge toward the center, overlapping on the peaches as necessary. Bake for 25-30 min or until the crust is golden brown and the peaches are soft. Serve with vanilla ice cream or vanilla greek yogurt.

Tart Pastry

Jonathan and I are housesitting this week for the same family we did last year. While enjoying an orange sunset over the lake at dinner, it occurred to me that the thing I like best about this beautiful place is the make-believe games we can play. We can pretend to be anywhere (anywhere with grapevines, that is)--Tuscany, Provence, The Peloponnesian Penninsula...the list could go on. I like pretending sometimes.

Partly inspired by a book I'm reading, A Year in Provence, I decided to pretend I was a french baker last night. I seasoned some fresh peach slices with lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar and found a tart pastry recipe in a French cookbook. It came out of the oven flaky and melt-in-your-mouth buttery and tasted delicious with the simple peaches. Jonathan wished I had made it with apples, but when it comes to pies and tarts, I say there's no better fruit than peaches. They have the most refreshing flavor and texture.

Enjoy!

TART (unsweetened) PASTRY

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

2-3 tsp ice water

2/3 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

1 egg yolk

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles bread crumbs (or a food processor works really well). Add the egg yolk and cold water and mix with a food processor or flexible bladed knife until the dough just starts to come together. Bring the dough together with your hands and shape into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out the pastry into a circle on a lightly floured surface and use to line a tart pan, as directed in the recipe. Trim the edge and pinch around the pastry edge to make an even border raised slightly above the rim of the pan. Slide onto a baking sheet and put in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

I spent my spring break at IKEA

I guess you should call it a spring weekend. I don't like to use the phrase because it reminds me of the madness that was our university's annual Olympics which consisted of boys and girls teams competing in opening ceremonies, sync swims, cowpie throwing (it was Nebraska) body-contorting games, obstacle courses, art races, and of course, the dreaded and hailed lip sync that required months of practice...but it was a weekend, and it did occur in the spring.

My parents and younger brother came to visit our new house! And us, I suppose. We walked to the lake, enjoyed happy hour in a local wine bar, rode bikes in San Francisco, (fell off our bikes in San Francisco), went flea market and IKEA shopping (female-bonding time), golfing (male-bonding time), cat-hunting (don't worry, we found him), champagne-toasted the house, and as is always the case, ate WAY too much food.

Not only did we make lot's of good memories but I learned a few things:

--Goat cheese log topped with Trader Joe's pineapple mango salsa. Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyy

--I haven't ridden a bike in a long time for a very good reason.

--The next time I ride a bike, I'll make sure it has an excessively large padded seat.

--You should visit us just to try my husband's stuffed burgers. They're aMAZing.

--Baker Beach is not biker friendly.

--Flea markets. Love them. Will visit more of them. (Except the guy in the wiry-things stall. He was not happy to barter.)

--Shopping is so much better with my mom.

--Two people are required to manhandle IKEA shopping carts. And if you aren't as obsessed as I am with ingeniously-designed Swedish odds and ends, you can entertain yourself by watching other people try to maneuver them and have just as much fun.

--Consider spending your spring break at IKEA, but plan on a day in each department. Monday in living rooms, Tuesday in bedrooms, Wednesday in kitchens and so on. You might want to plan an extra day just for lighting and home organization.

--One brother is nice, but three is even better. Next time I'm home I'm looking forward to seeing all three of them!

So yes. Good weekend. House is broken in. Easter coming. Hope is here!

A Lesson in Cupcakes: failure strikes again

I recently heard that Thomas Edison was perturbed that no one asked him about the 1,000 light bulbs that didn't work. I understand what he was saying, at least as far as baking goes. I think I feel more productive with kitchen failures because I learn more from what doesn't work than what does.

About a year ago I posted a picture of my embarrassing cheesecake flop. I learned a valuable lesson from that cheesecake: it's worth the extra trip to the store for the exact ingredients, because baking is all about chemistry, and I didn't do so well in high school chemistry, so I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to substituting fat free cream cheese and/or greek yogurt for regular full fat cream cheese (which I may or may not have done...)

A couple of weeks ago I learned two valuable lessons about Seven-Minute Frosting: one, that it'll be Twenty-Minute Frosting if you don't use an electric mixer and decide to handwhip the egg whites over the simmering water; and two, that Seven Minute Frosting is not the best option for a red velvet two layer cake (note the dam-like effect of the glass cake cover):



Today I learned a valuable lesson about cupcakes. If you don't have enough tins, wait until the first comes out instead of putting paper baking cups on a regular baking sheet and expecting them to come out looking like cupcakes. Instead expect a melty deformed (albeit strangely visually appealing) result:



The good news is that the cupcakes in the tins worked out, which means that Jonathan and I get to enjoy scrumptious yellow buttermilk cupcakes after our Valentine's dinner tonight :) I'll just add some frosting and sprinkles and they'll be ready to go!

Grains Glorious Grains

I love food, so maybe it's not saying much. But every once in awhile a new dish is so unique that it reminds me to savor each delectable morsel of life. Introducing:

Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend.

This savory blend of orzo pasta, Israeli couscous, red quinoa, and mini garbanzo beans can be eaten with chicken or shrimp, as a side, or in a salad. The first time I made it for friends, I was a little disappointed with the mushiness. I think I added too much water. The next time I made it I added less water and it was deliciously crunchy and al dente. The texture is probably the most intriguing thing about it, but the flavor is delicious, too, even with just a little salt and pepper. So far I've made it with some onion salt, pepper, basil, pine nuts, and fresh grated parmesan cheese, but I recommend throwing in your own favorite ingredients.

Sorry for those of you who don't live by a Trader Joe's. If you're really interested in trying it, email me, we'll exchange addresses, and you can send me your favorite grocery store item (Preferably dry...) in return for the harvest grains. It'd be fun!

amykopecky{at]gmail[dot]com

Soft and Chewy Molasses Cookies

As promised.

The only cookie that gets better with age!

Cookies

There are two kinds of cookie makers in this world: those who follow cooking time directions, and those who take the cookies out early. This little variance is the difference between brown crunchy cookies and scrumptious gooey cookies.

My mom taught me to bake the gooey kind. She taught me that when recipes say ten minutes, they really mean seven. We watch them like a hawk and take them out the minute they harden enough not to fall through the cooking rack rungs, and just after the very tippy tops turn golden brown delicious.

Two perfect cookie recipes to come soon! :)

A Taste of Italy

You must slice thin, not translucent, milky discs of real whole milk mozzarella to top a homemade marguerite pizza. Layer them on like petals. Ring them in, over the top, until a spot of sauce is left breathing in the middle. Cover it quickly before you think it looks pretty--wet tomato rose spinning in an English Garden--cover it quickly! and sprinkle fresh snipped basil over the pie. (Unless you prefer it underneath the mozzarella. Then you should perform this step after the sauce and before the cheese. I never said the steps in my recipes were chronological.)

Succumbing to Tea-tation

"A cup of tea! Is there a phrase in our language more eloquently significant of physical and mental refreshment, more expressive of toil and restful relaxation, or so rich in associations with the comforts and serenity of home life, and also with unpretentious, informal, social intercourse?" --Francis H. Leggett and Co., Tea Leaves, 1900

Mince Pies

I mentioned my mince pie baking in a recent post and thought I should post a picture of the result. It's overdue, but better than never. I particularly enjoyed the crust recipe, because it's the best crust I think I've ever tasted (from BBC food, but I can't find the recipe at the moment so if you want the recipe, you can email me). Best enjoyed with warm mulled wine!

Cheesecake Flop

For Jonathan's 26th birthday I decided to make him his favorite--turtle cheesecake. I baked it, took it out of the springfoam pan and placed it in the refrigerator to chill. A few hours later Jonathan opened up the fridge door to get some milk for his tea and found chunks of cheesecake goo everywhere. Everywhere! And this is what was left of it. Notice that there's a portion of fully formed cheesecake that will feed two of us perfectly. The rest of it, well, I figure we can still eat it and call it Cheesecake Pudding. I'm beginning to wonder how many new recipes are old recipes gone flop.

Later I'll post a picture of the cake-pudding with toppings and all. Hopefully then it will look more edible.