Chef Henry

Despite a lack of classical training, Chef Henry is a bit of a culinary prodigy. He is a proponent of using fresh, locally sourced ingredients and, in particular, a fan of organic broccoli and fresh strawberries. Chef Henry's whisking skills are particularly good, so he whipped up some heavy cream, powdered sugar and cream cheese yesterday to make an airy and lovely frosting for his new favorite dessert, a poppy seed-strawberry cake. It's heavenly, Chef Henry!

Who doesn't love to lick the beaters?

The finished product, in a word, delicious!

Billowing Strawberry Poppy Seed Layer Cake
From Dishing with Kathy Casey

Cake
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 tbls (1 stick) salted butter, softened
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbls poppy seeds

Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups cream

Filling
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 pint strawberries, sliced very thin

Topping
1 pint strawberries, cut in half

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer or other large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the softened butter. Using an electric mixer, mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Add half of the milk and mix for 2 minutes more to cream the batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and add the remaining milk, eggs, and vanilla. Continue mixing on medium speed for 2 more minutes. Stir in the poppy seeds.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each cake layer and turn in out onto a rack to cool thoroughly.

Meanwhile, make the frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat the softened cream cheese and vanilla on medium speed for 1 minute. Turn the speed to high and mix for 1 minute. Stop the mixer, add 1 cup of the powdered sugar, and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Repeat twice, until all the powdered sugar had been added, then increase the mixer speed to high and whip for 3 minutes.

In another bowl, whip the cream until stiff, then fold it gently into the cream cheese mixture until just incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to frost the cake.

To make the filling: In a medium bowl, stir the strawberry jam until smooth, then gently fold in the strawberries. Set aside until ready to fill the cake.

To assemble and frost the cake: On a large cake plate, place 1 layer of the cake. Spoon one-half of the strawberry filling in the center, then spread it out to 3/4 inch from the edge. Top with 1 cup of the frosting and spread the frosting to 3/4 inch from the edge. Place another layer of cake on top and repeat. Place the final layer of cake on top, then press down gently on the cake layers to stabilize them.

With a large rubber or cake spatula, mound half of the remaining frosting on the top of the cake. Spread the other half around the sides of the cake, covering up all cake and swirling the frosting decoratively. Smooth out the frosting on top of the cake. Let the frosting dry a little before garnishing the cake.

Stem the garnish berries, and cut them in half lengthwise. Place, cut sides down, around the top edge of the cake. Arrange any extra strawberries in a small pattern in the middle of the cake. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.

Yummy Things from the Farm

I've been remiss this Spring in posting about our adventures in CSA eating. Actually, we've been remiss in our adventures in CSA cooking, as well, as the pregnancy and the toddler have taken a backseat to cooking on many nights. Its not that I'm less excited about the fresh veg we've been getting from Harmony Valley Farm, its been spot on, I just haven't had the muster. So! Knowing full-well that I've got a whole new box of veg coming tomorrow, I pulled everything out of the fridge today to survey what we've got and to ponder how to use it/store it before it goes bad. So, into the food processor go a number of things to create a pesto of sorts for some whole wheat pasta...

3 garlic scapes, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 bunch pea vine, tough stems removed
3 Egyptian (green) onions
3/4 cup toasted walnuts
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup shredded Parmesan
1/2 tsp kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

In the food processor, pulse the first four ingredients until minced. With the motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil until a thick paste forms. Add the cheese and pulse just to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pack into a plastic container and cover with a layer of olive oil (about another 1/4 - 1/2 cup) to preserve color. At this point you can store it in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to use. When you are, cook some pasta until al dente, drain, warm a big spoonful or two of the pesto in a pan (cook for a minute or so) and toss the pasta in. Top with lots of Parmesan cheese.

In Last Week’s Box from the Farm
Green Onions
Garlic Scapes
Pea Vine
All of the above went into the pesto.

Strawberries
Rhubarb
I made a strawberry-rhubarb cobbler

Yukina Savoy
Bok Choi
Still in the fridge, but destined for a stir fry.

Asparagus
Simply steamed and eaten with broiled chicken breasts

Salad Mix
Ostergruss Radish
Baby Broccoli
Greenleaf Lettuce
Baby Red Romaine
These last five all gotten eaten raw in a couple of big salads!

Happy Solstice!

To celebrate the Winter Solstice, we had a lovely little candelit dinner at home. I made a spicy squash soup that had garam masala and red chili pepper in it. Yum. Warmed us right up. We also had a lovely organic roast chicken with couscous and green beans. And, then, cake! Solstice cake! Chocolate on the outside to represent the dark days of midwinter and yellow cake on the inside to represent the sun and the return to light. Only six more months until summer... >sigh<

For the love of bacon!

Nathan and I have successfully completed a full year of the Bacon of the Month Club. It was good. Really good. And our cholesterol is just fine, thank you. It was sad, though, the end of the bacon. We thought, you know, maybe we'd renew for another year... but rationality took hold and we realized that good bacon can be found everywhere, especially Clancy's. So, we will leave the BoM to others. In fact if you need a last minute gift for someone this holiday season, I highly recommend bacon. The gift that keeps on giving. http://gratefulpalate.com/



In other bacon related news, now everyone can enjoy the beautiful flavor of bacon every day, even vegetarians! Thanks, Bacon Salt! http://www.baconsalt.com/
You've made the end of BoM a little bit easier to ,um, swallow.