The Tacoma Farmer's Market

This year, during the busiest season of the catering business, I am taking on an extra project.  Crazy, I know!  I am going to be the demonstration chef for the 6th Ave Market this year- on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, beginning June 1st and running through Sept 28th.  The demos are going to start at 5:30p and run for a maximum of half an hour, with tastings at the end of each little show.  It's going to be loads of fun!  Also, I am going to do my best to post the recipe and information about the seasonal ingredient after each session.

There are many reasons that I am excited about taking on this volunteer position, the main ones are that I get the opportunity to work with absolutely the best and freshest ingredients, and I get to share my knowledge with the attendees of the market!  One of our goals is to educate people on how to utilize some of the less popular produce, and bring new ideas for the commons items.  Another thing that excites me greatly is the involvement of the farmer's market in the lower-income sector of the population.  This is the first market I've come across that takes food stamps, has a proactive approach towards gleaning for the food bank, and has a nutrition program.  

Here is the link to the TFM website:
http://www.tacomafarmersmarket.com/Default.aspx

The Macaron

It's the new rage.  It's delicious.  And unless you live next to a fantastic patisserie, you probably can't find a good one.  There are recipes all over the blogs, and I am here to provide you with yet another method to help you figure out this little bit of cookie madness!  The ingredients are pretty much always the same, in similar proportions, with similar methods...but it seems that everyone has their own little twist...

A macaron is a traditional French cookie made popular by Pierre Herme, a seriously famous pastry chef in Paris that deserves every bit of his acclaim.  The outer shell is essentially a meringue enriched with almond flour.  It is often colored to give a hint of what the filling is.  Fillings range in every flavor from fruit preserves to flavored ganache.  My most successful fillings so far are Meyer lemon curd and white chocolate-lavender.

Macarons (yield 36 sandwiches)

Before you start, make sure that you have ready four regular sized cookie sheets lined with parchment or (preferably) Silpat baking mats, an accurate candy thermometer, and a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip.  Also, this recipe is a prime example of the need to have your mise en place organized and ready to go prior to embarking on your macaron journey.

Step 1:

150 g almond flour (you can grind blanched slivered almonds in a coffee grinder and sift through a very fine sieve)
150 g confectioners sugar (sifted, unless you are grinding your own almonds, in which case you should grind some of the sugar with the nuts to keep them from caking)

Sift these two ingredients well, and set aside combined.

Step 2:
100 g egg whites (aged at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours at room temperature- they won't spoil)
35 g granulated sugar


In a very clean mixing bowl, start beating the whites on low speed until frothy, then slowly add the sugar and whip until soft peaks form.

Step 3:
150 g granulated sugar
50 g water

While your meringue is whipping, heat the sugar and water to 110C/230F.  This will be just a few moments after the mixture turns completely clear.  It is very important to have the whites at soft peaks when the mixture reaches temperature because if you heat the sugar too long, it will create too firm of  a meringue.  With the mixer running on low speed, gently drizzle in the hot syrup, then bring the speed up to medium and whip until cooled a bit and the meringue holds a good shape, at least thirty seconds.  For those of you new to meringues, this is considered an Italian meringue.  

Step 4:

Fold the almond flour and confectioners sugar into the meringue.  If you wish to add any colorings, now would be the time to do it.  Continue to fold until the mixture is homogeneous and the texture is such that any distinct shapes melt into the batter in 30 seconds.  If the meringue is too firm, the cookies will come out more button shaped, and if the meringue is too thin, well, just make sure you don't over mix it or you will end up with sweet crackers.  Many recipes describe this as the consistency of "magma," if this helps you, great, but I didn't have any magma around to compare with.

Step 5:
Immediately, put batter into piping bag and pipe quarter sized disks onto the baking sheets, leaving about 1/2" between each one.  They don't expand much, but they do need room for the air to circulate around.  After piping, set them in a safe place for at least one half but up to two hours so they can form a kind of shell.  When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 310F for convection, 330F without.  This is where your intimate relationship with your oven gauge comes in handy, because every oven is just a little different, and it may take a few tries to get the baking bit just right.  Once in the oven, bake for five minutes, then rotate and bake for perhaps two minutes more.  Remove from the oven, let cool for a couple of minute on the Silpats/parchment, and then gently place them on cooling racks to finish.  Once they're cool, fill with whatever suits your fancy- buttercream, ganache, jam, nut pastes.

Zaletti

Zaletti are one of the many traditional Italian dishes based on corn; the word "traditional" in this case always makes me smile since corn wasn't present in Europe until after the introduction of food sources from the Americas.  Once corn came to northern Italy in the mid 1500's, all sorts of wonderful dishes arose- soft savory polenta, olive oil and polenta cakes, and, my dear, zaletti.

Originally developed in the region around Venice, the  combination of corn and lemon pays tribute to the trading history of the area while staying true to the textures and flavors expected from European baked goods.  This cookie is lightly sweet with a distinct toothsome texture unique to cornmeal products.  They are equally fantastic with tea, espresso, and sweet wine.   

The dough is made of a combination of fine polenta (American cornmeal works just fine) and all purpose wheat flour, with a bit of sugar and leavening.  It is then enhanced by the combination of plumped dried currants and lemon zest.  Depending on your liquor cabinet and personal taste, the currants can be plumped with water, brandy, grappa or any other liquid you have on hand.  Each option will give a slightly different flavor- today I moistened my currants with Cointreau to play off of the citrus notes in the lemon zest.  Here is the link to my favorite zaletti recipe : http://www.babbonyc.com/dolci-zaletti.html  

My Secret Obsession

I don't admit this very often, but I am completely and utterly mad about bread and butter.  If some law ever came into effect that I could only eat one thing, that would probably be it.  Sushi is a worthy contender, but in the long run, I would probably have to go with the bread.  I'm not talking about Wonderbread here.  Not sliced bread, and not even the stuff "baked" fresh daily at Costco.  I mean that real, honest artisan loaf with that toothsome yet tender crumb, really well defined crust, and the complex aromas from sourdough or a good long preferment.  And butter; that's a whole separate topic for discussion.  Salted or not?  Goat or cow?  Oh, I could go on for pages...

This fascination really started during childhood, with my mother baking the majority of our bread.  It wasn't particularly complex, but it was fresh, smelled incredible, and instilled a lifelong appreciation for fresh loaves.  Perhaps six years ago, I bought the book Artisan Baking Across America, by Maggie Glezer (which I would highly recommend to anyone).  This book has had a huge impact on the quality of my bread.  Both my husband and I have always baked, but the recipes we used were always pretty rudimentary.  Since this book came into our home, we have been teaching ourselves how to bake and have consistently produced beautiful loaves worthy of the best bakeries in the area.  So, this gorgeous loaf was the product of yesterday's labors:

The method for this loaf isn't particularly complicated; it has a preferment (a small percentage of flour and water combined with yeast and allowed to ferment for many hours to develop flavor and build up the yeast) which is then added to the standard flour/water/salt combination, but this is where the recipe diverges from standard lean doughs.  This loaf has just a touch of honey and about three ounces of mashed potato.  Also, the preferment is the only source of leavening; generally when using a preferment, more yeast is added when putting together the final dough.  So the low yeast content (effectively 1/3 of 1/4 teaspoon for this one loaf), a high percentage of water, and some added sugars resulted in a fairly sloppy dough and a very long proof time.  I have to tell you though, the result was worth it.  I ended up with a thick, well developed crust, beautiful pale golden crumb, and an aroma to die for.  And yeah.  I ate it with butter. 

A Memorial

Perhaps a six weeks ago a good friend of mine called me up to see if I'd be interesting in volunteering for a Martin Luther King Jr memorial service in Tacoma.  I thought, sure, why not, it'll be a fun experience, right?  I was going to be in charge of setting a menu for and executing a sort of cocktail hour-minus-the-cocktails reception after the two-hour performance. 

There were a few restrictions on the menu which made the development process a good challenge.  First off, the group organizing the event wanted everything vegetarian (I can't tell you how many people asked me "where's the fried chicken?").  Next, this was the first year providing food after the service, so it was kind of sketchy how many people would hang around after for a snack (anywhere from zero to three hundred fifty).  Recruited to help me were five (even though it turned out closer to ten) high school students looking for some community service hours.  Last but not least, kitchen space and storage logistics turned out to be rather difficult.  We had limited access to the kitchen at the event site so we had to scrounge a bit...

So, the menu had to be vegetarian, very inexpensive, easy to execute so my enthusiastic but untrained assistants could actually have something to do, and all of the food had to be able to be made the day ahead, stored, and then all served at room temperature with minimal assembly.  This is what I came up with:

 Fig, Gorgonzola, and Walnut Crostini

Goat Cheese and Tapenade Crostini

Vegetarian Antipasti

(agrodolce pearl onions, roasted red bell peppers with sun dried tomatoes,

marinated wild mushrooms, olives with fresh herbs)

Spiced Grilled Eggplant and Cucumber Salad

Tunisian Carrot Salad with Toasted Cumin and Parsley

Cannellini Bean and Rosemary Spread

Labneh with Sumac, Olive Oil and Fresh Herbs

Not exactly what one might think of considering the occasion, but it worked within the constraints of budget/skill levels/kitchen coordination.  In the end though, everything worked out very well.  We ended up feeding perhaps one hundred fifty people with just a bit of leftovers.  All of the guests enjoyed the food, even if I was accused of "making them eat this healthy stuff."  The biggest seller was the fig crostini, I think people really enjoyed the sweet versus savory in every bite.  It was definitely new food for the highschoolers (a long way from top ramen, they pointed out) and it was for many of the diners as well.  It was a great opportunity to introduce a group of people to new flavors and textures in a very gentle manner. 

 

A Little Bit of Tuscany

After a couple of gloriously sunny days, we're back to winter weather in the Puget Sound.  It's gray, misty, and pouring rain.  To counteract this dreariness I wanted something for lunch that was bright and the complete opposite of what's going on outside.  After digging around in the cupboard, this is what I came up with:

When we were in Italy last year we stayed in Lucca for a few days, unaware upon arrival that the area is know in particular for it's olive oil and farro.  We ate farro in many forms- in soups and chilled salads mainly.  This farro salad is my take on what we ate almost every day there.

Grilled Squid and Farro Salad
three to four first-course servings

1 c. farro
6-7 squid, cleaned
1 small clove of garlic, finely minced
1/4 c. minced fresh parsley
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil, unfiltered if possible
salt and pepper to taste

Simmer the farro in salted water until tender (usually about 15 minutes, but check frequently).  Drain well and then dress immediately with the lemon, garlic, and olive oil.  Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.  Meanwhile, heat a grill pan (or other grill) and lightly oil and salt the squid.  Once the pan is very hot, throw the squid on and cook for about 30 seconds.  Turn each piece and cook for about 10 seconds longer.  Remember that squid is best cooked either very quickly or very slowly; in between and it will be like eating fishy bubble gum.  Remove the squid from the grill and add in to the farro.  Add the parsley and season to taste with the salt and pepper, and feel free to add more oil and lemon to suit your palate.  As a side note, I think next time I will serve this on a bed of wild arugula. 

The Buche

This buche de noel was my contribution to the Christmas dinner we attended.  It was loads of fun to make and I learned a lot about working with genoise sponge cake.  My husband helped mightily by sculpting all sorts of forest creatures out of marzipan to decorate the darn thing! 


Instead of filling it with the traditional buttercream, I went with a bittersweet chocolate mousse to compliment the chocolate genoise.  I think you end up with a better flavor and a better mouthfeel with less work to boot.  After the drama of rolling the cake, we coated it with semisweet Callebaut chocolate ganache, chilled it, and then began decorating.

We did the traditional meringue mushrooms (filled with chocolate of course) along with sugared fir boughs, but the highlight was really the little critters.  We had a snail (this is the northwest, it should have been a slug...), a rabbit, some earthworms, and a beaver that, depending on the angle, looked more than a little rabid.