This week I decided to try something I’d been meaning to do for a while now - make these little phyllo nests. I’m now wondering why I never bothered with them before, since they turned out very pretty and perfect for serving just a bite or two of something good. I filled them with mascarpone, honey, and roasted figs, and I’m positive they would work marvelously with all sorts of sweet or savory fillings.

I used Zinnur’s instructions on how to make the nests, but instead of shaping them in ramekins, I used mini-muffin cups so they would be a bit smaller. Apart from their versatility, the other great thing about these nests is that they keep for a week in an airtight container. Obviously quite useful for dinner parties, not to mention pleasing unexpected guests with the charming presentation.

Phyllo Nests (filled with roasted figs, honey, and mascarpone)
4 sheets defrosted phyllo dough
2 tbs unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cut the phyllo dough sheets into squares that are about an inch larger on either side than the cups you are using to shape them (e.g., for mini muffin cups, I cut 3-inch squares) . Cover the unused dough with a dish towel to prevent drying.

Place one phyllo square on the work surface and brush the top lightly with melted butter. Lay a second square over the first one at an angle, and brush butter lightly over the top. Repeat with two more squares, so there are a total of four layers. Press the stack of squares into muffin tins, custard cups, or ramekins, pressing gently to make a cup shape and making sure the edges are turned up. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake until crisp and golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Notes about the phyllo nests

• Be careful when handling, as they are very delicate.
• Unassembled, phyllo nests keep for about a week in an airtight container
• Serve within a couple hours of assembling, as the nests will grow soggy over time

Roasted Figs
8 oz fresh figs (I used Brown Turkey)
4 tablespoons fragrant honey, such as orange blossom

Preheat oven to 400°F.
For whole figs, slice a shallow X into the bottom of each fig (about 1/2 inch). Otherwise, just slice the figs in half. Place into a glass or ceramic baking dish and spoon honey over. Bake for 15 minutes or until soft and fragrant.

To assemble
1/4 cup mascarpone, room temperature
honey to taste

Stir honey into mascarpone. Drop a rounded teaspoon of mascarpone mixture into a phyllo nest. Top with sliced or whole figs. Serve shortly after assembling, as the nests tend to get soggy with time.

Just a Bite | 2 Comments »

Some of my favorite things to eat fall under the category of “little dishes” - chutneys, dips, chili pastes, little salads, and condiments that don’t stand on their own so much as add interesting notes to the main meal. The negative side of this is that I can get carried away sometimes, especially when cooking for parties or new guests. My desire to have enough items of interest on the table can lead to unsavory experiences like rolling dolmas at 4:00am before a big party and eventually getting into a grape-leaf fight with one’s roommate, ending with rice and leaves stuck to every surface in the kitchen, including ourselves.

To avoid this sort of embarrassing scenario, it makes things easier when one’s auxiliary dishes are extremely easy to make and don’t take much time away from cooking the main meal. These two are a couple of my favorites, and take hardly any time at all, assuming you have the ingredients on hand. I’ve taken the recipes from Madhur Jaffrey, who is pretty much my personal cooking hero since I love just about everything in her books.

Both of these have a distinct sweet-and-sour quality; the nectarine one goes well with just about anything that needs a sweet but not too sweet side note, and can work great either as an accompaniment to barbecued food or with a rice and vegetable dish.

The peanut sambal is a longtime favorite: it’s tart, slightly sweet, and hot all at once, not to mention completely addictive. If you crush or purée it long enough, it will take on a smoother consistency and can be used as a dip for crudites (red bell peppers pair very well) or pita triangles. Otherwise, it can be served on the side.

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Savory Dips & Extras | No Comments »

Is brioche the new cupcake?
This is probably just wishful thinking on my part, but I seem to be noticing brioche making more appearances locally. One case in point: my favorite coffee shop, La Prima, is now selling plump brioches at the counter. They’re made by Enrico’s, a bakery down the street from them, which is famous for their great biscotti.

I prefer a slightly airier brioche, but this wasn’t bad. I’ve heard, though, that many places serve something they call brioche but which is really Challah (e.g. for brioche french toast). I think I’ve only had challah once, so I’m not the best critic, but my impression is that it’s similarly sweet and eggy, but more dense and less buttery than brioche - sort of like King’s Hawaiian. Anyone who is reading this and knows more, I welcome corrections or additional details.

Heirloomania, continued

On the left: Brandywine - sweet and rich-tasting, acidic. On the right: Nebraska wedding - lower acid, bright and lively flavor. Lunching with Greek mizithra and a tasty cave-aged Gouda I found at Whole Foods.

Rhubarb Raspberry Tartlets
Somehow I stumbled upon a local farmer who still had some rhubarb growing past its usual springtime prime. I hurriedly bought it and made these tartlets. Some are strictly rhubarb, others have rhubarb and raspberry, which is a really terrific combination. I used a crust recipe from the August 2004 issue of Cook’s magazine, although in the future I might use one with a little bit of shortening instead of all butter, since I would have liked it a bit flakier. One thing about these tarts - they’re best served warm and don’t reheat particularly well. It’s probably wise to only make what you need and freeze any extra pastry dough for a future use. I made eight tartlets, which was, let’s say, a wee bit ambitious for two eaters. :)

Eating in Pittsburgh | 2 Comments »

All this week I’ve been dreaming about the flavor of lavender. It’s funny, though - while I love lavender in food, I can be extremely sensitive to other flowers, especially roses. I just can’t help but think about soap when I taste it, no matter how hard I try. I then either wrinkle my nose in distaste or start to sneeze. Maybe it just takes getting used to, or one needs to grow up eating rose-flavored foods. Violets I’m sort of in-between on - the mood has to be right.

Anyway, back to the lavender. Last night I was feeling a little bit “creative”. An unhealthy disposition, I know. I kept imagining how the flavor of lavender and bananas would go together. Something about the warm sweetness of banana coupled with the herby, floral notes of lavender just couldn’t stay out of my mind. Evidently not many other people have thought this would be a good combination, though, since Googling for inspiration resulted only in pages with reptiles crawling out of plastic skulls, ornamental plants, and bath bars. So, I was not going to have much company in my little experiment.

Fortunately, this was one of those ideas that actually worked out just as I imagined it - in a good way, like if lavender and banana decided to be roommates and gradually started sharing their stuff. Since the goal was to have both flavors present but with neither in an overwhelming way, I just made a standard yogurt cake (based on Clotilde’s recipe) with mashed banana and coated it with a lavender milk glaze. I think there could be a smidge more banana flavor - next time I might add a third banana - but otherwise the flavors really do match up quite well. Now I can’t stop eating it.

You can also just make this without the lavender glaze and have yourself a nice and simple breakfast cake. The glaze would work well on plain or lemon pound cake, if you’re interested in lavender but not the banana. I used a little bit (maybe 3-4 tbsp) less sugar than in the original cake recipe due to the sweetness of the glaze; the amount given here is the original.

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Baking | 2 Comments »

There’s something about Pittsburgh that makes people want to leave. Ask anyone who has lived here for a length of time (apart from just being here for college) and they’ll surely have stories of how many friends left town in search of their fortunes. Not that I blame them, really - I do love my city, but unless one’s occupation matches a handful of very specific fields, finding a gratifying career here can be pretty tough. I will probably be joining the expatriate lot in the not-too-distant future, but meanwhile, I have gotten used to the slow cycles of making new friends, watching them leave, and eventually making more.

Last Saturday, an old friend brought over several new ones to play a sort of nostalgic game that involved rolling dice and peering at slips of paper. For this, I made Alice Medrich’s Warm Mocha Tart from Bittersweet. I’ve made the tart several times before, as it’s terrifically good on top of being extremely easy. The crust requires no rolling, the inside has a deep, dark chocolate flavor but does this with cocoa powder so there’s no need to chop chocolate, and the whole process takes less than an hour, including prep time. The result is a smooth and ganache-like filling on top of a decadently buttery crust. The only change I made was to add a hint of cinnamon, because there just aren’t many groups of friends that are as happy in one place as coffee, chocolate, and cinnamon, don’t you think?

Recipe after the jump…

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Baking | 2 Comments »

For me, one of the most exciting aspects of last weekend’s little break was visiting the Ironbound district in Newark, where there is a small Portuguese neighborhood, complete with grocers, restaurants, cafés, and shops. There were Brazilian juice stands, churrascarias selling chicken with piri-piri, language centers galore, and even a dentist’s office with its sign in Portuguese. It was here that I could finally sample authentic versions of some of the Portuguese pastries that I’ve been trying to create in my kitchen. Outside of the Massachusetts area, I think the Ironbound comprises the largest Portuguese community in the US.

“Coutinhos Bakery - The Difference is the Taste”

We first went to two bakeries, Coutinho’s and Teixeiras, both known for specializing in the traditional pastries. My Portuguese ambassador tells me that Coutinho’s is exactly like a Portuguese café transplanted to the USA, down to the type of chairs and little cups of espresso that were imported so immigrants could feel at home. Everyone there was speaking Portuguese, from the old-timers who were clearly regulars to small children brought in by their parents. The place is so keen on providing a nostalgic experience for their patrons, they even sell Portuguese water!

Only authentic Portuguese can drink this water

Our main mission was to find pastéis de nata, which are probably the best-known Portuguese pastry and notable for their rustic, slightly burnt tops. While the natas at both bakeries were very fresh, we found Teixeira’s to be a little too thick tasting and floury on the inside. The ones are Coutinho’s were pronounced “just right” by the Mad Scientist, who chatted happily with the women at the counter, eager to ensure that I had a proper nata experience. The little tartlets are made of a multilayered, crisp dough and filled with an eggy, rich custard that bears the tiniest hint of lemon. It’s common to sprinkle cinnamon on top, but we had them plain. The ideal way to eat them is with a nice cup of espresso, which cuts the sweetness a little and allows you to consume several in one sitting.

We also tried almond tarts and a queijadas de feijao - a sweet bean one. I forgot to ask for queijadas de Sintra, the ones filled with cheese, which are almost as good as pastéis de nata. I was lucky to try them once from my friend João, who brought me a package from the original bakery in his hometown. Right now, though, I am longing for more of the natas…my only regret is not buying more of them to take home with me.

In addition to the bakeries, we wanted to find a Portuguese restaurant for lunch. This was more difficult than expected, since surprisingly few of the eateries seemed to have what we were looking for. There was not much variety in bacalhau (salt cod) dishes on the menus, which is particularly unusual since the Portuguese are said to have a bacalhau recipe for every day of the year. (They really do - I’ve seen the cookbooks). Some also seemed aimed towards tourists who may not know what to order. We finally settled on Seabra’s Marisqueira, which I think was a good choice (although I don’t have much basis for comparison). We ordered some chouriço sausage - which is rather different and not to be confused with the Spanish chorizo, a very rich dish made with bacalhau and potatoes, and a very homey and filling plate of pork with clams. I can see that the Portuguese love comfort food, and may try my hand at some of the pork and salt cod dishes when the weather cools down. I like their liberal use of cilantro, one of my favorite herbs, which adds a surprising and bright note to the stewed meats.

The best thing about this little neighborhood is that it’s only steps from the Newark train station - so it’d be a shame not to stop by and fill up on terrific pastries and espresso when in the vicinity.

Coutinhos Bakery
121 Ferry St, Newark - (973) 344-7384

Seabra Marisqueira
87 Madison St, Newark - (973) 465-1250

Eating Elsewhere | No Comments »