Annual Anime Boston Treat

Every year Anime Boston sets up in town and being the wee geeky I am, I have to go. Over the years I've come to gather friends on the team that runs the convention as well as an appreciation for all their hard word. As a token of my appreciation I try to make something I can drop off and they can enjoy. This year I decided to finally take on something I've been hankering to try yet a bit fearful of doing so, the classic pate a choux which is fancy french name for the dough that is the basis of so many things but first and foremost in my mind, the classic cream puff. I looked over, as I generally do, dozens of recipes and ended up modifying one from Alton Brown. Of course I feared that what I would create was a dense little dough ball and not the puff dried shell with a giant air pocket to fill with goodies. I monitored these through the glass pane in my oven door like a hawk over her babies. During the first 10 minutes of high temp baking they turned a bit golden but didn't puff up at all. My heart fell. I started seeking out other recipes. Maybe I could make them a nice batch of cookies. I'm good at cookies... After about 5 minutes of the lower temp baking I went back to check and what a difference 5 minutes makes! They had puffed up big and beautiful. I fear no more. Give it a try yourself. They are almost ridiculously easy to whip up. I haven't included a recipe for filling because that's really up to your imagination. I filled some of mine with butterscotch pudding and other with chocolate mousse.

Cream Puff

1 cup water
3/4 stick butter (cut into pieces)
1 tblsp sugar
1 tsp salt
5 3/4 ounces flour
1 cup eggs, about 4 large eggs

Boil water, butter, salt, and sugar together until all the butter is melted. Remove from heat and immediately add all the flour at once. Stir until it comes together with a wooden spoon. Put back medium heat and stir until all the dough comes away from the pot like a big soft ball and its leaving a barely visible film on the bottom of the pot. Take off heat and continue to stir stir stir until dough has cooled so that when you touch it with the back if your (clean) fingers its hot but not burning you. Dump dough out into mixing bowl. At this point I switched to an electric mixer but you can continue on with arm power if you've got it. Add one egg at a time and mix until each egg is incorporated before adding another. It will look like the dough is coming apart each time you add a new egg. Do not fear! Just keep mixing. At the end you should get a dough with a bit of sheen to it. Put into pastry bag fitted with the biggest round tip you've got. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or non stick tin foil. Pipe balls as big or small as you like but make them all uniform in size. I aimed for about 1.5 inch diameter because I wanted them fairly bite sized. If there's a little pointy tip at the top you can pat this down with a finger wetted with water. Bake at 425F for 10 minutes then 350F for another 10 minutes or until golden. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR DURING BAKING. As soon as they are done, take then out and with a sharp knife poke a little slit into the puffs to release the steam so they won't collapse. Let cool and fill with whatever you like. They're best served shortly after being filled.

Tribute to Passover

In an homage to my good friend Beany (as well as an extreme fit of jealousy at the stories of her awesome family seders) I've decided to devote this weekend's experiment to creating a few passover friendly dishes. First I tried a classic, the apple cake but I wanted something less fluffy cake-y than the original. Its always more spiced tasting than apples so I opted for a bit of an almost clafoutis. For those who have never given it a try its half way between a custard and a cake that lets the fruit shine through.

Since my crazy grocery delivery messed up and delivered two boxes of matzoh meal I decided to use some of the extra and created veggie puffs. My recipe uses carrots and leeks but you can use any veggie you'd like. The original recipe seemed rather bland to me so I added a bit of umami with a touch of miso. Chinese jewish? These turned out better than I hoped. Lightly crusty crisp on the outside and tender delicious on the inside. Beany, I hope you try one at your seder one day.

Apple Clafoutis

1/2 cup matzoh meal (whir this in the processor to get a more flour like consistency)
1/3 cup sugar (use a little more or less depending on the sweetness of your fruit)
1 tblsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 tbsp oil
1/3 cup almond milk (clafoutis usually calls for milk but I wasn't sure how kosher that was)
4 large apples (peeled, quartered, and sliced thinly)

Mix the first four ingredients together. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and milk until well blended. Add in dry ingredients and mix together. It should be lump free and about pancake batter consistency. Stir in the apples. It will look like apples barely coated in batter. Don't worry! Pour into a silicon pan lightly spritzed with oil (you can can pan possibly buttered that you think you can unmold easily from). Bake at 400F for about 45 minutes. Cake should be firm when poked in the middle with your finger. Let cool until its warm but no longer hot before unmolding. I served mine a la mode with real frozen vanilla yogurt (the tart good for you kind, not the faux ice cream) and a bit of honey on top but the cake is quite good just on its own.

Veggie Puff

1lb carrots (cut into 1/2 inch thick slices)
1 stalk leek (sliced thinly)
2 tsp red miso
1 egg
1 tblsp oil
1/3 cup matzoh meal

Add carrots, leeks, and miso into a pot with just enough water to barely cover the veggies. Simmer until the carrots are very tender soft. Drain. Mash until smooth. Add egg, oil, and meal. Stir until well blended. Using a spoon (or in my case a cookie scoop) create little domes on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400F for about 20 minutes until the outsides are dried and crisp. Serve warm.

Trying to conquer India

So I am a spice wimp. I can't not take even too much pepper in my food. Go ahead. Laugh at the foodie who can't enjoy spicy. I have tried. For years I tried. This has resulted in a viscious cycle I am now well acquainted with and have decided to avoid. I eat something even slightly spicy, I get a sore throat the next day, by next evening its a mild fever, I go see the doctor, the doctor gives me antibiotics which I'm on for 2 weeks, I am gradually cured while sucking on way too many popsicles. This is not ideal however I have a second weakness, for Indian food. Its delicious with its combinations and layers of flavors while at the same time extremely comforting. I have since conquered my shame of emphasizing at the waitstaff taking my order "REALLY REALLY REALLY MILD ok?" but figured it was time to try taking on Indian cuisine. I've been circling it for a while now, trying individual spices, developing one heckuva addiction to cumin, but never really taken it straight on. This weekend I made a classic, Goat Vindaloo. The challenge this week was spinach so it seemed to fit right in. OK so I added a little too MUCH spinach to my dish. I hope you show a little more restraint than me. A warning, this is best done as a two day dish.

Goat Vindaloo

4 lbs goat shoulder cut into chunks
1/2 a head of garlic minced
50 gram minced ginger
6 medium onions finely diced
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tumeric
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 can of chopped tomatoes (15 oz)
4 green chillis (optional, I left these out as the spice wimp)
1 bag frozen chopped spinach leaves
3 tbsp oil

Heat up a dutch oven until over medium till hot. Add goat pieces and brown on all sides. Remove. Add in onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook until onions are soft and beginning to brown. Add in salt, tumeric, cumin, chili powder, coriander, chilis, and tomatoes. Stir until well combined. Add back in goat piece and cook on low until tender about 3 hours. Take off heat and let cool before sticking in fridge over night. Next day, remove layer of hardened fat. Heat back up and stir in spinach until its just heated through and wilted. Add garam marsala and heat for another 10 minutes. Scoop out and serve with naan.

(In the pic I've added a little quinoa to mine to make a one dish meal. This is optional and definitely not traditional.)

Sickly

I didn't do much cooking this weekend. I spent most of it on the couch with a vat of ice cream to soothe a sore throat and an IV drip of OJ direct into my veins as I vacillated between drugged slumber and watching bad movies on Netflix streaming. I did rouse myself enough to make me some konnyaku. This is nothing new and I've done it before but it makes for a nice light treat. Supposedly its good for you, high in fiber and its rumored to lower cholesterol. Its a sort of chewy jelly, not like the classic american jello. I admit this is an old picture but the one I made this weekend was just the same as I mold them in my ice cube tray.

Rose & Honey Konnyaku Jelly

10 grams konnyaku powder
900 ml water
4 rose tea bags (or equivalent)
honey

Bring water with tea bags in it to a boil. Let steep for about 15 minutes. Fish out bags pressing on them to release the tea. Add honey to taste. Try to make it just a little sweeter than you'd prefer the jelly to be because it tastes less sweet when cooled. Why? I dunno. It just does. You can also add some food coloring now if you'd prefer. Bring tea back to a boil. Add in konnyaku powder, whisking fiercely to prevent lumps and let it boil for 10 minutes. I always get a few tiny lumps because I am sucky at whisking and pouring at the same time so at this point I pour through a strainer. You can skip this step if you think you're lump free. This never happens to my mother! Pour into molds or just into a cake pan. Let cool and unmold. If you poured it into a cake pan you can unmold and cut into bite size pieces.