The Queen of Tarts

Tale of the Traveling Cake

Today is our anniversary. Our first anniversary, which means we can eat the top of our wedding cake. The cake that I went back and tasted three times becasue I liked it so much. The cake that has sat in our freezer for the past 12 months taking up a considerable amount of space. The cake that I obsessed over prior to June 26, 2010.

I loved my wedding cake - I remember almost every cake from every wedding I have ever been too... I wanted a great cake.

(photo by Alexandria Mauck)

I asked the hotel to save every last bit of cake (aside from the prized top that we would eat on our first anniversary) and deliver the left over cake to the room. They did. We had a lot of cake on our hands.

When I got home after the wedding (a mile away from the hotel) I carefully wrapped the top of the cake. I knew that it needed to keep for a year. I wrapped the box in several layers of Glad Cling Wrap and aluminum foil, and then neatly placed it in the freezer for the next 12 months.

Time passed, and I forgot about the cake, it just sat there waiting for us to open the box and eat it.

We spoke about how we were going to eat the cake on our first anniversary - probably with our friend who married us and our friend who carried our rings. This spring it became clear that would not happen.

We were going to move right around time of our first anniversary. Not across town, not to a different state, but to a different part of the world. To Abu Dhabi. Would we be able to bring the cake? How would I carry it? Should I ship it in advance? I knew that I needed to have the cake on our first anniversary. I was incredibly superstitious this way. I needed this cake. FedEx would not ship it... It became evident that the only way I could bring the cake with us was to pack it in the suitcase. I could not risk a customs officer taking it away from me if I brought it as carry on.

My father told me to just cut the cake and bring a small piece. No - I could not cut it until June 26, 2011. We were going to spend our anniversary with my parents at their home in London. I thought that the cake could probably make it over the Atlantic, and somehow, someway, we were going to eat it.

It was carefully packed into a suitcase (and then probably thrown into the bellows of a plane) and then placed in a refrigerator for a week to thaw. I started to have serious doubts about this cake. How good could it taste after 12 months in a freezer, a plane ride, and then a week thawing in a fridge?

12:05am June 26, 2011 H wished me happy anniversary and asked me if I wanted to try the cake. I did, so we went to it. It was good... REALLY REALLY GOOD. As good as I remember it being. Perhaps because we were eating it just past midnight. Perhaps because it was just the two of us, and we were celebrating a remarkable year. In any event, it was exceptional.

The cake clearly faired much better than the box.

Post our midnight culinary snack...

Happy Anniversary H! I could not have asked for a sweeter year...

Moroccan Spiced Almonds

It was only once, but it made an impression of a life time.  I knew that it was a place that I wanted to go, a place of winding streets, bargaining shopkeepers, fresh markets, and history.  A sense that time, no matter how hard it tried, would never seep into all of the corners of the magical city.  Marrakech. A city of beauty and wonder.  It is no surprise then, given my preconceived notions of what I thought the city would be like, that I fell instantly in love - head over heels in love in fact.  The food, the people, the architecture, and did I mention the food?  I had no idea that I would like cumin as much as I do, and it is now a staple in our spice drawer, and sits along side the salt and pepper at most meals. I try to add flavors to cooking that remind me of our Moroccan holiday whenever possible.

Perhaps it was out of necessity, but recently, I was opening all of the cabinets, the refrigerator, and the kitchen drawers looking high and low for something that would satisfy both the savory craving that I was having and the need to crunch something.  What I really wanted was some crackers - something that would crumble upon first bite, and fill my mouth with an explosion of salt and dryness - kind of like an oatcake.  But we had nothing. Nothing that would even come close. But we always have unsalted almonds in bulk waiting to be used in some kind of recipe.  I figured that I could make some roasted almonds - add a little seasoning, and then I would satisfy my craving, and it would be a healthy snack too.  Not too bad!  I tend to make spiced-up almonds during the holidays for our annual holiday party, but given my desperate need to savory and crunch, I thought that I would start a bit early this year.

I typically throw a few handfuls of almonds into a pan, cover them with cooking spray or olive oil, add some seasoning, and something sweet.  In the past, the seasoning has always, and I mean ALWAYS been Tony Chachares .  This is perhaps one of the greatest seasonings ever created in the world - it has heat, salt, and reminds me of being in Louisiana.  However, given that I was all out, I reached into my spice drawer and pulled out Bart Ras El Hanout - a Moroccan spice.  I had never cooked with it before, but my mother insisted that I buy it, and that I would not be disappointed.  So over the saute pan, I sprinkled some of the spice, added some salt, and threw in some sweetness.  I stirred up my concoction, and while the skins of the almonds started to crackle and pop, the cumin, the cardamom, and everything else that made Ras El Hanout what it is started to fill the kitchen and the rest of our loft.  I am not one to wait for things to happen, so I reached into the hot pan (which I do not recommend) and pulled out a few of the newly spiced almonds.  Amazing.  The heat was there, the salt was subtle, and the sweetness pulled it all together.  

These are a great thing to serve with cheese or wine before a dinner party, or to just have around.  I like to eat them warm, but they are really pretty great at any temperature.  I have also tried using agave nectar as a sweetener.  While this works well, it will make for a sticker end result.

 

Moroccan Spiced Almonds

2 C unsalted almonds - with the skins on

1-2 tsp Ras El Hanout (a Moroccan Spice that typically contains black pepper, cumin, cayenne, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, tumeric, coriander, cloves, allspice, and mace... my version also has a small amount of rose petals...the literal translation is "Top of the Shop") The more of this you use, the spicier things will be!

1 tsp salt 
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp olive oil OR cooking spray

Spray the saute pan (or add oil) and heat the pan over medium - high heat.  Add the almonds and as they are heating up, sprinkle on the salt.  As the almonds get hot, you will start to hear the skins pop and crackle.  Add the Ras El Hanout and stir the ingredients together.  Make sure that you watch carefully so that the nuts do not burn.  Lower, or turn off the heat once the almonds deepen in color, and add in the sugar.  Continue to stir.  Allow the almonds to cool a bit in the pan before placing in a dish. They are best eaten warm, but can be eaten at any temperature!

The Sweetest of Gifts

It came from a land of kings and queens and princes and princesses.  A land far far away, and a place that she has only dreamed of traveling too.  It was given to her by the light, a beautiful shining light from the Kingdom.

A gift, a sweet and simple gift that traveled thousands of miles.  The sweetness was packed tight, held together by its own sticky goodness.  It was unlike anything she had ever seen before.  True, she had visited a place that had a similar kind of treat, but she was the one who traveled the thousands of miles to get to it... 

This time was different.  The gift came to her.

She took her time to open the package, the package from a place that she would only be able to go if she received an invitation. It was perhaps the closest she would ever get to the Kingdom.  

 

Travel Treasures

We love to travel.  In fact, travel and cooking are the two things that keep us going, and often we find ourselves leafing through cookbooks or travel sites looking for the next exotic location.  With the rise in travel and globalization, some of the mystery of traipsing off to far away and remote locations is gone.  

I remember when I traveled as a child we were told that we had to dress up (skirts, tights, our fanciest shoes), and my grandmother would make a bag for my sister and me to bring on board.  She would find pieces of cloth and sew them together and add in a string so that we could carry the bag over our shoulder.  Inside the bag were card games, mini-board games, small edible delights, crayons, Mad-Libs, and other toys that would keep us preoccupied while my parents tried their hardest to pretend that we were the ideal travel companions.  We had to wait until the plane took off before we were allowed to open our bags, and for the first 10 minutes anyway my sister and I would compare our items.  We anticipated these trips since the preparation itself was such a joy - playing dress up and receiving a bag of treasures?  Unfortunately, it is not really like that anymore.

We would return from our holidays with little gifts that one could only find in those areas - honey and tea from London wrapped in the green and gold bags of Harrods.  Bars of beautiful chocolate from Switzerland when they were truly a specialty item.  Aluminum tubes of mustards from Austria, cheeses from Italy, handmade shoes, perfumes, and the latest in fashion from France.  Most of this now seems silly since so many of these foreign items can be purchased at food shops in large cities merely minutes from our city dwelling.  

That being said, there is still a single shop in all countries that holds a magical appeal for me and for Dr. H.  The food market.  Worldwide, local food stores, more than any other kind of store, convey the the true culture of any place.  So instead of bringing back trinkets that will just collect dust on a shelf (expect for the 3 brass camels we bought in Tangers that I still love), we bring back items from the market.  All legal of course...

On our most recent trip, which also happened to be our honeymoon, we spent our last day in London.  My mother, Dr. H and I perused the aisles of Waitrose on Kings Road and I stopped.  A little item peaked out from the refrigerated section and yelled out Dr. H's name.  I stepped back in disgust, I will admit, but I could not deny him this joy.  A little pot of goose fat, in fact, several pots of goose fat sat lined up all in a row.  And next to the goose sat the duck fat.  

(www.ocado.com) 

I beckoned Dr. H over and a smile slowly spread across his face.  He looked like a little boy who had just received the most prized item on his Christmas list. We had both heard on several occasions just how good french fries or potatoes tasted after having been cooked with either duck or goose fat, so I tried my hardest not to take away this moment of delight. That being said, I walked over to the household items, bought a giant box of Fairy Laundry Detergent, 2 kilos of chocolate, and called it day.  

 

Dulce de Leche from Montparnasse

 

High above the Boulevard Montparnasse in Paris in a small apartment I fell in love.  In was spring 1994 and while the apartment had an elevator, I always took the stairs.  At one point in time I knew the entry code to gain access from the street into the courtyard that was secluded behind the grand wooden door off the street.  If I walked by the apartment now, I am not sure that I would even recognize the door, never mind the access code.

The Argentine flag hung on one wall in the apartment as did photos of Diego Maradona and the obligatory photo of Evita. One evening in that apartment I was presented with a glass jar that had an image of a cow on it. I was also given a spoon. I was not quite sure what to do with either.  I was told that the elixir in the jar was a delicacy of Argentina - that it was as well known as the items on the apartment walls, and while it was typically spread as a filling, there was nothing wrong with eating it as is.  I hesitated.  I did not know what to expect with this new confection that was thrust in front of me.  I was told (keep in mind, we were speaking in French the whole time) that it was sweet, creamy, and rich.  I turned the jar around in my hands and looked at the ingredients, and there were very few - milk and sugar.  But in a jar?  And brown?  Well, I supposed calling it brown does not do it justice.  It was a deep amber color.  I opened the jar and smelled the concoction and the sweetness intoxicated me.  I gingerly placed the spoon into the jar and took as little as I could without being rude, and then I tasted it.  I tasted Dulce de Leche for the first time in my life in the spring of 1994, and that is when I fell in love.

I fell in love with the complexity of the flavors that such few ingredients could make.  The mixture was sweet, thick, and heavy, and begged me to plunge the spoon in over and over again.  I was like a mad woman, and I could not stop myself.  My Argentine friend looked at me and just started laughing.  I sheepishly started to ask if I could have the jar.  I wanted to take it back to my apartment with me.  I wanted to savor the rest of sweetness alone on another day.

I will never forget the first time I tasted Dulce de Leche.  It has since never tasted as sweet, as luxurious, or as seductive.  However, I have always wanted to recreate the flavors.

While I cannot begin to claim that this is anywhere close to that first experience, it does beg you to come back for more.  Alton Brown inspired this recipe.

Dulce de Leche

4 C whole milk

1 1/2 C sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

Combine the milk, sugar, and vanilla in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer stirring occasionally.  Once the sugar is dissolved, add the baking soda and incorporate the ingredients.  Change the heat to "low" and as the mixture cooks, remove the foam from the top if it appears.  You will need to cook this for 2 1/2 - 3 hours until the mixture reduces by about 1/2, turns a light amber color, and starts to thicken like loose caramel.  Please be patient.  The first batch I made did not work, so I tried it again and it worked.  To this day, I am not sure what happened with that first batch!

What to do with this? Ummm, eat as is, serve over ice cream, bananas, poke holes in a cake and pour into a cake, add some rum to it and pour it into a cake... get the picture???

Getting Cultured

I have eaten yogurt for as long as I can remember - all kinds of yogurt.  When I was little, I would scrap the bottom of the plastic containers to ensure that every bit of the Dutch Apple did not go to waste.  My mother's favorite yogurt was Coffee.  It was a simple, rich flavor that had the deep undertones of coffee and the tartness of the yogurt that one comes to expect.  For an extra special treat, we would all walk down to Thayer Street in Providence and go to a little restaurant called Penguins, which served up the most amazing frozen yogurt I have ever had.  If you have tried Pinkberry, that would be the closest think to what Penguins served - but Penguins really served the real thing.  This was real, unadulterated frozen yogurt.  Topping included honey, shredded coconut, and granola.  None of this Captain Crunch stuff.

There are many different kinds of yogurt out there, and I find that it always tastes better someplace else.  Let me explain.  When I travel, which I do quite often, yogurt is a very recognizable food that is found in almost every culture.  It is different from what we have in the United States, and I often find it better.  In the markets in London, entire rows in the Dairy Section have yogurt varieties.  The same is true in France.  The options are truly endless.  I also found this to be the case in Canada.  (Visiting grocery stores in foreign countries is one of my favorite things to do - I think that you can learn more about a place by its food and what is found in the local markets than the local museums...) 

Several years ago, my aunt invited me to southern Italy, where we drank prosecco, sipped limoncello, and licked gelato.  She planned an amazing trip, and part of her planning included a visit to an organic buffalo farm.  The farm was in Paestum, which is known for its Greek Temples.  However, since 1988 Tenuta Vannulo has been producing mozzarella and it is Italy's only organic buffalo farm.  This is not your typical farm... it happened to be the cleanest farm I ever stepped foot on.  There was no "farm" smell.  The grounds, in typical Italian style, were stunning, pristine, and inviting.  Even more inviting were the flavors of the mozzarella, which we were able to taste the second it was made, the gelato, and the yogurt - all from buffalo milk.  Buffalo milk has a higher fat content that cow's milk (almost double), so it yields a creamier richer product.  And did I mention the yogurt???

 

More recently, Hector and I traveled to Morocco, and one morning while in Tangiers we received little glass jars with white plastic lids on top.  Each jar held about 6 ounces of creamy yogurt.  There were six of us traveling together, and one person in our group opened up the jar, peered in, and put the lid right back on. "I am not eating this."  I was stunned.  "Why not?" I asked. "I am sure that I will get sick."  I had already spooned some honey into mine and was more than half-way through.  It was the second time I had tasted fresh yogurt.  Her rudeness made me forget my manners and I reached across our little table which overlooked some open markets that had fresh loaves of bread drying on top... I took her yogurt and it straight away.

Since then I have not tasted anything as good, but I have tried to recreate the flavor since we recently received a yogurt maker as a wedding present.  It is worth it - it really and truly is.  While sitting in Italy or Morocco might be a little more romantic than Boston, I am still able to get cultured in this city after all.

Falling in Love with Figs

There is something incredibly sexy about the fig.  Fresh, dried, cooked, or raw they hold an element of lure, lust, and desire.  While I have eaten dried and cooked figs for years, I fell in love with fresh figs last year during my 3-week trip to Spain and Morocco.  When my friend Asha began to pick up the figs from the fruit buffet in Madrid and then again in Marrakesh, I was intrigued and followed suit.  Sweet, soft, and decadent were the first adjectives to come into my mind.  After those bites, I was hooked, and upon my return sought out the fruit whenever I could.  Late summer / early fall is one of my favorite times of year and I now pick up figs whenever I can.

I remember a pint that was sitting in the back of my refrigerator, and I needed to do something with the precious fruit before they collapsed into each other due to their delicate nature.  I decided that with winter coming, I could turn fresh fruit into preserves and use them to top yogurt throughout the coming months.  I opened up my Joy of Cooking and searched for a jam recipe.  To my surprise, there was nothing there.  I then picked up my 2004 version of Cook's Illustrated The Best New Recipe.  Nothing.  How could neither of these book have recipes for jam?  I remembered that I had recently acquired a 1943 issue of  Joy of Cooking from my grandmother's house (which, as an aside, she recently sold after the house remained in the family for more than 170 yrs).  Sure enough the 1943 edition met my needs.  I adapted some of the multiple recipes that I found and came up with this recipe.  It is perfection on top of plain yogurt.  Absolutely a perfect dessert.  The jam itself is healthy - fruit, lemon juice, water, some agave nectar, and fruit pectin.  The recipe could be adapted for other fruits.

2 C quartered fresh figs 

3 tbsp agave nectar

1/4 lemon juice

1 C water

3 tbsp fruit pectin

Mix the figs, agave, lemon juice, and water together.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat and allow to reduce slightly - about 15 minutes.  

Add the pectin - sprinkle over the top while stirring - and continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes.  Reduce heat to low, and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Turn heat off and allow to cool.  Place into a sterilized jar if you plan to wait before eating, or into a covered container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

 

Two for Tuesday

It all began with a brownie recipe gone wrong.  Seven Spoons made a brownie recipe for a party and accidentally doubled the amount of butter.  She sent out a twitter message and suddenly, Lemonpi, Sevenspoons, and I were all a twitter about the brownies and their decadent goodness with the additional butter in the recipe.  Seven Spoons was concerned that the recipe might be ruined, however she soon realized that the brownies had entirely too much goodness.  Very quickly, Lemonpi and I were invited over for a brownie party.  Now as tempting as that sounds, Seven Spoons is in Canada, Lemonpi is in Australia, and I am in America.  However, I would have no problem packing my bags for a brownie party and headed out the door to EITHER ONE of those fab destinations!

So after this lengthy twitter conversation, I decided that I needed to pair up Seven Spoons with Lemonpi for this week's Two for Tuesday!

Seven Spoons...A beautiful 7-spoon icon in the upper right corner of her blog set off by a white background make's Tara's blog clean, neat, and sophisticated.  She is not new to the blogging world.  In fact, her posts date back to 2005, and one of her first posts is a Fig, Prosciutto, and Goat Cheese salad.  She also has Irish Soda Bread Pudding with Raisin Jam, and a delectable post on chocolate cake.  If this is not enough for you, check out her Chocolate Almond Toffee Bars!  Her instructions are clear to follow and each recipe is preceded by a fabulous anecdotal story.

Lemonpi...her photos are pieces of art.  The composition, the balance, the colors, and, of course, the food that is at the center of the photos.  Her most recent post is that of a "Frozen liquid poppyseed sable, yuzu curd, vanilla ice-cream, elderflower jelly, meringue".  It is on all accounts incredible.  If you delve deeper into her blog posts, you will stumble across "White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Blondies", a Christmas Yule Log, and "Jill Dupleix's Boil and Bake Fruit Cake".  You should also know that Lemonpi is a member of the Daring Baker's Challenge.  Watch for her entries each month.  I guarantee she will take each recipe to a level higher than you imagined!

Check out their blogs, and looks for them on Twitter! Usernames:  Sevenspoons & Lemonpi!

Two for Tuesday #4

I become very nostalgic when it comes to a previous life that I used to have.  You see, years ago I worked for Club Med.  "Oh how fantastic!"  Is often the first reaction that comes out of people's mouth.  Well, yes in a lot of ways it was really fantastic.  It was also the hardest job I have ever had.  16-18 hr day, 7 days a week, 6 months at a time.  I got half a day off the day before I left for a week off before my next club.  (I heard that people working for the Club now get a day off a week... so not the same Club Med!)  In any event, when I stumble upon anything that brings me back to that life, I feel instantly connected to it.  After following David Lebovitz for a while, I read that he was packing for a trip.  And yes, you guessed it, to Club Med for a trip with a bunch of food bloggers and that is how I stumbled upon two other fantastic bloggers that I simply cannot get enough of:  SteamyKitchen and WhiteonRice.

Jaden Hair, (SteamyKitchen) focuses on Asian recipes, has some video bits (which is great, because it really personalizes everything) and even some podcasts.  She also has recently started some fantastic giveaways.  Her recipes range from Appetizers/Little Bites to Fast Asian Recipes to Favorite Asian Recipes to Healthy Asian Recipes to Photography/Blog Tips.  You see, not only is the site colorful and full of fabulous food, but it is helpful.  So check it out, you WILL NOT be dissapointed.

OK, can you imagine living, playing, working, and BLOGGING with your spouse?  Well that is exactly what the White on Rice Couple does.  Todd and Diane are based out of LA, and they cook, photograph, and teach all things food.  Their food and site is art for the eyes combining her Vietnamese background and his American.  From their Victory Garden to cocktails to an entire section on noodles, this site rocks.  Visually, it is beautiful, and will keep you clicking on page after page.

Dining in D.C.

I missed my "Two for Tuesday" yesterday while sitting in the airport delayed for hours during a thunder storm.  When I finally got back to Boston it was close to midnight, and I would never have made the deadline.  Something just did not feel right about trying to do a Tuesday post early Wednesday morning.  While I wrote 1/4 of the post Monday evening, you will have to wait for NEXT Tuesday to read the rest!

So until then, an update on the tasty treats we consumed while in D.C. for the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association Lobby Day.

Eating is really our thing, and it started at Zaytinya, one of Jose Andres' restaurants.  Middle Eastern-style mezze was a perfect way to begin the weekend.  We started with pomegranate infused olive oil...
several mezze later led us tzatziki...
  and then after plates of eggplant, fattoush, grilled lamb, and copious amounts of bread, turkish coffee was definitely in order...

After our meal at Zatinya, we anxiously waited to dine at Oyamel, Andres' Mexican-inspired establishment.  We sat at the bar and drank margaritas, at two-bite tacos with home-made corn tortillas, quickly spooned red-snapper ceviche into our mouths, and munched on the perfectly seasoned chips with the smokey chipotle salsa. 

Monday night came, and we were loathe to go and sit at a banquet dinner.  Our friend Laura recommended Oprah's former Chef Art Smith's restaurant Art & Soul, which was located right across the street from our hotel in Capitol Hill.  While I tend to be skeptical of restaurants in hotels, this one is not to be missed.  It has atmosphere, charm, and lots of soul!

So between the ribs (for Hector...)and the seared tuna, with corn fritter (for me) the two us were very happy as we took in the Art and the Soul at Art Smith's restaurant and all the better for it that he left Oprah and came to D.C...