Miso Soup With Watercress And Shiitakes

Miso, a Japanese flavoring, is made by fermenting cooked soybeans. White and yellow misos are mild; dark varieties have more complex flavors.

Yield:

Serves 6

Ingredients

1. 1 tablespoon olive oil
2. 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
3. 3 plum (Roma) tomatoes, peeled and seeded, then diced
4. 1 tablespoon peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
5. 3 cloves garlic, minced
6. 4 cups vegetable stock or broth
7. 2 tablespoons white miso
8. 1/4 pound firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
9. 3 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, brushed clean, and caps thinly sliced
10. 1 cup watercress leaves
11. 1 green (spring) onion, including tender green top, thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the yellow onion and saute until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, ginger and garlic and saute until the tomatoes are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer.
2. Whisk in the miso until dissolved. Add the tofu, mushrooms and watercress and simmer until the tofu is heated through and the mushrooms and watercress are softened, about 1 minute.
3. Ladle into warmed individual bowls and garnish with the green onion. Serve immediately.

Notes

Happy Birthday Chocolate Cake

This cake is quite intense, but not overly sweet.  That’s how I like it.  The combination of ingredients are designed to bring out the flavor of the chocolate.  Coffee is used in the cake to add moistness and elevate richness of the chocolate.  The sour cream in the icing adds a hint of tang that balances the sweetness of the white chocolate shavings.

Yield:

1 12" two-layer cake

Ingredients

1. For the cake:
2. =============
3. 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
4. 2 cups sugar
5. 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
6. 2 teaspoons baking soda
7. 1 teaspoon baking powder
8. 1 teaspoon kosher salt
9. 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
10. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
11. 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
12. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
13. 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
14. .
15. For the Sour Cream Icing:
16. ==========================
17. 12 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
18. 1 stick butter, unsalted and softened
19. 2 Tbl. light corn syrup
20. ¼ cup half-and-half
21. ½ cup sour cream
22. 3 - 4 oz. white chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
3. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.
4. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
5. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
6. To make the frosting, melt the chocolate with the butter and corn syrup in a double boiler over barely simmering water. Remove from heat and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the half-and-half and sour cream. Spread on cake while still soft.

Notes

To grate the white chocolate for the topping, run a potato peeler along the top of the white chocolate bar to create tiny curly shavings. Sprinkle on the top of the cake before the icing dries. Alternatively, you can use a hand shredder for a finer look.

Lemon Cloud Tea Cookies

These Lemon Cloud cookies just about melt in your mouth.  They’re simple and delicate with a slight bite and romantic texture.  You can either flavor them with lemon or orange.

Yield:

Makes 48 small cookies.

Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 3/4 cup cornstarch
3. 4 teaspoons baking powder
4. 1/8 teaspoon salt
5. 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
6. 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
7. 2 large eggs
8. 1 teaspoon vanilla
9. 1/2 teaspoon lemon or orange extract
10. 1 teaspoons finely grated lemon or orange zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Combine the butter and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on low speed with the paddle until well mixed. Increase the speed to medium and continue beating until light, about 2 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Batter may look broken and curdled. Beat in the extracts and zest.
5. Decrease the speed to low and beat in the flour. Remove the bowl from the mixer and give the dough a few good turns with your spatula to bring it all together.
6. Arrange rounded teaspoons of the dough on a pan lined with parchment paper. Space the balls about 2-inches apart. After all the cookies have been placed on the pan, flour a fork and press a crisscross design into the top of each mound of dough. Bake the cookies until they spread and become golden, about 20 minutes. Slide the parchment paper off the pan to cool completely.

Notes

Mozzarella Cheese

Mozzarella is one of several kinds of "plastic-curd" cheeses, originating in Italy. In making them the curds are kneaded, which expels whey and produces plasticity. Because of their dense texture they keep well in warm climates and are ideal for smoking. Provolone is an aged version of a plastic-curd cheese.Mozzarella is one of the most versatile cheeses to make at home, since it tastes wonderful freshly made, freezes well, and can be used like an aged cheese in cooking, melting readily when heated.

Yield:

Makes about 4 8oz balls

Ingredients

1. 2 gallons milk, pasteurized and cooled to 90F
2. 7 tablespoons cultured buttermilk
3. 6 tablespoons yogurt rennet to coagulate 2 gallons milk (1/2 Hansens tablet) dissolved in about 1/2 cup Cold water.

Directions

1. Start this cheese in the evening. Maintain the milk at 90^F in a double boiler. Mix the buttermilk and yogurt separately with a little of the milk to remove lumps, then blend into the rest of the milk. Add the rennet solution and mix thoroughly. Let sit until the curd sets and breaks clearly when tested with a finger about 20 to 30 minutes. Cut the curd into 1/2 inch cubes as evenly as possible. Maintain at 90^F for 15 minutes, stirring with a clean hand. The curds are fragile because they have not been cooked, so stir very gently, just enough to keep them from matting together. Gently pour the curds into a cloth lined colander. When the whey has drained, the curd should be in one solid piece. Rinse in cold water, then soak in a pan of cold water for 15 minutes. If it is a big batch, cut the curd into several blocks, 4 or 5 inches square.
2. Drain off most of the water, then refrigerate the curds, or keep in a cool, 40^F place. Leave them in a colander or other container that allows drainage. (Commercially, mozzarella curds are shipped to delicatessens at this stage, where the cheese is finished.)
3. The next day, warm the cheese to room temperature so it will ripen, or become more acidic. After an hour or so, test the cheese for acidity as follows. Cut off a small piece of cheese and cut it into three 1/2 inch cubes. Heat several cups of water in a sauce pan to 165^F. Put in the cubes and stir for 5 minutes. Remove the cubes and mold them together like modeling clay.
4. Reheat the lump of cheese in the water for a minute, then remove and work or mold it together a little more. After repeating several times, try to pull the curd apart. If it breaks or tears, and clouds the water, it is underripe. Wait an hour or so and test again. When it pulls into a long rope and can be molded together again, it is ready. It will have a glossy surface and* will cloud the water only slightly. The whole cheese is treated somewhat like the test sample to finish it. Cut it into small cubes and put them in a pan. Heat water to 170^F and pour enough over them, to cover the curds by about 2 inches. Keep a thermometer in the pan and let the temperature drop to 135^F. Press the cubes together, and then knead the cheese, by stretching and pulling it, as if working modelling clay. It should become
5. plastic" and stretch into long strands. When it does, shape into half pound balls, or make a thick rope, fold it in half, and twist several times to make a decorative oblong cheese. Mozzarella can be dipped in hot water to make a glossy surface, or wrapped in cheese cloth to protect it. To keep the cheese very fresh tasting for up to a week, keep it in a bowl of water in the refrigerator, and change the water every day. To salt mozzarella for longer keeping, or to prepare it for smoking, soak it in brine for 4 or 5 hours (See Brined Cheese) The whey from mozzarella is perfect for making ricotta because it does not have a chance to develop much acidity.

Notes

Smoked Mozzarella: Mozzarella and other firm cheeses can be cold smoked for flavor. Salting and smoking both help preserve the cheese by drying it, and discouraging bacteria and insects. Set the cheese on a rack in the smoker, or wrap in cheesecloth and hang it. Keep the temperature below 90^F to prevent sweating off butterfat or melting. Smoke at 60 to 85^F for 4 to 15 hours.Brined Cheese: Press the cheese for 5 or 6 hours, or overnight, without salting it. Make enough brine to cover the cheese by about an inch, using 4.1/2 Tablespoons of plain salt for every quart of water needed. Soak the cheese from 12 to 24 hours. A small cheese requires less time than a large one. Turn the cheese once or twice to ensure that the brine penetrates all sides. Drain for about an hour on a cloth covered rack. Cover and refrigerate. Keeps for a week or more, longer than most fresh cheeses.