The Pink Hobart

Of Chocolate Cake and Telephone Lines

When I was fourteen, I got a phone jack installed in my room, my very own touch-tone Slim Line phone in ubiquitous beige. My very favorite thing was to roll onto my back and throw my legs up in the air so I could twirl the long receiver cord between my toes. There, I would yak with my best friend Andy. We’d blab about anything, every day, all the time. There were times when the phone call was literally about nothing; she would be watching TV and I would be reading. It was no words then, just breathing, and hearing the distinct silence in which we were both thinking, and living, connected by a phone line.

We grew up and moved. Andy had this wild and wonderful career as a scholar and mountain climber, a journalist and world traveler! I became a chef, a business owner, a stepmom and wife. There we were, having lives, which were excessively busy and way too filled with stuff to curl up in a bean bag and pick up the phone. Then Andy got very sick. Then my husband died. Then there was time to do a whole lot of things.

So Andy and I talk on the phone now, about once a week. This Thanksgiving Day she called as I was puttering around my kitchen making my semi-regular Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Caraway, and Smoked Salmon Spread with Crostini. 

“Lesa, I want you to know, I’m making a cake right now. I will give you the recipe. It’s flourless chocolate cake, and I can eat it, and it’s marvelous. Do you know the Gourmet cookbook, the yellow one?”

I’m an inveterate cookbook buyer. Of course I own it. I opened the book to the page as she directed and scanned the ingredients. There were only five, and I had them all on hand. I assembled my gear and ingredients. She assembled hers. Together on the phone, we baked a cake, or rather, two cakes. We discussed weights and measurements, parchment paper and Springform pans.

“What’s your feeling about unsalted butter?”

“Get the best you can!”

“Is this block of butter half a pound? ”

“How would I know? Do you have a scale? ”

“For… cooking? Is that even a thing? ”

We agreed emphatically on this,  politely disagreed on that. There was a lot of yakking. There was also silence and thinking. There was a lot of being connected by wires, and more. There was a feeling that if we wanted to we could belong like this to each other for the rest of our lives. As long as we picked up the phone every now and again.

Here’s the recipe, adapted by me a bit. I added a bit of instant espresso powder because it really underlines the chocolate flavor, but the original recipe is espresso-less and I have it on good authority that it’s still quite the smash hit. I like to use Pernigotti cocoa from my friends at ChefShop.com for its incomparable richness and nuanced vanilla-y smell. Regular cocoa powder can be substituted, as long as it is unsweetened.

 

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Serves 8-12 

 (From The Gourmet Cookbook, Ruth Reichel Ed; ©2004 Conde Nast Publications)

Things you’ll need:

 

• 10” Springform pan
• Cooking spray
• Parchment paper
• Double boiler or microwave and microwave-safe bowl
• Dry measuring cups
• Liquid measuring cup
• Measuring spoons
• Sieve or sifter
• Whisk
• Bowl
• Spatula
• Cooling rack
• Cake plate
• Warm knife (to cut the cake)

 

For the cake:

• 8 ounces good quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (about a cup and a half), chopped or in morsels
• 2 sticks (1/2 lb.) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (optional)
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted (plus additional for dusting)

 

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Set a rack in the middle of the oven.

Spray the bottom and sides of the pan with oil. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment and spray the top of the parchment. Dust the bottom and sides with a bit of cocoa. Set aside.

In a double boiler over simmering water or in a microwave with a micro-safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butter together until they are completely liquid. (This takes about 4 minutes over a double boiler, 2 minutes in the microwave).  Stir well to make sure there are no lumps. Add espresso powder, if desired.

Pour the melted ingredients into a large bowl and add the sugar. Stir with a spatula to combine. Crack all six eggs into a liquid measuring cup. With a whisk, incorporate the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each egg is added. Add the cocoa powder and fold it in gently with the spatula, just until the ingredients are combined.

Pour into the prepared Springform pan and place it in the middle of the rack.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the surface is dry to the touch and an inserted toothpick comes out with moist crumbs adhering to it. Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove the side of the pan. Let it cool for another five minutes, and then invert it onto a plate. Invert the plate onto a cooling rack, and let cool completely before serving. Dust with cocoa before serving. To cut the cake, warm a knife in hot water (and dry completely before cutting) or warm it over a low flame for just a few moments. This will allow the knife to cut cleanly through the cake.

 

Winter Farmers' Market Class at ChefShop.com

The truth is, these cold lean months are my favorite when it comes to eating... all the delicious produce that grows underground this time of year is sweet and hearty. I have more recipes for rib-sticking soups and stews than I could ever hope to get to, and I gleefully bake away sweet treats in the kitchen just to keep the place warmed up. 

Join me next Thursday night at ChefShop.com for a Winter Farmers' Market Class, where we'll talk about just why local grains, dried beans and superdelicious fresh produce make winter a culinary wonderland. Class is a demonstration format and includes wine and appetizers along with dinner, plus a 10% shopping discount the evening of the event.

Learn the meatless secret of savory Sunchoke, Lentil and Walnut Pate; take familiar flavors into new territory with Reisling-Braised Apples and Leek; let the Black Barley Risotto with Greens, Beans and Goat Cheese make eating healthy an easy treat; a spoonful of Roasted Butternut Squash and Parsnip Soup with Herb Oil will make you wish for winter without end. We'll also serve up a Sweet Potato and Dried Fig Tsimmes-a healthy holiday dessert perfect for every day of the week. 

Check out the recipe for the Sunchoke, Lentil an Walnut Pate here!

Socca To Me

One of the cool things I get to do with my personal  chef service is make food for people with severe food allergies. Some are pretty easy to mangage, like dairy; plenty of nondairy options exist these days, and there are lots of dishes that are just fine when I omit the cheese, the milk or the butter. Other clients have crazy, multiple, deadly allergies, and I will admit there are times when I think "Jesus Christ I'm going to need a thousand recipes for boiled water, STAT!!". Then I do a little research and my blood pressure returns to normal. 

Playing around with alternate flours is one of the fun parts of this research. I love messing with chestnut flour, teff, brown rice flour and lentil flour. My favorite flour of all, though, is garbonzo flour. It has some lovely qualities which you can read about over at chefshop.com's page about farina di ceci (the Italian name for garbonzo flour). 

Socca is a very common southern French style crepe, and just like most foods that you find around the Mediterranean, there is a version of it in most nearby countries, notably Italian Farinata and the  Moroccan Kalinti.

This particular recipe is not actually an allergen-free one, though I have a couple of versions that are-email me if you're interested. This one is big and rich and floofy, and incredibly delicious wrapped around some gruyere cheese and thinly sliced apple. Enjoy with a light white wine for a delicious afternoon snack.

Socca, or Provencal Crepes

• 1-1/4 cups farina di ceci
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 1-1/4 cup milk
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup water
• Lard or clarified butter

 

Sift the farina di ceci and AP flour together with a fork.  Add the salt and whisk in the milk and olive oil.  Let the batter rest for 15 minutes.

Add water and stir well, then pass the batter through a sieve. 

Over medium-high heat, melt the lard or butter in an 8” nonstick pan.  Pour a thin layer of batter in the pan, tilting it to get the entire surface covered.  Cook until brown, flip and cook on the other side.  Repeat with remaining batter, laying parchment or waxed paper between crepes.  For a great treat, put a crepe back in the pan with a little more lard or butter, top it with greens, sliced fruit or cheese.  Let these ingredients warm through.  Top this with another crepe and flip the whole thing over.  Remove from heat, slice and serve immediately. 

Yield: about 12 crepes

 

 

Not Dead Yet!

Oh, wow! Holy crap it's been a whole four months since I gabbled away at you here. Just recently I ran into my buddy Keren Brown at the Target, where we discussed bras and blogs. She reminded me gently that my bra is a virtual calling card, and that a good-fitting blog will keep the girls standing at attention long into old age.

So hi! I have some interesting media and news to share with you. The first bit is a video of me preparing kale, onions, apples and garlic at the Fall City Farms' Harvest Celebration, sponsored by Cascade Harvest Coalition. My goodness, this video makes my blogs look huge:

What a lovely day that was: gorgeous sun, big crowds, and lots of pickin' and grinnin'.

And didn't you say you'd love to try that sauteed kale? Well now you can! Coming up this Sunday, December 5th you can see a repeat performance at Bellevue Magic Season (AKA the Group Health Ice Arena in Bellevue, WA.) We'll be celebrating King County's Green Holidays with eco-friendly giftwrapping tips, recycling activities and a fruitcake toss! WAY! So C'mon down and say "hi." As always, you can sign up for my newsletter for cool recipes, info and more random chatter by filling in the little newsletter signer-upper in the lower left-hand corner, yonder. Thankee! The blogs and I hope to see you soon.

Lesa's Master Recipe for Cooking Beans

• ¾ to 1 cup small dried beans (1/4  to ½” long)
• 4 cups filtered water for soaking
• 3-6 cups* liquid (unsalted or low-sodium stock or more filtered water with any or all of the following aromatics: 3 dried bay leaves; 2 whole cloves, allspice; 1 tsp. dried chile flake, mustard seed, coriander; 1 stick cinnamon )
• Optional: finely chopped onion, carrot, celery and/or garlic
• sea salt, as desired

 Rinse beans in cold, running water in a fine sieve.  Discard any small stones or discolored beans.  Soak beans in water at least 8 hours or overnight.  Drain beans and discard the soaking water.  Rinse the beans again.  In a large saucepan or medium-sized stockpot, bring stock or seasoned water to a boil with the beans.  When it has reached a high boil, skim the surface of the beans with a ladle to remove any foam.  Let the beans cook at a high boil for about three minutes, skimming any foam as it rises.  Turn the heat down and cover with a lid tipped slightly to allow some steam to escape. In the last ten minutes of cooking, add a few pinches of salt (taste the water; it should be salty but not overly so.) Alternately, cook your beans, covered, in an oven at 325 F. Cook until tender, about 45 minutes to an hour.  Yield: about 3 cups of beans.  

*Amount of water can vary according to your liking. I use my bean water as a vegan "stock" and therefore cook them in lotsa extra water.

 

Eat Your Pork, Hold the Fork

Sliders!  They're a beautiful thing.  They're nice and nouny-verby, doing what they say they are... Sliding right out of your hand and into your mouth, a warm and just-greasy-enough-bite of meat and bun to make you want to line them up on a plate and tip twenty of them into your gullet. 

Pork!  That's all I've got to say about that.  Okay, here's more about pork-it's easy to cook, you can make some brilliant dishes from some very inexpensive cuts, and it can be had locally/sustainably/deliciously here in the Northwest in abundance.   

I woke up this morning with a fierce yen for braised pork shoulder in BBQ sauce, so I gave in.  I also had some lacinato kale from Full Circle Farm to use up, and thought I'd take a chance on making some kale "chips" for the teenager-basically, kale leaves tossed in oil, salt and pepper and roasted until crispy, then sprinkled with vinegar.  Surprise!  He ate them and was none the wiser.

With the oven still roaring,  I scraped together the last of my Stone-Buhr AP flour for some buns.  And voila!  This evening's Pork Slider Dinner was born.  Please enjoy.  Pork Sliders with Crispy Kale Chips.

Pork Shoulder Roulade with Apples, Sage and Cheese

 

Yes, this takes some work, but haven't you always wanted to smash away at something with a meat hammer and then roll it around some gooey cheese?  Of course you have. 

Serves 6 to 8

 

• 4 celery ribs, trimmed and diced
• 3 leeks, trimmed of green ends and cleaned, cut into half-moons
• 3 large Granny Smith apples, cut into medium dice
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 tablespoons canola oil
• ¼ cup chopped fresh sage
• ½ cup crumbled gorgonzola, aged cheddar or cheese curd (or combination)
• ½ cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons apple juice concentrate
• 1 cup sourdough bread cubes, crusts off
• 1 pork shoulder, deboned, butterflied and pounded into a 5"x9" rectangle
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoons canola oil for browning

 

Sauté the celery, leeks, apples and garlic in canola oil over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Add sage and cheese curd.  Set aside and let it cool. 

 

Whisk together stock and apple juice concentrate. Soak bread with this mixture until absorbed. Squeeze bread gently to release extra liquid and then chop roughly. Add to the apple sauté and mix in. Do not proceed with recipe until filling is completely cooled.   

 

Spread the deboned pork shoulder out on a sanitized surface. Salt and pepper both sides, then place the shoulder skin-side down. Place filling down in the first third section of the cut, lengthwise, in an even strip. Roll, from the filling to the end, and secure with kitchen twine.

 

Place a roasting pan over two burners and heat a bit of canola oil in it; bring it to medium-high heat. Sear the roulade on all sides, and then set aside. Place a rack inside the roaster, and then place the roulade on top of it. Bake at 375º F for 1½ hours, or until the center reaches 165º F. Remove from oven and let rest 5 to 7 minutes before serving. 

 

Serve with Apple Cider Reduction and Onion Garlic Confit

Quicker Coc Au Vin

Okay, I'm not talking quicker like "open up some cans and put it on your 'tablescape' " kind of quick.  It does take a lot less time to get that silken, falling off the bone quality of a good braised chicken when prepared in a pressure cooker.  If you don't have a pressure cooker, though I don't see why not, you can do this in a covered Dutch oven or a wide, heavy-bottomed casserole with a lid.  This recipe makes a lotta sauce-a, so make some papardelle noodles or rice to soak it up.

Serves 4 to 6

 

8 to 10 pieces chicken thighs and

   legs
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons. dried thyme

¾ cup dried porcini, rehydrated with 1 cup hot water until very soft
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
¾ cup tomato paste

1½ cups cognac or brandy

2 medium carrots, washed, trimmed

   and sliced into thin coins
2 cups chicken stock
4 cups red wine
5 to 6 pieces bacon, chopped

2 cups combination of crimini and

   button mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons each: fresh parsley,

   chervil, tarragon and chives OR

   1 teasoon dried Fines Herbes

Liberally rub chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then the thyme. Let rest for several minutes at room temperature. Puree the porcini with their liquid and set them aside.

Over medium heat, melt butter in a medium to large-size pressure cooker.   When butter is foamy, lay chicken skin-down, with some room between each piece, and cook on medium heat until golden brown. (Depending on the size of the pan and chicken pieces, this may take 2 or three batches to complete). Turn and repeat on other side.

Remove chicken from the pan and set aside. To the pan, add the flour and tomato paste, whisking well. Allow it to brown slightly, then add brandy or cognac.  Bring to a simmer and reduce until slightly thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes.    

Add stock and wine. Place thigh and leg sections on the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil, then place the carrots over the thighs. Cover with lid, and lock. Cook for 20 minutes on low heat.

 

Meanwhile, sauté bacon on high heat until slightly crispy. Add mushrooms and sauté until brown. Set aside. 

 

After 30 minutes, remove the cooker from heat. Release pressure, remove lid and add the sautéed mushroom and bacon. Stir pureed porcini into sauce, return chicken to pan, scoop some sauce over it and serve directly or transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with fresh or dried herbs and serve. 

Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

This is a favorite midweek meal that takes about twenty minutes to prepare.  It serves 4, or three if you live at our house. 

• 1 large flank steak, about 1-3/4 lb. to 2 lbs.
• salt, pepper
• canola, grapeseed, safflower or other high-heat oil
• 1-1/2 cups Italian parsley
• ¼ cup cilantro
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp. chile flakes
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp. smoked sweet paprika
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• ¾ cup Spanish or Italian Extra-virgin olive oil
• ground black pepper, to taste

 

Finely chop Italian parsley and cilantro.  Smash and chop garlic into a paste.  Put these ingredients in a non-reactive glass or stainless steel bowl and add cumin, salt, paprika and vinegar.  Whisk well.  Add olive oil and whisk again to incorporate.  Add pepper, taste and adjust seasonings as desired.  Makes approximately 2-1/2 to 3 cups.

 

Heat a large cast iron reversible skillet (one side has grill indentations, the other is flat) over two burners on medium-high heat.  While skillet is warming, salt and pepper the steak and let it rest at room temperature.  When skillet is at medium high heat (you should be able to comfortably hold the palm of your hand 2 inch away from its surface for only 3-5 seconds), brush the surface of the pan with oil and immediately place the steak down.  Sear for 5-7 minutes.  Turn and finish on the other side for 4-5 minutes.  Remove from heat to a cutting board and tent with foil.  Let it rest for several minutes before slicing.  Cut slices against the grain on the bias.  Pour sauce over slices and serve.  Serves 4.

Gettin me Some Culture

My culinary muse has become radicalized. Or, at least, it's been enrolled in an east coast liberal arts college and is deep into "experimenting".  Perhaps it was years of living in a world where cleaning is a kind of religious expression, but I grew up afeared of the moldy, the aged and the undercooked.  Anything brought to life in the dark and left there for a while has to be a bit suspect...and broody.  A bright, clean home is the mirror of a bright, clean mind.  I've overcome a good deal of that inhibition, and I'm embarrassed by most of it.  It boggles my mind when I think of the cheese I've passed up. 

The more I become aware of the way our world has become impoverished by the industrialization of food production, the more I question my food preferences.  In the same vein, I've begun to question my deep-seated food phobias.  Foods that are fermented or otherwise "aged, moldy and undercooked" are suspect, even though in most cultures (ha!), those foods are highly regarded as healing, nourishing and available to people of all incomes.  While big food producers like are selling foods with "probiotics" and making a killing on it (despite Dannon losing a law suit over unfounded health claims), we've given up the practice of making those things ourselves.  In the same way we need to reclaim our media, our government, our private lives and our money, it's time for Uppity Folks Everywhere to reclaim their humanity-by reclaiming their culture(s).  But enough megaphoning...time to cook.

The project that I found easiest to start was yogurt, which I always thought required a fancy yogurt maker.  Instead, I learned that heating milk to 180 F, stirring in some commercial yogurt starter (available at PCC) or some commercial, live-culture yogurt pretty much did the  trick.  After mixing the yogurt starter and milk together, the only other equipment required is an insulated cooler and a warm towel.  After cooking, I poured it into a warm glass jar and wrapped it up.  I popped the swaddled yogurt baby into an insulated cooler and left it undisturbed in the pantry for 12 hours.  Hello, yogurt!  I made the yogurt with a full-fat cream, which makes for a very eastern European kind of deliciosity.  We put it into Chris's favorite Armenian dish (Media Dolma) and polished it all off within the day.

The next project was sourdough starter.  This took a little more attention since it needs to be stirred up everyday and fed regularly.  It's basically equal parts flour and water, mixed together and "fed" with some sugary love.  In this case it was some Oregon grapes from a nearby bush.  The little puddle grew into a gorgeous foamy bubbling goo within several days.  Though I was hoping to turn it into a loaf of bread, the kidlet and I were hungry yesterday AM, and sourdough pancakes it was.  I just added a little sugar, a bit more flour, an egg and a pinch of soda to the starter and voila!  Again, there was hardly a moment to take the picture before they disappeared.  Life is fleeting but delicious, like homemade pancakes.

 All good foods involve birth and growth.  Decay (and ultimately death) are part of  the process as well, and it is almost impossible to enter into a well-made meal without the reminder of life's natural cycles.  Here's hoping you eat and are well in the upcoming year and may you thrive with all the things that feed you.  PS, if you want to read more about all this culture and Culture and stuff, check our Sandor Ellix Katz's thoughtful cookbook and website, both titled Wild Fermentation.