Executing the perfect cupcake conjures visions of 2005 – the year that Sprinkles became en vogue, with Kara’s, That Takes the Cake, and American Cupcake nipping at its frosted heels. While I was never a cupcake fanatic, I partook in the individual-sized confections every now and again. I once attempted to make my own, but failed miserably because I forgot to use cupcake liners (think charred brown cupcakes with neon pink centers and lumpy store-bought icing that tasted more like Pam cooking spray than any discernible cupcake flavor). I promptly hung up my pastry chef hat.
When my friend Maria started planning a homecoming gathering for her Naval Officer brother, I offered to cook something for the fete. I have been dying to make Barefoot Contessa’s coconut cake for months, and mentioned the idea to Maria. When she seemed less than thrilled, I upped the ante by suggesting patriotic red, white, and blue cupcakes in three different flavors. With the hostess’s enthused consent, I began researching recipes and techniques to avoid another burnt neon mishap.
For “white” I chose coconut cupcakes, but “red” and “blue” proved more difficult. My favorite Kara’s cupcake is Sweet Vanilla with Madagascar Bourbon frosting. I presumed that Madagascar Bourbon was actual bourbon, and decided the flavor would be perfect for a group of burly men. I quickly learned that Madagascar Bourbon is less Bulleit and more upmarket vanilla extract. I kept the frosting flavor, but added it to strawberry cupcakes to comprise a more complex “red” taste.
Researching “blue” cupcake flavors was trickier. Most blue cupcakes are vanilla with electric blue food coloring, which is less than epicurean. Blueberry cupcake recipes abounded, but they were presented more like blueberry muffins than blue cupcakes (yellow cake with whole blueberries). Determined to make a blue cupcake sans food coloring, I decided to follow one of the muffin-like recipes, but instead of using whole blueberries I roasted the fruit so that when I added it to the cake batter the berries exploded – turning the batter into an exquisite shade of sapphire blue. I topped the cake with lemon cream cheese frosting, which brought the dessert to an entirely new level of delicious.
The gem-hued treats have a refreshing appeal that isn’t often found in traditionally saccharine cupcakes. Equal parts sweet and tart, the bold blueberry and lemon flavors were a hit at the party. Many of the guests guessed that the cupcakes were store-bought, which is a far cry from the neon calamity of 2005. I suppose it’s time to pull that pastry chef chapeau out of storage! xx tt
I have a habit of frequently falling head over heels in love. In love with people, places, things, genres… At least my life is never lacking passion. The latest object of my undying affection is the South. Southern music, southern people, southern literature, and best of all - southern cuisine. When I got the itch to host another dinner party, I became giddy at the thought of turning my southern predilection into a southern comfort theme. With visions of burlap and mason jars dancing through my head, I scoured the internet for the latest in southern hospitality.
It’s practically sacrilegious to throw a southern dinner party without a little bit of chicken fried, so I based my menu around the archetypical fare. To up the ante, I combined Tyler Florence’s recipe, which calls for a spicy buttermilk-sriracha marinade and rosemary/sage/thyme/garlic perfumed oil for frying, with Barefoot Contessa’s healthier method of baking the chicken post-fry.
To accompany the chicken, I made Park Tavern’s jalapeno-bacon deviled eggs, Fat Apple’s corn muffins with fleur de sel honey butter, truffle mac and cheese, and an arugula and cherry tomato salad. But the dessert course plagued me for weeks… What is southern, delicious, and can be made ahead of time for twelve guests?
I contemplated making bourbon vanilla ice cream to serve with some sort of pie, but dismissed the idea when I realized that my guests wouldn’t eat something so hearty following the aforementioned menu. I also considered making coconut cake, but decided that the cream cheese frosting would be similarly heavy. Finally it dawned on me – while my menu was decidedly southern, it was also representative of the best restaurants in the Bay Area. I’d included recipes from Park Tavern, Fat Apple’s, and Wayfare Tavern, so why not recreate a dessert from one of my favorite spots?
I often daydream about Town Hall’s decadent butterscotch pot de crème. The sweet treat features a dark chocolate base topped with a uniquely savory butterscotch mousse. The combination is complex, but not so rich that it overshadows an already substantial meal. Luckily, 7x7 magazine featured Town Hall’s recipe on its website, so I didn’t have to figure it out from scratch. I was excited to learn that the butterscotch flavor came from actual scotch and brown sugar (which sounds extremely southern if you ask me).
To make the recipe more accessible, I used a pre-packaged vanilla pudding mix and added high-quality chocolate chips for the base. I also skipped the homemade buttercrunch candy topping in favor of store-bought seasalted chocolate squares. The result was so close to the original that I am tempted to let the restaurant know how much simpler it would be to skip fancy chocolate custard and use Jello pudding instead. As I watched my guests lick their bowls clean, I knew that they felt the same way. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect ending to my southern inspired evening. Yeehaw! xx tt
My friend Catherine is obsessed with all things “glossy” (definition: to be or make glamorous). She glosses herself pre-dates, glosses her apartment with the latest Jonathan Adler, throws glossy parties, and has glossy friends. So when Cat asked me to come over and make something in her “glossy crockpot” I was intrigued. What crockpot on earth can be described as glossy? And more importantly, what does one make in a crockpot that tastes glossy?
After mulling it over, I decided that al pastor tacos fit the bill. Al pastor is unusual because it is both spicy and sweet – a personal favorite combination. The mixture of chilies, pineapple, beer, and pork is nearly impossible to resist, and smells incredible while cooking for eight hours. Traditionally, al pastor meat is roasted on a vertical spit, but because the dish calls for a heavy liquid marinade it translates well into a crockpot recipe.
It turns out that Cat is right – her crock pot is glossy. Apparently when you trade plastic for stainless steel, a dial for a digital screen, and rename it “slow cooker,” a crockpot reaches new heights of aesthetic splendor. (And triples in price).
I’d like to tell you that the tacos were the most delicious I’ve ever tasted. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to try them (though I hear that they were superb)… Catherine freely admits that she isn’t the world’s most accomplished cook. Knowing this, her sole task for the day was to slice avocados for the taco topping. Evidently, this task was too advanced for my petit sous chef, as she sliced through the avocado and into her hand. One emergency room trip and four stitches later, Cat emerged from the hospital with a not-so-glossy arm sling.
With Super Bowl Sunday on the horizon, I highly recommend making these tacos for your friends and family. And don’t worry – I omitted avocado from the recipe… xx tt
With frigid winter temperatures decidedly upon us, I have been spending cold evenings in making seasonal feasts for friends and family. Unequivocally, the dish that has received the most accolades from guests is my butternut squash soup. The flawlessly-executed combination of butternut squash, apple, and curry make this concoction an idyllic choice for a cozy night chez-toi.
Classic butternut squash soup recipes call upon carrot, celery, and sage to provide complexity. Finding these flavors tired and boring, I replaced the vegetable medley with an element of sweet by using juicy red McIntosh apples. Still lacking the je ne sais quoi that takes a standard lunchtime soup to a luxe epicureal dish, I added four heaping tablespoons of curry powder. The condiment provided an injection of pan-Asian spice that took the soup to new heights.
To lend a splash of grandeur and aesthetic appeal, I added a dollop of crème fraiche and a drizzle of black truffle oil. Truth be told, most things taste better truffled, and this soup is no exception. Like its winter squash cohorts, butternut squash is at its best from early fall through January, so find an excuse to make this delectable bisque soon! xx tt
This Thanksgiving, my turkey caught on fire. And it wasn’t a small fire. It was a full-blown, flames coming out of the oven, fire extinguisher necessary before the entire house burns down fire.
You are probably asking yourself how a food blogger manages to botch one of the most standard elements of Thanksgiving fare… Well, I can assure you that it wasn’t entirely my fault. It is tradition in my family to baste the turkey in a bottle of champagne during the last hour of roasting. The champagne mixed with turkey juices creates the most delicately delicious gravy you’ve ever tasted.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, the roasting pan developed a small hole that became a much larger hole when my mother poured the champagne over the turkey. The turkey juices leaked onto the oven floor, creating a violent grease fire that was out of control within seconds. With our turkey drenched in ammonium phosphate, it appeared that Thanksgiving dinner was going to be birdless. Luckily, Il Fornaio saved the day by agreeing to sell us one of the turkeys that they were using for their holiday spread. Phew!
The day after Thanksgiving, I hosted a small “Round Two” dinner for my father and brother. Needless to say, the last thing that I wanted to do was attempt another turkey. Instead, I chose a robust Italian menu perfectly tailored to the two most important men in my life - sweet Italian sausage lasagna and ciabatta garlic bread. This lasagna recipe is one of my favorites because the fennel infused sausage and tangy goat cheese lend a refined flavor to the classic dish. It’s also incredibly easy, and an obvious crowd pleaser.
Hoping for a less memorable Thanksgiving in 2012… xx tt
In 2005, like many of my post-college counterparts, I embarked on a shoe-string budget romp through Europe. As my boyfriend at the time had never set foot outside of America, I crammed six cities into our three week excursion - London, Paris, Munich, Rome, Venice, and Florence. Ever the over-planner, I painstakingly created three Excel spreadsheets to make sure that we took advantage of every single European second. I was certain that it would be the best trip ever…
Fate had other plans in store. The morning before we were scheduled to fly out, we got the devastating news that the British fell victim to a suicide bombing on the subway system. When we arrived in London the next day, the city was eerily quiet and the subway from the airport into the city was nearly empty. We decided to avoid taking the subway for the rest of the trip, but trains proved unavoidable.
I didn’t sleep a wink on our overnight train from Paris to Munich. The same went for our train from Munich to Italy. By the time that we arrived in Rome at 6:30AM, I was so sleep-deprived that all I could think about was getting to our hotel room. When we arrived at our hotel, we learned that check-in wasn’t for three hours. Despite my desperate pleas (and the tiniest tantrum) there was no way that we were getting into our room one second before 9:30AM.
Dejected and exhausted, my boyfriend and I began wandering aimlessly through the streets of Rome. Just when I thought that I couldn’t take a step farther, I looked up and was standing in front of the largest and most exquisite baroque fountain I’d ever seen. Despite seeing it countless times in pictures, the Fontana di Trevi is utterly breathtaking in the flesh. My fatigue subsided when I realized that I was in one of the most beautiful and historically-rich places in the world.
Reenergized, my boyfriend and I opted to continue exploring the city. We climbed the Spanish Steps, ate gelato in front of the Pantheon, salivated over the Fall collection at Prada, and found ourselves at the Piazza Navona by lunchtime. We landed at a wine bar called Cul de Sac, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with wine bottles lining the interior and patio seating for dining alfresco. With over 1,500 wines to choose from, we knew that we had found a hidden gem. But perhaps the most magnificent discovery of the day was the absolute best lasagna I have ever tasted. The bolognese sauce literally melted in my mouth, and I’ve often dreamed of it since.
Several years (and several boyfriends) later, I decided to recreate the mouth-watering Cul de Sac bolognese. After numerous attempts, I have finally developed a recipe that evokes my memories of Rome and that delicious lasagna. With autumn decidedly upon us, this is the perfect time to spend the day making this five-hour meat sauce to share with friends and family. xx tt
Lake Tahoe is my favorite place in the whole entire world. But most especially in the summertime. There is nothing more comforting than driving into Tahoe City and catching the first glimpse of the tranquil azure lake as the smell of sundrenched pines fill the evening air.
Every year, I start calendaring getaways well before the snow has started to melt away. My boyfriend and I pack his parent’s lake house with our closest friends, and spend the weekend tanning on the boat, shooting guns at Blackwood Canyon, devouring Sunnyside zucchini sticks, and imbibing far too many Chambers punches.
Somehow, during all of the mayhem, we find time to cook together. The undomestics in the group are on the wine and cocktail committee, while the braver among us get to show off our culinary moxie. The result is sometimes delicious, usually messy, and always fun.
On one of these cooking occasions, my friend Daniel insisted on making a grilled corn salad with bacon. I was annoyed because I planned to serve my delicate filet mignon tacos, which do not pair well with pig fat maize.
Despite my apprehension, the salad was fantastic. In fact, it was so good that I made it again the very next night. The combination of charred corn, fresh avocado, and sweet tomatoes rise to a new level of mouth-watering bliss with the addition of crunchy bits of salty bacon. Zucchini sticks better watch out, there’s a new snack in town. xx tt
I am pleased to share a guest post by my beautiful friend, Dare Felchlin. If you are lucky enough to have been invited to one of Dare’s dinner parties, you know that she is an incredibly gracious hostess, with a keen attention to the most minuscule details. While I have mastered many entertaining attributes, setting the table is not one of them. Thanks to Dare’s post below, we will all be privy...
In the weeks prior to major events – galas, birthdays, Tahoe boating weekends, etc. – my friends and I abstain from most enjoyable foods. No carbs, no sugar, no fruit, no cheese, no fat, no fun. Adding insult to injury, we torture ourselves by fantasizing about the naughty foods that we will indulge in post-party: Gordo’s quesadillas oozing with melted cheese, Balboa burgers on baguettes, and Wok Shop crab rangoons top the list.
This summer has already been particularly brutal. Between the Masked Ball and multiple tropical wedding weekends requiring perfect bikini-ready physiques, our diets and consequent food reveries have reached new heights.
All of this daydreaming inspired me to concoct something deliciously mischievous that I can make myself – thereby satisfying two indulgences, eating and cooking. The two primary ingredients were a no-brainer: chicken and Tabasco. If you’ve been following Table + Teaspoon, you are well aware that roast chicken is my culinary go-to, and I am a sucker for spice.
By mixing mayonnaise with Tabasco, and adding pulled chicken, pepperjack cheese (more spice please!), and avocado to rustic sourdough bread I created the perfect DIY post-starvation fare. It looks like my friends and I will have something new to fantasize about. xx tt
