Chez Christine

Cake Disaster

This is why I don't do pastry.

And why I told my family never to ask me to make cakes again.

For my dad's birthday last October, I was commissioned to make the birthday cake.  Somehow, going to culinary school automatically means you can make cakes and pastries, even though I never once take any of those classes at school.  Apparently I can make puff pastry, Opéra cake, and probably spun sugar pieces because I was in the same building as the pastry students!

In any case, I was ambitious enough to try to make the Cook's Illustrated Lemon Layer Cake, which was yellow cake, lemon curd filling, and a light Italian-meringue type frosting.  I decided to switch the filling to my famous lime-ginger curd instead to make things more interesting.

Unfortunately, my cakes stuck to the bottom of the pan and cracked into pieces, plus they just didn't have much oompph in terms of flavor.  I resorted to good ol' Duncan Hines from the cupboard and luckily was able to have a replacement.  The frosting was light, but also didn't have much character to it, but at least it was spreadable and acceptable.

Then came the worst part: decorating.  My one class at Michael's on cake decorating taught me how to hold a pastry bag correctly, but as for actually creating things with it, let's just say you see the sad results above.  The most brilliant piece, however, must have been when I found Oreo cookies in the cabinet and thought they'd make a fine border.

Oh well, everyone liked it.  Or pretended to. 

Lesson learned: Oreos will always save the day.   And I will never make another birthday cake again.

Bon Appétit!

Neptune Oyster, Boston

Neptune Oyster in Boston's North End has a special place in my heart.

Up until August, it was the place to go for hot or cold lobster rolls, interesting crudo plates, and of course, oysters and clams on the half shell.  The design of the restaurant is surprisingly similar to that of Pearl in NYC, but the menu veers away from New England and incorporates a bit of Italian in there also.

Then came August and everything changed.

H & I had always wanted to go to Neptune's on a Monday night for their famous lobster spaghettini special.  We were only in Boston for two more weeks before moving to San Francisco, so we were trying to squeeze in as many favorite restaurants as possible.

I, unfortunately, was feeling grouchy that long, rainy Monday.  H wisely knew that the grouchiness probably came from hunger and suggested we go to Neptune.  Off we went and we had a fabulous meal.  Then came the big surprise when H proposed in the Public Garden!

So last week we decided to go back to Neptune and relive the fateful meal all over again, this time with H being more relaxed and me vowing not to be grouchy.  Word of caution: the lobster spaghettini is absolutely enormous, with very few people ever finishing the whole portion.  At $36, it's not cheap but quite reasonable when you decide to split it.  We've learned to order a crudo plate of some kind to share before diving into the heady bowl of tomatoes, sliced garlic, toasted bread crumbs, wine, and of course, chunks and chunks of lobster meat.  There is so much lobster that sometimes I want some more pasta in there to balance it out!  The first time there was no cheese on it, the second time there was - I still can't decide which one I prefer more.  It looks like a mess, a beautiful, delicious mess.

Yellowtail "Hamachi" Tartare

Washed down with some Trimbach wine from Alsace, it was perfect, absolutely perfect.  Almost as good the second time around - really, nothing can replace the happy day when you decide to spend your life together with the one you love.

Lobster Spaghettini

Neptune Oyster
63 Salem St.
Boston, MA 02113

Bon Appétit!

Apple Pie Crostata

About two days ago, I was getting ready to leave Boston after an extended holiday stay.

Temperature there?  9F after you factor in wind chill

Temperature today in the Bay Area?  76F

Still, you can't blame me for craving hot liquids and soup even after returning to the land of moderate weather.  Every time I travel for a long period of time, the first thing I cook upon returning is a big pot of soup.  There's something comforting about a big bowl of vegetables and broth - it's something familiar and something I think my body craves after overindulging while on vacation.

After a quick trip to the Alemany Market, I poached a whole chicken, shredded the meat for later, and simmered the bones with garlic, onion, carrot, tomato, and potatoes.  Just before serving, I removed the bones and added in large fistfuls of shredded Napa cabbage along with the reserved shredded chicken.  Ahhhh...mind and body soothed.

Soup craving now satisfied, it was onto apple pie.  Well, kind of.

I started out thinking about making a deep-dish apple pie, but then didn't want to use up all the butter I had in the fridge to make a double crust.  (Plus, the two of us trying to finish a whole pie would be trouble.)  The deep-dish apple pie then evolved to making mini deep-dish pies in muffin tins.

After discovering rust on the muffin tins, it was a head-scratching dilemma of what to do.  Aha!  A crostata.  Perfect use of a single pie crust, definitely easy to put together, and still the essence of apple pie was there.  Oh, and I love the higher ratio of crust to filling.  Did I mention that I am a crust girl?

 

Martha Stewart's pâte brisée recipe is a dream to put together, and I am an "expert" pie-crust roller now that I have one of those cheater plastic sleeves for dough that gives you a perfect 9" crust (separate post about that wonderful device to come).  If you make the crust right, it's flaky, tender and shatters when you bite into it without using any shortening.

I'll let you in on a little secret: H & I ate about 1/3 of it in one sitting.  To our defense, we only had bowls of chicken vegetable soup for dinner, but still, watch out if you're on a New Year's diet!

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Apple Pie Crostata
Serves 6 - 8

Contrary to other baking recipes, I've left instructions a little vague because this is a rustic tart and you can adjust to your own preferences.  I like to roll the dough out before resting and chilling because it is usually easier to do so - chilled dough can be tough or too hard in the middle sometimes.

Dough:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and diced into 1/4 inch cubes (freeze cubes if possible before use)
2 - 4 Tablespoons ice cold water

Filling:
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
ground cinnamon to taste

egg wash or milk
coarse sugar (optional - granulated will work too)

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Pulse together flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor to combine.  Scatter butter cubes over flour and pulse into just combined and butter pieces are about the size of a small pea, about 10 pulses.
3. With machine running, slowly drizzle in water until dough just forms a ball (you may not need all the water).  Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and roll into an 9-inch circle.  Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, combine filling ingredients in a medium bowl.  Adjust with additional sugar or cinnamon if desired, you want the apples to be just a tad too sweet raw to get a good result after baking.
5. Remove dough from fridge and roll out to a larger circle, about 11-inches across.  Carefully roll onto rolling pin and transfer back to baking sheet.  Pile filling in the center, leaving about 3 inches all around and evening out apples so that they are fairly level.  Fold one piece of dough inward, then continue moving around the edge, gently overlapping and leaving about a 5-inch opening.  Brush top of crust with egg wash or milk and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake until golden brown and apples are cooked through, 40 - 45 minutes.  Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Bon Appétit!