use real butter

Tartelette told me she couldn’t keep up with my posting! It’s true, I have been posting daily since the calendar flipped to July because there is just so much going on that if I don’t write them up - posts will get buried! Not to mention, I’m on my steroid regimen again and I am running with the overflow of energy. I’ll probably crash and burn in 24 hours, but I’m okay with that. After feeling like complete crap for several months, it’s hard to take for granted the improvements I now feel. I can finally get out to see the mountains I love, find energy to cook wonderful food (and even taste and digest them!), and have the patience to capture the beauty of our summer season with my camera. These are happy times. I’m also wired and exhausted, but I relish it - I really do.

This morning we took another hike up to a lovely lake nestled in an alpine basin at roughly 11,300 feet. Invigorating! There was still plenty of snow, which is a good thing because it has been so hot here lately. Several more varieties of wildflowers were beginning to bloom, but the lake is still under a lot of ice and snow. I’m crazy for the mountains.

marmots out and basking in the sun

marianne captures some delicate wildflowers

above the lake from our snack stop

kaweah cools off on the snow

It has been a hot holiday weekend, but this afternoon we finally got a nice thunderstorm to deliver much needed rain. The temperature plummeted from 85 to 55 degrees in an hour. Lovely! Good thing I barbecued yesterday :)

all-purpose red rub

Even though I love barbecue, I am no barbecue expert. I’m a faker to some degree because we use a gas grill and oven instead of charcoal grill (fear of burning down state of Colorado). Most of what I’ve cobbled together in the past few years has been from reading/researching all sorts of recipes from various regions and sources. I lived in central New York for more years than I care to recall, but I still never got around to dining at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Syracuse - a place many of my friends swear by (one even had them cater her wedding!) I did manage to pick up a copy of the book before we moved back West.

mix the rub with olive oil

The one thing I cannot stand about barbecue chicken is when someone takes a boneless, skinless chicken breast and wipes barbecue sauce on the thing while it turns to rubber on the grill. That is disgusting. People who cook chicken like that should be smacked about the head with that piece of rubber. I know people who do this. I have to squint my eyes and keep my hands by my side when I witness this atrocity being perpetrated on chicken in this manner. The best barbecue chicken has the bone and skin still on it. You don’t have to eat the skin, but you need to cook with it on the meat. The recipe I quite enjoy for barbecue chicken comes straight from my Dinosaur Bar-B-Que cookbook. Good stuff.

rub the rub on the chickie

I am partial to chicken leg quarters. It’s a nice honking piece of chicken and it doubles as a weapon to boot. Little pieces get dried out too quickly. I find the leg quarters remain juicy and full of flavor during grilling - far better than their breast counterparts. Dark meat is where it’s at. When applying the oil and rub mixture to the chicken, I like to get a little of that under the skin for some extra seasoning and flavor. Just be careful that you don’t tear through the skin. I let my chicken sit for at least 8 hours, covered in the refrigerator, after the rub is put on.

brushing mutha sauce on the chicken at the end

The chicken is grilled and then in the last ten minutes, a nice brushing of barbecue sauce ensures a decent glaze. I personally like to serve extra sauce on the side with the finished chicken. We had this for our fourth of July dinner. This is a great recipe to make that doesn’t require much preparation - just a little planning ahead of time and lots of napkins when you eat it!

hot off the grill and ready for the party

Barbecue Chicken
modified from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que by John Stage and Nancy Radke

8 chicken quarters
2/3 cup olive oil
7 tbsps all-purpose red rub
2 cups mutha sauce

all-purpose red rub
1/2 cup paprika
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated garlic
6 tbsps granulated onion
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

All-purpose red rub: Mix all ingredients into a bowl and rub them together with your hands. Store in plastic or glass container until ready for use. Makes 2 3/4 cups.

mutha sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 onion, puréed
2 tbsp garlic, minced
salt to taste
pepper to taste
28 oz. tomato sauce
2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
3/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup cayenne pepper sauce
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp allspice, ground

Mutha sauce: Sauté onions and garlic in oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer for ten minutes and let the sauce cool. This makes a ridiculous amount of sauce - something like 10-12 cups.

Chicken: Mix the oil and the rub together in a bowl and massage it into the chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate the chicken until you are ready to grill it (I gave it 8 hours). Over a 325° to 350°F temperature grill (when lid is down), position the rack as high above the coals as possible. Arrange chicken, skin-side up, directly over the coals. Close and cook for 25 to 30 minutes then flip the chicken over and cook covered, for another 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160°-165°F. Flip all pieces skin-side up and slather on the Mutha Sauce. Close the lid of the grill and cook for 10 more minutes to glaze the chicken. Serve with extra sauce. Feeds 4-6.

I need to get to bed asap, so this is going to be big on pics and short on words…

A jam-packed, fun-filled day today! We hiked to the Continental Divide (Arapaho Pass and almost Caribou Pass) out of the Fourth of July trailhead - appropriately enough. We couldn’t cross the last snowfield to Caribou because it was too steep for Kaweah to cross safely, while Jeremy and I were perfectly fine with our ice axes. I got a lot of wildflower shots as this hike has just about the greatest variety locally, but haven’t had a chance to process any. I do want to toss up a handful of nice pics from the hike including my two favorite housemates:

the cascading streams are lovely right now

jeremy looks across the divide

coming down the trail

having a blast

Once we were home, I began prepping dinner since Marianne was coming up for dinner, fireworks, and staying the night to go on an early morning hike with us tomorrow. I served up some barbecue chicken (recipe will come), grilled asparagus, coleslaw, roasted potato salad, bread… and for dessert, we had red, white, and blue mini pavlovas.

After dinner, we headed out to the reservoir to catch the local town fireworks. It’s supposed to be a pretty decent show and plenty of folks from the flats drive up to watch. This is the first year we’ve actually been in town to see them, so we were excited! I have never shot fireworks before, and had to give it a try. Here are some of what I captured:

Fun stuff, eh? I love how different fireworks look in photos compared to what we see with our own eyes. In any case, on to the recipe - which is for the red, white, and blue mini pavlovas.

whipping egg whites for the meringue

I like mini pavlovas because they take a little less time to bake. Since it was so frakking hot today (84 in my town, which is quite toasty for us mountain folk), I was hoping to minimize the oven time.

shaped nests ready for the oven

I used Donna Hay’s recipe for the meringue shells, altered a bit for our altitude. For some reason, her meringues look perfectly white in her photos and mine always come out beige. Whatever… as long as they taste good - that is what matters.

the red and blue: strawberries and blueberries

I toss the sliced strawberries and blueberries in a little bit of sugar because I don’t add much to my whipped cream. It’s just a nice and refreshing dessert to serve on a hot day. Pretty simple to whip up and a delicious end to a meal.

call it patriotic if you like - i call it delish

Red, White, and Blue Mini Pavlovas
based on Pavlova from Donna Hay’s Modern Classics 2

mini pavlovas (12-14)
whipped cream
2 cups strawberries, sliced
2 cups bluberries

pavlova
4 egg whites
1 cup superfine sugar
3 tsps cornstarch
1 tsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 300°F. Place egg whites in bowl of electric mixer and beat until soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, beating well until mixture is glossy. Sift the cornstarch over the egg white mixture and fold through with the vinegar. Pile large dollops of meringue evenly spaced onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper (makes about 12-14). Round the shapes and form wells in the centers to create small meringue bowls. Place in oven and cook for 1 hour (45 minutes at elevation). Remove from oven and remove to a cooling rack.

whipping cream
2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Whip cream and sugar to medium peaks. Add vanilla and almond extracts and whip until incorporated.

To Serve: Top each pavlova with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Serve immediately.

Boy, I have been posting a lot of sweets lately. I try to mix things up, but I wanted to get this cake recipe up because it’s so pretty and a great dessert to serve for a holiday weekend. Tomorrow is the fourth of July - the quintessential summer holiday here in the States. My favorite part? The fireworks. I am a visual creature and nothing dazzles me like pretty colors and bright lights. I am drawn to lovely sparklies like Lite Brite (remember that toy?) and gummy bears and shooting stars and… fireworks! Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

a mountain of dry ingredients

batter in the pan

But on to this cake. I served it at the tele betties barbecue last weekend. It’s my riff on Marcel Desaulniers’ White and Dark Chocolate Pistachio Cake from his famed Death by Chocolate. I have a signed copy only because my parents live near Trellis Restaurant where he is chef and co-owner. Mom gave it to me years ago, when I was too timid to even crack the book open - it was so intimidating then! My baking prowess has since been found and nurtured. In graduate school I even exchanged a few emails with Marcel on the doubling of his recipes. He’s such a great guy - so friendly and approachable.

skinning pistachios

whipping swiss meringue

I omitted the white chocolate from the buttercream frosting because I think it is too sweet and I just hate white chocolate in general. No one seemed to miss it. I also doubled his chocolate cake recipe so I could make a 4-layer deal instead of his prescribed 3-layers. And besides, I wouldn’t be able to eek out 3 decent layers from a single cake because our oven is crooked and the dome is always lopsided. I should level the oven, but I’m a bum and there wouldn’t be an overabundance of cake trimmings for Jeremy to snack on! Skinning the pistachios is the biggest pain in the ass. The only reason I do it is because I love pistachios so much… and because I forget what a pain it is until I start skinning them.

folding chopped pistachios into the buttercream

spreading the pistachio buttercream on the first layer

I debated adding a soaking syrup because I wasn’t sure if this cake would crumble apart if it got wet. I decided against it. Turns out if you serve the cake within 24 hours, it’s pretty moist without soaking syrup and is delightfully dense. If you have leftovers, they tend to dry out with time, so I recommend immediate consumption.

crumb coating

decorate as you see fit

I was planning to pipe some cute little standard stars around the edge, dotting them with pistachios, but I was too impatient for my ganache to set up because I had a gazilion other things to make for the party. So I drizzled rings all over and sprinkled the top with extra chopped pistachios and a flurry of whole ones in the center. Good enough for government work.

love the light and dark motif

The cake was a huge hit with our guests. I like the solid construction of this dessert as I don’t have to worry about it falling to pieces when I serve a slice. I also think the dark and light contrasts are striking and beautiful together, not to mention the awesome pairing of flavors: pistachio, vanilla, and chocolate. The dense chocolate layers play wonderfully with the creamy and light (ha! a POUND of butter?!) frosting and the nuts add a bit of crunchy texture. The chocolate cake is not overly sweet, which I love because buttercream is plenty sweet as it is. However, I enjoyed the little zing of rich and sweet that the ganache lends to the whole ensemble. All in all a great cake. Wow your friends and see your enemies driven before you.

now that’s real love, folks

Chocolate Pistachio Cake
modified from Death by Chocolate by Marcel Desaulniers

joe’s chocolate cake
makes ONE 9×3-inch round cake - I used TWO of these for my version, so double this recipe if you want a 4-layer cake

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
6 tbsps unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda (1/4 tsp at 8500 ft.)
1 tsp salt
4 oz butter plus extra for coating the pan
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, broken into 1/2 oz pieces
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp red raspberry vinegar
1 cup water

[Note: I made TWO chocolate cakes to give me 4 layers instead of the three in Marcel’s original recipe. This results in plenty of leftover “dome”.] Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a sifter. Sift onto wax paper or a bowl and set aside. Coat 2 9×3-inch round pans with butter on the base and sides. Place circular parchment in the bottom and brush with more butter. Marcel says to dust with flour, which I apparently overlooked. I didn’t have any problems, but my pans are also non-stick. Gently melt unsweetened chocolate over water bath or on half power in the microwave - stirring to prevent burning. Set aside. Beat sugar and butter together in mixer fitted with paddle. Beat on medium for 1 minute, then on high for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and beat on high for 15 seconds after the addition of each egg (one at a time). Scrape down the bowl after each addition. Add vanilla and vinegar and beat on high for 20 seconds. Add the melted chocolate and mix on low for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Boil water and operate the mixer on low while adding the sifted dry ingredients. Mix for 10 seconds. Add the boiling water (carefully!!) and continue to mix on low for 10 seconds. Increase speed to medium and beat for 5 seconds. Pour batter into pans. Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until toothpick test is clean. Remove from oven and allow cakes to cool in pans for 20 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

pistachio and vanilla buttercreams
this amount was just enough for the 4-layer cake

8 oz egg whites
16 oz sugar
1 lb butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups shelled pistachios

Combine egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl. Whisk constantly over a bain marie until 140F is reached. Place on mixer with balloon whisk and whip until stiff. Turn down whip speed to 3rd and whip until cool to the touch (this takes a while - should be cooler than your hand). Change to a paddle and gradually add soft butter by tablespoon pieces. Mix to emulsify. Once desired consistency has been reached, add vanilla. Blanche the pistachios in boiling water for 3 minutes, then drain and place the nuts in a cotton towel. Fold the towel over the nuts and rub vigorously to loosen and remove the skins. Toast the skinned pistachios on a baking sheet for 15 minutes at 325°F. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Reserve a few whole ones for garnish. Finely chop the remaining pistachios. Take 2/3 of the buttercream frosting and fold in the pistachios. Save the remaining third of the buttercream for frosting the cake.

ganache
6 tbsps heavy cream
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Bring the cream to a boil and remove from heat immediately. Pour over the chocolate (making sure to cover all of the chocolate) and let sit for a minute. Stir until the ganache is smooth and evenly mixed. Put in the refrigerator until firm enough for piping.

Assembly: Cut off the dome tops of the cakes. Slice your cakes into two layers. Place the base of one cake on the serving plate or a cake board. Spread 1/3 of the pistachio buttercream over the layer. Repeat twice more. Top the cake with the other base slice (upside down, so base it facing up). Crumb coat the sides with the vanilla buttercream (a thin layer spread around the entire cake). Then frost the entire cake with the rest of the vanilla buttercream. Decorate the cake with chocolate ganache however you like and garnish with whole pistachios and/or any extra chopped pistachios. Serve at room temperature.