Al Dente

Zwieback AWOL. Still Looking for the Cheesecake of My Dreams...

I'm looking for the cheesecake of my youth, dense, not creamy, and with absolutely no graham crackers!  Al Dente reader Marcy and I both had high hopes for a circa 1961 Craig Claiborne's Cheesecake recipe that she found the New York Times that she found. It calls for cottage cheese instead of cream cheese and uses zwieback for its razor-thin crust instead of graham crackers.

I had planned to try this recipe, or rather have my husband, the cheesecake enthusiast, try it last week, but finding zwieback, a crisp, twice-baked biscuit, proved impossible. With zwieback AWOL, I needed a substitute, and I spent all last week looking for it. My first thought was biscotti, the twice-baked Italian biscuit, but all the biscotti I came across had strong nutty flavor, which I thought would be overpowering in the cheesecake. I scanned the cookie aisle and finally settled on some crispy Italian ladyfingers. Not the perfect substitute, but I didn't want to wait any longer to try this recipe.

In the end, the results were disappointing. The cheesecake was watery, perhaps the cottage cheese should have been drained. The lemon juice and rind was overpowering. I'm still looking for my ideal recipe. Any suggestions for the cheesecake of my dreams?

Cottage Cheese Cheesecake

Ingredients:
1 6-ounce package zwieback
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 pounds cottage cheese
1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 eggs, separated
1 cup sour cream
Rind and juice of one lemon
Strawberry glaze (see below)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven 325 degrees F. Roll zwieback into fine crumbs. Grease a nine inch spring form pan and dust the sides with zwieback crumbs. Mix the remaining crumbs with the one quarter cup of sugar and the butter and press onto bottom of the pan. Bake five minutes. Cool.

2. Press the cottage cheese through a fine sieve. Add half the remaining sugar, the flour, salt, egg yolks, sour cream, lemon rind and juice. Whip until thoroughly blended.

3. Beat egg whites until stiff, adding the remaining sugar gradually. Fold into cheese mixture.
Turn the mixture into prepared pan, bake at 325 degrees F about 1-1/2 hours. Cool in pan and glaze as directed.

Strawberry Glaze

Ingredients:
1 quart strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon butter

Directions:
1. Wash and hull berries. Crush enough berries to make one half cup.

2. Boil the crushed berries, sugar, water, and cornstarch two minutes, stirring. Add the butter, strain and cool.

3. Arrange the whole berries over the top of the cheesecake and pour the glaze over the berries. Chill.

--Tracy Schneider

Not All Amaretti Are Created Equal!

My friend Terry doesn't like the crisp amaretti you find in boxes and tins at specialty food stores, so when her neighbor in Spilamberto, Italy, Elisa, offered her some homemade amaretti, she was surprised at how delicious--and chewy--they were. She even asked for the recipe.

Turns out Terry liked Elisa's amaretti for more than just their texture. Elisa's recipe includes no almond paste nor almond extract, which Terry finds overpowering, just freshly ground almonds. I like Elisa's recipe because it has only four ingredients, and they're all kitchen staples.

Elisa's Amaretti

Ingredients:
100 grams sugar
1 egg white
100 grams almonds, preferably blanched
Salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Grind the almonds in a food processor, but be careful not to grind them too finely. Combine with sugar.

3. In another bowl, using an electric mixer, whisk the egg white with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. With a wooden spoon, thoroughly fold in almond mixture.

4. Using a teaspoon drop small balls of the mixture on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar on each and put immediately into the oven.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, less time if you'd like them soft and chewy, more time for crisper cookies.

Makes 15-20 cookies.

--Tracy Schneider

Crazy About Delancey's Clam Pie!

I finally tried the hot/hot/hottest spot for pizza in Seattle and Delancey lived up to the high praise heaped on it by critics, food bloggers and pizza geeks.

On a weeknight, the tiny dining room was packed before 6, so my friend, Adam Kuban, (the head cheese at Slice on Serious Eats) and I took a stool at the counter, overlooking Brandon Pettit's domaine, the walk-in closet-size space where dough is stretched and topped and slid into the wood-fired oven.

The menu is fairly short, but my eyes shot straight to the clam pie, a take on the pizza made famous at an icon called Pepe's in New Haven, Conn. Lore has it that Frank Pepe invented this unusual pie because he was allergic to tomatoes and cheese.

Though Brandon traveled extensively in anticipation of opening his place, he said he had never tried New Haven's signature pie.

Delancey's version starts with the exceptional crust, a dough that's chewy and has the deeply-satisfying character of a rustic bread. The flavors develop over a long period of proofing. Housemade creme fraiche is slathered on the dough, then garlic slices and petite Manila clams. So simple and so darned delicious. Close-your-eyes-and-moan delcious. It even held up surprisingly well the next morning. Yes, I warmed it up on my pizza stone for breakfast.

Another fantastic place, Serious Pie, pioneered Northwest shellfish pie. The clam pizza at Serious Pie goes the surf and turf route, adding house-cured pancetta as a partner for those bivavles.

Move over prosciutto! Clams have just risen to my No. 1 pizza topping. What toppings do you like on your pizza pie?

--Leslie Kelly

Friday Links for Food Lovers, Burger Time Edition

It's Friday again! Here are a few burger-themed links the Al Dente editors obsessed about this week:

• Emeril plans to open a burger restaurant called Burgers and More, aka BAM, in a Pennsylvania casino. (Restaurant News)
• Iceland has no navy, no army, no air force, and now, no McDonald's. (Wall Street Journal)
• Gastronomic goliath, Adam Richman, took a few bites out of a 190-pound burger. (MLive)
• Mmm...sweet potato oven fries. (Taste is Trump)
• A heart-stopping sausage and bacon burger with Velveeta cheese. (Foodista)
• Symphony bar brownies are like the burgers of the brownie world. (ButterYum)
• Now I'm really hungry. Green chile cheeseburger french fry casserole. (The Cooking Photographer)

 

Photo courtesy of The Cooking Photographer

And now that you're hungry, make your own burgers with Amazon.com's huge selection of griddles.

Did I miss a not-to-be-missed foodie link from this past week? Add a comment or tweet at me!

Have a great weekend!

--Spanno

Make-at-Home Merguez

When I heard about the merguez sausages my friends Zachary and Clark cooked for dinner the other night, I asked them to send on over the recipe. In addition to the recipe, from the October issue of Saveur, they sent me their tips and a great photo of their dinner. I wish I had been invited over that night!

"Saveur magazine recently ran a cover story on lamb, which inspired us to do some lamb tasting. Our neighborhood butcher usually has fresh local lamb on hand, but they also get in lovely New Zealand lamb. (Can anyone tell the difference?)

The first recipe we tried, 'Merguez,' looked like the most complicated of the bunch, but it turned out to be quite easy--a perfect mid-week supper.

We used ground lamb from our butcher, instead of grinding lamb shoulder in the food-processor, and the recipe worked perfectly. We served the accompaniments suggested: chopped tomatoes (cherry or grape are best this time of year), red onion, and cucumbers. Instead of serving pita bread, we served hot buttered naan, which we prefer in both flavor and texture to pita.

We're adding merguez to our list of recipes that fall into the hard-to-find category of 'fun-and-different' weeknight meals that are both easy and yummy."

Once you try it yourself, I bet you will too.

Merguez (Spiced Lamb Sausages)

Ingredients:
1 pound trimmed lam shoulder, cut into 1" cubes or 1 pound ground lamb
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon harissa
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel seed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup yogurt
8 leaves basil, roughly chopped
Chopped tomatoes, red onions, and cucumbers, for serving
Flat bread, for serving

Directions:
1. Put lamb into a bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade and transfer to freezer to let chill for 30 minutes. Add 2 cloves garlic, harissa, parsley, paprika, coriander, cumin, fennel, salt, and pepper to the bowl; process until lamb is coarsely chopped and mixed with spices, about 15 seconds. (If using ground lamb, just mix lamb with other ingredients in a large bowl.) Divide lamb mixture into 8 portions and form the portions into 3"-wide patties. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12" cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add lamb patties and cook, turning once until browned and still slightly pink, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer merguez to paper towels, set aside.

2. Meanwhile, stir together remaining garlic and oil, yogurt, and basil in a small bowl to make a sauce; season with salt and pepper. Serve merguez on a platter with sauce, chopped vegetables, and flat bread.

Serves 4

Saveur, No. 123, October 2009

--Tracy Schneider

Tom Douglas's Epicurean Chef's Board Makes the Cut

With the holidays right around the corner, my mind has been on all the food prep work in my very near future. With everything from sweet potatoes to slice to onions to chop, not to mention one very large bird to deal with, I've been checking out the customer reviews on several cutting boards at Amazon. The Tom Douglas by Pinzon Epicurean chef's board comes in at 4-1/2 stars with Amazon customers and at 15 by 20 inches is big enough to handle elaborate holiday slicing and dicing tasks. It has a groove to catch liquids, perfect for roasts and other juicy endeavors. Plus, it's heat-safe for those emergency where-can-I-set-this-hot-pan moments, and dishwasher-safe...though you'd better have a big dishwasher! Here's what Amazon's dedicated Vine Voices had to say about it:

Kathryn Bennett says,  Really large, useful cutting board
This cutting board is large enough for most any roast, even a turkey. It is dishwasher safe but it is so large that I can only fit it in my dishwasher if I lie it flat on the top shelf. It does not fit in my kitchen cabinets either but I was able to hang it from my Metro rack pantry using a large hook. The square hole in one corner is very useful for hanging and also for carrying the board when empty. Even though it is stylishly thin, it is quite heavy (and sturdy) but no heavier than a thick wooden board of the same size. Since the board is so large, the juice slot actually holds a lot of juice even though it is fairly shallow. I use a turkey baster to suck juices out of the slot since it would be awkward to pour from such a large cutting board. The juices taste pure, without the woody/sawdust taste that my previous heavy wooden cutting board imparted. (read the full review)

Gaz Rendar says, Top of the line...and largest in the line
I've been using this Epicurean/Pinzon cutting board for about a month now and it is an outstanding tool for most kitchens. I have a smaller Epicurean that I've used for a year and it's my favorite cutting board for everyday use. This particular cutting board is a lot more specialized to me, though, because of its sheer size. The surface of the board has a nice smooth finish to it, but it does get nicked up over time with regular usage. Based on using other Epicurean boards, I expect this board's long term durability to hold up just fine. The board does have some heft to it, so even though it has a small cut-out square at the top that can be used to hang it, you better have a strong hook to hold it. Both sides of the board perform well, and the black "juice moat" does a nice job catching liquid when you are cutting a juicy roast or something of the like on it. I noticed some reviewers mention that the board will slip when cutting on it, but I never had that problem while working on my kitchen island that has a finished wood surface. (read the full review)

A. Darling says, Substantial and well designed
I love that a lot of thought was put into this cutting board from the groove to catch juices, to the slot to hang it from a hook, to be dishwasher safe! This is a very large and slightly heavy cutting board but perfect for cutting roasts or other large items. The look is quite contemporary but could fit well into more traditional kitchens as well. If this is how well the entire Tom Douglas (a great chef from a great foodie city) I am going to be looking at his collection!

John N. Schear says, Double WOW
The Board is absolutely perfect in every way from my standpoint. The size (15X20) fits my preparation area perfectly. For my uses this is the perfect cutting board. To use and test its attributes I used a 7 pound beef roast and an 8 pound roasted hen. (At different times, I might add.) Each piece of meat has different demands on the meat cutter. (I prefer not to use the word butcher due to the manner in which I cut the meat. To call me a butcher would be an overstatement.) Regardless, the beef stayed in place without having the board slip and slide all over the counter. The same with the turkey even though the turkey took more effort to cut the results were the same: perfection thanks to the board. I really like the slots that capture the excess liquid in the meat. It is big enough to hold the runoff and cutting can continue without a need to have an extra paper towel to get the runoff. The weight of the board is deceiving. It looks flimsy; however, it is far from that. It is sturdy and well made. Even the hole is properly located in such a manner that it is handy and large enough to be placed over almost any hook in the kitchen. Great job and kudos to Tom Douglas and Pinzon. (read the full review)

Looking for more details on this cutting board? Check out this video of Tom Douglas, showing off his chef skills--plus, get some nice tips on serving up a lamb roast!

--KitchenMaus

Amazon Vine is a program that allows real Amazon.com customers to review new products. Highly respected Amazon reviewers are sent products and asked to critique them. With reviews on the products' detail pages often before the items are on sale, you can purchase or pre-order with confidence, knowing you have honest, objective opinions from your fellow customers. Amazon does not influence the opinions of Amazon Vine members, nor do we edit or modify their reviews. (Learn more about Amazon Vine)

Yogurt Comes of Age

It wasn't I until I lived in Paris that I became enlightened as to the ways of yogurt. I was a student in college at the time, and the family I lived with kept a yogurt maker on the kitchen counter. Yogurt, mixed at the table with a little sugar, was our dessert at almost every evening meal.

In Parisian grocery stores, the yogurt section was enormous, and I became a big fan of creamy French yogurt. This creamy, "European-style" yogurt eventually came to the U.S. and over many years, the yogurt aisle in Seattle has seen some exciting additions. I was thrilled to discover the full-fat, non-homogenized Brown Cow yogurt with its luscious layer of cream at the top. Then I tried thick Fage Greek yogurt, and we eat so much now I buy four tubs at a time, thought I've switched to the more affordable Trader Joe's brand.

I like Port Madison's goat milk yogurt that I find at my local farmers market, and I've tasted water buffalo milk yogurt from Bufala di Vermont at the Union Square Greenmarket in New York. But I'd never tried the Icelandic yogurt skyr, so when I saw Siggi's yogurt on sale at my local grocery store, I decided to give it a go. I'm a sucker for great graphics, and Siggi's simple packaging is an eye-catcher.

Skyr is a strained yogurt with a distinctive tang, and though Siggi's is made with non-fat milk, it has a richer, thicker consistency than you might expect. Though I tend to prefer plain, unsweetened yogurt, I was intrigued by Siggi's unusual flavor combinations like orange & ginger and pomegranate & passion fruit, sweetened by the way, with agave nectar. And I'm anxious to try it's newest flavors, vanilla, acai and grapefruit, but at $2.99 for a 6-oz. cup, I'll have to wait until Siggi's is back on sale.

There are so many new yogurts available from small dairies around the country now, why not give your favorite a shout out and share it with us.

--Tracy Schneider

Stalking the Tastiest Brussels Sprouts

If you're lucky enough to spot some Brussels sprouts stalks at your farmers market, grocery store or specialty shop, grab them! I found some beautiful stalks a few years ago at my local co-op and used two of them as centerpieces for a night before I turned them into supper the next day. Not only are they artistic in their own right, I'm guessing that in general, the sprouts on the stalk are fresher than those that have been cut and bagged. Does anyone know for sure if that's true?

Brussels sprouts stalks are still not a common sight in the grocery store, though I found some today at Trader Joe's. I'm not a celebrity, but I create a bit of a scene when I have a Brussels sprouts stalk in my grocery cart. "What is that?" everyone wants to know. Maybe we don't know as much about growing Brussels sprouts as we do, say, potatoes, because Brussels sprouts are at at the bottom of the list of "favorite" vegetables.

If you don't like Brussels sprouts, I'm guessing it's because you've only eaten them boiled or steamed, two methods that I myself don't think produce very appetizing results. I learned about roasting Brussels sprouts from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, and with her recipe I've turned some of the most staunch sprouts opponents into diehard fans. When my teenage niece Lauren tasted my roasted Brussels sprouts, she told me they were even better than French fries. Now that's quite a coup!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons good olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Cut of the ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bow with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Turn them out on a baking sheet and roast for 35 40 minutes, until crisp outside and tender inside. Shake the pan from time to time, to brown the Brussels sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt and serve.

Serves 6

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, Ina Garten, Clarkson Potter, 1999

--Tracy Schneider

Southern Foodways Alliance Syposium Was A Smash Hit

I am so absolutely stuffed after soaking up three days of amazing food and fellowship at the Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium in Oxford, Miss. The theme this year was music and it was enlightening and entertaining to hear food imagery pop up in everything from ragtime to hip hop.

I've been going to this magical weekend for five years and it just keeps getting better. I'm not just talking about the incredible meals cooked by famous chefs (Susan Spicer from Bayona in New Orleans, Momofuku's David Chang pictured plating a lunch and Oxford's hometown hero John Currence, winner of this year's James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef in the Southeast were featured, just to name a few). What I adore about this epic event are the surprises and the joy of learning something new. Who knew Jelly Roll doubled for a roll in the hay in many blues songs from way back when?

One of the most riveting speakers was seasoned Nashville singer/songwriter Marshall Chapman who talked about the challenges of finding good food on the road. She's probably logged more miles in more than 30 years of touring than most musicians, much of it in a cramped van, where band members took turns sleeping on a pad laid out across a couple of amps.

I loved her eloquent telling of how she finally declared she would only play in places where there was a good chance of finding tasty local fare. That boiled down to Texas, Louisiana, most anywhere along the Gulf Coast and New York. She conjured a beautiful scene of looking for a post-show snack in a New York snowstorm when the band stumbled into a homey Italian place, the city still under a blanket of white.

Lucky for the 300-plus food writers, scholars, cooks and food enthusiasts who gathered for the Symposium, Marshall said she was moved to perform a song for us after eating a spectacular meal at Big Bad Breakfast, bringing down the house with "I Love Everybody, I Love Everything."

That sentiment kept rolling around in my head throughout the weekend. And I left Oxford, feeling full and a little bit blue, but already thinking about next year. Y'all should come!

Stay tuned for more SFA Symposium dish from Brad Thomas Parsons, who I had the pleasure of hanging with down South.

--Leslie Kelly

Picnic Playground

Leave it to Putumayo to combine music and food in its recently released CD, Picnic Playground. I'm a longtime fan of Putumayo World Music and its Kids Division, beginning with World Playground in 1999.

Picnic Playground is a collection of songs about food sung by artists--guitarists, singers, songwriters, pop stars and musical groups--from around the world. Songs in Swahili, French, German, Spanish, Danish and English explore cherries, tomatoes, milk, ice cream and pie.

One of my favorite songs by the South African singer, dancer and actress Kheswa, describes a beautiful day shopping at the farmers market purchasing all the makings of a picnic.

With the holidays now around the corner, this CD will make a great gift for foodies and their young proteges.

--Tracy Schneider

It's an Old-fashioned Halloween at Our House

The plan for the day was to make jelly apples and popcorn balls with my daughter, all before her afternoon soccer game. Surprisingly enough, that's just what happened.

We popped three batches of popcorn, mixed them with Paula Deen's sugar syrup, and then with buttered hands turned them into popcorn balls.

My daughter loves to measure, pour and stir, but once the candy syrup began to boil, I kept her a few arms lengths from from the bubbling sugar syrup on the stove.

Without a candy thermometer, we had to use a cup of cold water to check the syrup and she got the chance to see how the sugar water became molten syrup in stages, from soft ball to firm ball to hard ball. 

We went through a similar drill for the candy apples, and soon enough, we had a dozen of both--the makings of an old-fashioned All Hallows' Eve.

Popcorn Balls

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-1/3 cups water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1.In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water, syrup, vinegar, and salt. Cook over high heat until mixture reaches 255 degrees F (hard-ball stage) on a candy thermometer. Stir in vanilla.

2. Pour over popped corn, tossing gently to coat. When mixture is cool enough to handle, press popcorn into 3-inch balls with lightly greased hands. Cool completely on waxed paper.

Makes 14 popcorn balls

Popcorn Balls, Paula Deen

--Tracy Schneider

Saveur Has Me Thinking About Thanksgiving...

When my Saveur magazine arrived in the mail earlier this week, I had to steal away from the work at hand for a quick look. I love how Saveur dishes up both a global perspective and at the same time a personal look at what people are eating and how they are cooking. And, of course, there are those magnificent photos.

I savor the double page spread of a Thanksgiving dinner held at a home in Oaxaca, Mexico, with turkey and stuffing surrounded by potluck contributions: a creamy squash vine soup, guacamole, corn bread, green salad, giant white corn tortillas, jello molds, and more. The table too is surrounded, but with hungry guests, plates in hand, and it positively groans under the weight of those heavy platters.

In another article of a New England Thanksgiving, my eye is drawn to a large platter of creamed onions. They turn out to be swathed in a curried cream. It's the signature dish of one Anna North Coit, a 101-year-old Connecticut Yankee who has been cooking this particular recipe for some thirty years.

Halloween is not yet here, but Saveur has me thinking of Thanksgiving dinner and all its possibilities.

Curried Creamed Onions

Ingredients:
Kosher salt, to taste
2 pounds white pearl onions, unpeeled
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup half-and-half
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon Tabasco
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Bring a 6-quart pot of salted water to a boil. Add onions and cook until just tender, about 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer onions to bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Using a pairing knife, peel onions and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and curry powder and cook, stirring frequently, until golden and thick, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the half-and-half, the reserved cooking liquid, and mustard and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally,until sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Add onions and season with Tabasco and salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften a little and the flavors meld, about 10 more minutes. Transfer onions to a platter or a bowl with a slotted spoon and pour some of the cream sauce over them.

Serves 4-6.

"Yankee Pride," Sandra L. Oliver,  Saveur, No. 124, November 2009

--Tracy Schneider

Baking Kids Love and Halloween Meringues

Good books on cooking with kids are hard to find, and it's even more uncommon to see a "serious" chef take one on. I was so pleased to see pastry chef Cindy Mushet, who won acclaim with last year's Art and Soul of Baking, follow that book up with Baking Kids Love. Written with the kid-input of Mushet's daughter Bella, it's a fun, colorful, approachable--but real--guide. Instead of the usual genre mainstays of arranging fruit in smiley faces or hiding vegetables in brownies, this one brings kids into the real world of the kitchen. They proof yeast, they melt chocolate, they roll out pie crust. It's just the sort of book I wanted to use with my own 7-year-old, so when I heard Cindy and 11-year-old Bella were coming to Seattle on tour, I asked "Baking with kids? Can they bake with my kid?" 

That's how they wound up in my kitchen, pastry bags in hand, making Halloween-style "meringue crispies" with my boy. The treats were meringue cookies stretched out into the shapes of "rattling bones and fingers," decorated with almond fingernails and melted-chocolate rings. My son is a veteran of one-bowl mixes like chocolate chip cookies and banana breads (both of which have a place in the book), but I hadn't ever given him more complicated projects. I was afraid that if he failed, he'd lose some of the pleasure he takes in baking. 

Mushet kept such fears in mind for the book, thinking hard about what to include so that kids (and, not incidentally, parents) could find kitchen success. Butter cakes did not make the cut, for instance, because not every modern-day parent knows how to gauge when the butter and sugar are properly creamed. Instead, there's the pretty "chocolate celebration cake" on the book's cover, which uses oil. Mushet also knows, though, that kids can rise to the expectations of adults; she's seen even 5-year-olds safely wielding knives and whipping up goodies. "Because I believed it, they could do it," she said.

The book started out with the recipes that Cindy and Bella loved to make together, then Bella proved a good sounding board for which gaps to fill and which recipes to leave out. Which recipes did Bella say to chuck? "Whole wheat bread". Sure, she likes it, but "Do I love it?" No. Instead, the book has pretzels and pizza dough, cinnamon rolls and monkey bread.

Baking is such a science, with success riding so much on correct measurements, I had to ask whether it was risky to put the recipes in the imprecise hands of children. Mushet noted that the book stresses the importance of measuring properly and following directions. And she shared this tip from when Bella was very young: She let her youngster measure out each ingredient, but had already pre-measured the precise amounts herself in advance. The correctly filled spoons and cups were the ones that went into the mixing bowl.

And our own baking experiment, with my boy? It was a delight. Cindy showed him how to separate eggs, and he proceeded on his own without a single speck of yolk going into the whites. "You're a natural!" she told him. Bella showed him how to judge the stiffness of the whipped whites, then how to pipe them into scary bones and fingers. He needed no directions on the sprinkled sugars and other decorations -- or, of course, on the eating. He's now the designated meringue chef in the family. We're both brimming with pride. 

Here's the recipe:

Friday Links for Food Lovers, It's-Not-a-Trick Edition

It's Friday again! Here are a few mind-boggling links the Al Dente editors obsessed about this week:

• Candy companies employ witches to pray over Halloween candy in order to spread curses. (Common Dreams)
• Alec Baldwin's daughter had a Lil' Wayne birthday cake complete with Twizzler dreadlocks. (BuzzFeed)
• How to make a disgusting-looking meat hand with ground beef, cheese, and onion. (Not Martha)
• Celebrate Day of Honor with some Rokeg Blood Pie. Qapla'! (Foodista)
• Keep vampires away with garlic cupcakes. (Cupcake Project)
• Drink this carrot cake smoothie. (Raw Epicurean)
• Eat this, Adam Richman. A massive cinnamon roll with orange and raisin. (Back to the Cutting Board)

 

Photo courtesy of Back to the Cutting Board.

And it wouldn't be Halloween without some treats. Instead of buying bags of cursed chocolate, you can make your own treats with this bakeware from our new bakeware store:

Norpro Nonstick Cake-Sicle Pan
"The cake-sicle pan was awesome. I bought this to use as an activity for the kids at my son's first birthday party and they loved it. The adults loved it too, heck I loved it. The pan is so easy to use. You can use cake batter or brownie batter or even cookie batter."

Wilton Giant Cupcake Pan
"I used this for a cupcake themed birthday for my 2 year old son and it was a hit! I thought that it would also be good for a garden party or for a girls "Alice in Wonderland" themed party too. It is a versitile cake pan that isn't limited to specific occasions or trends."

Nordic Ware Pro Cast Castle Bundt Pan
"This little bundt pan delivers! It pops out beautiful cakes in amazing detail. Using non-stick flour spray, I've have had no problems at all (and I've had a long history of cracked cakes from other pans). I've baked 6 cakes in the past week. Each one turned out fantastic and was a delight to decorate."

--Spanno

Candy Bracketology

"Almond Roca over Atomic Fireballs? No way!" my husband said, in total disbelief, when he heard the news. But that's just what happened the first day of the 2009 "Candy and 'Friends' Tournament", put together by the folks at Milliman, an actuarial firm based in Seattle.

"Could sour gummy worms be this year's Cinderella? Could a powerhouse like Cracker Jacks see an early exit from the tourney? Is there any way that Bugles could make it into the Sweet Sixteen?"

"This is really out of my league," I think, as my husband tries to explain the intricacies of bracketology. But even if you've never been swept up by March Madness, like me, you can still appreciate this "sporting" event.

Milliman's first Candy Tournament was held in 2005, the brainchild of Rex Barker and Arthur Rains-McNally, Milliman actuaries and candy enthusiasts. Maybe enthusiast isn't quite the right word. Rex, I've been told, pounds candy, nonstop, all day long. Not even chocolate, but the really sweet stuff. Smarties are a favorite.

If you walk into the company kitchen on any given afternoon over the next few weeks, you'll find trays or bowls laden with two kinds of candy or "friends" (non-candy snack foods like wasabi peas or Chips Ahoy!). And if you want to taste, you'll have to vote. Those are the rules. In fact, the rules of the tourney take up a full page, (so too do the rules for the bracketology), all decided by the Candy Committee. I'm not sweet talking you. There really is one.

And in addition to creating the rules, the Candy Committee also determines just which 64 treats make it into the tournament. Toblerone? Yes. Frangos? No. Skittles, Nerds or Zotz? Yes, yes and yes. Now that is one sweet job.

--Tracy Schneider

No-Knead Bread Goes Whole-Grain

When I wrote about Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois's first book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day, I was promptly deluged in emails, which I passed on to the authors. A surprising number were from people asking how to translate the pair's no-knead recipes into whole-wheat or other whole-grain versions. And a surprising number, Hertzberg and Francois told me this week, were from people thinking they could just substitute whole grain flours for white flour, cup for cup. Sadly, baking doesn't work that way.

Hertzberg, a physician, and Francois, a pastry chef, have always jumped to answer reader questions on their blog, but now they're back in print to take on the issue in full, in 313 pages of recipes and commentaries and techniques. Their new book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day, translates their core concept (doughs that come together quickly, in large quantities, stored in the refrigerator to bake as you wish) into loaves and pizzas and pastries made with whole grains. There's plain old whole wheat flour, but also spelt, flax, barley flour, graham flour, and more.

The biggest requests they got from readers, they told me Tuesday before setting off on their book tour, was for whole grain breads, followed by requests for gluten-free breads (which they also included, consulting with Shauna Ahern and Danny Ahern).

After experimentation and testing, their secret ingredient? Vital wheat gluten, a product that's commonly used in industry baking, but has only in recent years become widely available in supermarkets. Whole wheat flour has less gluten than white flour, and it needs a boost from the added wheat gluten, which helps the bread rise and maintain an airier texture. Without it, they couldn't have made doughs that could be stored for so long. "Ten years ago, we couldn't have written this book," Hertzberg said, as they try to stick to ingredients that are easy to find.

"Healthy" bread is about more than whole grains, though. They added some information and advice on nutrition, and incorporated fruits and vegetables into some of their doughs, such as red beet buns and a zucchini flatbread. The federal government recommends eating nine servings of fruits or vegetables a day, Hertzberg noted. "I've got a friend who says he can't even name nine vegetables."

The book's breads are a homecoming of sorts for Francois, who grew up in a Vermont commune, eating whole grains and no refined sugars, before attending the Culinary Institute of America. "I went to culinary school to learn the food science, so I could adapt recipes for healthy desserts," she said, but instead she graduated eating white sugar. Now, she's gladly baking the pumpkin pie brioche she developed for the book, using honey and a mix of whole wheat and white flour, turning the dough into sandwich loaves and Indian spice donuts and caramel rolls.

"It took me all this time to kind of get to where I had originally wanted to be."

-- Rebekah Denn

Teatime Is Bedtime At My House!

Now that Seattle's rainy season has officially started, I've dusted off my favorite English teapot and replenished my vast supply of different Tazo Teas--Wild Sweet Orange, Passion, Honeybush, and Zen being just a few. 

Over the years on cold rainy nights, I've gotten into the habit of making a pot of herbal tea for my children. I really do think it calms them down and warms them up before they snuggle under the bedcovers.

Historically at night, I've been faithful to the Wild Sweet Orange option which is a blend of lemongrass, herbs, licorice, and orange essence. But, last night around 9 pm, I decided to break with tradition and opted for Honeybush which hails directly from the South African Honeybush. I'd never had this tea, but I found it to be deliciously warming, highly aromatic and downright soothing right before bed. Actually,  it must have been extraordinarily soothing because I fell fast asleep sitting up in my chair!

Do you have a favorite tea? Do you prefer different teas at different times of the day?

--Melissa A. Trainer

Add Pizzazz to Your Snacking and Pizza-ing

Having been an Amazon.com Kitchen editor for, oh, about nine years, I’ve seen my share of intriguing and interesting items. But even after seeing lots of these eye-catchers, the Presto Pizzazz pizza oven instantly made me do a double-take the first time I saw it. It just looks a little odd: an oven that’s open to the air for the most part. My first thought was: total gimmick, which probably doesn’t work (well, call me a skeptic). My second thought was: wait, I should try it before being skeptical. And then I forgot about it for awhile (we do have approximately 33,000 appliances after all), until seeing it again, going through the first two thoughts again, and then, this time, picking one up so I could test it out. And you know what? It actually works really, really well. 

What makes it work are the independently controlled top and bottom heating elements. It looks like what’s cooking would just get heat from the top when it rolled under that element, thereby taking more time, but really the heating is happening all the time, and the cooking happens continually. And, it doesn’t have to preheat, which means it tends to cook faster than a conventional oven. It’s obviously shaped for pizza, and the box swears that it works as well for fresh as for frozen, so the first thing I tried was a homemade pizza (I took it for granted that for frozen pizza it would work dandy). I was pretty unsure at first--mostly because I don’t usually watch something cook in an oven throughout the whole process. The end result was tasty though, with a crisp crust and well-cooked toppings. It did take a touch longer than I thought, but no more than cooking it in a regular oven.

I wanted to try the Pizzazz with some snacks, too, as the box also says it’s not solely for pizza and, well, I like snacks. This had me one afternoon dropping a couple of frozen taquitos and cheese-stuffed-and-fried-jalapeño-popper things on the oven and starting it up. Now, here, is where it really shined, as it had the recently-frozen delights cooked and crispy and ready for snacking about 5 minutes faster than the recommended oven-cooking times listed on their boxes. For snack-intensive days (football games, all-day parties), the Pizzazz is a dream.

A couple final notes: first, the heating element does get hot, necessitating that you’re careful when removing items. And definitely don’t touch it. There is a timer, which helps, and an shutoff function hooked to the timer for added safety, and another automatic shutoff feature that kicks in if over-heating occurs. The Pizzazz is a snap to clean, and super-quick to set up--which means quick snacks, no waiting. This is a good thing, because when that snack craving hits, no one wants to wait around.

--A.J. Rathbun

Braiden-Rex Johnson: Cool Cocktails

It was a red-letter day in June when the editors of Food & Wine magazine’s Cocktails 2009 named ART Restaurant and Lounge in the Four Seasons Hotel Seattle as one of the top 100 bars and lounges across America. Food & Wine’s annual cocktail compendium presents more than 150 of the best cocktail and party recipes from cutting-edge bartenders coast to coast.

I was particularly pleased when ART was chosen since it’s right across the street from our downtown Seattle condo, so it’s easy to slip across the plaza for a sip and a nosh without getting in the car.

ART took home the bacon for one of its signature cocktails--Sorriso. The creative cocktail--which translates as “smile” in Italian--includes pear vodka, gin, cream sherry, cherry brandy, and Angostura bitters, all garnished with a twist of lemon.

Recently, I’ve been taken with another of ART’s signature cocktails--The Big Dill. It’s the kind of drink that’s fashionable of late, with savory ingredients (fresh cucumber) muddled with herbs (fresh dill) and mixed with freshly squeezed lime juice and agave syrup (a healthy sugar substitute, although simple syrup works just as well). The citrus and sweet syrup create a sort of sweet-and-sour effect, while good-quality vodka adds the final cool, crisp, alcoholic punch.

Since I’m really more of a wine aficionado than cocktail expert, I turn to books by two of Seattle’s cocktail kingpins and buddies of mine, whenever I have a question.

Just this spring, Seattle celebrity chef Kathy Casey whipped up a delightful new tome (her ninth) entitled, Sips & Apps: Classic and Contemporary Recipes for Cocktails and Appetizers.

With a hip, yet retro feel, the book is stylishly produced in Casey’s signature colors--robin’s egg blue, celadon, chocolate brown and silver--and includes more than 100 appetizer and cocktail recipes, a bar-basics section, recipes for cocktail cornerstones such as infused syrups and fresh fruit purées, along with insider tips.

A.J. Rathbun, kitchen editor at Amazon.com, is one of the most prolific writers I’ve ever met. His award-winning Good Spirits: Recipes, Revelations, Refreshments, and Romance, Shaken and Served with a Twist is an entertaining and engaging collection of 450 classic and contemporary cocktail recipes with quirky names (Headshrinker, Flaming Dr. Pepper, Obituary Cocktail), lively headnotes, and gorgeous photos by the aptly named Melissa Punch.

For those who want to try their hand at making a cool cocktail at home, here’s a recipe for The Big Dill courtesy of ART Restaurant and Lounge.

The Big Dill
Serves 1

Ingredients:
3 sprigs fresh dill, leafy parts only (no stems)
4 (1/2-inch) slices fresh cucumber
1/2 ounce agave syrup or simple syrup (See Cook’s Hint, below)
Juice of half a fresh lime
1-1/2 ounces Square One Vodka or other good-quality vodka 

Directions:

1. In a cocktail shaker, with a muddler or wooden spoon, gently press the dill and 3 slices of the cucumber. Add the agave syrup and gently press to combine the ingredients. Add the lime juice and gently press to combine. 

2. Add the vodka and enough ice to fill the shaker and cover. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass until you reach the last half inch of liquid, which should be discarded as it may contain large flecks of dill.

3. To garnish, slice the remaining cucumber halfway into the center and position it on the rim of the martini glass.

Cook’s Hint: To make simple syrup, in a small saucepan, bring equal parts sugar and water to a boil; simmer until the sugar is dissolved, 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate in a glass jar for up to 1 month.

--Braiden Rex-Johnson

Photo of Braiden by Ingrid Pape-Sheldon

The Canal House Cookbook: Home Cooking for Home Cooks

I received my copy of Canal House Cooking, Volume No. 2 (Fall & Holiday) a few days ago, and I can't help myself from sharing it with everyone I know. First I describe the concept, two former Saveur alums, one a photographer, the other an illustrator, both writers, who cook together every day, publish their favorite recipes throughout the year, according to the seasons.

Then I describe the cookbook, beautifully photographed, handsomely illustrated, lovingly designed. Each recipe has its own story. As for the recipes, it's hard to choose which to try first. Fried zucchini? Duck with apples and onions? Pear sorbet? Currant gingersnaps? I want to try them all. And why not? It's all "home cooking, by home cooks for home cooks."

When I read the story about the pumpkin soup that the Canal House Cooking authors, Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, made for visiting Chez Panisse chef David Tanis, I knew it would be the chosen first recipe.

I've been itching to buy one of those beautiful Cinderella pumpkins these last few years, I see them in the fall at our local farmers market, but could never justify paying the hefty price for a mere decoration. But if it's an ingredient...

At first glance, the pumpkin soup recipe may sound a bit daunting. I always thought cooking and serving soup in a pumpkin was a bit over-the-top. But after reading the recipe, the whole procedure seems pretty straightforward--and a whole lot of fun.

Pumpkin Soup with Pimenton and Preserved Lemon

Ingredients:
8-10 pound sturdy, thick-fleshed pumpkin, (preferably Rouge Vif d'Etampes, Cinderella, or Cheese)
Softened butter
Coarse salt and pepper
2 tablespoons pimenton
2 preserved lemon rinds, finely chopped
2 sliced garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
Chicken broth

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut out a lid around the stem-end of the pumpkin and set aside. Scrape out and discard the seeds and strings.

2. Put pumpkin on a baking sheet along with the lid. Rub the pumpkin flesh with lots of softened butter. Rub in coarse salt and pepper, and 2 tablespoons pimenton. Add the finely chopped rinds of 2 preserved lemons, a coupe of sliced garlic cloves and 2 bay leaves.

3. Fill the pumpkin halfway full with a good broth. Roast until flesh is soft when pierced with a paring knife. Take care not to puncture the skin. Replace lid for effect, if you like, and serve the pumpkin soup at the table, scraping the flesh from the bottom and sides into the broth then ladling it into bowls.

Serves about 8.

Canal House Cooking, Volume No. 2, Hamilton & Hirsheimer, 2009

--Tracy Schneider