A year of pies...

Ever since Christmas when I received a fabulous cookbook from my brother called 'A Year of Pies' by Ashley English (http://www.smallmeasure.com/) I have been thinking about PIE!  For those of you who actually know me you may recall that pie has always been one of my favorite things to make and I have even had a few pie parties in my time. Moving to Australia of course expanded my understanding and taste for pie as I discovered the big wide world of savory pie...YUM!

Ashley has inspired me to take my pie baking to a new level and make this my own year of pies and hopefully Tablenosh will begin selling pie at the local farmers market this Spring!  My year of pies kicked off  about 2 weeks ago and I announced 'Friday Pie Day' in our home.  Every Friday I will do my best to experiment with a new recipe or work on mastering a favorite.  Pies will also of course include tarts, galettes, crostata, quiche and any other 'pie-like' thing I can muster up!

So far I have made 5 recipes from Ashley's pie book and each one has been pretty delicious.  I kicked off with a savory 'collards and cornbread quiche' recipe - this had a quiche like base and a crusty cornbread on top.  Then I made 'shoofly' pie and a lemon-lime chess pie.  Last Friday was an apple & pear crostata... I served it warm with some crème anglaise and it was delicious, definitely a winner.  Oh yes and the 5th pie I made a few weeks ago which was a chicken pie, very similar to other chicken pies I have made except I stuffed it full of every veggie I could find and used a regular pie crust versus puff pastry, this is one of my favorites especially for winter and so easy!

Apple & Pear Crostata with Creme Anglaise

I made a double batch of all butter pie dough last week and froze half of it, so this week I can just thaw it and put it to use.  A dear friend of mine who has much more baking experience under her belt has generously given me some top notch lard (she special orders this stuff in bulk) to experiment with as well, I have heard that using lard in a pie crust can take it to a whole other level so I am looking forward to finding out!  I am not sure what pie is next...possibly a rosemary bourbon sweet potato, depends on what I have in the cupboard.  Keep ya posted!

Wedding Cake # 4

Somehow between babies, holidays, house guests and sleep deprivation I managed to step up to the task of making my fourth wedding cake.  This time around I actually took a few minutes to get some basic cake icing instruction - thanks to 'you-tube' (I should have done this a long time ago).

This cake was pretty simple in terms of the cake, filling and such - I just did my favorites.  Using the best chocolate cake recipe (I referenced this in another blog), brushed with raspberry preserves and framboise, stuffed with whipped cream and fresh raspberries, iced with vanilla meringue buttercream.

As I learned some new tricks for getting the icing a little smoother, I also learned a new trick for making my cream stiff enough to stay put underneath all the layers of cake, just add a little gelatin, worked like a charm.

The wedding was on December 29th, so it had a nice wintry festive look to it in decoration.  Personally I was very pleased with the taste and out of all the cakes I have done the icing was far smoother than any of the others!  Imagine what could happen if I actually went and took a class...one of these days I will get there and until then I will just keep winging it and enjoying the creative outlet of cake...yum :)

Shifting gears...babies in the kitchen!!

I have truly not had a moment to write anything on this blog since October!  What a whirlwind the past few months has been for us...we got babies...we were blessed with our first child through adoption and we have also been blessed with a little foster baby boy (it is unknown how long we will have him)!!!!  Our precious son, Abram Joshua was born on November 3...this has been a miraculous answer to many years of prayer and we feel so blessed, but needless to I have been sleep deprived and fairly nuts especially through the holidays!  So, in terms of my kitchen activity I have gone from experimental creative cooking to making 'whatever is easy & simple' and spending much more time making food for babies :)

Our Growing Family

Cooking and noshing with babies has definitely been a slightly different ball game, but I have no doubt I will find my rhythm and figure it out...eventually :)  I have shifted my energy from grown up food to making homemade baby formula and veg/fruit purees for our 5 month old foster baby.  It has been good to know I am putting whole pure foods into these boys, especially since breastfeeding is not an option.  The idea for making my own baby formula came after hearing about a few recipes from other moms.  Through a few different sources I was steered towards an organic 'raw milk' homemade formula.  I make a double batch every other day and my little boys are loving it!  We had to buy a share of a cow in order to get the raw milk and most of the other ingredients I can find at the natural foods store or I order on Amazon.

For anyone who may be interested or feels like they need something to supplement their breast milk with you can find the recipe on this website: http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/recipes-for-homemade-baby-formula We currently have been blessed to get our raw milk from Avery's Branch Farms in Amelia, VA http://www.averysbranchfarms.com/ .

Roasted Butternut Squash & Roasted Apple

In the past few weeks I have also just started feeding our foster baby solids, so it has been fun roasting up veggies for him and pureeing them and then of course watching his facial expressions as he discovers new tastes!  I am roasting the vegetables because it makes the veggies so much more flavorful than boiling and I want him to be enjoying his food while he gets the nutrition he needs.  Today's new flavor was roasted butternut squash pureed with a roasted apple!  Yummy (I would totally eat this much myself).

'Autumn Delights' First Dinner in RVA!

October 12, 2012 ... kicked off the first 'tablenosh' underground dinner in Richmond, Virginia.  The tablenosh concept is bringing different people together around a table of good food, to enjoy an 'in-home dining' experience.  And from what I could tell that is just what happened :)

For this dinner I really tried to focus on using local, seasonal and organic ingredients.  It was exciting to use sweet potatoes, butternut squash, arugula and fresh herbs from my very own garden!  Other veggies and apples were sourced from local farms, including Critzer Farm (Afton, VA) and Frog Bottom Farm (Appomattox, VA) and the menu was also supplemented by our local organic grocery store.

Overall I was pretty pleased with the menu and hopefully the noshers were too!!  We opened the evening with a splash of local hard cider, from the new cider house in my very own hometown of Nelson County, VA.  The cider is called 'bold rock' and I think it is delicious.  They use local apples and have one of the best cider brewmasters in the world all the way from New Zealand.  It is a smooth and refreshing drink, and it's apple season, so I thought sipping on this was just perfect.

http://www.boldrock.com/

The starter for the evening was my very own creation of a butternut squash fritter serve with a spiced crème fraîche dipping sauce.  They were pretty simple to make, with sauteed onions, grated butternut and seasoned with cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and fresh cilantro.  

Next was the Kale Salad - which consisted of chopped kale, arugula, roasted sweet potatoes, feta and slivered almonds tossed in olive oil, fresh lemon juice, garlic, and red wine vinegar.  

The main dish was one of my personal favorites that I discovered in Australia, homemade Chicken, Leek & Mushroom pies with a puff pastry topping.  Alongside Roasted Parsnip, Garlic & Potato Mash with Pan-fried Asparagus.  This is a pretty rich and creamy pie, but so yummy and warming, especially good for autumn and winter meals.

The dessert trio was a definite hit among the noshers and consisted of good harvest flavors - Apple & Pear Crumble, Home-made Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and a Warm Date Cake drizzled with Salted Caramel Sauce.

We finished with fresh brewed coffee using Richmond's local Lamplighter Coffee Beans and a special dessert wine from The Kluge Estate.  It was a great night and I am so thankful for all who came to kick off the beginning of the tablenosh 'underground dining' adventures here in Richmond, Virginia.

Next Up for Tablenosh...
*Stay tuned, I am working on a Tablenosh Fundraiser 'Cocktail Style' Event with heavy appetizers, sweets, drinks, live music and more!  We are in the process of adopting a baby and are hoping to raise some financial support.  Date TBD (hopefully mid-November).

Small Bites & Sweet Treats...Tablenosh Caters

Last month tablenosh had the joy of catering a 40th surprise birthday party for a new friend! She was looking for someone who could make good hors d'oeuvres, some sweet treats and a birthday cake for her darling hubby - and he was totally surprised, which was even more awesome!

I was very excited because in terms of catering, this was right up my alley and exactly what I like to do - small bites and sweet treats!  I pulled out a few of my favorites as well as doing some new things.  The cake was a slight twist from the wedding cake I made for my sister in July.  And I was truly amazed that it turned out even better, I really just need to work on the decorating part!

First up on the menu were some assorted canapes and Spanish Meatballs.  These were followed by Chipotle Chicken Skewers w/Cilantro Dipping Sauce and Soy, Ginger & Sesame Chicken Skewers.  The chipotle skewers were a new recipe I had worked on earlier in the week and was very pleased with, the dipping sauce worked perfectly to cool down the spice of the chipotles! 

Next up were my favorite Truffled Risotto Balls with tomato jam, which always seem to be a hit.  And then came my finale which was a bite-sized Shrimp & Grit spoon.  This was a new little vision I had and thought the concept came together very well - soft creamy grits, topped with a flavorful shrimp that was sauteed in butter, garlic, roasted peppers and some old bay seasoning.  Delish.

 To finish on a sweet note I we had fresh berry tartlets and keylime pie bites!  And of course there was CAKE - chocolate cake, stuffed with fresh raspberries and mocha mousse, covered in dark chocolate ganache icing...it was pretty darn yummy if I do say so myself (so yummy I was kicking myself for not taking a piece home!!)

 

It was great to be in the kitchen cooking again...thanks Elizabeth for a great night!  

Launching in Richmond

Okay, I am taking the risk, making the leap, going for it...and finally launching the very first Tablenosh underground dinner in my home in Richmond, VA.

If you live in the Richmond area and want to join us for the First Tablenosh dinner it will be Friday, October 12 at 7pm.  Send me an email to book a spot tablenoshing@hotmail.com

The way it works:  book a seat, bring a bottle of wine to share, enjoy new people and some 'in-home' dining delighting in good food, drink and conversation.  Tablenosh operates from donations, so bring some cash to throw in the donations bucket if you feel inclined!

Hoping it will be a great night featuring some local virginia produce that the autumn season brings and that this will be the first of many great nights noshing with the RVA community!

Wedding Cake # 3

I have continued on the cake-making journey and recently completed my third wedding cake, made for my little sister's wedding.  Overall I will say I was very pleased with the finished product, well at least the inside which is the most important part if you ask me!

It was a chocolate cake brushed with a chambord (raspberry) syrup, filled with vanilla bean pastry cream and fresh raspberries and had vanilla meringue butter-cream icing.  This cake was a very good find and indeed the best chocolate cake I have ever made!  I found the recipe on another blog in which she raved about it being the best chocolate cake that stayed moist for days.  So, I gave it a shot and was very pleased to discover she was right! (The recipe is on Barefoot Contessa's site if you are interested - I think the trick was the buttermilk and cup of coffee.)

The pastry cream filling was one of my personal favorites which is basically just making vanilla bean custard on the stove-top and then adding lots of whipped cream to it.  I cut the raspberries in half and folded them into the cream mixture and spread that over the cake.  This cake was also the first time I have tried three cake layers rather than two, which I think helps keep the cake moist and gives a good taste of all the flavors. I was a little worried it might topple over but thankfully it held together with the help of the cake dowels!

I can't say I did an excellent job on the icing as I still need to get myself to an actual class so I can learn how to do this properly.  The fresh flowers helped it look a little better and hopefully by the time I do this again I will have some training under my belt!

At this stage my next cake order is not until March so I have a little more time to learn some tricks, although if you are in need of a cake just give me a call, it is of course my pleasure to give it a shot!

Summertime brings Peaches!

I had completely forgotten how dreadfully hot and humid Virginia can get in the summer!  There is also a heat wave happening at the moment, so maybe that is why it is so unbearable. Not to mention the storms last week in which we lost our power...that is really I was really wishing I had a gas stove.

The good news about summertime is peaches and berries, two of my favorite kinds of fruit.  And a great combination to make some yummy desserts.  I have been working on trying to make the perfect peach-blueberry (or blackberry) cobbler, I just made one for the 4th of July and I was very pleased with the filling but I think the cobbler topping definitely could have been better.

yummy...peaches

The key to the filling was using dark brown sugar and a little lemon juice on the fruit, I let it sit at room temperature for a while before baking it.  The topping was a cornmeal/biscuit topping.  I think it needed more butter and maybe another tablespoon of sugar and I was not convinced about using cornmeal.  Next time I am going to go for a completely different approach and compare the two.

This summer I have also been endeavoring to make homemade ice-cream, which can be amazing if you get it right.  I don't think I have a really good recipe perfected yet, but am going to keep trying.  And homemade vanilla ice-cream and peach cobbler are a pretty darn good combination!

Ginger-Soy Salmon, Salad and Sweets

I did another salmon dish the other night along with some veggies straight from my garden.  I marinated the salmon in a ginger-soy sauce which was very easy to make and delicious.

Ginger-Soy Marinade
Fresh Ginger Peeled and Sliced (about 2-3 Tablespoons)
2 Garlic Cloves
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
Sesame Seeds (for topping)

I chopped all these ingredients together in my food processor and poured it over the fish and then sprinkled sesame seeds on top and baked it at 400 F for 12-15 minutes.  I served it alongside sauteed mushrooms & kale (from garden), I used a little bit of the soy marinade in this and mixed in some sesame seeds.  The broccoli was picked fresh from my garden and lightly steamed.  This was a healthy, fresh and delightful meal.

I have also been experimenting with salads as I have so many varieties of lettuce growing in the garden.  This one has arugula, mango, avocado, goats cheese, pine nuts and a cilantro (coriander) pesto dressing.  A great salad for the summer!  Another winner is fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, avocado, arugula and pine nuts tossed in a basil pesto dressing.

A few other things coming out of my kitchen lately have been more on the sweet side.  Pear & Raspberry Crumble, Keylime Pie (whole egg) and Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting.

I was very excited about making this keylime pie recipe because it is completely from scratch and does not use condensed milk.  I snagged the recipe from my aunt who is known for her keylime pie.  I think next time I will add an extra splash of key-lime juice and zest, but otherwise this was fabulous.  It is also nice served with fresh raspberries.  I made a gluten-free crust that was a real experiment as I was determined to just use what I had in the pantry.  If you are interested in this recipe just let me know and I will post it up!

straight from our garden

Even though I have been pretty uninspired to cook these days, I must say growing our own food is helping.  We have so many good things growing in our garden at the moment (thanks to my mother and husband).  I am not the gardener in the family, but am happy to use what comes along.

We have been enjoying greens from our garden every day for the past week, spinach, lettuce, arugula (rocket), as well as a variety of herbs, especially the cilantro (coriander).  So, last night I decided to use up some of the cilantro and make a pesto with it.  We had baked salmon with cilantro pesto (recipe below), baby greens, and roasted red pepper with quinoa.  It was actually quite delicious and I am usually not a big salmon fan.

The sugar peas are also growing, as well as tomatoes, broccoli, squash and hopefully my beets survived the nibbling it got from the bunny.  Yes, there is a bunny that seems to be enjoying my garden too!  If the garden continues to grow the way it is, it will be hard to keep up but I am excited to live off our land...at least a little bit.



Cilantro (Coriander) Pesto
3 garlic cloves
2 cups cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (or almonds)

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and add salt & pepper to taste.  These measurements are a bit of a guess so feel free to tweak it to your taste!

(You can also add chili flakes to give this a bit of spice and you can substitute almonds, walnuts or another nut of your choice).

Table Talk

Since I have not been able to consistently blog for a while and cooking has been put on the 'back burner' (no pun intended), I have decided to share what is really going on in my kitchen.  I am calling this 'Table Talk' - real sharing of real life, real heartache and real hurt.  I know that in most social situations especially at a table full of strangers it would probably not seem kosher to spill your heart and go deep.  But I also know it is usually this type of conversation that takes friendship to new levels and you often realize you are not alone as you think in whatever it is you are going through.

So, I am going to put myself out there and share what my world is really like, because at the moment that is all I have to put on the 'table' - no fancy four course dinner, just my story.  The past few years and 6 months in particular have been the hardest times of my 32 years thus far.  And I have been extremely grateful for cooking as a therapeutic outlet as well as for friends, a loving husband and faith to carry me when I have been unable to carry myself.

Almost four years ago my husband and I starting trying to conceive...it's weird how as a female I never really thought much about not being able to get pregnant, but have probably been picturing myself as a mom since the age of five.  These years have opened my eyes to a world of pain, grief, sadness and helplessness that I did not know existed.  I heard it mentioned that sometimes it takes a while to get pregnant and sometimes people are not able too, but I never really thought how that would make someone feel or that I would be the one in those shoes.

So, after numerous attempts of different fertility treatment, months and months of waiting and watching what seems like everyone around me get pregnant, I am exhausted.  I am exhausted from being hopeful, exhausted from processing, exhausted from waiting, exhausted from dealing with bitterness, exhausted from every aspect of this journey and this is where I sit.  No new recipes or dinner parties on the calendar but just doing my best to deal with the hand I have been dealt.

I am so thankful for tablenosh and the joy that cooking and people have brought to me over the past few years and I certainly hope that my Nosh dinners and kitchen experiments are not over, just on pause...