saturday morning ritual

every saturday morning, my bff and i go to the farmer's market in worthington. this much sacred saturday morning ritual always begins with the same breakfast from la chatelaine: two slices of sour dough bread, strawberry jam and colombian coffee.

two things are certain: i will over fill that tiny little cup and the staff at la chatelaine will be uninterested in providing us with good service. i've come to view their disinterest in customer service with humor and this just adds to the enjoyment of our saturday morning ritual.


next up is to make our rounds to the vendors. i usually get a lot of the same things but i try to seek out a new goodie now and then. this week i waited in a crazy long line to get strawberries from crum farm. the berries proved to be worth the wait. they were sweet, juicy and all perfectly ripe. i also got one of my favorite veggie treats - fresh peas in the pod from pop and judy. i've been snacking on these goodies all day.

uzbek dumplings

my friend made these yummy dumplings for me the other day. the dough is made from scratch and they are filled with meat, onions and cumin. i hope to get a lesson on how to make them someday soon and i'll be blogging it when i do! the dumplings are pictured with sauted onion & tomato, sour cream and a salad made from cucumber, tomato and cilantro.

batter & bowl - new vendor at the worthington farmer's market

at the worthington farmer's market, there's a new vendor who has some really yummy baked goods. the pie above is a berry pie that was pretty tasty. i also had a mexican brownie that was so good i ate it before i could take a picture. batter and bowl's mexican brownie has cinnamon and cayenne pepper, yum! check these ladies out:

batter and bowl
custom cakes, cookie & more
sara yates
614.905.1922
batterandbowl at gmail.com

hey vaquero's, what gives?

we went to vaquero's the other night and found it closed. in the five minutes we sat in the parking lot, at least a 6 other cars drove up and then left disappointed. we soon spotted this sign:
oh, kichen remodelation. i get it.

raspberry lemon creams

raspberry lemon creams

for phyllo cups:
1 lb package of phyllo dough
2/3 cups sugar
2 sticks butter

for lemon curd:
(from epicurious)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
3/4 stick butter, cut into bits

for cream:
2 cups chilled whipping cream
3 tsp powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

for garnish:
1 pint raspberries
lemon zest

equipment:
mini muffin tins
pastry bag
cooling rack
zester

prepare lemon curd using the following method: whisk together juice, zest, sugar & eggs in a heavy saucepan. stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of a whisk and first bubble appears in surface, about 8 minutes. transfer to a bowl and chill for at least one hour.

prepare phyllo cups using following method: melt butter. layer 6 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing with butter and sprinkling with sugar between layers. cut into squares big enough to lay in mini muffin tin cups. bake cups at 375 degrees until golden, about 10 minutes. cool on baking racks.

for filling: beat cream ingredients together until stiff peaks form. fold in lemon curd and beat briefly.

assembly: put filling into pastry bag and pipe into phyllo cups. garnish with raspberries and lemon zest. refrigerate until serving, but not longer than 6 hours.

makes about 48 pastries

after my tart issues, i needed to redeem my baking abilities. i have to say this recipe was a lot of work but really worth it. they make a pretty presentation and they taste excellent. i am glad i made my own lemon curd, it's easy and it tastes great. i am not glad i made the phyllo cups. they were a pain to make and i've heard a rumor you can buy them pre-made. i'd go for this next time.

strawberry tart

i made this strawberry tart from an everyday food recipe found here. i added about 1/8 c ground almonds to the dough. it turned out fine, but there were two aspects that were less than perfect:

1. fresh out of the fridge, the dough was too tough. you had to exert a fair amount of force with a fork to break off a bite. after the tart came up to room temp an hour or two later, the dough had a nice shortbread-y consistency and was easy to eat. however, by this time the cream cheese had really gotten runny. i can't figure out if this is a function of the dough recipe or temperature. i don't know enough about pastry to figure it out and that frustrates me. mix it less in the food processor? don't add almonds? serve at just below room temperature? grrr.

2. also, the glaze wasn't as smooth as i wanted. despite spending about 20 minutes in whole foods examining every jelly they had by holding it up to the light to see if it looked clear enough, i still had trouble with it. this happened with the orange, honey & pistachio tart too and i used orange marmalade. it seems like the jelly gets up to a certain temperature, boils a little and then doesn't fully liquefy. i'm trying not to burn it and i both times i heated for over 20 minutes. next time maybe i should use a whisk and heat even longer?

lack of patience and an unwillingness to follow a recipe to the letter are just a few examples of why baking is not my calling. this being said, i do love to consume baked goods, so i guess i'll soldier on and hope to improve along the way.

on a positive note, the taste of the tart was really delicious and was a great way to highlight strawberries that are finally in season!