The distinctively flavorful Ispahan Loaf Cake, made with Rose Extract and Rose Syrup
Mary,
The Raspberry loaf is wonderful. You can really taste the Rose Syrup/Extract. I really enjoyed it! I just had a piece of it with a cup of tea and it was so delicious. I saved the other piece for Lorena [sister] (she hasn’t come in yet to the office) but if she doesn’t come in today, I am going to eat the rest of it. It is so moist and so flavorful and I can even taste the raspberries, which I love. I would say it’s one of my favorite desserts you have made! It sounds like it would be complicated to make because of all the different ingredients that you need, but maybe Mom would be able to make it. You might have to give her the recipe.
Thank you I really enjoyed it!
Adriana
The cake is loaded with strategically placed moist, plump raspberries.
This e-mail says everything that should be said about this week’s FFWD recipe choice, a remarkable dessert closely resembling a pound cake. Please don’t judge this cake by its cover. Although both loaf cakes are cut into thick slices, in taste they are not at all related.
Ispahan was once the capital of Persia and is also the name of a profoundly fragrant rose. It was the talented pastry maestro Pierre Hermé who first began infusing his sweets with intensely flavorful rose syrups and extracts.
I topped my first slice of cake with whipped cream and raspberry coulis. We ate the rest of the cake “naked”.
Since this is my last Blog Post from my Nevada kitchen, I was especially pleased to make a celebratory cake which I could share with friends who have been my loyal taste testers since its beginning in February, 2011. Without a doubt, Adriana and her husband, Bob, my incredibly kind backyard neighbors, have played the guinea pig-role the most — always with good will and candor. It was a bittersweet moment when I dropped this week’s FFWD sampling of cake at her front door Wednesday morning.
There is nothing difficult about making this cake once you’ve gathered the ingredients. I ordered the Rose Extract made by Star Kay White on line through Amazon. (Yeah, go figure.) After buying Rose Water at Whole Foods, I made my own Rose Syrup. Almond flour can be bought at any grocery store and the other ingredients, whole milk, confectioners sugar, eggs, sugar, AP flour, and butter are regulars in my kitchen. My raspberries were fresh, plump and organic.
The raspberries are layered carefully on top of the batter —- twice.
Although I did embellish my first slice with whipped cream and raspberry coulis, my taste testers and I enjoyed the rest of the loaf just ‘plain and simple’. Wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, this dessert keeps well at room temperature for up to four or five days.
“All the surprises are in the finished cake,” Dorie writes. “The color is pink. The flavor is haunting. The crumb is soft, tight, and pleasantly springy. Then there are the fresh raspberries – they dot the interior of the cake and permeate it with both their distinctive flavor and their perfume. It’s a remarkable cake.”
Layer #1. Next, cover with batter, repeat raspberries and cover again.
I loved this cake and, when I make it again and again, it will always bring back memories of the remarkable friends I have made during my eight-and-a-half years here in Henderson.
Allow me to embellish a wonderful quote by Molly Wizenberg from her book, AHomemade Life:
“When I walk into my kitchen today, I am not alone. Whether we know it or not, none of us is. We bring fathers and mothers and kitchen tables, and every meal we have ever eaten. Food is never just food. It’s also a way of getting at something else: who we are, who we have been, and who we want to be.”
to that I would add…….”and where we have been and who we have met along the way.”
If you’d like to try this recipe, go here for the directions. If you want to see what the other Roses who belong to FFWD baked this week, go to our Link.
Orange-scented Lentil Soup garnished with a dollop of Greek yogurt and fresh pineapple bits
I am neither Catholic nor Argentinean. However, the selection of a new pope, like the election of an American president, coronation of an English royal or the FIFA World Cup competition, understandably captures global interest and attention.
Last Wednesday I suspect many of us joined with the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics in celebrating Argentinean Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s peaceful election as the first pontiff from Latin America. We’ll now know him as Pope Francis. That our FFWD colleague, Paula Montenegro, who blogs at Vintage Kitchen Notes is from Buenos Aires, makes this more exciting.
Hopeful that His Holiness possesses a sense of humor, I submit that this week’s FFWD recipe choice, Orange-Scented LENT-il Soup was in anticipation of White Smoke billowing out of the Sistine Chapel. Congratulations to the new pope and may he guide his followers wisely and with compassion.
Thinly sliced onions, carrots and celery stalks
“Lentil soup seems to have a lock on French hearts,” Dorie explains.
Dorie’s version of lentil soup
Yes, every French cook seems to have a version of his/her very own. Lentil soup chez Greenspan has its own flavor surprises, a touch of ginger and a prominent fragrance and taste of orange. For the legumes, try to find Lentils du Puy (French green lentils), found in high-end grocery stores, speciality culinary shops or on-line.
This is a simply made soup. Soften thinly sliced onions, celery stalks, and carrots in olive oil before adding broth, lentils, and spices. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 60 to 90 minutes or until the lentils soften. Season with salt and pepper and then puree to a smooth or chunky texture. I prefer chunky.
Oatmeal & Honey Bread, beautifully made and photographed by Michelle Morgando
Although the soup anchored many-a-meal for me this week, my first lunch was the most delicious. I toasted a slice of Oatmeal & Honey Bread, an elegantly scrumptious gift from my neighbor, Michelle Morgando. On the toast I piled smashed avocados sprinkled with lemon and salt, a treat suggested by Joy the Baker. I garnished my soup with a dollop of Greek yogurt topped with tiny slices of fresh pineapple. Yummy combo.
A perfect toasting bread for smashed avocados sprinkled with salt and lemon juice
Orange-scented Lentil Soup is a winner for me. To see what my colleagues mixed up this week, go here. If you want to add this to your own soup recipe collection, go here.
How ya gonna keep her out in the kitchen after she’s been on Air Force One?
Air Force One Tail Number 27000 flew seven U.S. presidents – Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, and W. Bush, around the world on countless missions from 1972-1990. This beautifully restored and reassembled big bird now lives in the Air Force One Pavilion at the Reagan Presidential Library.
That might have been a legitimate question for me this week if our First Fridays with Dorie recipe choice had not been CheesyCrème Brûlée. It still might have been an issue had I not read some early Dorista comments. Both Teresa and Amanda made six individual servings, enjoying one each evening. Translated: this recipe refrigerates well. Then, Diane called it decadent. It’s settled, I’m all over it.
Dorie suggests using 3 ounces of tiny cubed cheese bits for the custard mixture and 2 ounces of grated cheese for the topping. To do it correctly, I weighed my portions. It seems that I am find using my scale more often these days. In fact, I now keep it on the counter.
Realizing that I could make this one recipe, which is decadent, and savor the six servings myself during the coming week, I unfastened my seatbelt, scurried home from my week’s work in California and got out my blowtorch.
“What could be better than combining two of life’s great culinary pleasures, crème brûlée and cheese?” Dorie asks. “It’s a double serving of voluptuousness.”
After buttering shallow ramekins, cut 3 ounces of cheese into tiny cubes. Since I’m two weeks away from needing an empty refrigerator, I combined what I always have on hand, Parmesan and cheddar. Dorie suggests a Parmesan/Comté combo.
Even better,it’s darn easy. You simply exchange cheese for sugar. That it can be made up to two days ahead is even better. (Don’t tell Dorie but I still found it tasty on Day 4 and 5.)
Bring heavy cream and whole milk to a boil in a small sauce pan before pouring it slowly into a bowl of 3 vigorously whisked egg yolks seasoned with nutmeg, salt and pepper. After blending and de-bubbling the mixture (I had to spoon off the layer of bubbles), divide among the ramekins.
Dorie suggested cooking the custard in a 200 degree oven for 50 minutes until firm. It took an extra 20 minutes at my house. Then cool the custard to room temperature, sprinkle grated cheese on top and brown the cheese evenly with a mini propane torch or under the broiler.
I wanted more over less of a crust and this seemd perfect to me. In retrospect, I would grate all my cheese rather than cut it into tiny cubes. Although the cheese melted, it was a tad “lumpy” and I wouldn’t like that for entertaining purposes. However, it made no difference to the taste.
Last week I went to California to begin a long-anticipated writing project on the Presidential Libraries, focusing, at first, on the thirteen facilities overseen by the Office of Presidential Libraries in the National Archives and Records Administration. Although all our Presidents have museums dedicated to their memories, the concept of an official presidential library was the brainchild of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the first was for his predecessor, the 31st President of the United States, Herbert Hoover.
There are some bonuses to living alone. After taking the initial picture of the Crème Brûlée, I ate the strawberry, tossed the spoon in the sink, found some almond biscuits and dug in. My Mother would NOT have been proud.
Since this project has been sitting on a back-burner the past ten years, I was anxious to get started and with two libraries in California, where better to begin? Knowing my schedule, I e-mailed Susan Lester, a FFWD colleague who blogs at Create Amazing Meals, and asked if she and her husband, John, lived anywhere near Simi Valley (Reagan) and Yorba Linda (Nixon), my stomping grounds for a few days. Dinner, perhaps?
I considered it a perfect launch party and good omen for my upcoming writing project. The Lesters not only met me for dinner but generously treated me to dinner. I looking forward to seeing them again next September at the International Food Bloggers Conference in Seattle. This time, the dinner will be on me!
My inquiry and her quick reply – Napa Tavern, 6:30p.m. – made our introductory dinner together last Friday a reality. If you’ve ever questioned that food translates into friendship and fellowship, the proof was in the pudding Friday evening. With two-and-a-half years of blogging among us, we danced easily from topic to topic. And, since you asked? Yes, John held his own.
If you want to see how well my colleagues liked this week’s recipe, check it out here. Since this recipe is not on the blogosphere, you will have to e-mail me privately and I will be happy to send the recipe.
Since I needed to do some research work at both the Reagan and Nixon Presidential Libraries, I took a break from packing boxes to spend a week in sunny California. My first stop, Cambria. Seven years ago I came nose-to-proboscis with migrating elephant seals who spend the Winter on the Central Callie Coast and I haven’t missed a opportunity to visit them every year since.
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice is Chicken Diable breasts but the organic chicken thighs in my freezer suggested I make a minor change to the recipe. Which, I did.
This classic dish, a perfect choice for Sunday night’s dinner while watching the Academy Awards, also yielded enough leftovers to keep my engine running during my drive to California last Monday. I needed to do research at both the Reagan and Nixon Presidential Libraries and could combine that work with a short stop in Cambria, visiting Colorado friends who had set up camp there for the Winter.
Before you comment that I seem to serve Trader Joe’s baked french fries with every meal, please understand that I’m trying to empty my freezer by mid-March. Admittedly, I stowed a few too many bags of french fries in my freezer. I showed no restraint regarding the delicious sauce. (The devil made me do it.) This was a perfect meal for Oscar night although I thought Naomi Watts deserved the Best Actress Award for “The Impossible” and I was pulling for “Lincoln” or “Life of Pi” for Best Picture.
“Diable is the French word for devil,” Dorie says, “and when you see it on the menu you can be pretty sure that the dish includes mustard, usually a strong Dijon mustard which is about as hot as condiments in the French kitchen get.”
I exchanged chicken breasts for thighs, pounding them lightly before sauteing them in a pan with olive oil and butter. If you prefer beef, try a filet mignon.
Like many of Dorie’s recipes, she’s taken a traditional French dish and turned it into simple without losing any of its taste. I pounded chicken cutlets lightly before slipping them into a large skillet, coated with butter and olive oil, to sauté. Then I transferred them to a 200 degree oven for warmth before making the sauce.
After lightly browning the chicken cutlets for about 4 minutes on each side, I transferred them to a pan, covered them with foil and slipped them into a 200 degree oven.
Using the same skillet I softened finely chopped shallots, garlic and seasonings before adding the dry white wine and heavy cream. After the sauce reached a boil, I added mustard and Worcestershire sauce and stirred to blend. Once the sauce was seasoned correctly, I removed the chicken from the oven, plated it and poured the mustard sauce over the top. It was delicious.
We took many hikes into the surrounding hills and along the Central coastline. Because of the wonderfully warm and sunny weather, the flowers are starting to burst into bloom. Hottentot Fig, more commonly known as Ice Plant, Carpobrotus edulis, Ice Plant family. Photo by Ruth Frey
For my trip west the next day, I cut the remaining Chicken Thighs Diable into long strips and packed them into Tupperware. Along with a few carrots and celery sticks, they provided a flavorful and protein-filled treat for the drive.
California Brown Pelican
If you’d like to try Dorie’s very tasty recipe, go here. To see what others thought about this week’s recipe, go to our French Fridays with Dorie link.
Are any of you hooked on The Canal House? Have Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer (no relation) reeled you into their culinary world? Each weekday I receive an e-mail, accompanied by the most gorgeously enticing photograph, describing these ladies’ lunches.
This week’s recipe, Cheating-on-Winter Pea Soup, pairs perfectly with cornbread slathered in honey and Black Mountain Vineyard’s Pinot Noir.
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice, Cheating-on-Winter Pea Soup, presented the perfect opportunity for me to play house like Melissa and Christopher. I returned to Nevada last weekend, after spending the week in Colorado organizing my March move. So, for the next month, most of my days are revolving around sorting and tossing and donating and selling and packing and not having any fun at all. (Okay, that last part is a fib.)
As you can tell from the Mise en Place, The ingredients for this simple soup are probably already in your pantry, refridgerator or freezer.
So, for Lent, instead of giving up something, I’ve promised myself I will stop each day and make a nice, nutritious lunch. Nothing fancy. Nothing difficult. Just lunch. A catch-up-with-yourself moment. And, thanks to Dorie, Thursday’s lunch was quickly created and delicious.
“The soup, made in about 15 minutes, is the liquid version of a classic French dish, peas with lettuce and onions,” Dorie explains.
Everything in this soup was already in my cupboard and fridge – no last-minute trips to the grocery store. The bag of frozen peas, found at the back of my freezer, were just begging for attention. I melted some butter to soften the coarsely chopped onion. After seasoning, I poured in the chicken broth, bringing it to a boil. Then I added the peas and the trimmed, sliced romaine lettuce to the broth, asking it all to simmer while I made corn bread.
Warm Corn Bread is always a treat. Drip a little honey on top, even better. This was a perfect opportunity to sweeten up my lunch menu.
Don’t you think corn bread slathered with honey goes well with just about anything? I decided to go all Pioneer Woman and make it in my cast iron skillet. Just loved smelling the aroma while I pureed the soup in my blender. Because I wanted a smooth, silky texture, I then strained it. Rather than garnish my pea soup, I browned and added some pancetta bits before adding a dash more of pepper. A civilized, tasty meal break during a busy day.
PART TWO: COEUR À LA CRÈME
The End of the Story: For last week’s FFWD recipe dessert, we made Coeur à la Crème, and I used Dorie’s recipe as well as the Barefoot Contessa’s (Ina Garten) for my two Coeurs. Both desserts were admired and willingly devoured, calories be damned. Because Dorie’s Coeur was refrigerated for three days, Ina’s, only 24 hours, it was firmer. I preferred that. Otherwise, the two complemented each other and we noticed little difference.
Admittedly, my friends would rather cook than pose but they indulged me for the sake of FFWD. Charlotte (l), is smiling, kinda, but worried about her garlic burning (it didn’t). DonnaG (middle), our always generous hostess, helped me make the dessert. DonnaC’s, (r), task was to add the panache to DonnaG’s and my Coeur à la Crèmes. As you will see, that lady can work wonders with raspberry coulis.
THE MOHAIR MOMENT.
Our hostess pulled out some special plates, beautiful heirlooms from her family, for serving and to honor this special dessert.
It took a village to produce these two Coeur à la Crèmes but aren’t they pretty? Note the bow (r) which DonnaC recycled from our earlier present exchange.
“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart.” Cesar Chavez
