A Bowl of Cherries

One of the reasons I like Summer is seeing the first crop of cherries coming into the market.  So far, I think I've gone through three or four pounds of them.  I can easily sit at the table and eat one after the other.  I've made my Cherry-Amaretto Syrup, now my favorite topping for French toast, and Cherry Almond Shortbread a couple of weeks ago for Girls' Night.  Yes, I see the pattern...I do love the tastes of cherries and almonds together.

The thought that I couldn't get out of my head was making a cherry clafoutis.  Part of the attraction was it being something that I hadn't made before and well, it was a little exotic.  I was originally under the impression that it was closer to a cake in consistency, but when I started to seek out recipes I saw the comparisons to flan.  Having not been a huge custard fan in the past, I decided it was time to change that.  You know, my egg issues.  I narrowed the choices down to three recipes (Saveur, Epicurious, and Simply Recipes).  I ended up going with the Saveur recipe, incidentally, the one that uses the most eggs.

You'll read that typically clafoutis uses unpitted cherries, so the batter can get a hint of the almond-like flavoring that the pits will release while baking, but I opted for pitting the cherries (by hand, just me and a knife, and some still very stained fingers).  Other than the time it takes to pit the cherries, this will easily come together.  I did it by hand and recommend it if you don't feel like dragging out the mixer.

It's amazing warm, dusted with confectioners sugar, just long enough out of the oven so the batter can set a little bit and nearly as good at room temperature.  Don't make me admit that it was a late lunch yesterday.  (And totally worth it!)

Cherry Clafoutis
(Adapted from a recipe at Saveur)


1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
6 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
2 tbsp bourbon
3/4 cup flour
3 cups cherries, pitted
pinch of salt
confectioners sugar (for dusting)


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Grease baking pan, pie plate, or skillet generously.  In a large bowl, whisk together the vanilla extract, bourbon, eggs, sugar, milk, and salt.  Add flour gradually until batter comes together.  


Pour batter into baking dish and scatter cherries in the batter.  Bake for 30-40 minutes  until edges and bottom are golden brown or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  The clafoutis will puff a little while baking and deflate a little once you remove it from the oven.  


Let cool a few minutes before serving.  Dust with confectioners sugar.  

Another Step Forward...

...because sometimes I think I excel at taking steps back...not today...no, siree...

...don't even ask me how nervous I've been all day getting this together, though it's been going on for close to a month, I made today THE day...a weird (or not) mix of nervousness,  a little anxiety, and excitement...it kept building with each step I completed....and with a wee bit of hesitation, my finger hovered over the 'Launch' button...

...but here she is...is all her infant glory...months ago I told myself, "Onwards and upwards because there is no other way to go."  See...I really am trying to be more positive...

...humour me...PLEASE!...and check out the shop...  :)

Semplice Gourmet

The Bounty

Between reading other blogs and hearing from friends, the typical Summer bounty of zucchini a-plenty seems to be starting.  I, on the other hand, actually have to buy it at the grocery store.  The upside?  Zucchini is pretty inexpensive.  Mind you, if there is anyone out there who lives nearby and you have an abundance of zucchini on your hands, don't hesitate to give me a call.  I would be happy to take it off your hands.

Usually I'll make zucchini-walnut cake, but this time around I wanted to throw in some chocolate.  I've seen recipes for zucchini-chocolate cake before and I figured it was time to give it a go myself.  I found an excellent recipe for Zucchini Muffins on the Simply Recipes blog/site.  As I've mentioned before, I love a recipe where you can easily swap out ingredients to suit your taste.  This one did not let me down.

Consider it...once you've had grilled zucchini, zucchini fritters, zucchini chips, and zucchini quesadillas you'll still want these muffins.  Honestly, they have chocolate in them...how could you not?

Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins
(Adapted from the Zucchini Muffins Recipe on Simply Recipes.com)
Makes 6 [actually, 7...but it was half-sized]


1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Pinch of salt


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin pan with liners or grease with a little butter.  Melt butter and set aside.  In a large bowl, combine sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add grated zucchini and butter.  Stir to combine.  In a small bowl, add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.  Mix dry ingredients then add gradually to wet ingredients.  Add chocolate chips and stir until all the ingredients are combined.  Spoon into muffin pan, so each well is nearly full.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool for 5 minutes in pan before removing and finish cooling on cooling rack.  

My baking time was closer to the 30 minute mark.

From the Boring to the Sublime

Potato salad.  One of the major participants at barbecues and cook-outs countrywide.  I may be pushing the 'sublime' designation...but work with me.  With Independence Day a mere two days away (don't you hate when a holiday falls smack in the middle of the week?...it's not close enough to either the beginning or end to stretch it into a 3-day weekend), I'm sitting here thinking about a huge spread in the backyard, the table covered in red gingham, lemonade in tall glasses, playing horseshoes, the grill fired up, huge bowls of cole slaw, macaroni salad, and potato salad, watermelon, endless condiments, flies buzzing about, a sunburn from not putting on enough sunscreen, and platters of hamburgers and hot dogs.

There is one small problem...I don't have a backyard with the gingham-covered picnic table, a grill, or the horseshoes.  I can squeeze lemons for the lemonade and make the rest of the food, but on a much, much smaller scale.  I can sit out on the common patio here with a Cook-Out for One...made inside!  I'll be happy with a couple of hot dogs and potato salad.

This is going to be one of those admissions where you're probably going to say to yourself, 'How long has she been cooking?'  I honestly believe this is the first time I've made potato salad.  Truthfully.  I cannot remember making it in the past, unless the result was so horrendously awful, I have conveniently forgotten the whole incident.  When I make something like this, I could almost smack myself for thinking there was some mystery that was eluding me.  It's boiled potatoes...with other stuff thrown in!  I think a lot of the hesitation has to do with not wanting to destroy the memory I hold of certain foods.  My mom is a decent cook, and I  distinctly remember how her potato salad used to taste over all those summer cook-outs when I was growing up back East.  I'm not saying hers is the end-all-be-all of potato salads, but I can 'taste' it in my mind.  Know what I mean?


So...here I come with my own twist on a classic.  I know my mom's and most other potato salads I've eaten have hard-boiled egg in them, but I've kept it out of this version.  It's pretty short and sweet.  Measurements are estimations at best, because, well...it's how I work...at least today.  Maybe 'sublime' is too extreme a designation for something so easy...but I do believe it's far from boring.


'Sublime' Potato Salad  (okay...maybe, maybe not)
(Serves 2-4)


3 medium to large red potatoes
1/2 cups diced baby carrots
1/4 cup minced red onion
2 tablespoons chopped pepperoncini
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste


Wash potatoes and dice into roughly 1-inch or slightly larger pieces (skin on).  Add to medium saucepan with enough water to cover and bring to a boil.  Cook until done (about 12-16 minutes).  Drain and rinse under cool water.  In a bowl, combine all ingredients and gently stir to evenly distribute mayonnaise and mustard.  I also sprinkled in a little Magic Dust Rub because that stuff is amazing!  Try to make it a day before, so everything has time to co-mingle.  

Mini-gingham!

It's Been Some Week...

...or Midnight Baking Session #834.  I couldn't decide which to name this post.  Pick whichever strikes your fancy at the moment.  Neither will be wrong.  So, it's been a busy week, a strange week, a sad week, a happy week.  Just think...the week isn't even over yet.


I don't talk about the Day Job too often.  I don't think this is particularly the correct platform.  I've typically kept a pretty obvious boundary between my work-life and the rest of my life.  Here's the 2-minute version of what's been going on:  On April 25th, I found out that the corporate office of the company I work for decided that our store would be closing.  Despite being the Number 1 store in the company for fiscal 2011, according to a report that measured certain metrics, we weren't profitable enough in the space we were in.  It was totally unexpected.  In fact, I spent much of the past two months being either pissed off and angry or resigned (I get that it's a numbers game, but it still sucks).  As the store slowly emptied out over the past couple of weeks, it started to sink in how sad it made me, despite the fact that I took great joy in taking down another wall or moving fixtures from one shop to another to condense down.  I found myself humming "Another One Bites the Dust" every time I walked back to the stockroom with another handful of fixturing.


Well, the end finally came.  Our last day of business was this past Sunday and we were done, final checks in hand (those of us who were left), keys turned over to the construction team (they really should be called the de-construction team) this past Tuesday.  And I finally cried.  I had been holding it in over the past week, covering it up with Queen.  I let it sink in that the people I've worked with over the past 2 years weren't just co-workers, but friends.  They were joyful guinea pigs for baking experiments and went along with potluck meeting ideas...even the ones who claimed not to cook...I will not forget Pam's stuffed mushrooms.


Let me share a few more thoughts.  It was strange waking up Wednesday morning.  There's a certain mindset when you wake up on your day off, it's another mindset when you think, "I've nowhere to go to tomorrow."  I am not happy to be out of a job...a girl's gotta pay the rent.  But I am beginning to be a believer in the 'things happen for a reason' camp.  I've had more than a few people tell me it's time to push the food business forward.  It's time to follow the passion.  And I absolutely believe that to be true.  I also decided to pursue something else I've been wanting to do for a while.  Volunteer at a museum.  I met with the events manager at the Fowler Museum on UCLA's campus this afternoon and I am thrilled to pieces to report that I have orientation and my first day as part of the visitor services group next Friday.  


:::Deep breath:::  Okay...back to business.  As a last hurrah and 'thank you' for working with a great group of women, I baked treats...not just once, but twice.  And with another Girls' Night on Wednesday, I baked a third time.  Tomorrow may bring something else, as I bought cherries and have clafoutis on the brain.  Though this time around, I won't have the usual group to share it with.  


Cherry Almond Shortbread
(Adapted from the Classic Shortbread recipe in Martha Stewart's Cookies)


2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup chopped cherries (I used fresh Bing cherries, you could substitute dried)
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 teaspoon almond extract


Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and line an 8 x 8 square baking pan with parchment.  Toast the almond slices either atop the stove in a skillet or in the oven for a couple of minutes.  In a bowl, sift together the flour and salt.  In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add extract and mix.  Alternately add the flour, cherries, and almonds to the creamed butter.  Using a wooden spoon, mix all ingredients until well-combined.  Press mixture into the baking pan, spreading into the corners.  Flatten and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for about 20 minutes.  After chilling dough, transfer to oven and bake until golden brown around edges, about an hour.  Let cool in pan for 15 minutes before transferring to wire rack to finish cooling.  You may need to use a knife edge to loosen shortbread from pan.

Cherry Almond Shortbread for Girls' Night

Red Velvet for the best team I could have!

Raspberry Scones

Panna Cotta

Just two Italian words that when spoken, will make you think of sitting at a little trattoria in Rome, sipping an espresso and watching the people around you.  Meaning 'cooked cream,' panna cotta struck me as exotic and difficult to make.  Then I read a recipe and realised that I was wrong.  It's a relatively easy process.  I did a little Googling to see if I could make it with coconut milk.  Lo and behold...you bet you can!

Panna cotta falls into the category of a 'pretty' dessert:  the contrast of white creaminess with whatever you choose to top it with.  I didn't want to compete with the coconut and simply topped it with toasted coconut flakes and slivered almonds.  I used a recipe from the Inspiring the Everyday blog, where Michael's photography makes the dessert look amazing and delectable.  Like Michael, I didn't add any additional flavour, so the panna cotta is very subtle.  Next time I make it with coconut milk, I plan on punching up the flavour a little bit.

Find the recipe on 'Inspiring the Everyday' here.

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant

...is the name of a wonderful book edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler.  Subtitled 'Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone,' the book is filled with essays from writers and foodies, including Marcella Hazan, Nora Ephron, and Amanda Hesser among others.  I think of this book quite a bit when I'm home cooking for myself.  I love how these people admit to making strange concoctions, sharing their recipes, or admitting to the world that there's nothing wrong with the occasional can of Spaghetti O's.

I find myself alone in the kitchen with eggplant--literally--on a regular basis.  One of the grocery stores that I shop usually have eggplant on sale inexpensively.  I picked up another pair this past weekend since they were two for a dollar. I'm not talking about those small Indian eggplant, these are hefty vegetables.  I'm still experimenting with uses for eggplant, but since I'm close to obsessed with baba ganoush, it's what I make more times than not.

I have no hard and fast rules for what goes into this recipe except for roasted eggplant, minced garlic, and a couple of tablespoons of tahini.  I'll see what's in the Italian Pantry and add as the mood strikes.  This version leaned towards Mediterranean with the addition of olive juice.  I had a huge jar of Seville olives and after the olives were gone, I still had a jar of juice.  The juice was an excellent addition to the dip along with an excuse for a dirty martini (as if I needed one).

Roasted Eggplant Dip
(Makes about 1 1/2 cups)


2 large eggplant
2 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive juice
Olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste


Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice eggplant in half lengthwise and place on baking sheet.  Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.  I don't draw the moisture out first, as I like the juice produced from the roasting.  Roast eggplant for about 30-35 minutes.  Remove from oven and scoop eggplant out of skins.  Add eggplant, tahini, olive juice, and minced garlic to blender or food processor.  Puree until smooth, slowly drizzling in olive oil to reach desired consistency.  Add salt and pepper to taste.


Serve with baked pita chips, baguette slices, or crackers.