Samurai Delicatessen

HDR Images

2008-04-13T17:03:00.001-07:00

A couple of recent experiments with HDR photography.

Mmmm . . . . doughnuts!

2008-04-13T16:55:00.001-07:00

Recipe from Alton Brown.

Between Food Interlude: Music I'm Listening To

2007-07-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

Pat Suzuki's version of How High The Moon.

There are several versions of this jazz standard, the most famous of which is probably Ella Fitzgerald's. But the one I love is Pat Suzuki's, recorded sometime in the early 1950's. I couldn't find Suzuki's version for sale anywhere. It was on The Very Best of Pat Suzuki, but that CD is no longer available. Luckily, I found the song available for download here (scroll about 2/3 the way down).

Pete Yorn: Nightcrawler. I love the song For Us.

Brioche Toast Woth Strawberry Jam

2007-06-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

Brioche recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours.

Brioche Sticky Buns

2007-06-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

These were probably the best sticky buns I've had, and certainly the best I've made. The recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Cincinnati Style Chili, Again

2007-06-17T09:18:00.000-07:00

Jelly Doughnuts

2007-06-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

Recipe from Martha Stewart.

Cinnamon Rolls

2007-04-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Photoshop Cloning

2007-04-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

Pastry from Jean Phillipe Maury Patisserie

2007-04-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas again recently, and stopped by Jean Phillipe Maury's patisserie at the Bellagio. If I recall correctly, this pastry was called "Blue Moon." It was a caramel tart with a demisphere of cappucino mousse on top.

Between Food Interlude: Music I'm Listening To

2007-02-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

Eva Cassidy: Songbird

I love Eva's version of the song Wayfaring Stranger.

Amy Winehouse: Back to Black

Great new album, especially the songs You Know I'm No Good, and Rehab.

Some People Pictures

2007-02-22T08:16:00.000-08:00

Orange Blueberry Muffins

2007-02-22T08:14:00.000-08:00

Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home To Yours."

Little Chocolate Cake

2007-02-22T08:12:00.000-08:00

Lemon Bars

2007-02-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

Petite Banana Loaves

2007-02-04T19:18:00.000-08:00

Whoopie Pies

2007-02-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

2007-01-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

Orange Doughnuts

2007-01-03T17:19:00.000-08:00

Some Holiday Baking

2006-12-30T15:21:00.000-08:00

Hot chocolate, Balzano apple cake, and some apple pies I made for a friend.

Between Food Interlude: More Music

2006-12-21T15:22:00.000-08:00

Some of the songs I'm baking to this week:

Morcheeba - World Looking In

Alice Smith - Fake is the New Real

Sarah Brightman - Gloomy Sunday

Ron Sexsmith - All in Good Time

Amos Lee - Shout Out Loud

Feist - Inside and Out

Wise in Time - The Fox

Passion Fruit Curd Tartlets

2006-12-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

The tartlet is based on the Tart Maeva I had at the Vanille Patisserie in Chicago. The sweet tart shell is filled, from top to bottom, with strawberry jam, a disc of banana cake, and passion fruit curd.

Sticky Buns

2006-12-14T10:36:00.000-08:00

Brownies

2006-11-29T19:30:00.000-08:00

These brownies, "French" brownies from Dorie Greenspan's new book, have raisins and a touch of cinnamon.

Chocolate Cookie

2006-11-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

Baklava

2006-11-29T15:46:00.000-08:00

Caramel Tart With Milk Chocolate Mousse

2006-11-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

I piped the left-over mousse into glasses and practiced taking "high-key" photographs.

Gingerbread Financier, Pumpkin Creme Brulee Jack-o-lanterns.

2006-11-06T09:50:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from Sherry Yard's The Secrets of Baking. You have a followed out mini-pumpkin (3-4" diameter), with a gingerbread financier disc in the bottom, glazed with apple caramel glaze, topped with pumpkin creme brulee and burnt sugar. The montage shows (clockwise from left) a pumpkin, a hollowed pumpkin, the apple caramel glaze, and the gingerbread financier discs. The gingerbread financier recipe is online here. The apple caramel glaze is online here.

Flaky Apple Turnovers

2006-10-31T06:01:00.000-08:00

Here's is the latest recipe I've tried from Dorie's new book. The dough is delicious -- buttery, with a little tang from added sour cream. The dough is also quite flaky, in part because of an extra laminating step in which the dough is rolled out into a rectangle, folded in thirds like a business letter, and rolled out again. I deviated from the recipe just a bit by adding some ground ginger and golden raisins to the filling, and drizzling with caramel.

Chicago at Night

2006-10-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

Thumbprint Cookies with Pear Vanilla Jam

2006-10-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

Cookie recipe (except for pear vanilla jam) from Dorie Greenspan's new book.

Applesauce Spice Bars

2006-10-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

Another great recipe from Dorie Greenspan's new cookbook.

Espresso Cheesecake Brownie

2006-10-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

Another recipe from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Payard's Apple Pound Cake

2006-10-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

Recipe here.

Fall sunset

2006-10-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2006-10-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

Another recipe from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Tartest Lemon Tart

2006-09-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

Between Food Interlude: More Music

2006-09-22T05:46:00.000-07:00

Modern Times: Bob Dylan

I don't know if my taste in music has changed, or if Dylan has just gotten better with age, but I find myself liking Dylan more and more as time goes by. There are several songs on Dylan's new album that I like, particularly Spirit on the Water, When the Deal Goes Down, and Thunder on the Mountain.

Black Cadillac: Rosanne Cash

"Radio Operator" is a great song.

The Forgotten Arm: Aimee Mann

Aimee Mann, as you may or may not know, was the lead singer of the 80's "one-hit wonder" band, 'Til Tuesday. Their one hit was the song "Voices Carry," which made it to #8 on the US Billboard back in 1985. Mann never actually stopped making music, but I only became reaquainted with her a few years ago, when I heard her doing back-up vocals on a song with Jim White, called "Static On the Radio." This is very different from the new-wavey stuff Mann did in the 80's, though that had its appeal as well. Mann also made a cameo appearance in what I consider one of the funniest movies of all time: "The Big Lebowski." Mann is the "nihilist" who cuts her toe off as part of the kidnapping scheme. She appears in the diner scene about an hour and a half into the movie.

Banana Rum/Chocolate Marble Cake

2006-09-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

Another recipe from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Caramel Peanut Brownie Cake

2006-09-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Milk Chocolate Passion Fruit Truffles

2006-08-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

Coconut Vanilla Rice Pudding With Chocolate Croquettes

2006-08-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

Coconut Panna Cotta With Pineapple Gelee

2006-08-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

Exotic Orange Cake

2006-07-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

I've had this recipe on my to-try list for a couple of years. The Exotic Orange Cake is the creation of pastry chef Laurent Branlard, and was graciously shared on eGullet by Fred Rowe. The layers, from bottom to top, are: honey almond cake, caramel vanilla bean cremeux, honey almond cake, orange bavaroise, Passion Fruit/Mango gelee. The cake is coated with more orange bavaroise.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Chocolate/Hazelnut Pirouette Cookies

2006-07-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Between-Food Interlude: New Music I'm Listening To

2006-07-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

Gnarls Barkley: St. Elsewhere

Love their new album, especially the song 'Crazy.' You can hear it on their website.

Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Amy LaVere: This World is Not my Home

Widespread Panic: Earth to America

Thes guys have been making music for a long time, and I never liked them much. But they've grown on me recently.

Lights, Camera, Vegas!

2006-07-17T11:49:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a weekend in Las Vegas. The culinary highlight of the trip was, without doubt, the two trips I took to Jean Philippe Maury patisserie at the ultra-posh Bellagio Hotel. The first trip was on friday morning. We shared the Intense, the Rose Macaroon, an assortment package of macaroons, and a cinnamon roll. I didn't get good photos of most of this stuff, but the Intense and the Rose Macaroon are on the right in the picture below. Suffice it to say that these were probably the best pastries I've ever eaten.

Late saturday afternoon, I decided to go back for more. So, I walked there from our hotel room at Treasure Island, which is about a mile away. The temperature was about 110F at this point, and by the time I got to JPM's, I was in the mood for something refreshing. So, I got the Exotic.

Amaretto Cheesecake with Amaretto Caramel

2006-07-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

Orange-Caramel Ice Cream with Orange-Caramel Sauce

2006-07-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

Lemon Roll with Orange Mousseline Buttercream

2006-07-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

Experiments in Jaconde

2006-06-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

This is my first jaconde cake. It is filled with Grand Marnier/white chocolate mousse, and topped with passion fruit gelee.

Madeleine Noir

2006-06-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

Passion Fruit Ganache and Apricot Tartlets

2006-06-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Cookie

2006-05-29T13:46:00.000-07:00

White Chocolate Mousse With Warm Passion Fruit Sauce

2006-05-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

Minis

2006-05-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

From top to bottom: mini lemon meringue pies, lemon cream tarts, milk chocolate and caramel tart, and almind financiers.

Frozen Chocolate Mousse Bombe

2006-05-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to using my hemisphere molds. This bombe has a flourless cake base, a sweet and rich chocolate mousse, a honey and chocolate glaze, and cocoa macarons for garnish.

Halsey Tart

2006-04-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from Sherry Yard's The Secrets of Baking. From bottom to top, there is a chocolate short dough, a whipped caramel cream, chocolate glaze, and a vanilla tuile.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

2006-04-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

Citrus Bars with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

2006-04-25T16:24:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from the book Celebrate With Chocolate, by Marcel Desaulniers. I followed the recipe, except that I used the crust from the Cook's Illustrated lemon bar recipe, and omitted the lemon balm from the icing.

Caramel Brownies

2006-04-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

Banana Cake with Vanilla Mousseline Buttercream

2006-04-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

Wonton Potstickers

2006-03-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

Continuing with my recent potsticker fixation, I made some using Alton Brown's recipe. These were delicious, except that I found them just a little too salty. I added about 1/3 more pork to the recipe, and that made them much better. This recipe calls for wonton wrappers, and that's what I used. But I prefer gyoza-style wrappers, and would have used them if the market had not been out of them.

Coffee Eclairs with Chocolate Glaze

2006-03-20T08:01:00.000-08:00

These eclairs are filled with coffee-infused vanilla pastry cream, and glazed with some bittersweet Valrhona glaze I had left over from making the Pave.

Chocolate Rice Pudding

2006-03-15T11:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, another recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. I used 3C of milk rather than 3.75 since others reported the pudding to be a little soupy using the full amount in the recipe. I used the Manjari chocolate rather than the Guanaja. I also used just a little more sugar than the recipe called for.

The rice pudding is great. I put the pudding in the serving glasses last night, and then scraped every last bit out of the bowl using my finger. After chilling in the fridge overnight, it was quite firm. If you make this recipe, definitely make the optional caramelized rice crispies too -- they go perfectly with the pudding.

Cook's Illustrated Sour Cream Chocolate Bundt Cake

2006-03-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

The quest for the perfect chocolate cake continues. This cake has a lot going for it, but with its subtle sour cream tang and unalkalized cocoa, I think it would be most appreciated by those who prefer less sweet chocolate cakes. This was served with a little sweetened whipped cream and some raspberry sauce.

Chocolate Temptation

2006-03-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

This recipe ("Chocolate Temptation") is from Greenspan's Desserts by Pierre Herme. The sauce is banana/citrus/avacado, and I added about 1T of sugar. There is about 1/3C on the plate. The Manjari chocolate cake is flourless and somewhat molten (out of the oven). The recipe called for infusing the butter with a sliver of habanero, but I didn't do that. The cake is garnished with an orange tuile, and the plate with a few caramelized banana slices.

Crispy and Creamy Rice Treat

2006-02-27T08:11:00.000-08:00

Continuing down my list of desserts from the Greenspan/Herme books, I made the Crispy and Creamy Rice Treat, from the first Desserts book. This has a small cake base made from ladyfinger batter. The base is sprinkled with a layer of toasted hazelnuts and broken Nestle crunch bars. Above that is a layer of a creamy, cinnamony arborio rice mixed with creme anglaise and whipped cream, set with a little gelatin. On top is a layer of thick chocolate creme anglaise, and some caramelized rice crispies.

Faubourg Pave

2006-02-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

I decided to make the Faubourg Pave again, one of my favorites from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. The recipe includes a cocoa loaf, which is split in thirds, brushed with a caramel syrup, and filled with a very butter-rich caramel ganache. This time I filled it with the caramel ganache, as usual, but finished it with the glaze, which I made according to Herme's recipe. Both the ganache and the glaze were made using Valrhona 61%, which is what I have at the moment. Luckily for me, I had some left-over chocolate sauce from making the glaze, and I found that it makes an amazing hot chocolate.

Golden Pearl Brownie Cake

2006-02-21T16:25:00.000-08:00

This was made from a recipe in Desserts by Pierre Herme. This has a brownie base made with (Valrhona) Le Noir Gastronomie, on top of which is a creamy layer similar to creme chiboust -- its vanilla pastry cream flavored with cognac, lightened with whipped cream, and set with a little bit of gelatin. On top of that is a thin layer of pastry cream (my deviation from the recipe) and a layer of vanilla bean clear glaze. Sprinkled in the middle and on top are some golden raisins soaked in a Cognac syrup.

Potstickers with Scallion Sauce

2006-02-20T16:54:00.000-08:00

I love potstickers, so I couldn't wait to try the recipe in the new Cook's Illustrated.

Mini Chocolate Cake

2006-02-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

Chiffon cake, filled with whipped Nutella ganache and covered with ganache glaze.

Plasir Sucre

2006-02-12T17:09:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to trying the Plasir. I need to work on getting the chocolate sheets thinner (I think they would be best almost paper-thin).

Riviera

2006-02-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

Caramel Custard Tart

2006-02-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

Lemon Tart on Pine Nut Pate Sucre

2006-02-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

Recipe from Thomas Keller's Bouchon.

Beignets

2006-01-31T06:36:00.000-08:00

From Yard's The Secrets of Baking.

Ganache Tart with Caramelized Rice Puffs

2006-01-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

Pate sucre tart crust filled with caramelized rice puffs and caramel ganache. This is one of several attempts lately to get a perfect-looking tart crust.

Portuguese Custard Tarts

2006-01-26T16:06:00.000-08:00

Vanilla flavored custard baked atop puff pastry crust in a very hot oven. Thanks to Filipe for the recipe.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

2006-01-24T15:43:00.000-08:00

Iced with white chocolate ganache. The cake recipe is attributed to Michelle Gayer Nicholson. You can find it here.

Orange Chicken

2006-01-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

Banana Bread with Orange Zest

2006-01-15T18:57:00.000-08:00

Flourless Orange Cake

2006-01-14T11:56:00.000-08:00

Ridiculously Puffy Caramel Souffle

2006-01-13T07:57:00.000-08:00

Recipe from Sherry Yard.

Bartlett Pear Pizza

2006-01-08T16:33:00.000-08:00

This pizza had fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, parmesan, balsamic glazed onions, thin slices of Bartlett pears, and a sprinkling of chopped almonds.

Bailey's White Chocolate Tart with Raspberry Sauce

2006-01-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

Variation on Yard's Pastry Cream Cookies

2006-01-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

I made these using Yard's recipe from The Secrets of Baking, except I used chocolate muffin crumbs instead of cake crumbs, chocolate pastry cream instead of plain pastry cream, and Kahlua instead of rum. If your dough is too thin, just stir in a little flour until it's thick enough to hold its shape on the baking sheet. I think I used about 1/2C crumbs plus maybe 1-2T AP flour. They are dense and moist and have a nice hazelnut flavor.

Almost Flourless Chocolate Mini-Cupcakes with Caramel Ganache

2006-01-06T16:15:00.000-08:00

Orange-Vanilla Macaro(o)ns

2006-01-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

The cookies are flavored with orange zest. The buttercream is flavored with vanilla and Grand Marnier.

Pseudo-Gateau St. Honore

2006-01-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

Still More Macaro(o)ns

2006-01-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

This recipe used an Italian meringue.

Tart Tatin

2005-12-28T16:30:00.000-08:00

More Macaro(o)ns

2005-12-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

'Mozart' from Desserts by Pierre Herme

2005-12-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

Macaroons with Lemon Cream

2005-12-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

Canelles Again

2005-12-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

Hot Chocolate

2005-12-12T16:08:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Macaroons

2005-12-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

I used David Lebovitz's recipe for the cookies and a chocolate-caramel ganache for the filling.

Pistachio Macaroons With Espresso Buttercream

2005-12-05T17:12:00.000-08:00

Almond Dacquoise with Espresso Buttercream

2005-11-30T16:13:00.000-08:00