This sounds delicious. I’m not sure what the big deal is, but I’m glad Denmark has decided to launch it’s very own cocktail called Copenhagen. There was a count down and everything. The ingredients in this intriguingly scrumptious cocktail is a list of liquors I’ve never heard of, and would probably be hard to find at a grocery store or liquor shop. In the US one can order on-line. Will definitely be trying this out in SF a few months from now.

How to make a Copenhagen

5 cl. Bols Genever
2 cl. Cherry Heering Liqueur
2 cl. fresh pressed lime juice
2 cl. sugar syrup (Monin)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice cubes and strain into glass without ice.
Peal a slice of an orange and put it on top, so that the scent of the orange floats on top of the cocktail offering aroma of orange.

Rich, dark and moist this cake was much appreciated by my two twin nephews, H, J and S. My cousin H could not wait for the cake to cool down and when I went back to the kitchen I found the cake had been hollowed out around the edges. He shamelessly blamed his two kids, but I knew better! My nephews, afterall, are only three feet high and couldn’t possibly reach over the counter. Next day I took some of the cake to brunch with the gals (the part that looked decent and untouched), after getting our dose of Pinoy food and shopping, we went to S’s place and had the cake with some red wine. I don’t know which is better, eating it warm a little after it’s come out of the oven or the next day when the flavors have had time to develop.

Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cake flour

1 cup cocoa powder (pick a premiuim brand, I used Guittard)

2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1. Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325˚F. Use a non-stick 10-inch bundt pan.
2. Sift together the flours, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Sift twice and set aside.
3. Using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar. Increase the speed to medium high and beat for about 4 minutes. At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
4. Stir the vanilla into the sour cream. At low speed, add the dry ingredients tot he batter in three additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture in two additions and mixing just until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
5. Bake cake for 65 to 75 minutes, until cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean (use a toothpick). Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
6. Invert the cake onto a serving plate and cool completely.

This savory-sweet Lebanese recipe is adapted from Paula Wolfert’s “The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean”. Just delicious!

Eggplant with Pomegranate Sauce

2 (1 1/2 pounds total weight) Japanese eggplants, sliced 1/4-inch thick
extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 garlic clove, peeled and crushed to a puree with 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 to 3 tablespoons shredded fresh mint, preferably spearmint
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoon fresh pomegranate seeds

1. Brush eggplant slices with olive oil. Grill.
2. Transfer cooked eggplant to a serving platter in overlapping circles or in a single layer.
3. Combine the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and salt. Drizzle the sauce over the eggplant. Sprinkle with the mint, parsley and pomegranate arils.

*To remove the arils from the pomegranate, watch a video I placed on the post before this one.

The season for pomegranates is here and bright red luscious Pomegranates are slowly cropping up in the groceries. I found some yesterday at Whole Foods and grabbed two. Pomegranates are ancient crops originating in the Middle East since around the 5th century. Together with olives, grapes and figs, it was one of antiquities most important crops. As well it should be, Pomegranates are bursting with anti-oxidants, higher proportionally than other fruits, wine and green tea. Pomegranates found it’s way to America by way of the Spaniards in the 18th century. Although cultivation was common in early California gardens, commercial production of Pomegranates started only a century ago. Today, most pomegranate farms are located in the San Joaquin Valley in California, and is a rapidly growing business dominated by POM Wonderful. Suddenly, pomegranate fruits were everywhere, in great abundance. I was a little perplexed and intrigued at the same time. I saw Martha Stewart singing the praises of pomegranate syrup. Recipes on line were sprinkled with pomegranate arils. Most groceries carried them. Clubs and bars offered cocktails with pomegranate juice. Geesh. I must try this gorgeous fruit. It took me awhile to actually use the fruit. Last year, I bought some and placed it in my fruit bowl. It was a gorgeous centerpiece for my table, but alas, it went into the garbage after a couple of weeks. It will be different this time, as I’ve collected some recipes to try out from my own collection of cookbooks and online sources.

Pomegranate arils from the Wonderful fruit are sweet-tart in flavor. Pomegranate syrup is a wonderful fruity sweet liquid. Some recipes call for both, some for one. Although, I’m tempted to cook an entire menu using pomegranate, I thought better of it and decided to try one recipe a day or a week. Let’s see how it goes.

Two ways of releasing arils of a pomegranate fruit:

In a bowl of water:

Or by tapping the fruit:

I had friends over for Sunday brunch on the last day of Fleet Week. In all these years I had not known what a great view of the air show I had from my balcony. I guess I was never home durng Fleet Week before. This I found out on Thursday when the jets were surveying the area and doing some practice for the weekend. The thunderous roar of the jets are inescapable so I had no choice but to put down my books and run out to the balcony and watch the performance. I thought, I have to share this with some friends.

Tomato Tarts

ready-made puff pastry, I used
extra-virgin olive oil
heirloom tomatoes, sliced thin, I used one red and one yellow
herbs de Provence salt

Cut pastry into rectangles, enough to fit a slice of tomato. Brush one side with olive oil. Top with a slice of tomato. Sprinkle with herbs de Provence salt. Bake in 350 degree oven until golden brown and puffed.

Roast Chicken

whole chicken, cut of fat and set aside
fine sea salt
stick butter
2-3 teaspoons herbs de Provence salt
extra-virgin olive oil
2 lemons
4-5 bulbs garlic, cloves separated, unpeeled

Season chicken well with salt, inside and out. Mix butter and herbs with paddle attachment of mixer. Scatter garlic cloves in the bottom of an iron enameled casserole.

Loosen skin of chicken by inserting fingers in between skin and flesh. Make sure you go down to thigh and drumstick. Be careful not to tear skin. Stuff skin with herb butter. Rub chicken with oil and place inside the casserole. Squeeze lemon all over chicken inside and out. Place lemon rinds in cavity of chicken. Place reserved chicken fat on top of chicken breasts. Cover pan and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake chicken until nicely browned and juices run clear when thigh is pierced.

Recipe for the sauce comes from Paula Wolfert’s, “The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean”. Keep the sauce for at least a day to allow the flavors to meld. This dish is best served cold, or rather, at a cool room temperature.

Halibut with Creamy Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce

a large piece of filleted halibut, folded to form a neat rectangle or a large two-inch-thick piece of white fish

1 3/4 cups shelled walnuts (6 oz)
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or a pinch cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
pinch saffron powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
pinch salt
1 1/2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses, diluted in 1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon crushed fresh coriander/cilantro

For the sauce:
Puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor, adding the cilantro at the end and giving it several brief pulses until all you see are specks of green.

For the fish:
Season the fillet with salt. Place in a small baking pan and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

The sauce will be thick like peanut butter, add a little water to get the right consistency of a thick sauce and pour over the fish.

Cheryl of Cupcake Blog has recently organized a group that gets together to share, what else, cupcakes! Each person that attends brings a dozen cupcakes to the meet, either baked yourself or bought at a favorite store. BYOB. Today was the first meet and I was an hour late. There were a few cupcake enthusiasts, including Cheryl, still lingering beneath a tree in the gardens of the Justin Herman Plaza. I can’t believe I’ve met someone whose blog I’ve been reading for the past three years and actually got to participate in a cupcake extravaganza. Getting there was another whole new experience in itself. Ladies, I have news for you. Men will flock to you if you are carrying a transparent container full of cupcakes. This I discovered as I waited for the bus holding my container of a dozen (minus one) strawberry cupcakes. “Those are good lookin cupcakes!”, they would exclaim with a disarming smile. On the bus, tall men would linger behind me to look over my shoulder and stare at my cupcakes. Some would strike up a conversation. Who knew?

Vanilla Cupcakes with Cocoa Nibs & Strawberry Frosting
Makes about 12 cupcakes

¾ cups + 2 tablespoons cake flour, not self-rising
½ cup + 2.5 tablespoons unbleached flour
1 cup sugar
½ tablespoon baking powder
heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large eggs
½ cup whole milk
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cocoa nibs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Mix in cocoa nibs.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Strawberry Frosting
Makes enough for 1 dozen cupcakes

1/2 cup strawberries, cleaned and hulled
1 cup unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
Pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners’ sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

Had a wonderful dim sum lunch at Ton Kiang yesterday. We started eating the moment we sat down! Servers came by our table with stacks of steamed, fried and stir-fried dimsum. An a la carte menu is available as well, but we didn’t get that far with all the dim sum we ordered. The eggplant stuffed with shrimp and the deep-fried prawns are my favorites.

I have been strolling the Ferry Building more often since classes started a week ago. This semester I was able to take my last class at UC Berkeley before I graduate from SFSU this December. Because I take BART to get there, I often stop by the Ferry Building on my way back home. Since class starts at 10am and ends at 2pm I have a late lunch before heading home. The Mandarin Pork Tea House Spicy Noodles at the Imperial Tea Court was perfect for my mid-afternoon lunch. Maybe the best Chinese noodle soup I’ve had in SF. Not surprising since they use Neiman Ranch meats and the noodles are freshly made. The combination of seasonings and perfectly flavored broth made a perfect soup for lunch. My only complaint is the tea ignorant waitstaff. With the numerous teas available on the menu I was expecting knowledgeable staff to recommend the right tea for dessert. Very unfortunate.

We laughed, we cried, we gossiped, we ate our way through the Ferry Building. Seeing J and S once again was an experience in time travel. High school, for me, was another time, another person. Although I have to say J and S are still the same. J has a great sense of humor and always made us laugh. S is still the rebel without a cause. I’m still the brutally honest one. I guess I am still the same after all. We lacked three more friends to complete our group. J tells me there is a high school reunion in 2010. Wow. It makes me wonder how everyone I knew then is doing now. What have they become? Has much changed? Should I join Facebook to find out?

I arrived at the appointed time, 11am. I searched for S and found her having a glass of wine at the wine bar. My kind of girl. A bit early for me though, nowadays. Seems like my alcohol tolerance has reached its limit. Two glasses and I’m done for the week, sometimes for the month. S looked great, slimmer than usual because of her mommy duties. J arrived and that’s when the gossip started. I love to hear what people I use to know are up to nowadays. Nice catching up, although I doubt we covered the entire spectrum of high school ‘86. S has a two-year-old girl, J has two sons. Both have wonderful husbands.

We then proceeded to Mistral for lunch. So good. I had the pork roast, J the lamb stew, S had a sandwich from ? We ate our lunch in the outdoor seats and tables overlooking the ocean and anchored cruise ships. After lunch we took a walk. We planned to take a long walk but then were distracted and stopped at the next restaurant for some champagne. Chatted in the patio, sipping bubbly and getting some sun. Before we knew it J had two hours left before she had to take the ferry back. So we walked back to the wine bar at Ferry Building, but not before we stopped to get some pastries from Miette. Pistachio and chocolate macarons for J; pistachio, hazelnut and a floral herb macaron for me; chocolate cream cake for us to share. At the wine bar S ordered the Italian meat plate and a bottle of Shirah for all of us. In all the commotion of friendly chatter, J missed her ferry. I think it was then that we fluctuated from laughing to crying and laughing to hugs and good-byes. S and I had dinner at Ryoko’s Japanese Restaurant & Bar before I dropped her off at the BART station. Was I full? Definitely I had my fill of food and drink that day, but not of old friends. Till next time, à bientôt!