View from the Innside

orange trifle with Grand Marnier cream

The original recipe called for Grand Marnier.  Of the orange liqueurs, Grand Marnier tends to be somewhat bitter, Cointreau is sweet, and Grand Belle is somewhere in between.  (I don’t like the flavor of orangecello.)  A trifle isn't that difficult to make, although it can take some time if you make your own ladyfingers.  Just plan ahead so it has at least a day to chill and let the flavors blend and the ladyfingers soften.

Orange Trifle with Grand Marnier Cream

 

Adapted from Sunset Magazine, Dec. 2008

Serves 12

 

zest of 5 oranges

12-14 medium oranges

1/2 c. orange liqueur

1/2 c. orange marmalade

12 oz. mascarpone cheese, softened (if unavailable, use softened cream cheese)

3/4 c. whipping cream

10 oz. ladyfingers* (if unavailable in your grocery store, make your own or use crushed sugar cookies, not pound cake—it’s the wrong texture)            

1/4 c. orange marmalade

1 T. orange liqueur        

 

Peel and segment oranges to make 4 cups of segments and 1/2 cup of juice.  In a bowl, mix liqueur and marmalade; add oranges and juice and stir.  Macerate for 2 hours.  Then drain the oranges, reserving the liquid. 

           

In a mixer, combine mascarpone and whipping cream; beat until stiff peaks form.  Set aside 1/4 cup of orange juice liquid; add the remaining juice mixture to the cheese mixture.  Mix until blended (mixture will be softly creamy).

 

In a trifle bowl or straight-sided serving bowl, layer one-third of the ladyfingers on the bottom; drizzle with a little of the reserved juice mixture.  Top with one-third of the whipped cream mixture, then add a layer of one-third of the orange segments.  Repeat for two more layers, ending with orange segments in a decorative spiral on the top.

 

Heat marmalade with orange liqueur just until it’s a bit melted.  Brush over the top layer of oranges.  Chill for 3-4 hours.

Julia Child's ladyfingers

To paraphrase a comedian from a few years ago, "I used Julia Child's ladyfingers.  She'll be needing those back."

I found a recipe for orange trifle that I wanted to try, but I have trouble finding ladyfingers in the grocery store.  The only place that carries them here is Whole Foods.  The other night, I wondered if Julia Child had a recipe for ladyfingers in her cookbook, and she does.  I made my own ladyfingers, and they were delicious!  Later, since I was still testing the recipe for orange trifle, I bought ladyfingers at the store and they weren't nearly as good. 

Of course, I made mine too big and piped them too close together on the baking sheet, so I only got 15 out of the recipe instead of 24-30.  On the other hand, I decided to put my trifle into individual dessert dishes instead of one big trifle bowl, so I crushed the ladyfingers anyway.

I tried one experiment:  I didn't have a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch tip, so I used my cookie press, and it worked fine.  The only thing is that since it was my first time making them, they were too big and fat.  Next time they'll be better.

Ladyfingers

(Biscuits a la cuiller) from Julia Child

24-30 ladyfingers

 

two 12 x 24-inch baking sheets

1 T. softened butter

flour

pastry bag with a round tube opening ½-inch in diameter

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar in a sieve or shaker 

electric beater or wire whip

1/2 c. granulated sugar

3 egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3-quart mixing bowl     

3 egg whites

pinch of salt

1 T. granulated sugar

rubber spatula

1/2 c. all-purpose flour, scooped and leveled, turned into a flour sifter

           

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Prepare the baking sheets:  butter lightly, dust with flour, and knock off excess flour.  Assemble the pastry bag.  Prepare the powdered sugar.  Measure out all the rest of the ingredients listed in the recipe.

Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks, add the vanilla, and continue beating for several minutes until the mixture is thick, pale yellow, and forms a ribbon.

           

Beat the egg whites and salt together in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed.  Sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.

[use a spatula, not a whisk] Scoop one-fourth of the egg whites over the top of the egg yolks and sugar mixture.  Sift on one-fourth of the flour, and delicately fold in until partially blended.  Then add one-third of the remaining egg whites, sift on one-third of the remaining flour, fold until partially blended, and repeat with half of each, then the last of each.  Do not attempt to blend the mixture too thoroughly or you will deflate the batter; it must remain light and puffy.

 

Forming the ladyfingers:  scoop the batter into the pastry bag.  Squeeze out even lines onto the prepared baking sheets, making finger shapes 4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide, spaced 1 inch apart.  [when the whole sheet is full], sprinkle with a 1/16-inch layer of powdered sugar.  To dislodge some of the excess sugar, hold baking sheet upside down and tap the back of it gently; the ladyfingers will not budge unless you are rough with them.

 

Baking the ladyfingers:  Bake in the middle and upper third levels of preheated oven for about 20 minutes.  The ladyfingers are done when they are a very pale brown underneath their sugar coating.  They should be slightly crusty outside, and tender but dry inside.  If they are not baked enough, they will become soggy when they cool; over-baking makes them dry.  As soon as they are done, remove from baking sheets with a spatula and cool on wire racks.

Farina Pizzaria--best pizza in Albuquerque!

We can finally say that we have found what is--for us--the best pizza in Albuquerque.  Farina Pizzaria and Wine Bar has pizza just like the ones we loved in Italy--thin crust, baked quickly in a very hot oven.  We chose the pizza "formaggio della capra" (I think they called it farmhouse pizza with goat cheese, leeks, scallions and pancetta).  It was simply divine, just enough pizza for the two of us to eat all of it without feeling like we ate too much.

And because we weren't too stuffed, we shared a lemon mascarpone sorbetto--tart, tangy, sweet and creamy.  It was the perfect ending to a great meal.

Obviously these folks have the right food, the right idea, the right location (Central Avenue next to Artichoke Cafe).  The place was packed, with others standing and waiting for a table.  It was lively with conversation and is obviously a meeting place for young professionals.  I have to admit that in these dreary economic times, it's nice to walk into a place that's booming with business.  It makes you feel like everything will turn out all right after all.

Farina Pizzaria

510 Central Avenue Southeast
Albuquerque, NM 87102-3520
(505) 243-0130

www.farinapizzaria.com

 

 

beef stew--improved by Julia Child

Last week I made Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon out of her cookbook I got for Christmas.  As I was making it and observing the results from using different techniques, I wondered what would happen if I used the same techniques on my favorite beef stew recipe, which I knew could be better.  (I have to admit that I had not been consistent with it, and naturally I was not getting consistent results.)

My favorite beef stew is now outrageously good.  The recipe I modified using her techniques follows.  However, here's what I've learned to date just from making that one recipe:

• Good cooking takes time.  Stew that cooks for 3 hours tastes much different (better!) than stew that has only cooked for one hour.  Start early enough.  Don't be impatient.
• Don't take shortcuts.   Everything is done when and how it is for a reason.
• Even though she's been gone for a few years, Julia Child can STILL help us all cook better.

Beef Stew

adapted from McCall’s Cooking School

8 servings

 

2 1/2 lb. boneless chuck roast, cut into 1” cubes

1 T. oil

1 T. butter

1 large peeled yellow onion, cut into chunks

1 lb. medium carrots, pared and cut into 1” chunks

1 1/2 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

1 1/2 c. celery, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 T. flour

5 c. beef broth

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves

2 parsley sprigs

4 whole cloves

 

            In hot oil and butter in 6-quart Dutch oven, brown beef well on all sides, turning with tongs.  Do not overcrowd or burn.  As beef is browned, remove and set aside.  Continue browning the rest.  It takes 30 minutes to give it rich flavor and brown color.  Remove beef from Dutch oven and set aside. 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Add vegetables to Dutch oven, toss to coat with drippings, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.  Remove vegetables and set aside. 

            Return beef to Dutch oven.  Add salt and pepper and mix into beef.  Sprinkle beef with flour and stir to mix well.  Put Dutch oven into the oven and bake for 4 minutes; stir and bake another 4 minutes.  This will put a little crust on the beef cubes.  Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Take Dutch oven out of the oven and put back on the burner.  Over medium heat, add the vegetables and beef broth.  Make a bouquet garni of the bay leaf, thyme, cloves and parsley sprigs (tied up in a cheesecloth bag) and add to the pot.  Bring to a simmer.

Put the stew back into the oven and bake, covered, for 2  1/2 to 3 hours.  Remove the bouquet garni and serve.

           

Kathy’s notes:  the recipe originally called for new potatoes, but they don’t have enough starch.  Russet potatoes will release starch as they cook and will give a nice thick broth for the stew.

 

Easy coffee granita

I found a recipe in an old Bon Appetit magazine for Coffee Bean Granita.  It called for whole coffee beans which you put in boiling water and steep for 3 hours, then freeze, stirring every 45 minutes for 5 hours.  I made the recipe as it said, and it was pretty good, but... too much trouble.  So here I go again to see if I can make something just as good, maybe faster and easier.

What is granita?  Well, you know ice cream, which is made with cream, sugar, flavorings, and you make it in an ice cream freezer so it's very smooth and creamy.  In other words, it's high calorie and high fat, but oh so good.  Then there's sorbet, which is just fruit juice that's been processed like ice cream to have a smooth and creamy texture.  Granita is like sorbet, except that you want it to have ice crystals in it, unlike ice cream or sorbet.  Instead of making it in an ice cream freezer that turns continuously and keeps the ice crystals extremely small, you make granita in a bowl or pan, allowing the ice crystals to form around the edges.  Then you stir it occasionally and new crystals form.  By the time it's all frozen, you have a pan or bowl full of fine flavored ice crystals.

My hot tip:  I wear a clip-on kitchen timer to remind me to get back into the kitchen and stir the granita.  Otherwise, I'd forget about it and have a solid block of frozen coffee.

Below is the recipe, and on my third attempt I just did the entire thing in a 4-cup Pyrex glass measuring cup.  My quicker and easier version was so close in taste to the original coffee bean granita, why would I do it the hard way?

Easy Coffee Granita

 

Kathy Hiatt

4 servings

 

1/2 c. brewed coffee

1/2 c. boiling water

1/4 c. sugar

1 T. coffee liqueur (Tia Maria or Kahlua)

 

            Combine coffee, water and sugar in a glass bowl or large Pyrex measuring cup.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Add coffee liqueur and stir to blend.  Freeze until firm, stirring every 30 minutes, about 2-3 hours.  (Can be prepared 3 days ahead.  Cover and keep frozen.)

            You can either scrape it into large crystals with the tines of a fork, or mash it for finer crystals.

New Mexico desserts--flan vs. natillas

Today I made chocolate natillas (nah-TEE-yahs) with coffee bean granita.  I had been going through back issues of Bon Appetit Magazine and pulling out recipes that looked interesting.  The presentation was lovely--creamy chocolate pudding in a small narrow glass topped with beige crystals of granita--and I'm looking for something different to serve at our high teas.  I followed my curiosity to look up the traditional New Mexican version of natillas.  It also appears in a variety of forms throughout Cuba, Spain and Latin America.  Apparently, in Colombia it is much thicker and can be cut into squares, and in Spain it's more like a custard, similar to a flan.

So what's the difference between natillas and flan?  Natillas have more milk and fewer eggs, which makes it thinner and creamier, and it's cooked in a pan on top of the stove, cooled and spooned into serving dishes.  Flan has less milk and more eggs to make it thicker, is poured into custard cups, baked in a hot water bath, then cooled and the custard is inverted onto a serving plate.

Below are recipes for both natillas and flan from the Cocinas de New Mexico cookbook published by the Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Flan Caramelisado (Caramel Custard)

From Cocinas de New Mexico, published by Public Service Company of New Mexico

Yield:  6 servings

2 cups sugar

3 1/2 cups milk

1 cinnamon stick

6 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Place 1 cup of sugar in a heavy pan. Stir sugar at low heat until it is liquid and light golden brown.  Pour caramelized sugar evenly into six warm custard cups. Set cups aside.  Place milk and cinnamon stick in a medium-sized saucepan. Scald milk at medium heat and allow to cool.  Beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add remaining sugar to eggs and beat well.  Gradually add scalded milk to egg mixture, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add vanilla. Pour mixture into caramel-lined cups. Place cups in a pan of hot water and bake in a 350°F oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Cool completely.  To serve, loosen custard from cups and invert onto a plate.

Natillas (Soft Custard)

From Cocinas de New Mexico, published by Public Service Company of New Mexico

Yield:  6 servings

4 eggs, separated

1/4 cup flour

4 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

nutmeg

cinnamon

Place egg yolks, flour and 1 cup of milk in a small mixing bowl.  Stir to make a smooth paste.  Set aside.  Place the remaining milk, sugar and salt in a medium-sized saucepan and scald at medium heat.  Add the egg mixture to the scalded milk and continue to cook at medium heat until a soft custard consistency is reached.  Remove custard from heat and allow to cook to room temperature.  Beat the egg whites in a medium-sized mixing bowl until they are stiff but not dry.  Fold the egg whites into the custard and chill.  To serve, spoon into individual dishes and garnish with nutmeg and cinnamon.

 

a lovely breakfast at the Pueblo Harvest Cafe

This morning we had a rare treat--no guests for breakfast, since everyone went the Balloon Fiesta very early in the morning.  We've wanted to try breakfast at the recently-remodeled Pueblo Harvest Cafe at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.

Steve had the ranch breakfast, which is a little more typical for here--eggs with cheese, green chile, fried potatoes, bacon and frybread.  I decided on the blue corn pancakes with pinion butter--delicious!  We've been so busy that I forgot I wanted to try them at the B&B.

Things get much quieter after the Balloon Fiesta, so I'll be trying out recipes to make them ourselves.  We'll post the recipe when we've gotten it just right.

Butternut squash with ham, onions and corn

Today was very blustery and it's getting cool at night--fall is coming!

I also have a bumper crop of butternut squash from volunteer seedlings that's taking over the driveway, so I now have one of the main ingredients for my favorite fall dinner.

This is a recipe we adapted years ago from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American by Jeff Smith.  See my notes at the end about how and why we made some changes.

Butternut Squash with Ham, Onions and Corn

3 cups peeled and diced (1/2 inch) fresh butternut squash
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 large yellow onions, peeled and diced
1/2 pound diced ham (1/2 inch)
10 ounces frozen corn
salt and pepper to taste
toasted sunflower seeds or pinenuts for garnish (toast in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes)

Place the diced squash in a 2-quart saucepan.  Add the broth and butter; top with onions.  Cover and simmer until the squash is tender, about 15-20 minutes.  Add the ham and corn and cook until the corn is tender, about 8 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Top with toasted sunflower seeds.

*  His recipe originally called for fresh pumpkin, but I find butternut squash easier to use and more readily available all year.  He also used pumpkin seeds, but I prefer pinenuts or sunflower seeds.  Don't leave them out!  You need the crunchy seeds to add interesting texture and flavor. 

adventures in grocery land

Next week we're having an event for our fellow innkeepers at our place, and I'd like to offer something non-alcoholic to drink but still festive.  I've been wanting to try making horchata, a refreshing rice drink, ever since the Albuquerque Journal had an article on agua frescas in the food section last year. 

Obviously, the three recipes they published are made in the traditional method, using agave nectar as the sweetener. 

On Saturday, it went something like this:

him:  "Hey, they have agave nectar here [at Trader Joe's].  Want me to get some?"

me:  "No, that's okay.  I have to get some other stuff at Pro's Ranch Market--I'm sure they'll have it.  I'll just get it there."

At Pro's Ranch Market, I found everything I needed except the agave nectar.  Was it with the juices?  No.  Soft drinks?  No.  Specialty foods?  No. 

I saw two store employees who looked kind of manager-like, so I went over and asked them if they had agave nectar.  A conversation in Spanish ensued (between them, not me), after which they determined they didn't have it canned, but they have fresh agave in the produce section.

"Well, that could be interesting.  I don't have the slightest idea how to pick a ripe one, or how to cut it, or how to use it.  Sounds like an experiment to me."  And off I went to the produce aisle.

Up and down the aisles I went, looking at every kind of fruit and vegetable I knew and quite a few I didn't know, but none of them said "agave."

I went over and asked a produce guy where to find agave.  He spoke no English.  Between his non-English and my little Spanish, he told me to look in aisle 7.  I walked over to aisle 7 to find...  automotive accessories and office supplies.

Once I figure out how much sugar syrup to use, I'll post the horchata recipe here.

It's chili harvest season again!

The crop is a little early this year, but the green chilies and roasters are showing up in front of every grocery store and on some street corners around town.  Chili is purchased in 20 or 30 pound sacks, and they'll roast it right there for you.  They use a large wire barrel driven by a motor and flame it with a propane burner until the skin is blistered evenly.  Then you get to take it home, peel it and either use it or freeze it in batches.  We buy ours already frozen.  It's hot work for the roasters, but the aroma is out of this world!

In Texas, chili is that tomato-y stew stuff with meat and maybe beans.  For us, that's "chili con carne."  In New Mexico, it's all about the peppers--chili is the vegetable, pure and simple.

The heat in chili can vary, and it really has nothing to do with whether it's red or green, but about the degree of heat in the pepper itself.  It depends on a lot of things--cool weather in the early summer, too much water, soil conditions, and location of the chili patch. 

Wikipedia has some information about the heat index for chilies:

"The Scoville scale measures the hotness or piquancy of a chili pepper, as defined by the amount of capsaicin it contains. Capsaicin is a chemical compound which stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes. The number of Scoville heat units (SHU) indicates the amount of capsaicin present.

 "The scale is named after its creator, American chemist Wilbur Scoville, who developed a test for rating the pungency of chili peppers. His method, which he devised in 1912, is known as the Scoville Organoleptic Test. An alternative method for quantitative analysis uses high-performance liquid chromatography, making it possible to directly measure capsaicinoid content.

"Some hot sauces use their Scoville rating in advertising as a selling point.  Chili peppers, fruits of the Capsicum genus, contain a great deal of capsaicin."

Scoville scale?  We don't need no stinkin' Scoville scale.  Here's how you tell how hot the chili is:

• you get a pleasant warmth at the end of the meal--that's mild
• the top of your heat sweats and your face turns pink--that's medium
• you lose your breath, get hiccups and can't talk--now that's some HOT chili!