Cinnamon Sugar Rhubarb Muffins

When I see really fresh thin ruby red rhubarb I cut it up and stick it in the freezer. These muffins are a really delicious use of the frozen rhubarb. When you melt the butter pour it over the frozen rhubarb to defrost the rhubarb. As I mentioned before in my blog freezing rhubarb really helps in the baking processes. This is an easy and very addictive muffin recipe. You can swap out the rhubarb for peaches, apples, berries.....


For the muffins:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick of unsalted butter melted
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups 1/4-inch-diced frozen rhubarb
For the topping:
3 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a muffin tin with foil baking cups. I really like foil baking cups.They are so much better than the paper ones.To make the muffins use a mixing bowl to combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and whisk to blend.

In a another bowl mix together the buttermilk, rhubarb and melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Lightly stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until the batter just comes together.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, using a large ice cream scoop.

Now in a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon sugar over each muffin.

Bake the muffins until they’re golden brown for 18 to 22 minutes. Watch the tops of the muffins because the sugar will burn. Cover lightly with foil close to the end of cooking if getting to dark.

For more baking, PBS will be airing the new British Baking Competition in September. I think these muffins would definitely get the heads up!

So Good !

Slow Roasted Pork Belly With Fava Bean Purée

Having some day's off gave me a chance to fire up the smoker. Pork belly is a cheap cut of meat that requires a long cooking time. You can of course make bacon out of pork belly, but frankly there is such delicious gourmet brands out there that the the time spent is not worth it. However, smoked pork belly is another matter. It is so delicious that you will become addicted. A little goes a long way. I paired the dish with fresh seasonal fava bean purée. The season for fava beans are so fleeting that you have to get them quick. Peeling them is a time consuming affair. After they are peeled little effort is involved. So have patience you will be rewarded for your efforts.

First thing is that you will have to marinade the pork belly. The following is the ingredients.

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of good scotch whiskey
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon of mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons of fresh grated ginger
1 minces Fresno chile
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 large garlic clove minces
1 teaspoon of onion powder

Vacuum sealing is best. But if you do not have one just suck out as much air as possible from a heavy duty plastic bag. Marinade overnight in refrigerator.

Drain belly from marinade and place marinade in sauce pan. Boil marinade for a minute or two. You will use this to brush on your belly every thirty minutes.

Fire up your smoker and bring the temperature to 250 degrees. I used apple wood. Alder would also be good. Make sure your water pan is always full. You can even fill the water pan with apple cider. Smoke for three and one half hours. Pork should be about 195 degrees. Make sure to check your smoker every thirty minutes to see if you have enough chips and moisture. At this time you will baste with marinade. Allow the fully cook belly to rest before cutting.

To make the purée you will have to peel your beans. If you have never peeled fava beans it requires a fair amount of time and effort to peel. The first peeling removes the heavy outer shell. Then in salted boiling water place these beans in the water for thirty seconds. Drain and remove the second shell. To make the purée you will place some olive oil in a sauce pan. Place the beans and one minced clove of garlic. Sauté until tender. Place in a food processor with a little bit of stock. Purée. Now add salt, pepper, fresh thyme leaves, smoked paprika and a splash of lemon to your taste. 

Gribiche Sauce and the Swiss Kitchen Witch

Sauce gribiche is traditionally served with cold seafood and meats. It is also superb with steamed or roasted vegetables. The word gribiche is an old Swiss French word meaning witch. The tradition of an ugly witch who scares kids into eating vegetables and stuff. In the Nordic countries you will see a kitchen witch in many homes. I do not think you will need a "Gribiche" to get any one to eat this sauce.

They made a silent movie in the 1920's with the name. It was about a small boy being adopted by a wealthy lady. The little boy becomes bored and gets into all kinds of trouble....

To make the sauce you will need to hard boil an egg and have one cup of fresh herbs. I used basil and this is not traditional. But very good. Traditionally tarragon, chervil and parsley were used. Having none of these on hand I used basil. You will also need some capers and cornichions.


Take the yolk from the one hard boiled egg and pass it through a sieve. Cut the whites into tiny cubes. Mix 11/2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard with 1/8 teaspoon of kosher salt into the egg yolk. Now whisk in drop by drop 1/3 cup of safflower oil and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Now fold in the egg whites, two tablespoons of capers, 1 tablespoon of minced cornichions and 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar. Now add in the minced herbs and taste. Adjust for salt and pepper to your liking. The sauce will keep for a week in the refrigerator.

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Madeira Cake and "The Perennial Tea Room"

Wandering early morning in the Pike Place Market is a ritual. In the early morning the market is at its best. The venders  are just setting up and the crowds are not there. In a little nook there is a tea shop called the Perennial Tea Room. I was buying some Keemun tea when I noticed a tea cook book. It was written by Anthony Wild. He is from Yorkshire and the buying agent for his sisters company. The company is Taylor's of Harrogate the famous tea company.

Spending time in the company of East Indians you will come to love high tea. The book has recipes for all the necessities for a high tea. Like Tinker's Cakes, Barm Brack and even Fat Rascals. The Madeira cake looked especially good. It is a sugar crusted cake soaked in lemon syrup. There is not a drop of Madeira in the cake. It was meant to be eaten with a glass of Madeira in the 18th century.



The cake is very easy to make. You will need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer you will place:

1cup plus two tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar

Beat until it is light and fluffy. Now add five eggs one at at time. Then sift 2 1/2 cups of cake flour with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and two teaspoons baking powder. Gradually add to you batter. Then place the mixed batter into a prepared loaf pan.

Bake for one and one quarter hours. For the syrup heat 4 tablespoon of lemon juice, two tablespoon of sugar and one tablespoon of light corn syrup. Skewer the warm cake all over and pour the warm syrup over the still warm cake in its tin. Chill the cake to form the sugar crust.

I may try the courgette and double ginger cake next. It has been very warm here in Seattle and a lot of us will have plenty of courgettes ! The blossoms are so lovely. They make a nice complement to cheese ravioli with lemon.

Buttermilk Ice Cream with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

Buttermilk reminds me of my grandparents. They liked to drink cold buttermilk. They would talk about milking the cow and making butter during the depression. Everyone suffered back then. My father was a vertigo orphan being passed down from relative to relative. His parents finding work only occasionally.

But for my grandma she remembered the good parts of neighbors coming together and playing cards. My grandfather being Amish was use to going without. For him electric lights and running water were a blessing. After the First World War and looking after the Calvary horses he was happy to have a home with a bed. From my loving Grandparents, I learned that their is such happiness in the simplest of things. Trout fishing and mud pies for one. My mother and my uncle were blessed to have such loving parents. This recipe would be made in a hand crank ice cream maker. Peach ice cream was my families favorite. We would sit on the front porch and take our turns adding salt and ice. One of us would be cranking the maker. So while fresh peaches are not in season this will be equally as good.

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup sugar

¹∕8 teaspoon of kosher salt

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

6 egg yolks

2 cups buttermilk


Put the cream, half of the sugar, salt and vanilla in a saucepan. Whisk to combine.  Bring the cream to just a boil. While the cream is heating, combine the yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl. Using a whisk, beat until mixture is pale and thick. Once the cream  has come to a slight boil, whisk about one third of the hot cream into the yolks and sugar mixture. Add another one third of the mixture, then return the combined mixture to the saucepan. Using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture constantly over low heat until it thickens slightly and coats the back of the spoon. This mixture must NOT boil or the yolks will overcook.

Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Whisk in the buttermilk and bring to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight. Whisk mixture again before pouring into the ice cream maker.

 Pour the mixture into the mixing bowl of an ice cream maker and process. Takes about forty minutes.

Blueberry Sauce:

2 cups fresh blueberries

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon rind

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon 

Bring all to a boil in a sauce pan and then refrigerate. Now add to the sauce some Creme de Cassis and serve over ice cream !

Seasonal Preserves From Provence

I am reading a captivating book about the regional traditions of French Cuisine. It was written by none other than Elizabeth David in 1960. France was a simpler time then. Charles De Gaulle was Prime Minister and he was a strong leader. Now times are troubling with a socialist prime minister. No one would have thought in 1960 that you would have a socialist as a prime minister. Such are the sad times economically the country has gone through. Many would like to go back to 1960.



 So for those of you who would I suggest reading her book. You will begin to understand what is at the heart of french regional cooking and Provence has a tradition of really fantastic preserves. It is a family affair where grandmothers and numerous family members argue over a large copper pot steaming and bubbling with fresh seasonal fruits. Cherries are in season and with the winds of Provence spinning in my head I thought I would attempt to make their famous cherry jam.




I made two batches of jam. One with Rainier Cherries and one with Bing Cherries. You can use this recipe for either one. Do not mix the varieties however. You can even make a bitter pie cherry jam using this recipe. You will just need to slowly increase the sugar content to your liking.

French cherry jam has brandy in it. For the Rainier Cherries they pare nicely with Disaronno a almond liquor. For the bing I use a combination of Grand Marnier and Courvoisier a cognac.




Pitting cherries is something you do by listening to some wonderful music or watch a interesting TV show. There are some great equipment for cherry pit removal, I used a very simple hand one. You will need two and one half pounds of fresh cherries.

This recipe will make about two pints.

6 1/2 cups of cherries pitted
1 1/4 cups of sugar
1 lemon juiced
1/4 cup of pectin powder
1 airport size bottle of brandy

Bring all the ingredients with the exception of the pectin to a boil and refrigerate over night. Now strain the cherries from the juice and set aside. Boil the juice and add the pectin. Add the cherries and cook until you get the consistent you like. I then pour the jam in canning jars. Process the jars for ten full minutes in boiling water. You will hear the clink and then they are sealed. I love this jam over ice cream, in crepes, and even over cheese cake.

Asparagus is in season too. Pickled asparagus is great with Prosciutto. The French would pair with a lovely French Ham and if times where better white asparagus Aigre-Doux.

Enjoy!

Abigail Johnson Dodge Chiffon Cakes

I was really excited when I read the recipes of Abigail Johnson Dodge in Fine Cooking. Here is someone who has great talent. I made the espresso chocolate marble chiffon cake and was amazed. Inventive and utterly delicious. She has a book coming out and here is a link to her website.

www.abbydodge.com

For the cake:

7 eggs and 1 egg white 

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa.
(I used dark unsweetened)

2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur

2 tablespoons of instant espresso 

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

2/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup canola oil and 1/3 cup peanut oil  (my change up)

(peanut oil will keep your cake moist longer)

1 teaspoon vanilla paste 

4 ounces of dark chocolate

I skipped the chocolate glaze

Heat your oven to 325 degrees. Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until soft peaks. Set aside .

Add 5 tablespoons of hot water to the cocoa powder in a small bowl. Stir until it is a thick paste. Set aside. In a mixing bowl place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. Mix and then add the sour cream, egg yolks, oil and vanilla paste. You can use extract, but vanilla paste is better. Now separate the batter in two bowls. Two one of the batter add the cocoa paste. The 4 ounces of chocolate grated in a food processor. Now add half of the egg whites and fold gently. To the other batter add the liqueur and espresso powder. (Dissolve the espresso powder in the liquor before adding.) Now fold in the remaining egg whites. In a angel food pan alternate adding in the two batters. Bake for one hour and invert.

Yum !