Scenes from the market at Sainte Mère Église. Everything was so beautifully presented.
Oliver is a fisherman (as well as a Veterinarian pathologist) and his enthusiasm for this market stall is evident!
I couldn't resist the beautiful white asparagus with pink tips even though I prefer the flavor of the green variety.
Our funniest moment came when I asked the fish monger how to cook the turbot he was recommending, "Dans un turbotier" was his teasing reply. I told him that was the only pan I didn't have. (It's shaped like the turbot--triangular.) He did give me the rudiments of a recipe and it worked out perfectly. You can see he is still smiling after our humorous exchange.
It was preceded by the eeriest yellow green light and then the charcoal grey clouds started rolling in. Constant thunder, lightening, and sheets of rain coming sideways. I've never been frightened by nature before from a NY high rise! It looked like a tornado was approaching.
I was talking to Woody who said "take a picture." But in my excitement I didn't remember how to eliminate the flash so what you see as a bright comet is merely the flash bouncing off the window pane!
It was at its most dramatic in this photo when one can see the part of the sky that was not yet covered by the ominous clouds.
i wanted this cake to be a dream, and this is the first time i felt i made one! here is my interpretation of the Deep Chocolate Passion Wedding Cake from Rose's upcoming book: Rose's Heavenly Cakes. the recipe is easy to follow, plus i made this cake to be local Hawaiian fare. A hui hou!
the first ingredient i shall reveal is macadamia oil. Rose's recipe calls for a neutral vegetable oil, like safflower or canola, but i used macadamia oil instead since it is readily available. Barbara Gray from Oils of Aloha worked with me and loved the idea of using her wonderful Hawaii's Gold macadamia oil for this cake. in fact, i have been using this oil for all my chocolate chiffon cakes for years. macadamia oil has a beautiful gold shine and a slight nutty taste. it is premium and healthy, and in my opinion bakes very well for all oil based cakes. when i performed several blind tastings for this cake vs safflower, everyone agreed the macadamia oil was fine fine fine, enhancing and never overpowering other flavors, specially for chocolate. it is a neutral vegetable oil, so neutral i thought i was driving stick shift, with just an invisible backseat driver: a flavor enhancer, the mac nutty hint. you can find Barbara at www.oilsofaloha.com
Rose's original cake is decorated with lovely chocolate twigs. but not long ago i had a dream "how about using vanilla beans to decorate this cake?" so since i could, i should, i did: i contacted Jim Reddekopp, and he sent me what i felt is the ultimate baker's dream: ninety four Hawaiian vanilla beans from his amazing farm and gastronomic center in Paauilo. i split the beans and saved the seeds for future use; then i soaked the split beans in House of Grand Marnier Navan vanilla cognac for weeks. if you haven't tried the Hawaiian vanilla yet, you must must must. it has a floral aroma, what i call the more beautiful twin of the finest Tahitian vanilla, plus it is longer and more plum fresh. You can find Jim at Hawaiian Vanilla Company www.hawaiianvanilla.com
now comes the chocolate.... here is the cake with chocolate babies: cacao pods! this is the picture that will be gracing the walls of Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory www.ohcf.us:
This is perhaps the most ethereal and yet intensely aromatically lemon pie I know. You'll be surprised how easy it is to make. Because it is not overly sweet I named it Lemon Pucker Pie and actually trade-marked the name!
Aug 06, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Announcements
My wonderful friend David Shamah, who over the years has introduced me to all sorts of culinary treasures, has unearthed this terrific source for an often hard to find item for bread baking.
Bannetons, also called wicker baskets, are used for shaping bread dough while they are rising to give them extra support. I prefer the ones lined with coarse woven cloth.
I know I’m blessed that my father has reached this incredible age in reasonably good health and mind. But it still makes me sad that he has lost so much of his hearing, vision, and independence. He always has had an extraordinary ability to sleep and now he is sleeping 90% of the time. But when he’s not sleeping he’s always ready to eat and that is something I can do for him. So for 10 days I cooked and baked my heart out. This did not stop me from feeling guilty for becoming impatient with him when once again he misplaced his hearing aid and I had to shout for him to hear me. But it helped.
Of course there had to be his favorite cherry pie. That was going to be his birthday “cake”
until he put in a request for Black Forest Cake. At first I was annoyed because I didn’t have the right pan nor did I have access to the non-ultrapastuerized cream that makes such a difference and had he asked the week before when I asked him what he’d like I could have procured it. But then I decided to do what most of the rest of the world does: make do. I beat melted butter into the supermarket cream to increase the butterfat and stability (as I wrote about in The Cake Bible). I set the top cake layer on top of the cream filling before realizing I had forgotten to poke in the brandied cherries (which I found in back of the frig where I had stored them years ago). Upset at first, as I tried to lift off the top cake layer only to see it start to come apart, I decided to stick the cherries into the cream from the sides. So what if it didn’t look perfect—he couldn’t even see the difference. We enjoyed the cake over several days, complaining only once that the cream was lighter than he remembered it (well…yes!).
Most of my colleagues have at least one Julia story. That’s because Julia was arguably the most universally loved food personality in our profession and most of all because she was so present and supportive to all of us. Here is my top personal Julia story, which I offer up on the day of the launch of the movie Julie and Julia.
I was 19, newly married, and living in Washington Crossing, Pa. I had a deadly dull job as a clerk in a brake-lining factory in Trenton, NJ (an industrial town where the bridge crossing the Delaware has an unmissable sign “Trenton Makes, The World Takes.” To my young aspiring eyes the very antithesis of poetry. My husband was an English teacher at Pennsbury High School, getting his master’s at Temple U. in Philadelphia. When I complained how bored I was he asked if I would prefer the nerve-racking experience of having students practically his age and only one step behind him in knowledge. (I’ve since deemed this to be a life-defining question. Guess which road I took!)
We were too poor to afford a television but on Tuesday nights, when he drove to Philly, I went with him to watch “The French Chef” on PBS in one of the dorm’s TV’s. My cousin, who lived in Bryn Mawr, told me she met Julia at a cooking demo and actually won the door prize that was some sort of casserole. I was awed that she had met her in person.
We visited Le Nez de Jobourg and walked from there around towards the Nez de Voidries. It was high above the sea and very cold and windy. Cake loaned me her water-proof wind breaker. (I just HAVE to leave this typo intact!)
The lovely fishing village of St Vaast-la-Hougue, near to Barfleur.
A powerful monument at Utah Beach. I thought of my Dad who was on a boat approaching the shore which landed right after the invasion. He told me no one aboard knew that the invasion had already taken place.
Double click to enlarge this photo and you will see the most heart rending letter written by Antoine de Saint Exupéry in 1944 (the year of my birth). Kate's blog "A Merrier World" is taken from his classic book Le Petit Prince. I didn't know he had died in the invasion. If it is too difficult to read I will summarize by saying that it is a tribute to "the noble objectives" of the American people in the war.
This was my first visit to my publisher, Wiley, in Hoboken, NJ since the book arrived.
Pam (my editor), her assistant, and Ava (production manager) and I had lunch at Zafra www.zafrakitchens.com a wonderful Cuban/Latino restaurant owned by my friend and fellow author Maricel Priscilla.
No one told me I was going to cry my way through the movie. I certainly wasn't expecting to. I cried because her experiences were so similar to so many of mine. I cried because it brought back so very many memories. I cried because I missed her so much. And I cried the most at the end DON'T READ THE REST OF THE SENTENCE IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE--SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH because when I saw her open the very same padded envelope containing the first copy of her book just the way I did mine a mere 17 days ago I knew exactly what it felt like.
Since I am in such an emotional state, and am throwing all modesty and caution to the wind, I photographed a letter from her co-author Simca which is one of my most treasured possessions, to share with you.
Aug 11, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose
in New Products
When I was a child, I couldn’t help but notice that all the other little girls’ mom’s wore pretty shoes while mine wore sensible oxfords or orthopedic models. Actually this was because she was a dentist and in those days, before the advent of electronic multi position examination chairs, dentists had to stand on their feet all day. It was also because my courageous mother had been crippled by polio but she didn’t allow this to stop her from choosing a profession that was physically demanding. She was, in fact, the only woman in the entire dental school at the time.
Though I didn’t have the problems with my feet and legs that she suffered, I never-the-less was strongly influenced by her approach to support and comfort. This has stood me in good stead as now so many of my friends are undergoing foot surgery for bunions and other problems. But catering to your feet has more ramifications than just your feet. Happy feet make for a happy back, happy body, and happy soul. And shoes are not the whole story.
This beautifully produced DVD illustrates, as no other medium can do as effectively, a wide range of tips and techniques of cake making. Together with the book itself, which contains over 100 beautiful photographs and detailed text you will have the whole cake story—in short, everything you need to know to turn out heavenly cakes.
Starting today, with this first three of 23 segments on You Tube, there will be a new video posting every Wednesday for the next 8 weeks until September 29, the official publication date of the book!
The entire DVD, both in standard and high definition (part 1 and 2) will soon be available to download from the blog. You will see the link on the home page and I will post when it is ready.
Hector generously will make hard copies available for just the price of reproduction and shipping if there is enough interest. Meantime, here is your first sneak preview:
Of course it begins with flour—the heart and soul of baking.
Part One: Flour, Sugar, Butter (the holy trinity of cake baking)
What type to choose, how to measure accurately, and the benefits of weighing ingredients.
Aug 13, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Announcements
Click on the cover of Rose's Heavenly Cakes to the right and it will bring you right to it's great new site on Amazon. Scroll down and you will find three recipes from the book (one is the much requested Red Velvet Cake with Dreamy Creamy White Chocolate Frosting). There are also two editorial reviews.
Here's the story I wrote about our last famiy reunion over 20 years ago. It was written for the LA Times Syndicate.
When I was growing up, family get-togethers, organized by Great Aunt Bertha, the bossy, loving, self appointed and usually much appreciated matriarch of the family, were a frequent occurrence. But one year she put her foot down, proclaiming that she was tired of being the only one to make the effort which everyone seemed to take for granted and to all of our amazement, she stopped just like that. The various families and generations orbited into their smaller nuclear and more manageably sized groups and Aunt Bert continued to function as family hot line gossip hub via the telephone. We all knew that without her we risked losing track of each other’s accomplishments and tragedies, probably for ever. No one wanted to organize a party but no one wanted to lose total touch either. So when Aunt Bert approached her 90th year, the next generation (my mother’s) decided to organize a major reunion birthday bash. We all knew that it would be the last time that we would all gather together and that within a mere few years, given the age and health conditions of certain family members, there would be several who would no longer be with us. An all out effort was launched, the main responsibility assumed by my mother’s generation, who had fewer career and family demands, but my generation, or at least those of us who cook, volunteered to provide some of the food.
Although the plans proceeded with a certain inevitability, working together brought out a few personality conflicts between the female cousins in the late 60’s and 70’s category and my mother relayed them all to me with great amusement (mostly). One possible exception was when she reported mild dissension from the next generation of cousins in my group, resenting that I always get to do the cake! But I roared when she reported the comment of a cousin, known for her sharp mind, tongue and irreverent ability to expose the darker side of reality: “It’s going to be a wonderful party. Too bad Bertha has to come!” Then there was an argument about the beverages to be served. The general consensus was soda for the kids (as family dentist I was surprised that my mother didn’t push milk but I think she was lying low this time) and white wine for the grownups, until an older cousin gently suggested that perhaps the men would prefer beer. “What do you know about men?” scolded her older sister (demonstrating from whence her daughter got her sharp tongue).
I'm not a beer lover but this first sip of pub crafted brewed ale at the the Pink Pub changed my thinking.
L just attended a build a bear party in Exeter. The first build a bear experience I had was in Seattle with my grand children. I didn't realize the concept had crossed the Atlantic.
Bell ringing at the local church on Sunday. Kate and Oliver met in Scotland when they were both students and were also learning bell ringing.
We all walked up the narrow spiral sloped stone steps to the very top of the church. (My legs felt it for days after!) This is a view of the belfry.
Aug 16, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Announcements
The BeaterBlade™
My next book (several years hence!!!) will be several pages shorter than it might have been because I will be able to leave out that annoyingly repetitive phrase scrape down the sides of the bowl! This is because an inventive young man, Gary Fallowes of NewMetro Design (he may not be so young by the time I finish another book) has designed a flat beater for most models of the Cuisinart,KitchenAid, Kenwood, Viking and DeLonghi stand mixers, that has a flexible rubber ‘wing’ down the entire outer length of the blade which continuously and efficiently scrapes the sides and bottom of the bowl as it is beating.
I waited a long time to write about this much needed attachment because I wanted to test it out thoroughly and be certain that it would not in any way harm the mixer.
Aug 18, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Announcements
A year has gone by since one of my life dream projects was drawn together: the new Rose's Heavenly Cakes DVD produced by Gold Medal Flour. This video is designed to accompany the book with the same name! It will be available for online viewing in high definition at the Wiley website with a link from the blog. All the segments from this video is also appearing every week on youtube, but not in high definition.
And for all of you who requested an actual DVD disc, here is a note from Hector:
Greetings from Hector: your cake baker, devoted Rose worshiper, and now DVD man. I am delighted to inform you that the master recordings of Rose's new DVDs produced by Gold Medal Flour were handed to me for the purpose of shipping copies to everyone who would like an actual disc for just the cost of duplication and mailing. Share the love and help archive a piece of Rose, for the first time ever, on DVD. These are at much higher definition than possibly available thru the internet. It does't get closer than this!
At the present moment, I am shipping the BREAD DVD (set of 1 disc). To receive your copy, please write your name and mailing address on an address label or on a 2 x 3.5 inch piece of paper (the back of a business card will do), enclose a check for $10 payable to HECTOR WONG, and send it to 2888 ALA ILIMA ST, STE 2611, HONOLULU, HAWAII 96818. Please indicate on your check: BREAD DVD. You could also paypal to myyellowkitchen@gmail.com
The CAKE DVD is a set of 2 discs. $20. These can be available later on 2010. It is important to let me know how many discs I need to duplicate, as the batch copying runs 200 discs at once. You can post a note on this thread or e-mail me at the above g-mail address.
Aug 21, 2009 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Ingredients
It may come as a surprise to some of you who are less familiar with this blog, but despite the fact that my main definition is “baker,” I am also an avid griller. In our country place in Hope I have two Weber grills—a charcoal grill and a four-burner gas grill. And I grill all year 'round.
One of my best friends is grilling goddess Elizabeth Karmel and of course I consult all her cookbooks for new techniques and recipes.
I’ve made my own cherry barbeque sauce based on one I tasted at an event Elizabeth gave when working for Weber grill many years ago. I stopped making it when American Spoon Food took my suggestion to bottle their version of it and it is excellent. But I have to say that my number one favorite barbecue sauce was the one I tasted when travel teaching at my friend Judie Byrd’s cooking school http://www.judiebyrdskitchen.com in Fort Worth, Texas.
Judie was the most amazing hostess and she brought me to some really upscale restaurants but my favorite dinner was at Cousin’s http://www.cousinsbbq.com where we had barbecue and that’s where I fell in love with their pulled pork and their tangy barbecue sauce. I missed it so much on my return east that I called Cousin’s and begged them to ship me two bottles—I didn’t dare ask for the pulled pork, which would have required dry ice. Though they didn’t normally ship the young man who answered the phone agreed to do it.
A few years later, I met Zach Townsend, who lives in Texas. He’s a great chocolatier but also understands great barbecue and has been keeping me in good supply. Cousins has several locations in the Dallas Fort Worth area but most recently I’ve learned that it is now possible to purchase the sauce at the Dallas Fort Worth airport in terminals B and D. You can even pick up a sandwich of pulled pork to eat on the plane! Better pick up one for the people sitting next to you!
The ingredients listed on the 1 pint bottle are: vinegar (just the right amount), tomato puree, corn sweetener (not too sweet), water, molasses, liquid smoke, salt, mustard, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, citric acid, spices. They forgot to add “perfection.”
Between bringing the kids to school, and attending their ballet classes, we spent most of our days baking and cooking. We did bring in fish and chips one night at my request. We couldn't have eaten better. Every night when the kids were in bed we sat down to the most amazingly delicious meals. Of course the ingredients contributed greatly. One night Oliver made salmon from Scotland that tasted more like salmon than salmon.
Oliver made these exquisite scallops.
Lamb is my favorite meat and English lamb my favorite lamb. Oliver does the gardening and his idea of decor is meters and meters of potato plants. They are beautiful to look at and delicious to eat.
Oliver brings home fresh free range eggs and together with this blood sausage was the perfect breakfast.
Kate and Oliver experienced this special dish on a trip to Slovakia and recreated it on their return. It's called Halušky (pronounced halushky with a little oo and emphasis on the u). It consists of grated potato mixed with enough plain (all-purpose) flour to form a stiff dough. It is put through a meat grinder directly into boiling water and is done when it floats to the surface. It is then scooped out and drained in colander. Obviously it requires two people, one of whom is strong enough to hold the grinder!
We have a new category to honor the many spanish speaking people on this blog!
Queridos Blogeros: Hector recibio esta linda nota, y empezemos a bloguear en el lenguage Hispano. From Ceci in Colombia: "Hola hector, como estas???, te cuento que ya me animé a poner mis comentarios en el blog de Rose. Estoy preparando una version de Mousseline Buttercream con LULOS!!! (conoces esa fruta tropical?). Mañana la voy a hacer y espero que salga algo bueno para ponerlo en el blog. De todas formas aqui te dejo algunas fotos de mis trabajitos. La tortas son White Weeding Cake with lemon Mousseline buttercream, y los últimos pastelitos blancos son el Fruit Cake de Rose decorados con orquideas naturales. Recibe un saludo, Ceci
I brought a suitcase filled with flour, baking powder, and cake pans for our baking together experience.
Ginger cream scones seemed like a great idea as the ginger here is excellent and of course the double cream. This recipe is from the Pie and Pastry Bible and it worked quite well for the first batch.
Several days later, when I forgot to whip the cream, the scones turned into cookies--delicious but still flat as pancakes--no! make that crêpes! With US cream this does not happen as it is lower in butterfat.
Oliver's special request was for brioche. The dough couldn't have been more perfect but I wish I could say the same thing for my shaping technique. The loaf was a bit mishapen but no one seemed to mind--especially these two girls! Lesson learned, for brioche loaves best for the final shaping to press down the dough into a smaller rectangle and then roll it forward only once and pinch the seam instead of the usual three forward rolls. (I did this on my return and it worked perfectly.)
I baked this no knead bread in Normandy using the French flour recommended for hearth bread. It was flatter than any bread I've ever made. Oliver's Mom said she loved it better than any of the bakery French breads--isn't she sweet?! The flavor was good though.
Once we got to Devon I lost no time in making another loaf of no knead bread using the UK bread flour. Viva la différence!
This slice of the no knead bread reveals what great crumb structure. I discovered on my return home that using the same flour did not achieve the same results--in fact I needed to add extra flour as it was too wet. Kate unearthed some interesting research about fluoride (her water is not flouridated) and it's negative impact on gluten formation. So interesting!
The day of my departure I whipped up a beer bread (from my book which luckily Kate had) using the food processor. The dough was done in under 5 minutes and Kate baked it after bringing me to the airport. She's made it several times since. This was a special gift for Oliver as I knew he'd love it and I wanted to thank him for all the adventures. I used Guinness stout for the liquid.
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