September 7, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

MTL

I’m posting this from the internet void… Spooky, huh?

Well, actually, I am just in Montreal, for the weekend.

(It’s still my summer, ok? I can do what I want on a whim. Labor Day be damned.)

But I didn’t want to leave you guys with that last post, which didn’t even have a recipe (the nerve!) for the next few days or so.

Thus, I am here. Sort of. Here in spirit.

I love writing posts ahead of time and then scheduling them.

I usually forget about them… but then, when I come back to blogger, it’s like I gave myself a gift!

Surprise!!!

The Blog Fairy came and left you a nice little Post Present!

I’m going to do another (shorter) link-peppered post.

Similar to this one, but more rushed and with fewer links.

Sounds great, right? Let’s get into it then!

I’ve just started reading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.

(The books are gigantic. Holy mackerel!)

Obviously, I’ve watched all the seasons of the HBO show, which I am completely obsessed with (currently rewatching season 2), but now I’m getting into the books.

Mostly because I’m impatient and greedy, and waiting until next year to find out what happens next will literally kill me.

Speaking of literally, they augmented the definition in Merriam-Webster.

Now, literally means literally, as well as virtually.

Which doesn’t make much sense, but whatever.

I have listened to this poem about OCD around 50 times.

No, I’m not joking. It moves me. I cry every other time. It’s haunting.

Have you heard this remake of Miley’s song?

It makes me actually like the darn song, and not be afraid to admit it.

Soooo good. On repeat.

How about this parody of Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines video?

I’m literally dead from laughing and smiling so hard.

Go, girls!

I’ve lost/misplaced one of my camera lenses.

I’m worried I did something like Heather did!

(How crazy is it that that post is from 3 years ago?! I remember when she first posted that… Yes, I have stalked her blog for that long.)

Speaking of SprinkleBakes, did you see these cookies?

OHMAGAH.

This tart was inspired by the 8-inch cast iron pan I found at an antique store the other day.

Up in the attic, they had hundreds of antique cast iron pans.

Since I’m wistful that I don’t have a cast iron pan handed down for generations (I don’t even get a wok. Like, come on.), I of course snatched one up.

It didn’t need much seasoning; I cleaned it with a little bit of vinegar/water, then rubbed it with coconut oil and set it in a hot oven briefly.

I then recoated it in more coconut oil, and made this crostata/tart/galette.

It’s a buttery shell filled with sweet-tart Italian prune plums, which I topped with lemon thyme infused sugar.

It’s divine still-warm (or reheated), topped with a fat dollop of unsweetened whipped cream.

Italian Prune Plum Galette

ingredients:

1 pound Italian prune plums, halved and pitted

3 tablespoons sugar

1 cup flour

8 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons sugar

big pinch salt

1/4 cup buttermilk

directions:

Cube the butter into tiny pieces.

Toss with the flour, sugar, and salt, and then smash all the little cubes with your fingers, kneading and tossing all the while.

Once they are the size of peas and smaller, switch to stirring with a wooden spoon.

Add in the buttermilk and stir until dough comes together.

Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead once or twice.
Refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Grease an 8-inch pan, or prepare a sheet pan with parchment.

Roll out the dough and place it in the pan.

Arrange the plums on top, and sprinkle them with 3 tablespoons sugar.

Fold the dough over the plums, and bake until golden and bubbling, about 45 minutes in a cast-iron pan.

Enjoy while warm!

August 18, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

Dat New New

Oh, hey.

Didn’t see you there.

Today is mostly photos (and is short and sweet), because I want to share my latest photographic development (get it?) with you, and I have some longer, more involved posts coming up (nothing too crazy).

I recently bought a 100mm macro lens to go along with my new camera.

I love it!

My cats, not so much.

They wish I had never bought it.

I’m still trying to get the hang of it; it’s not as easy as I thought.

Like most things, there’s a learning curve.

I’ve found that it’s the only one of my lenses that I prefer to shoot with on manual focus.

I shove the huge thing right up in my cats’ faces, because I love their eyes.

My dog will have absolutely none of it.

So yes, these are some photos I’ve taken recently.

This is kind of a boring post; I don’t have anything to say.

I made these miniature crinkle cookies as part of small gifts I gave to my best friends.

They’re teeny tiny little things, only 2 teaspoons of batter per cookie.

The recipe is also teeny tiny, making exactly 10 cookies.

Perfect if you need a batch of cookies, but don’t want the burden of 3 dozen.

Meow.

Small Batch Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
adapted from Joy of Baking
ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 an egg (either weigh it and divide by two, or whisk it well and take approximately 2 tablespoons)
splash vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
pinch kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
directions:
Microwave chocolate and butter together on medium power until they are melted, set aside to cool slightly.
Whip the egg with the sugar until pale yellow and doubled in size.
Add the vanilla and chocolate and beat to combine.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt over the top of the mixture.
Beat until batter comes together.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the confectioner’s sugar on a plate or shallow bowl.
Using a 2 teaspoon cookie scoop or two small spoons, form 10 small balls.
Roll well in the confectioner’s sugar so that no brown is showing.
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Bake for 7-8 minutes, until the crackle pattern has formed.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

August 12, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

Peachy Keen

Okay, I left you again, my beloveds. But I am back, and I am not leaving in the foreseeable future (until college. Eep!!)

(And I brought pie!)

I was in NYC and also Connecticut at the ESPN campus (so cool!), tagging along with my dad for the last half-week.
Then, I was enjoying a beautiful, sunny day and evening with friends at Taughannock.

Now, I am here.

Home. And back on le blog.

^The always beautiful S and the charming français, Emile.

(That last link is scary… two birthdays ago! Laughing/cringing at the photography. Don’t laugh at me.

On second thought, don’t click through that link.)

Um, with lack of anything more interesting to say about my trip, here are some things I observed, because I love lists:

Things I Saw in Park Slope and Beyond:

a discarded and seemingly brand new cherry wood spoon

a dozen oyster shells, mixed with

broken ceramics of many colors

an unattended child, sitting quietly in a stroller

thirty thousand vespas

a stroller with 12 wheels (12!)

a sizeable bamboo grove on West 14th, with canes that were 20 or so feet tall

killer fro-yo at Culture (two words: mochi topping)

and a million and one other things but I’m tired of this list so let’s move on.

Highlight of my day: I discovered that two of my photos got published on Tastespotting!

I am very pleased.

However, these exact same photos were rejected on foodgawker.

I am not pleased.

“Composition too tight. Please make more room around the ____ and resubmit.”

If I had more room, don’t you think I would have already tried to cram it into that tiny little square?

Wah.

Okay I’m tired of whining so let’s move on.

(Wait… that’s a first. Tired of whining? Me? NEVER. Can’t stop won’t stop.)

These photos being published on Tastespotting have only aided in my ever-expanding online sharing of photos.

I now have a flickr, facebook, twitter, instagram, blog, and Tastespotting account, through all of which I share photos of food. (I rarely put food photos on twitter or facebook, though.)

And I guess I have a foodgawker, but EVERY PHOTO I have ever submitted gets instantly rejected.

Like this.

My instagram is all food and cats and up-close selfies of my face.

Stop judging me.

Let’s talk about pie.

Pie, pie, pie pie.

Pie pie pie.

Peach pie. Om nom nommedy nom.

We’ve talked about peach pie once before.

As well as peach pie cake

and two peach tarts.

But when I discovered 7 very ripe-borderline too ripe-peaches in the back of my fridge today, I knew the universe was telling me something important.

And it involved pie, so.

See, the most recent Cook’s Illustrated (I have a love/hate/love relationship with this mag, but let’s not get into that) featured their most recent recipe for peach pie.

Obviously, I had to make it/test it for myself.

Fussy magazine instructions be damned.

So let’s talk about this pie.

It ain’t easy, that’s for damn sure. But then again, of course it’s not.

It’s Cook’s Illustrated, for God’s sake, and they can never let anything be easy.

There’s always ten million steps and I usually find there are ways to improve upon what they have given, despite all of their in-depth testing in their test kitchen.

(This may a poorly timed question… but that job sounds awesome. Where do I apply?)

Thus, another list: Things I Wish I Didn’t Have to Do to Make This Pie:
peel the peaches (Said it before, and I’ll say it again: I never peel peaches for pie. I love that fuzzy skin, and I totally approve of this message what it does texture-wise when cooked)
use 3 pounds of peaches (this just seems excessive because you have to peel each one like WHAT)
quarter and then thirds all the peaches (there has to be a more efficient way to do this. Peeled peaches are so very slippery and go shooting off the cutting board like soap)
macerate the peaches (I thought we wanted the juice to stay in)
cook down the resulting juice with pectin (thank God we canned the other weekend… or I would have been out of luck)
mash some of my macerated peaches that I worked SO HARD cutting up (not that hard, but whatever I’m trying to make this list long and dramatic)
use cornstarch (jk I love cornstarch)
ok I’m done

Plus, they gave me some lame-ass pie crust with shortening, giving an excuse about lattice pie crusts needing to hold up or something along those lines. I’m not sure ’cause I stopped reading when I saw Crisco.
I don’t know about you but I am really not down with shortening in pie crusts, but you probably know that because one of my earliest posts was dedicated just to all-butter all-good pastry doughs.
The low down: you can make flaky, flavorful, workable, pliable, tender pie crusts with just butter. You just gotta have the right technique.
And I’m going to share my super-secret method for getting flaky, flaky, flaky pastry.
(Scroll down through the recipe and you’ll see it, as well as a poorly-lit shot meant to demonstrate how flaky the crust is.)

So to wrap this up: their pie filling was good. The texture was perfect, the flavor was too lemony and too sweet for my palette.
I generally use next to no sugar in my pies, but since I was trying to review the recipe, I made no changes to the filling and how it was prepared.
I used my own crust recipe, which has taken a lifetime to develop (practically), because I will always stay loyal to butter and buttermilk.

This was a fussy recipe. But altogether, I would recommend it.
I think I have to say that, because I had two fat wedges of this pie today.
Om nom nommedy nom.

^I ate that piece. Without a fork.

Cook’s Illustrated Peach Pie (with my flaky buttermilk pie crust)

for the buttermilk crust:

makes enough for a double or lattice crust

ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour (315 grams)

1 tablespoon (15 grams) sugar

1 heaping teaspoon kosher salt

16 tablespoons (225 grams) unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup buttermilk, cold (leave it in the fridge until just before you need to use it)

directions:

Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. (Or whisk them together in a large bowl)

Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture has small chunks of butter the size of peas, about 5 2-second pulses or so. (Or cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender.)

Slowly drizzle 1/2 cup of buttermilk into the mixer while giving 1 second pulses. (Or drizzle it over the butter/flour mixture and fold with a spatula)

Feel the dough- when you’ve added adequate liquid, it should be slightly tacky and hold together.

Add up to 1/4 cup more buttermilk if necessary.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll it into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.

Fold the rectangle into thirds and reroll into another rectangle.

Fold the new rectangle into thirds and reroll into another rectangle.

Fold the rectangle once more into thirds and then roll it into a rough rectangle.

Cut the block into two pieces, one slightly smaller than the other.

Chill for at least 30 minutes, wrapped well in plastic.

When you are ready to use the dough, roll the larger piece out until its diameter is about 4 inches larger than your pie pan, then gently place it in the pan, allowing the excess to drape off the edges.

Roll out the other chunk of dough into a rectangle and cut it into long strips.

Chill the strips and the dough in the pan before filling (roll them out before you start the filling).

Once filled, weave the strips into a lattice over the filling. (here is a picture tutorial)

for Cook’s Illustrated Peach Pie Filling:

ingredients:

3 pounds peaches, peeled, quartered, and pitted, each quarter cut into thirds

1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons low- or no-sugar-needed fruit pectin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

1 tablespoon cornstarch

directions:

Toss peaches, 1/2 cup sugar, lemon zest and juice and salt in a bowl; allow to sit for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour.

Combine pectin, 2 tablespoons sugar, and spices in a small bowl.

Transfer 1 cup of peach mixture to a bowl and mash into a coarse paste.

Drain the remaining peaches and measure out 1/2 cup of the liquid; discard the rest.

Place the juice into a pan with the pectin mixture and cook over medium heat until thickened and pectin has dissolved (3-5 minutes).

Toss the remaining peaches with the cornstarch, then add in the peach paste and the peach juice.

to assemble and bake the pie:

ingredients:

cream

turbinado or coarse sugar, or regular sugar

directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chilled bottom crust from the fridge and pour the filling into it.

Weave the chilled lattice strips over top of the filling.

Brush cream gently over the pie top and sprinkle liberally with coarse sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes at 425, then lower the temperature to 350 and bake 35-40 minute more, until the top is deeply golden brown and the filling is bubbling in the center.

August 2, 2013July 3, 2014 by Rachel Sally

Make It Work

Watch out, because whether you like it or not, I’m sharing some shi stuff that I’m loving right now.

This post is peppered with links. Click ’em!

Meow.

Reading Blood and Beauty, a fabulously intricate novel about the Borgia family in 15th century Italy, by Sarah Dunant.

This book is right up my alley. I love historical-fiction novels about European monarchies. (Speaking of which, I’ve just binge-watched the first season of the Tudors.)

Also reading Dash and Bella, a new-to-me blog that makes me laugh and cry and cry and laugh.

Seriously, I read every single post in the span of two days.

I cried three times and laughed the whole way through.

Phyllis is an amazingly personable writer who has a way of transporting her reader into her kitchen.

In other words, she is not a terrible writer.

Watching Pirate Radio, a movie set in 1960s Britain on none other than a pirate radio ship.

I’m actually writing this right after having finished this movie, so it’s still fresh in my mind.

My final thoughts- they did an awesome job with the music and the actors captured the very British and very raucous, racy mood perfectly.

Also watching the new season of Project Runway… Gosh how I love Tim Gunn.

I’ve been watching Project Runway with my dad since the second season.

It’s one of our shows, among the ranks of GoT, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Top Chef, Veep, etc.

Carry on!

Listening to lots of the Rolling Stones- I love rock n roll in the summer time. It makes me feel extra free and fun.

Also listening– this song by Ellie Goulding. Love!

Making these tarts, for a little dinner party, filling them with luscious lime curd and deep dark chocolate ganache.

Also making ice creams and summer succotashes served with hot sauce and scrambled eggs, dreaming of making malasadas and hand pies and ice cream cakes. (I’ll back quite soon with some of these delights!)

Raspberry Tartlettes

makes 5 or 6 small tartlettes or 1 9-inch tart

for the pâte sucrée shells:

ingredients:

12 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups flour

2 medium egg yolks, or one large/extra-large

directions:

Cream the butter, salt, and sugar together on high for 5 minutes, until very fluffy and extremely pale.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the flour, mixing only until the mixture is starting to form large curds.

Add the egg yolks with the mixer running and mix until a cohesive dough comes together.

Press into tartlette molds or a 9 inch tart pan.

Prick all over with a fork, then freeze for at least 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake the shells until they are golden and slightly tanned, 15-18 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

for the lime curd:

ingredients:

3/4 cup lime juice

scant 1 cup sugar

zest of 2 limes

pinch kosher salt

5 medium egg yolks, or 4 large/extra-large

8 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed

directions:

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, rub the lime zest and sugar together until fragrant.

Add in the egg yolks, lime juice, and salt and whisk to combine.

Heat over medium-low heat until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 10 minutes.

The mixture should be thick enough to leave a trail when a spatula is dragged through.

Either transfer mixture to a blender or blend with an immersion blender.

Add in the butter chunks one at a time, blending to emulsify. (If you use a real blender, you can throw half of all the chunks in and just do it in two additions.)

Allow the curd to cool completely before using.

for the salted dark chocolate ganache:

ingredients:

3/4 cup dark chocolate, either chips or chunks, at least 70% cocoa

3 tablespoons heavy cream, or as needed

pinch sea salt

directions:

In a microwave or over a double boiler, melt the chocolate until it is 2/3 of the way melted. (In a microwave, nuke it in 25 second blasts, stirring between each. You will probably need 3 blasts, but it depends on the wattage of your microwave.)

Stir in the heavy cream and sea salt and heat just a little more, to melt it 3/4 of the way.

(In a microwave, this will probably be a 15 second burst.)

Finally, stir the mixture very well until it becomes shiny and glossy.

Allow to cool to body temperature before using.

to assemble:

Fill each of the tartelette shells with a scant 1/2 cup of either mixture.

Smooth out with a small offset spatula or a butter knife.

Decorate with raspberries (you’ll need about 2 pints) and dust with powdered sugar.

July 7, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

The Key Of Life

An Invitation

I will meet you

where the rocks turn green

and slick,

lapped by cool water and rain.

Where the tree branches are lace

against an endless sky-

I will meet you not

where two diverge,

but join.

We will walk

where the smell of

old fallen trees

perfumes the air

and the proud calls

of little birds

tangle in our hair,

in our minds.

Where raindrops run unimpeded

to rivers wide and deep.

Where mist rolls thick

and cotton-soft,

snakelike around our ankles

early in the mornings.

I will meet you where the sun rises

and leave you where it sets.

These are some snapshots of my recent days.

Some come from the market: our farmer’s market is flourishing with life.

Others come from my home or from the lake.

I am so grateful for summer.

Yesterday, I had a horrible accident with my immersion blender.

I will spare you the gory details, but it involved stitches and lots and lots of blood.

I will be out a hand for a few days.

Nevertheless, I have a very exciting post to come tomorrow or the next day.

Also, expect many ice creams to follow in the next few weeks.

It is so hot.

For now, I hope you enjoy these photographs.

They are a small window of my life outside the kitchen.

Gros bisous!

July 3, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

Thyme Out

“Boom,” goes the cannon.

*Canon.

Yes! I got a new camera!

My old Canon Rebel XS treated me very well; it’s a lovely little camera.

I just desperately needed an upgrade- the XS doesn’t have video capabilities and a whole mess of other features that I wish it did, because it’s a pretty intro-level SLR camera.

So, I upgraded!

I’m now shooting with a Canon Rebel T4i, which I love.

It has a touchscreen, HD video, and really clear photos.

The continuous shooting is rocking and the images are crystal clear.

I’m in love, guys!

There have been weeks and weeks of never ending rain

of weather warnings blaring through the television

of flash flooding and full waterfalls

mist spreading far and wide

perfuming the air.

Finally, it’s starting to heat up again.

Unfortunately, it’s very humid due to all the moisture.

My hair is in afro-mode.

I just figure I’ll let it run wild.

So I’m welcoming in this heat with ice cream, the first true ice cream of the summer.

(I made a lot of ice creams for WISE, but they were technically homework!)

This ice cream is rich.

It’s a lovely shade of yellow thanks to the (9) egg yolks, and has a delightful but difficult-to-pinpoint tang from the buttermilk.

My favorite part is how the lemon thyme pairs with the buttermilk.

There’s a balance of acidity and tongue-coating richness that makes this ice cream very difficult to resist.

You don’t need to use so many egg yolks; I happened to have some on hand from a cake that I made earlier in the day.

4 upwards would likely do the trick.

(On that note, there is the longest post ever coming at you in two days or so.

Spoiler alert: it’s got to do with cake. And buttercream.)

I found a gorgeous and huge bunch of lemon thyme at my farmer’s market, and I scooped it up without any real intentions.
Have you ever had lemon thyme?

It’s got a wonderfully floral and lemony scent, but also has some savory thyme flavor.

It’s delightful; I made some lemon-thyme sugar that I plan on using with stone fruits sometime in the near future.

I may be weird, but I just love how thyme is spelled.

I just love it. Thyme thyme thyme.

Have you ever seen the lovely blog My Darling Lemon Thyme?

First of all, the name is too cute to handle.

Like, I can’t handle it.

Secondly, the food is gorgeous and mouthwatering.

There’s no better combination!

Every time I think of lemon thyme, I think of her lovely, lovely blog.

I hope all of you Americans have a wonderful 4th of July!

Once again, happy birthday, America!

Buttermilk and Lemon Thyme Ice Cream
adapted from Claudia Fleming, via Smitten Kitchen
ingredients:
1 1/2 cups half and half
big bunch of lemon thyme or other herb, or use a vanilla pod, split and scraped
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
9 egg yolks
1 cup buttermilk
directions:
Strip the lemon thyme by running pinched fingers along the main woody stem.
Place all the leaves in the half and half in a medium saucepan.
Bring to a simmer; turn off the heat.
Allow to steep for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours at room temperature.
Strain the thyme leaves out; discard.
Using an immersion blender, or switching to a regular blender, blend the sugar, salt, and egg yolks into the half and half.
Heat over medium heat until it comes to a boil, stirring/whisking constantly.
Blend very well with an immersion blender, or pour the mixture back into your blender canister and blend extremely well; you want any lumps or curds that formed to be smoothed back into the mixture, and this takes a good minute and a half with a hand blender.
Blend in the buttermilk and chill until very cold; press saran wrap onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
Churn in your ice cream maker!
(Shown in pictures with freshly whipped cream, strawberries, and blueberries.)

June 12, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

The Last Stretch

I know I’ve been a negligent blogger.

I will be back on Thursday…

Here. Have some links to feel included.

I’m watching this (and all the others in the series). OMG.

“Disguising itself as a small teddybear undergoing a colonoscopy…“

I’m listening to these guys.

I’m tent-stalking. (I think I want the Marmot Limelight 3P 3-season… any suggestions?)

And… Watch this until I can come back and give you some sugar… See what I did there?!

Oh… and P.S. here’s some photos of my pup and me… being puppies. I meant to add these to this, but I figured I had enough extraneous photos on that post.

Please ignore my hairdos.

May 7, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

Love’s Light Wings

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

by any name would smell as sweet…”

Romeo and Juliet, Act II Scene II

Yesterday, I ran a marathon.

Which is my excuse for not having a WISE blog post in more than a week.

It’s also my excuse for being late to all my classes today.

Stairs are just a wee bit difficult today.

Here’s a Super Sad True Love Story super short true summary of the super long (26.2 mile) race:

(I break long runs into chunks… I like to pretend that it makes it less mentally exhausting.

It doesn’t. But hey.)

Miles 1-8 are terrifying. In the beginning, I’m stiff and aching and tired, which makes me very nervous for what’s ahead, seeing as I’m huffing and puffing and I’ve only run 2 miles.

Luckily, by mile 6, I’m locked and loaded on cruise control.

At which point, I look at my Garmin and realize,

I have 20 miles to go. Jésus Marià.

Miles 8-13 are spent surreptitiously looking at my fellow runners’ shoes, to see which of them have the bright orange D tags which were only given to marathon runners to record times. I have the sinking realization that there aren’t many runners around me with tags.

Miles 13-20 are my fastest. I spend time listening to “I Don’t Care” by Iconapop. As in, on repeat for about 50 minutes. No shame.

I pick out runners to pass and do so by powering through all of the water stations- I keep the word “slingshot” in my head and will myself not to stop or slow down, and in doing so, spill about 4 brimming cupfuls of bright orange Gatorade down my white shirt. Good looks.

Miles 20-25 are grueling. The stations ran out of power gels around mile 18, and my own supply has also been completely diminished. My glycogen is running on red and I am not a happy camper.

I keep thinking why the hell Pheidippides didn’t take a damn horse.

Seriously, what in god’s name was wrong with him?

25-26.2 are like running another 12 miles. Where was the finish line again?

Why do I still see people running?

Are we done yet?

My intended mile split was a 10:25. I ended up finishing 23 seconds ahead of that, with a 10:02 average mile split. I’m not the fastest, that’s fo’ sho. Honestly I’m just glad to have crossed the finish line!!!

(Turns out, I finished first in my division, female 15-19 year olds. That was a surprise!)

Back to our regularly scheduled program: WISE jabber.

In class today, I had a revelation: in truth, I’ve been doing plenty of “research,” which is basically just utilizing different sources.

What I haven’t been doing is keeping a proper log of said resources- different blogs and cookbooks etc.- which means that I have some serious back work to do. Ahem.

Also, I received my time slot for my presentation!

June 10th from 3-4 PM. More details later.

I chose the name of this post, and the intro, because a) it’s one of Shakespeare’s most classic, and one of my favorite, scenes and b) because the dessert I’m showing to you is a misnomer and should have a different name.

Right? Right.

This dessert is based on a deconstruction of the famous German chocolate cake.

Which, in truth, is not the slightest bit German.

It’s based off of a recipe that appeared in 1957 in a newspaper’s recipe of the day column, which used a type of chocolate that had been developed more than a century earlier, in 1852, by Sam German, a worker in the Baker’s chocolate factory; it was a sweeter dark baking chocolate, which was marketed as Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate.

Thus was the German chocolate cake born, a coconut and pecan and chocolate melange that is not the most attractive, but one of the more delicious.

German cake≠German. Confusing, I know.

(This information is from The Baker Chocolate Company: A Sweet History by Anthony M. Sammarco, googlebook accessed via Wikipedia.)

This dessert has the added benefit of being completely vegan.

I’m thinking of using a version of this for my presentation, because it would be incredibly easy to make gluten-free, thus making it almost entirely allergy-free (it does have coconut and pecan… those are kind of unavoidable) and a good dessert to share with many people who may have various allergies.

I plated it two ways because I couldn’t get a quenelle to smooth out the first go-round and I ended up disliking the chocolate flecks on the first few plates.

(P.S. remember how I was so pumped about my quenelles a few WISE posts back?

Yeah, those darned footballs are coming back to bite me in the butt. It took me a good 5 minutes to get the quenelle you see perfectly smooth. My family keeps recycling the containers I use for my ice cream, so that’s not helping…)

*Note to my father: Can you please, please, please stop recycling the date containers that I diligently wash out and save? You’re making my quenelles ten times more difficult than they need to be. Thank you. Loveyameanit.*

German

chocolate cake

salted caramel

bittersweet ganache

candied pecans

coconut ice cream

Mile 12.5. Eating a gu and feeling güd.

Mile 20. The longest uphill slog of the course; it was gradual, but felt never ending.

Mile 25; back on the streets.

Don’t let the smile fool you; I could barely remain standing long enough to rip off my water belt and iPod in order to take this photo.

“German”

for the cake:

ingredients:

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

4 teaspoons extra dark cocoa powder

rounded 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil, measured then melted

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup water

directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a six inch cake pan with baking spray.

Stir the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together.

Add the coconut oil and vinegar, then the water, and stir it all together, gently.

Once it is just barely homogeneous, pour into the pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cake is springy to the touch and a tester comes out clean.

for the ganache:

ingredients:

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped finely

2 ounces sugar

2 ounces coconut milk, light or full-fat

1 tablespoon coconut oil

pinch kosher salt

directions:

Place the chocolate, oil, and salt in a bowl.

Heat the milk and sugar up together until boiling, then pour over the chocolate.

Allow to sit for 3 minutes, then stir together.

Blend with an immersion blender to emulsify.

for the caramel:

ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

6 tablespoons coconut milk, light or full-fat

1 tablespoon coconut oil

liberal pinch kosher salt

directions:

Heat the sugar up in a heavy saucepan with tall sides until deep amber, about 7 minutes.

Once the sugar reaches the proper color, remove from heat and add the milk and oil.

Mixture will bubble and sizzle violently.

Whisk until smooth, then add in the salt.

If caramel gets a skin before use, just gently heat and stir to return it to proper consistency.

for the candied pecans:

ingredients:

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar

pinch kosher salt

1/4 cup (you could go up to almost 1/2 cup with this amount of glaze; you’ll have extra if you use 1/4 cup) pecan halves

directions:

Toast the pecans lightly in a skillet, about 2 minutes.

In another saucepan, heat the oil, vinegar, sugar, and salt until bubbling.

Remove from heat and stir in pecans.

Pour mixture onto a sheet pan lined with silpat.

Allow to cool until glaze sets.

for the ice cream:

ingredients:

1 can (14 ounces) light coconut milk

1 tablespoon coconut oil

pinch salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

directions:

Bring everything to a boil, whisking constantly.

Transfer to a blender canister and allow to sit for 4 minutes to cool.

Blend, being careful to vent the blender and cover with a towel to protect yourself from hot splashes, until frothy and homogeneous.

Allow to cool to room temperature, then freeze in your ice cream machine.

Store in freezer until use.

to assemble:

toasted coconut

directions:

Plate the caramel sauce and the ganache first; either smear them both across the plate or use a fork’s tines to splatter the chocolate onto the plate.

Arrange cake crumbles on one end of the smears; follow with candied pecans.

Carefully place coconut where desired.

Finish with a scoop or quenelle of coconut ice cream.

April 7, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

La Mer, Mon Amour

I love the sea.

That said, I am not one of the lucky few who feel most comfortable in the ocean.

It should be noted that they are a subset even of those who feel at home in the water, because the ocean, in its unending vastness, in its power and unfathomable profundity, is incomparable to pools and ponds.

It is a special person, indeed, who is a creature of the sea.

Moral of the story, I’m more of a sea-groupie.

I love the smell and the sound, love the taste and feel, I love to lounge and laze at the edge, to dip in and quickly back out, indulging myself in my briny coat.