And here comes the rain...

The rain has descended my beloved Portlanders. With the cold and damp--there isn't enough coffee in the world to warm my bones!

So soup and casserole season is pushed into full swing! I happened to have 3 lovely delicata squash staring at me from the counter top this past weekend screaming to be used.

Just as a side note I rarely cook with shoes on at home.

With a healthy block of fresh Parmesan in the fridge & the brown rice lasagna noodles that jumped out of the cupboard at me, how could I not marry the three into a beautiful polygamist union.

I par boiled the noodles for this number. Roasted the squash & added a little mozzarella & fresh Parmesan with a little "slap yo mama" seasoning courtesy of my friend & her husband's nuptials. 

Grease an 8x8 pan & begin layering noodles, squash & cheese! Bake at 350 for 25- 30 minutes or until the cheese is melty and golden brown.

Ciao for now!

A hauntingly good re-connection with Figs.

As most days go I work early and come home late-- but today I was running amuck in the real world by 3pm. I therefore decided to enjoy this delightfully balmy fall day and walk the 5 miles home from work.

On this merry adventure, I came across one the many reasons I love Portland. 

These kind people put a sign by their fig tree! And as my mind is want to do when food is involved, I began to brainstorm what to do with these lovely figs.

As pastry & sweets are my love, I remembered the pumpkin ice cream nestled in my freezer as well as the spiced red wine open from last night. Figs in a red wine reduction over pumpkin ice cream. Que all kinds of gooey, happy, borderline inappropriate noises.

Now here's what you'll need:

1 pt. Pumpkin ice cream ( I recommend Double Rainbow)

4 ripe figs

1 cup of spiced red wine OR 1 cup sweet red wine, a cheese cloth bundle with a couple cinnamon sticks, fresh nutmeg and 2 -1/2 inch slices of orange peel wrapped inside.

Oh and a pinch of salt!

Wash, peel and slice your figs.

Add wine to a deep sauté pan, warm on high and slowly add figs (and goody bag if needed). 

Bring to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer.

Macerate the figs gently then leave them alone.

Cook on low until wine is gone and figs are sizzling. Approximately 10 minutes. 

Break the figs up a little more add a tablespoon more wine if the pan is super dry. 

Cook until they are to your desired sticky/broken down texture.

Scoop ice cream. Add figs. Pour a glass of wine and enjoy with utter, grownup, Halloween delight!

Happy Eating!

C

Tis' the Season!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to my faithful reader! This would be my Aunt Krista for anyone reading that might be confused -- but you are included in the glad tidings for the holidays as well.
Between moving-- again & the glorious Thanksgiving holiday I've been busy. Also I figured out I can blog from my fancy new phone!!! So no more excuses right?
I have big plans for baking in the next week but to get you caught up here's a photo montage...Bon appetit!

A Tart is a tart is a tart... with peaches in this case.

Fastly approaching is my favorite time of year, Fall! Which also means one of my favorite fruits of all time is in season now.

Peaches!

I remember how sad I would be that peaches never made it to October back in the midwest so I could have my favorite pie on my birthday. I remember for my 24th birthday I got a coveted peach pie at the envy of all my cousins because that meant there wouldn't be any at thanksgiving. It was delicious as all of my grandma's pies are.
However living in Oregon has literally spoiled me in all kinds of ways when it comes to fresh fruit and produce. Peaches? all the way at the end of September?? What kind of beautiful altered dimensional plane have I landed in? THE best kind.

It was in this spirit with a little inspiration from my recent pancake recipe success that I did some experimenting with buckwheat flour. The nutty flavor combined with almond flour makes for really great texture and yes, it's gluten free.



These peaches of multiple varieties were so delicious they only got a tablespoon of brown sugar, 1tsp of vanilla, vietnamese cinnamon & nutmeg...oh and a splash of riesling!

The "fantastic" crust as my roommate put it is the recipe below:

1 cups brown rice flour, plus extra for rolling.

1 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup finely ground blanched almonds or almond flour 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon brown sugar

6 to 8 Tbsp ice water, very cold

Put flour, brown sugar, salt  into cuisinart, pulse and slowly add butter. Then add water one tbs at a time until dough just comes together. Divide & chill. Roll out as needed. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until crust begins to brown lightly.

I'm really looking forward to trying this as a pie or maybe a fig tart next time. The great thing about this recipe is it's egg free! While it contains butter, it could easily be made with butter flavored vegetable shortening, though I would recommend cutting the shortening in by hand versus using the cuisinart.

Enjoy with a little vanilla ice cream :)

Happy Baking & of course, Happy Eating!

Hello August! but wait...you're almost gone too!?

I have had a rather bumpy year that has attributed to the ENORMOUS hiccup in my blog writing-- I however am restructuring and also will be moving for the second time this year in the next few months. 

But I have a new work schedule now, and have been regularly having nerd-out style pastry chats with a dear co-worker & our chatting has me inspired.  So rather than promise my very select audience that I'm going to diligently write every week I'm simply going to request they check back weekly beginning September 1st of 2012... I hope you won't be disappointed.

Happy Eating!

C