KITCHY TV

This is the first installment of Kitchy Tv, which are video segments of me with friends and family discussing food. In today's episode I spend time with my friend Jonathan Grahm, the brilliant chocolatier behind the exotic and elegant truffles at Compartes chocolatier. I started as a fan, and after thousands of truffles and a few inches on my thighs, Jonathan and I are good friends who love to explore new flavor combinations. Watch the video below to see Jonathan explain his sophisticated truffle flavors, making a ganache, and tempering chocolate. Enjoy!



Original Video - More videos at TinyPic



Click here to watch the clip on Youtube (but be sure to set the viewing in high quality)

THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH DIARIES

BUTTERNUT SQUASH MUFFINS WITH LEMON MASCARPONE FROSTING





Ah yes, fall is upon us, and therefore gourds! I’m not so much of a snob that butternut squash + sage + brown butter has lost its appeal, but yes, it’s been done to death though not without good reason: these flavors are perfect together. And so, to start my butternut squash kick, I bring you breakfast. These adorable little muffins are slightly spicy and perfect with a scrape of butter and some honey. But if you feel a bit decadent, a dollop of lemon mascarpone does the trick.

Ingredients:

Butternut squash muffins:
14 ounces butternut squash
2 cups light soft brown sugar
½ cup sugar
4 large free-range or organic eggs
Sea salt
½ teaspoon Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Ginger Powder
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
Handful of walnuts, chopped
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup raw sugar

Lemon Mascarpone:
1 lemon, zested
½ lemon, juiced
½ cup sour cream
1 cup marscapone cheese
3 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel, deseed, and roughly chop squash (I can find squash already prepared in this way at Whole Foods) before putting in a food processor and blitzing until finely chopped. Add the sugar and eggs and mix in the food processor until blended. Add a pinch of salt, the flour, baking powder, walnuts, spices and olive oil, and mix just until combined. You may need to pause the machine at some point to scrape down the sides.

Fill paper cups in muffin pan with the batter. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. After 5 minutes, open the oven and sprinkle each muffin with the raw sugar. It adds a nice crunch, sweetness, and sparkle when cooked. After 22-25 minutes, check to see whether they are cooked through by sticking a skewer or a knife into the center one of the muffins - if it comes out clean, they're done. Remove from the oven and leave the muffins to cool on a wire rack.

For the mascarpone, let the mascarpone soften so that it’s mixable by leaving it out for an hour. In a bowl, mix the mascarpone, sour cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and juice together. Taste and adjust the mixture to your liking. Remember, the muffins aren’t particularly sweet, so if the mascarpone is on the sweet side, that’s fine.

Once the muffins have cooled, plop a dollop of the mascarpone and enjoy your morning!

KITCHY ENDORSEMENTS

Laura Chenel's Cabecou Chevre





The lovely Maureen Vicenti of Vicenti Ristorante gave me a jar of this chevre, promising I would die after eating it. And after a couple hundred meals at her fabulous restaurant, which is a Thomas family favorite, I knew she would never lead my taste buds astray. Well, Maureen: brava. I died, but quickly resuscitated myself for another bite of this absolutely delicious cheese.

It’s a cabecou style chevre by Laura Chenel, founder and owner of Laura Chenel's Chèvre, Inc. which catalyzed the American artisan cheese movement in 1979. Her cheese quickly became a signature ingredient in the newly-emerging Californian cuisine, and reached national recognition when Alice Waters of Chez Panisse restaurant placed a standing order for Laura’s chevre.

The cheese Maureen recommended, cabecou, is a very small French cheese, gaining its name from the language of 'Oc', the ancient language of South West of France, and translates to “small goat.” This delicious farm cheese gets its flavor from the richness of the milk, and when eaten fresh has a pliant and creamy texture. With time a thin shell of mold blossoms, creating a rich, nutty flavor. Laura Chenel’s version is kept in a jar of herbed olive oil, with bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and other herbs. The texture is creamy, but clings to the palette with a fresh milky flavor and notes of citrus.




I enjoy the cheese best when spread on a piece of good baguette, with the herbed oil poured over, and a few cracks of fresh pepper to finish it off. I ended up adding balsamic to the empty plate and scooping up the crumbs of cheese with left over pieces of bread. Finger and plate licking was involved. Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Seated with hamburgers, thanksgiving dinner, and apple pie on the hallowed throne of ubiquitous American cuisine, chocolate chip cookies are one of the best. They're so perfect, that I've always imagined them evolving from Mayan sweet cakes made of cacao chunks and masa to a European delicacy enjoyed during afternoon tea to a favorite among the masses in the advent of the industrial revolution, when chocolate and sugar became available for every home kitchen. Such perfection must be developed and improved upon over centuries and millenia, like wine making or baking bread or building cathedrals. It seems wrong that this iconic treat was accidentally born one morning in a Massachusetts diner in 1933.

Yet it was. There are conflicting stories over the precise circumstances of the creation of the famous cookie. But the accepted convention is that a Mrs. Wakefield of the Toll House Inn (yes, the same one) accidentally put chocolate into her batter, and instead of throwing out the “ruined” batter, decided to give them a try. So the chocolate Chip Cookie is only 75 years old. What did children leave out for Santa before then? Rudolph Valentino died never having tasted one! It’s like imagining the world before penicillin—miserable and dangerous.

But as the warm, gooey, salty/sweet memories wash over me, a few mealy, poorly proportioned, unbalanced ones sneak in too. I’ve had some terrible chocolate chip cookies. Usually at school functions, where I'd have to squeeze my juice box onto the hardened lump in order to chew it. Or worse, it would crumble in my hands, smelling of stale flour, suffused with waxy “chocolate.” Like anything with the potential for greatness, perversions thrive.

Luckily for me, my mom is an excellent cookie baker (see Anzac Biscuits). Hers are a great mix of salty/sweet, nicely balanced with the semi-sweet chocolate. But then another happy accident occurred. I was baking a batch of her cookies and realized we had no chocolate chips. Scrounging around the pantry I found a large block of Scharffen Berger semi sweet chocolate. So, with a butcher’s knife, I shaved off ribbons of chocolate and cut the rest into irregular chunks. When I lifted them from the oven I found them transformed from my mother’s more cakey cookies into chewy, thin, ultra chocolately ones. I have never looked back. By using irregularly cut chocolate (some of which is powder-fine), the chocolate suffuses into the batter, causing the cookie to spread more when it bakes. As they cool, crunchiness sets in, making them the perfect companion for a glass of cold milk.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup white sugar
1 cup salted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups very good semi-sweet hand cut chocolate chips (10 ounces)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer blend brown and white sugar at medium speed.
Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at medium speed until just blended.

Taking a block of chocolate, shave and cut irregular pieces until you have approximately 2 cups. These are your chips. Add the chips to the flour mixture and stir once to combine, then add to the mixer and blend at low speed until just mixed. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet (I also use a silicon mat), 2 inches apart. Bake 22-24 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cool surface.

Pour a large glass of cold milk and you're good to go!

KITCHY ENDORSEMENTS

Humboldt Fog is the signature cheese of the amazing Cypress Grove Chevre. Located in Humboldt County, the luscious cheese is named after the local ocean fog which rolls in from Humboldt Bay. Just like the fog, one gets lost in the tangy, subtle flavor of the cheese, with its soft, crumbly interior surrounded by a deliciously runny shell. The thin ribbon that gives the cheese its distinctive cake-like appearance is edible vegetable ash, which is also sprinkled on top of the wheel to help develop a pillowy white bloomy rind. Creamy, light and with subdued notes of lemon and grassy herbs characteristic of great’s goat milk cheese--I typically hate moldy cheese, but the flavors and textures are so delicious, you simply have to try this. I love pairing it with some fig jam and a baguette, or in a salad like the one below:

HUMBOLDT FOG SALAD, WITH FIG BALSALMIC VINEGRETTE


Ingredients:

3 large handfuls wild arugula
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fig jam
1 bosc pear, sliced then julienned
2 small handfuls of raw pecans
4 ounces Humboldt Fog Chevre, sliced then laid on top
Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Directions:

Mix together the olive oil, balsamic, and fig jam, forming a vinaigrette. Add salt and pepper to taste. In an oven set at 350, toast the pecans on a cookie sheet for a few minutes. Keep an eye on them, as they burn easily. Slice and julienne the pears, roughly chop the pecans, and mix and dress them with the arugula and most of the vinaigrette. Arrange the salad on plates, and place slices of the cheese on top. Finish with a drizzle of the vinaigrette and some fresh black pepper.

BURRATA WITH WHITE NECTARINES AND PROSCIUTTO

We are burrata girls, my mom, sister and I. When we see it on a menu, it’s like a red flag to our gastronomical bull. Mozzarella delicately wrapped around sweet mascarpone is just begging to be eaten, so we happily oblige. At home though, we almost always enjoy burrata with heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, basil, and balsamic—a classic combination. When I presented this plate before dinner, it took some gentle cajoling and airplane noises to get them to eat it together. But the sweet juicy nectarines, with the peppery arugula, salty prosciutto and creamy burrata really do make a perfect bite. Please trust me on this one and try it.

Ingredients:

12 thin slices of prosciutto (at least one for each person)
1 large ball of burrata
1 medium ripe white nectarine, cut into 16 slices
1 large handful of arugula
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 table spoons balsamic vinegar
3 drops of White Truffle Oil (optional, but I recommend investing in a bottle, as it adds depth and pungency)
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of balsamic, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, and 3 drops white truffle oil to form a vinaigrette. I just put it in a small Tupperware container and vigorously shake it. Lightly dress the arugula. Arrange the dressed arugula, nectarines, and prosciutto on a plate. Rub olive oil onto the burrata and place on the plate. Finish with freshly ground pepper, a pinch of salt, and a drizzle of balsamic.

For all of my meat and cheese needs, I go to Bay Cities Italian Deli in Santa Monica. If you haven't been there before, try the Godmother, the ultimate sandwich.

ANZAC BISCUITS

If there was a cookie of my childhood, this would be it. They were such a prolific staple of my schoolyard days that they made it into the Franklin Elementary Cook Book, somewhere between Carol Beitcher's fabulous Mandel Broit and another mother’s Choco Peanut Butter Dreams. I remember devouring the warm sticky dough by the handful and the incredulous looks on my classmates’ faces when I offered them these foreign biscuits. They’re not the most attractive cookies for kids--no shapes or chunks of chocolate—but once they get past the exteriors, these cookies make for a perfect recess snack.

Originating from the World War I Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, Anzac Biscuits became popular for their durability due to the lack of eggs and milk (sort of an Aussie version of Lembas Bread); the basis of the recipe are rolled oats and other ingredients that do not spoil easily. But it's not like that really matters, as within a day of baking them they're entirely devoured. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 oz butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
2 tablespoon Boiling water
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup rolled oats
¾ cup shredded coconut
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar

Directions:

Preheat 300.
Mix dry ingredients well. Melt butter and golden syrup over low heat; add mixed boiling water and baking soda. Pour into mixed dry ingredients, blend well. Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto greased tray (I use a silicon mat). Bake for 20 minutes or until a deep caramel color.

MOM'S KILLER BROWNIES

I usually hate brownies with nuts, marshmallow, and other “filler” in them. They always get in to way of the brownie’s purpose—dense, rich chocolate—or they’re overcompensating for a brownie that’s too fudgey or too cakey or not chocolatey enough. But not so with my mom’s brownie. One little square and you are off in the land of chocolate, dancing in chocolate fountains, taking bites out of chocolate buildings, and flying chocolate kites. My point is they are killer.

The difference is that the walnuts and marshmallow are not there for flavor. The marshmallows completely evaporate, leaving behind a cratered mess that creates a delicious crunch. The walnuts and chocolate chips add density and chewiness to an already rich cake. And like all things that aren’t pretty when you first take them out of the oven, a coat of powdered sugar never hurt anybody.

Cut them into tiny (literally, 1 ½” x 1 ½”) squares and you are ready for an afternoon tea or an afternoon alone on the couch.

Jane's Killer Brownies

Ingredients:

3 ½ oz unsweetened chocolate
8 talespoons of butter
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup broken walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350
Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over boiling water, then let cool. Beat together the eggs and sugar, then pour in the cooled chocolate. Continue beating while adding flour and vanilla. Do not over mix. Fold in remaining ingredients. Pour into a buttered and floured 9 x 13 pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. When cool, dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

GOD'S BUTTER

God's Butter

I've heard this phrase used in reference to bone marrow before and it's completely spot on. When roasted, the marrow takes on the texture of a very soft pate and a deeply concentrated savory flavor that is both luxurious and comforting. The empty bones scattered across plates can be a bit disconcerting--very "I'll grind your bones to make my bread"— but they're worth the quasi-cannibalistic venture and will leave you licking your fingers and plates.

Ingredients:

For 2 – 4

4 beef or veal bones, cut into 3 inch rounds (most markets have these in their butcher's freezer)
Freshly ground pepper
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 lemon
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 baguette
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Place bones flat onto an oven-proof skillet, sprinkle with fresh pepper, and bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until you see the marrow just pull away from the bone. Cook it too long, and you’ll have hollow bones and a soupy mess. Using tongs (they’re SUPER hot) place the bones on a large plate. Cut the baguette into ½ inch slices, drizzle slices with olive oil and either grill or toast in an oven at 400 degrees. When finished, set on plate next to bones. In a small bowl, toss the parsley with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and the juice of half a lemon. Place dressed parsley on plate. Pour a large tablespoon of sea salt onto the plate and you are ready to go!