Coconut Birthday Fiesta

Today was Dad's birthday, so to celebrate, Mom made chicken enchiladas and chocolate-covered strawberries, and I made coconut cupcakes. Normally I shy away from anything Martha Stewart has on her website regarding recipes (all are crazy-time-consuming and usually require expensive, unusual ingredients that only trust-fund hipsters can afford) but since last week's success with the chocolate-filled vanilla bean cupcakes, I decided to give her one more shot.

I was pleasantly surprised with the results, even after I halved the recipe: the cakes were fluffy, rich, and full of sweet chunks of coconut for maximum texture. I broke Rule 1 however when I printed off the icing recipe this morning without reading every step, and thus failed at the 7 Minute Icing. I'm not too torn up about it, Martha was smirking at me from the page because she knew I didn't have a candy thermometer or pastry brush to ("gently cool the sugar as to prevent crystalization"....WHO ARE YOU?!!!). When I took the cakes over to my parents, I stole a can of Pillsbury Cream Cheese icing (I'm a giant sinner!! Blaugh!) from the pantry and went to town with coconut sprinkles on top. Very very tasty, if you love coconut, these are your cakes. On a side note, try to find unsweetened coconut to sprinkle on top, otherwise they really push the richness envelope.

Here's the recipe!

INGREDIENTS

Makes 2 dozen.

• 3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 8 large egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups shredded sweetened coconut
• 
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
4. In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture; stir in shredded coconut.
5. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each with a heaping 1/4 cup batter. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack. Invert cupcakes onto rack; then reinvert and let cool completely, top sides up. Frost cupcakes with seven minute frosting, swirling to cover. Cupcakes may be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Garnish with fresh coconut just before serving.

Late Post: Granite City or Bust

I have been entirely too busy for my own good lately: K and I just bought a house and are in the process of moving his belongings from old abode to new abode, I am going to start a new teaching position in two weeks, and I am still planning the ever-present wedding. Whew. Here comes the post!

Granite City. I vowed I would never darken your doorstep again, what with your heinous beer flight of sludge and expensive, lame burgers....shiver. To my surprise however, your name came to my lips when dinner was in question and hunger a desperate fever pitch, blurted out with abandon.

Granite City was tasty, I was shocked. Not only had the menu improved, but the prices were actually reasonable. For $5.75 you could order a flatbread pizza in olive, bbq chicken, pepperoni, ham, or other varieties, provided of course that it was before 5 o'clock (pre-dinner rush). The beer was also a pleasant surprise, and all five kinds were voted a success by myself and compatriots. Granite City, redemption is yours.

Cerulean: Return of the Bento Box

Bento boxes may be the world's greatest invention. A laquered box with 6-8 compartments for meat, fish, rice, vegetables, and other sides, it's the grown-up way to demand that your food be "not-touching!" in your dish. Bento boxes also showcase what Japanese food is really all about: separate flavors that seemingly lack harmony, but when united as a team give the diner the sense that all their tastebuds have been exercised. Japanese culture dictates that there are 5 senses: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami, which might loosely translate to "savory" here but in Japanese simply means "delicious." I've had bento boxes wherever I can find them in restaurants, which is more frequently now that the Midwest has finally gotten on the Asian bandwagon. The most authentic bento box I enjoyed was on the island of Maui, where the fish was caught that morning and the pickled plum made your tongue shrivel into a tiny ball...I still dream about that box.

Imagine my surprise then when I learned a few years ago of a restaurant on Lake Winona that only serves delicious food in bento boxes. I am now a frequent visitor to Cerulean whenever I'm in the area, and I can only rave about how cool, upbeat, and tasty everything is there. The entire place is done with ultra-modern decor that isn't space-freaky, just light and airy. There are views of the canal to the lake, and pretty, colorful pictures on the walls of flower close-ups. I have never had a bad meal at Cerulean, but here are my favorite menu choices:

Butternut squash soup with toasted sage and pancetta

Bento box with basil-soy salmon, sweet orange and almond mix with honey-balsamic dressing, asian noodles, and edamame

Poached peach pavlova with cinnamon cream

Everything is perfect and unusual, I plan on taking guests there whenever anyone visits just for the experience. http://www.ceruleanrestaurant.com/

Fail-Bomb: Fruit Jellies

For Valentine's Day, I like to go over the top on dessert. I made my Traditional Chocolate Cake after someone called in their reward from a bet (long story) and that's always a hit because the entire cake is homemade (no Duncan Hines here!). The icing can be found in the 1971 version of "The Joy of Cooking", I'll share it here sometime.

As cool as that was, I wanted something new to try. After a little searching, I found a candy recipe from Southern Living magazine that produced pretty red and pink fruit jellies that was creatively titled "Sugared Jelly Candies."

Wow, this recipe did not in any way turn out like I had planned. I appreciate websites like Delish.com for their seemingly endless supply of fun recipes, but this one has NOT been tested in a kitchen by a sane human being. For one thing, the recipe took 2 hours and then some. The description from Southern Living claimed that it took, "...only an hour to make the base...," but I was pretty sure I spent two hours and then some boiling and shoving fruit through a sieve. The recipe is as follows, with snarky notes in red:

Base For All Flavors

• 1 pound(s) (about 2 large) Granny Smith apples, quartered and cored---peel or don't peel, doesn't matter to the writer of this fine recipe!
• 1 pound(s) (about 2) pears, quartered and cored
• 2/3 cup(s) white wine, such as chardonnay---you'll need some too when you start shoving fruit
• 1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon(s) powdered pectin
• 1 cup(s) sanding sugar, substitute granulated sugar

Spiced Jellies

• 1 1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup(s) fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) ground clove
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) nutmeg

Raspberry Jellies

• 1 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup(s) seedless raspberry jam
• 1/4 cup(s) lemon juice

Lemon Jellies

• 1 (lemon peel) peel and flesh with pith removed
• 2 tablespoon(s) fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cup(s) lemon juice

Directions

Prepare the Fruit: Line the bottom of a square 9-inch pan with parchment paper. Lightly oil the parchment paper and set aside. Place the apples, pears, and wine in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.For Lemon Jellies: Add the peel and flesh from 1 lemon and ginger to the saucepan.

Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until softened -- 15 to 20 minutes. Run the fruit through a food mill, discard the solids, and transfer the mixture to a clean saucepan.---This step is so much harder than you think. For one thing, who has a food mill? It's not 1950's and Grandma isn't canning relish. Since I lacked this vital tool, I substituted a blender and a sieve. Did this work? Sort of......

1. It's very hard to pour steaming hot alcoholic fruit mash into a tiny blender. Screaming was involved when some fell on my arm. Not all of the mash fit into the blender, so two batches were needed.

2. When it came to sieveing out the solids, the labor was tedious. I placed a sieve over a bowl, flopped some blended mash into it, and used a spatula to shove the pulp over and over again into the mesh, which resulted in fruit paste of the consistancy of baby food. This had to be done 5 times. 5 different batches. Ugh.

Make the Candy: Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and the pectin in a small bowl and set aside. Add the remaining ingredients, depending upon the flavor you are making, to the puréed fruit. For Raspberry Jellies: Add the granulated sugar, raspberry jam and lemon juice. For Spiced Jellies: Add the sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg.

Simmer over medium heat until slightly thickened -- about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the sugar-pectin mixture.

Increase heat to medium high and continue to whisk until all of the sugar is dissolved -- about 2 minutes. Whatever Southern Living, this part should be done for at least 5 extra minutes to really take that liquid off. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour into the prepared pan. Place the pan on a cooling rack and let sit uncovered for 24 hours or until set.----Wait a whole 24 hours, it's just better that way. Poke it to check. Does it feel thick and slightly hard to the touch? Perfect.

Unmold the Jellies: Lightly dust a 12-inch piece of parchment paper with granulated sugar and set aside. Loosen the edges of the set jelly with a knife, invert onto the parchment, and let set for another 24 hours. ----This is where the weeping started. After spending 2 hours preparing my base and fruit, the jelly flopped onto the parchment not with a fleshy thump of well-set pectin, but with a wet SPLOOSHHH. I dropped some choice words, poked the mass with my finger, dropped some additional words, and wondered where I went wrong.

At this point jellies can be wrapped in parchment paper and plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or until ready to serve.---No Southern Living, they will not be ready to serve because the recipe didn't work. For some reason, due to either operator error or lack of complete instruction, the jellies did not set as they were supposed to do.

Cut out the candies: Use a knife to cut 1-inch by 1-inch squares or use a small cookie cutter to cut out shapes from the jelly.Dredge each piece in sanding sugar and transfer to a wire rack to dry -- about 24 hours. Store jellies covered with plastic wrap for up to 1 week.

All in all, the candies were waaay too much work for what resulted, if the results had performed as planned. This is not a recipe I would attempt again by any measure.

Lemon Oatmeal Lacies: ZAGAT Wants Their Sarcasm Gravy Boat Back

During Christmas I love to give away baked goods to friends, family, and the harshest of critics: children. They don't hold anything back, even if they know that you've spent hours slaving away to make sure those ball cookies are just the right diameter. They use the most barbed terms: "This sucks!" or the ever popular, "This tastes like something my dog threw up," and occasionally lapse into hyperbole when claiming that, "My mom makes cookies that are a billion-zillion kajilion times better!". Does ZAGAT know about these pint-sized gourmets? This year I supplied Mom's super-secret sugar cookies with homemade frosting and crusted with sprinkles, a surprise hit for a crowd that can't stand sugar in large quantities (oh children!), but I was sad that I didn't attempt anything yummy for friends that wasn't old hat. After digging around in my computer (good place to store valuable recipes right?) I found a great recipe that I had used last year for give-away cookies. A little crunchy, subtle, and slightly lemony, they are the perfect cookie year round. It may be after Christmas, but don't be surprised if a box of these puppies lands on your doorstep!

Lemon Oatmeal Lacies

Ingredients:

2 cups butter

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

3 cups oatmeal, uncooked

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

1 teaspoon vanilla

powdered sugar

Directions:

Beat together butter and sugar until creamy.

Add remaining ingredients (except powdered sugar) and mix well.

Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll dough into 1" balls.

Flatten with the back of a spoon

Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are light golden brown

Cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing to cooling rack (fragile!).

I Want to Eat at Hot Doug's: Encased Meat Emporium

I love when K and I go to the Chicago-area: he's a native so he knows where everything is, and we have tons of family up there to visit. On our trips there, we've gotten to experience some amazing food in the city: Bistro 110, Carmine's Rosebud, The Melting Pot, Uno's Pizzaria, and one particular favorite, Hot Doug's: The Encased Meat Emporium. Hot Doug's is special and revered for taking the famous Chicago-style hot dog and turning it into a delicious work of art. The menu not only offers your very basic traditional coney dogs, but a wide selection of gourmet dogs that changes every week. In the mood for some wild game? Try the very tasty Elk, Venison, Antelope, and Bison Dog with Boursin Cheese and Spicy Mustard. Something more exotic perhaps? Taste the Spicy Jerk Pork Sausage with Passion Fruit Mayonnaise and Emmental Cheese or Cranberry Walnut Chicken Sausage with Sweet Berry Cherry Sauce and Cranberry White Cheddar Cheese. They may sound strange, but I promise that they are all yummy, and only require a sense of adventure to be enjoyed.

Hot Doug's is located on 3324 North California, 60618. If you don't care to wait in line for 30-45 minutes (the line can wrap around the small store most days), then call ahead with your order at (773) 279-9550. A word of advice: Be decisive and know what you want when you get the counter. You will be heckled for dithering! http://www.hotdougs.com/

Vegan: It's Actually Tasty

My sophomore year of college, I became a vegetarian for 6 months. It wasn't that I suddenly became more liberal after moving away from home, that I was trying to "stick it to the man" or my parents....it's just that I wanted to live a healthier lifestyle. My family eats pretty healthy: we try to use good oils, watch the fat intake, hardly eat any foods with preservatives, etc., but we love meat. Bacon is a gift. Steak was meant to be eaten. I wanted to try a lifestyle that didn't involve meat for awhile, but I wasn't willing to go vegan. Dairy is a staple and I don't think I could handle a world without eggs, no matter what.

So it was with great trepidation that I tried my first entirely vegan meal after cross-country skiing with K and his friend Tom. After falling down hills, shrieking loudly enough to scare birds 2 miles away, all I wanted was a juicy burger. I deserved a meat-laden lunch for getting snow down my pants! Sadly, Tom suggested a delightful vegan cafe that he knew of not far away. "Sure, why not?," my mouth said, while I silently cursed the do-gooder hipster.

Lo and behold, I was blown away by what may be the most cringe-inducing name ever: The Loving Cafe. As soon as you step into the bright, inviting restaurant, you are presented with a wide variety of menu options, of which I selected the Golden Soup and Harmony Rice. By far my favorite was the Golden Soup, a savory/sweet mixture of sweet potatoes, lentils, onion, celery, carrot, curry paste, coconut cream, and mushrooms. It was so soothing after all the outdoor exercise! I can say with complete honesty that I tried to like the meat-less beef in the Harmony Rice, but it just wasn't happening. I knew it was tofu shaped and colored like beef, and the texture was playing tricks with my mind. It still tasted good, but it wasn't something I would order again. Meatless meat might be something where you have to find a favorite before you can truly enjoy it, like chicken or pork. I plan to keep experimenting, and I commend the Loving Cafe's cruelty-free philosophy.

http://www.lovingcafefw.com