Sheet Pan Chicken Tikka

While a lot of things about our new house are great, we get Indian food much less often now. We were spoiled previously because we had a really good Indian restaurant close enough to walk to, and on nights we wanted to order food instead of cooking it was a convenient and tasty treat. I tried for a while to make good Indian food but never really came close to what I was looking for, so I kind of gave up. However, when I saw this on Smitten Kitchen's Instagram, I had to try it.

Verdict: Would definitely make again. While this is not exactly a substitute for Indian restaurant food it WAS really good and scratched the itch nicely. I loved the marinade for the chicken! It was a little bit labor intensive but well worth it. I think I liked the potatoes and cauliflower even more than the chicken. I also loved the quick pickled red onions on the top. They are bright, fresh, and colorful.

RECIPE: Sheet Pan Chicken Tikka

Holiday Bakeathon 2017

This year was a bit different from usual, marked most heavily by the absence of Sarah, one of our main Bakeathon participants. But it is for the best reason: she is cooking and helping out at her friend's bed and breakfast in Auros, France for 3 months. I invited my friend Paula to join this year in her place, and we scaled back the recipe list a little bit so that we wouldn't be working for quite so long.

However, Sarah was in our minds and hearts; we regularly sent photos to Sarah throughout the day, listened to Beyonce while we worked, and talked smack about white chocolate in her stead (even me, even though I like it). Sarah doesn't like white chocolate, so any recipe I suggest with white chocolate is usually met with some resistance. This year I included one because she wasn't around to nix it, and the white chocolate made the recipe difficult. She tried to warn me.

We've created a tradition of making some sort of a house or structure or diorama type scene with things from the leftover gingerbread dough that is too tough/saturated with flour from rolling (though I usually end up eating it anyway). This year was a tiny house, 2016 was a campfire and tent to which we added some of the ninja bread men.

RECIPES

• Spicy Gingerbread Cookies (Smitten Kitchen)
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach
• Matcha Green Tea Spritz (Good Housekeeping) -- the white chocolate in this recipe completely hosed the shaping. It solidified in chunks when we mixed it in because the rest of the ingredients were cold, and the chunks clogged the piping tip and made me sad. I’d make it again but leave out the white chocolate. Save it for dipping or drizzling over the finished cookies instead :)
• Almond Spritz (Taste of Home)
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Bark (Two Peas and Their Pod)
• Salted Caramel Nuts (The Barefoot Contessa) -- We added a couple of teaspoons of bourbon whiskey at the same time as the vanilla, and loved the result. Once the nuts were mixed in, it solidified way too fast to get the nuts spread out. They’re definitely more salted caramel nut clusters rather than individual nuts. That said, they were quite good. I don't know whether or not this clumping is because we put bourbon in it.

BAKEATHONS PAST

• 2016
• 2015
• 2014

Pickle Egg Rolls

I have a friend who likes to watch those super quick cooking videos on social media, many of which feature questionable foods. He asked me if I would help him make these, and I agreed because I was morbidly curious and had the proper equipment.

Verdict: They tasted better than I thought they would, but I don't think I'd make them again because I felt gross eating them, lol. If I did happen to make them again I would chop up the pickles because the pickles in the finished product were hard to bite through and you'd end up either crushing the entire thing or pulling out an entire pickle half with your bite.

RECIPE: Pickle Egg Rolls

Matcha Green Tea Mule

This is another recipe that comes to me from one of the restaurants where my friend Andrea works. She is a server at a sushi restaurant, and this was one of the featured cocktails for a while. It is a Moscow Mule that is heavy on the ginger and additionally features matcha green tea powder. She had one when they put it on the menu and told me all about how great it is since we are both big fans of green tea flavored things. A few days later, she brought over some of the house made ginger syrup and we made them at my house. It's every bit as good as I imagined.

I am really grateful to her for introducing me to this drink! However, the original recipe did not include any ingredient list or instructions for preparing the ginger syrup and she is not a cook, so once it was gone, I had to figure that part out on my own. Thankfully she had seen the process of making the syrup and could describe it to me, and after a few attempts I was able to recreate it. My final recipe is below.

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RECIPE:

Matcha Green Tea Mule
adapted from Sushi Muramoto
Serves 1

2 ½ oz (75 ml) plain vodka
1 oz (30 ml) freshly squeezed lime juice
1 oz (30 ml) ginger syrup, recipe follows
1 tsp (5 g) matcha green tea powder
1-2 oz (30-60 ml) ginger beer
Lime wedge, for garnish

Ginger syrup (makes about 2 1/2 cups, enough for about 20 drink servings):
1/2 lb (225 g) fresh ginger root (after peeling and chopping, yields about 1 1/3 cups)
1/3 cup water
1.5 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water

Prepare ginger syrup: Peel and finely chop the ginger. Place in the bowl of a food processor or blender with 1/3 cup water, and process until it forms a puree. Set aside. Place sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When all the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat, stir in ginger puree, and allow to stand for 15 minutes. Strain out the ginger with a tea strainer, reserving the syrup. Discard ginger. Allow syrup to cool completely. Store in a clean glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. (It is safe to consume for longer than that, but I find that its fiery bite disappears by the time it's about a month old.)

Prepare the drink: Shake vodka, lime juice, ginger syrup, and matcha powder with ice in a cocktail shaker until cold and well mixed. Strain into a copper mug or rocks glass with a few cubes of ice in it. Top with ginger beer and stir gently to combine. Top with a lime wedge and serve immediately.

Notes:

• Fresh squeezed lime juice is important here. Don't use bottled.
• I have used Korean soju instead of vodka when I didn't have vodka.
• I have used lime sparkling water when I didn't have ginger beer, and I think the ginger syrup still has enough of a kick that you don't really miss the extra bit of ginger.
• Other uses for the ginger syrup in case you have leftovers: drizzle over fresh fruit or ice cream, or stir into other drinks (I think it tastes good in sparkling water and tea but the sky is the limit).

Veggie Nachos

Tonight my cooking buddies Sarah and Caroline came over for some fun times before Sarah heads to France for 3 months. I had just sprained my ankle really badly and could barely stand up, and Caroline had quite a tumultuous first few weeks at her new science teacher job. Sarah had recently found Smitten Kitchen's Corn and Black Bean Weeknight Nachos and couldn't get enough, and wanted us to experience them too. We all worked together to get them in the oven as quick as we could, talking the entire time.

I didn't think it was possible, but it turns out I DO like radishes if they're pickled. Sarah finds a way for me to appreciate lots of things I thought I didn't like.

Cheesy food calls for cheesy entertainment. We brought the cookie sheet full of nachos into the living room, set them on the coffee table, and shared them while we drank red wine and watched Michael Bolton's Big Sexy Valentine's Day Special. (If you have not seen it, please do yourself a favor and watch it. Yes, it's dumb, but it's also amazing.)

Bon voyage mon amie.

RECIPE: Corn and Black Bean Weeknight Nachos

Chex Party Mix

My mom has made this mix of cereal pieces, pretzels, and nuts with a buttery, savory coating baked on during the winter for end of year holidays and sometimes the Superbowl for as long as I can remember. As of late she likes to give it for holiday gifts instead of cookies. It's nice to have something salty when there are usually lots of sweets around.

When I was little, I don't think you could regularly buy this already prepared but I think in the late 1990s or early 2000s it started being mass produced. These days you can get it at just about any grocery store and probably even at most convenience stores, and there are all kinds of crazy flavors (hot cocoa anyone? it reminded me of puppy chow) but you should still try making your own because it tastes a LOT better. It's incredibly easy to make, more buttery, maybe not so overwhelmingly salty, and you can put in or leave out any cereal or salty snack you like to suit your tastes. Below is my family's version, tweaked just a little further to suit my own specific preferences.

My favorite pieces have always been the wheat Chex that are super saturated with the coating. Loved them as a kid, still love them now.

Notes:

• My mom always makes a giant batch (usually 3 times what is listed below) to use up all the boxes of cereal she has to buy to make this instead of getting left with a bunch of half-full boxes of cereal. She bakes it in a big turkey roasting pan. As long as you end up with the correct volume of ingredients (9 cups of cereal and 3 cups nuts/pretzels/crackers/etc) for the amount of coating you're making, the ratios can be entirely suited to your tastes and what you have. (It's a lot easier to finish eating a whole batch than you might think!)
• If you don't want to buy separate boxes of rice and corn cereal, buy a kind that has rice on one side and corn on the other (i.e., Crispix or a store brand of that).
• My family's version uses cashew nuts rather than mixed nuts. My mom likes to put in plain Cheerios (the cereal) but I leave them out. I was never a fan of rye bagel chips because the texture is so hard and the pieces are pretty large compared to the other ingredients, so I don't use them.
• Important pretzel notes: the mini pretzel sticks are very nostalgic and essential in my eyes, but you can use other small, thin pretzel shapes that are easy to bite into if you can't find mini sticks or (gasp) don't like them.
• You can also make this on a rimmed baking sheet (I recommend a half sheet pan). Instead of making the sauce in the pan, melt the butter in the microwave in a medium microwavable bowl or on the stove in a small saucepan, add seasonings, and pour it over the cereal mixture in the large bowl and stir to coat before transferring it to the baking sheet.
• Other ideas for add-ins for some variation: cheese crackers, sesame sticks, bagel chips, peanuts or another nut of your choice.

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RECIPE:

Chex Party Mix
Adapted from the recipe by the manufacturers of Chex
Makes about 12 cups

3 cups corn Chex or other corn based lattice-weave cereal
3 cups rice Chex or other rice based lattice-weave cereal
3 cups wheat Chex or other wheat based lattice-weave cereal
1 1/2 cups whole cashew nuts, or a mix of cashew nuts and peanuts
1 1/2 cups mini pretzel sticks
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsp seasoning salt (Lowry's is the only brand I know of, haha)
¾ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder

Preheat oven to 250°F. Place cereals, cashews, and pretzel sticks in a large bowl and stir gently to combine. Place the butter in a large roasting pan that is big enough to hold the cereal mixture with some extra room, then put the pan in the oven to let the butter melt. When it is melted, stir in the Worchestershire sauce, seasoning salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Add cereal mixture to the roasting pan and stir gently until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, removing the pan from the oven to stir the mix every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels or clean kitchen towels until completely cooled, about 30 minutes. Store at room temperature in a zippered plastic bag or other airtight container.

Spiced Beef Meatballs

I am not sure where Sarah got the recipe for these (she may have made it up herself) but they are simple and tasty, much simpler than my go-to Italian meatballs. For these we were going for something Mediterranean/Middle Eastern inspired to serve with hummus and salad. They were part of the menu for Tea Party Vol. 3. You can change up the herbs and spices for a different flavor profile.

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RECIPE:

Spiced Beef Meatballs

Makes about 36

1 1/2 lb (24 oz) ground beef

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinch of ground chili pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands until just blended (do not over-handle). Using your hands, shape mixture into 1-inch diameter balls and place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until cooked through. Serve warm. Leftovers can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

 

Note 7/9/22: Made these with Impossible meat with good success.

Caramel Mocha Swiss Roll Cake

This cake is heavily inspired by the Great British Bake-Off (known in the US as The Great British Baking Show). The first episode I ever watched was all about cakes and one of the challenges was to design and make a roll cake. I like cake and really wanted to try this challenge for myself. I bought a jelly roll pan just to make this cake and I'm not disappointed.

This cake idea started out as a mocha roll cake and the caramel elements were added at the last minute. I saw a bit of caramel sauce in a jar in my fridge while I was digging for cake ingredients and decided to use it. I also bought stroopwafels (Dutch caramel filled wafer cookies) to serve all by themselves at the party I made this cake for, but decided they would also make the cake look extra fancy.

Notes:

• Since it is a chocolate cake, I sprinkled the towel that holds the rolled cake with cocoa powder instead of powdered sugar (this is primarily for looks).
• I used 1 tsp of espresso granules in the buttercream when I made it and the coffee flavor was very subtle, and not quite strong enough for my liking. I wrote 1 1/2 tsp in the recipe below but if you really like coffee flavor, 2 tsp might be better.
• Adding 1 tbsp of butter at a time to the buttercream = 24 additions = ain’t nobody got time for that. I added 3-4 tbsp at a time and it was fine.
• I initially used 3/4 of the buttercream inside the cake and 1/4 for decoration and it was a bit much. I might consider cutting the filling with plain whipped cream or using a slightly different filling next time.

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RECIPE:

Caramel Mocha Swiss Roll Cake

adapted from Hershey's (cake), The Pioneer Woman (filling), Minimalist Baker (caramel sauce)
Makes 1 cake, serves about 12-16

Chocolate cake:
1/4 cup cocoa powder plus 1/3 cup, divided
4 eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar plus 1/3 cup, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup water

Espresso Swiss meringue buttercream:
4 egg whites, at room temperature (reserve yolks for another use)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into tablespoons
1 1/2 tsp instant espresso granules mixed with 1 tsp very hot water, cooled to room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch fine sea salt

Vanilla bourbon caramel sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
½ cup heavy cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp bourbon whiskey
Pinch of salt (optional)

Decoration:
Chocolate covered espresso beans and/or mini stroopwafel cookies

Prepare cake: Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a jelly roll pan (15.5 x 10.5 x 1 in) with foil, and generously grease the foil with butter. Set aside. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sifted cocoa powder onto a clean cotton or linen kitchen towel (preferably a dark colored one with no pile/loops) that is at least as large as the jelly roll pan. Place egg whites in a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar in several additions, until stiff peaks form. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks with the vanilla extract for about 3 minutes. Add 1/3 cup of granulated sugar in several additions, mixing briefly after each one, and beat for 2 more minutes. In another medium bowl, stir flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended. With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding flour mixture and water to the egg yolk mixture in several additions, just until the batter is smooth. Fold this batter into the egg whites gently until well blended. Transfer batter to jelly roll pan, distributing evenly, and place in oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the top of the cake springs back into place when touched lightly in the center. Remove from oven and immediately loosen the cake from the sides of the pan and invert cake onto the cocoa dusted towel. Carefully remove the foil from the cake, then roll cake and towel together from the short side. Transfer rolled cake to a wire rack to cool completely. While cake cools, prepare buttercream and caramel sauce.

Prepare buttercream: Find a medium saucepan that will allow your stand mixer bowl to sit atop it with at least 1 inch of room from the bottom. Fill saucepan with about 1/2 inch of water on high heat until it simmers, then turn heat to low. Put egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, then place the mixer bowl on top of the simmering pan of water, being careful that it does not touch the water's surface. Heat the egg whites and sugar to approximately 160°F, whisking constantly. If you do not have a thermometer, it is ready when and all the sugar is dissolved  (it is not grainy when you rub it between your fingers). The mixture will be hot to the touch. Immediately transfer the mixer bowl to the stand mixer and using the whisk attachment, whip on high speed until the mixture is thick and glossy and forms stiff peaks. Once it has reached this stage, continue to whip until the bowl has cooled to room temperature. This process takes roughly 10 minutes. Remove whisk attachment and switch to the paddle attachment. Set mixer to low speed. Drop in 3 tablespoons of the butter and beat until smooth. Repeat this process until all the butter is incorporated. If it appears clumpy or curdled during this process, increase speed to medium-high and beat until it is smooth again. Mix in the espresso, vanilla, and salt on medium speed, beating until smooth.

Prepare caramel sauce: Place sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally (not stirring) until the mixture turns a deep amber color. Once it starts to brown, it will darken quickly! Be careful not to let it burn. Remove pan from the heat, turn off the burner, and whisk in the cream, whisking while pouring. The mixture may expand a bit and release a lot of steam when this happens, so be careful. Once the cream is fully incorporated, place pan back on the burner and whisk in the vanilla and bourbon. Mix for about 1 minute, then remove from heat and let cool slightly. Pour into a glass pint jar or other heat-safe container and let cool to room temperature.

Assemble and decorate cake: Carefully unroll the cooled cake and spread half of the espresso buttercream evenly onto the inner surface, leaving a small border on all sides. Warm 1/4 cup of the caramel sauce in the microwave for about 20 seconds, then drizzle back and forth across the top of the buttercream. Reroll cake as tightly as you can manage without it cracking. Place on a serving plate with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the cake so they have a nice flat edge. Drizzle about 1/2 cup warmed caramel sauce in ribbons over the cake across the short side. Fit a piping bag with a medium sized star tip and fill bag with remaining espresso buttercream. Pipe rows of shells or stars along the top center of the cake (mine is shown with one big spiral drawn with a star tip). Decorate with chocolate covered espresso beans and/or mini stroopwafel cookies. Cover loosely with saran wrap and let stand in the refrigerator for several hours to firm up. Remove cake from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving. Store leftovers loosely covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

One of my favorite things about August is the absolute abundance of tomatoes. This is a complete flip from when I was a child. I grew up thinking raw tomatoes were disgusting. Cooked ones were fine as long as they were totally smooth -- chunky tomato sauce was a no-no. Then I went to college and stopped having time to pick things I didn't like out of the cafeteria food, so sometimes I ate chunks of tomato even when I didn't want to. There was a bit of a breakthrough when my sister-in-law took me out for my first burrito and I actively enjoyed the pico de gallo salsa in it despite the fact that it was mostly raw tomatoes. Then when I went to Japan for study abroad, my host mom would put raw tomato wedges in salad and I decided to eat them to be polite, but here's the thing: the tomatoes were actually tasty. Turns out I was just eating crappy tomatoes up until then. Fast forward to now and here I am growing them in my garden (like my mom does) and getting excited about receiving them in my CSA haul. A fresh in-season tomato is a joy.

Sometimes, though, you have more than you can eat raw, and so even though it's August, you want to cook them. I stumbled upon this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and since I had lots of big tomatoes to eat up, and I love risotto and it uses the same type of rice, I set to work. I served it with potato gnocchi tossed with some leftover spinach-hazelnut pesto from this recipe.

Verdict: It was good, but kind of a lot of work. I don't know if I'd go out of my way to make it again but I'm glad I tried it!

RECIPE: Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

Cheesecake Ice Cream with Strawberry Sauce

I received an ice cream maker as a wedding gift, and while I probably never would have bought one on my own, I have found it fun and useful to experiment with. The instruction booklet also came with a whole bunch of delicious looking recipes in the back, and since we were having a gathering in August and it'd probably be hot outside, I chose the cheesecake ice cream recipe from the booklet. Sarah was surprised that it did not involve any eggs or stove cooking. She ended up making the mix in the food processor rather than a stand mixer because it was occupied with other cooking projects, something that also worked surprisingly well.

I will never forget when she opened it up to taste the mixture before freezing it. She dipped a finger in, tasted it, and said "well, that doesn't suck." I have since incorporated these words into my regular vocabulary.

Notes:

• The mix can be made in a food processor instead of a stand mixer.
• The original fruit sauce recipe called for raspberries instead of strawberries and orange zest instead of lemon, which I think would also taste great. We skipped straining out the strawberry seeds because they're quite small, but if you make it with raspberries I highly recommend straining out the seeds.
• Other substitutions: we used 2% milk instead of whole and Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and it worked quite nicely.
• We additionally served this with lemon curd and crushed graham crackers, though both of those things are 100% optional. The book also suggests chocolate sauce as a topping.

Verdict: I still don't make ice cream that much but I really loved this one, and would absolutely consider making it again.

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RECIPE:

Cheesecake Ice Cream with Strawberry Sauce

adapted from the recipe book that came with my Cuisinart ice cream maker

Makes about 5 cups ice cream and 1 1/4 cups strawberry sauce

For the ice cream:

12 oz (1.5 blocks) cream cheese, room temperature, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 cup granulated sugar

½ tsp salt

¼ cup mascarpone, room temperature

1 cup whole or 2% milk, room temperature

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

¼ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt, room temperature

For the strawberry sauce:

12 oz frozen strawberries, thawed

¼ cup granulated sugar
 

Pinch kosher salt

Pinch grated lemon zest

Ice cream: Place cream cheese into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until very smooth. Gradually add the sugar and salt with the mixer running until thoroughly incorporated. Add mascarpone and continue to mix until well combined. Slowly add the milk and vanilla. Mix. Fold or gently mix in the sour cream. Cover mixture and refrigerate 1-2 hours or overnight, until well chilled. Once the mixture is fully chilled, prepare and turn on the ice cream maker. Pour the ice cream mix into the frozen freezer bowl and mix until thickened, about 15-20 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours for a firmer texture. Let soften for about 15 minutes before serving. Top with strawberry sauce.

Strawberry sauce: Put fruit, sugar, salt, and lemon zest into the blender jar and place the lid on top. Blend on high speed for about 15 seconds or until smooth. Pass through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds, if desired. Store leftovers in a glass jar. It will keep in the refrigerator for 7-10 days, or in the freezer for 6-8 months.

Lentil and Rice Balls

These are a vegan alternative to meatballs. Caroline lived in a remote area of Costa Rica for field research during graduate school, and this was one of the recipes her team would take turns making for the group.

Notes:

• Caroline usually made this without walnuts or oats since they were expensive and hard to source where she lived. If you have allergies to either, just leave them out.
• This recipe makes a large batch (a full serving for about 12 people). We cut it in half to serve at a party for 7 where there was a bunch of other food to eat, and we had a bunch left over. We served them with flatbread, hummus, and a chopped vegetable salad.
• For variation, you can try different herbs instead of the basil.
• I made these once with cooked wild rice instead of long grain white rice and they were tasty. I served them with egg noodles and a vegetarian mushroom gravy for a stroganoff-type dish.
• These can also be pan fried in oil on the stove, but for large batches I think baking them is much, much easier.

Verdict: I like them best when Caroline makes them, but if I make them a few times I'm sure I'll figure out how to make them how I like them.

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RECIPE:

Lentil and Rice Balls

Unknown source; serves 12-16

2 tbsp olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped finely

4 cloves garlic, chopped finely

2 cups cooked long grain white or brown rice
3 cups cooked brown lentils

2 cups walnut pieces, toasted and then ground OR 2 cups oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Lemon or lime juice to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When it is hot, add onions and garlic and saute until onion softens and becomes translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, place remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add onions and garlic to the bowl with everything else. Mix well. With your hands, shape into small balls about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. Place on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until heated through and outside is lightly crisped. Serve warm.

Tea Parties Vol. 3: An End of Summer Feast

This meal was heavily inspired by Sarah, Caroline, and me all finding our way to the Great British Baking Show / The Great British Bake-Off separately but around the same time and then raving about it (thanks Netflix). It's so refreshing to see a cooking show that focuses primarily on the creativity and growth of the participants and the beautiful food they make, rather than relying on manufactured cattiness, drama, and shock value for entertainment. The hosts are silly and own it. I love the dad jokes. I have also learned a lot about culinary traditions of cultures and countries other than my own and made mental notes of new flavor combinations I'd never heard of that sound amazing.

A lot of the savory part of the menu was inspired by this particular dish I saw, to which Sarah said we should deconstruct it a bit. All the elements are there in various configurations.

One of the first episodes of the Great British Baking Show I ever watched was the one where they made roll cakes, and I loved it so much I wanted to design my own! I came up with a caramel mocha roll cake. It turned out reasonably well for my first attempt, if a bit literally and figuratively rough around the edges.

I created a drink recipe especially for this party, inspired by a drink I had at adults summer camp with one of my best friends and with my own fancy addition of peach green tea.

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RECIPES

• Roasted Carrot and Curry Hummus (Kristin Donnelly, via Design Sponge) -- Sarah's pick. I loved the sweetness of the curry + carrot combination.
• Spiced Beef Meatballs -- Sarah's recipe. She may have made it up herself.
• Lentil and Rice Balls -- Caroline brought this recipe for a vegetarian meatball alternative.
• Hummus Heaped with Cucumbers and Tomatoes (Smitten Kitchen) -- straightforward and lovely. I picked this recipe because I'd seen it and could not forget it because it looked so good. We made only the salad part, and served it with store-bought white bean hummus.
• Crisp Rosemary Flatbread (Smitten Kitchen) -- Sarah's pick, to eat with the hummus. A total keeper. These were one of the first things to get completely eaten, and I promptly made more to eat with the rest of the leftovers.
• Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates with Spinach-Hazelnut Pesto
• Cheesy Potatoes (no link) -- Andrea made these and brought them! Not sure where her recipe came from but they were yummy.
• Caramel Mocha Swiss Roll Cake -- one of the most challenging cakes I've ever attempted to make, and I was pleased with the result. I think it's a great start but it needs some tweaking so as to not be so incredibly rich.
• Cheesecake Ice Cream with Strawberry Sauce
• Peach Rosemary Tea Collins
• Watermelon Lemonade (Smitten Kitchen)

Other things we served that were not made from scratch:

• White bean hummus (Lantana makes a great one)
• Various fancy cheeses
• Wine

THE TEA PARTIES

• Vol. 2: Spring Up Speed Up
• Vol. 1: A Birthday Party, and Being Unapologetically Yourself

Peach Rosemary Tea Collins

This is a recipe I developed for my third tea party, and it is inspired by a vacation earlier in the summer. I went to a weekend summer camp for adults for my best friend's bachelorette party. It included nice food and drinks. My very favorite adult beverage served during this weekend camp was called a Rishi Tea Collins, a Tom Collins made with vodka and brewed tea from Rishi (a company that sells excellent tea and you should check them out). They had a black tea version and green tea version, and while both were good, I thought the green tea one was incredible. It was served with a rosemary sprig in the top of the cup and this really elevated the whole thing.

I needed to learn to make it or at least try before it faded from memory, so I needed to give myself a goal time to have it done, and the tea party seemed like a good excuse. Also, since it was for a fancy summer tea party, I wanted to try to add a summer fruit flavor to the mix and decided on peach since it goes well with both lemon and rosemary.

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RECIPE:

Peach Rosemary Tea Collins

adapted from Liquor Control Board of Ontario (lol)

makes about 4 1/2 cups mix, enough for 6-8 servings

Tea concentrate:
1 1/8 cups water
4 bags peach flavored green tea (if loose leaf, about 3-4 tbsp leaves)

Rosemary simple syrup:
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
3 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cups vodka (the bartenders at the camp recommend Tito's)
Sparkling water (plain or lemon flavor) to taste
Fresh rosemary sprigs for garnish

To make tea concentrate: Bring 1 ⅛ cups water to a boil. Remove from heat and add tea bags. Let steep for 12-15 minutes. Strain out and discard tea leaves/tea bags. Let cool to room temperature.

To make rosemary simple syrup: Place water and sugar in a saucepan on the stove and heat on medium-high, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Gently bruise the rosemary (roll gently between your fingers) and add to the hot sugar water mixture. Let stand until cooled to room temperature. Strain rosemary stems and leaves out of the mixture.

Mix together all ingredients except sparkling water and chill. (It can be stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.) Pour desired amount over ice into a glass. Top with a bit of sparkling water and stir briefly. Garnish with fresh rosemary sprig. Serve immediately.

Notes:

• Freshly squeezed lemon juice is an absolute must here. Sometimes I cut it with bottled juice since lemons can get expensive where I live, but make sure at least half of the lemon juice is freshly squeezed or it's just not right.
• Fresh rosemary sprigs for garnish are also a must. Being able to smell it while you drink heightens the experience considerably.
• Possibly unpopular opinion: the quality of the tea is not super important so long as you like the flavor. Bigelow's peach green tea (which I wouldn't buy to drink straight all by itself) happened to be what I was looking for in this case.
• Ideas for variations:
• I think you could make it with just about any kind of green (or other) tea you want, though my vote would be for a neutral or fruit flavored type.
• A standard Tom Collins is made with gin, so depending on the type of tea you choose (a particularly herbal flavored one perhaps), gin might taste nice instead. I also encourage you to experiment with other neutral flavored spirits; I've used Korean soju in this before and I think it works nicely with the tea.
• Varying the fresh herb used might also be interesting. For example, sage might be tasty with a blackberry or black currant flavored tea, or mint with a blueberry tea.

Rainbow Confetti Cake

I usually make my own birthday cake every year as an excuse to try something from my neverending list of Things I Could Make. Before I could check my list to pick something out, though, I happened to see this on Instagram and it was so colorful and nostalgic (and easy to make) that I needed it to be my birthday cake. Smitten Kitchen seemed to know it was my birthday, haha. I made this cake to share with my friends after my birthday outing, during which we bicycled to a nearby small town and spent the afternoon sitting outside and drinking beer and playing beanbags and lying in the grass. It was sunny and warm as July generally is but not unbearably hot.

I sought out clear imitation vanilla extract especially for this cake, and I sincerely believe this is the thing that I miss from boxed mixes. Literally the only thing. I know real vanilla is superior in basically every way, but it's hard to beat nostalgia.

I loved how the cake turned out and would gladly make it again. Indeed I will have to in order to use up more of this clear imitation vanilla! Oh no. Twist my arm.

Edit: I made this again for my birthday in July 2019, still as delicious as I remember. I made it into 12 cupcakes but the cups were not filled quite as much as I'd have liked; 10 or 11 would have worked a little bit better. They took about 23 minutes to bake. Frosting was enough for a thin layer over the top plus 6 little piped stars on each one.

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RECIPE: Confetti Party Cake

Raw Kale and Apple Salad

This recipe was tried out of a necessity to use up fresh kale from our CSA haul (we get it nearly every week in the summer!) and a desire to not have to cook it to use it up. I recently had a raw kale salad at a work potluck that I liked so I thought I'd try to make a similar one. I liked this one so much that it's turned into a regular summer meal!

Notes/substitutions:

• I don't bother mixing the salad dressing ingredients together first, just pour the oil and lemon juice and salt into my bowl of chopped kale.
• I haven't ever eaten this with dates but I'm sure they're good. I usually use a dried fruit I'm more likely to have on hand (golden raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries).
• I've used sliced almonds instead of slivered. Walnuts are also good. Toasting them sounds a little tedious but adds a lot of extra flavor.
• Instead of just tossing to coat, I massage the ingredients into the kale for a couple of minutes. I find this softens the leaves and makes them easier to eat.
• I also have used other harder, sharp cheeses in place of Parmesan to good effect. Sartori MontAmore is particularly yummy.
• This salad keeps for several days in the refrigerator and travels well.
• It is gluten free and can be made vegan if you leave out the cheese.

RECIPE: Kale and Apple Salad

Spicy Ginger Kombucha Cocktail

It took me a long time to warm up to kombucha. I chalk this up to the gap between expectations and reality. Wikipedia says it is indeed a Japanese word for kelp tea that was adopted as a loanword but used incorrectly. Since Japanese cooking often uses kombu/kelp as an ingredient in savory broths, I was expecting it to be kind of salty and savory, and the first couple of times I tried it were pretty mentally jarring because it is sour and fizzy. Sometimes you end up getting a bad impression of a food because of what your expectations of it are rather than going in with no expectations and trying to appreciate it for what it is. I now remember that it's supposed to be sour and fizzy, and I drink it on purpose because I like it.

My favorite kind is a kind that's made in my city, and my favorite flavor that they make is lemongrass ginger. I first tried it in a cocktail at a local distillery. They had flights of different experimental cocktails made with different flavors of this company's kombucha, and the one with lemongrass ginger was exceptionally good. But they wouldn't make me a full sized drink. So I tried to make it myself a few days later. I'm not sure I got it completely right, but I think I ended up with something close and worth making again.

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RECIPE:

Spicy Ginger Kombucha Cocktail
inspired by the Spicy Ginger Cocktail at the Old Sugar Distillery
Makes 1 serving

1-2 tbsp ginger juice (from 1.5 oz unpeeled fresh ginger)
1.5 oz dark rum
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
1 tbsp lime juice
4 oz NessAlla lemongrass ginger kombucha, or similarly flavored kombucha
Ice

To prepare ginger juice: Peel ginger with a paring knife. Grate ginger finely on a grater or microplane. Gather the grated ginger in your fingers and squeeze the liquid out (ideally into your shaker or the glass you will be drinking from). If there is any juice on your work surface, you can pick it up with the already-squeezed ginger like a sponge. Squeeze until the pulp is dry. Discard pulp.

Shake all ingredients except kombucha in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into rocks glass. Top with kombucha and stir gently to mix. Alternatively, place ice in a rocks glass with ginger juice. Add rum, honey or maple syrup, and lime juice and mix until sweetener is dissolved. Top with kombucha and stir gently to mix.

Almond Rhubarb Picnic Bars

I made these for a dinner party I hosted at my house. I was daydreaming about the nectarine bars Sarah made for my first tea party, as well as looking for a good use for some of the fresh rhubarb growing in my garden, and I had never tried almond and rhubarb together but it sounded delicious.

I made them exactly as instructed and they turned out great. Our guest loved them too! I'd definitely make them again.

RECIPE: Almond Rhubarb Picnic Bars

Chocolate French Silk Pie

I first had this pie at Perkins when I was in high school and quickly fell in love with it, but it was only recently that I got the motivation to make it for myself when I saw The Pioneer Woman's recipe. I found several different versions but they are all basically the same, with different pictures.

Notes/substitutions

• I made a graham cracker crust for something a little different. It was good but I determined that I prefer regular pie crust over graham cracker crust for this particular pie.
• I was a little wary of using uncooked eggs in the recipe but ultimately I used regular eggs because I eat them in raw doughs all the time and decided to take my chances. If you're really concerned or are serving it to people who have to be really careful, you can buy pasteurized eggs to use for this pie.
• I used bittersweet chocolate instead of unsweetened because it was what I had at home. I would probably put a little more chocolate in next time.
• Since I'm not good at making chocolate shavings/curls and I already had mini chocolate chips, I sprinkled mini chocolate chips on the top before serving.

RECIPE: French Silk Pie

Flan (Caramel Custard Pudding)

Epicurious calls this The Perfect Flan recipe, and while I'm pretty skeptical of people and websites that use superlatives in their recipe titles, I tried it anyway because the reviews were good. While I can't prove it's -the perfect- recipe for flan, it is certainly very, very good and I don't feel the need to try another one because I liked this one so much.

I have known what flan is for a long time because my mom once bought a Jello brand boxed flan mix by mistake when I was a kid. She never made it and for many years I saw it every time I looked through the pantry. Then in middle school I started learning Spanish, and I think some of our class materials, especially in high school, mentioned it and the teacher explained what it was. I thought it sounded pretty good. However, no one ever made it for class parties that involved cooking food, probably because you have to keep it cold and high school kids don't usually have access to a refrigerator at school.

My first taste of something like it was in Japan, oddly enough. Caramel custard pudding with liquid caramel sauce (purin) is a pretty common dessert option there. You can even buy it at convenience stores, which sounds sketchy, but the food at Japanese convenience stores is often reasonably good depending on what you get. I clearly remember the first time my host mother brought some home for us from a bakery because it tasted incredible. I enjoyed it a few other times I was there but didn't really seek it out once I came home.

What inspired me to try making flan is a recent potluck party. I work with a lot of people that are not originally from the US, and one of the graduate students I work with had the idea to have a potluck party where everyone contributes food from their respective country. One of my coworkers has relatives from Puerto Rico and she brought two things that often show up at her winter family gatherings: coquito (a coconut based eggnog-like drink, super yummy) and a large pan of homemade flan to the party. After trying hers and falling in love immediately, I needed more of it in my life.

Deviations from the above recipe:

• I used 2% milk instead of whole milk because it was what I had, and it was fine. As long as you're using milk with a decent amount of fat it should work properly.
• Instead of putting it in ramekins, I put it all into one 8x8 glass pan and baked it for 60 minutes but that was a little too much. It probably only needed 50-55 minutes.

Verdict: As I said above, this was absolutely delicious. The caramel sauce is incredible. It's wild how delicious caramelized sugar is for how very simple it is. Fair warning, if you make it in a glass pan it might look like the glass is cracked after you bake the caramel in it but it's the caramel, not the glass. It is dangerous to keep around :) I ate it too fast. I would definitely make it again.

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RECIPE: The Perfect Flan

Scandiwegian Spring Cake

My husband and I have hosted a birthday party for one of our friends at our house for several years now, and I always make him a cake. Last year I made him a carrot cake, and this year he wanted something different and let me choose. This year, I decided to make him a vanilla and cardamom cake with rhubarb filling and cream cheese frosting.

The name comes from a Stephen Fry documentary where he visits all 50 states in the United States. For the episode featuring Minnesota, he explains that winters are quite cold and snowy there, and calls the many enclosed walkways between buildings "a bit of Scandiwegian ingenuity" (during the mass migration of Europeans to the United States in the 1800s, many Norwegians and other Scandinavian immigrants settled in the area that is now Minnesota). I thought this name was really cute and used it to describe this cake because it has a number of flavors common in Scandinavian baked goods.

Notes:

• Since the 6 inch cake layers were really thick, I split them to make the cake 4 layers. I filled each gap with rhubarb filling because I had a lot. I think I ended up with not quite enough frosting.
• You will likely have extra rhubarb filling. It tastes nice on yogurt or ice cream.
• I think it would taste better with a lighter textured cake (this ended up dense and a little tough and this was possibly my fault for cramming all of this into two 6 inch pans), a thicker rhubarb filling (adding a little more pectin would probably fix that issue), and a lighter frosting because it set up quite hard when refrigerated.
• This is the petal tip I used for piping (Wilton #104). The ruffle effect definitely takes some practice to make it look neat (I am not proud of my icing job, for the record) but it turned out OK for a first try.

Verdict: I personally think I could have done better in terms of execution, especially with the piping, but I would definitely try making this again with the aforementioned tweaks because I loved this flavor combination. One of the band members declared it the best cake he has ever had in his life, so it couldn't have been too awful.

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RECIPE:

Scandiwegian Spring Cake
adapted from My Name is Yeh (cake), Will Cook For Friends (filling), unknown (frosting)
Makes 1 6 inch round cake, serves 8

Cardamom vanilla cake
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cardamom
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup neutral flavored oil, such as canola
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup boiling water

Rhubarb filling
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, or more to taste
½ tbsp (about 7 g) powdered fruit pectin
7 oz (about 1¾ cups chopped, 200g) fresh or frozen rhubarb, cut into ½ inch pieces
¼ cup water
1 tsp (5 ml) fresh squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
1-2 drops red food coloring (optional, if your rhubarb is not very red and you want the filling to have a pinkish tint)

Cream cheese frosting
4 oz (½ cup, 1 stick) unsalted butter
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb powdered sugar (about ½ bag)
Milk, to thin if needed

Prepare cake: Set oven temperature to 350°F. Grease two 6 inch round springform pans with butter, line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds, and grease the parchment paper. Place all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cardamom) in a large bowl and whisk gently to combine. Set aside. Place eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla in another slightly smaller bowl and whisk until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk them together. Stir in the boiling water. The resulting batter will be very thin. Divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes have browned slightly and a bamboo skewer or other tester poked into the center of the cake comes out with no batter or crumbs clinging to it. When done, remove from oven and let stand for about 10 minutes to cool slightly, then remove cakes from pans to a lightly greased cooling rack to cool completely. While cakes bake and cool, prepare filling and frosting.

Prepare filling: Place sugar and pectin in a nonstick or stainless steel or other non-reactive saucepan and whisk to combine. Add remaining ingredients to the pan and heat on the stove to a rolling boil over high heat. Cook until pectin has activated and rhubarb pieces have broken down to where no whole pieces remain, about 7-8 minutes. At this point, you can adjust the taste by adding more sugar and/or more lemon juice. When you are satisfied with the flavor, remove pan from heat. If you want a very smooth filling, use an immersion blender or transfer the mixture to a standard blender and blend until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. You will likely end up with extra filling; it can be stored in a clean jar or other airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It can also be frozen.

Prepare frosting: Cream butter and cream cheese together in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated. Mix in powdered sugar in several additions.

Assemble the cake: Level the two cake layers so they will stack neatly. Prepare a decorating bag fitted with a petal tip and fill with about 3/4 of the cream cheese frosting. Place one of the cake layers on your plate or rotating stand (if you have one). Pipe a thick line of frosting just inside the top edge all the way around. Spoon rhubarb filling inside to fill the circle of frosting. Place the other cake layer on top of this. Spread on a thin layer of frosting to just cover and stick together the entire cake (crumb coat) and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 5-10 minutes to let it harden. To pipe the ruffles, place the wide end of the petal tip against the side of the cake at the bottom and pipe around the outside of the cake, rotating the plate as you go, working your way up from the bottom. Decorate top as desired.

Raspberry Coconut Macaroons

I was looking for a recipe to use up extra toasted coconut. It had powdered sugar mixed in (I was making a batch of marshmallows with it), so that limited what I could do with it. I came across Smitten Kitchen's raspberry coconut macaroons, and seeing as I had some frozen raspberries that also needed to get eaten and I thought the extra moisture from using frozen berries would be balanced out by the extra dryness from the powdered sugar and toasting the coconut, I gave them a try!

I mostly followed the recipe, but as I am wont to do, I made do with things I already had. I got as much of the powdered sugar out of the coconut I had and drained the frozen raspberries very well (blotting with paper towel) to get them to have a similar consistency to fresh.

Verdict: As a clean-out-the-pantry experiment I loved them, and would consider making them properly on purpose in the future! (I think they turned out drier than they're supposed to.) Definitely worth getting out the food processor. My husband liked them too. Coincidentally they are my mom's favorite flavor and my dad's favorite flavor mashed together so I wonder how they'd go over at home. :)

RECIPE: Raspberry Coconut Macaroons

Tea Parties Vol. 2: Spring Up Speed Up

Tea Party, volume 2. Fortunately this one did not end with my husband going to the emergency room! These are starting to look less like tea parties and more like huge-dinner-but-there's-also-tea parties. Or huge-dinner-with-tea-in-the-food parties.

For this one, I got input on the menu but ended up making almost all of the food myself. I spent most of the day before making things and then Sarah came to help and hang out that night. The party was on Sunday afternoon. Caroline and Alaina helped assemble the deviled eggs and dip the strawberries after they arrived. It ended up being a really nice day for early March so we got to take some photos outside! It was a lovely time.

If you like upbeat music, check out Perfume's song Spring of Life for the name inspiration!

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RECIPES:

• Sausage Fennel Seed Slices
• Smoky Eggy Deviled Eggs
• Carrot-Apple-Ginger Soup (Joy the Baker) - chosen because it did not contain dairy and I had a vegan friend in attendance. While she is not strict and will eat vegetarian food, it is a goal of mine to have at least a few vegan friendly recipes up my sleeve that I personally like to eat.
• Lemon Cake with Black Tea Frosting (Honey and Jam's take on Dorie Greenspan) - I made this as written and while it was a lot of work, I did enjoy the end product. I baked the cake, brewed extra-strong black tea, and candied the lemon slices the evening before the party, and made the frosting and assembled the cake the morning of the party. It made a LOT of frosting (so I filled the middle with a lot) and the top layer ended up sliding around a bit.
• Rhubarb Tart with Cardamom Meringues
• Green Tea White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Other things we served that were not made from scratch or that don't really need a recipe:

• White chocolate covered pretzels (I did make these but all the ingredients are already prepared; you just melt chocolate, dip the pretzels in it, and sprinkle rainbow nonpareils on before the chocolate hardens)
• Hummus and raw vegetables
• Various fancy cheeses
• Gin and tonic with a splash of lavender liqueur
• Wine
• Dry sparkling mead (our local meadery makes a rosé grape and lavender one called Equinox that is tasty!)

Rhubarb Tart with Cardamom Meringues

I forget where I read it, but when I was looking for ways to use cardamom after finding out it was in Indian food and buying some for my spice rack, I read somewhere (from someone who had read The Flavor Bible) that rhubarb, cardamom, and vanilla are a really good combination. It has stuck with me and I now have my own copy of The Flavor Bible (thanks thrift store).

Fast forward to planning what to make for a tea party and coming across this recipe by Will Cook for Friends for individual rhubarb tarts with torched meringues on top. The photos were inspiring to me. They looked so pretty, I had to try making it. But I don't have a kitchen torch and don't know anyone else that does...so how to get cooked meringues on the top without baking them on at the end? I decided to make meringue cookies to decorate the top of the tart instead, flavoring them with -- you guessed it -- vanilla and cardamom.

The rhubarb filling tasted great, with a nice balance of sweet and tart. Though I was worried it might not be thick enough to hold, the filling stayed in the shell even after I cut it. The meringues didn't turn out as pretty as I was hoping, but they tasted fine! Some more practice will probably help me figure those out. The thing I remember most: don't store them in an airtight container. It will trap moisture in and make them sticky. Or maybe I didn't dry them out enough. But I didn't want them to turn brown.

Verdict: I think with some tweaking and practice, this could be really good. It was kind of a lot of work though so I don't know how often I'd make it. I have considered making just the tart and buying a container of vanilla meringue cookies to decorate it with since I know where to get them.

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RECIPE:

Rhubarb Tart with Cardamom Meringues
adapted from Smitten Kitchen (tart shell), Will Cook for Friends (filling), Eating Well (meringue cookies)
Makes 1 9-inch tart; serves 8-12

Shell
1 1/2 cups (195 g) unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup (65 g) powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
9 tbsp (4 1/2 oz) very cold or frozen unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Filling
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, or more to taste
½ tbsp (about 7 g) powdered fruit pectin
7 oz (about 1¾ cups chopped, 200g) fresh or frozen rhubarb, cut into ½ inch pieces
¼ cup water
1 tsp (5 ml) fresh squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
1-2 drops red food coloring (optional, if your rhubarb is not very red and you want the filling to have a pinkish tint)

Meringues
3 egg whites, from 3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp corn starch
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Garnishes
Fresh raspberries
Pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped
Fresh mint leaves

Mix and shape the tart dough: Place flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Sprinkle the butter pieces on top of the dry ingredients, and pulse to cut in the butter until the pieces range in size from oatmeal flakes to peas. Add the egg in several additions, pulsing after each one, until just incorporated. From there, process the dough in longer (~10 second) pulses until the mixture begins to form clumps. The food processor noise will sound different once this begins to happen. Transfer dough to a large cutting board or other flat work surface and if necessary, gently knead the dough just enough to finish incorporating any dry ingredients. Press the tart dough evenly across the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom, making sure that you apply enough pressure so the pieces of dough stick together but still maintain their crumbly texture. Place the tart crust in the freezer and allow to chill for at least 30 minutes, but longer is better.

Prepare the filling and meringues while the tart crust freezes. If your egg whites for the meringues are still cold, prepare them and let them stand at room temperature while you make the rhubarb filling.

Prepare the filling: Place sugar and pectin in a nonstick or stainless steel or other non-reactive saucepan and whisk to combine. Add remaining ingredients to the pan and heat on the stove to a rolling boil over high heat. Cook until pectin has activated and rhubarb pieces have broken down to where no whole pieces remain, about 7-8 minutes. At this point, you can adjust the taste by adding more sugar and/or more lemon juice. When you are satisfied with the flavor, remove pan from heat. If you want a very smooth filling, use an immersion blender or transfer the mixture to a standard blender and blend until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. You will likely end up with extra filling; it can be stored in a clean jar or other airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It can also be frozen.

Make the meringue cookies: Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Place oven racks in the 2nd and 3rd positions from the bottom. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and cardamom in a small bowl and set aside. Place egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar in a very clean medium sized bowl; it should be free of grease. Using an electric mixer, beat egg white mixture until it forms soft peaks when the beaters are removed (tips will curl over) when the beaters are removed. Add the sugar mixture in several additions, beating on high speed, until the egg white mixture forms stiff peaks (tips will stand straight up when beaters are removed). Using a spoon, transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a star tip, or if you don't have a piping bag or decorating tips, a gallon zipper bag with the corner snipped off will work. Twist the top end closed, making sure to trap as little air inside as possible, and hold it shut with your hand. Pipe the meringue mixture onto the parchment paper lined pans in small mounds about 1 inch in diameter, 1 inch high, and about 1 inch apart. Place both pans in the oven at the same time and bake for 10-15 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the meringues in it for another 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven, put pan on a wire cooling rack, and let cool completely. While they are cooling, bake the tart shell.

Bake the tart shell: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut a piece of aluminum foil from the roll that is slightly longer than your tart pan, and grease the shiny side with butter. Press the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the contours of the crust. Place the tart pan on a cookie sheet, put it in the oven on the second rack from the bottom, and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and peel off the foil carefully. If the crust got puffy, use the back of a spoon to gently press it back down. Return it to the oven for approximately 10 more minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and firm. Transfer the tart pan to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.

Assembly: When crust has cooled completely, fill it with the rhubarb filling so that it is level with the edge of the crust. Arrange meringues, raspberries, and mint leaves on top. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios. It is best served immediately but can be stored in the refrigerator for several hours before serving. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for several days.

Green Tea White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

The combination of green tea and strawberry is a popular one in the springtime in Japan, and I personally *LOVE* it, both as a flavor combination and the pretty visual contrast of bright red and pale yet intense green. I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate covered strawberries; I like the idea of them and chocolate + strawberry is a great flavor combination, but in practice they are kind of just OK, and kind of difficult to eat, and do not keep well.

All of this said, when I found this recipe from Encha (a company that sells matcha) I had to try it, and decided to serve them at an early spring tea party where there would be lots of people to finish them before they got gross.

Notes:

• Be sure to choose the freshest strawberries you can find that don't have any mushy spots. These were absolutely phenomenal with freshly picked summer strawberries.
• These are best served and eaten the same day they are made because they do not keep well. Washed strawberries tend to quickly decline in quality. However, they will stay reasonably presentable for the next day.
• Some tips on matcha!
• As of the time of this writing, there is no legal definition or regulations regarding quality of matcha in the US, so something labeled "ceremonial grade" is not necessarily better quality or healthier for you than something labeled "all-purpose" or "culinary grade". However, do make sure you get actual matcha -- it involves far more work than just grinding up green tea leaves into a powder. The tea leaves that are specifically grown for matcha are very labor intensive to produce and it takes a lot to make a small amount of finished product, so that is why it is so much more expensive than regular green tea.
• My go-to is Maeda-en because it's readily available in multiple stores near where I live, and very reasonable price for the quality (about $9-$10 per ounce).
• It starts to oxidize as soon as you open the package and the color will dull the more it is exposed to air, so keep it sealed as tightly as you can after opening it. After a couple of months the color may turn to more of an olive/dull green, and it may not taste the same (I personally don't notice a change in taste because I haven't eaten it regularly enough yet to tell). TL;DR It's not as pretty after it oxidizes but it is still safe to cook with and consume.
• Before you mix matcha into anything, be sure to sift it well. It will not dissolve or melt into a liquid, even with lots of vigorous stirring or whisking or blending with a blender, and lumps will not break down.

Verdict: I loved them. I would make them again whenever I have a crowd of people that's open minded about green tea flavored chocolate to help me eat them.

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RECIPE:

Green Tea White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Adapted from Encha
Makes about 1 1/4 lb (about 20 strawberries)

1 cup (about 6 oz) white chocolate chips
2 tsp matcha
1 lb strawberries, washed and patted very dry with paper towels

Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in a glass or ceramic bowl in 20-second intervals, stirring well after each one, until the chocolate is completely melted. Sift the matcha into the melted chocolate and stir until smooth. Pick up a strawberry by its stem or leaves, holding all the leaves in your fingers, and dip the strawberry about 3/4 of the way up to the top, turning it to coat. Place on a sheet of waxed paper or parchment paper. Repeat with remaining strawberries. Place the strawberries in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, until the chocolate has cooled and hardened. Serve as soon as possible. Store in a cool place.