review: beurre and sel, nyc

I have an unrequited love affair with Dorie Greenspan.  She's the kind of woman who is unbelievably knowledgeable about all things baking related but she also always seems to be challenging herself - coming up with new ways to improve the classics.  She's the kind of lady I always wish I could call on the phone (instead of using my best friend Google and instead of annoying Mama Bear every 20 minutes on a Saturday morning) to figure out all the cooking quandary's I have - why my ganache split, how long should one really let pizza dough rise for, and why raw cookie dough is so much better then cooked.  Dorie also makes one of my favorite cookies (actually I think once everyone tries a World Peace Cookie they instantly swoon and call it their favorite), and she recently opened up the most adorable stall in the Essex Street Market called Beurre and Sel (so French!) that has been on my list of places to visit for as long as it's been open.  (One should also make an effort to visit the Essex Street Market for more then just cookies because they have a ton of wonderful things.  This guide from Serious Eats is super helpful if you choose to spend an afternoon there!)  The cookies are beautiful.  Tender and buttery.  Subtly sweet coupled with the perfect amount of salt.  We tried the coconut and lime macaroons, coconut cookie, the World Peace Cookie (I couldn't resist trying the original), shortbread, and the blueberry jammer.  While I adored the shortbread my favorite lay with the blueberry jammer (Mama Bear was partial to the coconut cookie but I found that one to be a little more crunchy which isn't my cookie preference).  Something about the strussel topping coupled with the shortbread crust and jam was irresistible   I'm feeling pretty thankful that Bon Appetit ran the recipe a couple months back.  I now know what my next weekend project will be.  

The cookies can also be found throughout NYC where they are sold in the most adorable plastic tube which makes toting them around in your purse a breeze.  (I found some in Murray's Cheese.)  You can also order online and send them to your loved ones is a pretty stellar idea in my book.     

spaghetti squash and black bean tacos with queso fresco.

I know what you're thinking.  That the idea of spaghetti squash in a taco sounds absurd.  That the idea of any type of squash in a taco is just absurd and ridiculous but, you should leave logic by the way side and try them.  These tacos are life-changingly good.  I'm still unsure of what makes them so irresistible.  Perhaps its the combination of tender squash, and creamy avocado.  Or the loads of hot sauce mingled with lime and cheese, but whatever it is, these are pretty perfect (I should have never doubted it considering the recipe comes from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and Deb can do no wrong in my book).  We ate them twice last week and I imagine these will land on heavy rotation considering how quick, easy, and satisfying they are.  

Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos with Queso Fresco

Recipe adapted (slightly) from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Serves 4 generously 

3 pounds (1360 grams) spaghetti squash (either 1 large or 2 small)

2 tablespoons (30ml) freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 1 lime)

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon crushed chipotle chili flakes (hot smoked paprika would also work)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Sixteen 6 inch corn torillas

One 15-ounce can black beans, drained, and rinsed

4 ounces crumbled queso fresco

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 avocado, sliced

To serve: Lots of Hot Sauce

Cut the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and roast the halves facedown in an oiled baking pan for about 40 minutes in a 375 degree oven.  

When the squash has finished cooking and cooled slightly, working over a bowl, scrape the squash flesh with a fork, loosening and seperating the strands as you remove it from the skin.  Discard the skin.  In a small bowl, whisk lime juice, with chili powder, crushed chipotle, cumin, and salt.  Pour over the squash strands and gently toss them together.  Taste the squash and adjust seasonings as you wish.  

Heat a dry, heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Warm and slightly blister each tortilla, about 30 seconds per side.  Transfer with tongs or a spatula to platter and sprinkle with black beans.  Top with some of the squash, some cheese, avocado, and cilantro.  

Serve with tons of hot sauce.  

spring light.

I noticed the light a lot today.  The way it streamed through the windows as I got dressed this morning.  The way it reflected off the Freedom Towers on my walk home.  The way I saw the last rays of light create beams of white across my slate counter top as I arrived home in my apartment.  It isn't until the days get longer that I begin to notice the bright light - it's like being awoken after a long winter slumber.  

The April issue of Bon Appetit arrived in my mailbox yesterday and it's filled with all the beautiful spring things I've been dreaming about, namely peas and asparagus.  I keep having visions of myself standing barefoot in a white tee shirt and worn in jeans rolling out pizza dough for shaved asparagus pizza and noshing on an appetizer of smashed pea crostini as the late afternoon light illuminates my kitchen.  Spring (and spring produce) can't come soon enough. 

Image via Pinterest.  

grandmother bread.

As promised, the bread recipe for using your leftover ricotta whey (because its really silly to waste the whey since its perfectly wonderful milk and my parents raised me to never ever waste good food).  This is a tender sandwich style bread.  It makes amazing grilled cheeses, excellent peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and really good toast as a side to scrambled eggs!  It also freezes incredibly well so you can devour one loaf now and save one for later.   

Grandmother Bread
Adapted from Chickens in the Road

Makes two standard loaves

3 cups warm ricotta whey or warm water
1 tablespoon yeast (1 packet)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
7 cups all-purpose flour (or half white half whole wheat) 

In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, sugar, and salt. Let sit five minutes until slightly bubbly. 

Stir in first three cups of flour with a heavy spoon. Add the next cup of flour a little at a time as needed, stirring until dough becomes too stiff to continue stirring easily. Add a little more flour and begin kneading. The amount of flour is approximate, I've used as little as 6-1/2 cups to as much as 7-1/2 cups depending on the temperature and weather conditions. Continue adding flour and kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. (About 10 minutes of hand kneading.  This can also be done in the bowl of kitchen mixer if you are lazy like I sometimes am.)

Let the dough rise in a greased, covered bowl until doubled, about an hour. Uncover bowl; sprinkle in a little more flour and knead a few more time. Form into an even ball and divide the dough in half. With floured hands, shape dough into loaves and place in two greased loaf pans. Tear off two pieces of waxed or parchment paper and grease with oil spray (to prevent it from sticking to the loaves as they rise) and cover loaf pans. Let loaves rise for about an hour until they are tall and beautiful. 

Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven. Recipe can be cut in half.

homemade ricotta.

I spend most of my work week coming up with weekend food projects.  The types of things that are impossible to tackle during the hours of 6:30 - 10:30 during the week because I am going to the gym, making sensible dinners, showering, and reading something other then the never ending stream of emails I seem to get.  I delegate Saturday's and Sunday's to making homemade breads and fresh pasta and all other illogical foods that most people don't think twice about buying from the supermarket which is why I devoted last weekend to ricotta. Perhaps it's just me, but I find the ricotta cheese that is sold in the plastic tubs at the supermarket to be completely off-putting. The texture is always bizarre, the taste is always too sweet, and it's always filled with all sorts of strange additives.  I knew there had to be something better, something homemade to fill this void between the Polly-O ricotta I can't stand and the Salvatore Brooklyn ricotta I adore.  And there is!  There is a whole world of ricotta making that seems to be happening in kitchens across the country.  There are case studies discussing the merits of vinegar vs. lemon juice and how much cream is necessary or if buttermilk is better.  I did a lot of cross referencing and I cobbled a recipe together that encompassed everything I love about ricotta.  The end result is the complete opposite of anything you will ever find in a supermarket.  This is impossibly creamy and rich.  The taste is pure and simple - the milk knows how to steal the show in the best possible way.  I love this slathered on a simple baguette with a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of flaky salt and black pepper, but I am sure you can come up with a million other ways to eat it (by the spoonful is also suggested.)  

Homemade Ricotta

Adopted from about every source I could find on the subject

I imagined making cheese would be difficult but it really isn't at all.  You watch the pot boil pour the cheese into the cloth (without spilling it all over the stove like some people do...) and let gravity do its thing.  The leftover whey can be saved and used for homemade bread and I will be back with that recipe later this week (because no one should waste really good milk.)  They key here is to buy the best milk possible - local, organic milk is ideal.

Makes about 2 cups

4 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon flaky salt

3 tablespoons lemon juice

In a large heavy bottomed sauce pan combine the milk, cream, and salt and heat over medium heat.  Cook the mixture until it reached 190 degrees, stirring on occasion so the milk doesn't scorch.  Remove the pan from the heat, and pour in the lemon juice. Gently (very gently!) stir the mixture and then let sit 5 - 10 minutes.  

Line a colander with a few layers of cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl (to catch the whey). Ladle the curds and whey into the colander and let the curds strain for at least two hours.  it will be spreadable but a little firm, almost like cream cheese. (It will firm more as it cools, so do not judge its final texture by what you have in your cheesecloth.) Save the whey in a air-tight container unless you are silly and don’t want homemade bread. 

You can store the ricotta in a air-tight container for about 5 days (maybe even longer if your milk is super fresh.) 

Serve the ricotta on toasts, tossed in pasta, or as I suggested above, by the spoonful.   

world peace cookies.

The amount of chocolate I've been consuming as of late seems to be directly correlated to the amount of stress and anxiety I've been under.  Some people are fortunate that when faced with stressful situations they loose their appetite, for them stress is a diet (maybe not the healthiest diet out there but a diet none the less). I fall firmly into the opposite camp.  I crave comfort foods (which may explain how I ended up consuming grilled cheese and french bread pizza for dinner this week).  I also crave chocolate.  Rich, dark chocolate (My personal favorite is the Theo Salted Almond Dark Chocolate. Heavenly.) that I stock up on and then keep stashed in my work drawers so when the the afternoon gets the best of me I have something to reward myself with.  For last weekends baking project, I knew nothing short of the best chocolate cookie would make me satisfied which is how I found myself reacquainting myself with Dorie Greenspan's cookbook.  These World Peace Cookies are oh so dreamy.  They  don't look like much but after a single bite you will look at them in a completely different light.  These pack a big salted chocolate punch - the flavor is so pronounced that you will find it hard to imagine a silver dollar sized cookie could be so flavorful but they are which is why they are so satisfying and so rewarding.

World Peace Cookies
Recipe via Baking From My Home to Yours by the amazing Dorie Greenspan (seriously her cookies are the bomb if you are in NYC go visit Buerre and Sel)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour mixture, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel.

Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Getting ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about one inch between them. Sprinkle with sea salt. 

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days; they can be frozen for up to 2 months. They can also be frozen in log form for months, and can be sliced and baked directly from the freezer, adding a couple minutes to the baking time.