Black Gold

Dinner for 12 happened last night. Though my calves and knees are a bit worse for the wear this morning, it was a beautifully enjoyable experience to cook a special meal, and the first large dinner party in our new home. I recently watched Babette's Feast (which deserves a whole post devoted to itself), and am so inspired, and get so much joy out of being artful in the kitchen.  

The menu follows:

Appetizers
- Rosemary and Olive Oil crusty bread, with a parmesan/chili flake/garlic/olive oil dip
- Watermelon pieces with mint and a balsamic reduction

Main Course

- Cajun Chicken Alfredo with Spinach
- Grilled Red Bell Peppers and Asparagus (sorry, no picture; they were a beautifully deep green and red)

Wine Pairing

- Kendall Jackson 2010 Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay 
(Fantastic wine, and surprisingly affordable.)




 








Dessert 
- Chocolate Truffle Cake
(I made them in individual muffin tins, but first threw some roasted almond slivers in the bottom. Serve them upside down--almond side up--with a blueberry sauce and white chocolate ganache drizzle.)

Coffee (of course)
- ie, Black Gold/Nectar of the gods/ambrosia/universe juice

Also the real reason I'm writing this post.

Like most good things in life, there is a story behind this discovery. Almost exactly two years ago, my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I had traveled into DC to hear the National Symphony Orchestra play for the free Labor Day Concert on the south lawn of the capitol. How romantic is that! We were so excited, and couldn't wait to get there... But the closer we got, the more confused we were at how FEW people were around. We thought there would be a decent crowd, but figured that maybe people just weren't as cultured as we took them to be. We followed the signs out of the metro that said "Concert: THIS WAY" and arrived at the lawn about an hour before it was scheduled to begin. But again, became a little disconcerted (heh heh. dis-"concert"ed. heh heh.) at the lack of people, and now the lack of a stage and/or any sort of sound equipment. My husband approached a security guard who was diligently standing his ground on his police Segue, and asked where the Labor Day Concert would be held. He kindly (and somewhat pathetically, as if he tells a lot of people) informed us that the Labor Day Concert wasn't actually held on Labor Day, but had actually occurred on the previous evening (which by the way, we still think is ridiculous; DON'T SAY IT'S A LABOR DAY CONCERT IF IT'S NOT ON LABOR DAY). 

So. Being the aspiring "patron's of the high arts" as we would like to become, we were quite disappointed. And, we were bummed we spent all the gas and metro money for naught too. So we sat at the reflecting pool and watched the sun go down then picked ourselves off of the lawn scattered with garbage from the night before, and started the trek home. Once back on highway 7, I realized that Trader Joe's would still be open because alas, the night was still young. Since the closest TJ's is about 45 minutes away, we decided it would be one good thing that happened that night if we were at least able to get some of TJ's ginger snaps. And we were out of coffee at home. We walked in about 15 minute before closing, and I made a beeline for the coffee samples. Unfortunately, they only had decaf left; I was grasping at straws at this point and poured a little dixie cup for myself anyway.  My husband joined me, and made some sort of exclamation about how decaf coffee should be illegal or something to that affect. This made a man behind the counter laugh; he then introduced himself in a thick African accent. 

My husband took this opportunity to do what he does in most coffeeshops and restaurants. He asked the man, "If you were to die tonight and could only drink one more cup of coffee, which of these would it be?" pointing to the TJ coffee selections. His reply? "None of them." We were a bit taken aback (since he appeared to be an employee of TJ's, and we thought he might be in favor of selling things, rather than advising against them). But he continued.... "I'm from the Ivory Coast, and my father has a coffee plantation. I would drink a cup from back home." This made more sense. Apparently, his father owned a large coffee plantation; he had recently moved to Virginia from Paris, where he had worked for 14 years as his father's marketing distributor. He said he was tired of it, so that's why he moved to the States and was now in Virginia working. We smiled, and commented that if we had a coffee plantation, we definitely wouldn't drink store bought stuff either. He did finally say: "however, if I had to drink any of these...I would drink the Bolivian." 

We said thank you, and that we would try it. Figured his reference was probably a pretty good one.... and we were not disappointed. To this day, we have attempted to branch out and try others, but still can't get enough of the beautifully smooth and rich and almost caramel-y flavor and aroma of this beautiful bean. 

It is wonderful to drink black; not so good as an espresso grind (it's a little too light for that), and fantastic brewed in our Chemex coffee pot. It is of course best freshly ground, but if you need to grind it in advance, store it in the freezer to lock in the flavor. What's your favorite blend? I'm curious to hear of other fail-safe blends, and see if there is anything else that could possibly top this....

Man Salad

Like most girls, my go-to meal when I am feeling out of shape or haven't have the most responsible sugar/fat intake in the past week or just don't feel like cooking is a salad. This, however, is not as appealing or nearly as satisfying or filling to our menfolk. To them, salad is either 1) for rabbits or 2) a small predecessor to the real thing of dinner. My husband still has to hold back a grimace when I tell him we are having salad for dinner, but I think I am slowly but surely proving myself to be a reliable source of more-than-rabbit-food food. 

Step one: get meat and protein. This whole endeavor must be manly and substantial. By definition, no meat = no manliness. The complete salad must weigh more than the bowl it sits in. It is ludicrous to assume that menfolk will be okay without meat for dinner, and no matter how hard you try to disguise that tofu, they will know the difference. I promise. 

Some good options here: beef, chicken, pepperoni, ham, cheese, hardboiled eggs, any other cold-cuts. I try to stay away from processed foods, so my go-to is a marinated/spiced up chicken breast or beef slab, BBQ'ed or grilled, and sliced up in bite sized pieces. 

Step two: yes, this salad has vegetables. But remember... your man needs substance. So pick things like cucumbers, bell peppers, artichoke hearts, olives, carrots, celery, ya know, things he really has to chew on and work for. 

Step three: green leafy stuff. I almost always go with baby spinach, because it has so much more flavor and character than other watery stuff. It also holds up better in my opinion, and doesn't become a green yucky mush. 

Step four: dressing. I have found that if I toss everything together in a big bowl with the dressing, it goes a lot farther and you don't end up pouring quite as much onto your salad. It covers everything so you don't get one bit of guinea pig food the first bite, and one gulp of ranch the next.

After you toss, throw it back into a bowl or plate and be ready to serve up seconds. Enjoy!

Cream Puffs

When I was a little girl, I loved visiting my grandparents. I loved seeing them, but because they spoke very little English, and I was very little, I'm ashamed to say that the reasons I really liked visiting them is because my uncles would take us to Chuck-E-Cheese, and cream puffs were always in the house by the crateload. This would be one of the few exceptions that my mom would make for our non-dairy/no-sugar diet, and boy it was heavenly. Those perfect pink boxes containing the rising clouds of flaky goodness, and the custard that oozed out because it just couldn't be contained... good times.

Here is a JoyTheBaker.com recipe that I found for profiteroles (I didn't even know they were called that..). I used freshly whipped cream with a touch of vanilla extract and sugar for the filling, and basically melted a bunch of chocolate chips in the microwave for the chocolate sauce. Top with strawberries, and voila!

So here we go....

1 cup water

5 1/3 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 to 5 large eggs

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar and salt.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Once the butter is melted and the mixture is brought to a simmer, lower heat slightly, and add flour all at once.  Stir immediately using a stiff heat-proof spatula or a wooden spoon.  Stir until the mixture thickens, pulls away from the side of the pan, forms a mass, and the bottom of the pan is clean.  The mixture will be glossy and damp.

Cook the dough over a low flame.  This will allow moisture to evaporate from the dough, allowing it to absorb more fat when the eggs are added.  Stir for about 5 minutes.  A thing gluten coat will form along the bottom and sides of the pan.  When enough moisture has evaporated, the dough will steam and the cooking flour will smell slightly nutty.

Immediately transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, releasing some of the heat from the cooked dough.  Add four eggs, one at a time, beating until each egg is thoroughly incorporated.  Stop the mixer between each egg addition and scrape down the bowl.  After beating in the last egg the mixture should be glossy and thick… but still juuuust pourable.  When scooped into a spoon, the dough should slowly pour off the spoon.  If it doesn’t fall, or it fall in one giant clump… beat in the 5th egg.

Spoon the dough in a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch pastry tip (I used a gallon zip lock bag with the corner snipped off. Worked okay in a bind...not ideal though).  On the prepared sheets, pipe out dough into circles so that they are about 1 1/2-inches across, about about 3/4-inch tall.  Space them about 1 1/2-inches apart on the sheet pan.    Bake for 10 minutes.  Rotate the pans from bottom shelf to top.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees F, and bake for 15 minutes more.
Remove a cream puff from the oven and slice in half.  If the inside is not gooey, but still just moist, they’re done!  If they’re gooey, bake for another 3 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the pan.  -Joy the Baker

Poke a hole just big enough for a small pastry tip, and with a pastry bag filled with your favorite filling (pudding, custard, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, you name it), gently squeeze till you feel the puff "fill up." It kinda looks like a balloon, and if you put too much in, it'll pop. Guaranteed.

Salmon with Pesto Cream Sauce

Cooking fish always intimidated me. My dad was the one who always did our fish, and when it came to the table it was always flaky and moist, and not too "fishy" fish. I got up the nerve to spend a little more moolah on some fresh salmon, and now I realize just how easy it is to do.

Get a nice fresh filet from the local grocery store or market. It should smell like fish, but not "fishy" if that makes sense. If the odor is too strong, it's old and probably yucky.

If you want to scale the fish more than the market already has, take a knife and run it against the grain of the scales at about a thirty to fourty-five degree angle.

(Preheat oven to 375 degrees)

Lay the filet in a double sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle course salt, dried parsley, dried onions, garlic powder, and a bit of pepper. Also scatter chunks of butter evenly across the top. Add another sheet of foil on top, and twist the edges together to create a sealed packet.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 35-45 minutes. When the fish flakes off in pieces, it is done.

(I don't know how people take pictures of moist and mushy-looking things that are delectable without making them look disgusting. I promise that the picture below does not do any justice to this meal.)

Place on top of this Pesto Cream Pasta and toss together.

Aaaand pardon me while I totally freak out about Foley wine. Oh. My. Goodness. This particular bottle was given to us by a good friend, and it is the best wine I have EVER had. This particular Cab Sav went great paired with this whole meal. Typically, cab sav's don't go well with pasta because of the bitter tannins frequently in these dark red wines. But with age comes a more mellowed and smooth flavor, and it just worked.