Birth of a Butterfly

I wanted to make bread today for world bread day but life took over, the life of a monarch butterfly to be precise. Three falls ago I planted three milk weed plants to attract monarch butterflies to lay eggs on the leaves and observe the caterpillars. Within days there were dozens of green eggs that hatched into tiny caterpillars that devoured the plants. One day they all disappeared to form their chrysalis so I never saw the full cycle of this beautiful organism. Last fall there were not butterflies, but this year they came back and we were lucky to observe 6 juicy caterpillars fattening up in front of our eyes. When they started moving away I decided to trap one in a vase so we could see the miracle of the birth of the butterfly. It took three weeks for the chrysalis to fully mature, probably because it got really cold for a while. Today I was able to observe the miracle of the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis and take these pictures. Just breath taking.

Remember this fella?

Three weeks ago

Yesterday

Early this morning

Emerging from the chrysalis

Wings are growing fast

Ten minutes later

Trying to get out

It's a boy!

Warming up for the big migration to Mexico. I hope he makes it.

Concord Grape Sorbet for Pink October

Why the pink? October is breast cancer awareness month and for the past three years Matthew Oliphant has organized this wonderful event, turning pink one blog at the time. There are many reasons I joined this event besides having breasts, mostly because I know many women who had breast cancer, including few who lost their battle to cancer. I also live in a county that has one of the highest breast cancer incidences in the USA, and nobody knows why. Recently two breast cancer walks passed through my town, with all the participants wearing pink, including a Harley Davidson leathered driver that had draped a very pink bra on the front of his bike. What a sight!

I have meant to make this sorbet since tasting it at the restaurant Chez Panisse, and when I saw some concord grapes at my local grocery store I knew I couldn't wait any longer. Concord grapes are native of North America, the result of a cross between European and Native American varieties. They have very thick skin, lots of seeds and are rich in tannins, which makes eating them an interesting experience. The deep purple skins turned this sorbet a beautiful hue, not quite pink, but still very feminine. It was better than expected and so simple to make.



Concord Grape Sorbet

3 pounds concord grapes
1 1/8 cup of sugar
1 TBS lemon juice

Remove the grapes from the stems, add 1/8 cup of water and cook until all the grapes have popped and are very soft. Add the sugar, pass through a sieve and chill overnight. Freeze according to your ice cream maker.

Daring Bakers-Vols-au-vent, Two Ways

It seems that I am not learning from past DB challenges. I won't bore with the details of my busy life, but just know that I am not even working full time, only 2 days at the farmers' market and I can't seem to get organized. Time is flying under my eyes, and I find myself in disbelief every month, with another challenge I haven't even put into my brain for a second. Why do I always find myself at the last minute? Why am I so disorganized? I ended up making the puff pastry on Tuesday but it wasn't until today that I managed to put together the dessert and take pictures. Lesson learned? Maybe..., only time will tell.

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' Challenge has been chosen by Steph of a whisk and a spoon. Steph chose Vols-au-Vent, which we are pretty sure in French means, “After one bite we could die and go to heaven!”

For the complete recipe and a wonderful slide show of all the other wonderful creations please visit the Daring Kitchen site.

I had made puff pastry before so I wanted to try something different for this challenge. Since I always wanted to try from Sherry Yard's pistachio recipe from The Secrets of Baking, I decided to give it a try for this challenge. Sherry's recipe is slightly different than the one for the challenge, but the butter amount is the same so I added the 3 ounces of pistachio paste the recipe calls for to the 1 pound of butter. The puff pastry acquired a very pale green color so I didn't bother taking a picture of the dough. The resulting baked vols-au-vent were slightly darker than the ones without the pistachio paste, and to my disappointment they didn't really have a marked pistachio flavor.


I have wanted to make and write about a baked peach dessert for a long time but never managed before until now. So when I went to the market I was really shocked to realize that Fall has arrived and not many stone fruits were left but I found some good looking white peaches. My readers will have to wait until next year to try this, unless they are in the Southern Hemisphere. I used to make a variation of this dessert in the last restaurant where I worked, and it sold really well. The peaches were baked at 375-400F in a sweet dessert wine. Then I made a zabaglione with the same wine, which is lightened with some whipped cream to cut the sweetness. I used to serve the peaches cold with the same pistachio streusel I wrote about here and here. I love this recipe for its versatility, and the crunchiness it adds to desserts.

I also made some pizzette, Venetian style, with mozzarella, tomatoes and anchovies. They turned out pretty close to what you may find in many osterie in Venice, really tasty.

Thanks Steph for choosing this recipe and to Lisa of Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for creating this wonderful group and bringing all these wonderful challenges, month after month.

Which Way is Up?

I planted few Milkweed plants three years ago in the hope of attracting Monarch Butterflies to lay eggs in the garden. Within few days we had eggs which hatched into 24 caterpillars! Last year there were no eggs, but this year we have 6 juicy caterpillars devouring the plants. Gotta love nature!

Fig Walnut Ice Cream, an Anniversary, and a Request

Ten years have passed since the death of my mother in law. She died too young, and I can't believe it still. Somehow every time we drive to Los Angeles, I picture seeing her, hugging her, enjoying her company. She was a great lover of food, and one great supporter of my creations, and never said no to a cake I would bring to all the family meetings. I miss her terribly, so this ice cream is dedicated to Marilyn, who would have licked the spoon with delight.

My friend Darren is raising money in order to participate at the Leukemia Cup Regatta that is being held in the San Francisco Bay next weekend. This regatta is part of a bigger fund raising effort by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, with events throughout the States. Darren has raised 69% of his contribution but unfortunately he is $600 short of the minimum that will allow him to sail on Saturday. Today is the last day he can try to raise the final $600. In this tough economy he relies on the generosity of his friends and relatives, so it would be really sad if he weren't able to participate to this event which means so much to him. I am asking my readers to generously donate any little amount to help my friend honor his mother and her long struggle with Leukemia. So please visit his web page and follow the directions. As someone who lost a loved one to a long struggle with cancer, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, every little amount counts.

I recently tried a sorbet made with figs and walnuts and it was delicious. You could first taste the sweetness of the figs, followed by the slight bitterness of the walnuts. Since I can't eat enough figs, and they are so bountiful and relatively cheap now, I tried this combination in an ice cream version.

A recipe by David Lebovitz was the starting point for this ice cream, to which I added a step in which I steeped some walnuts in the cream for an hour, and omitted the lemon. The resulting ice cream has a wonderful texture, is not too sweet and delicious!

Fig Walnut Ice Cream
3 cups

2 pounds fresh figs, cut in 8th
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup walnut pieces

Cook the figs with the sugar until jam like consistency, set aside to cool. Bring the cream to a boil and steep the walnuts for an hour. Add the cream to the cooled figs and puree until the desired consistency. Chill the ice cream base completely and then freeze it according to your ice cream maker. Enjoy!

Fig Tart-Pure Buttery Bliss

First came the fig, then the tart, followed by pure buttery bliss. Fork is optional, eating with your fingers is allowed.

I am truly enjoying the fruits of late summer, like tomatoes, pears, and figs. This tart is one of the best things I have eaten in my life, complete sensory satisfaction. For the recipe and the procedure follow the method for the rhubarb tart, just add quartered figs, no extra sugar is needed.

Tomato Quinoa Salad and Roasted Portobello

This meal was eaten a while back, but it wasn't until today that I found time to post about this wonderful dish (this is what happens when the full moon wakes you up at 4 AM). I discovered quinoa more than 10 years ago, when I had it for lunch in Washington D.C. when I was there for a biochemistry conference. I immediately fell in love with this grain and have been making salads with it since then. Quinoa, or Chenopodium quinoa, is a super food, rich in proteins, easy to digest, and very versatile. This plant belongs to the Amaranthaceae family, and is not quite a grain or a cereal, but a relative of plants like beets and spinach, and has been cultivated for thousands of years by the Incas. It comes in three colors, light brown, deep red, and black. Béa, the talented author of La Tartine Gourmande, wrote recently about this wonderful grain, including photos of her trip to Peru. I especially like quinoa paired with tomatoes, they balance each other very well. This time though, I used oven roasted tomatoes to increase the flavor, added avocado and purple basil. I served the quinoa salad with an oven roasted portobello mushroom on a layer of wild arugula, a great combination indeed.

Roasted Tomato Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cups cold water
2 pints cherry tomatoes, or any other type of small tomatoes.
EVOO
one shallots, chopped fine
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
fresh basil, julienned

Cut the tomatoes in half and roast them in a 375F oven until cooked through and they begin to dry, set aside to cool. Cook the quinoa until it is soft, fluffy, and the little outer ring releases. Drain and cool completely. Cut the avocado in cubes, add it to the quinoa, together with the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste.