back to the books.

I started reading food blogs about two years ago, prompted in large part by other food-blogging friends. I'm grateful for my regular round-up of these blogs; they give me a great deal of relaxation and inspiration. However, I've realized recently that - as my growing "To Try" bookmark folder suggests - I've been doing a lot of cooking from the internet. Nothing wrong with that. However, to pull up a recipe while simultaneously keeping an eye on my email, perhaps popping into a different tab to check on the weather, The Sartorialist, or miscellaneous cute furry creatures, then continually reference the laptop screen (still checking my email periodically) while cooking is not a wholly focused experience, at least for me.

So yesterday morning, looking forward to cooking dinner for friends in the evening, I decided that I would restrict myself to my cookbooks. I made a pot of tea, grabbed a stack of my neglected favorites from the cookbook shelf, and settled down to page through them.


Here's what I ended up with:

Asparagus Tart {an experiment of my very own, using Breakfast, Lunch, Tea and How to Be a Domestic Goddess for reference}

Pasta all'Amatriciana (aka Pasta with Onion and Bacon) {How to Cook Everything}
Garlic Bread {Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics}

Deluxe Double-Chocolate Cookies {Tartine}

So fun! So relaxed! And so tasty.


Asparagus Tart
{Cobbled together as an excuse to use asparagus + the beautiful rectangular tart pan I received for Christmas. This worked wonderfully as an appetizer because it's relatively light; the minimal filling highlights the asparagus nicely, too. Success!}


Crust:
Use ever-reliable Orangette savory crust and prepare as detailed previously.

Filling:
1 bunch of asparagus
1/2 c. light cream
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Ground pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese (for sprinkling)

Prep and bake tart shell (a 9" round tart pan would also work here); let cool while you make the filling. Adjust oven to 350F.

Whisk together egg, egg yolk, and cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Trim asparagus to preferred length; I measured them to fit horizontally in the shell, but they could easily have been arranged lengthwise or, for a round tart, in a spoke pattern.


Sprinkle grated Parmesan (about 2 tbsp.) onto bottom of baked tart shell. Arrange asparagus on top, then gently pour in enough filling to cover the asparagus nearly all the way. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan.


Bake at 350F for 25 mins. (probably more for a larger tart). Let cool 5 mins. in pan, then remove base. Serve warm or at room temp.



Pasta all'Amatriciana
from How to Cook Everything


2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. chopped pancetta (or bacon)
1 small onion, minced
1 can (28 oz.) whole plum tomatoes, drained
1 lb. long pasta (*I used bucatini - the hole in the middle of each strand soaked up the sauce quite nicely)
Salt and pepper to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan
Fresh parsley, minced (for garnish)

In large skillet, cook pancetta in olive oil over med. heat for about 10 mins., stirring frequently, until crisp. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.

Add onion to pan and cook, stirring frequently, until browned - about 5 mins. Turn off heat.

Crush tomatoes by hand (fun!) or with a fork (less fun) and add them to the pan. Return the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens - about 15 mins.

Meanwhile, cook and drain pasta. Toss it with finished sauce; top with reserved pancetta, Parmesan, and parsley.



Garlic Bread
adapted very slightly from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics


6 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 c. fresh parsley
2 tbsp. fresh oregano leaves
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
scant 1/3 c. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter, room temp.
1 large loaf of ciabatta or similar bread (*I used a "pain rustique" - large, flat, holey, perfect)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place garlic, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper in food processor bowl; process until finely minced.


Heat olive oil in med. skillet over low heat; add garlic mixture and cook for 3 mins., until garlic is tender but not browned. Remove from heat and set aside.

Cut bread in half horizontally. Spoon garlic mixture evenly onto bottom half; spread butter on top half; sandwich together. Wrap the loaf in foil and place on baking sheet.

Bake for 5 mins., then unwrap foil and bake for another 5 mins. Slice crosswise, serve warm.



Deluxe Double-Chocolate Cookies
from Tartine


8 oz. bittersweet, chopped roughly
1 c. + 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. + 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
scant 1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 c. whole milk (*I initially typed "mink," which might produce a rather different result!)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.

Melt chocolate in double-boiler or (carefully) in microwave. Remove from heat and let cool.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in small bowl. Set aside.

Using stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter on med-high speed until creamy. Slowly add sugar and mix until completely smooth and soft. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one. Beat in salt and vanilla, then add melted chocolate and beat until incorporated. Add milk and beat until combined. Then add flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined. (*The dough will look like dense chocolate mousse - YUM.)

Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1" apart. Bake until just barely firm on top, about 7 mins. (They'll get firmer as they cool.) Transfer to wire rack and let cool.

Makes 3-4 dozen.

fig crostata.

In addition to my hand-picked batch of apples and peaches from our morning at the orchard, I ended up with a pint of beautiful fresh figs from the farmstand there. I admired them every time I opened the fridge, nibbled a few...and then realized that this leisurely approach meant I needed to use the rest of them quickly. This realization coincided with our weekly Mad Men viewing - perfect, I thought. I'll share them. I'll make a fig tart!

Well, sort of. After Epicurious turned up rather disappointing selections, I settled on this Giada De Laurentiis recipe for a fig and almond tart. I don't often remember to try her recipes, and this is really more a crostata than a tart, but it looked like an appealing experiment.

Appealing indeed! This turned out quite well. I did make some changes, including swapping out Giada's crust for the Orangette recipe that has become my standby. The result was very pretty to look at - much like Jon Hamm.


Fig Crostata
adapted from Giada De Laurentiis; crust from Orangette

Crust:
4 tbsp. ice water, plus more as needed
3/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
9 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Filling:
3 1/2 oz. almond paste
1/3 c. mascarpone cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. honey
around 10-12 small fresh figs, stems and bases trimmed off, sliced into 3 discs each
scant 1/4 c. apricot jam (*I warmed mine with some water to thin it, then strained it to make it smooth)


Make crust:
1. In small bowl, combine ice water and vinegar.

2. In food processor, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to blend. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal; there should be no pieces of butter larger than a small pea.

3. With the processor running, slowly add water-vinegar mixture, processing just until moist clumps form. If you pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it, it should hold together. If the dough seems dry, add more ice water by the teaspoon, pulsing each time.

4. Turn out the dough onto a board or clean countertop, gathering and pressing it into a disk about 1 1/2" thick. Wrap in plastic and then press a bit more, massaging away any cracks around the edges so that you have a smooth disk. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (Dough can be kept in refrigerator for 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw in refrigerator overnight before using.)

Make filling:
5. In food processor, combine almond paste, mascarpone, vanilla, and honey. Blend until smooth.

Assemble crostata:
6. On parchment or wax paper, roll out dough into an 11" circle. (You may need to let the dough sit at room temperature a few minutes so that it's soft enough to work with.) Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet.

7. Spread the almond/mascarpone filling over the dough, leaving a 2"-3" border. Arrange sliced figs on top of almond filling, overlapping slightly. Spread/drizzle a light layer of jam on top. (I didn't use the entire amount.)

8. Fold the dough border over the filling to form an 8" round, pleating the edges gently and pinching any cracks in the dough.

9. Bake until golden, about 40 mins. Cool on baking sheet for 10 more mins., then remove tart and finish cooling on wire rack.

Viola looks disdainfully at our dessert spread: fig crostata, apple cake (C.), and lemon thyme shortbread (M.).