For as long as I’ve had the faculty of memory, and for as long as he was alive, my Grandad ate butterscotch or caramel sundaes for dessert. Sometimes it was a variation on the theme; bananas sautéed with butter and brown sugar (add some rum, stick a match to them and you could call it bananas Foster) were the biggest request when my Grandma was gone and my mom went to stay with him. It’s difficult to imagine anything simpler or more of a comfort than bananas sautéed in butter and sugar and spooned over ice cream or warm pancakes or wrapped in a crepe.
On regular weeknights he had vanilla ice cream with butterscotch marble, or a dish of plain vanilla with butterscotch or caramel syrup drizzled over top. During one visit my Dad attempted to impose his own healthy eating habits on him; since Grandad never dished out his own ice cream – my Grandma would go serve it up while he stayed in his usual seat at the end of the table, so that behind him you could see the Detroit river and behind that, a sparkling, towering downtown – I was sent out of the kitchen to the dining room with a dish of a sugarless vanilla frozen soy product doused with extra caramel to disguise its inauthenticity. I’m not sure why he thought we’d get away with it. We didn’t.
I heart caramel. I really do, and yet I’m never inclined to order a caramel sundae. I just don’t think of it in the face of chocolate or hot fudge. But when I do get a taste, I adore it. Remembering this, and my Grandad (who lived to be 94), I made a batch of caramel sauce – tweaking a recipe for chewy fleur de sel caramels – and bought a tub of vanilla ice cream. (I couldn’t make the ice cream from scratch too – I just couldn’t. I knew in my gut that it would cause me to eat the entire batch of both if I did.)
I drizzled the caramel sauce over the ice cream and sprinkled it with salt – flaky pink salt from the Himalayas that N brought me a jar of, and then I tried a bite with a pinch of crackly Maldon salt, and then grey salt. You know, for research purposes. Hey, I can’t help it – it’s my job.
That pants falling down business? I nipped it right in the bud.
Caramel Sauce with Grey (or other nice) Salt
This keeps very well in the fridge, but it’s a large batch – enough for an extra jar to share with someone you really, really like.
1 cup golden syrup (Roger’s or Lyle’s – I used Roger’s)
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
a few drops lemon juice
2 cups cream – whipping cream (35%), coffee cream (18%) or half & half (10%), or a combination
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. pure vanilla
good, flaky salt – fleur de sel, Maldon, pink – for serving with
In a heavy saucepan, combine the syrup, sugar, salt and lemon juice and cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely and the mixture begins to simmer around the edges. Wash any sugar and syrup from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes.
Uncover the pan, attach a candy thermometer to the edge and and cook uncovered, without stirring, swirling the pan once in awhile until the mixture reaches 305°F. Meanwhile, bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan; turn off the heat and set aside.
When the sugar mixture reaches 305°F, turn off the heat and stir in the butter, then whisk in the hot cream; it will bubble up and steam. Turn the burner back on and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely.
Store in the fridge; when ready to serve, reheat (if you like) and drizzle over ice cream, cake or your finger; sprinkle lightly with flaky salt immediately before serving.
Makes about 3 cups.
One Year Ago: Peach Pie and Roasted Peach & Brown Sugar Ice Cream
August 16 2009 | dessert and sweet stuff | 27 Comments »
I know better than to separate a whack of eggs at once without using a little dish as a buffer, in case I should nick one of the yolks and taint a half dozen whites. But I always get a little smug when I need to separate a lot of eggs into whites – it’s like my own private version of bungee jumping – and as if it’s a big deal to add one teeny more dish to the overflowing sinkful, I always just go ahead and live on the edge. And so the other day as I was making a hundred teeny pavlovas for my little cooking show at Stampede, I broke a yolk five eggs in. I tried to scoop out the offending yellow with a piece of cracked shell and thought I got it all, but those whites refused to reach their full potential and I was left with a bowl of flaccid meringue and nothing to do with it.
So I stirred in a capful of coconut extract, a cup or two of toasted shredded coconut, and spread it on two foil-lined baking sheets, then baked them in a 250 degree oven for an hour, as I would have had they turned out the way I intended. Once cool the slabs of meringue were easily broken into shards, which we have been nibbling on all week. I think I might be hooked. I’m dying to dunk some into melted chocolate.
Coconut Macaroon Bark
3 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. coconut extract
1-2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
Preheat oven to 250° F and line two large baking sheets with foil or parchment. Stir the cornstarch into the sugar. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, beating until the mixture holds stiff, glossy peaks, like shaving cream. (If it doesn’t get completely stiff, that’s OK too.) Beat in the coconut extract, and fold in the coconut. Spread the mixture onto the sheets, about 1/2″ thick.
Bake for an hour, then remove from the oven and cool completely. Peel off the foil and break the bark into shards. Makes lots.
(Dinner this week has more often than not been chili, scooped out of a big pot in the fridge and reheated as necessary in between events and trips down to the grounds. I made some for the Stampede party last weekend, and my chef neighbour brought over another vat as he cleaned out his fridge to leave town, and I mixed the two together. Unfortunately this means we can’t figure out what makes it so damn yummy. It has tons of beans, chick peas, chipotle peppers and beef – ground and in chunks. Of course it gets better by the day – deeper and more concentrated. Speaking of mac & cheese – have you ever had chili served over a bed of it? If not, please do.)
One Year Ago: Bison Back Ribs and Blueberry Bison Burgers
July 09 2009 | snacks and sweet stuff | 12 Comments »
Oh yes. Yes yes yes yes yes.
Yes.
Seriously, yes.
Sweet Potato Aloo Gobi
Aloo (potatoes) gobi (cauliflower) is a potato-cauliflower curry; this version, inspired by Bal Arneson’s beautiful new cookbook, Everyday Indian, uses sweet potatoes for a flavour and nutritional boost. (Use the larger, darker-fleshed sweet potatoes rather than those that are longer, thinner and paler-fleshed.) The tomatoes melt around the sweet potatoes and cauliflower, mingling with the spices and creating a sticky-sweet, smoky almost-sauce.
generous drizzle of canola or olive oil
1 medium head cauliflower, separated into florets
1 onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. garam masala
2 tsp. ground cumin or 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2-3 medium-large tomatoes, chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Drizzle a rimmed baking sheet with oil and spread the cauliflower out in a single layer; drizzle with a little more oil and toss the cauliflower around with your hands to coat the pieces. Roast for 10-15 minutes, until tender and golden on the bottoms and edges.
Meanwhile, heat a generous drizzle of oil in a large, heavy skillet. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, until starting to soften. Add the ginger, garam masala, cumin, chili powder and salt and cook for a minute, then add the tomatoes and potato. Stir to combine everything well, pour 1/2 cup water over top and cover with a lid; reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender – about 7 minutes.
Add the roasted cauliflower to the pan and stir to combine everything well. Serve immediately, as is, with rice or naan.
Serves 4.
One Year Ago: Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread
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May 19 2009 | eating out and one dish and sweet stuff and veg and vegetarian | 36 Comments »
I lie in bed at night and think about food. (It’s a shock, really, that I have any kids at all, between that habit and this blog. You’d think I’d have developed a George Costanza-esque association with food by now.) Every day some idea sneaks into my head, or I get a craving that I can’t shake, or read about something I want to try, or I remember something I haven’t made in a really, really long time, like these Whoopie Pies, which are as close to homemade Jos Louis cakes as you can get. (Except for the dipped in chocolate part – it would require a helluva lot of chocolate.)
Something or other triggered a memory of these, which then rattled around my brainpan for a week or so before I gave in and baked the cookies last night with the intention of bringing them along to a barbecue that I knew would have a dozen or so kids in attendance. As is my style I ran out of time to make the frosting, and we left the just-baked cookies sitting on the counter as we ran out the door.
So this morning we finished them, and when I wondered aloud what we might do with a dozen small burger-sized whoopie pies W suggested we bring some to the big boys who live up the hill; who are only the coolest boys ever, with cool toys and rock star wii and water pistols and lizards and cool hair and a brand new trampoline in the back yard. I think he’s coming up with excuses to go over to their house now. Like, the sun is up, can we go to the boys’ house? What are the boys doing now? and now? how about now? can we go over there now? Silver lining: he thinks school must be the funnest place ever and is desperate to go because that’s where the boys always seem to be.
So we went up the hill and ditched all but three of these, which we then ate for lunch. (Dinner was far less exciting – mediocre blueberry-bran muffins, thawed soup, brown rice, a bowl of blueberries for W.)
Whoopie Pies
These big, cakey cookies are sandwiched with fluffy Seven Minute Frosting or jarred marshmallow cream, or frozen and made into ice cream sandwiches with vanilla ice cream. It’s a good opportunity to marry chocolate and mint – just spike the fluffy frosting with mint extract. (They’re low fat, too!)
Cookies:
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour (or half all-purpose, half whole wheat)
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Filling:
1 batch Seven Minute Frosting (below)
or 1 jar Marshmallow Cream
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar for a minute or so, until well combined. It will have the consistency of wet sand. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa and salt. In a small bowl, stir the baking soda into 1/2 cup very hot water until dissolved.
With the mixer on low or stirring by hand, add about a third of the dry ingredients, then half the buttermilk and half the baking soda mixture, mixing each time just until blended. Repeat with another third of the dry ingredients, the rest of the buttermilk and baking soda mixture, and then the rest of the dry ingredients, mixing each time just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. The batter will be quite wet, almost like cake batter. (You want them to be cakey and soft, so that the filling doesn’t squish out the end when you bite into it.)
Drop large, round spoonfuls of batter 2” apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. (If you’re making pies, try to keep the mounds similar in size and shape so they will make even sandwiches). Bake for 12–15 minutes, until the tops no longer appear wet and just spring back when lightly touched. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
When completely cool, spread the bottom of one cookie with frosting or marshmallow cream, then sandwich with a second cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and cream. Store extras individually wrapped in plastic wrap.
Makes 1 dozen pies or 2 dozen cookies.
Seven Minute Frosting
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. light or golden corn syrup or honey
1/3 cup water
2 large egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla, coconut, maple, mint, or other flavored extract
In the top of a double boiler or in a clean stainless steel bowl set over a pot of simmering water, combine the sugar, corn syrup, water, and egg whites. Make sure the simmering water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl or double boiler – you only need an inch or two of water in the pot. Beat the sugar mixture with an electric mixer on high speed for about 7 minutes, until it stands in billowy peaks. Remove it from the heat and beat in the vanilla.
To make Seafoam (Brown Sugar) Frosting: Substitute packed dark or golden brown sugar for the white sugar.
Also: a plea. What the hell do I do with this? (ooh, a two-hell post. Now three-hell! Now four!)
Someone gave it to my Dad, who passed it on to me. It’s about the size of half a pound of butter, and labeled “pure maple cream” on the box, but it appears to have completely petrified. It in no way resembles cream. It’s like a solid block of maple sugar. I suppose I could attempt to grate it and use it like maple sugar – any other brilliant ideas?
One Year Ago: Roasted Chickpeas with Garlic and Chard, and Lemon Potatoes with Garlic and Oregano
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May 18 2009 | cookies & squares and snacks and sweet stuff | 37 Comments »
I realize this is neither wintry nor particularly healthy.. but when I went to buy some eggs for my Seven-Minute Frosting yesterday, carrying nothing but a box of eggs home with me I couldn’t stop thinking about egg salad sandwiches. And so this morning I boiled some eggs – you know, just in case – and at dinnertime I couldn’t summon up the gumption to make anything but.
However. I didn’t have any celery or green onion, and my chives are currently lying dormant under snow and frozen-solid Lou poo. Rooting through my fridge I did come up with some fresh (sort of – revived in a glass of water like a teeny bouquet) basil, and… drumroll please… bacon.
Bacon and egg salad sandwiches! How have I never thought of this before?
So I chopped a few strips, cooked them and crumbled the chunky bits into my chopped hard-boiled eggs along with some low fat mayo, torn basil and lots of pepper. I’m pretty sure I don’t have to tell you how good it tasted. See where fridge cleaning can get you? Combinations like bacon and basil in egg salad that you might never have otherwise considered. On the downside: I may have ruined any other sort of egg salad for myself forever.
And I just ate the last of the chocolate cupcakes leftover from Book Club – which went well, I hope, despite an excited 3 year old boy who had to pee a lot and was not satisfied to sit and watch Wall-E after all – thanks to all who came, for making the drive and for being patient with W as he took your shoes off and bowled with apples. He won’t be there next time! It was so fantastic to meet you all face to face. I think next time there should be wine.
One Year Ago: Chocolate-Covered Hazelnuts
March 05 2009 | leftovers and sweet stuff | 24 Comments »
