So this is Hawthorne Valley Farm, a.k.a. my new home. For July & August (maybe longer) anyway. I’m leaving New York City, my job, my friends and my apartment to bake, garden and learn to make cheese. I’m nervous but excited. They have internet access, so I’ll be posting about life on the farm. I’m probably going to weigh 500 pounds (the cheese) and smell like hippie when I get back.
Monthly Archive for May, 2006
As you may recall, I wrote a recipe (Avocado Chorizo Bites) and it was picked up by the Associated Press. So far, I have seen it picked up in about 140 newspapers around the country and none of them used the headline I put on it, “Authentic Avocado Snacks.” It’s simple, to the point and ok, so it’s not technically authentic, but I was going for alliteration, so back off. Instead, the papers used goofy headlines lines like “Party bites make for festive munching” and “Chomp down on festive bites.” One of my favorites, simply “M-M-M-Mexican,” reminds me of when Scooby Doo says “g-g-g-ghost!!!” Look out, Scooby we’re eating M-M-M-Mexican food tonight.
I played with my snickerdoodles yet again, this time testing the necessity of cream of tartar and baking soda. I thought maybe I could replace those two ingredients with baking powder, since it is baking soda with an acid, typically cream of tartar. I made 3 batches: one only using baking soda, one with baking soda and cream of tartar, and the other with only baking powder. The original recipe calls for 1 tsp cream of tartar and 1/2 tsp of baking soda. Where there was no cream of tartar, I used 1 tsp leavener. All cookies were rolled into 30 gram balls (about 1 oz) and all had the same amount of rest time (none) before getting shoved into the oven.
Click on images to see a larger picture.
As you can see, batch #1 with only baking soda was very flat and yellow because the baking soda didn’t have any acid to react to. Batch #2 with baking soda and cream of tartar was less flat, higher and whiter (due to more aeration from chemical reaction). Batch #3 with the baking powder had a huge rise in the oven and look more like scones than cookies.
Moral of the story is that the cream of tartar is key here and that you can’t just substitute a mixture of baking soda and cream of tartar with baking powder with the same results. If you want big, puffy scone-like cookies, then by all means use baking powder in soda’s stead.
So am I done with the ‘doodles? Not quite yet my dearies — I want to play around with the role of different brands of flour. I figure snickerdoodles are a good cookie to do it with, since they are so simple.
I just got a cookbook from 1913 and I am so excited about it. In the back are some hand-written recipes and tucked into the pages are more hand-written recipes and newspaper cut outs. I got chills — I was that happy. Anyway, I only briefly looked through the recipes, but one that caught my eye was a recipe for Pigs in a Blanket. If there’s one thing I love in this world, it’s hotdogs, but no hotdogs were used in this recipe. It called for veal cutlets, cut into 2 inch strips, wrapped in Canadian bacon, then fried. As much as I love today’s hotdog-in-pastry version of pigs in a blanket, 1913’s meat-on-meat action trumps all.
This Sunday, I volunteered for the PastryScoop.com pastry conference. This is my third year doing it and it’s always a lot of fun. Unfortunately, my camera died the night before, so I didn’t get any shots of the event. I got to sit in on a CocoaVino wine & chocolate pairing, which was interesting. The women from CocoaVino are not only smart and use only top organic ingredients (Ronnybrook cream & Green & Black’s chocolate) they know so much about the process of making chocolate, tempering, etc. I appreciate when people know their sh*t.
I also sat in on Richard Bies’ class (David Burke and Donatella’s pastry chef). He is a terrific chef and was actually very sweet and funny. He might be my new chef crush. Bies’ antithesis (personality-wise), Sam Mason, was also teaching a class. He is so arrogant, but to be fair he very good and has somewhat earned the right to be a douche. Johnny Iuzzini, James Beard award-winning pastry chef, was sitting in the front row of Mason’s class. They were bantering the whole time, which was quite irritating since a class full people were there to hear what Mason had to say about food, not to listen to him joke with a buddy. What was even more disturbing were the sycophantic food groupies hanging on every word and laughing too emphatically for every joke. Uck. Maybe it was the hangover or the lack of sleep, but it really irked me.
Here is a little recipe I developed for Shavuot, which is the Jewish holiday celebrating when Moses was given the Torah. J. Davis Gaul took the photo (as always). Unfortunately, this wasn’t picked up by the AP, but a few papers are going to run it. At any rate, even though I dislike salmon, this little number is quite tasty. It works on crackers, veggies or as schmear for bagels. (Yeah, I said schmear)
Ingredients
8oz Cream cheese or Creamy Soft Cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Pinch of salt, to taste
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
3 tablespoons finely chopped smoked salmon
Directions
In a medium bowl, stir together cheese, black pepper, lemon juice and salt until a smooth texture is achieved. Then stir in salmon and chives.
It’s really easy, try it this weekend. My favorite creamy soft cheese is made by Tnuva, it might be hard to come by, but it’s worth the search. If you can score a Tnuva “Milky,” let me know where you find it — I’m addicted and I can never find them (wah wah).
This is a sticker that was on the wall at a bar in Cambridge, MA. I’ll drink to that, thank you.
Sorry to keep harping on the snickerdoodles, but it bothers me tremendously that no one knows where it came from. Not only that, but I find it curious that shortening is typically the fat source in those cookies, even more curious is the fact that cream of tartar and baking soda are both used. Why not just use single-acting baking powder, since it is a combination of baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) and an acid (typically cream of tartar)?
Baking powder has been around since the mid-1800’s, so why hasn’t the recipe been adapted? Is there a particular reason that baking soda and cream of tartar are added separately? I’m going to experiment to find out. I’m going to do another 3 batches’one with baking soda only, one with baking soda and cream of tartar & one with baking powder only. And I will be using butter, since it won last time over shortening.
The debate is that snickerdoodles either came from Pennsylvania Dutch country or New England. I was thinking that maybe there was a difference in the pH of their water, which would affect the pH of the ingredients used. This presupposes that local products were used and that the water did in fact affect the wheat’s pH, or cow’s milk pH. I thought that maybe the cream of tartar was used to correct a pH imbalance, while the baking soda was just for leavening purposes.
It turns out that New England happens to have water that tests more alkaline and Pennsylvania’s water is slightly acidic, due to all the limestone. If in fact the cream of tartar was used to correct an imbalance and not to make baking powder, it would lead me to believe that the origin of snickerdoodles is New England. Although, maybe one area was known to prefer shortening over butter for economic or supply reasons. Does anyone know? Write me.
I do realize I’ve gone off the deep end with the snickerdoodles, but I like it.
Map of PA from Temple U
Thanks to a friend at Atalanta, I was sent samples of Israeli cheeses. I am so excited to snack on some of my old favorites like Tourquise, Gilboa and Tiltan (all from Barkanit Dairy), but there are also ones I haven’t tasted yet, like Gilad’s Argaman Edam & Gad’s Kashkaval. I already dug into the Edam & give it a thumbs up.
Jamie & I did a blind taste test between cow’s milk and sheep’s milk feta. Both of us like the sheep’s milk better. Not only does it have a more pleasing and milder flavor, the texture is so smooth and creamy. I had to stop myself from diving into the tub of feta. The best part about the feta cheeses? They both expire 6/6/6 — how very evil!!
I finally went to The Stanton Social on Sunday with my Poppy and Fran. I was so excited to try their Kobe Beef Slider ($6 for one) I also ordered Pierogies with caramelized onions and truffle creme fraiche ($8 for four).
I started with the pierogies, which were pretty good on their own, but with the onions and creme fraiche, they were excellent. Then came the slider-it came with cheese and a slightly zesty sauce and it had a tiny pickle and tomato slice, which I picked off. It was also served with blue potato chips, which were neither here nor there. The slider was cooked perfectly and although it was yummy with a good bread-to-beef ratio, I don’t think it is worth the price. I picked at my dad and Fran’s food (huevos rancheros, red snapper tacos) and thought it was flavored really well and enjoyed it. All in all, the small portions were surprisingly filling and the food was good. Would I go back? Yes, but I’ll steer clear of the slider.
