spoon lickers

GUEST POST! Claudia's Brown Butter Buckles

Sun, 05 Dec 2010 10:00:06 -0500

OK, I have to admit, my initial attraction to this easy and
scrumptious dessert was completely due to the name: “And now for
dessert- a Buckle!” It sounds precious, like something Laura Inglass
Wilder may have said at age six or so in Little House in the Big
Woods. That was my favorite in the series, before life became hard and
Mary went blind. Plus it allowed me to use my recently purchased
cast-iron skillet (I know I’m late to the game but I love it so much).

In addition, like many other spoonlickers, I’ve also become completely
obsessed with Deb from Smitten Kitchen.
I had an acute excitement-attack when I learned her cookbook was in
the works (and from Knopf- Julia Child’s publisher-no less).

Regardless, the buckle ultimately won me over by being the best
low-key desert I’ve ever made. I can say with certainty that I am not
one for complicated cooking. Maybe someday I will post about my
experience making ten-hour butternut squash gnocchi (fail.) The truth
is, shamefully, that I tend to not read the whole recipe in advance,
or at least I almost never fully process it. As a result, I often
ignore the part where you are supposed to let something bake or simmer
or cool for at least five hours. I’m a horrible combination of lazy
and incredibly impatient- I want it now!

Luckily this recipe was super easy to pull off, with no complicated
maneuvering or lengthy time intervals. It’s really hard to mess up,
the brown butter is so rich and delicious you are guaranteed to have
something tasty. It’s so simple, in fact, that I’ve now
somewhat-successfully made it with both Nectarines and Apples-
transitioning the dessert to fall the minute there were a million
amazing varieties of apples at the Union Square market.

Also, as side note, Brown Butter may very well be my own personal
mascot. How can butter become even more delicious? Practically burned,
that’s how. I’m sewing a flag in it’s honor.

Brown Butter Buckle (with tree-hanging fruit of choice. I’m determined
to try Pears this winter.)

Recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

3/4 cup unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing pan
1 1/2 cups) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of allspice (I didn’t have allspice, so used a combination of
cinnamon and nutmeg and it was fine.)
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2/3 cup whole milk or buttermilk (I have to admit that both times i’ve
made this, I used 2% because that’s what was in the fridge. But I can
only imagine buttermilk makes it even better.)
1 1/2 pounds nectarines, or apples, halved, pitted and cut into
1/2-inch thick wedges (about 4 cups)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

STREUSEL
Reserved butter from cake (make sure you have plenty of brown butter to use.
The first time I made this, my streusel was really flour-y in an
“interesting” way (read: dry.) The second time I over-compensated with
butter and it was too moist. Neither time was it hard-and-crusty as I
imagine Streusel would like to be.)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Brown that butter! Melt all of your butter in a saucepan on medium
heat. Keep stirring, it will foam and then the bottom of the pan will
turn brown. Scrape up the bits off of the bottom of the pan and stir
until butter is brown color. Remove quickly, and be careful not to
burn. Let cool.

Line the bottom of a 10-inch round cast iron skillet with parchment
paper and butter pan and paper.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and allspice in medium bowl. In a
large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup cooled browned butter (set aside
remaining 1/4 cup for topping), sugar and then eggs, one at a time.
Stir in milk or buttermilk. Stir dry ingredients into this wet
mixture; mix until just combined and spread batter in prepared pan.
Toss nectarine or apple wedges with lemon juice and arrange them in a
single layer on top of the batter.

Make the streusel and bake the cake: Stir remaining brown butter,
sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt together until large crumbs form.
Sprinkle the fruit-topped batter with crumbs. Bake until top is golden
brown and tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs,
about 40 to 45 minutes. I took both of mine out around 50 minutes. Let
cool in pan for 5 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. See
my note about the Streusel, above. The top may not look completely
finished, but both times the cake inside was totally done.

That’s all! So easy! So delicious! Buckles are now my favorite dessert
to make, until I figure out how to successfully make artisanal ice
cream- when I’m a true homesteader. My grandfather Bud Ballard was
raised on a farm in Brooklyn, and my long-term plan is to reclaim the
land someday to raise my own cows. Maybe then I’ll have buttermilk in
the fridge.

SPOON LICKERS GOES CORPORATE

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:44:34 -0400

remember when peter fell in love with wendy and left neverland behind forever?

it’s like that.

i done grown up, y’all. and i have a company blackberry to prove it.

not gonna lie, i’m lovin’ the corporate life. but it comes at a price.

and there’s no way around it. this is a sorry, sorry state of affairs:

i am so totally adult i did not even have time to pretty and polaroidify this photo.

i make a mean canned tuna, trust. but those are not spoons for licking.

BIG BOY TUNA

INGREDIENTS

1. one container of tuna

2. mayonaise (i use nayonaise, soy mayo - actually quite tasty!)

3. maille honey mustard

4. nakano rice vinegar

5. lemon (optional)

6. pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. combine tuna, mayo, and mustard. no idea how much, just do what feels right. go nuts.

2. stir in a pinch of vinegar, lemon, and pepper.

3. enjoy in bed over bravo tv, and shed a tear for your kitchenaid during top chef: just desserts promos.

a lost boy my kitchenaid i have made, but not for lack of love.

a sorry state of affairs indeed.

- alexandra

SPOONLESS IN THE CITY

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:20:08 -0400

i’m on a cleanse, y’all.

AND IT BLOWS.

i mean, just look at this ish:

what is it? TORTURE.

why? i don’t know why.

LAY OFF ME I’M STARVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a life without spoon licking is a life not worth living.

-alexandra

So, we’re back, y’all? This is where I’m at...

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:53:00 -0400

So, we’re back, y’all? This is where I’m at right now:

CHEESE DIP.

Ingredients:

1/2 American Cheese Loaf (that’s what the box called it…although I prefer the terms “cheese food” or “Velveeta”)

1 small can of Rotel diced tomatoes and peppers

(Note: don’t be fooled by the “recipe” on the can of Rotel. A half loaf o’ cheese food is plenty.)

Cut the squishy cheese food into cubes, dump into oven-safe bowl, and empty the can of tomatoes. Melt together however you like: microwave, oven, stovetop (not in a bowl), or toaster oven. Try adding cumin and paprika if that isn’t impressive enough.

It was seriously difficult to find this stuff at the Hollywood Pavilions. Back home, they used to stock Velveeta with canned goods (next to Rotel!), but out here the hippies put it in the fridge. I’m almost certain that is overkill.

Little Rock is serious about its cheese dip.

scenes from shabbat dinner prep

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:07:00 -0400

chop

requisite shabbat bacon

questionable dough consistency

shore sisters in action

the island, mid-prep

plating and stirring

the table

scenes from shabbat dinner prep

spoon lickers does shabbat: ALMOND BISCOTTI

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:15:00 -0400

vanity may have moved me to uncross my eyes when my nana warned they would “get stuck that way,” but the threat of spoiling my dinner was never (and never will be) enough to keep me from reaching for dessert first.

i mean, seriously - would you honestly put down a cookie to save room for a salad?

‘NUFF SAID.

with that in mind, i’m kicking off our belated shabbat dinner coverage with something sweet.

while jenny and liza set their sites on the savory, i took the reigns on dessert.

my friend amy had just surprised me with alice waters’s gorgeous book, TARTINE, and i seized the opportunity to christen it with a biscotti recipe from chez panisse.

as one partial to chewy over crunchy when it comes to cookies (tates being the exception), i have never been the biggest biscotti fan. they seem to me a cookie for coffee drinkers - your mother’s dunkaroo. suffice it to say i’ve never made them, nor would i have had the night’s menu not been a group effort.

so, as with most of my spoon licking adventures, i entered the kitchen blind on this one. luckily, biscotti a la alice waters are no grand undertaking. the recipe is pretty simple and easy to execute, if you discount the unavailability of airplane sized bottles of grappa.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup almonds, with skins (you can optionally increase the amt up to double)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, very soft

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1tsp aniseeds

4 tsp grappa with 1 tsp anise extract (consume excess grappa while baking)

2 cups + 2 tbsp flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Optional: 1 large egg for egg wash

DIRECTIONS

1. preheat the oven to 325 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. coarsely chop the almonds and set them aside.

3. cream butter in a mixing bowl until light and creamy, about 2 min.

4. slowly add sugar, beating until light in color and fluffy, about 2 min, and scrape down the sides of the bowl bowl with rubber spatula.

5. add eggs and beat until the mixture is smooth.

6. beat in aniseeds and grappa.

7. add flour, baking powder and salt, mixing until just combined.

8. stir in the almonds.

9. on a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 2 equal portions and shape each into a log about the length of your baking sheet and 2 inches in diameter.

10. place the logs on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart and optionally paint each with an even coat of whisked egg for glaze.

11. bake the logs until set to the touch and lightly browned on top, about 25 minutes (this took a lot longer in my oven)

12. remove the logs and cool on a wire rack for five minutes before transferring to a cutting board. cut each log on the diagonal into slices about 2 1/2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick.

or, if you’re feeling manly, go for a meatier cut:

VERDICT: these biscotti are capital D DELISH!

my only regret is not doubling the recipe. sure, my biscotti were probably double the recommended size, but even the estimated 4 1/2 dozen would not have been enough. these suckers are that good.

consider me a convert!

alexandra

RESURRECTION

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0400

we totally fucked up, you guys.

our kitchens are cacophonous with the clamoring of spoons, begging to be licked.

well, i’m diving in.

THE SILENCE ENDS NOW!

alexandra

Dharma Cake.

Mon, 24 May 2010 20:47:00 -0400

It’s done.

WE HAVE A SUBMISSION!

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:16:00 -0400

This is very exciting. May I present to you Denise (real name Dennis) and his Wheaty Balls:

Dennis’ “Moroccan” Lamb Cous Cous

Sorry, Lickers, but I’m not much of a baker/confection artiste- I don’t have the precision or the sweet tooth to really warrant spending the time. Toffee, however, is a different story, but we’ll get to that some other day.

Anyhow, the other night I had some friends over and decided to put a spin on a simple cous cous salad I broke out for a BBQ when spring was springing a few weeks ago. This time I decided to up the ante with a little delicious protein (MOTHERFUCKIN’ LAMB, YA’LL!) and some seasonal treasures (FAVA BEANS, YA’LL!). The end result was a texturally complex wonder in a bowl, which my friends devoured with expedience and groans of pleasure. Come join me on a delicious ride to my kitchen where I will show you how to capture some Epcot Center-style reappropriation of lovely foreign flavors.

BEHOLD!

LAMB COUS COUS DELICIOUSNESS

(Admittedly, this looks a little skimpy- I forgot to take photos until we all had devoured our first helping.)

So here’s what you need to serve 5 hungry friends (including yourself):

2-3 cups of Israeli (pearl) cous cous - Don’t get the small stuff kids, the larger size adds a lovely texture to the whole thing.

4 good sized pieces of lamb sausage, a little over a pound perhaps - I wanted to use traditional merguez, but my market only had Italian lamb sausage in stock. This was actually a surprise boon- the fennel flavor worked really well in this dish

1 cup of fava beans - get ‘em fresh and prepare ‘em- I’ll show you how

1 cup of dried mission figs

2 cups or so (a nice handful) of fresh spinach

1/2 cup thin sliced almonds

1 medium shallot

2 fatty cloves of garlic

Olive oil

Paprika

Cloves

Cinnamon

Red wine, preferably Granache, to down while you make the whole thing.

Start off by shelling the fava beans. Once they’ve been removed from their pods, boil the beans in a small pot just for about a minute, then strain and shock them. Once shocked, remove the starchy outer layer and you’ll have some gorgeous green wonders ready to be added to your dish.

This is probably the most labor intensive process you’ll have to deal with while cooking this dish- from here on out, it’s smooth sailing.

In a large pot boil 4-5 cups of water (4, if you’re using 2 cups of cous cous, 5 for 3 cups…I’ll let you figure out how starch happy you’re feeling). Once the water has come to a boil add the cous cous, and stir intermittently until the water is boiled down and you have a pot full of pillowy white pearls on your hands. Once finished, pour a generous amount of olive oil, a few good dashes of paprika, salt and pepper into the mix and let it sit covered until the rest of the dish is ready.

In a large skillet start cooking the sausage, which you should cut into nice sized chunks. Once the sausage is about halfway cooked add the chopped shallot, garlic, figs (which should be de-stemmed and chopped into nice medium pieces), and almonds. Drizzle a little olive oil on that nonsense and give it a good dash of cloves, paprika, and cinnamon and stir it all around on a lower heat setting, letting everything soak up the various flavors. Once it looks like the lamb is done, throw in the fava beans and spinach, and cook until the spinach is lightly wilted. You should have a beautiful mix like this on your hands.

Again, this photo was taken after we had assaulted the food. Skimpy, yes, but so delicious.

Now have your friends pile their bowls up with that cous cous and a generous helping of the lamb, etc. mix on top. Sprinkle a little (or a lot of) feta cheese on top of that business, and you’re ready to sup.

The kids love it.

It’s simple as hell, and impossibly tasty. Put down cookie sheets, Lickers, come join me in lamb heaven.

-Dennis

spoon lickers dinner preview: dan and stefan tackle the delicate...

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:19:35 -0400

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

spoon lickers dinner preview: dan and stefan tackle the delicate art of napkin oragami

Cornbread, from a skillet!

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:39:00 -0400

We got a cast iron skillet (for the frying of okra which I still can’t perfect like the Frozen and pre-battered kind they sell in Arkansas), and it’s time to make Mother’s cornbread.

Here you go, just mix all this shit together:

1 cup cornmeal (Mother says white)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk [I did not have any and was NOT about to go buy some. Someone on the Internets said you can “make” it by adding 1 tablespoon of distilled vinegar to 1 cup of milk. I did.]
2 eggs

Mother said to use “cooking grease” on the skillet, but I live in California and I believe that is against the law. I forgot this step anyway.

While all that is getting the shit mixed out of it, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put your (10 in) skillet into the oven and get it all hot and smokey because when you pour that corny batter in, that’ll make sure to give it a crunchy edge.

And don’t burn yourself. You’ll look like a fool.

Bake that for 30 minutes or so. Check it though, because no two ovens are alike.

-Charlie

GET 30: brown sugar cake with nutella buttercream

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:31:49 -0400

does this look like a happy customer or what?!

march is birthday month at spoon lickers, and this one was a biggie: my buddy stefan (pictured, morning after!) turned 30, and threw a big bash to celebrate.

in honor of the big 3-0, thought i’d try something new. fellow (and now new orleans bound!) spoon licker lauren inspired me to attempt one of the better treannovations (treat innovation? yes/no?) i’ve ever encountered: NUTELLA BUTTERCREAM

for my first (it will not be the last!) attempt i used the peanut butter buttercream recipe from my elvis cupcakes, and swapped peanut butter for nutella.

a note about this: you will need A LOT more nutella than the recipe calls for peanut butter. you’d think nutella would hold up just as well, but if you want it to taste more like nutella than chocolate, just DUMP THAT ISH IN! seriously, i used half a jar, and i don’t think it was enough.

delicious though it turned out, this may not be the butter cream recipe most conducive to nutella… experiments will ensue!

ON TO THE CAKE:

after much deliberation, i settled on yet another new recipe, a brown sugar cake lifted from adventures in the kitchen

from the looks of this photo, i feared the cake would be less like birthday cake and more like pound cake. and here is where the EXCITING BAKING SCIENCE portion of this post begins!

i noticed this recipe was very similar to the “pure” cake, with the exception of the flour. while the “pure” cake calls for self rising cake flour, this brown sugar cake just calls for regular flour with a dash of salt and baking powder.

remembering my self-rising flour science from our dear old aunt jemima, i decided to throw caution to the wind and added an additional 3 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of salt (the equivalent of 2 cups of flour).

out of the oven the cakes were a bit fragile and crumbly around the edges, but very moist:

still, they stacked pretty easy, and with enough frosting all the crumblies disappeared:

just how good is this cake?

so good ny darlings CAVEMAN were spotted chomping leftovers on set ONE WEEK LATER:

this cake just keeps on giving!

HAPPY 30 STEFAN!

alexandra

Chocolatehoneycakewithchocolatehoneyglaze, whatever.

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:14:42 -0400

We made Chocolate Honey Cake* this weekend. I did not put those fucking obnoxious bees on it, nor was I clean in the glazing**. I prefer a “I just dumped this shit out” look. Eat it, Nigella.

*We did not have a springform cake pan on hand, so we split it between two 8inchers and baked it for really only 35 minutes.

**So sticky.

-C

BIRTHDAY PALOOZA CAKE!

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:54:00 -0400

for the past seven years, buddies nate and miguel have celebrated their birthdays with a huge blowout affectionately known as BIRTHDAY PALOOZA. every march, friends fly in from around the globe (even nate himself, from berlin!) for the festivities, which are nothing short of dionysian.

i’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again: every birthday must have cake!

my first thought was to do cupcakes. single servings are more party friendly, so i started looking for recipes from my favorite bakeries in new york.

i settled on a recipe from sweet revenge, an amazing little spot in the village that offers wine and beer pairings for each cupcake flavor. only then did it occur to me that i only own one cupcake pan, baking in rounds is too time consuming, and carrying dozens of cupcakes deep into the belly of clinton hill by one’s self is insanely impractical.

though my sister insists otherwise, i maintain that cupcakes are for all intents and purposes mini cakes. it follows that a cake is but a giant cupcake. by that logic i saw no reason i shouldn’t just pour this cupcake batter into cake pans. and that’s exactly what i did.

naturally, as soon as i set my heart on this recipe and went grocery shopping i ran into some obstacles:

i went on a wild and failed goose chase for mexican vanilla, which was not even available at my local baking supply store. my standard madagascar vanilla would have to do.

i found cake flour, but not SELF RISING cake flour. by now you are all familiar with my fear of and failures with rising agents. i was about to abandon ship…

WHEN AUNT JEMIMA SPOKE TO ME. remember aunt jemima? remember her self rising flour? well, on the package jemima explains that self rising flour is simply flour with the addition of baking soda and salt:

self rising flour = 1 cup flour + 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder + 1/2 teaspoon salt

thanks jemima! i bought normal cake flour and added the baking powder and salt myself. the result? perfection! check it:

while the cakes were cooling, i whipped up the buttercream. the buttercream is arguably the best part of any cake if you ask me, and this buttercream is among the best i’ve had. that said, making it is a huge pain in the ass, and if you’re like me and turn your mixer on too fast you’ll get a face full of confectioner’s sugar (more on that in the directions).

then there was cake frosting:

then i got fancy with a pastry bag:

gotta say, i am loving the pastry bag system and never looking back. now all i gotta do is figure out how to write pretty.

this recipe should have been my spoon licking dream come true, but alas: a sinus infection robbed me of my ability to smell and taste! luckily i had dan and kavitha on hand as taste testers, and the finished cake was a big hit at palooza.

it was AN ENTIRE WEEK before i could taste again, but you better believe i spent every day trying. i literally kept the remainder of this cake in my fridge until i could taste it. and then ate the leftover buttercream with a spoon.

guys, this cake is the yummiest. and if you’re a vanilla freak like i am, it’s a MUST.

“PURE” CAKE (adopted from sweet revenge’s “pure” cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 extra-large eggs
3 cups self-rising cake flour (i modified regular cake flour)
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons Mexican vanilla (i used madagascar but recommend you find mexican, said to be strong, rich, creamy, spicy)
turbinado or demerara sugar, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. beat butter with an electric mixer (paddle attachment for kitchenaid owners) until softened.

3. with the mixer on medium, beat in eggs and sugar until combined.

4. with the mixer on low, add the flour in three parts, alternating with buttermilk, but beginning and ending with flour. mix until smooth and combined.

5. transfer batter to the cake pan of your choice. (i used two 10 inch pans, and had enough batter to fill each just under half way.)

6. bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, approximately 20-25 minutes depending on pan size.

7. flip cakes out onto a rack, and flip them right side up again. let them cool completely before you begin frosting.

while the cake is baking, you can knock the buttercream out, but beware: the road to yumminess is paved with yuckiness:

i’d say this is was the situation about 3/4 of the way into the sugar adding process. the mixture was painfully thick and difficult to blend. i feared i’d misread the directions yet again, but apparently this is how shit is supposed to go down.

poor kitchenaid, she worked so hard for this one.

“PURE” BUTTERCREAM

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 tablespoons vegetable shortening
10 cups (from about two and a half 1-pound boxes) confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons Mexican vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

1. beat butter and shortening together with an electric mixer (paddle attachment).

2. add sugar in doses, and beat to combine. the mixture will fast become very thick and difficult to blend, but stick with it.

**i also recommend you stir the sugar in a bit each time before hitting the mixture to avoid sugar blizzarding in your face, kitchen.

3. add milk and vanilla, beat until combined.

DO IT!

alexandra

MONKEY BREAD

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:18:15 -0500

I will make this for every brunch I ever host or attend, from now until forever.

Whoa! That’s an intense photo. Well, this is an intense treat. You know the inner-most piece of a cinnamon roll, the doughiest, gooiest, highest-ratio of coating-to-bread-iest part? Pile 64 of those morsels into a bundt pan, and you’ve got Monkey Bread. And in this case, the sum is even greater than its parts. See all that goo dripping into the center? The rivulets of goo running through the crevices? And this is before the cream cheese glaze entered the picture.

Monkey Bread Recipe

Notes:

1) I added probably 1/3 cup of extra flour because my dough was crazy runny. Add yours in smaller increments, just to be careful. Even after it was thoroughly incorporated, the dough was way sticky. Once it rose for an hour, though, it became very elastic and easy to work with. So— add enough flour that the dough comes together— but sticky is okay!

2) Finding the best method to slice my dough into 64 pieces was a troubleshoot. Sorry if it’s obvious, but here’s what worked for me: I took a small, very sharp paring knife to cut the dough-square into 8 strips. DRAG the knife as you cut from top to bottom, THEN separate the strips. Any other technique mangled the dough. Once you have your 8 strips, use the same technique to hack the strips into 8 chunks. Then roll ‘em into balls.

3) When coating the dough balls, I suggest using one spoon to roll it in the melted butter, and then a separate spoon to roll it in the brown sugar cinnamon mixture. (Otherwise, your butter will get thick and sugary, and your sugar will get thick and goopy— not conducive to even rolling.) I also recommend at least an extra half cup of brown sugar than the recipe calls for— I was generous with the coating, and why shouldn’t you be? Look at that damn result.

4) SERVE IT WARM. SERVE IT WARM! It will blow people’s minds.

Jenny

spoon lickers does shabbat: salty vs cinnamon buns

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:00:00 -0500

apologies for the horrifyingly belated post. not to be conceited, but this one is worth the wait.

as jenny so beautifully (and punctually) recounted, a few of us spoon lickers gathered and feasted in jewish celebration last week. though there are now a few of us in new york, the founding fathers are all based in different cities, so we seized the opportunity of jenny’s visit to share the same kitchen.

jenny, as far as i am concerned, is a champion of yeast (as evidenced by her amazing challah bread!), so i decided to take advantage of her expertise, face my fears, and conquer the CINNAMON BUNS OF CHRISTMAS PAST.

as is always the case of my kitchen adventures, directions were misread or ignored, and unforeseen obstacles were faced before these puppies came out:

trials, tribulations and a photo diary of kitchen tomfoolery after the jump!

i arrived at brian’s raring to go, all cinnamon roll ingredients pre-measured and transported in plastic baggies. all, that is, save FLOUR.

and it is here our adventure begins.

jenny typically proofs her yeast with sugar before use but deb made no mention of such a test in her directions, and treating her word as gospel as we do, we decided to follow her into the fray. once i mixed the yeast and wet ingredients, it was time to add the flour, and it was here i discovered i was just over half a cup short.

brian lives across the street from two bodegas, and between the two of them i was only able to find this:

SELF RISING FLOUR. i shit you not. baking soda and salt are already included, and this is intended to make life easier somehow. i knew better than to add this to the mix, but laziness got the better of me and i decided against schlepping to the supermarket.

the dough looked beautiful, however needed twice as long to rise as i remembered (that’s two, count em, TWO hours). i had planned for the buns to be ready by dessert, but now it was looking like they’d be a parting gift.

brunch went down without a hitch, and after gorging myself i rolled the dough out, added the cinnamon mixture, and sliced the buns. by now you’d think they’d be ready for the oven, right? WRONG.

so very wrong. apparently, and this is a step i think i accidentally skipped the first time, it is crucial that you let the raw buns rise for 45 minutes before you stick them in the oven!

by now it was getting late, and jenny had a plane to catch. she held out 25 minutes before pleading with me to just stick them in already and let fate run its course. she felt terrible about it, no doubt due in part to the horrified expression on my face, but i obliged, SET A TIMER, and let the fuck go.

behold, the deliciousness:

there was one final mistake made. after flipping the buns onto the cooling rack (the bottoms may look burnt but do not be alarmed - that is just the cinnamon mix!), you are supposed to flip them back right side up before icing. in my excitement, i neglected to do so and iced the bottom of the buns instead, so soon out of the oven the cream cheese frosting melted:

i should mention said cream cheese frosting is DELICIOUS. so delicious i dipped my bun in the leftovers for added decadence.

either you do not have to wait 45 minutes before baking, or aunt jemima saved the day, because these buns were the serious bomb diggity. the absolute ill na na.

they came out a lot smaller than anticipated, but the size was perfect: big enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and small enough to eat more than one!

VICTORY IS MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and now, i give you spoon lickers shabbat: a meal in photos.

on the chopping block:

works in progress:

spoon lickers in action!

brunch is served:

next year in jerusalem!

alexandra

Red Velvet Cake for no reason

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:13:00 -0500

We made a red velvet cake just to make a red velvet cake (and then brag about it).

I don’t have the recipe, but it came from this book which is better than the Bible. What I can tell you is that it is a-okay to make the cake at Midnight, leave it on the counter after passing out in front of the TV from watching Fleetwood Mac: The Dance, and assemble it the next morning for breakfast.

-C

Fingerlick'd Pork ribs

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:24:00 -0500

While all those east coast folks were enjoying their Jew-food, I was over in the west making the most Southern, Gentile-iest heaping of meat I could think of for a large group of friends: Baby Back Ribs. Happy President’s Day!

The craving began when my mother sent me an article on how to cook ribs in the oven. GOODNESS, SO EASY.

I couldn’t take a picture fast enough.

So, I purchased two racks of ribs, about 2 pounds each. I wanted to do each differently because my favorite style of BBQ is a Memphis style which is dry, but I wanted a more traditional rack for anyone who felt they needed to cover their meat in sauce. I think I converted most folks last night.

You begin by lining a cooking sheet with foil and then parchment paper. You’ll end up making a packet for the meat, so make sure you have enough. Drop the ribs on the paper and generously coat both sides with the dry rub. I found a recipe from the Rendezvous in Memphis (seriously the best BBQ there ever was):

Rendezvous Seasoning Rub:

1/2 cup salt

1/4 cup pepper

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp oregano

1 Tbsp celery seed

1 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp chile powder

Preheat the oven to 300. Wrap the paper around the meat and seal up the foil. Apparently, meat can take some metal flavor on from the foil if it touches, so I didn’t mess with that. Cook them ribs for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I checked mine after 2 hours and 45 minutes for tenderness, was oh so satisfied, and pulled them out. NOT DONE YET.

I opened the packet and applied a barbecue sauce from back home, Penguin Ed’s, to just one of the racks (Arkansas BBQ comes spicy, by the way, and should be tried). To the other rack, I mixed a cup of distilled vinegar, a cup of water, and a heaping tablespoon of the spice rub, and basted it. (This mixture actually smelled really good. We saved some to pour over lettuce, night TBD.)

So the meat goes back into the oven, this time leave the foil and paper open so the sauce can thicken. That will continue to cook for 20 to 30 more minutes. Pull it out again, let it rest, and throw it directly into your freinds’ faces.

I swear to God, the meat comes clean off the bone. In YER MOUTH.

Dig in,

Charlie

Shabbat Brunch by the Spoonlickers

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:28:00 -0500

I present to you Shabbat brunch by the Spoonlickers:

I believe that Alex and Brian have a more complete documentation of the process— I, however, only took a photo of the final glorious product.

The egg dish was a tribute to the “fresh ricotta and eggs” at Hot Chocolate in Chicago, which I believe to be quite possibly the best breakfast sandwich ever to grace the Earth. Ours was adapted to be open-face atop a chunky slice of challah, but the rest was pretty true to the original: a slather of herbed-up fresh ricotta cheese (DECADENCE!), roasted tomatoes on top of that, a touch of arugula, then a fried egg on top which we hoped would wilt the greens, but it didn’t really (and it was still good). So here’s how each component went down, from the bottom of the sandwich to the top.

1) CHALLAH

The challah recipe came from our heroine Deb over at Smitten Kitchen. I’ve made it about four times, and it never fails. My only note on that recipe is that the baking time seems to be a bit under 30 minutes, rather than the 30-40 Deb suggests. I left mine in for 30 minutes this time around, and the crust was ever so slightly burnt— no no— overly caramelized. Yeah. Then, I cut it into thick slices.

2) RICOTTA

Brian found fresh ricotta at an Italian grocer in the neighborhood. I bet it can be found at any higher end grocery store, though. We mixed in some dried oregano, rosemary, salt, and pepper, plus some garlic paste. All to taste.

3) TOMATOES

We roasted Roma tomatoes with olive oil and salt at 450 for about 40 minutes, then pinched off the skins. When they cooled, I cut off the core end and sliced them into halves.

4) ARUGULA

Arugula.

5) EGGS

We did these up sunny-side runny-yolk style. That way the challah catches all the goop and it ends up damn tasty!

Served on the side we had a sweet potato hash, courtesy of Liza Shore, though I’m not sure where she got that recipe. I’m going to guess it’s from her stint as a chef’s assitant at the Chopping Block. That recipe is as follows:

6) SWEET POTATO HASH

1 lb red potatoes, medium dice
1 sweet potato, medium dice
1/4 lb canadian bacon, small dice
1 leek, washed and sliced
1 red pepper, medium dice
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 T sage
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Chop the bacon into pieces and cook through. Remove bacon from pan, leaving the fat. Add the
potatoes, sweet potatoes, and leeks to the pan, along with some extra butter and olive oil, and cook about 10 minutes, then cover and cook an additional 10. Add the red peppers and garlic and cook until the whole thing is soft and browned, about 20 more minutes. Add the sage and season to taste with salt and pepper.

7) MINTY BERRY SALAD

Mixed berries. Chopped mint. Toss.

8) JERUSALEM SALAD

Halved grape tomatoes, sliced seedless cucumber, chopped flat leaf parsley, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss.

NOT PICTURED: ALEX’S CINNAMON ROLLS! They were, how shall I say… “to die for.” Even considering that I forced her to bake them before they finished their final rise. Sorry Alex. Except not! I really wanted to eat those cinnamon rolls before I had to leave the country! Sorry!

***EDIT: ONE BUN!

Wow, was this a fun cooking/eating experience.

There was also an epic game of Jenga that I will never forget as long as I live.

Shabbat Shalom, everyone! Let’s do it again soon!

Jenny

Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate and Cinnamon

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:09:21 -0500

So… I’m way late with this. I made this pie last Sunday for our own Lu and Carmine’s Southern Fried Super Bowl Bonanza and I’m just finding the time now to post. Weak, I know. That said I am pretty proud of my maiden voyage into the wild world of spoon licking. The pie came out nicely. I got the recipe from The Art and Soul of Baking.

To begin, here’s me holding my first homemade pie crust.

I made it by crushing the bejesus out of some chocolate wafers, adding a little melted butter, shaping to the dish and baking for a couple minutes. Magnifique, no? All the while my beautiful assistant was beginning the banana cream.

There was a forgotten step in the execution which may have been clutch. I was supposed to melt some chocolate down to a ganache-type-thing and coat the pie crust with it. My guess is that it would have been great because chocolate ganache is great. Also, it would have held the crust in place better. I bet it would have added a little bit of crispness, maybe even crunch, right there in the middle where you least expect it. Mmmm…

The banana cream was simple enough; ripe bananas, whipped cream, vanilla, some cinnamon, mix it up… It tasted (and I think this was a good thing) like a banana cream rice pudding, which I attributed to the addition of the cinnamon. It was special.

Entering the home stretch, we whipped up some cream which (who knew?) makes whipped cream, put her on top of the business, smoothed it out and topped that off with chocolate shavings and chocolate cookie crumbs. Boom. Pie. Done.

If anyone would like a more detailed layout of the recipe, I will gladly provide that. This wasn’t in my opinion a very challenging recipe, and it was fun in that no steps required store bought Jello brand pie filling and we got to make everything. If it were a true blue Banana Cream Pie we had been looking for though, this would not have been it. And for that, I must give this recipe a 7 out of 10. Very good, but not great. Here’s one last photo.

Dan