Middle Eastern Rhubarb Fool

The rhubarb theme continues in my mother's garden.  My niece was visiting from LA and the family decided to celebrate her "Almost 1" birthday since she wouldn't be in town when she actually turned one.  It was the perfect opportunity to use up some of my mom's rhubarb and introduce my wee niece to a new taste! 

But first I needed rhubarb inspiration.  Epicurious is so helpful for this.  They had a ton of rhubarb recipes - rhubarb upside down cake, rhubarb pie, rhubarb cheesecake, the list went on...  For once though I didn't want to spend hours prepping and/or making my dessert.  I wanted simple and delicious.  Rhubarb fool was the obvious choice.

I attempted to figure out where the name for this light and airy dessert came from and found nothing concrete.   However, the OED gave me a few hints.  The word, when it was originally used and when the dessert was originally served, had a much gentler meaning than the modern usage.  It was almost a term of endearment, which makes sense in the context of the court jester being the Crown's fool.  The term was also referenced in the Feast of Fool's, a dancing and feasting church celebration in the Middle Ages.  If I were to hazard a guess, and I am always willing, I would imagine that fool refers to the light and airy nature of the dessert.  It is not a dessert to take seriously like a heavy cheesecake or a rich chocolate pate.  It is more appropriate to joyfully spoon it on top of other desserts, as if it were a bit of a joke.

A fool is a simple dessert and perfect for the summertime.  It is basically stewed fruit layered with whipped cream.  Yummy!  I decided to add a Middle Eastern twist to mine.  Feel free to play around with the flavours.

Ingredients

• Rhubarb - 4 cups
• Honey - to taste
• Orange juice - three oranges
• Orange blossom water - several capfuls
• Vanilla bean - scraped out
• Whipping cream - 2 cups
• Orange zest - three oranges
• Icing sugar - to taste

Directions

1) The rhubarb needs to be chopped into 3/4 inch chunks.  Keep the pieces fairly large because you don't want them breaking down completely when you stew the rhubarb.  A fool needs some texture.

2) Add the rhubarb to a heavy, non-reactive saucepan with the freshly squeezed orange juice, orange blossom water, honey and vanilla pod (scrape out the seeds to use in the whipped cream, see note below for instructions).  Cook down on low to medium heat until the rhubarb is soft but not mush.  Start to check your rhubarb at ten minutes and keep an eye on it after that.  Once it is at a nice consistency, pull it off the heat and add two oranges worth of zest to the stewed fruit.  Let it cool completely.

As it cooks and then cools you will have some free time to spend with your family - in my case, my wee niece.  This is an excellent opportunity to introduce her to a new flavour: rhubarb!

As you can see it's a little sour, not that the sourness stopped her from munching on it for quite a while.  It's good to see an adventurous palate at such a young age.  Oh the food adventures I will take her on as she gets older!

3) Once you have finished socializing, head back into the kitchen to whip the cream.  I used a hand mixer and I recommend a deep bowl and an apron because whipping cream can be a bit messy.  As you whip it, add icing sugar to taste as well as the vanilla seeds that you scraped from the pod (see below for instructions).  Whip the cream until it is whipped!

4) If the rhubarb is cold and the cream is whipped, it is time to assemble your fool.  Start with a layer of stewed rhubarb and then add a layer of whipping cream.  Then GENTLY spoon another layer of rhubarb on top.  You want to create distinct layers and if you slosh the stewed fruit onto the delicate whipping cream it will muddy up your presentation.  Finish with a layer of whipping cream and then zest the final orange on top to make your fool look extra pretty.  I wanted to add toasted, sliced almonds on top for garnish but they burned because I was too busy kissing and cooing over my niece.  Such is life!

To Serve

Rhubarb fool is wonderful on its own.  It's also great spooned onto pie or cake.  If you are feeling like extra work then you can make beautiful single servings in wine glasses.  Dressing up like a jester is optional but would be a hilarious compliment to your fool.

Notes 

• To scrape out a vanilla bean, take a sharp knife and cut the bean open lengthwise.  Inside you will find an oily, black paste - those are the vanilla seeds.  Take your knife and scrape out all of the delicious paste.
• Any kind of stewed fruit will do for a fool.  I read that gooseberry is the traditional choice.
• Experiment with different flavour and texture combinations.  I almost added candied ginger but then decided to allow the orange blossom water to shine.  Rosewater is a traditional choice, cinnamon is delicious, star anise, lemon peel, clove, let your imagination go wild!

References

"fool, n.1 and adj.". OED Online. March 2012. Oxford University Press. 1 June 2012 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/72642?rskey=sIq05A&result=1&isAdvanced=false>.

Rose and Cubeb Pepper Dulce de Leche

"Pleasure is often spoiled by describing it" is how I feel about dulce de leche.  I can't remember what inspired me to make it for the first time - I think a potluck for the Design Nerds.  I fussed and peered for several hours as the milk got darker and darker and thicker and thicker.  Finally, I took my first taste and it made my spine tingle.  Just thinking about it now makes my spine tingle.  The taste is not something to describe - just make some.

Dulce de leche means "candy of milk" and is similar to a caramel sauce, but infinitely better.

Ingredients

1 litre of whole milk
3/4 cup of white sugar
1/4 vanilla bean
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Optional - rosewater (1-2 teaspoons) and cubeb pepper (7-8 peppers)

Dulce de leche is wonderful without any extra ingredients but lately I've been experimenting.

As I've mentioned in previous posts I have a background in aromatherapy so that influences the spices I choose.  A few months ago I became interested in cubeb pepper.  I like to make a spice blend and simmer it over the holidays to keep my home smelling nice and cubeb pepper was one of the spices from this previous Christmas.  It smells of clove and nutmeg and I've heard it's an aphrodisiac...

Rosewater is a common ingredient in middle eastern desserts.  I was first introduced to it when I ate baklava as a child.  A friend from my childhood was Iraqi and her mother had owned a bakery in Iraq.  For some reason her children didn't enjoy her cooking, but I adored it!  Those lovely little phyllo wrapped pastries scented with honey and rosewater.  So delicious.  Rose is an ultra-feminine and floral scent so a little goes a long way (it's also an aphrodisiac so this recipe should be quite potent).

Rosewater should pair beautifully with cubeb pepper in my dulce de leche.

Directions

1. Pour milk, white sugar, and vanilla bean (scrape the inside out and put that in as well) as well as any other flavouring agents into a saucepan and turn the heat on.

2. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the baking soda.

 

3. Cook the mixture down until there is about a cup left and it is a dark gold color. 

Notes

• Pour the dulce de leche through a strainer to make it silky smooth.
• I've never tried making dulce de leche with low fat or no-fat milk, but it might be okay.
• I don't use as much sugar as Alton's recipe calls for and I find my version very sweet.  I've heard the traditional recipe is ultra sweet and that's just not to my taste so I decided to break with tradition.
• Some people use a can of condensed milk in a pressure cooker.  This will be ultra sweet and the process kinda scares me.  I'd love to hear others experiences.

Dulce de leche is amazing!  Oh!  There goes my spine again...

References

Recipe from Alton Brown
Cubeb Peppers - one of my favorite companies
Quote by Stendahl

Homemade yoghurt: cheap and easy

My little bro told me about making my own yoghurt half a year ago.  He said it was super easy and I finally got around to actually checking out some recipes.  Let me tell you, for those interested in learning how to make cheese, yoghurt is a great first step.  You really can't screw it up!  Well...  I have a couple of times but you won't because I'm going to explain the rationale behind each step so you won't be tempted to skip any!

First though, where did yoghurt come from?  According to my good friend Wikipedia, the word yoghurt comes from the Turkish word: yogurt! (go figure) which means "to thicken."  Much like yeast, yoghurt is an ancient food and archeological evidence places it as far back as 2000 BCE (possibly, no reference).  These early yoghurts are said to have fermented because of the bacteria found in the goat skin bags that stored the milk.  I am sure that this early yoghurt had a much "earthier" taste than our modern sanitized version!  Yoghurt moved to this side of the pond early in the 20th century, and, according to the article, was popularized by none other than Mr. Kellogg.

I am a yoghurt fanatic.  It is just chock full of healthy bacteria, protein and calcium.  The International Journal of Obesity (January 11, 2005) has found a correlation between consuming yoghurt and losing weight!  What is not to like about this stuff?  Even better, if you make it yourself, it is dirt cheap.  Trust me if you are buying yoghurt in a store, you are paying too much!  

Here's the math:

750 grams (3 cups approx.) of store bought yoghurt = $3.99 (cheap yoghurt with no fillers)
16 cups homemade yoghurt = $2.00 (contains nothing but milk and bacteria)

Yoghurt bought in the store costs approximately $1.33 a cup, but if you make it at home, it only costs $0.13 a cup.  That is 90% less and it is pure, pure, pure!  My Scottish thrifty side just loves this math!  Another reason my yoghurt is so cheap is that I buy milk close to expiry.  My local Buy-Low foods sells 4-litre jugs for 50% off when they are a few days away from expiry.  Making yoghurt is the perfect use for this milk and is what takes the cost down to $2.00 for 4L of milk!  I use non-fat, you can use whichever milk you like.  Yay for yoghurt!

Required Items/Tools:

A big pot

A wooden spoon

A thermometer

A few tbsp of plain yoghurt (depends on how much milk you are using, more milk then more yoghurt)

Milk (as much yoghurt as you want to make)

Directions:

1. Pour the milk into your pot and clip the thermometer on the edge so that it is suspended in the milk rather than touching the side or the bottom of the pot.  This is to get an accurate read of the temperature.  Some recipes call for a double boiler.  I don't do this.  Instead I stir it every few minutes and I use a lower heat.  The goal is to bring your milk up to 172 degrees fahrenheit in order to denature the milk proteins.  This allows the milk to clump together properly once it has been cooled and seeded with the premade yoghurt.  The heat should be just below medium and the whole process will take a while (approximately 45 minutes).  For the most part it is just a waiting game so put it on when you have something else to occupy your time.  If you want to heat it up faster, then please be my guest, but I can guarantee that once you have spent several days trying to scrub burnt milk off the bottom of your pot you will revert to the lower, slower heat.

2. Once your yoghurt has reached the appropriate temperature, it is time to cool it down.  I find the water bath method is the quickest.  Basically, I just fill my sink up with cold water and ice packs and put a cooling rack on the bottom.  I pop the pot straight in and it is usually ready in about ten minutes.  You want to take it down to 110 degrees fahrenheit and then pull it out of the water.  Once it starts getting close I check it frequently so it doesn't get too cool.  At this point add your premade yoghurt (it's called seeding your milk).  When I am making 4 litres of yoghurt I add about a cup of "starter" yoghurt.  It might be overkill to put that much starter in but I have found that if I put too little in then the yoghurt doesn't thicken up very well.  Stir the starter yoghurt in vigorously and then put a lid on your pot.  

3.  It's now necessary to find a nice warm spot so the bacteria can work its magic.  I put my pot onto one of those electric plate warmers (thanks for that Gramps!) and then swaddle it with towels.  It needs to stay nice and warm or the bacteria aren't going to be happy.  Once you have set up a home for your pot leave it to settle in for at least 8 hours.  Then, that magic moment!  Open up your pot and you will find beautiful yoghurt!  I like to stir it, put it into tupperwares and then fill up my fridge.  It lasts for two to three weeks.

Notes:

• You can leave it for longer than 8 hours.  The taste will turn increasingly sour the longer you leave it for.  Experiment!
• Once you have started making yoghurt there is no need to buy any from the store.  Use your own yoghurt to seed your next batch. 

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogurt
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