daniellebilton.com

I know, I usually make desserts — But having a good friend that is a farmer at the best vegetable farm in the east coast, I had to write a post about these greens and the odd looking blood orange I found at my grocery store. I mean, really, have you seen an uglier fruit? And check out that 1/2 inch thick pith!

My friend Hubert is a farmer at Windfall Farms and brought us these beautiful winter pea shoots. He told us the best way to eat greens likes these is to just dress them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice — and enjoy. In addition to the blood orange segments, I also added a shaved parmesan cheese. The dish was very crisp, refreshing, and the greens were, well, just damn good. If you are in the New York area, I suggest you go out and get some greens from these guys.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

You can find Windfall’s lime green school bus every Wednesday and Saturday at the Union Square greenmarket.

Photo: Danielle Bilton

I usually have a lot of success with any/all of Sherry Yard’s recipes, this was not one of them. For this post, I chose to make her “Homemade Twix Cookies”. It all sounded and looked great. But when I got down to actually biting into one of these, it was not what I had expected. There was way too much caramel and too much chocolate (a mistake on my part). So, the recipe I am going to give you is a full shortbread recipe, and half of the caramel recipe. I would also recommend skipping the ganache layer, as it was just too sweet. Also, to give the cookie an extra layer of texture, try adding chopped toasted peanuts to the caramel.

Source: Sherry Yard’s Desserts by the Yard

SHORTBREAD:
51/2 ounces (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tablespoons ground rice (regular rice processed until ground, then passed through a sifter to get rid of chunks) (optional, I think. I didn’t use rice)

FOR THE CARAMEL TOPPING:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup (available at most supermarkets and at whole foods stores)
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup chopped toasted nuts

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. MAKE THE SHORTBREAD: Place a rack in the lowest position of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-X-13-inch baking pan with pan spray and line with parchment paper. Spray the parchment.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the flour and ground rice and allow the dough to come together.
3. Remove from the bowl and press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pan from front to back and bake for another 8 minutes, until the shortbread is a deep golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack to room temperature.
4. MAKE THE CARAMEL: In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, golden syrup, water, and lemon juice. Brush down the inside of the pan with a little water, using your hand to feel for stray granules of sugar. Cover the saucepan and place it over medium heat for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat, and bring to a boil. Do not stir from this point on. Keep an eye on the pan. The mixture will be very bubbly. When stray sugar crystals appear on the sides of the pan, brush them down with a clean wet pastry brush. As the sugar cooks, the bubbles will get larger.
5. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.
6. After 5 to 6 minutes, the sugar will turn golden brown. Insert a candy thermometer and when the temperature reaches 300°F, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for 1minute, or until the bubbles subside. Carefully whisk in the heavy cream. Stir until smooth, then whisk in the condensed milk. Whisk until smooth.
7. Return the pan to the heat and stir constantly over medium heat until the caramel reaches 240°F. Remove from the heat and pour over the shortbread. Allow to set.
8. MAKE THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE: Melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl at 50 percent power for 2 to 3 minutes or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour over the caramel and smear evenly. Let sit at room temperature or in the refrigerator until set.
9. Cut into the desired size and serve. (The cookies will keep, stored airtight, for 1 day.)

Hello all! Happy 2010! I have been away due to staging and writing classes and the holidays. I hope you all will join me in my food adventures.
Below, is a photo of my eggs benedict. Which consists of a parmesan lemon pepper biscuit, thick cut bacon, dippy egg, and homemade hollandaise sauce (do they even sell pre-made hollandaise?) Yes, I know what your thinking, “Holy FAT with a side of FAT?!” But we don’t eat like this everyday, this is our weekend brunch. Although, I may have leftovers for breakfast today….I know…don’t judge! OK, see you all later on in the week!

The first cake was for my husband’s birthday. So, I didn’t have time to get a great shot of it. It was a chocolate cake with chocolate pastry cream filling, vanilla bean butter cream, and topped off with chocolate ganache, served with a fresh raspberry coulis. The best part in making this cake was the pouring the ganache. As I was pouring the ganache, I looked up and about 20 of our friends were circled around me watching the chocolate drip off the sides in hopes I would offer them a swig.

The next cake was for a sweet 16. I was told by my client, the birthday girl loved oreo cookies. Wanting to surprise the birthday girl, I chopped up some oreos and baked them into the chocolate cake layers.

The zebra print is hand cut fondont on buttercream and brushed with edible silver glitter.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

With all the this summer heat, I like to keep my time in the kitchen short. And my time in the kitchen with a hot oven, shorter. Lately this summer I’ve been drawn to crisps. No letting pie dough chill, then rolling it out, letting it rest, and so on. Just get your hands in there to mix up the topping, toss the fruit mixture, and into the oven it goes.PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

CRISP:
1 3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup flour
1 lb. brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed, and chilled

FRUIT FILLING :
2 1/2 lbs stone fruit, pitted, and quartered into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Rub the butter into topping dry ingredients with fingers, until there is no more dry mixture.
3. Stir all filling ingredients together, and pour into a 2 quart oven save dish.
4. Cover fruit filling with topping. Place baking dish on a cookie sheet, as the crisp will bubble over when done. Bake for 30-40 minutes until top is golden and filling is bubbling through.

A 2-layer chocolate cake, with fresh banana pastry cream filling, and covered in vanilla bean buttercream, I think that’s a pretty unforgettable 1st birthday cake. Friends of ours commissioned me to make their adorable daughter’s 1st birthday cake. It was a luau themed party. So as requested, I made orange hibiscus flowers and scattered hibiscus petals around the cake. I was very happy with the outcome, as was little Miss Aysa. PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton   

This post is very exciting for me, because it’s my first virtual potluck! The wonderful hostess’ of this potluck are Tara Desmond and Joy Manning of Almost Meatless.

The recipe I chose was the almond gnocchi in a lamb ragu. The lamb gets seared and then braised in the tomato, red wine, and herbs mixture for about and hour and a half. So by the time you’re dropping in the gnocchi, the lamb is falling off the bone.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

I’ve never made gnocchi before, it just never appealed to me. But when I saw that there were almonds used in this gnocchi, I jumped at the chance to make it. The making of the gnocchi is easy. Though, I would recommend getting a family member or a friend to help out, as it can be a time consuming task. And this way you can be sure every gnocchi has it’s own personality.

When we got to sitting down and chowing down on the fruits of our labor, the table was silent. Which, in an Italian household is a good thing. Eating the gnocchi was like eating little puffs of almond pasta covered in lamb and saucy goodness. I finished off my ragu dish with crispy sage fried in butter and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Thank you again to our wonderful hostess’ Tara Desmond and Joy Manning for creating such meat lite and vegetable hearty dishes in their cookbook, Almost Meatless. You must go and check out the recipes other talented food bloggers made from their book. You can find the list of bloggers on Tara or Joy’s blog. Till my next pot luck!

This was a birthday cake for a woman who does not like buttercream. So I came up with this: meringue frosting with bavarian lemon cream filling and fresh raspberries.

I didn’t have the right size cake ring. So I taped clear film around the cake and just hoped for the best when I poured the filling in.  As you can see, the filling seeped out the sides, but eventually set and stayed put.

To finish off the cake, I bruleed the top with a torch and placed candied lemons in the middle. The band around the bottom is fondont covered in gold sugar.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

The aromas of strawberries at the farmers market, have me dreaming of the endless strawberry desserts. I really enjoy this one because cream and strawberries go so well together. Then you add the crumbly sweet crust and it’s complete; one of the endless strawberry desserts, a dream come true!

SWEET TART DOUGH:
from tartine bakery cookbook
1 cup +2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, sugar, and salt. Mix on medium speed until smooth.
Mix in eggs one at a time and mix until smooth.
Stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add flour all at once and mix on low speed until just incorporated.
Divide dough into 4 equal balls, 1/2 inch thick, wrap well in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or over night.
On a parchment lined baking sheet, set out your tart rings, I used 4-3 inch rings.
Once chilled, roll out dough to proper size you need to line your tart rings.
Dock shell with a fork and bake in oven at 325 degrees F for 7 to 10 minutes. Make sure color is golden, about 5 more minutes. Set aside and let cool.

BAVARIAN CREAM FILLING:
from tartine bakery cookbook

1 1/2 teaspoon gelatin
1 tablespoon cold water
2 1/2 cups pastry cream, cold
2 cups heavy cream

In a small dish sprinkle gelatin over water and let stand for a few minutes to soften.
Next, in a double boiler, place 1/2 cup of the pastry cream in a stainless steel bowl resting over the simmering water.
Heat the pastry cream whisking constantly, until hot to the touch (120 degrees F), about 5 minutes. Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from water bath.
Whisk half of the remaining cold pastry cream into the hot mixture, then whisk in the rest.
In a separate bowl, whip the rest of the heavy cream until medium-stiff peaks. Immediately and gently fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a rubber spatula. At this point you want to fill the tart shells right away and store in the refrigerator until filling is set, about 1 hour. Top off with your favorite fruit and serve.

See if you can keep up with me here. A cake for 50 people and it’s the summer. My inspiration for this cake came from my stage last summer in Chef Iuzzini’s kitchen. His Sous Chef, AJ Bellarosa, made a wedding cake with lime scented white chocolate mousse filling and creme brulee pellets throughout the mousse layer. At that moment, It just stuck with me, what kind of cakes I would be making. Cakes that were desserts and not just, cake and buttercream (which is absolutely fantastic and OK, just not what I would want).

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

The font and the soccer ball, were done by tracing a print out under a piece of acetate with melted and colored white chocolate.

I should also mention as the cake layers were cooling, I had spread the thinnest layer of seedless raspberry jam on each layer. I just thought the hint of the raspberry flavor was necessary to accent the fresh lime zest.

At the end of the party, all that was left was the soccer ball. People actually went back for thirds!