Back to School (Almond Flour, NYC)

Dear Mouse,

"Sorry when I go dark

It must have been I forgot about the spark

Sorry when I go lame

I got no reason I should ever complain..."

-Don Chaffer, 'Son of a Gun', coming SOON to NYC's Theatre Row (November 1-18)

It's happened. Our Auntie's Labor Day BBQ has come and gone, everyone's putting up "first day of school!" pictures of their kids on FaceBook, and I just brought home a striped burgundy cardigan from the Free People sale rack. True, the Equinox is a couple of weeks away and there are still peaches at the Greenmarket... but there's no denying that Autumn is nearly upon us.

I, for one, am thrilled. For one thing, orange-yellow-wine-colored-smoky-windy Fall has always been my favorite season, and for another I'm going into rehearsal again!!!  after a Very Quiet Summer (not my favorite).

My friend Mr. Poet has this great way of describing the phenomenon of the way creative jobs often lead to other creative jobs...

... or, as he puts it, "Gig Babies".

Actual (not Gig) Baby: Newest Addition to the Poet Family! Just had to share.

I woke up thinking about the show, and how this particular Gig Baby, like so many, came not from any conventional hiring process but from relationships:  a recommendation from another artist who knew me and thought someone else should too. And, because there's almost nothing I can't connect to food, I was also thinking about the "gig baby" phenomenon as regards recipes; how new/shared recipes naturally lead to other new discoveries. 

Also, I just met our costume designer and there's nothing like the word "lingerie" to make you get Very Interested in Lower Carb Alternatives to your favorite dishes. 

The point is, I made this chicken. 

                                  The Boo's Parmesan Chicken: A Family Staple Makeover. Read on.

Now, Mouse, I know you think you recognize this from, say, any weeknight at our house growing up, when The Mother would come in from a long day of Living Truthfully Under Imaginary Circumstances and have to put something on the table. That simple dish, of chicken breasts dipped in melted butter and rolled in 'Italian-Style' breadcrumbs and Kraft Parmesan from the green can, has always been one of my favorite meals of all time. It could not be easier or more comforting, and I often whip this up in my own kitchen when Circumstances have gotten just a little too Truthful.

Then, Enter my New Best Friend:

                                    

Almond Flour. It's Flour ... Made of Almonds .

I'm sure you see where this is going.

Long story short, the "gig baby" that resulted from my recent love affair with Dorie Greenspan's Isphahan Rose Cake was ... well, anything and everything that can be done with this nut flour. One night, I was making sweet potato fries in the oven and I impulsively rolled the little orange sticks in almond meal as well as olive oil. OMG. Sweet, nutty, textured, high-protein and delicious. A revamped version of The Mother's classic chicken recipe seemed inevitable.  Here it is, below. In my version, almond flour replaces the breadcrumbs, olive oil replaces the melted butter, and a layer of "Enjoy" (caramelized onion jam, which The Mother likes to call by one particular favorite brand name)  added just to liven things up.  

And now I'm off to make a peach tart with (you guessed it) almond flour crust.

"Enjoy".

Love ,

The Boo

The Boo's Almond-Crusted Parmesan Chicken With "Enjoy"

(Warning: There are no measurements in this highly forgiving and improvisational family recipe. But you kinda can't go wrong)

Ingredients:

boneless, skinless chicken breasts (i sometimes cut in half to make them skinnier/crispier)

Kraft Parmesan Cheese from the can (this ingredient stays)

Almond Flour or Almond Meal

"Enjoy", or your favorite brand of savory onion jam

olive oil

salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  Make a pile approx half parmesan, half almond flour on a plate, enough to coat all your chicken. Add salt and pepper to this mix, to taste. Sometimes I add herbs de provence too, if I have them. Coat a chicken breast in olive oil and spoon/slap some Enjoy all over it as well (it won't all stick and it'll be messy - recipe still in progress) and press each into parmesan/almond pile. Flip and press the other side. Place in baking pan/roasting pan. Repeat with each chicken breast. Feel free to add more parm/almond coating to the breasts when they are in the pan, covering up bald spots. Bake in oven for 45 minutes. They should be golden/brown and a little sizzly, and juicy not dry (but done!! No pink! of course). ENJOY.

Lover Come Back To Me (Venus Retrograde Rose Cake)

Dear Mouse,

Oh how we have been neglecting this blog. You have a very good reason -- being the newest toast of NYC's downtown theatre scene for your beautiful play  - closes June 30!! -  does take a leetle precedence - even for us! - over kitchen and restaurant capers.












I too have a reason too for my long silence. I am currently Walking Through the Valley of the Shadow Between Acting Jobs - or maybe the 100-Degree Humidity Of Unemployment? I dunno -- which would seem to suggest that I have plenty of blogging time. And maybe I do ... but the thing is,  I haven't jumped in to post something sooner because:

                                        I was waiting for ingredients to come in the mail. 

                    These ingredients. 

                      L to R: Almond Flour, Rose Extract, Rose Syrup, all courtesy of Amazon.com

Yep.

So I know that my last few posts have had an astrological bent, but that's just because A) come on! there has been  SO MUCH going on in the skies of late!! it can't be ignored! and B) I'm always looking for new and indirect ways to talk about life.

So let's just say that in the last month or so, the SuperMoon came and went, as did the summer solstice. The partial lunar eclipse partially eclipsed, Venus (the planet of love and relationships) went into retrograde AND did a newsworthy once-in-a-lifetime 48-hour trot across the Sun, my show closed, some other things closed, yada yada yada, and THEN I fell in love ...

... with a cake.

Specifically,  the "Ispahan Loaf Cake" from Dorie Greenspan's "Around My French Table", which Mrs. BFF (formerly 'Mrs. Lawyer', a handle that got bad reviews)  gave me for Xmas this past year.

Again: almond flour, rose syrup, rose extract. Plus, you know, raspberries, and also butter and confectioner's sugar and egg whites lovingly whipped and folded into the batter just before baking...  It was supposed to come out pink ..? but didnt.  Still, possibly THE most romantic cake ever. 
                                                So,  I ... made it for myself!  Whoo hoo!
                      
                    

                          

   I bought new utensils for this cake!! 

Honestly, I don't know who was more whipped, me or the egg whites. 

I fell hard - HARD - for this cake, before I had ever so much as tasted it!  Just reading the recipe --well, you know I'm a sucker for a well-turrned ingredient list, and this one had me at "rose extract".  Boo, I argued with myself, calm down. You're in a vulnerable place. You don't even know if you LIKE rose flavor, and the syrup Dorie recommends is only available in a, well, giant bottle. A giant expensive bottle. Well, Dorie says it's expensive but it keeps a long time and you'll want to make the cake "many times thereafter", so that's ok, right? Oh, Boo, you sucker! Almond flour? You don't like any dessert in the almond family! You JUST had a conversation YESTERDAY about how almond croissants are a waste of croissants. Also, who is going to eat this cake? You don't know anyone who likes this kind of thing. Also, it's going to be, like, 100 degrees out the day you decide to bake! You don't know that part yet, but it's what's going to happen!  

I felt like one of those old cartoons with the angel and the devil on opposite shoulders, arguing. The thing is, they were both Dorie Greenspan, so ... she won.

What do two tablespoons of whole milk look like when mixed with 2 tablespoons of Rose Syrup?

 SO PRETTY, that's what. 

I was smitten, I tell you. Smitten.   I didn't even know what "Ispahan" meant - I had to have it.  Of course,  I know now, because Dorie explains it: it's the name of a kind of "profoundly fragrant rose" and also "the once-capital of Persia". (Yes, Mouse, from memory.) It also seems to have become the name for a potent flavor combination  - rose, raspberry, and lychee - unleashed upon France by pastry chef Pierre Herme some time ago, and now so popular that it's available in almost every dessert form including supermarket yogurt.  Here in the States, however, it's remained pretty much unknown ... until now.  (You're welcome.)

                                                                     No lychees in this one, but it still counts.

The moral of the story is that there are times in life when you just have to do something that seems crazy, when you just have to follow your heart, even when a whole planet seems to be turned against you. I baked my Ispahan confection in near-100 heat, the air conditioner losing to the oven, with kind of not enough time before having to leave for Penn Station. I was determined.  I whipped and folded and measured and placed raspberries in fussy triple rows, pouring batter over them. I waited patiently for 65 minutes, looking at my large bottle of Monin Rose Syrup and thinking what have I done, maybe. And when I tasted it ...I had to sit down. I think I actually said, "Wow".  And then I ate two pieces.

Simple yet maddeningly complex in flavor. Innocent and fresh and not-too sweet, yet intoxicatingly perfumed and studded with just-cooked raspberries. Dense and almondy but not heavy or particularly rich.  You could dress it up with whipped cream, or a raspberry coulis, garnish it with rose petals or raspberries. Or you could have it plain and warm with a no-nonsense mug of strong coffee or tea. It is, like a great love affair, provocative, complex, mysterious yet profoundly innocent at the same time.  And certainly worth waiting (3-5 days standard shipping) for.

I hung a chunk of the cake on your doorknob, and tucked the rest snugly in my weekend bag for the the BFF Family in NJ.  I wasn't sure if the kids would go for it. When the 5-year old tasted it, he shouted "I LOVE IT!" and immediately crawled under the table and proceeded to remove his pants. If that's not a rave review, I don't know what is.

And Venus Retrograde ends on Wednesday. 

Love and Roses, 

The Boo

Rose-Raspberry Cake 

(From Dorie Greenspan's "Ispahan Loaf Cake" recipe in 'Around my French Table')

Note:  This cake calls for Rose Syrup, NOT Rose Water!!! I believe this is the difference between an enchanted, subtly floral confection and a cake that tastes like Chanel No. 5.  Also, i THINK Almond Flour is NOT the same as Almond Meal? I'm not 100% on that. (PS. Later note: Oh it probably doesn't matter. 9/5/12)

Ingredients

2.5 tbsp Rose Syrup  

2 tbsp whole milk

2 C almond flour

1 C confectioner's sugar

3 large eggs, separated, plus 1 large egg at room temp

2.5 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

1/4 tsp rose extract

1/2 C plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 pint raspberries (but I didn't use that many)

Center a rack in oven, preheat to 350. Butter a 9x5 loaf pan and dust with flour. 

Stir rose syrup into milk. 

Put almond flour and confectioner's sugar in a sieve set over a bowl and stir to pass them through. Or, if you're me, just put them in a bowl. Whisk together. 

Beat egg whites in another bowl until they start to hold their shape, then gradually add the sugar, beating until the whites hold "firm, glossy peaks". Slide the egg whites into another bowl (and don't worry about cleaning the mixing bowl before carrying on).

Put almond-flour mixture and butter into mixer bowl and beat for 3 minutes or until very smooth.

Working at med speed, add egg yolks one at a time, beating for a minute after each. Then beat in whole egg. 

Add rose-flavored milk and rose extract and beat one more minute.

Give the egg whites a quick whisk and stir 1/4 - 1/3 of them into the batter. With a spatula, and a "light touch", alternately fold in remaining whites and all-purpose flour into batter, "as quickly and gently as you can, folding in flour in 3 additions and whites in 2". 

Scrape 1/3 of batter into prepared loaf pan, spread to even it.

Make 3 rows of raspberries down the length of the pan - dont let berries touch the sides - and then cover with half the remaining batter.

Make 3 more rows of berries, top with last of batter.

Lower oven to 300 and bake for 55-65 min or until a knife comes out clean. 

Transfer to cooling rack, let rest 3 min. Unmold, invert, let cool to room temp.