Any Given Sunday

Lemon & Blood Orange Curd (yes, it really is this color)!

Since maple syrup is not anywhere close to being local to Santa Barbara, we decided to go another route to top our waffles this morning. We squeezed the juice of 2 lemons and 2 blood oranges  (from the trees in our backyard), and proceeded to cook them over very low heat with a cup of super fine sugar and 6 egg yolks. Once the heat was turned off, I stirred in 3 tablespoons of sweet butter and let it chill in the fridge for an hour or so. The resulting curd was not only a delicious topping for today's waffles, it was beautiful to look at as well.

 

Ojai Biscotti for a Rainy Sunday in Santa Barbara

We have the incredible good fortune to be spending weekends together in Santa Barbara until the snow melts and it turns toward spring in Santa Fe. Here is my recipe for biscotti, adapted years ago from the Cantucci di Prato recipe that appeared in the Il Fornaio Baking Book. I call them Ojai Biscotti because of the aroma the orange zest emits when they are first baked. 

 

Ojai Biscotti



2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt 

1 cup whole raw almonds

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 whole eggs


1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the almonds, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and butter. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla, and orange zest and lightly beat with a whisk until blended. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat until a granular dough forms.


Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for one minute. Divide the dough into four equal portions. Using the palms of your hands, roll each portion into a log about 12 inches long and one inch in diameter.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it with butter. Place the logs crosswise on the baking sheet, spacing them about two inches apart. Using the palm of one hand, lightly flatten the top of each log until it is about ½-inch thick. Bake the logs in the preheated oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet until they can be handled, about 10 minutes. Leave the oven set at 350°F.

Transfer the logs to a cutting board and cut them crosswise on the diagonal into pieces ½-inch wide. Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it with butter. Arrange the pieces cut sides down on the two baking sheets. Return the cookies to the oven and bake until they are lightly toasted and the edges are golden brown, 10 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets before serving. Store in a covered container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

 

Harvesting tomatoes and making Nana's sauce!

These San Marzanos were sent to us last winter as seeds from Boston's North End, thanks to the wisdom and thoughtfulness of our good friends, Doug and Dianne Langeland. They were started on our dining room window sill in early February. Picking them now feels like an incredibly rich reward, full of friendship and love.

My Nana made one of the most delicious, yet simple, Marinara sauces I've ever tasted. Here is a link to the recipe (complete with photo gallery of the step-by-step process for making it: http://www.traceyryder.com/my_weblog/2008/09/marinara-sauce.html

If your garden (or farmers market) is overly full of tomatoes right now. Make several batches and put them up for a delicious winter taste treat. There are plenty of great books on canning processes widely available today.

Jam Tart

This tart is one of the easiest desserts you'll ever make, providing you are able to make a simple pie crust. Any basic påte brisée recipe will work. For the filling, all you'll need is a jar of very delicious homemade jam. The one I use is from Heidi's Organic Raspberry farm - it is sold at the Santa Fe Farmers Market and is amazingly fresh and delicious without being overly sweet.

For the crust:

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour and two sticks of butter in the bowl of your food processor and add ice water (up to 1/3 cup) until dough forms and holds together in a ball. Roll out onto floured work surface until approximately 12 - 15 inches across and 1/4 inch thick. Dough does not have to be perfectly round since you will be folding the sides over the tart before baking and a irregular shape looks great.

Place dough onto a sheet of parchment paper that has been placed onto a cookie sheet and is trimmed to fit its dimensions.

For the filling:

Spread a jar of your favorite (preferably, homemade) jam onto the center of the dough, making sure to leave about 3" border of dough around the edges. Fold edges over the center where the jam has been spread so that the jam doesn't leak out while baking.

Using a pastry brush, baste top of crust with an egg wash (one egg, beaten with a fork and combined with a Tablespoon of milk or water).

Place tart in a pre-heated 375º oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and center is bubbling.

Optional garnish: if you have extra fresh fruit in the frig that needs to be used, such as raspberries or blackberries, sprinkle those over jam before baking.

Caramel Ice Cream with Caramel Sauce and Fleur de Sel

This is a dreamy custard-style ice cream that is not too sweet at all. The caramel sauce actually tastes more along the lines of a burnt caramel sauce so it adds depth of flavor instead of sweetness. The sprinkle of Fleur de Sel adds just the right amount of saltiness, which brings the whole desert into balance.

The recipe works best if you can make it at least one day ahead of when you plan to eat it.

For the Ice Cream

Ingredients:

¾ cup of sugar plus 2 Tablespoons

2 Tablespoons water

½ tsp fresh lemon juice

1 cup heavy cream

5 large egg yolks

2 tsp Fleur de Sel sea salt

1 ½ cups whole mile

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

In a heavy 2- to 4-quart saucepan, combine sugar, water and lemon juice. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring with wooden spoon until sugar dissolves, 1-2 minutes. Stop stirring at this point and cook until syrup is amber colored, 5 to 10 minutes over medium-high heat. Swirl while cooking to ensure it doesn’t burn and watch closely. 

Remove the pan from the heat and pour ¾ cup of the cream into the hot syrup (be careful to not burn yourself as it may splatter). Stir with wooden spoon until smooth. Place over medium heat and cook until mixture barely begins to boil, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, combine egg yolks, salt, 2 Tablespoons of sugar, and remaining ¼ cup of the cream in a bowl. Whisk until smooth, then stir in the milk.

Pour the milk mixture into the warm caramel syrup and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and keeping the custard at a low simmer, until it lightly coats the back of a spoon, 4-8 minutes. Make sure to not let the custard boil. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Stir in the vanilla.

Allow mixture to cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours. Pour custard into ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions. Transfer ice cream to a covered container and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.

Just before serving, stir some of the caramel sauce into the ice cream, adding a sprinkle of Fleur de Sel directly onto the ribbon of caramel sauce, then fold together with ice cream so that salt and sauce are loosely blended into ice cream. Serve immediately. Be careful not to over mix.

For the Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

I cup heavy cream

1 cup sugar

½ cup water

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method:

Combine water and sugar in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves completely and the syrup is clear. Stop stirring and continue cooking until syrup turns a golden brown. Once syrup begins turning amber colored, it will burn quickly so watch it very closely. You want a medium brown colored syrup but not burned. Once you have the correct color, remove from heat and slowly add the heavy cream, being careful not to burn yourself when mixture splatters. Once cream is incorporated, place over low heat and stir until all the caramel and cream are fully integrated. You may need to use a whisk to get it fully blended. Let simmer over low heat for another minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Serve warm or at room temperature. Sauce can be stored in a canning jar and refrigerated for up to a month.

Rhubarb Brown Sugar Crumble

Last night, we enjoyed this wonderful spring desert, fresh from the pages of Edible Vineyard.

This recipe is by Karen Barker and was first published in Fine Cooking magazine.

Vanilla ice cream is a natural with this homey favorite.

1 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

FOR THE TOPPING
4 1/2 oz. (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
4 oz. (8 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

FOR THE FILLING
7 cups 1/3-inch-thick sliced rhubarb (about 2 lbs.)
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (from 1 medium lemon, using a rasp-style grater)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Position rach in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8x8-inch Pyrex baking dish with the softened butter.
MAKE THE TOPPING In a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt and pulse several times to combine. Add the cold butter and pulse until the mixture has the texture of coarse meal and clumps together when squeezed lightly, about 1 minutes.
MAKE THE FILLING Combine the rhubarb, brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl and stir with a spatula until evenly mixed. Transfer the mixture to the baking pan, and sprinkle the topping over the fruit; the pan will be very full, but the crumble will settle as it bakes.
Bake until the topping is lightly browned, the rhubarb is tender (probe in the center with a skewer to check), and the juices are bubbling thickly around the edges, 45 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool to warm or room temperature to allow the juices to thicken, 1 hour.

Serves 6 to 8

Romero Farms Red Chile Con Carne

April is a true “shoulder season” in Santa Fe — definitely still not winter but not fully spring either. Our farmers market might be the place this is most evident. When we visited on Saturday, there was an array of the first-of-the-season asparagus, pea shoots and young goat cheeses right next door to fresh-ground blue cornmeal and dried chiles. Since April evenings have the potential to become quite cold even though the days are warming nicely, I thought it would be good to share the following recipe from Romero Farms which is warming but not heavy.

Ingredients:
2 oz. seeded and stemmed Romero Farms red chile pods
2 lbs. ground beef
2 TBSP. fresh chopped garlic
1/4 cup flour
Kosher salt
water

Procedure:
Place chiles in a large pot and cover with water. Boil for 20 minutes with lid on. Turn off and allow to soak for 10 minutes more. Remove chiles from water and place in blender with four cups of water. Puree until smooth. Brown ground beef in this bottom, 6 quarter dutch oven. Cook until well-browned. Add garlic, flour and salt. Cook an additional 5 minutes. Add pureed chiles and three cups of water. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with fresh beans and tortillas. Makes 4 quarts of red chile, which can be frozen for later use. 

White Beans and Sage

This is pretty much an "un-recipe" since it's not exact in the way a "real" recipe is but if you've ever soaked beans for another recipe in the past, this will seem familiar to you.

It basically goes like this (feel free to improvise): soak a one-pound bag of cannellini beans in water overnight (should be enough water to cover beans by at least double their mass since it will get soaked up as the beans absorb the water). The next morning, drain any excess water from the beans and rinse them thoroughly. Set aside until ready to cook.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, saute the following ingredients in 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil: one medium onion (or two shallots), chopped; three or four cloves or garlic, chopped; a bundle of sage and one large poblano chile pepper (the chile pepper is optional). After the onion, garlic, sage and chile pepper have become soft (approximately 5 minutes at medium heat), add beans along with 6 cups of vegetable or chicken stock and cook over medium heat until beans are soft and have absorbed all the stock. If stock cooks off completely before beans are soft, you will have to add more stock or water until beans are fully cooked. Once the beans are cooked through, remove the sage and serve it either as a soup (if there is enough liquid left) or you can serve it as a vegetable side dish. Another option is to puree the mixture into a thick soup. No matter how you serve it, you have rich, flavorful, protein-rich dish you will want to enjoy again and again.

Purée of Celery Root Soup

This Sunday felt so much like spring that I wanted to cook something that tasted like spring as well. I had peas on the brain when I went to the market but there were none to be found so I settled on three big celery root bulbs and made a pureed soup out of them. Served with more olive oil drizzled over the top than you think it needs, a crusty bread and a green salad with lemony vinaigrette - delicious! 

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil

3 small leeks, white part only, coarsely chopped

2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2½ cups peeled, coarsely chopped celery root (about 1 pound after peeling, or 3 medium-size root balls)

3 cups homemade vegetable broth

4 to 7 tablespoons heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black (or white) pepper

Extra olive oil for drizzling over finished soup
Fresh cilantro or tarragon for garnish

Method:

1. Place olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add leek, onion, celery and garlic and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Add celery root and stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until celery root is tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes.

3. Using a blender and working in batches, purée soup until smooth. Add cream as needed to enrich soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve soup in warmed bowls. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and cilantro or tarragon, serve hot.

Yield: 4 servings 

Our Favorite Sunday Breakfast

Polenta and Chorizo

A hot creamy bowl of polenta with good chorizo is one of our all-time favorite breakfast meals, especially during the winter. The polenta takes 25-30 minutes to cook but it's worth the wait.

Ingredients

1/2 lb. chorizo sausage

5 cups water

1 cup polenta or grits

2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese (or parmesan - see note below)

1 tablespoon butter

salt & pepper to taste

sour cream for garnish

cilantro for garnish

hot sauce to add heat (optional)

Cook chorizo sausage in a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat until done, approximately 10 minutes. Keep warm.

Cook polenta in a medium-sized, heavy bottom sauce pan by bringing 5 cups of lightly salted water to a boil, then slowly pouring in polenta while stirring constantly so that it doesn't lump. Once all the polenta in stirred into the water and the mixture has returned to the boil, turn temperature down to medium-low and let cook for 25 minutes longer, stirring occasionally throughout the cooking process so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of your pan. Cook until polenta is the consistency of a thick custard. Turn off heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese. This will make the polenta quite creamy in texture. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.

Note: if you don't have mascarpone cheese on hand, you can use a good quality parmesan instead - just finely grate it and stir it into the polenta after it's cooked, just like you would the mascarpone.

Serve immediately by placing polenta into warmed soup bowls. Spoon cooked chorizo on top of polenta, then garish with sour cream, cilantro and hot sauce to taste.