emily in sf: foggy and clear: Hey, Everyone else is doing it, so why can't...

Whoa. Just looked at the ticker there... and it's been about a year. hmm.

Well, Happy New Year, no time like the present, whatever.

Anyway. Been doing a lot of cooking and baking lately—around October, I even learned to make pie dough!—and after receiving a mess of new kitchen loot and cookbooks for Christmas, I got to thinking, how 'bout I start a foodie blog/journal?

(I mean, it's never been done before, right??)

So... recently, here are some things I've added to my kitchen repertoire:

Wed, 01/14/10
Kale and Potato Soup with Red Chili
from The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison

This is something I probably would pass up on any other night, but I had to figure out what to do with some week-old kale from my CSA box, and the cookbook index directed me here. Another thing in the recipe that was quite unusual for my cooking habits was the chili flakes: I'm sort of a wimp when it comes to spicy foods. But this soup was great! It took a long time to cook and for the flavors to marry, but the time spent, plus a little mashing of the potatoes helped thicken it up nicely, so it seemed much more creamy and fattening than it really was. And it also called for nutritional yeast(!), which I haven't seen listed in any cookbook besides my old Southern Standby, the Grit Cookbook. So there you go: nutritional yeast makes it out to the Bay Area. Whaddya know. Oh, and the soup was sort of spicy, but not so much that I couldn't handle it: it really livened up what could otherwise be a pretty bland-tasting soup.

okay, next:

Sun, 01/10/10
Tarte Tatin
from CooksIllustrated.com

I discovered this recipe long ago, but held off on making it until I could use the recommended 9-inch cast iron skillet to cook it in. After receiving said skillet for Christmas, I knew this would be a good christening dish. Okay... it was a bit more challenging than that...

I managed to burn the caramel a bit on the bottom (or top), and the apples were sort of sloppy and not quite as formed and glistening as I had hoped, and I spent quite awhile afterwards scrubbing the skillet that probably could have used a good seasoning prior to any cooking. But still.. you can't really go wrong with sugar and apples and butter... so not a bad first try, all in all.

My first inspiration for Tarte Tatin was Julia Child, of course: I've been watching her French Chef videos on Netflix, and I love that she totally screwed this one up, too: in the video, she ends up with a pretty sad-looking tart after using "obviously mislabeled" apples... oh well: like she said, no matter what it looks like, it still tastes good!

Speaking of Ms. Child, James gave me two of her cookbooks for Christmas, Baking with Julia and The Way to Cook. Both of these books are splendid, and the first recipe I tried from the latter was:

Sun, 01/10/10
Leeks au Gratin

Whoa! Talk about rich... this was pretty intense. The recipe called for her "master recipe" of Cheese (Mornay) Sauce, by way of Béchamel Sauce, which was an extremely thick mixture of

2-1/2 Tbs butter
3-1/2 Tbs flour
2 cups hot milk
1/2 tsp salt and several grinds of white pepper

I added this mixture to braised leeks and some Gruyère cheese, and ended up with a very, very rich casserole: which would probably be a much better side dish than a main dish. On very special occasions. Thoughts for next time: this is not a main dish, you'll be full after two bites, and don't overcook the leeks. Live and learn.

Back to desserts:

A few weeks ago I went back to Georgia for the holidays, and to celebrate my 30th birthday, I baked my very first...

Sun, 12/27/09
Chocolate Cake (!)
from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters

My mom was in the kitchen with me for maternal guidance, handy tips, and moral support, but I pretty much did it all by myself, and the results were amazing. Good old Alice Waters!

dad is great! gives us the chocolate cake!

Prep time with Mom: making Alice's buttercream frosting (pink, of course!), on perfectly-leveled layers (thanks to Mom's secret weapon: insulated cake strips)