like the corners of my mind

memory.

and food.

or drink.

my first visit to rwanda finds me stranded in african luxury, sans access to my habitual morning café creme. eschewing the call of filtered coffee, and in need of my milky fix, i am offered french press coffee (real rwandan beans) with steamed milk. somewhat sceptical, i relent.

that first morning, deep in the heart of east africa, i overlook the capital kigali from a tiled terrace. the delicious breakfast - buffet style - is incredible, incredibly. fresh everything, from vegetables, roasted tomatoes, salmon (inexplicably offered in this very land locked country); fresh scones; and my personal favorite, kenyan yogurt with blossom honey. it beckons a flurry of activity ... from terrace to dining room and back, many a time.

on my second or third trip, filling up plates shamelessly (seems like an odd indulgence in africa - or maybe an odd privilege?), my coffee appears. a small carafe of fresh brewed java, plunged in front of me to release the full flavor just as i sink into my chair. with my customary raw sugar and steamed milk. enough for two or three cups, at minimum.

those early days of discovery on this continent, and the satisfaction, reward, and wonder that the trip brings, are forever tied to certain triggers. the acrid smell of smoke in the morning (wafting from homes burning charcoal or wood); the verdant hillsides of this tiny country, always encountered at 50 mph; the gripping handshake cementing friendship with a smile (forgive me my sentimentality); and of course, the newly rediscovered passion for french press coffee.

i mimic this part of the ritual every morning at 9:15, back home in the comfort of my suburban home. the house is quiet, work has begun, and i steal a few moments pour moi, to enjoy two yummy cups of the brew. it always brings me 'back', and therein lies the rub - i don't really think it's the taste of the coffee that tantalizes ... rather, it's the taste of my time, on my own, enjoying one of life's adventures.

when life gives you meyer lemons ...

what the heck is a meyer lemon, anyhow? juicy, ripe, sweet, and almost orange, these citrus gifts can be found (briefly) at the local market. guess where it hails from, originally (think toys, clothes, and lead toothpaste) ... right, china.

but unlike other things from this far-flung nation, the origins of the meyer lemon are steeped in tradition, and not a burgeoning economy. named for an employee of the u.s. department of agriculture, these fragrant beauties are cultivated right here at home.

inspiring in a lemon tarte with a crispy crust, they play a role in both the flavor and visuals of this glossy dessert. don't be a sour-puss ... give it a whirl!

meyer lemon curd tarte
prepare the crust:
1. in the bowl of a food processor, combine 1.5 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and pulse; stop the blade and add 1-1/2 sticks butter (cubed into 10 pieces) - pulse again until the mixture has small bits of butter covered in the dry ingredients [do NOT make a paste]
2. add 6 tablespoons of cold ice water, and pulse again until the mixture is finer (but not a dough) - it has enough liquid if the blend can be pressed together
3. turn the bowl out on the counter, and quickly pat the ingredients together in a ball or dome form - wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 45 minutes [now's the time to make the curd filling, below]
4. preheat the oven to 375º
5. remove the dough, unwrap, and use a rolling pin to flatten to 1/4 inch thickness - you should get a large circle of pastry, which you can then line a tarte pan with (fluted or straight-sided, with a removable bottom)
6. pierce the bottom of the shell with a knife so air can escape, and bake uncovered until the tarte is completely golden brown (note: turn the pan in the oven halfway around about 20 minutes into the process)

for the meyer lemon curd:
1. in a stand mixer bowl, place 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks (reserve the extra 2 egg whites at room temperature) - add 1 cup sugar and whip fervently until the mixture is creamy and pale in color
2. zest 4 meyer lemons (or 2 regular lemons) and add to the egg batter, along with the juice of all of the lemons - whip again briefly, just to incorporate
3. in a saucepan, heat 1 inch of cold water, bringing it quickly to the boil - reduce to simmer, and place the stand mixer metal bowl with the above ingredients over the saucepan - whisk constantly in this makeshift double boiler to thicken the custard [note: the hot water should NOT be touching the underside of the metal bowl]
4. when the mixture is thickened, immediately remove from the hot water below, and pour it into a mixing bowl - add 1/2 cup heavy cream and whisk to combine
5. wash out the mixing bowl and whip, making certain that it is completely dry ... add the remaining 2 egg whites and whip until frothy; slowly add 1/2 cup sugar along the side of the bowl with the stand mixer running to make a 'meringue' (add the sugar very, very slowly!) ... the egg whites will turn from translucent beige to opaque white and fairly stiff and glossy - that's when they're ready!
6. add the meringue to the lemon curd batter, and it's ready to go into the baked tarte shell

NOTE: when the tarte shell comes out of the oven, leave it in the pan (don't remove the bottom); slowly pour the custard into the center of the shell, slowly, and let it creep towards the edges - fill it all the way, but don't overflow it (there's nothing wrong with a bit of extra lemon curd in the house, but a messy tarte? there's no excuse for that!). refrigerate your delicious and shiny confection, and enjoy with a bit of raspberry coulis on the side, some candied lemon peel, or even a dollop of chocolate ganache and creme fraiche!!!

lemons never had it so good!

please don't break my heart!

so, the jews don't acknowledge it. the muslims outright ban it (at least in jeddah and riyadh). but there's no doubt about it - it's valentines day! now we don't have to get into all the nitty gritty details - who's the patron saint of what, etc.. just think of it as a time to express yourself, and let the love shine through!

and speaking of expressing yourself, may i be so bold as to recommend these super delicious cookies, which as it turns out, are best eaten in pairs (one is not enough, and three is too many!) ... enjoy that special glow!

have a heart cookies:
1. preheat oven to 300º
2. in a mixing bowl pair 2 sticks of plugra butter (1/2 pound) with 1 cup confectioner's sugar - beat in your stand mixer until the two are creamy and unite as 1!
3. add 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 large egg to the mixture, and beat thoroughly until the 'batter' is light and fluffy (don't forget to scrape down the sides) - note: it should not look like 'curds'; rather, it should be creamy and smooth
4. add 1/4 cup corn starch, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1-3/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour - beat until JUST combined - do NOT overdo it!
5. refrigerate dough for 30 minutes, then roll out to 1/8 inch thickness (you can even make them thicker or thinner, depending if you like 'crunchy' or 'chewy'!)
6. using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out your shapes, placing them on a flat baking sheet - gather the excess dough, roll it out again, and repeat
7. bake the cookies in the oven, rotating them so they do not brown on top - they are done when the bottoms are a very pale golden color, and you may see some slight browning along the edges - don't bake them any longer!
8. let the cookies cool on a wire rack ... in the meantime, prepare the icing by combining 1 large egg white with 2 tablespoons cold milk - add 4 cups confectioner's sugar and mix until combined (note: the icing should be glossy and quite thick, but NOT stiff and NOT runny - adjust with a bit of extra milk or sugar as needed)
9. color can be added to half the icing (red, as seen above for example); spoon the icing(s) into ziplock bags and snip a corner just at the tip to use as your piping piece
10. go wild with the icing - to get an overall glaze, pipe an outline around the cookie, about 1/4 inch from the edge - then 'fill in' between the piped outline with one or both colors (which can then be swirled with a toothpick, or dotted, or criss crossed - the two colors will blend together after a few moments)
11. let the iced cookies set for at least 3 hours - the inner part of the icing has to 'harden' (of course, they can be eaten right away, just know that the icing may run ...)
12. enjoy, and have a heart!

all puffed up and no place to go

thursday night is soufflé night. although frankly, jane has grown sick of the routine - she walks in, is handed a glass of wine, and voila - there is a cheese soufflé, with grilled asparagus and a oil-cured moroccan olives.

now who wouldn't be happy with that? well ... you know who! that's who! talk about ungrateful! i still go on, looking forward to our little tete a tete with great enthusiasm ... this is tv dinner territory - ugly betty, the office - it doesn't matter, as long as it's the night before the weekend, the kids are fed (don't want them pilfering the crust), and it's after 8pm.

it's always critical to remember that you must wait for the soufflé - the soufflé does not wait for you! we eat it right away, piping hot, with a bit of kosher salt sprinkled on top!

thursdé-soufflé:
1. preheat the oven to 375º, and butter a large ramekin - be generous!
2. in a saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons plugra butter - quickly whisk in 1/4 cup flour, and cook together until the butter and flour come together - about 1 minute.
3. to the paste like mixture, add 1-1/2 cups room temperature skim milk over a low flame ... continue whisking and let everything thicken - it should be smooth and creamy
4. immediately add 1 cup freshly grated cheese - your choice (reggiano, pecorino romano, gruyere, etc.) and whisk until melted and incorporated
5. separate 4 large eggs, and whisk in egg yolks one at a time - after all 4 yolks are incoporated, add 1 tablespoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper; set aside
6. in a stand mixer or using a whisk, beat the four egg whites together, with 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar ... the egg whites will puff up and become opaque - do NOT make them overly stiff, or into a meringue like consistency ... they should be white, foamy, and frothy; immediately whisk them into the egg yolk/cheese base mixture, making sure to NOT be too vigorous (if you're unsure of your hand, use a rubber spatula and fold everything together, although if using a whisk you can just move about in a circular fashion)
7. straight away, put the soufflé mixture into the buttered ramekin, and pop it into the oven until the whole affair is puffed up, and golden brown (deeply golden, that is) on top ... i usually use 4o to 45 minutes as my benchmark, but your oven may do it's own thing
8. eat and enjoy - so yummy, don't forget the salt!

scone alone

i always though scones were low in fat when i starting ingesting them, sans clotted cream. then i went ahead and spoiled that delusion by starting to bake them myself. now it's easy to see why i was initially fooled. they are light, flaky, and never greasy in that muffin-from-the-gas-station sort of way. who was to know just had much butter had been worked into the batter! the most critical thing to remember when creating these buttermilk babies is go easy ...

so, enjoy with a dusting of powdered sugar, or slice them in half and slather with creme fraiche and homemade pear butter, and even a dollop of jam will do fine! this version, which is easy to make and can even be prepared the night before and 'held' in the fridge until it's time for baking, is delicious breakfast food!

take-it-easy scones:
1. preheat oven to 400º, and have a ungreased cookie sheet at the ready (if baking right after mixing)
2. combine 3 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl
3. cut 12 tablespoons of cold plugra butter into 1/2 inch cubes, and toss with flour mixture. using your thumb and forefinger, compress the cubes of butter, flattening them and working them with the flour mixture [note: the point is not to 'incorporate' the butter, making it disappear - rather, it is to turn the butter into little pieces which are 'coated' in the dry ingredients]
4. add 1 cup of lowfat buttermilk to this crumbly mass, and stir in until all of the ingredients come together ... it will be flaky and not 'doughy', which is perfect
5. turn the mixture out onto a floured work surface, and using your hands, form it into a 6 inch diameter circle, which is 'domed' at the center - it should almost look like an inverted bowl
6. brush the pastry with melted butter, and sprinkle liberally with sugar-in-the-raw
7. cut the dome into 6 or 8 'wedges', and transfer the pieces to a baking sheet - i like to let this rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes before baking, but if you're short on time, by all means pop them in the oven!
8. bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops are 'set' and the edges are slightly golden - you can make them more well done if you like, although i prefer them with just under brown, when they are still tender
9. enjoy - and in truth, when eating a scone you're never alone!

you're a star!

quite often our taste buds react to our memories. mmmmmmm. this is one of those triggers: icebox cake. when i was a kid, my mother prepared this most easy of desserts, professing that she was not a baker. she would stack chocolate wafer cookies on their tangential ends, slathering each 'next' one with sweetened whipped cream, continuing until she had formed a log of about 20 cookies. she would repeat two or three times more, stacking the logs one beside the other, then once again coated the entire 'cake' with the remaining whipped cream. yummmm!

my version is pretty similar to this premise, but it's all in the details baby! my icebox mini cupcakes are individual portions topped with a powdered sugar etoile (really just a cutout made from a piece of paper - using an x-acto knife, i trim away a star shape, leaving a void in it's place which gets centered over the round wafer tower, dusted with confectioner's sugar in a sieve, et voila - so sweet!).

the recipe: whip 2 cups heavy cream with 3 tablespoons sugar and a drop of vanilla (the real stuff, don't cheat!) - the cream should be thick like canned shaving cream [you can spoon it into a ziploc sac, squeezing it down towards one corner, and snip that corner to use as a decorating bag]. place one chocolate wafer on the center of a plate, securing it with a dab of cream. place another cookie on top, pipe out a dollop of cream into the center, and press (gently) another cookie on top of that, until there are 6 or 7 layers. place the 'cupcake' in the refrigerator overnight, so the crisp wafers have time to absorb the moisture in the beaten cream, marrying them together. the end result will be very cake-like indeed. before serving, decorate, spoon out some fresh berries, and enjoy!

enjoy the process!

i have a confession (or a confection!) to make ... although i normally admonish the use of processed food in almost all forms, i am guilty of succumbing to the ease and convenience of duncan hines! let me back up a moment. i am all for organic flour, french butter, sugar in the raw from hawai'i - but there's something about those processed cakes and frostings that just send people wild.

lemon tarte with fresh, flaky crust and bits of zest ensconced in a creamy custard (maybe topped with a perfect raspberry and silver dragée)? yep. buttermilk scones, sliced in half and slathered with caramelized pear butter and creme fraiche? definitely. but cake out of a box? frosting out of a can? well, don't be so judgmental!

this habit started in earnest shortly after the kids arrived on the scene. for jared's first birthday party, i (a relatively inexperienced baker) was stumped - how to craft a 5 foot long cake comprised of 5 letters - J-A-R-E-D, all jumbled together. the idea was born - bake 5 cakes, each in it's own rectangular pan, whittle each into it's own letter, fashion them on a foil-covered foamcore board, ice them, decorate them, and store them (where?). but how? alas, for a fraction of the price of one kilo of lescure, i was on my way with duncan hines devil's food cake mixes, and matching frostings (by the way, vanilla tastes exactly the same as cream cheese; milk chocolate tastes exactly the same as classic chocolate)!

the cakes - well, they take about 30 seconds to mix, and are completely predictable. they don't fall. they don't burn. they don't behave like insolent children! you can bake them on the top rack of the oven, you can crowd them, you can neglect them - and they still come out the same way! additionally, they can be flash frozen (and expediently defrosted), or basically left out on the counter for weeks, with nary a bacterial impact! and the icing. flip open the lid - no separating, no beating, no effort! just grab your offset spatula and you're good to go.

so, yes, i did just whip up a batch of homemade puff pastry for whatever may come my way. but when it's time for a birthday cake, a superbowl cake, a valentine's day cake - it's DH to the rescue!