Raspberry Opera Cake

This months Daring Bakers challenge was kind of fun. I've always wanted to make an opera cake, but it's one of those recipes that I just couldn't get around to making. This month we got to make a "light" opera cake. Normally an opera cake is made with chocolate and espresso butter cream, but this time I had to make the cake with light components. I'll admit that I didn't get very adventurous and I went with a flavor combination that I know works well together. The first layer is an almond cake. The cake was then moistened with a lemon syrup. The first two layers were filled with raspberry buttercream. The third layer was topped with white chocolate raspberry mousse.

In the end I was pleased with the challenge. It was a good day spent in the kitchen.

Tart Sweet Hot Delicious

This isn't so much a recipe, but rather a great discovery. Pineapple topped with Thai chillies and flake salt. This makes a great dessert on a hot night. The pineapple was sweet and juicy. The salt is a pleasant contrast and the chillies give the pineapple a complex heat. Give it a shot.

White Chocolate Toffe Oatmeal Cookies

This morning I was perusing my favorite food blogs and came across this great recipe. I had to drop everything and make these cookies. As it turns out they are fantastic. These oatmeal cookies are light and crunchy with a rich buttery flavor. When you bake these cookies the small chunks of caramel bubble up into a crunchy toffe. Makes 24 cookies. Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

1 Cup flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons butter (1 ½ sticks)
1 Cup sugar
¼ Cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ Cup quick oats
4 oz white chocolate chopped into small chunks (NO white chocolate chips)
3 oz chewy caramels cut into small pieces


Preheat oven to 350.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth. Slowly add the flour, oats, white chocolate and caramels.
Scoop the dough into round balls about 2 tablespoons in size. Place six on each cookie sheet. Press them down slightly until they are about ¾” thick. Bake for 12-16 minutes until golden brown. Cool cookies on a cookie rack.

queso fundido

Cynco de Mayo

The star of Cynco de Mayo was our new commercial gas grill. Each burner has 25,000 btu's. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I can tell you this baby can cook. The portable grill is hot fierce mess. We seared off twenty pounds of hanger steaks, chicken verde and spicy shrimp.
On a side note Cynco de Mayo marks our blogs one year anniversary. If you want to take a look at last years celebration go check out here.
Even the Jack and Rufus got in on the fun.

Lemon Chicken

A New Aproach to Tzatziki

I will admit right up front that I have absolutely no preconceived notions of Tzatziki. Peter called this afternoon and suggested that we take dinner to Greece tonight, and I was quick to jump on board. I’ve been thinking about cucumber salad lately and I wanted to take a stab at Tzatziki. So in my mind I wanted a tart creamy salad jam packed with herbs and crunchy cucumbers. I’m not sure if its proper to call this dish tzatziki, but the resulting salad was absolutely fantastic.

I’ve been watching Kyle Kwong’s show Simply Chinese and she does a lot of quick pickles with cucumbers and celery. I was thinking this was the perfect opportunity to try out this new technique. So basically what I did was dice the cucumber and then tossed them with salt and sugar and let them set for fifteen minutes. The salt pulls the water out of the cucumbers and the sugar helps balance the flavors. After fifteen minutes I drained off all of the excess liquid and then let them soak up the red wine vinegar. To finish the dish off I combined the pickled cucumber with Greek yogurt, minced garlic, lemon zest and fresh mint, tarragon and parsley.

Garlic and Horseradish Potato Gratin

I admit it: I totally stole this recipe from my former employer.  Actually, I only saw my old boss make this while I was walking in and out of the kitchen, but it was so good that I remembered its simple ingredients and preparation.

Make this with steak, it's a match made in heaven.  It's also amazing refried for breakfast. When we went sailing over Labor Day Weekend last year, we made so much that we had it with every meal for two days!

3 lbs. potatoes

10-15 cloves garlic, peeled

1 - 4 inch piece fresh horseradish root

parmaggiano reggiano or other melty, yummy cheese

1 pint heavy cream

salt and pepper

crushed red pepper

  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grate the horseradish.  Combine with garlic cloves and cream and heat in a small saucepan on low heat until simmering.  Remove from the heat and let steep 20-30 minutes.  Meanwhile, peel and slice the potatoes into 1/8" slices.  Arrange the potatoes in a gratin dish, sprinkle with generous amounts of kosher salt and ground pepper.  Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes and grate the cheese over the top.  Cook in the oven until the potatoes are cooked through and the cheese is gold and bubbly. 

The Magic of Spring

Today was pure magic. After weeks, no months of rain and dark skies the sun burst through today with a vengeance. The market was off the hook. It was packed, people where smiling and I even talked with complete strangers. It’s amazing what happens in Portland when the sun shines. Peter and I are having some friends over this weekend for a spring vegetable Frito. We’re going to fry up baby artichoke hearts and fiddle head ferns. We’re also going to make morel mushroom pasta.

After working in the yard all day we were to tired to cook, so our spring meal will just have to wait for one more day.

The First Week of the Farmers Market

I woke up this morning at 6:30, and as soon as I opened my eyes I started thinking about what I was going to find at the market today. Naturally it was a cold and rainy morning, but that didn't stop the crowds. It was great to see so many happy faces and even some familiar ones.

Peter and I grabbed a couple of fun things. We got fiddle head ferns, radishes, nettle greens, green garlic and spring onions. I think we'll find something fun to make with those tonight.