Madeleines

I'm not sure why, but I've always been drawn to madeleines. I think because they're so small, you never quite feel so guilty indulging, as you would a slice of cake, or even a cupcake. With their nicely scalloped shape, they're the perfect dainty tea cake. I've made madeleines before, as mentioned here, but realized that I never posted the recipe!

What I really enjoy about these cakes is that, similar to cupcakes, they're extremely versatile. Working with a basic recipe, I've been able modify depending on what kind of mood I'm in. My general go-to, which is a definite crowd pleaser, is lemon madeleines with a lemon glaze.

I've toyed with a lot of different variations of madeleines. On a few occasions, I've added chocolate chips to my madeleine batter. Another time I even added a dollop of nutella to the center of each cake. By adding cocoa powder to the batter, I've made chocolate and marbled madeleines. I imagine you could add dried fruit, or preserves as well. The possibilities seem endless.

Madeleines (makes about 30)

Eggs 150g
Sugar 125g
Flour 125g
Baking powder 3g
Butter 100g
Zest of one lemon
Vanilla extract 3g

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees celsius. Melt the butter in the microwave or a saucepan and set aside to cool. Whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the sifted flour and baking powder. Slowly add the melted butter while whisking on low. Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract. If using metal madeleine pans, brush the pans twice with clarified butter. Fill the molds 2/3 full. Bake the madeleines for approximately 10 minutes or until they are starting to slightly brown. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before unmolding from the pan.

Whiskey Truffles

Not too long ago, I was able to pick up some chocolate transfer sheets at my local baking supply store. Chocolate transfer sheets are essentially acetate sheets that have been sprayed with cocoa butter. When pressed against tempered chocolate, the design will then transfer from the sheet to the chocolate. Those fancy chocolate with shiny colored tops, or ribbons of chocolate with designs that top cakes are no longer a mystery.

A while back I also picked up a stainless steel frame, or "cadre" from New York based J.B. Prince. I was ordering 100 sheets of precut parchment paper, and figured I'd add a few things for the premium I was paying on shipping. I was turned on to J.B. Prince by my Venezuelan friend from pastry school. Though I can't nearly afford to buy everything on their site, it's fun to ogle the professional grade goods.

Though I'm not a fan of whiskey (as it tastes like burning), I decided to make some truffles with my chocolate frame and transfer sheets. I prefer champagne truffles, but couldn't justify popping open a bottle to use less than 100g. I suppose I could have just downed the rest of the bubbly, but then I'd probably forget about the truffles altogether.

The chocolate frame worked out lovely, and was vast improvement from my previous Macgyver hack job with a cereal box. After letting the ganache settle in the frame overnight, I sliced it into squares with a hot knife, and then dipped them into tempered chocolate. Before the chocolate set, I quickly pressed a square of transfer sheet to the top of each truffle.

The truffles went over well with my work colleagues and other baking constituents. The whiskey flavor balanced well with the bittersweet chocolate, and to my surprise was not at all overpowering. For the whiskey, I used a 12 year old single cask Balvenie scotch. I figured the same rule that applies to wine, would also apply to whiskey. Don't cook with something you wouldn't drink. Partnered with bittersweet Ghirardelli chocolate, it tasted just a little like burning. Chocolate burning goodness.

Whiskey Truffles:
Dark chocolate 150g
Milk chocolate 125g
Liquid cream 190g
Whisky 50g

Bring the cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolates and whiskey, and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir the mixture until the melted chocolate is well incorporated. Pour into a frame. Alternately, you can let the mixture set and then pipe/scoop into small balls. Once the ganache cools, unmold from the frame and cut into squares. Dip each square into tempered chocolate, transfer to a silicone mat or parchment paper until set.

Pain de mie

If you can recall from my pastry school days, I was quite (and still am) obsessed with pain de mie. Also known as a pullman loaf, it is the quintessential white bread loaf. You can also find it in Taiwanese bakeries, being hard to miss with it's signature square loaf shape. With it's fluffy 'mie' or crumb, and hardly any crust, it is perfect for sandwiches or toast.

Most of my bread recipes involve using fresh cake yeast. After searching high and low, and even asking a nearby donut shop to sell me some, I gave up. A minor setback, but since then I've been able to substitute instant dry yeast with good results.

You're probably wondering what gives pain de mie it's lovely crumb texture and melt-in-your-mouth lightness? One word... BUTTER. Though I have about five different pain de mie recipes in my arsenal, and they vary in measurements and a few ingredients, all of them have at least a hundred grams of butter per kilogram loaf.

I've taken to baking these loaves every weekend, and I know what you're thinking... a kilo?! That's like two pounds of bread per week. Alas, sharing is caring, and I usually split them with my brother and his family.

On a side note, you'll notice that my pictures are a little different. Square.. yes. With a filter... yes. Since I haven't gotten around to processing a few months of photos on my camera, I've decided to include my Instagram photos into the mix. Hope you enjoy!

Pain de mie (for one 2lb loaf pan)

Bread flour 1k
Salt 25g
Sugar 40g
Yeast 40g (though 15g if using instant dry yeast)
Dry milk powder 50g
Water .6 liter (600g)
Butter 150g

Incorporate all ingredients except the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. With a dough hook, mix on low speed for 3 minutes. Increase speed and incorporate the butter. Mix at medium speed for 7 minutes. For the first proofing, allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, or until doubled in sized. Spray pain de mie or loaf pan with baking spray. Dust a work surface with flour and shape dough into a log the length of the bread pan. Place dough in loaf pan and allow to rise for at least another 30 minutes, or until the bread fills 2/3 of the pan. Close pain de me pan with lid, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove the lid and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow bread to cool slightly before inverting on a wire rack. Cool completely prior to slicing.

Pierre Herme's Jasmine Macarons

As promised, here is the recipe for PH's jasmine macarons. In my opinion, the delicate flavor of the jasmine ganache compliments sweet macaron cookie. In any case, one or two more than satisfies my pallet.

The jasmine ganache was simple. It required infusing/steeping the jasmine in hot cream prior to mixing with white chocolate to make the ganache.

I only allowed the tea to steep for a few minutes, to prevent the ganache from being too bitter or fragrant. A few minutes was more than enough time to adequately infuse the cream.

Once infused, the cream is strained over the white chocolate and incorporated until smooth. I then left the ganache to cool until firm.

The macaron dough is your standard macaron. PH's recipe calls for titanium dioxide powder, to make the dough even more white, but seeing as I didn't have that in my arsenal, I just omitted it.

Once the cookies are are baked and cooled, pipe the cooled jasmine ganache into the center. I imagine you could flavor the ganache with any other sort of tea or tisane. I would be curious to try chamomile and lavender, or maybe some other herbal mix!

Pierre Herme Jasmine Macaron

Macaron cookie:
300g almond powder
300g powdered sugar
110g egg whites
15g titanium dioxide powder
10g tepid mineral water (to dilute the above powder)
+
300g granulated sugar
75g water
100g egg whites

Jasmine ganache:
360g heavy cream
320g white chocolate
25g jasmine tea 
Prepare the jasmine ganache. Heat the cream to 85 degrees C. Remove from heat and add the tea. Allow to infuse for 3 minutes, not more. Filter the cream. Melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie/double boiler. Add the infused cream, a third at a time. Cool in the refrigerator until set and creamy.

Prepare the macaron dough. In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar, almond powder, (titanium dioxide diluted in water if using) and  first amount of egg whites. Boil the granulated sugar and water to 118 degrees C. When the sugar reaches 115 degrees, start whipping the second amount of egg whites. When the whites reach soft peaks and the sugar is at 118 degrees, pour the melted sugar into the egg whites. Whip until the mixture cools to 50 degrees. When cooled, mixed into the almond mixture. Pipe onto baking sheets and bake at 180 degrees for about 12 min. Assemble cookies: Pipe some jasmine ganache onto one cookie, top with another cookie.

Visiting the Pacific Northwest

Earlier this year, I was in need of a mini-break and decided to take a road trip up to Portland and Seattle to meet up with some friends. I had never been further north of Clear Lake at the South of the Mendocino National Forest, and thought it might be fun to see what is actually Northern California (even though we in the Bay Area say we live in Norcal), and bits of Oregon and Washington. Leaving after work, it was quite a drive to get to Medford. On a side note. Never ever ever stop and eat at the Burger King in Weed's California. Just don't do it... unless you like jerky-like chicken strips.

After a night in Medford, we hopped back on the I5 and stopped in Salem to eat at Word of Mouth Neighborhood Bistro. Apparently word had gotten around and this place was packed with almost an hour long wait. They should rename it to Word of Yelp Bistro. In any case, it was worth the wait. Salem Sunrise Mimosa on an empty stomach? Yes, please!

This dish was simple titled, 'Plate 'o love'. A couple eggs, corned beef hash, and creme brulee vanilla custard French toast. The French toast was a-maz-ing. The sugar on top was caramelized, crunchy and absolutely tasty.

The caramelized onion patty melt was pretty good too. Look at that gooey cheese.

Portland seems to be quite an eclectic city, with a bustling city center, near by University, and a riving passing right through it. The city's tram system makes it pretty easy to get around, with free fares in the busiest zones.

The rainy weather in Portland put a little damper on the sight-seeing, however the skies cleared up every now and then.

For dinner, I had researched an interesting gastro-pub like restaurant with apparently the best mixologists in Portland. Beaker & Flask is a hidden gem on the East side of the river in the more industrial looking part of the city. With discreet signage, it was difficult to spot the restaurant.

The two drinks below? They were tasty. What they're called, or what was in them... I wouldn't be able to tell you. About two drinks in, it all became rum haze. The website also doesn't list the gamut of concoctions they offer. I guess they're hip like that and you'll just have to take my word for it I suppose.

Along with my tasty cocktails, I ordered some fried pig ears. Yes. Fried. Pig. Ears. Now I know what you're thinking. Hey, that's the stuff I give my dog to gnaw on when he's being good. Well kind of, right? But no. These were crunchy and salty, and ever so tasty. I don't care if they're pig ears. I'm not sharing them with your dog.

I know some of you think it might be awful, but I love offal things. See what I did there? Ha. B&F serve up quite a mean chicken liver mousse. Though I initially questioned serving it with pumpernickel bread, pickled egg, and marmalade, it all actually worked together. Maybe I'm just used to my Spanish version of chicken liver mousse on toasted baguette.

For my entree, I ordered what appears to be braised pork rib, scallop, and some other sort of meat, on a citrus and frisee salad. If anyone else knows what that meat is, let me know. It was tasty, it disappeared off the plate, 'nuff said.

Fast forward to Seattle. On our First night, a friend of a friend whisked us off to Dick's Hamburgers for a quick drive through treat. I love the vintage sign. We also stopped by a place called Sazarac, which had an awesome happy hour. I'll definitely be stopping by there the next time I visit Seattle.

The weather in Seattle was a lot more mild than I expected it to be. Considering most of the year its cloudy or raining, we were lucky to get a bit of sunshine.

A short stroll from Pike Place Market, we stopped at Ivar's Fish Bar down by the water facing the Puget Sound to get some fish 'n chips, fried calamari, and chowder.

Ivar's is pretty much a fast food joint, but it seemed to be a popular pit stop for some quick seafood.

Even the locals crowded the picnic area on the pier. There were actually signs encouraging people to feed the seagulls, and they seemed pretty fearless. Apparently old Ivar used to do this back in the day; there's even a little monument of a seaman with seagulls perched on him.

Also, right by Pike Place Market, was The Crumpet Shop, which came highly recommended. Nothing like some melting maple butter to fill all the nooks and crannies.

And of course, you can't visit Pike Place Market without stopping by the original Starbucks Store.

It's funny to think how this tiny shop is now a worldwide chain. I think there are about 10 other Starbucks coffee shops within a mile radius of this one. Crazy!

And what to go with that coffee? A mini donut from a stand inside the market.

A close friend of mine was adamant that I stop by Piroshky Piroshky. This small corner shop was packed to the gills with baked goods and a few college looking students manning the tills.

For those of you who aren't familiar with piroshkies, they're the Russian take on a meat filled pie. For those of you who aren't familiar with me, I love meat pies. There's just something special about the countless combinations of fillings, warm and encased in either a flaky crust or soft spongy dough. They keep remarkably well too, as meat pies were originally made for the working man. This was the beef and cheese piroshky, with a rather large bite taken out of it, of course.

I think this piroshky was a vegetarian one with potato, onion and maybe mushroom.

Downtown Seattle, especially around Pike Place Market, is very picturesque. The stalls are very colorful as they're filled with peppers...

....and flowers....

...and gum. Wait, what?! That's right people. A wall, a gum wall. Colorful, yet oh so nasty.

Located under Pike Place Market, the gum wall started around the 1990's when irritated theater goers began sticking gum on the wall as they had to wait for tickets. In 1999 the wall became a certified tourist attraction. Seriously. It must be one of the most germ infected tourist spots in the world.

But nothing kills off germs faster than alcohol right? My last night in Seattle, I had one of the best greyhounds (vodka and grapefruit) ever. Though at a whiskey bar, they went to the trouble of freshly squeezing juice.

In a food and traveling haze, prior to setting off for home, we stopped by some diner somewhere in Seattle and had breakfast. Seattle and Portland are definitely full of good eats, most still unexplored by yours truly. Hopefully I'll make my way back up North at some point to do some more gastro-sight-seeing.

Word of Mouth Neighborhood Bistro

140 17th Street NE
Salem, OR 97302

Tel: 503 930 4285

Beaker & Flask

727 SE Washington St.
Portland, OR 97214

Tel: 503 235 8180

Ivar's Fish Bar

1001 Alaskan Way
Pier 54
Seattle, WA 98104

Tel: 206 467 8063

The Crumpet Shop

1503 1st Ave
Seattle, WA 98101

Tel: 206 682 1598

Piroshky Piroshky

1908 Pike Place
Seattle, WA 98101

Tel: 206 441 6068

Manresa

A few months ago I finally had a chance to dine at the world-famous, two Michelin starred restaurant, Manresa. To say I was excited was a bit of an understatement. From having friends who have worked with David Kinch, following his famous food-blogger girlfriend, and hearing rave reviews about how their produce is hand-picked fresh every morning from a farm nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains, it was quite a build-up of expectations. With stellar service from a friend's sister who coincidentally is a server there, the meal did not disappoint.

Manresa is renowned for using seasonal local produce in their offerings, which allows the chef to create a different menu every evening depending on what's available or in season. Being early summer, the chef's degustation menu was aptly named "The Late Spring Garden."

The meal started with a couple petit fours. At first sight, I thought, "oh madeleine and pate a fruit." However, the chef cleverly disguised savory starters in normally sweet dessert packages. The pate a fruit was red pepper flavored, which complemented the black olive madeleine. Tricky!

Up next was a local milk panna cotta with abalone. I love abalone. I'm not quite a fan of panna cotta. I always feel as if someone hasn't put enough gelatin or eggs in to make a proper flan. This panna cotta, however, was quite tasty. The crunchiness and spiciness of the radishes contrasted the silky shitake mushrooms, abalone, and mild panna cotta.

After I scraped the panna cotta container dry, our lovely server Andrea brought out some garden beignets with vinegar powder and aged goat cheese. I adore anything that is properly fried. I could have eaten at least a dozen of these. Those leaves? Yes I ate those too. Yum.

Up next we were given a short reprieve to collect ourselves and our taste buds. Our bread course arrived with raw-milk butter from Normandy cows. Love Apple Farms apparently has their own cows too. Though I doubt that they imported the cows, I can only assume that they're of the same breed as their bovine cousins across the pond. Our server mentioned that only special tables got this butter and it was okay for me to eat it all. Even sans bread.

Now I can officially say that I've eaten a raw baby cow. If you mention steak tartare to most people, they'll generally be a bit squeamish. And sure, in the States with our poor standards on beef, I'd understand. But raw fish, shellfish, and even chicken? Been there, ate that. Veal was a new one to add to the docket though. This dish was a veal and albacore tartare served with pickled cabbage and some sort of sauce that wasn't short of deliciousness.

I really appreciate high end restaurants providing copies of the menu, because at this point, the dinner was starting to blur. One happy-tummy blur. The next dish was assorted courgettes, pistachio with a nasturtium vinaigrette. So pretty.

And that's not all, it had cultured cream gently poured over at table-side.

The next dish was simply "Into the vegetable garden..." It was a colorful assortment of leafy greans and flowers with some sort of foam. On the right corner of the plate was something that suspiciously looked like dirt. Yes. DIRT. After some inquisition by yours truly, I found out that it was ground chicory that was made to resemble dirt. How clever.

Of course they couldn't serve a salad without a soup shortly following. We had a saffron and shellfish broth with yarrow and sorrels. There were bits of barely poached lobster floating in the broth.

After the broth we were served sea bream with almond, orange, and fennel jam. I loved the crispiness of the sea bream skin and the tender flakiness of the meat. I'm often confused what to do when there are powders on the side of the plate. Do I sprinkle a little on? Do I dip the main dish into it? I supposed I could mash it all together, but I think that would defeat the point and be a bit sacrilegious after someone has gone through the effort of carefully plating each element.

I think the next dish was one of, if not my favorite dish. I love runny egg yolks. Runny egg yolks with chicken? Yum. Runny egg yolks with mushrooms? Even better. Runny egg yolks swimming a warm broth chicken broth? Gastronomical heaven. Yeah I'm simple like that. This dish was chicken, egg confit, celtuce, and morels.

What the heck is celtuce you ask? I had the exact same question, and wasn't shy to ask my server. If I'm paying $$$$ for a meal, I better know what I'm eating, especially if its a main ingredient of the dish. Alas, I digress. Celtuce. If celery and lettuce had a lovechild, it would be celtuce.

While I was still in an egg-yolk induced euphoric state, our server brought out our next dish. Yes that's a rib you're looking at folks. One little rib, from one little lamb. Mary's lamb if you please. I love my meat rare, and this rib was rare enough you could mistake it for tartare. The 'spring lamb' was served with cucumber, blueberries, juniper and olive. I ate it off the bone... my server said I could.

As a palate cleanser, I had a garden tisane. Look at that action shot! Andrea was very accommodating with my food paparazzo musings.

For dessert, we started with a raspberry cremeux with white chocolate, anise hyssop and verjus sorbet. I can't help but look at the white chocolate stick and think about how much I hate working with chocolate. More power to the pastry chefs and chocolatiers who do though!

And of course to celebrate, a chocolate brownie with a tuile. The candle on the ardoise/slate.. is such an elegant alternative to jabbing it in the cake.

I think this was my favorite dessert. It was a pistachio parfait, with cherries, cherry pit crumble, red wine meringue and cocoa nib. I've never eaten cherry pits, but apparently you can crack the pit, and inside is something reminiscent to a nut. Cherry pits are small..and that's a lot of small nut cracking. I really liked how they made a ring of cherry gelatin to encircle the pistachio parfait.

Our server brought us another dessert that only the 'special' tables received. The flavor? Old fashioned vanilla ice cream made from that same Normandy cow milk. It was the most speckled vanilla ice cream I've ever had, which had to mean the number of beans per liter of milk must have been startling.

Though I started feeling as if I couldn't stomach any more food, literally, the next dessert arrived. As I've mentioned, macarons are all the hype now. These macarons were salted coffee. Though I love salted caramel, I wasn't too fond of the salted coffee, though the flavors did work. It just made me think of accidentally pouring salt into my coffee instead of sugar.

Weighed down by all the meal courses and my camera, I forgot to take a picture of the last mignardise. However, the chef cleverly brought the meal full circle, as the last plate looked exactly like the first, the petit fours. Our server joked, "okay we're starting all over again!" These petit fours however were strawberry pate a fruit and chocolate madeleines. The dinner was amazing, the service was spectacular, and I even got a mini tour of their kitchen (it wasn't as big as you'd imagine). I'm definitely looking forward to my next visit.

Manresa

320 Village Lane
Los Gatos, CA 95030

Tel: 408 354 4330