i apologize good.

i love you guys. and i'm sorry.  i have no real excuses. some that come to mind, if you press me are grad school apps, failed christmas recipes, laziness.  but but but...i have goodies to make up for it, and i hope you all will forgive me!

to tell you the truth, i was anti-cooking for awhile, after my christmas candies and desserts for the most part turned out sub-par.  once i got back to school, i forced myself to cook to gain stride against the blow to my confidence...but by that time, i felt that i owed you guys more than 1 or 2 recipes.  so here they are.  today I VOW to make my absence up to you. (look at me, pretending that i have a following...i must really be into myself)

in any case, i'd like to begin with something sweet.  my birthday cake this year. there's a story behind this one. and it begins with this AMAZING ice cream (courtesy GOURMET magazine + my free hand with the liquor), which to brush my shoulder off, turned out brilliant.

breakfast ice cream

piloncillo ice cream -makes about 5 cups

ingredients

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 2/3 cups whole milk

1 2/3 cups heavy cream

4 oz piloncillo (mexican loaf sugar)

2 whole cloves

2 whole large eggs

3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup turbinado sugar or light brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 tbsp brandy

-you will need an ice cream maker for this recipe-

1. slowly bring milk and cream to a simmer with piloncillo, cloves, and cinnamon in a heavy medium saucepan over medium low heat then mash piloncillo into liquid until dissolved.

2. whisk together whole eggs, yolks and turbinado sugar in a bowl.  slowly add the hot cream mixture, making sure to keep whisking.  return to sauce pan (KEEP WHISKING), cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the custard coats the back of the spoon.  (if you end up with a weird lumpy mixture like the eggs became scrambled just run in through a fine sieve)

3.  after sieving the mixture, add the vanilla mixture and the brandy then cool it in an ice water bath (put the bowl of custard inside a larger bowl filled with water and ice) for 20 minutes.  cool in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. 

 

4. freeze cooled custard in the ice cream maker, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer until firm, at least 2 hours.

i wish i had a picture of this stuff, it was indulgent yet familiar.  my friend upon trying it said it reminded him of what oatmeal would taste like if it was bad for you! in any case, i decided to make it for my birthday after reading about it in the December 2007 issue of Gourmet and knew i had to make a cake that would be understated enough to highlight this ice cream.  i chose one of ina garten's recipe's off the food network's website.  apple cake tatin! sounded delicious and looked easy enough to make. 

mom to the rescue birthday cake

ina garten's apple cake "tatin" - serves 8

ingredients

6 tbsps unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced into 12 slices

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

confectioner's sugar

1. preheat the over to 350 degrees.  butter a 9 inch glass pie dish and arrange the apples in the dish, cut side down.

2. combine 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small sauce pan and cook over high heat until it turns in a clear syrup.  DO NOT let it turn even the least bit brown.  pour evenly over the apple slices.

3. cream the butter and remaining sugar with a whisk, until light and fluffy. beat in the eggs one at a time.  add the sour cream, lemon zest, vanilla, and mix until combined.  sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the butter mixture, mixing until combined.

4.  pour the cake batter evenly over the apple slices and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.  cool for 15 minutes and invert the cake onto a platter.  serve at room temperature dusted with confectioner's sugar.

normally i'd tell you the story of the cake first, but let's face it, y'all are here for the food.  but for those who might care - here it is.  so it's the day before my birthday dinner, and my family had to be at my uncle's house for an annual college reunion of my father's friends.  i was rushing the cake, and ina garten's recipe called for the sugar syrup to be an amber color...and in my rush i burnt the sugar syrup, didn't taste it and added it to the apples. lo and behold, the cake was tainted with this awful acrid burnt sugar taste.  i was tired...we'd been cooking all day and my nerves were shot.  my darling mother, the gem of a person she is, REBAKED this cake to perfection.  it was the belle of the ball, overstepped only by my creamy piloncillo goodness.  

please note the sad ucla colored candles.  very representative of this year, i must say.  here's to me at 22 years (and one month today!), my mother who i love to pieces, and all of you for sticking around, although i've been less than diligent about this thing.  look forward to more great eats...because i promise to bring them to you real sooner.

baking: an introduction.

to be a part of my family, a prerequisite is a love of food. next to breathing, we cook and eat. then we proceed to talk about what we cooked and how we ate it. point is, the love of food is inherent with me.  it flows through my veins, its encoded in my dna, it can be furthered metaphorized in alternate cheesy fashions. but the love of food and the skill to make it wasn't easy come.  if i was brought up in india like my parents, i would have learned to cook uppitu, tuppa-anna and chapati out of necessity.  but like many first generation "american" girls with parents paranoid about the combination of fire and klutzy daughters, my first foray into the kitchen was through baking (cause sylvia plath didn't stick her head in an oven...)

at first, i was awful at it. the cookies came out with burned bottoms. my brother and i would eat out the gooey tops out with a spoon and throw away the bottoms. the cakes were dry. i would slather them with tubs of betty crocker frosting and hope no one would notice.  the brownies hard. i'd call them fudge in an attempt to save the day.  but i was dogged, persistent! and i prevailed. these are the cookies that did me into the baking hall of fame in high school. they are refreshingly undisgusting for xmas, unlike fruitcake, marzipan and eggnog, more apple pie. the perfect comforting holiday treat. or the ultimate gateway recipe. you decide?

the oh-so-famous mock trial christmas party cookies
chocolate-chip walnut oatmeal cookies - makes 45

ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease 3-4 baking sheets.
2. sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.
3. cream together the butter and both types of sugar. add the egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
4. slowly add the flour and mix until blended well. add the rolled oats, chocolate chips and walnuts and stir until distributed well. the cookie dough should be crumbly.
5. drop dough in tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven.

these are perfect with hot cocoa - preferably ghirardelli's sweet ground cocoa in milk with a pinch of cinnamon (and a splash of kahlua...if you're naughty). welcome to bliss!

ADDENDUM: for my lacto but not ovo veggies:
substitute half a cup of yogurt for the egg and bake as normal. see, i provide answers for all!