Dessert Party: Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Several weeks ago I had a dessert party with a group of friends. I had everyone bring one dessert. Most of the males brought store bought cookies, but at least there were no oreos. Ah, one did make white chocolate chip macademia nut cookies. There was also baklava... and 6 bottles of champagne. ok ok, sparkling white wine. Astrud Gilberto's Astrud for Lovers provided the ambiance.

After many hours of snacking and sipping, the night devolved into listening to the Star Wars soundtrack on vinyl and watching Michael Jackson's Captain EO on my laptop. The night rounded out with watching fireworks being set off from a fraternity several streets down. Leftovers from Fourth of July is my guess.

I wanted to do the classic cheesy pineapple upside down cake (pineapple rings, maraschino cherries and all). But I ended up at Trader Joe's and couldn't get my hands on pineapple rings and bright red dyed cherries. All they had were fresh pineapple chunks and jarred gray looking cherries from Germany. :/ So I went with the recipe from Cooks Illustrated...

Before I get into the recipe... I must say it was a hit and DELICIOUS. The cake was dense and buttery. the topping was sweet, carmelized and fruity. The last slice was just as tasty the next day. I'd love to try and make it with pineapple and cherries next time just for the ascetic. And it really didn't take that much time or effort. BTW I made it in a skillet since I don't own a cake pan.

I've been studying a lot, so I likely won't be making much for the next month. I'm going to try out chicken tikka masala though. perhaps in the next week or so.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Pineapple topping

1 medium ripe pineapple (about 4 pounds) - about 4 cups prepared fruit

1 cup packed light brown sugar

3 T. unsalted butter

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Cake

1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. table salt

8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened but still cool

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

2 large eggs plus 1 egg white, room temperature

1/3 c. whole milk, room temperature

1. Lightly spray 9-inch round, 2-inch deep cake pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside

2. For the pineapple topping: Combine pineapple and brown sugar in a 10 inch skillet; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally during first 5 minutes, until pineapple is translucent and has a light brown hue, 15-18 minutes. Empty fruit and juices into mesh strainer or colander set over medium bowl. Return juices to skillet, leaving pineapple in strainer (you should have about 2 cups cooked fruit). Simmer juices over medium heat until thickened, beginning to darken, and mixture forms large bubbles, 6-8 minutes, adding any more juices released by fruit to skillet after about 4 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla; pour carmel mixure into prepared cake pan. Set aside while preparing cake. (Pineapple will coninue to release liquid as it sits; do not add this liquid to already-reduced juice mixture).

3. For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, and heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl; set aside.

4. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with flat beater, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, add vanilla, and beat to combine; one at a time, add whole eggs then egg white, beating well and scraping down bowl after each addition. Reduce speed to low; add about 1/3 of flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Add half of miilk and beat until incorporated; repeat, adding half of remaining flour mixture and remaining milk, and finish with remaining flour. Give final stir with rubber spatula, scraping bottom and sides of bowl to ensure that batter is combined. Batter will be thick.

5. To bake: Working quickly, distribute cooked pineapple in cake pan in even layer, gently pressing fruit into carmel. Using rubber spatula, drop mounds of batter over fruit, then spread batter over fruit and to sides of pan. Tap pan lightly against work surface to release any air bubbles. Bake until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack, then place inverted serving platter over cake pan. Invert cake pan and platter together. lift off cake pan. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, then cut into pieces and serve.

Alternatively, a 10-inch ovensafe skillet (cast iron or stainless steel) can be used to both cook the pineapple and bake the cake. If using a skillet instead of a cake pan, cool the juices directly in the skillet while making the batter; it's OK if the skillet is warm when the batter is added.

Just glancing through the recipe, I wonder if it would be better to used fresh pineapple? you can buy it at the regular grocery store, all cut up with it's juices (I think Del Monte has it in a plastic bag and Trader Joe's has fresh pineapple cut up too).

Fettuccine Alfredo: never good leftovers

My brother has had an affinity for fettuccine alfredo for quite a while. I decided to try it from scratch. But not from just simply stirring milk and butter on a stove. No, I had to go with a tried and true recipe from Cook's Illustrated because of the kitchen tested results. They haven't let me down yet, so I gave it a go. If a recipe even feigns scientific proof of its taste superiority, I'll bite (at least once).
An ex was supposed to come to help me cook and eat it, but he fell asleep and forgot to call. Go figure. I went ahead with the plan though because I had my stomach set on it. And while it was delicious, I made the mistake of eating it by myself (all 9 oz of it). I managed to eat half of it (which gave my lactose intolerant system a bit of a workout). This was definitely stick to your ribs food. And no surprise, this doesn't keep well to eat later even an hour after it's done. Congealed goo. I still ate it the next day. The fact that the oil had separated from the cheese wasn't enough to deter me. But I made sure to invite friends the next time I made a batch. yummers.

Serves 4-6 as a first course

Ingredients:
*1.5 cups heavy cream
*2 T butter
*salt
*1/2 tsp black pepper
*9 oz fresh fettuccine (apparently soaks up sauce better. but gremlins will not beat you if you use dry)
*1.5 oz Parmesan cheese
*1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions:
1. Bring pot of water to a boil.
2. Bring 1 c heavy cream and butter to simmer in saucepan. reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced (12-15 minutes). Take off heat and stir in rest of cream, 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper.
3. Boil pasta. (add salt if you want). Cook just before al dente (it'll cook further when added to the sauce).
4. Simmer sauce again, reduce fire to low and then add pasta, Parmesan, and nutmeg. Cok over low heat (1-2 minutes). Add 1/4 of cooking water to thin out.

Now the article said to warm bowls so the pasta doesn't congeal as quickly. And yes, I did that. Congealing is bad. And if there is anything I can do to prevent congealed goo from forming (like I said, that sounds at least semi - scientifically convincing), I'm all for trying it.

Brunch: La Note

This morning I walked to Shattuck with my friend for brunch. I have been to this cute little French Provençal restaurant at least 3 or 4 other times for brunch. I have almost always ordered the Cote Nord (scrambled eggs with cream cheese (I substitute goat cheese) over levain toast, homefries and tomatoes. It's delicious and does everything taste and texture wise that I want breakfast to do. I also like to take a spoonful of the raspberry jam on the table. I don't double dip! I wanted to try something else this time though. I opted for the cinnamon brioche french toast. Thick and oh so good. A faint orange taste since it's dipped in orange water.

I still prefer the stuffed french toast special at Venus that is just a block down. That one, I believe, is challah bread that is stuffed with sweetened mascarpone cheese. I believe there's a walnut and apple mixture on top. But anyways, the french toast at La Note was tasty, but as always I feel with pancakes and french toast dishes, the salty, greasy component is missing, and I wasn't about to order a side of homefries.

The minus was that we had to wait over an hour and a half to get a table at this tiny place. We got there at 11:30 am and probably didn't get seated until 1 pm. I've never waited that long there. Usually an hour tops. But there was a new hostess, and she was very obviously only seating people that had the exact number of people as the number at the tables that opened up. That didn't make me happy to see people with one more person in their group getting seated before us when they signed their name in an hour after we did.

I love taking friends from out of town here. It's cute and charming, and the food is delicious and simple, everything you want in a breakfast/brunch. I just have to remind myself to come in at 9 am next time.

There's a Law and Order SVU marathon on and I'm watching it! It'll be studying for the rest of the day, munching on blue corn tortilla chips and guacamole and roasted tomato salsa. Dessert Party this Friday. I'm making a pineapple upside down cake.

Kjötsúpa - Icelandic Lamb Soup/Stew

So as a college student / working woman with limited time and budget, I tend to look out for recipes that I can make in large quantities and then eat for the rest of the week for lunch and dinner. Painfully boring? Yes, but I got used to that idea when I had my internship last year in Venezuela and I ate the same meals more or less for three months straight. Breakfast: yogurt, Special K, and papaya. Lunch: lentil soup and carrot sticks. Dinner: lentil soup and rice. I occasionally changed it up with a vegetarian chili. Needless to say, I have not bothered to make lentil soup since then.

Anyways, when I'm looking for a good recipe for a meal that's supposed to last me all week, in addition to it being relatively easy to make in mass quantities I look for one that has a decent amount of nutrients and fiber.

REVIEW

I found this basic recipe for an Icelandic lamb stew that is apparently a staple in Iceland. It is actually quite similar to Scottish and Irish lamb stews. This recipe might actually be even more simple than its neighbors'. I might try those at a later date. They involve using bacon and Guinness beer.

I just finished making a pot of this for lunch and I've already eaten three bowls of it today. A very tasty simple dish. My brother hated it. He said it was too bland for him. Those that consider themselves meat and potato people will enjoy this. I mean... if you can appreciate simple things like shepherd's pie and the like... which I do.

Rather than tell you the amount the recipe exactly called for... I'll tell you what I used in what quantities since the recipe even said there is no exact science to this.

RECIPE

Cook time ~ 1 hour
Servings ~ a hellauv a lot of soup It says 4-6. I'd say more like 6-8 servings. I'm kind of tiny, so more like 10 servings for me.

Ingredients
*6 cups of water
*1/2 a medium onion (diced)
*2 carrots (diced)
*1 rutabaga (diced) - sub turnip if you'd like.
*1 leek (diced)
*1 pound of lamb (I got 1/2 lb. of "lamb stew" (ready chopped and fattier) and 1/2 lb. of "lamb kabob" (ready chopped and leaner)
*1/2 a head of green cabbage (chopped like slaw) (it called for white cabbage)
*1 small head of cauliflower (cut into bite size florets)
*2 potatoes (diced into small cubes)
*.5-1 cup white/brown rice (I made mine separately in a rice cooker. but you can add it after you add the water to the browned lamb) (apparently you can try using rolled oats too to make it really hearty. I didn't feel like trying that this time around)
*vege/beef stock in the form of bouillon cube (or replace a cup of water or two with stock)

Directions

Brown the lamb in a little bit of olive oil. Sprinkled a bit of salt and pepper on top. Add the leeks and onions. Add water. I also added a bit of concentrated vege stock. You can use a bouillon cube if you'd like. Added another two tsp. of salt and some fresh cracked pepper. Brought to boil and then lowered to a simmer (medium heat). If you want to cook in the rice, add rice soon after you add the water. Basically you want to give the rice a half hour to cook with the soup. Add the rest of the veges. Brought back up to boil and then brought down to a simmer. Left it on for 20-30 minutes.

About this Blog: I Tell You Why

Who doesn't love food? Everyone obviously loves food, except for maybe Kate Moss. Who doesn't love to cook? That's a whole 'nother ball park. As a lover of both, I find myself frequently sharing recipes, restaurant recommendations, and food experiences. A separate blog for this part of my life only made sense. My myspace blog has always been a bit chaotic - a farrago of relationship whoas, travels abroad, and random recipes. The most recent inspiration probably came from watching too much Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. So what's going to make mine different? I guess this would be the best time to tell more about myself so you get an idea of whose perspective on food you're getting.

I'm a fourth/fifth generation Japanese-American originally from Los Angeles, California. My father was born in Hawaii but moved when he was still a toddler. My mother was born and raised in southern California. I just graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Political Science and a BA in Mass Communications. I'm currently studying towards higher education. Traveling has been a huge part of my life since high school. Countries have included Italy, France, Belgium, England, Austria, Holland, Japan, Brazil and Venezuela. From now on, I'm going to keep a detailed food diary of my travels... like Anthony Bourdain - minus the chain smoking and leather jacket. I have no real dietary restrictions. I am technically lactose intolerant, but I really don't let that stop me from eating my ice cream and fettuccine alfredo. I think my digestive system is turning against alcohol lately... but I probably won't let that get in my way too much either... if I can help it.

What you might find in this blog: Recipes I've tried and my reviews of them; restaurant reviews (local and abroad); posts on featured items like cheese, tea, or produce; recent news items on health or foods; and the occasional rambling of a neurotic 20 something year old.... Enjoy.