Grilled Cheese, For Grown Ups

A couple weeks ago I went to a talk by Christopher Kimball, founder of America's Test Kitchen.  (ATK publishes Cook's Illustrated magazine, probably my favorite and most trusted food resource.  If you're not already familiar with the magazine, check it out!)

It was only fitting that I'd already planned on making Cook's Illustrated's "Grown Up Grilled Cheese" after the talk.  Quick background: my boyfriend Jordan and I have embarked on a project called The Year of Cheese, which we'll also be blogging.  (As of today there's only an "About" page, but hopefully that will be remedied soon.)  The project is pretty straight forward: sample a new cheese or two each week, sometimes straight up, sometimes in a cooked preparation, record impressions.  We're only a few weeks in, but so far it's going deliciously.  

"The Thing That Makes Me Most Excited About Fall Right Now...

...is being able to make this chutney!"

This is approximately what a friend said last night when a group of us got together and made dinner, and I brought this mango chutney.  

Inspired by a chutney my Mom made for me a few weeks ago (although it turned out to be entirely different), this mango chutney is as easy and delicious as it comes.  The peeling and chopping is a tad bit time consuming, but once the fruits and veggies are all diced up, everything is dumped in one pot and cooks together.  Spices and a dash of acid at the end complete this delicious condiment that you'll want to serve (or just eat with a spoon!) all winter long.  Last night we served it over a brined pork tenderloin (more inspiration from Mom!), but I suspect it would be fantastic on chicken and lamb as well.

(Apologies for forgetting pictures--by the time dinner was on the table we all dug in and forgot the photos!  I can guarantee I'll be making this again and again, so pictures will come eventually)

Frangipane Tart With Seasonal Fruit

  
I've had a short but intense love affair with frangipane, otherwise known as almond pastry cream.  I can't remember the first time I had it--either at my first bakery job, where we made Cherry Frangipane Galettes, or perhaps it was on vacation with my family a few months prior to starting that job.  Either way, it was about two years ago, and I've been hooked ever since.  With almond paste at its base, it is similar in flavor to almond macaroons, (which happen to be my favorite cookies), but with a denser, richer texture.  My favorite uses for frangipane are in tarts and galettes (rustic tarts), embellished with seasonal fruits of choice.  I've made this tart several times in the winter with ginger poached pears, but for the summer, I love a combination of stone fruits and berries.  A few weeks ago a dinner with friends gave me the opportunity to make this favorite dessert again.  

I am a fan of all things Martha [Stewart], and her recipe has been my go-to since I discovered this delicious dessert.  A basic pate sucree crust can be prepared up to a day ahead of time.  The crust is pre-baked in a tart pan; the frangipane can be prepared while the tart shell cools.  I've streamlined her fussy crust baking method just a bit--I think the results are probably comparable.  You definitely need to start early in the day to allow sufficient time for chilling and cooling at the various stages, but it's not too hard to execute, and certainly worth the effort....At least that's what I gathered from the second helpings accepted all around! 

Boston Is In Lockdown. Carrot Cake, Anyone?

So Boston/Cambridge/Watertown/Surrounding areas are on lockdown.  I'm sure you know that.  

I was woken up shortly after 6am this morning with simultaneous texts from my roommate, who was stuck at Logan Airport, and from the Cambridge Police.  The police text said:

"This is the city of Cambridge. Do [sic] to the police investigation in Water Town [sic] and the surrounding area, MBTA."  

TOTALLY unhelpful, but by then I was wide awake, so I turned on my computer to learn more.  Good lord, things are CRAZY in this city right now.  From my kitchen window I saw MBTA buses full of police being transported while I was eating breakfast.  Otherwise there's been very little vehicular traffic and few people out along the river, which is usually packed with walkers, runners, and bikers.  With the exception of occasional sirens, my neighborhood is very quiet, much like the whole city.  After what seemed like a lot of activity this morning, mostly from various media outlets catching up on the night's activity, there's been little fresh news since late morning.  It's kind of crazy to think that a city can literally shut down, and people more or less respect the command to stay inside, but so far it's working.

One friend wrote on Facebook that it feels like "a scary, weird snow day in spring."  Which is true.  Can't go outside, no where to go, and nothing to do.  So clearly, that called for snow day amusement tactics, namely baking.  

Wednesday Morning Pecan-Toffee Oatmeal Cookies

So Harvard is maybe moving me three times this year.  Once in June, then again in July, for sure.  And then maybe once in November.  Yipeeeeee.... 

(For the record, I hate moving.  Well, packing/unpacking.  Luckily Harvard is doing all the actual heavy lifting.)

So what is a baker with an overly full pantry to do in advance of all these moves?  Start depleting the pantry!  Clearly Wednesday morning cookies were in order. 

These cookies in particular happened because the recipe is a recent addition to the folder (and therefore in need of testing, see Recipe Folder Project, January 2013).  Also, as luck would have it, I had almost exactly the right amounts of oats, pecans, and Heath Bars (don't ask).  So really, Fate was telling me to give them a whirl. 

Oats, both ground and whole, make up half the base, giving these cookies a hearty crunch.  Lots of butter and a mix of white and brown sugars makes these cookies crisp on the outside but chewy in the center.  A generous amount of Heath Bar pieces amplify the brown sugar's deep toffee flavor.  Toasty pecans round out the flavor profile and make everything delicious, no?  These aren't fancy or beautiful cookies by any means, but are a great picnic treat or a deeply satisfying afternoon pick-me-up.

Thin Crust Caramelized Onion, Sausage, and Spinach Pizza

 
The photography department here at Macy Bakes has been on an extended vacation, but they're back with (mediocre) pictures of (awesome!) pizza.  They kind of forgot to take a picture of the masterpiece before it was mostly-devoured, but here's a little slice (groan) of what was going on in the kitchen:

Please excuse the terrible cell phone picture. 

Last night I revisited the awesome thin crust pizza dough that I posted about in January, with real toppings that were only partially pilfered from the dining hall!  I wanted to make pizza, but didn't want to shop, so I poked around my pantry and freezer and came up with Caramelized Onion, Spicy Sausage, and Spinach Pizza with Pecorino-Romano and Mozzarella.  

Multigrain Sandwich Bread

 
So many recipes lately, and so little initiative in the Taking Photos, Writing Them Down, and Posting Them department.  That department is full of slackers.  (Update 4/17/13: Per the request of the fans, bread was made again and photographed--poorly.  Enjoy :)

A couple months ago I made this really great loaf of bread from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.  Last week I wanted to make it again, but it was blizzarding (again!) and I realized that I hadn't scanned the recipe out of the cookbook.  I tried another whole wheat sandwich bread from America's Test Kitchen, assuming they'd be nearly the same, but they were not; the second go around was much less fantastic AND much more time consuming.  Seriously, ATK--2 different whole wheat sandwich loaves with the same ingredients but different results?  Isn't that kind of excessive/unnecessary?  So today I trekked to the library to find the first recipe.  For my benefit, and yours, I'm sharing it, forever to be recorded on the internet so that I'm never without the recipe in the future.  (Do any other food bloggers cook from their own blogs?  Because I definitely do that!)