Making a Cake

Wow, things have been crazy around here and I haven't written lately and I have so much to tell you. First- I'd like to share with you this cake. My friend and employee Cara is expecting, and for her shower I wanted to give her a really special cake. After I secretly found out her favorite flavors- Almond Poppy seed and Red Velvet I tied to come up with a design concept. Her shower theme was "feathering the nest" and she has a really cool punk-rock style so I decided to go with a fun tattoo theme.

I set to work baking the cakes, filling and stacking the layers, and chilling the tiers. I admit I've never worked with fondant on this scale (mainly because I don't think it tastes good). I colored the fondant in bright shades and rolled and cut some designs to apply to the cake. The birds and nest were made from gum paste that was tinted and sculpted. With help from my brother Grant, the fondant work went surprisingly easy and the design really came out perfect.

Cara was really happy with the cake and it tasted delicious. I'm looking forward to making some more fondant decorated cakes in the future.

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Deceptively Simple

So the weather here has reverted back to that gloomy cold nonsense and since we can't be outside were inside baking. Cookies are generally not my absolute favorite sweet, although I love a really good chocolate chip (especially when my daughter helps), but macarons are more of a pastry than a cookie anyway.

French Macaron are not the heavy coconut macaroon cookies that share a similar name, they are two ethereally light and crisp cookies with a slightly chewy interior sandwiched with buttercream. These beautiful little pastries are a pain in the ass to make. I remember reading about the importance of ingredients in Macaron, and explained the story of a French pastry shop that made macarons every day, always the same, always the same results. Suddenly the macaron weren't coming out as they always had, and they wondered why, turned out the farmer changed the feed he was giving to his chickens where the pastry shop purchased their eggs. I have no idea if this story is true, but I think the point was to convey the fickleness of macarons. Every good cook knows that the simpler the recipe, the more difficult it is to pull off.

Macaron Cookie:

1Cup or 8oz. Powdered Sugar

3/4 Cup or 6 oz. Almond Flour or Meal

2 Egg Whites (at room temperature)

Pinch of Cream of Tartar or 3 drops Lemon Juice

1/4 Cup or 2 oz. Regular Sugar

Set your oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor grind the almond meal or flour with the powdered sugar until fine. In a mixer whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy, then slowly add the quarter cup of regular sugar. Whip until the whites hold stiff peaks. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the whipped whites and put the batter into a piping bag with a large tip. On a parchment paper-lined baking sheet pipe small circles about 1 inch in diameter. If you want all perfectly sized macaron you can trace circles on the backside of the parchment with a pencil. Let the piped cookies rest for about 20 or so minutes to develop a crust on the exterior, they should be dry to the tough. Bake for 10-15 minutes, the macaroon should not really brown, just get very dry and crisp on the exterior. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

Simple Buttercream:

1 Stick or 4 oz.Unsalted Butter

1 lb. Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

Whip butter in a mixer until light and add remaining ingredients. Whip on high speed for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
Macaron cookies and the buttercream can be flavored in many ways, my favorites are; Chocolate, Berries, Coffee, Lavender, Lemon, Vanilla, and Green Tea. The recipe here is vanilla cookies and vanilla buttercream, but in the photo I added some crushed lavender flowers and some blueberry juice (for color) for a really lovely lavender- scented buttercream.

After the cookies have fully cooled, spread a little buttercream on one side of a cookie and sandwich another. Bon Appetit!

Whisper of Spring...

There is much to enjoy about wintertime in Bend. There is something lovely about curling up inside by the fireplace with a warm cup of something and watching the snow slowly build. Or for many Bendites they'd rather be in the snow as much as possible. Winter is fairly long here and as much as I love the hearty soups stews and braises of winter, come March I'm really craving some "fresh".

This early in the spring season there is only a whisper of what is to come, mainly Ramps, Spring Garlic and Onions, Tender Baby Greens, and Halibut. Halibut, so light delicate and yet meaty in texture- especially when you develop a good caramelized exterior- even fish dis-likers like Halibut.

With the first signs of spring's entrance it inspires us to look at the menu and inject some "fresh" so we have, and you can peruse here.

I can't say we have full blown Spring Fever just yet, we'll have to have some nice warm days and plenty of peas, asparagus, and artichokes ; but, we are welcoming spring and kissing winter goodbye until next year.

Another sign of spring is the first blooms of crocus flowers in our garden. Saffron is harvested from the stigma of this flower (actually crocus sativas)- it requires 70,000 flowers to yield a single pound of this the world's most expensive spice.

Colombia

We recently spent two weeks visiting Andres' family in Colombia South America, specifically Bogotá. We had some really amazing food, most prepared by Andres' Mom Stella- a truly exceptional cook.

This was my second visit to Colombia and I can say it really is a really wonderful place to visit. In my opinion American's lingering perceptions about the dangers of traveling in Colombia are inaccurate. The food alone is worth a trip. Fruits of every size shape and texture- most you've never seen, and with flavors undisturbed by refrigeration and early picking. Cultural heritage passed down through traditional recipes.

Mojarra Frita in a busy roadside restaurant outside Giradot. Whole fish fried crisp and served with patacon (fried smashed plantain), yucca frita, rice, and limes. A cold Colombiana soft drink reminiscent of a cream soda.

Fresh warm goat's milk tastes slightly sweet and floral not a bit goaty and nothing like what you buy in the supermarket.

A typical breakfast of coffee, fried eggs with a little ham and cheese and the ever-present Arepa; Corn cakes similar to thick tortillas toasted over a flame- these handmade by Andres' brother Phillipe.
A T-Bone steak at Andres Carne de Res- Bogota's most famous restaurant. Thickly coated with black pepper and served sizzling on an iron plate.
Guanabana (the green bumpy thing) a tropical fruit weighing 10-15 pounds when split open contains hundreds of seeds wrapped in sweet tart fruit with an almost creamy texture and appley taste. One of Andres' favorite fruits for making Jugo or juice. Another favorite juice fruit is the Maracuyá or passion fruit (netted fruit).
A chilled green coconut split open and straw stuck in from a roadside stand. Absolutely refreshing.
In Colombia they like to swap marshmallows and whipped cream for salty cheese in their Hot Chocolate. Drop in some fresh mozzarella and let it melt a little. Just trust me and try it- you'll never go back.

Welcome to Food Luv

Nothing really captures the essence of summer like...

...Tomatoes, oh how I love thee, let me count the ways. My love of tomatoes has been with me since I was a little chef. I was a lucky enough kid to have parents that loved to garden, and you just cannot pass up a fresh from the garden tomato, can you? Tomatoes are the one real food that I crave like no other through the long winter. To add insult I'll try to satiate my need for a good tomato by buying some freak-of-nature, flavorless, green gassed tomato in January and end up truly disappointed.

At the restaurant we've been selling tomatoes for a little over a month, but right now, tomatoes are at their most sublime. Plump, juicy and bursting with sunny sweetness. Here's how we're serving them currently:

Organic Heirloom Tomato Salad with Fresh Mozzarella (creamy and soft, great lactic quality), Sweet Spicy Basil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and Fleur de Sel (crunchy French sea salt).

Sliced and heavily salted is enough for me, but this salad is truly...heaven, for a tomato lover.

As for my need for good tomatoes in January, there is really only one way to capture some of an August tomato's magic- canning. Head to the farmer's market and buy flats of almost overripe tomatoes and can them yourself, they are one of the easiest things to can because of their relatively high acidity. Of course opening a can of tomatoes will never, ever compare to a fresh ripe tomato, but it will make a lovely pasta sauce.

Here's a tip- never, ever put a tomato in the fridge- you will kill almost every shred of flavor and disrupt the texture. You won't be able to keep ripe tomatoes for long before they turn, but then again that's not usually a problem for a tomato nut like me.

My dad used to make tomato sandwiches, I've included his recipe below.

Tomato Sandwich

Sliced Summer Tomato

Quality Real Bread , my Dad likes Sourdough

Mayonnaise

Salt and Pepper- don't be shy, tomatoes need lots of seasoning because of their high water content.

Assemble and enjoy- you won't even miss the B.L.