Favorite Things: Day 3

Favorite Things: Day 3

I love it when the boys cook and bake with me. Oliver and I have had a lot of time in the afternoons to bake and I think it has made him more interested in helping out with mealtimes. It was his idea Saturday morning to don his chef toque and apron, a gift from Grandma in Seattle a few years back, and he did a wonderful job making pancakes for everyone, even though it meant that he ate last.

Back to School

School is in full swing and although I was terrified I couldn't be organized enough to pull it off this year, implementing some discipline for myself has made it possible to do a full schedule with Sam and Oliver, as well as some pre-school with Felix. Ryan helped in a big way by setting our reading room to rights. I found two more vintage desks at Savers for $7.99. We are using a smorgasbord of Classics-based curriculum, plus making up our own for things like art history, music, and the kitchen.
My latest issue of Gourmet paid homage to all the back-to-schoolers by doing a clever alphabet of foods and menu ideas. The boys learned to make a spicy barbecue sauce for our Chipotle Chicken, crumbled queso fresco for the Creamed Corn with Cilantro, and toasted cumin seeds for Cumin Vinaigrette Cole Slaw. That's a lot of C's. I was starting to get bored so we went to B for dessert. Bingo. Buttermilk Pudding with fresh fruit. A few of the key ingredients were missing from my shelves so I ended up using lavender in place of the bay leaf and orange zest. I have to say, I might never go back. It was total luck but the lavender was the perfect accompaniment to the strawberries and wine in the puree, balancing out the sweetness of the former and subtly enhancing the latter. It was the perfect dessert to come home to from our after dinner walk. I was pretty excited because it felt like a risk at the time and I wasn't sure it would pay off. My Mom is a wonderful cook, my brother and Dad are amazing make-it-up-as-you-go home chefs and since I've never been as good at tweaking recipes or making things up as I go along, I've always lived in the shadow of their creativity in the kitchen. For my own growth as a cook this felt like a milestone in my culinary adventures.
Buttermilk Pudding w/Sauce & Fresh Fruit
For the Pudding:
1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
1 cup whole milk, divided
6 tblsp. sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 cup buttermilk

Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup of milk and let soften 1 minute. Scrape seeds from vanilla pod into small heavy saucepan, add remaining 3/4 cup milk and sugar and bring just to a boil over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add gelatin mixture. Stir until well dissolved. Add buttermilk and then cool in an ice bath for approx. 5 minutes. Strain through fine mess sieve into large glass measuring bowl. Pour into waiting cups, cover and refrigerate for 6-8 hours.

Strawberry Sauce:
1/4 cup dry red wine (I used Malbec from Argentina)
1/4 cup water
3 tblsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dry lavender buds
2 3" strips of lemon peel
about 6 strawberries hulled and cut in half

Place all ingredients except the strawberries in small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Continue to simmer for about 10 minutes until liquid is reduced to 1/3 cup. Add strawberries and simmer for another 5 minutes. Carefully puree in a blender. Strain through fine mesh sieve into a bowl and chill for one hour.

To assemble, spoon some of the strawberry puree over each pudding and top with mixture of fresh berries.

It's A Family Affair

Yesterday found us at the Dane County Farmer's Market in downtown Madison. If you have never been to this market, you are missing something special. After being cooped up most of the winter due to plummeting temperatures bottoming out around -17 degrees, Wisconsinites are pretty happy when April rolls around and the sun has warmed the earth enough to produce the first crops of the season. Folks come out in droves to the farmer's market to walk the capitol square and it's a veritable cornucopia of sights and sounds. It's easy to feel overstimulated at first, especially if you are like me and don't get out much. There are so many amazing vendors and each stall is more alluring than the last, but I finally found what I was really looking for- rhubarb, the unofficial herald of spring.

I can't say that I have much experience with this mysterious vegetable aside from the ubiquitous strawberry rhubarb pie everyone trots out this time of year, but something about it intrigues me. Perhaps it's because the cherry-red celery looking stalk reminds me of a silk taffeta Belle Epoch dress, or maybe it's the challenge of an unknown food. Whatever it is, I set out for the market with rhubarb on the brain. We found an organic farm selling beautiful stalks with the dirt still hanging on and promptly purchased 1 1/2 lbs.

Today we spent a good deal of Mother's Day afternoon cooking and baking together. I had found a recipe for Rhubarb Ginger jam in Gourmet magazine and thought it sounded heavenly, especially on homemade bread. Sam and Oliver set about chopping the stalks into pieces while I chopped the crystallized ginger. Sam and O look like the dueling chefs here, but I assure you, it was all amicable.When all the ingredients were ready to cook, I was dubious about the contents of my pan turning into jam. After a few minutes, however, the most amazing smells wafted into the air. As Ryan put it, it was like a floral perfume, but in the best subtle way possible. I actually closed my eyes when I did the first taste test and all I can say is that it tasted like Spring. The combination of lemon and crystallized ginger provided a nice contrast to the tartness of the rhubarb and there was none of the stringiness usually associated with the plant.

While the boys and I were doing all this, Ryan set about making Oatmeal Honey Bread.

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The boys could hardly wait for the bread to cool off enough to cut into thick steaming slices. We slathered each piece in butter and fresh jam and enjoyed a lovely meal a la Frances. Which is appropriate, if you think about it. Frances is a badger. And Wisconsin is the badger state.


Here's my riff on the Rita Newell Rhubarb Ginger Jam recipe:

1 1/2 lbs. fresh rhubarb cut into 3/4" pieces
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
Zest from one lemon

Combine all ingredients in heavy duty sauce pan.
Stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Prepare jars if canning or let cool and eat right away. Will keep in refrigerator for up to 1 week.