Our Daily Bread (continued)

I was given some sound advice from a friend, over Sunday brunch, in response to my neurotic worries about baking bread:  "Fear not the yeast."

You know what?  She was right!  Yeast is totally not scary!  Yeah, it needs to dissolve, but once that happens, it's pretty much smoove sailing.  

Behold, honey cardamom wheat bread!  Yes, it IS delicious!

And fairly simple to make.  I referenced two recipes.  One was confusing (due to lack of timing instructions), but contained the ingredients I wanted to use, and the other, from here, was more common sense.  

Here's what I did:

Ingredients

3/4 c. warm milk

1/4 c. vegetable oil

2 tsp (roughly one package) dry active yeast

1 egg

1/3 c. + 2 tsp sugar

1/4 c. + 2 tsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

2 c. all purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

2 tsp cardamom powder

under 1/4 c. milk and oil mixture, for washing the bread

Step 1.

Warm the milk, mix with the oil and add the yeast.  Whisk until dissolved and let sit for 10 minutes. Set oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2.

Add the remaining ingredients (except for the 2 tsps of honey and sugar and the milk/oil mixture for washing the bread) and knead well into a dough by hand or mixer.  I used a mixer, but maybe you want a forearm workout?

Step 3. 

Coat dough in some oil, place in a bowl and cover with a damp-ish towel for about an hour.  This process is called "proofing" and it allows the bread to rise.   In "The Naked Chef Takes Off" Jamie Oliver suggests doing this process twice (remember to knead and beat the air out of the dough in between proofing sessions) to achieve a lighter, fluffier dough.  There are a number of activities you can accomplish while you do this (a mini workout, the NYTimes Tuesday crossword puzzle, your taxes), so don't be deterred by the waiting.  

Step 4.

Once the bread is proofed to your liking, knead it into a square and cut into three long rows. Allow these to sit for another 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, braid the rows together, pinching the ends of the bread.  Coat hands with the 2 tsps of honey (they should already be slick from the oil on the bread) and rub over the outside of the bread.  Then, with a pastry brush (or your hands) wash the top of the loaf with the milk/oil mixture. Sprinkle the top with a chunky sugar.  Place on a cookie sheet.

Step 5. 

Place sheet in oven and bake for about 35 - 40 minutes or until the top is brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. 

Step 6.

Break off chunks of the warm bread, slather with butter and enjoy while the hot butter oozes down your chin.

Fin!  This bread is so delicious and warm, with the delicate flavors of sweet honey and spicy cardamom.  It's yummy anytime of day (breakfast, midnight snack) and with different toppings (butter, hummus, cheese).  Plus, it's a great first foray into baking bread.  Now I no longer fear the yeast.  I hope you won't either.

Fatty Friday Issue #5: Our Daily Bread

Well, folks, I invite you to welcome me to the fray.  I now count myself among the hundreds of thousands of jobless Americans now roaming this country.  Surprisingly, I'm not that disappointed.  I worked for a cesspool where I felt I'd been practicing the art of inauthenticity daily. The details are too mind-numbing.  Anyways, a wise friend said this to me, in encouragement: "Sometimes you make a choice and sometimes a choice is made for you.  Either way, it's an opportunity."  Or something like that.  I'm all up for opportunities.  So, let's keep moving!   

First order of business: what to bake when broke?  That's the topic of this week's Fatty Friday. Specifically, I'm going to try my hand at baking some bread - maybe a savory AND a sweet loaf. Excited?!  Me too!  I guess we'll just have to see if I can "rise" to the occasion.  My sides hurt...

More to come...

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Chocolate?

Once I could see straight and stand upright after the weekend I felt the need to get baking again.  This time I wanted to highlight orange blossom water, another find from a local shop. But this time I didn't try to drink it!

Instead, I used a chocolate chip cookie recipe  from my very first cookbook ("Stuck on Cooking", Williams, Richard D. and Linda Williams Aber. Startown Associates. New York, NY. 1990. p. 76) and tweaked it with some new ingredients.  For instance, I added the orange blossom water and lemon rind, replaced the rolled oats with corn meal and used creme fraiche (I still had a whole tub left over) instead of butter.  The result was a moist, chewy cookie with a strong hint of sweet orange and lemon and a satisfying, crunchy outer texture.

I got some great feedback right away:

"Yum. I love the orange!"

"ooh!"

"Oh, these are good!"

"You seem to have a found a niche for mixing flavors..."

It's so great that this simple recipe I used when I was a kid was able to translate to something so fancy and delicious!  I think its safe to say you can try this one at home.

Ingredients:

1/2 c creme fraiche

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

11 egg

1/2 tsp - 1 tsp vanilla (depending on your taste)

1 c flour

1 1/4 cup corn meal

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cups semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips

2 tbsp orange blossom water (until you can smell it)

zest of one lemon

Cooking steps:

1) preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Cream together creme fraiche, sugars, orange blossom water, lemon zest and vanilla.  Add the egg when smooth.

3) In another bowl mix the flour, corn meal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Blend into wet mixture on medium speed until well mixed.  Stir in chocolate chips.

4) Place spoonfuls of cooke mixture on cookie sheet, about 2 " apart.

5) Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes per batch.

Serve warm with milk or bring to a party to show off to your friends.

Fatty Friday Issue #4: Big Wedding Food Continued

Well, the wedding was a blast!  We all got drunk, danced, ate some good food (the apps were my fave, especially the pigs in blankets with spicy mustard and the mini pizzas with pancetta) and just looked gorgeous, especially the bride and groom.  Mr. Met even showed up! 

All in all, it was great fun!

In fact, I had so much fun that I forgot to eat the cake!  But I did get a photo of it:

Now I totally want to learn how to make fondant icing...

Fatty Friday Issue #4: Big Wedding Food

Hello folks! In honor of my friend's wedding tomorrow (in which I am the Maid of Honor), this week's issue of Fatty Friday is dedicated to Wedding Food. Yes, that of the chewy steak, wilted salad and overcooked and over-icing'd cake.

We've all been to weddings, haven't we? And we've all had to suffer through the courses of inedible food. BUT, I have faith that this one will be much, much different. For starters, it's here.

Yah. I know...

Second, the food is supposed to be phenomenal. For instance, the cake (made in-house) will be three layers: red velvet, lemon curd and chocolate peanut butter. (cue angels singing)

A question for you: Has anyone been here? What did you think? Reviews welcome! In 2003, The New Yorker rated it pretty highly for food - though not decor.

I'm confident it's going to be fabulous, whether a "temple of extravagance and confusion" or not. If anything, I'll feel gorgeous in my dress. Thanks, Vera!

Death Does Not Become Her (Part Deux)

The following should be read in a breathy and seductive voice, a la Kathleen Turner:
Ssshhhh.... Close your eyes. Now, think of the most decadent food you've ever eaten. Keep your eyes closed and remember what the food tasted like, feel it in your mouth, smell it, remember the entire experience. Now, throw that old, sad memory out the window. Because what I've got here is just incomparable!

Tonight I made almond fennel rosewater cupcakes filled with plum jam, topped with cardamom creme fraiche frosting; a slight adjustment from the recipe referenced in Fatty Friday Issue #3. Sounds decadent, doesn't it? It is - and so, so sexy. I'll try my best to describe it in the least pornographic way possible:

First bite: Yum! Sweet creme fraiche frosting blends well with cardamom - mm-spicy! But, wait! What's this? A nutty, citrusy, aromatic cake that's not too sugary and perfectly moist? I'm getting tingly...

Second bite: Umm, this frosting is crazy. And the cake...oh...my! The plum filling - ooh - is sweet with a satisfying texture. I need to sit down...

Third bite: Similar to the second bite, but this time I need to open a window because I'm sweating.

Fourth bite: Now I've got to close the window because I might sound inappropriate to my neighbors who, for some reason, know that I'm home alone tonight.

Seriously, the entire time I was eating this cupcake it sounded like an Herbal Essences commercial. If I've ever come across a "date dessert" - the kind you lure someone back to your apartment for as a seductive measure - this is it. This is the REAL DEAL! I practically seduced myself!

Wanna make these cupcakes yourself? You know you do, grrr!

Start with the "Great Yellow Cake" recipe from "The New Basics" (Rosso, Julee and Sheila Lukins, Workman Publishing, NY, 1989), p. 669. The following recipe is adapted from the book, along with influences from this recipe (also referenced below).

Ingredients:

2 c sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 cup veg. oil

1/3 c. milk

3 tbsp. rosewater (until you can smell it)

2 1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup ground almonds and fennel seeds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat sugar and eggs on high with electric mixer. Add oil, flour, salt, baking powder, almond/fennel mixture, rosewater, and vanilla (add more milk, oil or rosewater - depending on your taste - if batter gets too thick).

Pour into lined muffin tins and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Remove from heat after they are browned and let cool.

Stuff pastry bag with plum jam (or any jam of your choice. Maybe rose hip? That could be really sexy...). To fill cupcakes, poke the head of the pastry bag into the bottom of each cupcake and gently squeeze out the jam. Don't squeeze too hard or else the jam will burst through the top of the cupcake.

Once each cake is filled, prepare the frosting. Which I found in this recipe.

Ingredients:

one 8 oz tub of creme fraiche

about 1 tablespoon of ground cardamom

about 1/2 to 3/4 of a box of powdered sugar

Beat all ingredients with an electric mixer until the sugar is blended in and the frosting forms peaks. Make sure the cupcakes are completely cool, then generously spread the frosting on each one. Enjoy alone with a glass of milk or share with someone you like seeing naked.

Fatty Friday Issue #3 - Death Does Not Become Her

And the middle eastern kick continues... This week's issue of Fatty Friday is dedicated to rosewater. I bought some of this heady liquid last week, naively thinking that it was potable. Umm, nope. After a sip I grasped my throat, Shakespearean-style, and prepared for the worst death possible from poisoning. Luckily, I didn't die and I didn't have to worry about my friends finding me curled up into a dry husk on my kitchen floor.

After I composed myself and drank a gallon of real water, I checked in with some friends about how to use rosewater. A lovely friend of persian descent shared with me that rosewater can be diluted in water, but is not meant to be imbibed solo. Aha...this cleared things up.

So, this weekend I'll be baking with rosewater. I've never done it before, but I found some pointers here on how to bake with the distinctive ingredient. Baking club with my buddy, N, is this Sunday. I aim to try something based on this or a plum tart with rosewater dough - or both! Oh, and we're also making this! More to come...

Pita for Your Thoughts?

I'm on a bit of a middle eastern cuisine rant this week. Today's post is dedicated to Ashkara (aka Urban Pita) on East Houston near Orchard Street. If you haven't been, then I don't know what to tell you. I guess you're missing out on life. But it's OK, because now you know and you can jump back on the life bandwagon.

Don't thank me: just go! And don't pay attention to the website - it looks cheesy (note: this is just my personal opinion!) and it might deter you. I haven't included the link for that reason. It's like that myth about the guy who has to save his wife from Hades, but the deal is that he can't look at her or else she'll get sucked back down to hell...or turn to salt. Something terrible. Just don't look, OK?

First, let's talk about the price. For under $5 you can get a pita with either just falafel; falafel and hummus or falafel, hummus and eggplant. Wee!

Next, let's talk about awesomeness. The tagline isn't "Warning: Our falafel is addictive" for no reason. The falafel is just perfect. Honestly. I've eaten a fair amount of falafel in my life and this place does it RIGHT. It's crispy on the outside and doesn't lose its crisp when you've doused it in their savory garlic, tahini and hot sauces. And trust me, I douse.

Plus, UP has this unlimited salad bar with fried cauliflower, sauteed carrots, herby cucumber, chunky eggplant salad (not babaganoush - something else entirely), and several more veggie options and sauces. The garlic sauce is not to be missed, though! And don't even get me started on their belgian fries. More perfection - like an angel riding a unicorn.

Just go check it out for yourself. You won't regret it.

Ashkara/Urban Pita @ 189 East Houston Street (212) 230-8302

Simply Put

It's the simple things that get you sometimes, right? Catching a free concert with your favorite band, drinks and acting silly with a good friend or yummy, easy comfort food. It's the latter that I'm referencing today. Specifically, home made hummus with veggies. I mean, does it get much simpler? Not really. And it's so tasty. Plus, with this recipe - chock full of garlic, a natural antibiotic - you'll stave off colds around this time of year when the weather changes more often than me before a big date. That, and you will probably reek enough that no one will WANT to kiss you, so you won't have to worry about getting sick. Hmmm...that's not really a plus.

Anyway, on to the recipe:


1 8 oz. can of chick peas

about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of olive oil

pinch of salt

pinch of coarse ground black pepper

pinch of cumin

2 tablespoons of tahini

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

4 cloves of garlic

Optional: pinch of fresh or dried oregano

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until it has reached desired consistency. I prefer chunkier hummus, but you can reach a smoother blend by using more olive oil. Serve with whatever vegetables you choose, obvi - I really like crunchy string beans, asparagus tips, mini carrots and endive. And, you know what?! The garlic breath is probably not that bad. You should totally go make out with your work crush!

Might Light Ya Wrist, But That About It

I could do a lot if I had a little more money...

Sometimes you find a shop that just makes your day, and you want to return again and again. That's how I feel about Loveday 31 in Astoria. There is always something AWESOME in there. Whether its a hot pink, frilly vintage mini dress or a shiny brassy-gold bangle, I always leave sporting a smile. Plus, the owner - her name escapes me at the moment because I'm terrible with names but really good with faces and I can TOTALLY see her face right now - is super sweet and helpful. She'll tell you if something doesn't fit right and will even make recommendations. Hell, the place is the size of a closet, she can't help but be involved in your process!

Moving on! I want to talk about a jewelry store called Kim and Maki. My friends who read this will probably remember that one of my fave pieces of jewelry is a mini brass knuckles pendant fashioned from white gold and encrusted with Swarovski crystals. Well, these gals are the very same who sold me that piece of jewelry. My new obsession at their shop is this piece of gorgeousness which I COVET becase I want to wear it to a wedding that I'll be in on the 21st. The theme of the wedding is art deco and this piece is so art deco, so I'd look totally art deco! Swoon!

Williamsburg! The Bawlls on You!

Reactionary art, blah-di-blah.  It did the trick, though, didn't it?!  Ick!

Who'd a Thunk It? (Part dos)

I like a good muffin as much as the next person.  Though, if offered a muffin over a croissant, a muffin would be my last choice.  I feel very locked into my decision with a muffin because muffins come with stuff (i.e., carrots, nuts, chocolate chips).  Whereas, with a croissant I can spread butter, jam, honey - any myriad of things - onto it for a tasty breakfast.  Meaning, I have choice.

But sometimes a recipe comes along that opens the mind.  Earlier today I baked up some of the salted double chocolate rosemary muffins, inspired by this recipe.  I added a large handful of chopped rosemary to the batter and then sprinkled salt and some extra chopped rosemary on the muffins before baking.  The result was a not-too-sweet and savory, completely satisfying, light and moist muffin that could work for breakfast, a mid-day snack or even dessert.   Why didn't I feel locked in with this muffin?  Perhaps it was the mixture of salty and sweet.  That, and I made them myself so, you know... (poppin' up collars!)

Fatty Friday Issue #2 - Who'd a Thunk It?

This week's issue of Fatty Friday is dedicated to unexpected pairings. It's funny how ideas can just hit you at odd moments. I got the craving to pair rosemary, salt and chocolate while standing at the intersection of Prince and Broadway, trying my best not to get hit by a Grey Line bus. Suddenly I was reminded of Barcelona. Specifically, I remembered a chocolate vendor in La Boqueria who sold dark chocolates filled with honey and rosemary. Whoa - delicious! I would never have thought that chocolate and rosemary would mix so well, but they are a perfect match. I'm looking forward to trying my hand at some salted rosemary double chocolate muffins inspired by this recipe this weekend. More to come...

Yes you can. But why would you?

Perhaps you've heard of a blog called This is Why You're Fat*. And perhaps, like me, you've vomited a little bit in your mouth while looking at the photos. Also, like me, you may have said to yourself: "Yes, self, I could wrap hot dogs in bacon, deep fry them and serve them in warm twinkie buns. But why?" I've considered that more than once.

This photo made me kinda vom in my mouth:

It's not the velveeta. No, velveeta and I have a long-standing, not-in-any-way-secret love affair that has been raging for years. Especially when I want to recreate mom's good ol' tuna casserole. Nothing does it better. Who loves ya, velveeta baby?

It's the spam. There's something...unearthly about spam. The can, the look of the "meat": it all makes me feel kind of icky. I've never tried it, though. I'm like the child who's convinced she won't like broccoli, despite the fact that she's never even tasted it.

Also, to me, this spam/cheese brick looks like it would make bubbly, squishy sounds when sliced. And look at the way it chunks off on the left side of the plate... Ugh, my eyes hurt.

* I love the site - totally entertaining.

Graffiti Love

I don't spend all my time eating. In fact, I do alot of other things, like breathing, talking, sleeping. In fact, today I was scanning the internets and found this rad site on Etsy.

It caught my eye, because it featured lampshades covered with graffiti:

Umm...love? Betcha didn't take me for a chick who likes graffiti. Well, there is almost nothing better to me than interesting graffiti.

I grew up in Queens and secretly always wanted to create a really unique signature so that I could tag in my neighborhood. I was too scared to do it alone, though, so I fantasized about snagging a boyfriend who tagged. That way we could be the Bonnie and Clyde of graffiti! We would've had so much fun! But, the dream of meeting that guy (a dream that still thrives in my imaginatoin) never happened. That's mostly because I've always dated slightly nervous, nerdy/cute guys; types who wouldn't want to take a chance at getting caught. Sure, I could've asked my friends, but I doubt they would've jumped on the bandwagon. Plus, I don't want to make out with my friends, covered in spray paint, after tagging a brick wall on a rooftop or some other heaven spot, at 4:00 am*.

So, now I worship graffiti from afar. Actually, sometimes, if I remember my marker, I will tag in the bathroom of a loud bar, especially if there is already art up on the wall. It's pretty fun. But, back to my point: I covet that lamp.


*I love you guys, though!

Dates - the fruit

I'm not sure the date gets enough respect. Dates are a weakness of mine, personally. I buy a carton almost every week. Generally, it is gone within two days. There is something so satisfying in savoring these chewy, sweet treats. They taste like candy, but they are totally not!

Today's post is dedicated to these, my fave dried fruit.

I think one could do a lot with dates, aside from eat almost an entire carton in under an hour. I'll be doing some experimenting this week with these magical fruits. Until then, eat a date...or seven.