Clam Chowder

A friend of mine unfortunately had to have a tooth pulled and wasn't able to have anything but soft food that she didn't have to chew. I made her a pot of this clam chowder which is a variation of the recipe from the first Sunset " Best Recipes" cookbook.

Clam Chowder
6 slices of the best bacon you can find. Mine was from the Corralitos Market
A little more than a pound of potatoes, la ratte or Yukon gold, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 cans clams
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 to 2 cups whole milk
Fresh thyme
Salt pepper

Cut the bacons into lardons and brown over medium heat in a large pot. Remove bacon from the pot and add onions to the fat. Cook until almost translucent. If there isn't enough fat from the bacon to cook the onions, add a tablespoon of butter to the pot. Add potatoes and thyme. Stir and cook for a few minutes longer. Add liquid from the clams. If there isn't enough to almost cover the onions and potatoes, add water until almost covered. Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender. Melt the butter, 3 to 4 T, add the flour, and cook until bubbly. Slowly stir in 1 1/2 cup milk and cook until thickened. Add the thickened milk to the potatoes. Stir in the clams and bacon. Add salt and pepper to taste. If too thick, add more milk until the chowder is the consistency you like.

Maple-Honey Granola

This granola has become part of my favorite breakfast. I have it sprinkled over yogurt mixed with fruit, using whatever is in season. Often it is berries, but this morning I had the granola with a fantastic peach. Great fruit and yogurt with this granola on top tastes like a decadent dessert. The recipe calls for dried fruit, but lately I have been leaving it out because of the fresh fruit. Tory gave me the original recipe and I am very grateful that she did. She found it in Cooking Light magazine.
The original recipe calls for spraying the pan with cooking spray, but I put a Silpat silicon sheet in the pan. The Silpat works really well for this and also works well for roasting vegetables.

Maple-Honey Granola
4 cups thick cut oats
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup grade B maple syrup (I find it at Trader Joe's)
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup hot water

2 tblsp canola oil
1 cup minced dried apricots, optional (use Blenheim if possible)
1 cup raisins, optional
Preheat oven to 325°
Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl.
Combine maple syrup, honey, and hot water in a glass measuring cup and stir to mix. Place in a small pan with salt and oil and bring to a boil. Pour over oat mixture and stir to coat. Spread on a jelly-roll baking sheet covered with a Silpat sheet or that has been coated with cooking spray or coated lightly with oil. Bake at 325º for 35 or 40 minutes, until golden and crunchy, stirring every 10 minutes. I place a little on the counter to cool for a minute and then taste it to make sure it is the texture I like. Stir in raisins and apricots. Cool completely and then store in an airtight container.

Apricot Honey Tart

This tart is a slightly altered version of a tart in "Patricia Well's at Home in Provence". The hardest part is finding apricots that have flavor to make it with. Other than that, it couldn't be easier. Though it is definitely best the day it is made, it is still tasty 2 or 3 days after baking. It looks like it came from a patisserie or so I was told by the folks I made it for.

Apricot Honey Tart

serves 8

equipment: 9" pan with removable bottom

Crust: unsalted butter for preparing the pan

8 tblsp (4 oz; 120 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup (100 g) sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

pinch fine sea salt

1 1/4 cups plus 1 tblsp (180 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

Filling: 1/2 cup (12.5 cl) crème fraîche

1 lg egg, lightly beaten

1/2tsp vanilla extract

2 tblsp raw full-flavored honey, such as lavender

1 tblsp flour

2 tblsp finely ground unblanched almonds

about 1 1/2 lbs (750 g) fresh apricots, pitted and halved (do not peel)

powdered sugar, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375° (190° C; gas mark 5)

Butter the bottom and sides of the pan and set aside.

Crust: In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and sugar. Add the vanilla, salt, and flour and stir to combine. Do not let the dough form a ball. transfer the dough to the pan and evenly press it onto the bottom and sides. If you don't have a fluted pan (and I didn't) just press it an inch up the sides of the pan. Bake the crust until the dough is slightly puffy and set, about 12 to 15 mins. Sprinkle the almonds on the crust. This will keep the crust from becoming soggy.

Filling: Combine the crème fraîche, egg, vanilla, and honey, whisking to blend. Whisk in the flour. Pour into the crust. Starting just inside the edge of the crust, overlap the halved apricots, cut side up, at a slight angle. Make 2 or 3 rings, working toward the center. Fill the center with the remaining apricots. Place the tart in the center of the oven and bake until the filling is firm and the pastry is a deep golden brow, 50 to 60 mins. the apricots will shrivel slightly. Place on a rack to cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

Vanilla Apricot Jam.

In the fall of 2007 we shared a wonderful roomy house with 3 other couples in the Tarn, a region in the southwest of France. I bought a jar of homemade apricot jam in a patisserie. The jam was flavored with vanilla beans and it was the best apricot jam I had ever tasted. When apricot season rolled around the next spring I decided to try making some vanilla bean apricot jam. This is the recipe I ended up with after searching French websites.

Vanilla Bean Apricot Jam

3 lbs ripe apricots 

2 vanilla beans

juice of 1 lemon (I use Meyer lemons)

5 cups fine white sugar

Remove the pits from the apricots and chop them coarsely. Place the apricots in a heavy non-reactive pan with the vanilla pods cut into halves.

Sprinkle the apricots with the sugar and lemon juice. Mix and let macerate overnight, ideally 24 hours. Stir once in a while.

The next day, remove the vanilla pods and fruit from the pan. Bring the juices to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Put the fruit back into the pan with the seeds from the vanilla pods and continue to cook for 30 minutes, minimum. At this point test to see whether the jam is ready by placing a tbsp on a cold saucer. (The saucer should have been in a freezer until it is well chilled.) Run your finger through the jam on the saucer. If the mark from your finger stays, the jam is ready. It the jam fills in the mark, continue to cook it. When the jam is ready, pour it into sterilized jars and seal them. Turn them upside down and let them cool. Once they are cool, turn them right side up.

Almost Flourless Olive Oil Chocolate Cake

This recipe is from Fran Gage's "The New American Olive Oil". This cake is much lighter than a cake made with a similar recipe that uses butter. The chocolate flavor is not as intense as a butter version. This cake is delicious and works well when you don't want a heavy dessert.

Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake (olive oil chocolate cake)

7 oz. 70% Chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup delicate extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup sugar, divided

5 extra-large eggs at room temperature, separated

2 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

powdered sugar for dusting

whipped cream for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle position.

Line the bottom of a 9 by 3 inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Butter the sides.

Melt the chocolate in a stainless-steel bowl over simmering water and whisk until smooth.

Add the olive oil, whisking in a steady stream. Whisk in 2/3 cup of the sugar, the egg yolks, and then the flour and salt.

Beat the egg whites at medium speed with a mixer until they start to foam. Add about a third of the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Beat until the whites are opaque, then add another third of the sugar. When the whites begin to increase in volume and become firmer, add the rest of the sugar and turn the mixer speed to high. Beat until the whites form soft peaks.

Fold the whites into the chocolate mixture in two additions.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake until the cake is puffed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with only a few crumbs clinging to it, 35 to 40 minutes.

Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a rack. It will deflate.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan, invert the cake onto a plate and peel off the paper.

Lightly dust the top with powdered sugar. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream.

Apple Cake

I am enjoying using Dorie Greenspan's latest cookbook, "Around My French Table", and last night I made "Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake" with one small change. The recipe calls for rum and I substituted bourbon. Oh, and I slightly bumped up the salt. The cake was super easy and delicious, not very sweet, and has more apple than batter.

Apple Cake

3/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

~1/8 tsp salt

4 lg apples peeled and cut into 1"-2" chunks, you can use 4 different kinds

2 lg eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3 tblsp bourbon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8 tblsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Center a rack and preheat oven to 350. Generously butter an 8" springform pan.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.

Beat the eggs with a whisk until foamy. Add sugar and whisk for a minute or so to blend. Whisk in bourbon and vanilla. Then whisk in 1/2 flour, then 1/2 butter, then the rest of the flour and lastly the rest of the butter. Fold in apples with a spatula. Put the mix into the pan and level with the spatula. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until top is golden and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes and then run a knife around the sides of the cake. Remove the sides of the pan and let the cake cool. The bottom of the pan may be removed after the cake has cooled almost to room temperature.

Dorie says to place the cake pan on a baking sheet covered with parchment or a silicone baking mat before baking the cake, and I guess that is because the batter may leak from the pan. I covered the pan bottom on the outside with foil before I put the batter in it. There was no leakage and so next time I would not worry with the baking sheet. It could affect the browning of the cake bottom though.

I used a combination of mutsu and pippin apples and they were tasty. My only apple tip would be to use a good baking apple, which is pretty obvious.

Christmas Cookies/Lemon Bars & Brandon's Chocolate Bars

For years I made plates full of cookies to give to our neighbors and a very few friends. Several years ago I didn't have time to make the cookies and then Mom died in December one year and I felt like Christmas had passed us by, and then I just wasn't making the cookies anymore. Well, this year I thought I really should make the cookies again and I am so glad that I did. People really seem to enjoy them. I tried 2 new recipes, rich chocolate cookies from Tartine Bakery and lemon sablés from Dorie Greenspan's "Paris Sweets". The old recipes I used were the molasses crinkles, lemon bars, and Brandon bars. I have had two recipe requests and they are for the cookies that always have seemed to be the most popular. Both came from a co-worker at Stanford, Helen Okuda. She always brought the best things to potlucks. I have lost touch with Helen and the recipes only exist on note cards, time to back them up on the blog.

Lemon Bars

Crust: Blend together-1 cup butter

2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Press into lightly butter 9"x13" pan; bake @ 350 for 25 minutes.

Filling: Blend together-2 Cups sugar

4 beaten eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tblsps lemon zest, grated (from about 3 lemons)

1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup lemon juice

Pour filling over baked crust and bake @ 350 for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown (top will crack). When cool, cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar (through sifter).

Brandon's Chocolate Bars

Crust: 1 cup butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter & sugar. Add flour & vanilla. Pat into 9"x13" pan; bake @ 350 degrees 15 to 20 minutes.

Topping: 3 eggs

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 tblsps flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

12 oz. pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla. Mix in flour and baking powder; add chocolate chips and nuts. Sread topping over baked crust; return to oven for 25-30 minutes. Cut while still warm.