Checking the mail is a daily ritual that involves a cup of tea and a five minute walk to to the top of the lane.  The alders and maples have grown together in places, creating lace doilies shadows on the road.   The baby birds have fledged, their nest empty but for one tiny downy feather, the salmon berries are ripe,and  St. John’s wort has finally bloomed in messy yellow abandon.  These are the things I note as I stroll along wondering what Sophia our mail lady has delivered.

When I get home I make a fresh cup of tea and settle in with my favorite cooking magazine.  Bon appétit has arrived and with it, this luscious truffle brownie recipe. 

Brownies with a liquid layer of melted chocolate and hot cream…you had me at hello.

I highly recommend a sprinkle of sea salt for glamour and extra flavor.

Cheers!

Carla

Truffle Brownies

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped, divided
• 11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

• special equipment

  9×9x2-inch metal baking pan

Preparation

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 9×9x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, leaving overhang. Spray foil with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Combine 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate and butter in medium metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and stir until chocolate and butter are melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water and cool chocolate mixture until lukewarm, 5 to 10 minutes.

• Whisk sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt in large bowl to blend. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Stir in flour, then chopped toasted walnuts. Transfer batter to prepared baking pan. Bake brownies until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 26 to 28 minutes. Transfer pan to cooling rack and let brownies cool completely.

• Bring cream to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add remaining 6 ounces chocolate to hot cream and let stand 5 minutes to soften, then whisk until melted and smooth. Pour chocolate ganache over brownie sheet in pan and spread to cover completely. Let stand at cool room temperature until topping is set, about 4 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.

• Using foil as aid, lift brownie sheet from pan. Fold down foil edges. Using large sharp knife, cut brownie sheet into 25 squares, wiping knife with hot moist cloth after each cut. Arrange brownies on platter and serve.

So easy, so elegant and so tasty that the kids even eat them.     This recipe comes from the Central Market weekly fresh sheet and I’ve made them nearly every night since I discovered the recipe.

Cut tomatoes in half and place cut side down on hot grill for three minutes.  Remove from grill, sprinkle with blue cheese and return to grill cut side up for another minute.  Serve immediately.

They make a beautiful accompaniment to any meal.

Aunt Sharron came for a visit a few months back.  She spent some time keeping Molly beagle company while we frolicked with Mickey and Ariel and the Pirates of the Caribbean.  She kindly delivered us to and from the airport, no small favor when you live on an island and rely on ferries to get you to and fro. 

She welcomed us home with rich and savory vegetable soup and the next day we pored over stacks of cookbooks and chose this recipe to begin our cook-fest.  Just now I realize that it has fennel in it…after my last post you know that I’ve recently become a huge fan of fennel but it turns out that fennel has been sneaking around my kitchen for a while.

You can grill or broil this.  I  broiled all the veggies together with absolutely no regard for the special handling suggested below with different cooking times for everything.  I skipped the step about cutting into smaller pieces and tossed the whole thing, hot and charred, fresh from the broiler into a bowl and onto the table.

I love that some of the veggies were crisp tender and some more melting.  I like that the feta softened and smeared all those lovely veggies with it’s tart and pungent cheesiness. The vinegar made a bright counterpoint to the spicy basil. 

With each bite I re-invented this dish, first as a sandwich piled high on a baguette and quickly grilled , then as a relish, chopped fine and served beside meatloaf or added to pasta for a healthy flavor punch. 

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Feta Cheese

1 small or ½ medium fennel bulb with fronds attached

1 medium orange bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut lengthwise into 4 or 5 pieces

1 medium red onion cut into ¼ inches thick slices

1 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into ¼ inch slices

1 medium yellow squash cut lengthwise into ¼ inch slices

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

3 Table spoons red wine vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

1½ cups grape tomatoes, halved

½ cup crumbled feta cheese (2½ oz.)

3 tablespoons loosely packed thinly sliced fresh basil

Cut the stalks off the fennel bulb. Remove about ¼ cup of the fronds from the stalks, chop the fronds, and reserve. Cut the fennel in quarter lengthwise and trim away most of the core leaving just enough intact to keep the layers together.  Slice the quarters lengthwise ¼ inch thick.

Prepare a medium gas or charcoal grill fire (alternately, use an indoor grill pan over medium-high heat). Arrange the vegetables in a single layer on a tray or work surface. Brush both sides of the vegetables with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with ¼ teaspoon salt.

Grill the vegetables in batches, flipping once, on both sides are nicely charred and the vegetables are just tender about 12 minutes total for the fennel, 10 minutes total for the pepper and 6 minutes total for the onion and squash. When the vegetables are cool enough to handle, cut them into ½ inch dice and transfer to a large bowl.  Add feta.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, the vinegar, ¼teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Toss the vegetables with the dressing .

Gently stir in the tomatoes and fennel fronds. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.

Serves 4…from Fine Cooking April/May issue

  Holy cow!  Wine society met weeks ago and I’m just now telling you that it was FABULOUS!  The theme was fresh and grilled and we focused on local Farmer’s market ingredients.  This salad is a fine example of local: The arugula and greens came from our garden and though we were a few weeks early for island grown strawberries we managed to get some gorgeous raspberries instead. 

The subtle contrast of sweet and bitter is a sure salad winner but the real gem is this salad is the fennel.  It’s always fun to discover a new ingredient and in the two weeks since we had this salad at wine society I’ve embraced fennel; chopped, braised, added to scrambled eggs and of course in this salad.

I love the unexpected crunch and the spicy, clean taste.  The original recipe called for orange segments and the dressing is anchored by orange juice concentrate and the sweet meets spicy  orange/fennel combination is where the wow is.

Our wine expert, Jerred Wolfe from Palm Bay Imports paired this with Sella Mosca, Torbado.  You’re not alone if you have no idea what this wine is because it’s made from a very unusual grape that is only grown in a small vineyard in Sardinia…I’d never heard of it prior to wine society but I can tell you it’s a luscious wine with bright crisp notes that worked beautifully with this assertive salad.

This is a great summer salad and you can substitute any combination of greens and fruit, as we did, and have an unusual and impressive starter; add more shrimp and it could be a light summer dinner.

I love Sundays.  Its the day my whole family sleeps in, relaxes together and the day I put together our weekly menus.  There are days, like today, when I stare at the empty paper and nothing happens.  I try in vain to summon creative meals beyond tacos and happy bowls and eventually resort to the cookbook shelf.  The cheerful faces of Ina Garten, Kathy Casey and others never fails to inspire me and the thought of all the seasonal goodies in my garden right now brought me to this fresh and light Sunday dinner.

Fresh Pea Soup

From:  Barefoot Contessa at Home

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 5 cups freshly shelled peas or 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen peas
• 2/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche
• 1/2 cup freshly chopped chives
• Garlic croutons, for serving

Directions

Heat the butter in a large saucepan, add the leeks and onion, and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the onion is tender. Add the chicken stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the peas and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the peas are tender. (Frozen peas will take only 3 minutes.) Off the heat, add the mint, salt, and pepper.

*Puree the soup in batches: place 1 cup of soup in a blender, place the lid on top, and puree on low speed. With the blender still running, open the venthole in the lid and slowly add more soup until the blender is three-quarters full. Pour the soup into a large bowl and repeat until all the soup is pureed. Whisk in the creme fraiche and chives and taste for seasoning. Serve hot with garlic croutons.

Note: Cross posted from Bainbridge Style.

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Something wonderful happens when friends gather to cook.    Together we become more than the sum of our parts. We dream (Food Friday goes to France) we plan (Cable TV show?!) we share.   We eat and talk and mostly we have fun and when I leave a food Friday I’m invincible.  My friends have convinced me.

Food is love and that is never more apparent than on Food Friday.

We’ve changed our focus a bit.  Food Friday has become a culinary classroom.  We’re using Mastering the Art of French Cooking as our text and have recently mastered poached eggs (fresh is best) and  pastry shells (keep it cold).  This week we tackled soufflés and soup and each week we challenge ourselves to try something new…Like sorrel.

Sorrel.  I’ve heard of it…had a vague notion that it’s green and…that’s about it.  I briefly pondered how an entire greens family could have escaped my notice for so long.  Rebecca from Persephone Farms convinced me I had to try it so I dutifully bought some and came home to flip through cookbooks.  I nibbled the end of a leaf and wow…the flavors are bright and tart but what really surprised me is that I know this flavor.  It’s unique and powerful and earned a place in my taste memory when I was a kid.  We called it “sourgrass” and it grows wild all over the place. 

I did a little research and it turns out, the sourgrass of my childhood is sheep sorrel and can be used in soups, salads and tarts, just like the culinary sorrel you can buy at the Bainbridge Island Farmer’s Market right now!

Larry from the Suquamish farmer’s market  (Wednesday from 3-6)sold me a plant and the idea of sorrel soup.  He used to run the cafe at Bainbridge Gardens and makes the best gazpacho I’ve ever tasted to I took his advice.  Many of his recipes originate with Julia so I went to our text.

Ms. Child’s says “This is a lovely soup, and a perfect one for an important dinner.”  I love that, the whole idea of entertaining “important” people at home. 

This soup is indeed elegant and charming.  It’s rich with bright flavor, smoothed out with some fresh cream.   Elaine our expert on all things French just closed her eyes and sighed,  “I’ve been waiting for this.”

We all had seconds.

Potage Crème d’Oseille

From: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1/3 cup minced green or yellow onions

3 tablespoons butter

3-4 packed cups of fresh Sorrel leaves and tender stems washed, dried in a towel and cut into chiffonade (thin slices or shreds).

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons of flour

5 1/2 cup boiling chicken stock

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup whipping cream

1-2 tablespoons softened butter

Cook the onions slowly in butter in a covered saucepan for 5-10 minutes, until tender and translucent but not browned.

Stir in sorrel and salt, cover, cook slowly for about five minutes or until the leaves are tender and wilted.

Sprinkle in the flour and stir over moderate heat for 3 minutes.

Off heat, beat the boiling stock.  Simmer for five minutes.

Blend the yolks and cream in a mixing bowl.  Beat a cupful of hot soup into them by dribbles.  Gradually beat in the rest of the soup in a thick stream.  Return soup to a saucepan an stir over moderate heat for a minute or two to poach the eggs yolk. but do not bring the soup to the simmer.  Off heat stir  in the enrichment butter a tablespoon at a time.

Pour the soup in a tureen or soup cups and decorate with optional sorrel leaves.

Note: Cross posted from Bainbridge Style.

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The corner of my parent’s vegetable garden has, for as long as I can remember, been home to a venerable old rhubarb plant.  When I was small, I’d sneak some, choosing the smaller stalks so my mom wouldn’t notice.  She never called me on it but I got a few helpful discussions about removing the poisonous leaves to the compost bin, so I’m pretty sure she was onto me. 

Today I found Elizabeth in the greenhouse harvesting arugula.  We’d planted it together a month or so ago and it’s hers, but still she froze in that sort of “am I allowed to do this?” way that children do when they explore and adventure on their own.  Her plants are strong and healthy and I told her so and offered to get her a bowl to contain her harvest.  A few minutes later we sat side by side on the deck eating arugula fresh from my 4 year-old’s garden.

It was heaven.

So, I realize that not only did my mom know what I was up to in the rhubarb patch, it made her happy.  And that makes me happy.  So I guess I could say that rhubarb makes me happy.  Whenever I see it, I’m reminded of those sunny spring mornings when I’d raid the garden and to this day I’m especially fond of rhubarb jam and rhubarb pie. 

On Saturday the Bainbridge Island Farmer’s market opened with music, a dog and pony (miniature horse to be specific) show, and loads of island grown produce, bread, jam, and plants.  I bought two beautiful lilac trees; gray with lichen, farm fresh eggs,  plants for my vegetable garden and two pounds of rhubarb.

I roasted the rhubarb with wine and sugar and a vanilla bean using this recipe from Molly at Orangette.   Hollind made this at our last food Friday and it’s so delicious I had to have a batch for myself.  Molly’s recipe makes enough filling for four mini-pies.

Elizabeth and I have a date to plant lettuce and sorrel now, she’s waiting for me in the garden.

See you tomorrow at the Bainbridge Island Farmer’s Market.

Note: Cross posted from Bainbridge Style.

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It seems that you either love oysters or hate them.  I’m in the first camp while my esteemed husband is firmly in the latter. As marital discord goes, this is fairly minor but it seems that most of my oyster consumption occurs when Ross is absent.  As infidelity goes, this too is fairly minor but I do try to be discreet.

So, when spring break arrived and Ross had a big meeting to prepare for, the kids and I retired to our rustic (emphasis here) cottage on the coast leaving Ross behind on the island.  The road to the coast passes acres of oyster beds and Copalis Beach is known as the razor clam capital of the world.  We arrived and unpacked, visions of sandcastles, beach fires and shellfish dancing in our heads.

But it was not to be, winter storms rolled in.  One day turned into two and before I knew it three days had passed with no break from the damp weather.  There comes a time when you begin to look for signs (you know…from above) and start making deals with yourself about how many more times you can listen to the Dora theme song before you break.  In my case the sign arrived in the form of an A-board advertising four dozen oysters for 20 dollars.

Turns out the kids favor their dad and aren’t oyster fans either.  Calls of Yuck! and I’m not eating those! accompanied my bargaining but I’d been tuning them out for days so it was easy to ignore them.

One woman…four dozen oysters…

Where to begin?

I’m no fan of shucking so when we got back to the cottage and Dora and Backpack took over with the kids, I lit the grill.  Oysters poached in their shell are plump and moist and depending on how you like them, just a bit jiggly.  They’re also fast.  Ten minutes and you’re enjoying piping hot, juicy oysters.  They need no embellishment but I suppose you could dribble them with Tobasco or dredge them in melted butter.

When you’ve got four dozen oysters and some time on your hands you get some pretty good practice in pairing.  One of my absolute favorites is grilled oysters and radishes.  Get a nice fresh baguette from Pane d’Amore, some salted organic butter and lovely, dewy, radishes.  Slice the baguette and spread with butter (this is not the time to be worrying about calories…really slather it on) top with thinly sliced radishes and a sprinkle of smoked sea salt.

As for wine…oysters are notoriously difficult to pair but we have some of the best shellfish wines in the world right here on Bainbridge Island.  I didn’t have the foresight to buy wine in advance of my oyster fest but I have it on good authority that I would have been quite happy with a bottle of Perennial Vintner’s Melon de Bourgogne. 

Kim Hendrickson, organizer of the upcoming New Releases Celebration and Wine Tasting in Downtown Winslow on April 24th, says, “I like this homegrown version of muscadet so much I’m organizing a shellfish tent around it.” You can read about the wine by clicking here Bainbridge Wine Weekend.

Grilled Oysters

Light grill and allow it to heat.  When the internal temp is 350 or above place the rinsed oysters, cup side down and close the lid.  Wait six minutes and take a peek.  If any have opened remove them, and those that are smaller.  Close grill for two more minutes and then remove any remaining oysters.  You may have to do some prying but you want to get them off the heat while they are still juicy.

Enjoy.

Note: Cross posted from Bainbridge Style.

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When you live on an island things are just different.  For instance, it wasn’t until I moved to Bainbridge that I could have conceived of an Easter on-the-water balloon chase in tiny sailboats.  One day, not long after we’d bought our charming but decrepit farmhouse and while still very much in the throes of “Oh wow, we live on an island”, we watched this distinctive island scene unfold:

Happy sounds drifted across the bay.  An event was in progress at the Port Madison Yacht Club.  Before long a fleet of sailing dinghies launched and a hundred balloons skittered across the water.  The dinghies raced along, life-jacketed kids scooping wayward balloons.  Parents cheered from the club dock and I suspect a bit of smack talk between the adult skippers (but here I embroider as I wasn’t close enough to hear.)

Yesterday a dozen years after that first wonderful glimpse into the uniqueness of island life, we are the parents shouting encouragement while our life-jacketed kids hang precariously over the side of a swiftly moving vessel scooping up jelly bean filled balloons.  We had front row seats for the action from the rescue boat. Our mission was to scoop up wet kids (none) and runaway balloons (a few and it’s much harder than it looks), but mostly we sat back and enjoyed the ride, feeling like we’d been granted admission inside a particularly beautiful snow globe (no snow, just the magic of being inside something so rare and wonderful). 

After the excitement, the chocolate bunnies, the egg-toss (this two-year reigning champ was unseated by an eight year old) we dinghied back across the bay for an Easter dinner of grilled oysters and steamer clams, fresh baguettes and a crunchy salad.  More on the oysters soon.

Sadly I have no pictures to share with you.  My camera and I have been having some technical difficulties.  Would love to hear about your unique island experiences if you’d like share.

Cheers.

Note: Cross posted from Bainbridge Style.

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Sorry I’ve been such a no show in the blog department.  I could give you all the reasons or just cut to the chase and tell you that my camera and I re-united, the grill is heating for fresh Willapa oysters, pizza dough is rising beside the wood stove and I’m determined to finally perfect tortas de aceite those olive oil crisp breads I fell in love with last summer in Spain.

Spring break has begun and I wish you all well this week.

Please stay tuned.

Carla

Note: Cross posted from Bainbridge Style.

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