Greens & feta rolls
I put black mustard seeds in the pastry, because I like their flavor with greens, and because they add a nice speckledy crunch. I used kale and spinach because I had them, and because I think the mild flavor of spinach is nice with the more assertive flavor of kale. And the sauce is a roasted red pepper and chipotle sauce. Quite spicy, and very pretty with it’s bright red tint.
Roasted red pepper chipotle sauce
Here’s Mean Greens by Eddie Harris.
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Puff pastry
Here’s Broken Social Scene with Puff the Magic Dragon, because there is something magical about puff pastry.
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Dogs clapping hands!
veggie party food!!
I had the brilliant idea to try to serve red and green food. So we had red and green cerignola olives, which are my favorite kind of olives. And I made bright green chermoula sauce, which I dusted with bright brick red spanish paprika. Very pretty! (chermoula is a mix of cilantro, parsley, olive oil, lemon, garlic, cumin and, um, paprika) I served it with small slices of baguette.
And I made pretty rosy little paprika cracker cups with membrillo and manchego. And spicy dark chocolate cookies.
And I made chard rolls in flaky pastry. A little bit like vegetarian sausage rolls, with red and green swiss chard (I know, I know, it’s not so red and green anymore once it’s all baked in pastry). These had olives, capers, hazelnuts and mozzarella. They’re nice because they’re small enough that people can have one or two as a snack, but they’re substantial enough that you can have a few and call it dinner. If, say, you’ve been making party snacks all day and don’t feel like making an actual meal.
Here’s Antick decked out in holiday regalia.
Antick
And here’s my current favorite holiday song…The Ethiopians’ Ding Dong Bell. It’s the best!
membrillo
So, quince. They’re so odd-looking but pretty, and they have such an intoxicating fragrance when they’re ripe. Plus, they’re elusive. It’s quite a quest to find quince fruit where I live, although you see quince bushes with their crazy bright-pink flowers everywhere in the springtime. A few years ago I pestered the produce people at my local shoprite every time I went. Eventually they got a big batch of quinces. I hope somebody else was glad to see them there!
So yesterday, when my friend Kate gave me a bag containing 5 quinces, it made my day! They were past the first blush of youth, and looked a little grey and furry, but they smelled ridiculously good!
I poached some in port wine with a large apple, and I made a sort of compote to go on my almond cake.
port-poached quince compote
And with the rest I made membrillo, a Spanish quince paste that I’ve tried to make several times over the years with varying results. Well, it worked this time! I haven’t tasted it yet, but I almost don’t care how it tastes! Because it’s so damned pretty. I bought a vanilla bean towards the end of the summer, and I’ve been saving it the way I save really beautiful blank books that are too nice to actually write in. Well…membrillo was worth it! I’ll try to find some manchego cheese to go with it, which is how it’s meant to be eaten!
Here’s Quince, by Sonny Stitt
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Spinach-herb quiche
roasted mushroom quiche
Of course it’s got to be the B52s with Quiche Lorraine.
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Combining flavors makes cooking joyful. We’re so used to some flavor combinations that it’s hard to think of one thing without another. Other combinations are thrillingly new and unexpected. I find it fascinating that our notion of a food’s flavor changes from country to country. In some places peanut butter is thought of as a savory food, but in the US we combine it with jam, chocolate, ice cream… I love the idea of unexpected foods tasting good together – sweet and savory, warm and cool.
I wish I had Remy’s ability to really experience and savor flavors, but I feel like all-to-often I’m more like Emile, and I just hork it down.
What are some of your favorite flavor combinations? What are some very different tastes that are unexpectedly delicious together?
I read this article in the Guardian today, about soul cakes passed out on All Soul’s Day. Possibly the origins of trick-or-treating. It appealed to me in so many ways! For one, I love that food might have magical powers. If you eat these cakes, you send a soul to heaven!! That’s power! I think there are a lot of superstitions about food, particularly around different holidays. Can you think of any?
I also like the idea of soul. I love soul music, and soul food. And the idea that there is something bright and beautiful and transcendent that we don’t quite understand.
Here’s my playlist of beautiful songs with soul in the title.
And here’s a link to my favorite new blog with the soul cakes recipe.
In which Claire cements her reputation as a pastry geek and gets all Mrs. Beeton on you.
I’m fascinated by hot water crust pastry! (Also called raised pastry.) I’d thought of pastry as a chilly, hands-off affair, with everything ice cold, touched only by fingertips, and laid out on a cold marble slab. Well, hot water crust pastry is made with boiling water and melted fat, you get your hands right in there and knead it, and then you mold it as if it was play-doh! It really can put some childish fun in making pies. It’s also a bit of a challenge, and it took me a while to find the right proportions. The idea behind this dough is that it makes a pastry so strong that you can pour gravy inside and it won’t leak out. So strong that you can put it in your pocket, and it won’t crumble. So strong that Rogue Riderhood can make it into plates…
Remarkably, it’s very tasty, too. And though I’ve just made it sound like it might crack your teeth, it has a lovely texture. Typically, it’s a crust for a meat pie, and it’s made with lard. I’ve read that you can substitute vegetable shortening, but I just don’t like the idea of vegetable shortening. Flavorless, colorless fat does not appeal to me. So I use a mixture of butter and olive oil. I’ve had good results – it might not be exactly like the original, but it’s very tasty and sturdy enough for anything I’ve ever made. The idea is to mold it by hand, or to mold it around a large jar, and then tie parchment paper around it, or let it cook free-standing and expect the middle to bulge out a bit. I’ve molded it around cups to make small pies, but for anything larger I cheat and cook it inside something with a tall straight edge, and then turn it out impressively at the end.
If you want to make a vegan version, use margarine instead of butter.
I’ve used this pie crust for many pies! It works well with Deep Mushroom Pie, and Vegetarian Pie, Mash & Liquor.
UPDATE! *I’ve changed the proportions a little bit in the recipe. It never made enough, for one thing, and it was more difficult to work with than it needed to be. The recipe now should make a delightfully moldable dough, but still hold its shape when you want it to.*
I’ve got a couple of songs about pork pie hats, because this crust is known for its pork-pie-usage.
Here’s Charles Mingus – Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
and here’s Pork Pie Hat by Lauren Aitken
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Movies & food are two of my favorite things, so it stands to reason that movies about food represent a perfect combination for me. Following on a post about popcorn (who decided that popcorn is a good movie-theater snack? Is there any noisier food to eat?) let’s talk about movies. The best movies about food, in my opinion, express the joy of creating food and the joy of eating food. So here are a few of my favorites. What are your favorite movie scenes about food?
I love everything about Ratatouille! The character of Remy is so appealing and so unassuming, and his passion for food is so unselfconscious and unlikely. This film is about more than food, it’s about the desire to create – the passion of a real artist. And it makes you very hungry, too!
This scene is also about food & memory, a fascination of mine, as we all know.
more from all over the world…
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Out of the Ordinary 