Berry Week 2013 - PNW 75

Iiiittt'ssss.... BERRY WEEK!

I've always loved berries. Growing up, I would have thrown my brother over a cliff to take his share of straberries. He would have willinginly done me in for my share of devonshire cream. In the end, our cahoots and loittering would have been better matched except that we seemed to care more about the other failing than succeeding ourselves (ah, childhood).

As I've grown up, my love of berries hasn't waivered. While strawberries are still my favorite, my time in the northwest has cultivated a special love of blackberries. After my recent trip abroad, I already shared the magic that is tea-based simple syrup. As we started talking about berry week, and with a case of home-sickness after being out of town for most of June, I really wanted to play homage to the Pacific Northwest. It didn't take long for me to arrive at a Pacific Northwest version of a French 75.

French 75s are fantastic little treats that (like many things I've come to love) sounded terrible at first. The cocktail consists of gin and simple syrup mixed with champagne, finished with a lemon twist. Since initially hearing about this concoction, I remained weary until I was able to try some truly fantastic options at classy bars. By using a dry champagne, the sweetness of the syrup does not overpower. And also it turns out that I haven't met a glass of bubbles (in any form) that isn't my BFF. In this cocktail version, I substituted lemon for blackberry, and used some of the reserved simple syrup from the link above.

I've included two versions below - one more traditional style using just gin, and a second version substituting some of the gin for a tea-infused vodka I found while wandering around the liquor store. I thought the gin version was great - but the tea flavor was not as strong as I prefer. My favorite part about the vodka was that it added more tea flavor without sweetness. But even as I wrote out the recipe, the combination of vodka and gin sounded... terrible. It is not. And I didn't even get a hangover after drinking testing two whole cocktails. 

After having a little sip on this cocktail, don't forget to check out the other wonderful contributions (edible and drinkable!) for Berry Week!

Monday: Comfortably Domestic-Fresh Strawberry Pie / La Petite Pancake-Berry Sangria
Tuesday: Inside NanaBread's Head-Annie's Blackberry Cake / From My Sweet Heart-Summer Berry Terrine with Mascarpone Whipped Cream
Wednesday: Climbing Grier Mountain-Vanilla Gelato with Peach-Blueberry Compote & Honey Whipped Cream / Tenaciously Yours-Strawberry Smash
Thursday: Country Cleaver-Berry Sorbet Float / The Girly Girl Cooks-Strawberry-Rhubarb Stuffed French Toast
• Friday: Buffy and George-Black Raspberry & Cherry Pie with a Gluten-Free Crust/ Pineapple and Coconut with Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream / The Grommom-Berry Crisp
Saturday: Munchin' in the Mitten-Cherry Clafoutis / Decadent Philistines Save the World-Raspberry Marshmallows (served two ways)

PNW 75
Makes 2 cocktails
3 blackberries
1 jigger earl grey simple syrup
1 jigger Tanqueray gin
1 jigger  Absolut Wild Tea vodka
Champagne

In a cocktail shaker, muddle 3 blackberries with some ice. Add in the syrup and two liquors. Top with ice and shake vigorously until the shaker is frosty on the outside. Strain the mixture between two cocktail glasses. Top with champagne (almost 1:1 ratio). Sit back, sip, enjoy. 
Repeat as needed following travel.

Caramel Week: Red Wine Caramel Sauce

Welcome back for my second recipe as part of Caramel Week!

Truth: caramel making always made me super nervous. The molten sugar? The burning? The crystalizing? Cleaning?!? No thanks. Obviously I was missing out on some crazy mouth parties.

I've seen a great many fruit-flavored caramels, and several booze caramels, but it wasn't until I had a half a bottle of red lying around (trust me - a rarity) that I wondered if I could combine that with caramel. Yes - it took booze to help me take the risk of making a caramel sauce. And I don't mind telling you that I failed THREE TIMES before I finished. But when I did...

 

So worth it. First I tried cooking a simple caramel before adding wine and butter... but without the fat to bind to the sugars, I got lumps of sugar in my wine. The second time, I tried a recipe without water in the sugar, it didn't melt - I just got a giant disc of hard sugar. The third time burned (from amber to burned in the blink of an eye). 

But the third time, I finally had it figured out. First the wine was reduced by half while being infused with a little bit of vanilla bean. Then, and a basic caramel was started (sugar with a little water). Then, the wine was added to the cooked caramel - the reduction helped create a homogynized mixture. A little cream, butter, and grey sea salt finished off the sauce. The dark wine (I happened to have malbec on hand) created a very deep flavor despite not creating a very deep caramel color. The final texture is somewhere between "pourable" and "spreadable". It would be great in pie, dipped with fruit, licked off fingers... really anything.

Be sure to check out the other caramel week contributors, as well!

Monday--Comfortably Domestic-Crockpot Dulce de Leche / La Petite Pancake-Caramel Banana Bread Pudding

Tuesday--Decadent Philistines Save the World-Salted Caramel Pork Loin with Shaved Brussel Sprout and Apple Salad / Bakeaholic Mama-Chewy Rolo Brownies

Wednesday--Inside NanaBread's Head-Chocolate Alfajores with Salted Vanilla Bean Caramels / Comfortably Domestic-Alfajores Caramel Sandwich Cookies / The Girly Girl Cooks-Caramel Ice Cream Crunch Bars / Climbing Grier Mountain-Dulce de Leche Milkshakes with Caramel Drizzle

Thursday--Tenaciously Yours-Popcorn Crunch Sundae  / Kvetchin' Kitchen - Red Wine Caramel Sauce

Friday--Country Cleaver-Pear Caramel Mini Cheesecakes / Munching in the Mitten-Caramel Cake

Saturday--Comfortably Domestic-DIY Dulce de Leche Coffee Creamer

Red Wine Caramel Sauce
Adapted from Epicurious.com

1/2 Vanilla Bean, halfed lengthwise and scraped
1 cup red wine (I used malbec, but about anything would do)
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
2 Tbls butter
2 Tbls heavy cream
Pinch grey sea salt

1.  Add the vanilla bean pod and scrapings into a small saucepan. Add the wine. Simmer over Medium-Low heat until reduced by about half (mine took ~10 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, add the sugar and water to a separate pan. Stir to dissolve. Over Medium-High heat, melt the sugar until it forms a pale amber color - it will continue to deepen as you remove it from the heat.
3. Remove the pods from the wine reduction discard. Add the wine to the caramel by pouring it down the side of the pan. Stir thoroughly to combine. Add the butter until melted and combined. Finish with the cream. Add a heavy pinch of grey sea salt (to taste, of course).
4. Pour into a mason jar to cool. Will stay about 1 week in the refrigerator.

Fungus Among Us

Welcome to Soup Week! I have the honor of helping to close an awesomely delicious week, full of recipes and wonderful bloggers that want you to feel just a little warmer.

Egg hearts soup!

For my soup, let me just start by saying that I am a recent convert to the house of fungus. My parents can tell stories of stand-offs that began with mushrooms. Even my favorite Tuna Nuna Casserole would come under sudden scrutiny if I found a rogue piece of mushroom from the cream of mushroom soup. Stroganoff was a complete disaster - with visable mushrooms? Forget about it. And to be honest, it was rarely about the taste - and almost always about the gummy, chewy texture. When I went to a biology class and heard how mushrooms are part plant, part animal. They don't use chlorophyll like plants - they reach their roots out to seek food. That skeeved me out! I made a vow - no mushrooms.

The thing is... tastes change. And one day in college, a girlfriend made some stuffed mushrooms. The smell was intoxicating. I tried one. I loved them. And have not stopped. Mini bellas are my favorite - and I'm gradually branching out to more. This soup was a test in the varieties. If you like all sorts of mushrooms, this soup is a great way to experiment. If you want to play it safe, by all means edit the varieties. There's not much cream in this soup, so it's not so heavy. I served this with an egg, shredded chicken, sausage, or over orzo. You could use rice, diced potato, or quinoa. My favorite is a poached egg and a side of focaccia (not pictured). I also served it with just a dash of siracha to warm up my blood, and just a finish of our special Italian olive oil.

The bread (that we practically swallowed whole, hence no photo) is an easy bread that I've made before. I use my bread maker to combine and knead it, but then I let it rest, spread out, rise, and bake. It's spongey, and a great way to sop up this meaty tasting vegetarian soup. The original recipe calls for rosemary, which I omitted here because I thought it overpowered the soup.

When you're done here, be sure to check out the other Soup Week options!
Monday:
Comfortably Domestic's Broccoli Cheddar Soup
The Girly Girl's Hearty Vegetable Mexican Soup
Hill Country Cook's 3 Bean & Spinach Soup

Tuesday:
Munching in the Mitten's Garbage Soup
La Petite Pancake's Gnocchi & Pesto Soup

Wednesday:
Country Cleaver's 40-clove Garlic Soup
Grier Mountain's Sunchoke Soup with Gorgonzola

Thursday:
The Grommom's Coconut Curry Soup
Bakeaholic Mama's Beef Bourguignon

Friday:
Tenaciously Your's White Chicken Chili
Decadent Philistine's Arizona Mountain Soup

Saturday:
From My Sweetheart's Pink Prosecco Soup
 Inside NanaBread's Head's Shrimp Bisque

And now...  

Creamy Mushroom Soup!
From Smitten Kitchen

1 ounce dried mushrooms (porcini, morels, or shitakes)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 sprigs of rosemary
4 sprigs of sage
1 large yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper
1 pound white button mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 pound shitake mushrooms stemmed, cleaned and thinly sliced
6 cups chicken stock or water
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Soak the dry mushrooms in 1 cup of warm water for 20 to 30 minutes, until they have reconstituted. Set aside.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat. Bundle the rosemary and sage together and tie with kitchen twine. When the oil is hot, add the herb bundle and sizzle for a few minutes on both sides to infuse the oil.
4. Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent but not brown.
5. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the white mushrooms and shitakes.
6. Cook for 10 minutes, during which the mushrooms will give off their liquid (which should evaporate quickly due to the high heat) and deflate significantly. Stir occasionally.
7. Add the chicken stock and the dried mushrooms along with the soaking water.
8. Simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the herbs, then add the cream and butter. Remove from heat, and use an immersion blender to blend the soup until completely smooth. You can also puree in a blender, working in batches. Keep at a very low simmer until ready to serve.

Focaccia
Adapted from Betty Crocker's Best Bread Machine Cookbook

3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups bread four
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons quick active yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt

1. Place all ingredients except for last 2 in the bread machine, in the order suggested by the manufacturer. 
2. Select Dough/Manual cycle.
3. When the signal beeps, remove the dough from the pan. Let it rest on a floured surface for about 10 minutes.
4. Grease a large cookie sheet. Pat the dough into a (roughly) 12-inch circle. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
5. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Using your fingertips, gently push on the dough to make depressions all over (like little craters). Drizzle the dough with the remaining olive oil, and sprinkle with coarse salt to taste. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown.