Boxcar Kitchen

a big dinner from small onions

Thursday, March 12 2009

Something to look forward to: Pops' poppers

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I took this picture last June when I was home visiting my parents. One of the best parts about going home (in the summer) is having a nice big old yard to hang out and barbecue in. I suppose I could fire up a few steaks on my mini city balcony but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate that much. I don't think it's very legal either.

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Wednesday, February 25 2009

A trio to celebrate ours

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Well, it certainly has been awhile. I swear, I really I have been cooking - and eating for that matter. But free time has been spare and I've had quite a few fish to fry. Between work and getting ready for the addition of the "Bean", I just didn't have the energy to produce anything that I thought worth sharing. But now that Bean is here and his internship in "learning to sleep through the night or the better part of it" is nearing its end, I've got a little more time and energy. Still, everything I make is really simple. Basically, if I can't whip it up during nap time or it takes more than 20 minutes to get it from the fridge to the plate, I'm not going to bother.

Fennel, in all its forms, has been a diet staple since bringing Bean home. I was betting on its calming properties to help sooth the little man's colic. The colic was short lived but not the vegetable! Fennel was always one of those things that I love and enjoyed but never prepared. Now, most of the time I just chop it up, throw it in a pot with a big hunk of butter, let it get all brown and caramelized, and then cook it down his a little bit of water until it was melt in your mouth tender. Its warm and comforting and a nice change of pace from all the winter root vegetables we've been eating. Delicious - caramel and anise - almost like dessert for dinner.

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Sunday, June 15 2008

Far from perfect but still pretty good

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Over the winter I picked up a copy of Joël Robuchon's Tout Robuchon. It is kind of laid-out as one of those "if you only have one cookbook in your kitchen, it should be this one" books. It is page after page of French classics - a type of encyclopedia of modernized traditional dishes. I figured I couldn't go wrong with that, so I bought it even though there isn't a single picture in it.

The first recipe I made out of it confirmed my good judgment. I used Robuchon's quiche base to make a porcini, spinach, bacon quiche. It was heaven. I have never had such good quiche in my entire life. There was nothing watery or curd-like about it. It came out firm and custardy. In fact, it was so delicious that I barely even thought about all the cream that went into baking it.

The Far Breton was my next stop and it left me asking for more. A far is a traditional dessert from Brittany and its batter is a cross between a flan and a clafouti and is often garnished with prunes. A good far is better than good. The prunes baked into the eggy base are soft and sweet and comforting. I admit that I didn't follow the recipe to the letter because I didn't have any prunes but I was still pretty disappointed with the rather lifeless base. I did however, manage to polish off the thing but I don't think I'll be making it again.

With a tied score - one good recipe to one not so good recipe - the only thing left to do is to keep the test-kitchen fires burning. Next on the list is Robuchon's famous purée and I have a feeling it will be just as good as at the Atelier.

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Sunday, February 24 2008

Puttin' on the Ritz: Le Délice

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In October, to celebrate my 30th birthday, some friends gifted me with a baking class at the Ecole Ritz Escoffier. The hub was perfect in choosing a 4 hour-long Saturday afternoon class dedicated to chocolate. (Yeah!) The combination of spending an afternoon with a real-life pastry chef in a veritable professional pastry kitchen at on of the most prestigious palaces in the city was enough to make me swoon. The only hitch was the wait. The class was scheduled for January which meant three long months of perusing their website and obsessing about what we might bake.

The day finally arrived and it it was one of those unseasonable warm days that have made up the majority of this winter season. With just a light jacket and the sun on my shoulders, I took the bus along the Seine to the Concorde and then walked up rue St. Honoré. I cut through a marbled shopping gallery that spills out on the Place Vendôme and came face to face with the Ritz. As I crossed the threshold of the main entrance I couldn't help but have one of those "I can't belive I'm here" blasts of happiness.

There were 10 of us in the class and we were split up into two groups which meant that we really were able to be hands on and not just silent observers. Each armed with a plethora of utensils and crisp white aprons we got down to business. Our chef was relaxed, easy-going and really interested in answering questions and teaching us just as much about technique as about the recipe we were preparing. The dessert in question was Le Délice or The Delight: a Sacher spongecake layered with chocolate mousse (saturated with a simple syrup) and a pistachio crème, covered in a chocolate ganache and painted with cocoa butter.

The best part though was all the little "pro" hints that make baking at home so much more interesting. For example, instead of using cake pans you can use rings which de-mold a million times easier. If your cake bakes in the shape of a volcano it means that you've overmixed. Although I'm sure that never happens to anyone. You can use a pair of square dowels set on either side of your cake to act as a guide when cutting it into cross sections. When making chocolate mousse, you can add your sugar as a boiling simple syrup to your egg yolks which gives your dessert a longer lifespan. When making a dessert like The Délice, which has a caramelized cream center, you freeze it before assembly. Cool, right?

Now, the only thing I need besides a kitchen torch, a 10 pound bag of Valrhona 70% chocolate, and an airless paint sprayer for the cocoa butter finish is a spot in the Ecole's 6 week-long pastry program this summer followed by a champagne toast at the hotel bar!

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Sunday, November 18 2007

The last of the plums - A short story in scones

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If long hours at work, the inkling of winter weather and the many days of grèves (strikes) aren't reason enough to keep you holed up at home on the weekend, then I don't know what is. Hibernating is exactly what I have been doing, spending weekend after weekend, snuggled up on the couch reading cookbooks and browsing blogs. Lately, it’s been all about the kinetic energy. And although I didn't manage to get myself out to the market to scour the shelves for cool new ingredients, I did manage to move my slippered feet into the kitchen and whip up something simple and hearty.

Basically, I was in the mood for a treat to go with tea and I had a fresh bag of oatmeal and a bowl of plums sitting on the counter. Not really divine intervention, but inspiration nonetheless. A lot of times, scones are filled with dried fruit: raisins, cherries, currents, apricots. Why not use fresh fruit instead? I attempted a bready version of a granola bar. The experiment just so happed to work out and a half hour later, we were back on the couch enjoying warm scones and hot tea.

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Sunday, October 14 2007

Jelly and a Real Job

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...are two things that I have started waking up to on a regular basis.

Raspberry current jelly is a family favorite. It was always the first flavor opened and very often the last one hoared in the back of the pantry to be opened only in the throws of winter. The combination of the sweet tart fruit on warm toast was enough to blow away any February storm.The soft pop of the lid was a reminder of warmer days, grass growing between your toes and the hours spent crouched on the ground scouring for fruit that always seemed to multiply by the minute.

Although I adore almost everything current, I do not have a passion for picking them. Tedious, is how I would describe a current harvest and little green worms always seem to make their way into my picking bowl. Currents are best when they are shiny red in the sunshine in a bowl, already removed from the bush. So when my dad called me to tell me that he had sacrificed his Saturday afternoon in the yard picking currents for the Greater Raspberry Current Jelly Good, I was excited and relieved.

Since I wasn't going to be back for a few more weeks, my parents cooked the berries down , pressed them and froze the juice. The actually jelly process was like the passing of the family torch. Prior to this, I had only been on the eating end of things but this time, I was the one hunched over the stove in 80 degree weather - an alchemist of sorts- surveilling the rumbling red fruit under the watchful eye of my mother.

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Tuesday, September 4 2007

Chestnut honey panna cotta with homemade fig jam

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Panna cotta has been wheedling its way to the top of my "to make" list for a while now. Originally, I planned on a lime panna cotta dressed with summer berries. But after my first attempt following a very, very bad recipe off epicurious.com, my craving for citrus and custard was thoroughly squelched. Usually, I read the comments and check the ratings religiously when I try a recipe off a website. And more often than not, I end up taking into account a least one insightful person's advice. Somehow I spaced out on that step for the panna cotta recipe. It was not until after the fact that I sat in front of the computer nibbling on some very dismal results that I discovered the many disappointing critiques.

Needless to say, panna cotta dropped a few notches from the number one slot. I wasn't able to come up with a recipe that brought something new to the panna cotta table, so I just decided to let it lie. So lie it did.... until I began to peruse the cache of treats brought back from our vacation in Corsica this summer.

One of my very prized possessions is a jar of chestnut honey. At 8 euros a jar, I decided that I didn't want to use it in just anything. The flavor is strong and woody unlike any other honey and I really wanted to spotlight it. Smooth, creamy panna cotta seemed like the perfect vehicle for the bitter honey. This time, I didn't bother with a specific recipe. Instead, I did a compilation of recipes, hoping that this time I would end up with something soft instead of rock solid cream.

The final product was exactly what I was looking for. I was nervous when I unmolded the panna cotta from the vintage tin molds I got from my mother for just such an occasion. After just a mini dip in a bowl of hot water, the cooked cream slipped out of its fluted casing without a glitch. I knew that the consistency was right even before I tasted it because when I shook it, the panna cotta jiggled and looked like it was about to burst, but never lost its shape.

The few green cardamon pods compliment the strength of the honey without masking it. The addition of a quick fig jam and a few drops of chestnut spread elevated this dessert to a zen master level. Honey and figs - a flavor marriage as old as the Romans can never go wrong.

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Wednesday, August 15 2007

Nissa la bella

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So how do you top off vacation in Corsica? A week in Nice is just about all you need to ease back into life on the continent. I'm spoiled; I know it.

Vieux Nice is one of my all time favorite places to go for a couple different reasons. First of all, it is one of the only places in France (other than Corsica) where you can pretty much be garanteed real summer weather and it is always relaxing - almost like vacation at home but better. Once you start visiting a place regularly, you really get to know it and then you're not hounded by the guilt of trying to get out to visit every single monument, park, or restaurant. I also love how 'floaty' (salty) the water is too. The Mediterranean makes me feel like an Olympic swimmer which is something that I am most definitely not.

I've got my Nice pattern down pat: pizza, ice cream, beach and scooter. It sounds like I could carry out this routine just about anywhere but it truly is all about location. The best thin crust or 'real' pizza, like we call it, can only be found at the Bar du Coin in Vieux Nice. Measuring in at three to four times the size of my head and boasting a crust only 1 milimeter thick, these pizzas are a feat of nature. Once the last bite is dutifully washed down with a final swig of rosé, the only thing left to do is to head to Fenocchio. The treck goes without saying. By the time you've finally decided which flavors you want (out of the gazillion that they offer), I often find myself renegociated for a third scoop. This year, lavender and dark chocolate was one of my best combinations.

And since it is the Côte d'Azur, the only way to prepare for the next day's food festivities is to hop on a scooter and tour around the coast trying to get a peek at the innumerable million dollar villas that you can only live in in your dreams. It doesn't really matter though; the beaches are better anyway.

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Sunday, August 12 2007

Napoleon, wild pigs, and brocciu

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Sorry for the radio silence but it's summertime and I've been out wandering the world.

I just recently spent about two weeks roaming the south of Corsica (as you may have already guessed) and it was absolutely amazing. The first half of the trip was spent lounging and roasting on the various beaches that sprinkle the southeastern coastline. With the not so existant summer we've had this year in Paris, I was happy to more than catch up on my daily doses of sunshine. My favorite beach was Pinarello and the number 2 spot goes to Rondinara for its breathtaking bay and herd of capicious cows. We sought shelter from the sun and hearty local dishes in Porto Vecchio and Bonifacio.

As we left the coast towns behind and made our way to the mountains, I had no idea that the best was yet to come. The roadtrip itself was worth the trip alone. We hurtled our way up the steep and narrow backroads never knowing what would be around the next corner. More often than not, we were met by a troup of wild pigs, a herd of lazy cows, or just a lonely horse out for a stroll. Corsica's free range approach to raising livestock is one of its greatest charms. Zonza was our base camp and we would end our days of hiking there at the local café, sipping 1€ pastis (51 je t'aime) bumming tips off the locals.

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Monday, July 16 2007

Mango Tatin

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Well, I thought that I was onto something with this one, but apparently my so called stroke of genius wasn't genius after all. So I guess that leaves me with just a stroke...whatever that means. It's somewhat deflating to come up with a really great recipe idea only to discover, after a two second Google search, that about 40 billion other people have had the same idea. I didn't do my research until after I made up this recipe so I might as well share it.

My very unique and personal inspiration for this mango tart tatin came from- yes, you guessed it- mangoes. Pretty creative, right? But these were not just any mangoes! I was hit by a stomach rumbling bolt of inspiration while I was riding home on the bus, munching away on a bag of dried mangoes. Sure there are lots of different kinds of dried mangoes, but after relentless testing, I can honestly say that N°12 Just Mango is by far the yummiest. They are my newest addiction and can be found at the Grande Epicerie or at my favorite lunch spot, Cojean.

What is so great about these particular dried mangoes? To start, they have the perfect consistency: leathery but not tough and plump without being gummy. Like the name indicates, it's just mango: no added sugar or strange crystallization. And because the drying process is natural, each piece is unique. My tatin idea came from one particular slice that happened to be more dried than the others. The sweet slightly burnt flavor immediately made me think of caramelized fruit which is the staple of the tarte tatin. The mango tatin is a funky take on the time-honored dessert that will convince even the most diehard traditionalist.

  • The key to making these 'boxcarkitchen style' is to let your caramel go until it is really nice and dark. It's important to remove the caramel from the heat right before it is almost too dark, stir the butter in right away and then quickly pour it into the pans before it hardens.

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