Refrigerator Chicken Soup

No need to go to the grocery store if you normally are well stocked.

I have been away too long!  Lots has happened, a change of career (yes, again!), few dietary changes, but I am still cooking and baking for my family so more recipes to come.....

When the weather is really gloomy like today a hot soup is what I want to eat.  Knowing I had some frozen chicken broth and lots of vegetables in the fridge I opened the door and pulled all the things that I thought would work in a tasty soup.  In just 20 minutes I had a delicious and nutritious soup.

The recipe below is just a guideline, if you don't have chicken broth use water or a vegetable broth. Beans or quinoa can be used if you are vegetarian.  If you really like ginger add more, or use parsley instead of cilantro, be creative!

Refrigerator chicken soup
serves two


2 cups chicken broth
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 shallots, chopped fine
1 scallion, sliced thin
1 medium carrot thinly sliced
1 stalk of celery thinly sliced
1 garlic clove
1 small piece of ginger, sliced
1/4 finely sliced napa cabbage
half bunch cilantro, chopped fine
1 cup water
4 oz chicken thigh, cut in small cubes
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sauce pan heat up the olive oil, add the sliced onions, celery, carrot, and garlic and cook until translucent. Add the ginger, the broth, the cabbage, and a cup of water.  Cook for 10 minutes, add the cilantro, the meat and cook for 5 more minutes.

For the Children and the Staff of Sandy Brook

With unbelievable grief and sadness, I pay tribute to the children and the teachers lost in this horrible tragedy.   My heart breaks for their families and friends.

Charlotte Bacon 6

Daniel Barden 7 

Olivia Engel 6

Josephine Gay 7 

Ana M. Marquez-Greene 6

Dylan Hockley 6

Madeleine F. Hsu 6

Catherine V. Hubbard 6

Chase Kowalski 7

Jesse Lewis 6

James Mattioli 6

Grace McDonnell 7

Emilie Parker 6

Jack Pinto 6

Noah Pozner 6

Caroline Previdi 6

Jessica Rekos 6

Avielle Richman 6

Benjamin Wheeler 6

Allison N. Wyatt 6

Rachel Davino

Dawn Hochsprung 

Anne Marie Murphy

Lauren Rousseau

Mary Sherlach

Victoria Soto

Walnut Sponge Cake-Flourless and Delicious

I made this wonderful cake at work as a base for the gorgonzola gelato I wrote about here, it is one of those cakes I can't stop eating and it gets better the next day, so it deserves a post of its own.  The recipe comes from Pure Desserts, written by one of the Bay Area most accomplished cookbook authors, Alice Medrich, and you can see the original picture of the cake on her website.  Her recipes are amazing, and she uses some of my favorite ingredients like cocoa nibs, buckwheat flour, saffron, cardamom, you name it.  

Now that I know I am gluten intolerant and work in a restaurant I always try to have one or two desserts on the menu that are gluten free.  This cake was first suggested to me years ago by a coworker as we were talking about the Pure Dessert book and some of our favorites recipes.  I liked it then, but when I made it recently I realized how truly outstanding this recipe is.  This cake surprised me for its simplicity and amazing taste, and it is so light and the lemon flavor intensifies the next day, you can serve it simply sprinkled with some powder sugar or with some whipped cream.  Alice Medrich suggests to make it with pecans as well.

Walnut Sponge Cake
from Alice Medrich

2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) walnut pieces
5 large eggs, separated
Zest of one lemon
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 325F.  Line an 8" springform pan with parchment paper.
Coarsely chop 1/2 cup of the nuts.  In a food processor process the remaining nuts until fine.  Combine the nuts and set aside.
Whip the yolks with 1/3 cup of sugar until pale yellow, add the lemon zest, vanilla, and salt.
Whip the whites until foamy, then gradually add the 1/4 cup of sugar until soft peaks form.
Add half of the whites to the yolks, then cover with half the nuts.
Gently fold the ingredients until incorporated, then fold in the rest of the nuts and egg whites.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and cook in the pre-heated oven until a toothpick comes out clean, 50-55 minutes.
Cool 5 to 10 minutes then remove from the cake pan.

Enjoy!

Gorgonzola Gelato

I have been aching to write a post for weeks but I don't always have a recipe that is worth presenting here.   I actually wrote a post on a dessert I created but I lost the whole thing in one wrong click, so frustrating.   I love to have a semi-decent photo to go with the recipe and not always I have the time to set up the whole thing nowadays.   Yesterday I brought home the components of the dessert, quickly set up the plate, and took few photos before the ice cream melted in the late season heat the Bay Area is experiencing.

Savory desserts are my passion, a little trickier than the classic, but once I get a good combination, it is hard not to lick my fingers.  This ice cream recipe was passed to me by the executive chef I worked for, and I was very skeptical while making it.  See, I don't care for gorgonzola, I think my system revolts to the mold so I can't eat it at alll.  When he asked me to make this I thought it was going to be a very weird ice cream but when I took my first taste I was hooked!  Savory ice cream indeed, delicious!

I was shown the recipe on an i-pad and I quickly wrote it down on my to do list so I am not sure where the chef found it, but a quick search revealed an identical recipe here.  We decided to use slightly less sugar than the original recipe after we made it the first time.

I paired the ice cream with a flourless walnut cake that deserves its own post, it is delicious.

Gorgonzola Gelato

135 gr Gorgonzola dolce
60 gr heavy whipping cream
550 gr whole milk
225 gr granulated sugar
3 g salt

Remove the cheese rind, and cut it in small pieces.  Bring the cream, milk, sugar and salt to a simmer.  Pour the heated milk onto the cheese and mix until melted.  To ensure that the ice cream stays nice and white do not use an immersion blender or the "mold" part will turn the ice cream an off white color.  Chill completely and freeze according to your ice cream maker instructions.

Postcard from the Garden

I wish I had a recipe for you.  I only have time for a photo from my garden, which is buzzing with bees.

Recently I wrote about my intention of changing career, which is still in the making.  However, a pastry chef job landed on my lap and it was too good to pass.  I am working four days a week, having fun working at a restaurant, working with a super funny and talented chef who was born in a town an hour north of Venice.  We speak the same language, both literally and figuratively, and he makes a killer trippa, or tripe!

Spanish lavender and a very happy honey bee

I am slowly changing the dessert menu, the dessert of the week is roasted peaches, with port zabaglione, lemon verbena ice cream, and pistachio streusel.   Can't wait to go in tomorrow to find out how it sold the first night.

A better post with recipe soon....

Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Shallots and Thyme

This is by far one of the easiest and most delicious dishes I have made  in a long time.  Roasting concentrates the flavor of many vegetables, and it is a quick and easy way to cook them.

I wish I had taken a photo of the carrots before preparing them, they were so beautiful, the colors so intense and appetizing.  I found them at the Point Reyes Farmers' market, which is held on Saturdays during the spring and summer months, such a special spot.  I also saw this beautiful chard but didn't buy it. 

 

This recipe will work with any carrots.   I have used butternut squash before, in which case you can use sage instead. The amounts are just and indication, if you like more thyme feel free to add more.

Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Shallots and Thyme

Two bunches of rainbow carrots

4 medium shallots

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of fresh thyme

salt to taste

 

Pre-heat the oven to 400F.  Peel the shallots, leaving the root side intact, and cut them in thin sections.  Peel and cut the carrot in half lengthwise.   Toss the vegetables with the oil, thyme, and salt.  Cook on a baking pan lined with parchment paper until soft, 15-20 minutes, stirring few times.

Blueberry Tart-Without the Crumb

Remember the blueberry tart from few days ago?  Well since I had dough for another tart shell I used it to make a version of this wonderful apricot tart from Elra's baking, one of my favorite food bloggers.  I figured that most summer fruit will work in this tart, but since I had an over abundance of blueberries you get another blueberry tart.  Cherries would work as well, so would plums.

The crust can be any sweet tart dough of your choice, Elra's recipe, or the recipe I used, which is adapted from Sherry Yard.  The filling is a modified version of Elra's, I used lemon zest to flavor it and I used GF flour in mine.

Delicious!

Blueberry Crumb Pie

For the Crust:
2 cups a/p flour, or GF mix of your choice
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
8 oz cold butter, cut in 1" pieces and chilled
Zest of two lemons
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream

Pie Crust:

Mix the yolks and the cream together, set aside.  Mix the first four ingredients, either in a food processor bowl or a mixer bowl.  Add the chilled butter pieces and the lemon zest, pulse or mix with a paddle attachment until the mixture contains only small pieces of butter.  Add the yolks and cream mixture and pulse or mix just until incorporated.  Roll half of the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate for an hour.  This recipe makes two pie crusts.

Filling:

4 TBS (50 g) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup (30 g) sugar

Zest of one lemon

1 large egg, at room temperature

1/4 cup (50 g) all-purposed flour or G/F flour

1/8 tsp baking powder

1 cup blueberries or fruit of your choice

Cream butter and sugar together, add the zest, mix.  Add the egg and mix until smooth.  Add the flour and baking powder and mix well.  Spread onto the chilled crust shell, distribute the blueberries on top and bake at 375F  for 25 minutes, or until golden.

NOTE:  For tarter fruit like plums I would increase the amount of sugar to maybe a 1/3 cup since the filling is not sweet at all, which is how I like it.