This is not goodbye...

Because my volunteer work has very nearly become a full time endeavor, and also because I will be out of town for part of November and all of December, I am suspending The Suburban Apron Company (at least temporarily). Sporadic entries and/or entries without 100% dedication are unfair to everyone involved, therefore, suspending this blog is the only fair and reasonable option to consider.

You've all been great and I hope to be back sooner, rather than later. Thanks for everything!

Until we meet again for coffee,

Julie

Prayer and Farming in the Kitchen

Another week has passed without any particularly extraordinary or significant personal contribution to the various causes of the world. I realize that a certain patience is required; that I cannot individually change the present condition of humanity. Instead, I must do what I can, when I can. By starting small and starting local, I can offer personal aid and assistance, little by little, to those around me. And so, today's prayer is for serenity, courage, and wisdom:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference." ~Reinhold Niebuhr

Still, in a place far, far away from Illinois, somewhere close to the equator, there is a small family-owned cocoa farm, where the harvest remains shade grown and its crop is used to make rich, delicious chocolate bars. Shade grown farms promote a harmonious balance within the sustainable forest environment, where plants and animals indigenous to this natural habitat remain supported and protected. Despite the trend toward mass production of cocoa beans in larger, open sun grown farms, there are some smaller farms that still practice shade grown cocoa harvesting. Endangered Species Chocolate concerns itself with organic, fair traded products, supporting global efforts to ensure environmental protection, enable sustainable natural habitats, and empower the farming populations of these habitats. And somewhere else far, far away, on another small self-sufficient farm, fair wages are being paid for a modest coffee bean harvest, because of the efforts of Seattle's Best Coffee.

Having chocolate and coffee, I decided to bake. To bake and offer help globally, in a very, very, very small way, by incorporating ingredients which support the labors of small, self-reliant family owned farms and promote fair wages paid, in places far, far away from Illinois. And so I baked a batch of mocha tartlets, using an Endangered Species Dark Chocolate Bar with Espresso Beans. This chocolate is especially rich and creamy, making the tartlets that much more delicious than ordinary baking chocolate. And instead of using the liqueur included in the recipe ingredients, I chose to use Seattle's Best Fair-Trade Certified Organic French Roast. Since the chocolate bar already contained espresso beans, this rich coffee was the perfect complement and worked beautifully for these tartlets.

More small steps...

MOCHA TARTLETS
(recipe courtesy www.epicurious.com)

Ingredients:

For mocha custard:

2 large egg yolks

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 cup whole milk

2 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped

(I used 2 oz. from an Endangered Species Chocolate® Dark Chocolate Bar with Espresso Beans)

1/2 tablespoon Tía Maria or other coffee liqueur

(I used brewed Seattle's Best Fair Trade Organic French Roast Coffee, instead of a liqueur)

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon instant-espresso powder

(omitted since chocolate bar was heavy with espresso beans)

For butter cookie dough:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Make custard: Beat together yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt in a bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Heat milk in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until hot but not boiling. Add one third of hot milk to yolk mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour remainder of milk into yolk mixture, whisking, then transfer to saucepan. Simmer, whisking constantly, until very thick, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate, liqueur, butter, and espresso powder. Let stand until chocolate is melted, about 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Force custard through a fine sieve into a bowl. Cover surface of custard with wax paper and chill until cold, at least 4 hours.

Make tartlet shells while custard chills: Pulse together flour, sugar, salt, butter, egg, and vanilla in a food processor until dough is smooth and begins to form a ball (it will be soft, like cookie dough). Turn out dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and gather into a ball. Flatten dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours (overnight).

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Break off 1-teaspoon pieces of dough and press evenly into molds with floured fingers to form shells about 1/16 inch thick, pinching off excess from rim and making bottoms slightly thinner than sides. Arrange molds 1 inch apart in a shallow baking pan and chill until dough is firm again, about 30 minutes.

Bake in middle of oven, rotating pan halfway through baking, until pale golden, 12 to 15 minutes total. Transfer molds to a rack to cool, then carefully remove shells from molds. Make more tartlet shells in same manner if desired.

Assemble tartlets: Fill pastry bag with custard and pipe decoratively into shells. Makes 24 tartlets.

Until we meet for coffee,
Julie

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." ~Lao-tzu

In the previous post, I wrote about offering assistance to others in need. "To simply help." Somewhat overwhelmed by so much need, I wasn't quite sure where or even how to begin offering my particular personal assistance. And so, I've continued doing volunteer service work for my local church and its academy library. My physical contributions of service have not yet progressed to broader aid, as I've not yet swung a hammer forHabitat for Humanity or ladled soup at a Salvation Army shelter. Still, in the spirit of simply helping, I stopped and bought some apples at a local farmer's market this weekend. Although it wasn't an extraordinarily significant step in culinary activism, it was my first step. First small steps on a personal culinary journey toward a greater social responsibility. And while national and global agencies remain farther along the journey, at least my single farmer's market purchase helped, however minimally, to support a local farmer and strengthen the economy of local agriculture.

So I bought some apples. And using a simple recipe from Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets (Deborah Madison), I chose to bake a Caramelized Apple Tart with Cinnamon Custard. Rustic comfort food for these first days of early Fall, as I take first steps on a more purposeful journey.

Caramelized Apple Tart with Cinnamon Custard

(recipe courtesy Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating From America's Farmers' Markets, from Deborah Madison)

Ingredients:

For the Apples:

3 apples (mine were smaller, so I used 4)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons sugar

For the Batter:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra

1/2 cup sugar

3 medium eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

For the cream:

1/2 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg yolk

Confectioners' sugar (for dusting)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-inch tart pan. Peel and core the apples, then slice them into 1/2-inch wedges. Melt the butter in a wide nonstick skillet, add the apples, and sprinkle them with the sugar. Cook over high heat, occasionally flipping the apples, until they start to caramelize, then reduce the heat to medium. Keep a close eye on the apples, turning them frequently so they don't burn. This will take about 15 minutes in all. Turn off the heat.

To make the batter, cream the butter and sugar in a mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated before adding the next. Add the vanilla and salt, then stir in the flour. Smooth the batter into the tart pan with an offset spatula, pushing it up the sides to make a rim. Lay the apples over the batter.

Mix the ingredients for the cream together, then pour it over the apples. Set the tart on a sheet pan and bake until the crust is golden and starting to pull away from the sides, about 35 minutes. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Remove the tart from the rim, place it on a serving plate, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. (When making this tart, my fresh-from-the-farm-small-apples seemed too fragile for pan caramelization, so instead, I simply coated them first with the custard mixture and second with a layer of sugar before baking.)

Until we meet for coffee,

Julie

Prayers for Anderson Cooper

It all began with Oprah Winfrey. First, however, I must admit to not being a historic fan of her television show, but I am an insomniac and her show re-airs latenights, here where I live, and there has been more than one occasion where I've found myself switching channels and pausing on her show. Recently, I've noticed the show has become more socially responsible, with topics that are actually relevant and considerable. Perhaps the Oprahshow has always been devoted to public service, with myself unaware? In my defense, whenever I had seen the show in times past, episode subjects were generally fashion trends, makeover shows, or celebrity interviews. But again, lately I've notice a trend towards episodes that matter and so, I can no longer absolutely declare myself, 'not a fan' of the show.

With that said, let me start over. It all began with Oprah. And insomnia. It began with another one of my many late nights, incessantly channel switching. On this night, when I switched past Oprah, I quickly switched back to make sure I saw what I thought I had seen: Anderson Cooper. Anderson Cooper on Oprah? Anderson Cooper onOprah! Considering Anderson Cooper is a journalist whom I greatly respect and admire, I was both immediately surprised and extremely pleased. Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival had just been released and Anderson was on the show to discuss the powerful book with Oprah Winfrey. His mother, designer Gloria Vanderbilt, was also on the show to lend support and briefly discuss a terribly tragic family event that is embedded within Anderson's deeply personal story, which underscores the overall theme of the book.

Like so many others, I also identified with Anderson's personal losses. Myself having been on a sort of auto-pilot-course since last spring, when my father died following a brief, unexpected illness, I was only partially coherent during 2005 and for much of this year as well. Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival reminded me of how universally tragic the year 2005 really was and how geographically far reaching suffering and loss really is. Human suffering is global: while there are obvious measures, not a single human has ever, nor will ever escape a personal time of suffering. Pain is ubiquitous.

Having been abruptly reawakened from my adopted routine of mechanical-sleepwalk, my own personal coping defensive, by this powerful book, I, like so many others, felt immense sadness, a certain guilt, and an overwhelming sense of helplessness for those thousands and thousands victims of war, natural disaster, and unfortunate circumstance, as I read page after page of such painful suffering and struggle (the struggle often concluding in vain). I also shared the heavy grief, anger, and urgency that Anderson carried through these pages. And so, I despaired and my despair resulted in an identity crisis of sorts for The Suburban Apron Company.

This identity crisis has resulted in less frequent posts and an unclear sense of direction. While I have no plans to suspend The Suburban Apron Company, I do plan to alter my posts to reflect a more socially responsible blog. However, I am not changing the blog's theme; it will continue as a food blog. I apologize for any seeming alienation of my readers--it is not intentional. I simply need to find a courageous voice to pursue more purposeful writing. I need to make a difference, no matter how insignificant. I also apologize if this seems somewhat narcissistic--again, it is not intentional. After reading Anderson Cooper's sincerely honest memoir, I can no longer personally justify the irrelevance of writing solely about cooking and baking, without meaningful contribution. I can't seem to justify so much writing about savory dishes and comfort food, when war, famine, tsunamis, and hurricanes have destroyed so incredibly many lives. Human destruction, whether manmade or natural disaster, is still life destroyed. I can't seem to defend so much time spent writing about decadent desserts, when there are so incredibly many people dying horrifically slow, tortured deaths due to starvation and disease. I cannot defend a primary activity of leisurely writing about cooking and baking, when so incredibly many people are without basic amenities, including shelter, hot or cold running water, clothes, or in some cases, life itself.

What is going to be the revised, relevant direction of this food blog? I'm not sure. I simply plan to continue cooking, baking, and writing about food, in a manner that will lend some support to readers seeking to nourish body and soul. Perhaps writing about comfort food can be made relevant, by providing brief distraction from the heavy weight of incessant, current news events. Again, I'm not sure.

And so, I will simply cook, bake, volunteer, and pray. Prayers for guidance to be of help and for graceful mercy to be shown toward those in need. And prayers for Anderson Cooper, who has undoubtedly influenced many more than just myself to awaken from their protective, yet vacant, mechanical motion and actively seek ways, however small, to offer help. To simply help.

Until we meet for coffee,
Julie

Healthier Apron Strings

Admittedly, my recent activity on The Suburban Apron Company has been less than frequent. For this, I apologize. I have been extremely busy with several other projects, commanding complete personal commitment. However active in these varied pursuits, I have not forgotten The Suburban Apron Company; on the contrary, I've been giving this site much thought, regarding both its content and readers.

Inspired by my recent interviews with The Hippy Gourmet and Christina Pirello, I have been seriously considering incorporating healthier baking and cooking into recipes featured on this site. While I do not have any intentions of transforming this site into a health-foods forum, I do intend to complement my usual heavy cream and sugar-laden posts with those containing recipes that are more nutritious. I am not abandoning my lovely sweet and savory dishes; I simply plan to include some additional recipes that are rich and delicious, while remaining healthy.

Hopefully, these healthier choices will be as eagerly accepted as all of my previous recipes have been for The Suburban Apron Company.

Until we meet for coffee,
Julie

Extraordinary Chocolate Cake for an Ordinary Friday Morning

I must confess to eating chocolate cake for breakfast, again, but in my defense, this cake is so irresistible and rich, it is too good not to eat for breakfast. I didn't take a photo because I didn't have the properly molded specialty pan, so my version of this cake is not nearly as gorgeous as the photo shown with the recipe in Paris Boulangerie Pâtisserie. Since mine still tastes as beautiful as that gorgeous, glossy photo, I have to share the recipe.

Le Pleyel

(recipe courtesy Paris Boulangerie Pâtisserie)

Ingredients:

6 ounces/180 grams best-quality semisweet

or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons/150 grams

unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons/65 grams

sliced blanched almonds

1 1/4 cups/175 grams confectioners' sugar

4 large eggs, separated

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons/80 grams

all-purpose flour

Butter and flour an 8 x 4-inch/20 x 10-cm loaf pan; set aside. Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C.

Place the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or in a metal bowl placed just over a pan of simmering water. Whisk occasionally until melted and smooth. Meanwhile, grind the almonds with 1/2 cup/70 grams of the confectioners' sugar in a food processor. Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture. Then whisk the remaining 3/4 cup/105 grams confectioners' sugar, then the ground almond mixture. Remove this mixture from the heat and set aside.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until foamy. Add the granulated sugar and vanilla and beat until quite stiff but not dry. With a large rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until not quite blended. Sift the flour over the mixture and fold together gently just until blended, no longer.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes (the top may crack slightly). Lower the heat to 375°F/190°C and bake until the cake has set but is still slightly wobbly, about 25 minutes longer. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out slightly damp. Cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes.

Carefully run a knife blade around the edges of the pan and gently unmold the cake onto a wire rack. Cool to room temperature, then wrap in plastic and chill. Remove from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before cutting into slices. The Pleyel can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Serves 8 to 10.

Until we meet for coffee,

Julie

A Week in France

As I have previously written, there is certain comfort and solace to be found in the kitchen. Baking is solitary therapy. And there are few things more therapeutic than delicious French pastries. Paris Boulangerie Pâtisserieis a special cookbook featuring recipes from thirteen Parisian bakeries, and like all of Linda Dannenberg's books, it is filled with gorgeous color photographs and simple, but decadent recipes. Her books transport readers to beautiful locales, while introducing them to the true elegance and simplicity of classic French cuisine.

Last week, I took a brief break from The Suburban Apron Company, not to vacation or escape, but to catch up on several other projects that had recently lacked proper personal attention. Having somewhat caught up, there seems some time for brief escape. So, I've been traveling, via the written word, to Paris with Ms. Dannenberg, and oh, the places we've seen! And after much turn-page tourism, I decided to settle in today at Ladurée.

Financiers from Ladurée today, perhaps some chocolate desserts from La Maison du Chocolat by midweek, with even more sweet treats from Mulot at week's end...mmm...

Financiers"Small Almond Cakes"(recipe courtesy Paris Boulangerie Pâtisserie)
Ingredients:5 tablespoons/75 g unsalted butter, cut into pieces5 tablespoons sliced or slivered blanched almonds1/3 cup/35 g confectioners' sugar, lightly packed1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon/35 g all-purpose flour3 large egg whites1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over moderate heat until lightly golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid burning. Pour the butter into a medium bowl, leaving behind any sediment in the pan.

Grind the almonds, sugar, and flour in a food processor until powdery. Add the egg whites and vanilla and mix briefly until smooth. Add the browned butter, mixing until blended. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the batter overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Stir the mixture briefly to deflate it. Generously butter 10 financier molds (small trapezoid shapes), or use 1 1/2 dozen small (1 3/4 inch/4-cm) muffin tins. Spoon the batter into the molds, dividing it evenly. Bake until golden, about 13 to 15 minutes for small muffin shapes, 15 to 20 minutes for larger financiers. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes; then unmold and cool completely. Store airtight. Makes 10 financiers (or 16 to 18 small rounds).

As usual, I generously dusted mine with confectioners' sugar. Delicious.

Until we meet for coffee,

Julie