How to Make Quark

This year was an amazing year in regards to my culinary education.  I usually make New Year's Resolutions and for 2012, most of my resolutions centered around exploring new things and improving upon my limited knowledge of other things. This year, for me, was all about documenting my experiences with the things I personally enjoy the most, which are gardening and cooking.

On the list were things like:

1. Learn how to make cheese.
2. Learn about raw diets and improving health
3. Grow better beets.
4. Improve my techniques for propagating roses.
5. Practice acceptance and tolerance.

So, it's clear some of those items are lifelong ambitions. I'm ok with that. I recognize the importance of learning new things, improving old skills and practicing a wide range of objectives I am neither new to or good at, but one of my passions is food and as such, this gives me quite a wide canvas with which to practice, practice, practice.

I made quark for the first time this year and after seeing how easy it was, it is really hard to imagine why this lovely, creamy, soft cheese isn't available here in the U.S.  At least, I've never seen it in a store and the closest thing I have seen is what the ethnic groceries call "farmer's cheese". No idea yet whether this is the same, but something tells me it is not.

Quark (pronounced just like it looks) is the European's version of  "philly" cream cheese. In fact, when you are in Germany or Austria, they may not know what cream cheese is but if you say "Philly", they know exactly what you mean.  They look similar but they are not at all the same ball of cheese. 

Americans have not been properly introduced to this delicacy, so I am happy to do the honors if this is new to you, too.  Trust me, you will love this cheese if you have any cheese loving qualities in your heart at all. It is not only easy to make at home but it can be eaten sweet or savory, as well.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 gallon of organic cultured Buttermilk (as fresh as possible; check the dates!)
2. 1 gallon of organic whole cow's milk (as fresh as possible; check the dates!)

How to Make Quark:

1. Let milk come to room temperature and then combine the milks into a large stockpot that can hold your milk. You can use more or less of the two milks above. Those ratios don't have to be exact. This ratio is a bit overkill and lazy, however, it works well. Regardless, I try to use at least a 1-4 ratio of buttermilk to milk.  Use a pot with a lid so you can keep it covered while it does its magic.
2. Let milk sit at room temperature overnight or up to 48 hours. It shouldn't take that long but since this is a mesophilic culture, it means that this culture requires "meso" or medium temperatures to culture properly. In cheese language, that means not too hot or cold, so warmish room temperatures are ideal. In the winter in Minnesota, it can take almost two days if my kitchen is on the cool side.
3. Once the whole pot has cultured, it will look almost solid, like a good set jello mold and it is ready.  You are supposed to cut the quark with a long knife or spatula in a grid pattern. This creates the "curd" and allows it to separate from the whey. Curds and whey? Little Miss Muffet was probably making quark... Not entirely necessary but kinda fun in a messy kid sort of way.
4. Strain the quark to drain off excess whey.  Here, you can make it as dry or as soft as you like. The longer you strain it, the dryer in texture. Too dry, it gets a tad crumbly but some Germans like it this way. Too wet and the cheese will weep a bit, pooling whey in the cheese, which some Germans also like. It's up to you so test it along the way to see what you prefer.  And in case you didn't know better, save the whey! It is very nutritious and you can use it to make bread, soup, stock, broth, or feed your plants. Seriously, it is just as valuable as the cheese itself.  You can even drink it.

What to do with it?

1. Make German Cheesecake, duh?!
2. Make Breakfast quark - German equivalent to yogurt with fruit preserves or fresh fruit. They love pineapple. Interesting and true.  This is pineapple, quark and condensed milk for sweetness. Super yummy.
3. Add chives, onions, salt and pepper and serve it with baked potatoes. You won't go back to sour cream... ok, maybe you will want this AND sour cream. :)
4. Spread it on toast with some jelly. By now, you know what to do with this... if not, figure it out because it is some righteous cheese. 
5. Make Stollen!!  oh yea!  one of my all time favorite Christmas classics, unplugged! I will post my recipe for that in my next post hopefully because my first try rocked my world and the secret ingredient was in fact, my homemade quark!  This is even better for Christmas than my Dad's favorite Christmas raisin bread.

If you don't know what any of this is... then open your mouths, your bellies and your minds, American friends because you are about to be blown away by this little cheese with a million purposes. All good eats, no matter who you are. Unless of course you are allergic to dairy then we have to find something goat-y for you... I made a chevre cheesecake last week and that was pretty darn easy and awesome, too, so stay tuned and by all means, let me know how this works for you.

Pickle Peppers in a Kimchi Jar!

My hubby's million dollar secret... Revealed.  Need I say more?  Oh, ok. Let me explain...

This is an experiment pickling smaller batches of peppers using my nifty Kimchi pickling jar.  For those of you who have never made Kimchi before, I will write a post or maybe several, about this topic, but for now, let's discuss how to make your own Tabasco hot sauce.

For years, my hubby and I have grown the hottest peppers on the planet, long before it was posh or cool or hip to eat hot foods. I'm a Southern girl, raised on Tabasco.

My first garden here in Minnesota had 45 varieties of peppers growing in it and nothing else...  My husband came to love the really really hot stuff after we started growing peppers on his apartment balcony when we were first dating. The rest is hot sauce history.

I have posted the "recipe" for making pickled peppers the old fashioned way, using a Gartopf fermentation crock.  However, I wanted to show you this way of doing it, too. The Kimchi jar was perfect!  Not only did it allow us to make a smaller batch of hot sauce but we could also see the fermentation in action, which is kinda cool.

As is the case with the Gartopf crock, this jar has a "cup" on top of the mouth of the jar and a wide rim on the well which holds water to create a seal. The seal keeps critters and dust out while still allowing the jar to burp and gurgle to release the gases as the peppers begin to ferment.

The pickling liquid will also go from crystal clear to a milky, cloudy pickling liquid and this is your sign that fermentation has happened and may need to be slowed down. To slow it down, put this little jar in the fridge. This slows down the fermentation process and I find that the refrigeration step also allows the real tang to develop.

Of course you can eat these little devils just like they are. And we do. But another way we enjoy this bounty is by juicing the whole batch and making hot sauce.  This is the trick to making a good hot sauce. You can blend, puree, mash the peppers but juicing them gives you the consistency of real hot sauce and also helps to keep the sauce homogenized. In other words, the sauce won't separate as easily if you put them through the juicer.

As a precaution, we use clean and sterilized herbal supplement bottles (which are quite small and very appropriate) fitted with medicine drippers. This allows hot sauce lovers to drizzle the sauce drop by drop on their food instead of pouring it out of a bottle which can end in trauma if you pour too much. This method, which my hubby thought of, is the most perfect way of doing it I've ever seen.  :)  

French Macarons - a Study in Shells

image courtesy of Laduree - famous famous famous

Ah, this has probably been the most difficult thing I have ever made... Having said that, it was the actual reason I decided it was worth learning how to do: it was difficult. I am a sucker for a challenge!  An elusive cooking technique that would take time to understand, let alone master?  More than I could resist.

The French can make boiling water look difficult.  To watch videos from Pierre Hermé made this seem an impossible feat.  I researched on the internet, surfed blog after blog, bought numerous Kindle books on the topic and finally just decided that it was all hype.  Nothing but fluff about fluff...

What I came to realize is that while the technique is veiled in mystery and all kinds of ideas that seem more like superstition to me than anything else, the actual process of making macarons is all science. And while it is only a handful of simple ingredients, everything about the recipe depends on your environment.  Sound at all familiar?  

There was one recipe my mother and grandmothers used to make that really did depend on the weather and that was meringue.  As it turns out, macarons are actually just meringues mixed with ground almonds. No big deal, right? Right. No big deal.  

Let's attempt to demystify and simplify this hyped up little treasure...  I saw a u tube video of the daftest ding dong of a girl make these her first try and it validated all I already suspected: the Frenchies are on crack (just kidding Frenchies, I love you!). These are not only easy to make but they are truly fun and terribly addictive, so beware. The only thing you will have to work hard at is to not devour them before you have finished making your first batch. Seriously. Powerfully attractive little buggers but worth every bit of effort.

For this lesson, a Study in Shells, we will focus on just the cookie part and once we have that mastered, we can talk about filling. Trouble is, I can't keep them in the house long enough to need a filling... :)

Ingredients:

• 165 g of powdered sugar
• 165 g of  whole almonds or almond flour
• 115 g egg whites (room temperature) beaten to stiff peaks
• 150 g organic granulated sugar mixed well with 
• 1/2 tsp cream of tarter and pinch of salt

Process:

Resting shells, not quite ready for baking... still too shiny.

1. Process almonds and powdered sugar and set aside. **Don't let it process too long or the heat from the motor can turn this into almond butter. Instead, pulse the almonds and sugar until it is as fine as you can get it. If you want to use a sifter to catch the larger bits, that is a good idea, if you care about that. I don't bother.
2. Mix granulated sugar, pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar in a small bowl and set aside.
3. In a stand mixer or mixing bowl, beat room temperature egg whites to medium peaks.
4. Slowly sprinkle in the sugar/salt/cream of tartar mixture and continue to beat until stiff and shiny peaks form.
5. Turn mixer to the lowest speed and slowly sprinkle in the almond/sugar mixture.  This is also a good time to add your food  coloring gel, if you are coloring your shells. We will get into flavoring agents in a later post. Right now, let's just work on getting some good shells.
6. Turn off mixer and fill your piping bag with batter.
7. Pipe rounds about the size of a quarter to start. You can go bigger or smaller but we need a frame of reference and I find this size to be about perfect for me.  You will see what I mean. On your last sheet, try a couple of different sizes to see what works best for you.
8. Pipe everything at once so skins form on the shells. 

Hint: The shells go from very shiny to very dull and don't stick to your fingers if set.

Baking:

Bake at 275-280 degrees Fahrenheit for 14 minutes.  

This is my sweet spot for my particular oven. I have tried so many different temps and baking times and this was what 3 months of effort yielded for me. :) Try it first and alter it if you must. You may have no choice if your oven is at all finicky or unpredictable.

Lessons I had to learn because I was a non-believer:

1. To make almond "flour". I use whole almonds from Costco and don't worry one bit about the skins on the almonds. Makes not a bit of difference so save yourself some money and make your own "almond flour".  That's just another way of saying: finely ground almonds.
2. Egg whites should be at room temperature for best results.
3. To get properly formed "feet", you must let the shells rest for at least 10-15 minutes, maybe longer, if you have high humidity. The shells need to dry out a bit so they form a skin. This allows the shells to lift or rise properly during the baking.  If yours crack or look a tad volcanic, it is likely due to missing this minor, but important resting step.
4. Pipe them all at the same time. Sounds crazy but it is easier. I cut parchment paper to fit my pan and cut 4 or 5 more pieces the same size so I can line them all on the countertop or table and pipe them in one go.  They dry properly and your batter won't deflate in between pipings.  It's meringue, remember, so pipe it while it's fluffy.
5. Your oven is different than mine so temperature here is relative. Arggg.  I know. But here is the deal: Bake your first batch at 275 degrees. Then try 280 if those don't turn out the way you think they should. Suffer a cook's guilt and test one by eating one or twenty to see what the texture is like. Test again after they have cooled. My best macarons are done between 275-280 F.  I've tried starting low, rotating trays, turning it up high. Nonsense.  Unnecessary if you find the right temperature for your oven.
6. May sound like a pain, but bake only 1 sheet at a time, middle rack, until you get the hang of it. I can't seem to bake multiple sheets and still get good feet without a lot of fussing. I can't handle it so go one sheet at a time.
7. Parchment is actually better than silpats.  I love silpats but can't afford to buy 6 and parchment paper is divine. It can be reused until it can't... I know, they say it can't but it's another industry fib, like how some clothes can't be washed and have to be dry cleaned. Whatever.  Not only does it work fine for many batches of macarons but the shells leave marks which can help you learn to be consistent with your piping. Just pipe onto the same circles your first batch of macarons left behind.
8. Piping - do not get French fancy. Keep your piping bag and tip straight up and down and pipe directly then pull straight up. If you have a peak, just tap it down once the shells have rested.  In time, you can learn to pipe straight up and down the drag to the side to keep the tail or peak from forming but in the beginning, just do your best to keep the shell round and even; that will be hard enough if you've never used a piping bag before. My mother in law said my first ones looked like terds... Nice. But she was right. Don't worry about it. They don't taste like terds... LOL!
9. Piping bags - great but totally unnecessary. Load your batter into a gallon zip lock bag, zip the bag almost all the way to let air escape. Twist the end to keep it all compressed towards one of the bag corner-ends and snip the tip off the bag when you are ready to go. Just be sure you are ready... ;)
10. Weigh your ingredients exactly. I mean, exactly as if someone were grading you on it.  Exact measurements (don't groan :) is key to doing it right. Weighing is important because it is an exact ratio of ingredients and each ingredient weighs differently.  Do you know how many cups of almonds are equal to 165 g of almonds? EXACTLY. Neither the hell do I! :) Weigh it, my friend.
11. Save your egg yolks for making Zoku pudding pops, TexMex Valley Lemon Curd or Gelato. :)

My Breaducation

I have been making my family's bread now for about 3 years, on and off, as my travel schedule allows. Sometimes I work from home but I do tend to travel quite a bit for work. In the past, I have made dough ahead of time for hubby so he can just rise-and-bake a loaf if I'm not there to do it.  Luckily for me, I've been at home for most of this summer and could really learn a few new things to add to my "breaducation". Can't take credit for it, although it made me laugh when he said it, because my husband has really nailed down the experience. At least for me.  I'm a constant student.

This year's focus, aside for French Macarons and learning to make cheese, has been on the finer points of bread making.  When I say "finer" points, I may be delving a bit too deeply for most folks, but what I'm really talking about are the raw ingredients used to make bread: water, yeast, flour, etc.

Now, this came about naturally so it wasn't out of any obsession really, but more related to my ongoing quests for sourcing locally grown and produced goods, such as flour.  During my quest to find pasture-raised and organic meat, I also began to understand this state's storied and historical past in the grain industry, primarily in milling.  Falling down a rabbit hole kinda describes it.  Locating Cazzi for my piggie was just the first step into my local sourcing project I began at the start of this year.

This is how I stumbled upon Sunrise Flour Mill, run by Marty and Darrold, whom I had the pleasure to meet in August.  They sell their flour at the Mill City Farmer's Market in downtown Minneapolis so one summer weekend, the hubs and I paid them a visit to try out their flour.  Marty promised me an epiphany by using freshly milled flour and her enthusiasm flooded me with excitement, too.  Darrold was too busy discussing the finer points of milling with hubby, but I couldn't hardly wait to get home with our loot to see this for myself.

What I have come to truly understand is that flour, when bought from commercial ag businesses such as Con-Agra, etc. is essentially dead, robbed completely of the nutrients and minerals.  Not only is it dead, but flour companies do not bother to tell you a thing about the flour you buy, such as WHERE the grain was grown, WHERE the grain was milled, WHAT kind of grain was used, WHEN the grain was grown, WHEN the grain was milled and WHAT ELSE was used in the milling of this grain. Don't even get me started about BLEACHED flour... think about it a second and see if you agree with putting bleach on any food you eat just to make it whiter. This ain't laundry, folks. This is nutrition, sustenance for your belly and minds...

Talk about thought provoking.

Needless to say, Marty was right. An epiphany is really quite the understatement as now my eyes are as wide open as my mouth. LOL!  I mean, really, why has it taken me so long to get in touch with this simple truth?  Especially when you look at how much "grain" most Americans, indeed most humans, now consume.  I'm not quite ready to give up on grains and go Paleo, but I am committed to learning more about the foods my household consumes regularly and for us, that means taking a deeper look into wheat.

Without boring the heck out of you who don't have this deep of an interest, suffice it to say that not only does freshly ground wheat make a significant difference in the taste of the baked goods, but it is worlds apart in texture and the bread's ability to rise properly. The texture is incomparable. And the nutritional content is actually in tact.

I had such an enlightened experience.  My first experience was a whole wheat and oatmeal bread, made with 100% whole wheat (Heritage Turkey Red) and I became very excited just as I started to mix the dough because it behaved differently!  When the dough stretched, you could see gluten strands developing right in the bowl. When I put the dough in the proofing container to rise, it was fluffy, not heavy and brick-like as my typical whole wheat breads often appear.  Within an hour, the dough had risen majestically, fully doubled.  When I put the bread into the Pullman pan, it had re-risen within a half hour, ready for baking. Truly, a first for me. My experience is that whole wheat breads never quite have the lift and rise of white flour and somehow, because of this consistent yet poor performance, I was just resigned to this as a fact of wheat.

Boy, was I wrong.  Not a fact at all, but pure fiction derived out of using very poor flour.  Oh, it looks ok... But nutritionally, it is as dead as a cardboard coffin.  Previously, I had blamed a sensitivity to wheat for my sometimes-grumbly belly just after eating bread, but in reality, I have a sensitivity to dead or rancid wheat.

Without going into the gory details, wheat products, ALL wheat products, go rancid after a period of time. It has a lot to do with processing (how little or much), storage (light and air exposure) and how much of the bran has been left in tact.  The bran is the part that makes wheat good for you and provides fiber but it's also the part that goes bad the quickest.  When wheat is "cracked" and processed, this bran begins to react with light and oxygen and starts to deteriorate quickly. This is the reason that most of our wheat is stripped of it's fiber, bleached and refined so heavily. It is an attempt by flour providers to extend the product's shelf life, but what do most Americans know about wheat's shelf life?  Did you know that your flour can go bad? I didn't. At first.

Just like olive oils, vegetable oils and animal fats, grain products can go rancid when not properly stored away from light and oxygen. Grain products actually have a relatively short shelf life. As with most food products, fresh is not only best, it provides a healthier, more nutritious product as processed grains begin to deteriorate rapidly. Take a whiff of your flour next time and see if you detect a "staleness" to the odor.  

Because of the relatively short shelf life, buying in bulk, while cost effective, is probably a big contributor to the declining nutritional content we are seeing in most of our bulk food items.  Grain products are especially sensitive, no matter how much or little processing is done.  And it happens to be widely acknowledged and scientifically proven that this whole industry has given rise to gluten intolerances and serious diseases such as celiac disease where "bad grain" is to blame and that is because our whole diet revolves around grain.

A different kind of "fast food" issue has been brought to my attention, but one must have an interest in these things and more importantly, a willingness to look beyond fast when it comes to food.  It doesn't have to mean slow, either, it just has to mean more...  To me, it means everything, including a long, happy life making bread for a hubby that really, truly appreciates my endeavours even if it sounds a bit wackadoodle at first.

So, before this post becomes my next Amazon e-book, I will close by encouraging everyone to look a little bit closer at what is probably dead in your pantry.  And likely causing havoc with your gut.  If you don't bake bread, all of this will be meaningless to you. If you EAT bread, pasta, cookies, cakes or any of your favorite flour-laden recipes, maybe this will just encourage you to look a little closer. And then a little closer. And then... maybe you will also become excited about local, freshly milled flour, too.

Makin' Bacon

Vegetarians, you better look away...

I make no excuses or apologies for what I'm about to display, which is a total fondness and affection for the grass-fed hog that was raised just for my family this year. Well, not just for my family because we purchased a whole hog from Wacholz Farms with some friends of ours so we ended up with half a hog, or about 80-90 lbs of fresh processed pork products.

I love pork. I do not have an issue with consuming meat but I consume smaller and smaller quantities of it and am becoming more particular about the "particulars" of the meat I do consume.  I want to consume with care, care for the animals that are raised, care for the environment, care of the locality and last but not least, care for my own health and well being.

I began to research organic and sustainable farms local to my area or within state boundaries. Granted, I live in the "Heartland of America" where my neighbors all bring something beautiful to the table (pun intended) but I wanted to first explore the abundance of Minnesota.  I will make the time and have the interest aplenty to begin this endeavor and so I embark on finding the products I use often, locally.

That it what inevitably led me to Cazzi. At the time, I wanted to find grass-fed, all natural meat. It could have been beef, chicken, lamb, pork, I was just looking to see what was available. I came across a website that I found to be very helpful, Minnesota Grown.  From there, not only did I find Wacholz Farms, but I fell down the rabbit hole and was convinced that my mission not only had viability but everything I was seeking beyond grass-fed hogs was within driving distance.

Since my car is more efficient than a commercial truck and my interest more than just a passing fancy, I felt rather elated at the possibilities of not only obtaining such quality products, but I would also get a chance to meet some pretty quality people along the way who not only think like I do, but are deeply passionate about what they do. It's a happiness circle!! Any and all kinds of grass-fed, natural meats, organic produce and dairy, grains, all of it could be found locally within my own reach if I just put forth the effort to become acquainted with all our farmers have to offer.

So, props to you, Cazzi for growing us the best dang pig I think I have ever had the pleasure of eating.  Our processing was done by Nick's Meats, who helped us figure out what cuts to choose and whether or not to smoke it or make sausages, etc. It is so well packaged, no chance of freezer burn which is an added plus, so kudos to the pride of our processor, as well.  We share recipes and ideas with our friends who have the other half of Wilbur and I have already put us back on the list for next year's hog. It's that good.

Now, for the bacon bits (lol!):

• Roughly 10lbs of pork belly (yep, bacon is from the belly of the pig)
• 100% Maple Syrup (should have been from Minnesota but I couldn't wait so will get some this weekend at the Mill City Farmer's Market)
• Sea salt

Sprinkle each of the belly pieces liberally with salt on both sides.  Drizzle maple syrup liberally all over that. Allow the bellies to cure overnight in the fridge uncovered and up to 5 days, repeating the process of adding additional salt and syrup each day.  The bellies should cure on a sheet pan with a grate or rack so the liquids can drain cleanly from the meat as this is the point of curing, to remove excess moisture from the bacon.   This means it will store better, keep longer and not get all gooey slimy when you do go to use it from the fridge.

Once the bacon has cured, wash off all salt and syrup and then pat dry with paper towels to dry the meat again. Let sit out to dry at room temperature or back in the fridge until completely dry to the touch.

We used a bullet style smoker, but if you wish to have a smoked bacon, you can cold smoke it with apple or hickory woodchips, whatever you like for an hour. That was plenty of smoke flavor. You can experiment but keep in mind that unless you vacuum pack it or seal it right away in the fridge, your whole fridge will be "smoked". :) Speaking from experience. But that smells so good, too, just keep it in mind if you have sweets or other stuff you don't really want smoked in the fridge at the same time.

It's ready to slice and because it is cold smoked, you still need to cook it but oh the joy of having homegrown, homemade bacon at a fraction of the cost for an abundance of flavor and humanely raised pork.  That, is priceless.  And what a treasure to trade come deer hunting season...  I'm unemployed at the moment, but I feel so rich!! :)

Zoku Crazy

Don't these look yummy?  I've been learning to make French Macarons, a treat I enjoyed on my recent visit to Paris.  One of the excellent by products of practicing a pastry technique you may never ever master is having an abundance of egg yolks left over from separating out egg whites.

The egg whites are used for the macaronnage lessons I am faithfully attempting on the weekends.  I typically need 4 egg whites and wind up with 4 egg yolks with nothing to do... until this.

I recently bought a Zoku Popsicle maker from Sur la Table in Minneapolis.  There was a self proclaimed "Zoku Queen" in house at the time who gave me such lively encouragement on this new kitchen device that I quickly gobbled up two of the little units. One for myself, a Zoku Queen-in-the-Making, and one for some friends of mine who were visiting at the time.  They have six amazing children who could surely make this successful even if I couldn't.

It takes a little practice but the most important aspect is to have a good recipe with all natural ingredients.  This post is for my Mom, who wanted the perfect ice cream base for her new ice cream maker and for Noelle, one of the kids who seemed to enjoy the Zoku machine from the start.  Noelle, in case you haven't found the perfect recipe yet, let me share mine with you:

Vanilla Pudding - World's Best Ice Cream Base:
4 egg yolks
1 cup of Organic Whole Milk
1 cup of Organic Heavy Cream
1/3 cup of sugar
1 tbsp corn starch
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out or 1 tsp of vanilla extract

Flavoring Additions:

• 2 tbsp of cocoa powder (I used Black Cocoa Powder from King Arthur but use what you like best) for making a luscious chocolate flavor like above 

OR

• 2-4 tbsp or organic fruit preserves such as strawberry, cherry or apricot

Directions and a little encouragement:

First of all, this is a "cooked" ice cream base that is really just homemade pudding.  I know you can buy pudding in a box, but really, if you want to really cook, you will try this way just once. I promise you, you will never be fooled by pudding in a box again.

Find a glass or metal bowl that will nest in the top of a soup or stockpot.  My kitchenaid mixing bowl works great for me and the bowl should fit the pot underneath but not touch the bottom of the pot. This is very important because what we are doing is creating a double boiler.  The point is that the bottom pot holds about 2-3 inches of water which will gently simmer but it must not actually come in contact with your mixing bowl or your mixture and mixing bowl will get too hot. Because we are using eggs, think about what would happen if the bowl of eggs got boiled... You would end up with scrambled egg popcicles, kinda yucky. So just make sure that the water can't touch your bowl and you are set.  

1. Put all the above ingredients into your mixing bowl and whisk thoroughly to incorporate the ingredients well. (Cocoa can be added at this time too. For jams, etc, add them last and wait until after the pudding has cooled.)
2. Add about 2-3 inches of water to the bottom of your simmering pot.
3. Set your "double boiler" pot and nested mixing bowl on the stove over medium heat and allow the water to begin to simmer. It doesn't need more heat than this.  This creates enough heat to cook the eggs more slowly over a lower heat so they don't curdle or scramble.
4. Stir constantly, do not change the tv, wash your hands, go to the bathroom, nothing. Just stir constantly.  It will take about 15-20 minutes but when it begins to thicken, it happens very fast which is why you need to stir the mixture at all times.
5. When the mixture coats the back of a spoon, take it off the pot and allow to cool down. It will continue to thicken as it cools. 

**Tip:  Transfer to a squeeze bottle with a fine tip if you will make Zoku pops. Makes it easier to fill the popcicles quickly and cleanly as you need to put the sticks in right away before the pops freeze too hard.  If making ice cream, transfer it to a storage jar and keep in the fridge until it is cold. 

**Remember, ice cream maker inserts need to be frozen for 24 hours before they can make a good ice cream. Same is true for the Zoku Popsicle maker.

Why the pudding? Well, this is the real secret between a good ice cream and an AWESOME ice cream. In fact, in Europe this is the only way ice cream is usually made. This is often referred to as "Gelato".  Gelato is made from a custard (pudding for us Americans) base and custards use cooked eggs in their base.  Most American ice creams don't do the cooking step because well, ice cream makers are lazy and looking for ways to streamline the process and that is why our ice cream isn't really as good as the Europeans. Sorry, America, it's true.  

But all this means really is that you simply need to make a pudding first.  Like I said, if you do it once on the stove yourself, you will be so well rewarded that you will not want to try it using a box pudding and it is likely that your first batch of pudding will never see an ice cream freezer or popcicle maker either. It's that good.

This is really two secret weapons in one so give it a try.

Paris in the Summer

I like Paris in the rain... Ok, I like Paris anytime.  Our trip to Paris was to celebrate my husband's college reunion and classmates from all over the world flew in for the celebration.  Wonderful people who either lived in Paris during their schooling or live there currently with their families or as this case is for myself, just along for the French ride.

Whatever the reason for visiting France during July, I have to admit it is a pretty spectacular time to visit despite it being well known for misty showers and evening thunderstorms.  It didn't much break its overcast attitude while we were there for six days and I was delighted. The weather was beautiful even if a little damp at a times. No matter, just whip out the old umbrella or pop into a cafe for a leisurely espresso or wine or heck, just stay the whole day chatting and watching passersby enjoy the scenic strolls as much as we did watching them.

During our stay, the menu we saw across town in the tourist-y areas are all pretty similar.  Beautiful fresh salads, mainly Nicoise or chef salads, carpaccios of fish or beef, tartares of fish or beef and of course, the beloved baguettes with ham and cheese, eaten at practically any time of the day you can find them.  We picked some up our first day on the way back to the hotel that evening just in case we experienced some jetlag munchies which usually occurs at a time when the hotel kitchens and many kitchens, for that matter, are closed for the night.  Bummer when you are quite hungry so having done this rodeo before, we were quite well prepared because we sure did need those sandwiches later that night. Light fare. Indisputably French.

One reason for this post is to highlight a love affair that just began... something I've never had before this trip and can't wait for the next opportunity to have it again. French macarons are my newest foodie obsession.  Not one for frilly desserts or overly sweet sweets, these little delights were full of magic and allure.  Even if you aren't a frilly kind of gal, the jewel toned colors of these treats seduce you and the myriad of flavors you come across in Paris overwhelm and delight no matter who you are.  Eye candy in its truest sense.

So since being back home and waxing on and on endlessly to anyone who will listen, I endeavored to make a batch.  Merinque with a little powdered sugar and almond flour. How hard can it be?  Stay tuned to find out just how freaking hard, folks!  I will attempt to document my education when I can put down the piping bag long enough to write about my trials. And small, step by step tribulations because let me just tell you, it is a steep learning curve. Be prepared to eat or give away a LOT of hard won experience because it doesn't come easily or quickly.  But, I carry on and hope to have this mastered by Christmas if I am at all lucky at my new found love...

Quinoa Salad

Image courtesy of www.quinoasalads.com

This is the time of year where the garden starts to come alive for us. Truth be told, we've had such a mild winter that we've been enjoying being outside since March, a full 2, if not 3 months before we are normally able to get into the garden. Last frost around here is usually May 15th. In especially harsh winters, we usually wait until June 1st before putting things out in the garden.  This year is bountiful and early.

We have been using quinoa grains for nearly a year now.  We stumbled upon it at Costco and always intrigued by new things, we bought some. What a fascinating little grain!  You can simply sprout it in water or steam it like rice, which we do, in our rice steamer.  Here  is what we did last night.

Greens from the garden:

• Baby red lettuce
• Broccoli Raab tops
• Arugula
• Baby Wild Kale
• Onion flowers
• Chervil tops
• Celery leaves

*We really just walk around and snip a bit here and there, but this is an equally lovely salad even if you buy your favorite fresh salad greens at the grocery store.  I get a kick out of growing it myself.

Quinoa Salad:

• ~2 cups of cooked or sprouted and drained quinoa
• Cherry tomatoes, as many as you like, cut in half
• Finely chopped chives or chive/onion blossoms or spring onions, to taste
• Cilantro, parsley, mint or chervil, finely chopped
• 1 peeled and diced purple or green Kohlrabi (you can use jicama, radish or any crunchy root veg, like carrot) 

Coconut Vinagrette:

• 1/2 c coconut oil
• 1/4 c white balsamic, apple cider or plain white vinegar
• 1-2 tbsp of your favorite mustard
• 2 tsp of Tuscan Italian seasoning (we use the Costco one, it's awesome for dried seasonings)

Toss the quinoa salad together and drizzle a little coconut vinagrette over the salad, not too much. I like to drizzle a little dressing on the salad greens, too, but do what you want.

Nothing fancy to this really, it's just a lot of beautiful fresh greens piled on a plate, add a bit of the quinoa salad on top and dress it with your favorite dressing.

A note on Coconut Oil:
I have been researching all the wonderful properties of coconut oil for it's medicinal and antiviral benefits. I have been using it almost exclusively in place of all vegetable oils, which can go rancid. I'm seeing some remarkable improvements in my own body.

Rancidity leads to free radical damage in the body, which leads to cancer, heart disease and any number of seriously bad illnesses and environmental diseases. I've been systematically removing all food and beauty products with mineral, petroleum and vegetables oils from our household and I was shocked to see just how much I buy without actually understanding what is in the label.

If I could evangelize anything, coconut oil might be that "thing" but I'm to lazy to preach, so I will leave you to research the terrible facts of oxidizing vegetable oils in the diet and how making a simple change (based on science and an understanding of how the body metabolizes fats) can dramatically improve your health, not just prevent disease.  A book entitled "The Coconut Oil Miracle" by Bruce Fife is not a gimicky, preachy book. It is well researched, based on science and scientific studies and the implications are so profound that I began to dig a bit deeper.

I recently kicked soy out of my diet. I love soy and I thought it was the miracle I had been looking for when I believed dairy to be the culprit of my sudden adult asthma. Turns out, soy was the real culprit.  Soy was in everything I ate, even things I didn't know had soy. I had been eliminating soy from my diet starting late last summer. Earlier this year, while watching PBS, I saw a commercial sponsored by the American Soy Association on behalf of Dairy Farmers in Minnesota.... The commercial touted, "Did you know... that if you consume dairy from Minnesota, you are actually getting soy in your diet because Minnesota dairy cows are fed a diet high in soy?"  Something just clicked for me.  I thought my milk was causing my asthma because it was dairy... but suddenly, I was doubtful.

I started reading every label that went into the cart: soy this, lecithin that, soy, soy, soy, soy, OH BOY!  I had replaced cow's milk with a soy milk, without realizing that I was likely OD'ing on soy. Soy is in everything and if it isn't made with soy, it's made with corn. Remember those posts I made a while back about all of my soy milk and okara recipes? I wasn't just OD'ing on soy, I was amplifying my asthma to such an extent it became chronic.

I was so excited to embrace soy that I didn't actually do the homework first to see if it was something I could tolerate. The moral of the story, my asthma became so bad, I had to take matters into my own hands. My doctors were content that I had asthma, prescribed me steroids, an inhaler and a seasonal allergy medication I had to take everyday....  My gut told me it was a food allergy because I've never had asthma a day in my life until 2005.

I can't say my experience of eliminating soy is what did the trick. I can't even say "eliminate" because soy is now so pervasive as to be in everything; I can only try to limit it. Regardless, I took a try at being my own good doctor and guess what? I've not had to use an asthma inhaler in over a year!!  It's coming on the dead of summer when my "asthma" should be at its worst and I'm elated!!  I breathe better, no chronic cough, phlegm, attacks, allergies, NO NOTHING!

After reading Bruce's book, which highlights how soy came to power in this country, a lot becomes clear. One only has to look at the facts, at the evidence all around us to see how we got to this point. Big Agriculture is truly changing humanity. And not exactly in a good way...

I am not a doctor. I'm not an activist. I'm just a person trying to take responsibility for what goes into my body and the level of care I need to take to protect it from all of the environmental and physical stresses it has to endure just so I can write this, share with you, my own experiences.  It's too soon to tell if Coconut is a miracle, but it makes my skin feel soft. I don't have acne breakouts during my cycle any more and I have not had a skin infection since I began to use it. Even better, my asthma is a plague of the past.

Be responsible.  Do your own research, use your best judgment and when in doubt, question EVERYTHING, especially your highly paid and inattentive medical doctors.

Homemade Pizza

This year, I have obsessed a little with cultured foods. Cultured foods haven't gone to college or studied abroad or married a foreigner...  They are just super healthy foods that have natural probiotics, or the healthy bacteria your gut needs in order to fight off illness or infection.

Most of us are familiar with probiotics in dairy products, especially, cultured dairy we have grown up with our whole lives such as yogurt, sour cream, butter, cheese and buttermilk. What we probably didn't know until recently is what made these dairy foods good for us, such as the probiotics they contain because of the fermentation process they undergo when these products are produced. Probiotics was a term I was unfamiliar with until several years ago when the vitamin supplement companies started touting probiotics as a way of healing a digestive track that was a bit off track.

Now, I see this term everywhere and know what it means and what it can do.  It can make a really bad tummy and digestive system right again. Even if you know this, you may not know that all cultured foods have this ability, not just dairy.  If you are lactose intolerant, don't fret.  There are loads of other foods you can consume with these same wonderful and natural side effects such as, yes, you guessed it, pizza!  How you say?  Let's identify some cultured and fermented products we know and love: pizza, beer, sourdough bread, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi,  pickles of all kinds, sake and of course, most of the dairy products we have already mentioned.  

The important part of the pickle equation, however, is that they are naturally fermented pickles. This means that the American pickles which are processed using vinegar, are not exactly the kind of pickles that are good for you, although they are not bad, they just don't have the healthy probiotics which come from the natural fermentation process used in making old fashioned pickles. The Germans and many of the Asian cultures still ferment vegetables the old fashioned way and that is the style that is quickly making a comeback, both for health reasons and of course, for the very fact that it is an excellent way of preserving your summer crops for winter eating. It is not only healthy, it's practical. It's green!  Make your own and not only will you be blown away at how much better a naturally fermented pickle is but you will giggle at how easy it is to do once you know how.

For today, though, I thought I'd introduce you to another fermented and cultured product that most Americans adore in um, large quantities. :)  Pizza. The simplest way to explain how pizza IS good for you is to talk about it in terms of sour dough bread.  This pizza is made with an Italian Pizza culture I bought from Cultures for Health.  I buy all my cheese and sourdough cultures there and have found them to be easy to follow, as well as very educational with videos, recipes, etc.  They make learning about this way of preparing healthy food really fun.  But being that this is still a cultured food, it means that some of the sugars in the flour are already broken down into a form the body can more easily digest and of course, they are also loaded with the beneficial bacteria your body needs for long term healthy digestion and natural immunity.  

Try, then trust and as always, do your own research and self-validation, like I like to do.  Sourdoughs are also supposed to help people with gluten intolerance who really miss their breads.  Couple this with the best and freshest flour you can find and you might just see gluten intolerance disappear all together, but that is for you to explore and I wish you all the best.

To make the pizza culture:
A packet of Italian Calmodoli sour dough starter (or fresh if you have this going already)
1/4 c lukewarm water
1/4 c flour
Large quart mason jar or other wide mouth jar (NO METAL TOP, very important)
Clean coffee filter and rubber band for sealing the jar to allow gases to escape and to keep out critters. 

**Metal tops will rust and are generally bad when fermenting food as the acids can essentially eat the metal which is simply put, bad eats.

Care and Feeding:
That's it. Use a large glass quart jar to get it started and feed your starter once or twice a day with 1/2 c water, 1/2 c flour.  When the starter is happy, it bubbles and grows or rises. You can see it. If you forget to feed it, a shallow film of liquid will pool on top. Not to worry, just pour this off and continue to feed. If you forget to feed it for a long while, you may need to start over if the film is green, white or moldy. I won't go into the education behind sour dough starter, but if you have questions, let me know and of course, check out Cultures for Health, a wealth of information. I'm a student, too. :)

Pizza Party:
This recipe is a work in progress but how I did this one...

• Liquids = sourdough starter, equal part water (if you have 3/4 quart of starter, use 3/4 quart of water)
• Flour = Double the amount of liquids above (if you have 1 1/2 quart of liquids above use 3 quarts of flour)
• 1/2-1 tablespoon of instant yeast (optional)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt

Mix it however you normally would. I use my Kitchenaid mixer and once it comes together, I put it in my proofing container and let it double.  The yeast is optional. Why? Because natural sourdough will rise if given enough time. However, most people don't want to wait 6 hours for bread to rise. If you have time, try it at least once.  I personally, need to control the rise and timing, so I use yeast... I know, sacrilege, but seriously, it is up to you.

Once it has doubled in size, the dough is ready for shaping and it's final rise. I divide the dough into balls, depending on whether I want large or small pizzas and then roll them on a floured surfaces to the desired shape and size. If you like sheet pan pizza, do that. If you like round, do that.  

My favorite pizza pan is an old perforated (yep it has little holes in it), round 12" pizza pan that arrived in my house from a delivery pizza that was so hastily boxed that the pizza dude left the pan right on the pizza. We haven't had delivery pizza in like 15 years, but this pan is a keeper. I use that pan all the time and recently bought one for my niece. What is special? I don't know exactly. But if you grease the pan or forget, the crust never sticks to this pan. It isn't a non stick pan, it is just some aluminum cheap pan that looks well used. I grease it just in case and the crust is crispy and perfect.  Mine looks a little like this one.

Baking:
450 degrees 12-17 minutes, depends on oven and whether you like a semi-burnt cheese or just gooey. I like mine a little crispified.

One last tip: I prebake my crust for about 5-7 minutes on 450 degrees.  THEN, I add the sauce, cheese, etc. You don't want to overload the pizza with cheese and toppings or maybe you do. I just find that with thin crust pizzas, less is more and with Chicago or deep dish style pizzas more is usually expected. It all depends on what "load" your crust can handle so experimentation as always, is my best recommendation.

*Please comment!  I am learning, too, and would love to know how this works for you or if you find some helpful tips to share, I will be happy to include them here.  Thanks!

Best German Cheesecake I Ever Made

Kasekuchen, I love you.  You are everything I never knew I was missing in American Cheesecake.

Seriously, this cheesecake will rock an American's WORLD!  It's everything we love about a good apple pie, it's pie crust + everything creamy dreamy we love in a good cheesecake. I have to make the distinction between American and German now because, folks, who knew? But there is a difference...

I hate the idea of making pie crust, don't know why, won't analyze it here. My first thought, when I first saw this made, was, "Whatever. Germans. SO perfect." LOL! Just kidding, but the whole pie crust sorta put me off to it. At first.

I got brave. I asked my mother in law for the recipe. Clever lady that she is, she took her iPad to her cookbook and sent me a jpg of the recipe, carefully translating and marking the ingredients in English for my benefit.  I was smitten. She wanted me to try.

The pie crust was the easiest thing I have ever made to date, except perhaps for the filling of this cheesecake, which also makes German cheesecakes quite distinct. At first, I just thought they were being fancy and calling cream cheese by another name, but it is in fact, a distinct and separate cheese culture (flavor) from American cream cheese.

Europeans are as passionate about quark (yep quark) as Americans are about cream cheese. I can absolutely understand why and I'm a total fan now... But the one thing that quark has over cream cheese is it's ridiculously easy to make at home. Cream cheese is also fairly easy, but quark is by far the easiest soft cheese to make in your home kitchen, even easier than yogurt.  Like a brat, I almost don't want to share my cool little secret, but something compels me to do it, you lucky dogs! I will share it in another post. :)

Crust:
Quickest homemade shortcrust on the planet. If using a 9" spring form pan, you will want to double the filling recipe which follows but the crust proportions below work perfectly in a 9" x 3" round pan.

• 50 g sugar
• 100 g cold butter
• 150 g flour
• A pinch of salt

Pulse in food processor until it just forms a ball. Dump dough onto sheet of plastic wrap and using the wrap form the dough into a ball. Seal the dough well in the plastic wrap and refrigerated at least 30 minutes or until ready to roll out.

Butter and dust your spring form pan with flour. You could also use parchment to line the bottom and sides of your pan, but I followed the recipe instructions to grease and flour.

Roll out dough into a large square working fast and loosening dough as you roll with flour so it wont stick.

Use the springform pan as a template to cut a circle from the dough and this is the bottom crust so lay it inside the bottom of the pan. Use the remaining strips of dough to press into the sides. Doesn't have to be perfect nor is it necessary to go all the way up the sides. Germans tend to do a half-side thing, which actually looks quite pretty. If you have holes or tears, just gently press in little bits of dough to form a crust for the sides. In fact, you can really just patch the sides and seal it all together to make it super quick. I've seen it done all kinds of ways and asl long as you've got sides, you have done well.

Filling:

• 500 g quark (cream cheese if you can't make your own quark; not the same but close...)
• 100 g sugar
• 100 g sour cream
• 2 eggs separated/ eggwhites beaten with dash of salt to form stiff peaks tolls added to cheese mixture
• Vanilla
• 1 tbsp corn starch

In a bowl, cream together the quark, sour cream, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and corn starch.  

In a small bowl, beat the egg whites into stiff peaks. You can whip the tar out of it, don't worry, the stiffer the egg whites, the better they will hold up this cheesecake.  Fold in the stiff egg whites to the cheese mixture.

Add this batter to your spring form pan with the crust. 

Bake at 340 degrees F for 1 hr. 

**Note:  Do not use a baking stone or any other pan on your rack or it will affect the rise. If it cracks, who cares? My first one did because I used a baking stone and tried to let it cool down in the oven. Bad idea... It caused a large crack but I didn't let it get me down. It was one of the best cheesecakes I have ever personally made and let's say, I have made a few.

** Another Note: for my 9 inch springform I doubled the filling above and that was perfect.  Otherwise, that might nicely fit into a 6" mini spring form and still give the same tall cheesecake effect Americans (myself included) love.

A word about European measurements:
When you see the measurements above, don't freak out. I was annoyed by it at first but when I actually did it, I thought, Americans are different just to be different but that doesn't mean we always have to do it the hard way... Try it once and you may like using this method even more than measuring cups. All you need is a kitchen scale and if you've ever tried to watch your weight, chances are you already have one. If not, get one. It does make recipes so much more precise and that means, your dishes will come out much better for you too.

Best American Cheesecake I have EVER Made

Ok, so if one has to be on a quest, might as well be something truly earth shaking like how to make the perfect cheesecake, right? I mean, the world won't stop just because you make cheesecake, but if you make the PERFECT cheesecake, trust me, worlds stop. At least mine. For a few minutes... which is sometimes saying an awful lot if you have busy lives like I'm sure you must have...

It's these little indulgences that make life sweet.  I'm the ultimate student in the kitchen and while not exactly methodical, to some people, there is a method to my madness and it centers around education. I want to know... I HAVE TO UNDERSTAND.  I don't burden others with my quests other than to ask their indulgence of me when I have an abundance in the kitchen and gardens. I grow what I like to eat and I cook what I like to grow. If it's possible for me to make it or grow it myself, I will inevitably try to do just that. Pretty simple. And I'm not afraid to try and try and try and try and well, you get it. I'm not afraid to fail, I suppose.  Which makes me a pretty darn good cook once I get the hang of what I'm pursuing. And, it's always a pursuit. Full of love and passion for the ingredients and more importantly, what it takes to create and grow the finest ingredients. I'm an ingredient snob and proud of it.

So, in the pursuit of the perfect cheesecake, I started out to perfect the recipe but that is harder for me than most because this is where my "creative license" usually gets me off track. If I were more scientific, it would probably go quicker and I'd be a little skinnier, but the understanding would be elusive, I suspect.  

So this recipe was a good one to begin with, but it wasn't perfect. There is a technique to baking a cheesecake and it isn't no willy nilly affair; it's precise if what you are after is perfection.  The big secret, which I have resisted for years after one miserable failed attempt, is the water bath, friends.  I'm no scientist but my palate is pretty particular. The water bath ensures even, s-l-l-l-low and even baking.  It affects the rise of the batter, the evenness of the baking, the TEXTURE.  I do not lie when I say it makes or breaks the perfection of your recipe. But how does one do this?

Well, Alton Browne knows.  I DVR'd his show about cheesecakes and he had the solution, as he almost always does, to a clever technique that any cook at home can use to produce this textural magic.  Alton's secret was in how to do a water bath without a springform, WITHOUT getting water into your cheesecake and turning it into cheesecake pudding.  It's pretty simple, takes a little patience and time, but well worth the effort, you'll see.

My Cheesecake Recipe:

• 20 oz cream cheese (homemade if you are curious! you can do it, too!)
• 1 c sugar
• 1 1/4 c sour cream (homemade, too, but store bought is just fine)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/3 c heavy cream

Crust:

• 2 packages of Graham crackers, crushed into crumbs
• 1 tbsp sugar, melted or soft
• 1 stick butter

Make your crust in a food processor or smash it real well in a sealed plastic baggie. 

Add about half of the crust mix on bottom only of your 9", parchment lined round pan, gently pressing into place. Save the rest of the crust as we will use that for the sides once we take it out of the pan.  Isn't that sly? :)

Blind bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes to set the crust so it doesn't get too soggy.

Tricky Equipment Needed:
(1) 9" x 3" round cake pan fitted with parchment on the bottom and sides (go ahead, cut parchment? Kids do it, its easy)
10" x 3" round cake pan or larger for the water bath
Technique:
All you really do is grease your 9" pan. BUT! Don't flour it. That isn't the purpose of the grease here. Instead, the grease acts as an adhesive that will help you keep your parchment lining in place. Cut a circle for the bottom of the pan using your actua 9" pan as a template to draw a circle on a square of parchment larger than the cake pan. Cut out the circle and lay it on the bottom of your greased pan. There. The bottom is done.

Do the same thing with parchment strips cut wider than the sides of your cake pan. Adhere the strips to the greased sides of the pan. It doesn't have to look like Martha Stewart, just stick them on as best as you can, keeping it wrinkle free if you can. I use two smaller strips to line the sides so it's easier to get them in place, but do what you need to do so that the bottom and sides are lined.

After you put the batter into the 9", set it gently inside the larger cake pan and put the whole "nest" into a cold oven. With a measuring cup or something with control, add very hot tap water to the larger cake pan being careful not to drip into your cake batter pan. You only need the water to go halfway up the sides (1 1/2" if using a 9x3 round pan).

Baking:
Bake at 250 degrees for an hour. Turn off oven open oven door for a full minute and leave to cool in oven for one more hour. 

Cooling:
Refrigerate until cold. This will help us get the cheesecake out of the pan with minimal damage. Trust me, I was leery, but the cake will literally come out easily if you are gentle by flipping it out onto a large plate or platter and then flipping it back out onto the serving dish or plate. It will not harm the top, much to my total surprise. Just make sure the cake is thoroughly chilled. I let it rest in the fridge overnight before trying this part.

Final Touches:
Once you have gotten the cake out, gently peel off the strips of parchment. Don't worry about the one on the bottom. That will actually help the pieces come out nicely once you cut it and it will help protect your serving tray or platter.

Using the rest of the crust crumbs, just pat it all around the sides, pressing gently to adhere it to the "naked" sides of the cheesecake.  This gives a crust that is tender, easy to cut and looks quite beautiful. It also helps cover up any blemishes that may have happened during the "un-panning" process.It sounds like a lot of work, but really it was quite easy as long as you just go slow and don't freak out because there are seemingly, a lot of steps to this. Perfection, after all, is and should be a slow and steady pursuit. Happy Baking!

Chocolate Love

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 c self rising flour (you can use all purpose, but self rising makes a difference) 
• 2 c sugar

Sift, or not, into a medium size bowl and set aside.  This bowl will eventually hold all ingredients for the batter of the cake so don't use too small of a bowl.

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 c water
• 1/2 c oil
• 6 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp "black" cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp double dutched cocoa powder
• 2 shots of fresh espresso or strong coffee

In a saucepan, whisk in the wet ingredients on the stove over medium heat: water, oil, butter and cocoa powder. This doesn't take long as you are just ensuring that the butter is melted and the cocoa incorporated. It will look like chocolate water, just what we want. 

Once the wet ingredients are thoroughly mixed, remove the mixture from the heat and slowly incorporate the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. It will start to look like a thick cake batter.  

Next, whisk together the rest of the wet ingredients in a small bowl or coffee cup: buttermilk, egg, baking soda and vanilla. Use a real vanilla bean if you have the luxury to do so. 

Rest of the Wet Ingredients:

• 1/2 c buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla

Add this mixture to the cake batter and mix well, but don't overdo it. We're just trying to incorporate all the ingredients but not overwork the flour or the texture will become tough, not moist and soft, as is our aim.

Baking:

I use a greased and floured 9" spring form pan. Over time, I have found that lining the bottom of the springform pan with parchment paper is a real time saver as you are ensured that it won't stick to the pan and ultimately, it will slide right off if you want to present it on a cake platter or stand.  I also take the time to line the sides with strips of parchment paper.  It really seems to help the cake spring off the pan properly, but I have done it lots of times without the fuss and it will come out perfectly if you can allow the cake to properly cool ALL the way down before trying to spring it free.

In a greased and floured springform pan, pour the batter.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour.

Frosting:

• 1/2 c butter
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder (same as in the cake: 2 tbsp black + 2 tbsp of double dutch, if you have it, otherwise, 4 tbsp of any good dutch processed cocoa powder will work fine)
• 6 tbsp buttermilk
• 1 lb confectioner's sugar (2 c is the perfect consistency)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Spread or drizzle frosting over cake while cake is still warm. Frosting keeps very well.  It has a gorgeous shine that will set a perfectly smooth and flawless finish to the icing, like a chocolate jacket.

Variations and Notes from the Kitchen:
Tried this with homemade vanilla sour cream instead of buttermilk. This was amazing.

Did this again with all purpose flour in a large spring form line on the bottom with parchment took exactly an hour. It rose perfectly, cooked evenly, didn't burst or split on top. I melted cherry preserves and spread thin layer on top, spring form still on. I then melted extra icing from the previous cake and spread that on top of the cherry preserves, covering gently but quickly as it will set perfectly smooth if you don't go too slow. Looked beautiful.

It is such a dark black if you use the black cocoa powder. This is more chocolate flavor than most chocolate cakes and the black cocoa just makes it look devilishly good, which of course, it is.  This is my go-to and this particular one, I made specially for my neighbor who, at the time, was 7 months pregnant. Who better to share a chocolate cake with?