Straight from the Farm

Finally! 

Today I get to tell you all about my homemade dulce de leche.  I’ve been absolutely bursting at the seams with anticipation, chucking the last of the cranberry recipes at you.  That’s not to say those weren’t worthwhile.  Oh no no.  It’s just that this recipe for the creamy dreamy caramely treat from South America can’t be kept under wraps for long. 

So do you have a minute for me to tell you a little story about how I came to be on a quest for the perfect dulce de leche recipe?  I really hope so because it’s worth telling.

It all started in April of this past year when I went to Argentina and Uruguay to celebrate my birthday.  I read my copy of the Lonely Planet guidebook from cover to cover and then read Kiss and Tango: Dairy of a Dancehall Seductress just to get a sense of the culture I was about to soak up.  In both the LP and Kiss and Tango, there were whole pages devoted to this sweet treat called dulce de leche, or “milk jam” in translation.  I had some seriously high expectations for the stuff and looked for it the moment I got off the plane in Buenos Aires.  Just at the airport convenience shop alone I found nearly fifty different types of prepackaged cookies and candies boasting a dulce de leche filling of some kind!  I bought two or three and drooled in anticipation as I unwrapped the first one…

It was terrible!  Well, okay, maybe not terrible since it was a candy bar.  But it certainly wasn’t worth pages of prose or even a mention in a postcard home.  And so it was everywhere I went as I journeyed alone through Argentina and Uruguay for a few days.  Then my friend Fred flew in from the States to join me for a week and we hopped on a plane to Iguazu Falls.  Same story there – nothing but prepackaged disappointment.  Okay, maybe there was some of the most amazing scenery I’d ever seen, but the dulce de leche was still nothing to write home about.  After a few days in the tropical heat, we came back to Buenos Aires and split up for the afternoon, he to La Recoleta Cemetery and me to the San Telmo neighborhood in search of dog walkers and street artists. 

And then it happened.  On a rundown little side street far away from any tourist traps, I found heaven.  In the tiniest of mom-and-pop bakeries, rows and rows of alfajores (cookies), big and small, all bursting with dark, thick dulce de leche, promised to make amends for all the inferior prepackaged milk jam that had come before them.  Of course no English was spoken, but I didn’t let it stop me as I pointed and cooed until I had what I wanted.  That first bite…oh that first bite…it was worth an entire novel.  The biscuit cookies sandwiching the dulce de leche were merely a vehicle for the sweet-but-not-sugary-creamy-like-the-best-fudge-you’ve-ever-had-deep-richness-of-caramel-with-a-hint-of-vanilla-goodness.  Sigh….so good, in fact, that basic sentence structure fails me even now.

Unfortunately I didn’t stock up on enough and when we jetted off to Mendoza early the next morning, I was all out of alfajores and my beloved homemade dulce de leche.  I didn’t even bother to try and find any during our time in Mendoza.  I didn’t want to risk contaminating that one beautiful and pure moment.  (I’m sure you’re rolling your eyes by now at my lavish descriptions, but I swear it really was that good.)  But it was time for Fred to have his own dulce de leche epiphany.  He’d been enamored with the massive steaks all along our route so sweets hadn’t been a priority.  An early morning trip to see the Andes had Fred on the hunt for breakfast in the bustling Mendoza bus station, where he found a bakery selling freshly made rolls, cut in half and spread with a thick layer of dulce de leche, put back together and rolled in powdered sugar.  The huge grin on his face after the first bite said it all. 

    

My three weeks tromping around Argentina eventually came to an end, as did my small stash of alfajores I got from the Buenos Aires bakery just before my flight home.  But my determination to find good dulce de leche here in the States was just getting started.  As you can probably guess, the packaged stuff here just doesn’t cut it.  Nor did the recipes that called for a can of condensed milk that yielded a caramel flavor but lacked the intense creaminess I knew was possible.  As Christmas rolled around and I thought about what I should give Fred for a gift, I just knew I had to figure out the dulce de leche “problem”.   Scouring the internet for websites from Argentina, I finally found what seemed to be an authentic recipe that called for whole milk and no shortcuts. 

It worked beautifully.  I couldn’t be happier.  I almost cried when I took my first bite.  Sigh…. There it was again, that same sweet-but-not-sugary-creamy-like-the-best-fudge-you’ve-ever-had-deep-richness-of-caramel-with-a-hint-of-vanilla-goodness.  I made some homemade rolls, slathered them with it, and rolled them in powdered sugar for Fred. 

He confirms it’s “unbelievable!”  

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I have a problem.  I’m an impulse buyer.  I’m especially prone to impulsive purchases when it comes to fresh produce.  Shocking, right?  You should see how wide my eyes and how full my shopping cart get when I visit the Asian supermarket’s produce section with all its unusual fresh fare to be discovered.  It’s even worse when I visit farmers markets where I feel justified in making unplanned purchases since it supports local agriculture.  Never mind that I don’t even know what it is that I’ve just bought.  

Persimmons.  Even had one?  Well, I hadn’t until one blustery day two weeks ago when I visited the die-hards at Headhouse.  Heck, I didn’t even know what persimmons looked like, let alone what to do with them.  But they looked funky (in a good - not rotten - way), and since I’m always curious about unusual local fruit I bought a pint.  I got home and put them in the bottom drawer of my fridge and forgot all about them.  That is, until I decided to make some homemade jam for my holiday gift bags.  Jam seemed the perfect, and perhaps only, use for these odd little fruits resembling tiny soft pumpkins (in my opinion at least).  You see, persimmons, or at least the American persimmons that I had purchased, are full of big seeds that impede any hungry mouths trying to gobble them down.  However, being quite sweet and soft, they do lend themselves to jams.  I also still had about two cups of cranberries left from my previous Headhouse visits.   After sluething around online for a jam that called for one of my two local fruits, I decided to toss them in a pot with some frozen strawberries and citrus to see how it would all come together. 

Well, there’s no doubt that the jam is mighty tasty. It’s been packaged up with homemade rolls (recipe coming Thusday) and sent on its merry way.  But I’m somewhat doubtful about any future impulsive persimmon buying.  The removal of the seeds proved quite messy, and I’m not sure the fruit’s flavor was very distinctive in the final compote.   Still, it was fun to give them a try, and I do think it’s worth the experiment if you’ve never had a persimmon before.  American persimmons are still in season here in the mid-Atlantic region since they aren’t picked until after the frost, which sweetens and ripens this atypical fruit. 

Speaking of “justifying” purchases under the banner of buying local, I’d like to encourage anyone who might be still finishing up holiday shopping to do so at a local independently-owned shop in your neighborhood.  I tried this in part last year, buying about half of my gifts away from the crushing masses of humanity otherwise known as “the mall.”  This year I bought every single gift (except for a heated mattress pad that couldn’t be had anywhere but online) from wonderfully unique shops in Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill. 

And you know what?  Every single one of the gifts I found are superb, and the experience on a whole was actually pleasurable!  No crowds, no long lines, no traffic jams or fighting for a parking spot, no bad customer service…in fact, just the opposite.  Warm friendly shop owners happily engaged me in conversation about their wares and told me stories about why they’d thought a certain item was a good fit for their customers, myself included.  I’ve already made a mental note to be sure after the New Year to take you on a little tour of a remarkable used bookshop in Mt. Airy that makes me so happy, it almost hurts.  Spending my hard-earned cash in places like this can’t be anything but a win-win-win-win situation for me, the gift recipient, the shop owner, and the whole neighborhood! 

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Come one, come all!   Welcome to Straight from the Farm’s First Annual Holiday Gift Idea Round-Up!  I want to give you all a virtual gastronomic goodie bag of holiday treats similar to the ones I’m giving my friends and family this year.  This week’s recipes will all be part of the package I’d like to put under your tree where I able to fly around the world like Mr. Clause.   I don’t think I’d like the shimmying down the chimney part though.  You’d open your front door for me, right? 

Silly dreams of trotting reindeer around the world aside, I do apologize that I was MIA for a few days while I dealt with some other pressing matters.  I wish I had some grand excuse like jetting off to Aruba, but I don’t.  While I could bore you with the mundane details, I’d rather regale you with one of the two remaining cranberry recipes I’ve been talking about since the beginning of the month.  Gosh, I’m such a procrastinator!   Forgive me. 

Thankfully, this cranberry pumpkin bread is worth the wait.  Two of my favorite and perfectly seasonal flavors in one moist and warmly spiced bread…it was a no-brainer addition to my holiday food gifts list.  Judging from how much time I spend dreaming up recipes and writing for this blog, you might have already guessed I’m one of those crafty people that often gives homemade gifts.  Surprisingly though, I’ve rarely given food gifts.  Instead it’s been such memorable items as hand-knit scarves, hand-bound journals, hand-sewn bags made from placemats, hand-crafted ornaments, and even a hand-crocheted baby blanket for my nephew that got stolen out of my car (!) on Christmas eve one year. 

This year is different though.  It’s the first year I have a blog and a more defined “foodie” personality that most of my friends and family know well so they’re kinda expecting me to show off my prowess.  Plus I had one special food gift I just had to make for my friend Fred this year and that got the ball rolling.  I can hardly wait to tell you about what I made for Fred, but I promised you these last few cranberry recipes before I get embarrassingly (or rather more embarrassingly) behind schedule. 

The recipe after the jump is written for two larger loaves, but I opted for five mini loaves so I’d have enough to share and to keep one for myself.  I wish I had been foresighted enough to take a picture of how I wrapped them up for final presentation.  But I wasn’t.  So here’s what I did:  after they cooled completely, I wrapped each loaf in clear plastic wrap.  Then I took a piece of parchment paper cut just short of the width of the loaf and wrapped it around the loaf, securing it with a piece of tape.  Finally, I wrapped a piece of wide maroon ribbon around the center of the loaf, foregoing a bow for a cleaner look, by securing the ribbon flat with a piece of double-sided tape.  Refer to the sloppy sketch below on the off chance that will make it any clearer.  After I’d wrapped the loaves in this manner, I sealed them in nice clear bags and placed a tag on the outside describing the bread. 

Ta-da!

I can draw better than this, I swear!

By the way, this is one of those recipes that I’d love to give credit where credit is due, but alas, I’m not sure where I originally came upon it.  It’s existed for several years on a handwritten scrap of paper in my hodgepodge recipe binder.  

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So I wanted to take a moment to do my blogger duty to promote a fabulous cause that rewards participants with blogger-made and/or blogger-provided goods and/or services.  Perhaps I’m being confusing?  Let me spell it out more clearly.

MENU FOR HOPE is an annual fundraising event in support of the UN World Food Programme and last year it raised over $60K.  In the event’s fourth year, food bloggers from all over the world join forces to host the Menu for Hope online raffle, offering an array of delectable culinary prizes.  For every US$10, the donor receives a virtual raffle ticket toward a prize of their choice.   You can have lunch with a famous foodie, tag along with your favorite blogger on a tour of their favorite markets and restaurants, or even receive a care package fashioned especially for you from your favorite bloggers themselves.  All you need is $10 and a bit of luck.  Visit organizing blog, Chez Pim, for the full run-down of all the available prizes in this cyber raffle drawing and the how-to for making a grab for the ones you want. 

Sadly, I didn’t get the memo in time to join the party as a prize contributor (but you can be darn sure I’ll be ready for next year).  I am definitely making the rounds as a bidder though and thought I’d share with you some of my favorites.  Now, if you don’t mind, promise not to put your bid in for the same stuff, m’k?  Just be sure to lay down your 10 smackeroos before next Friday!

The Amateur Gourmet is offering autographed copies of his book and dinner at Blue Hill Stone Barns, a placed I’ve always wanted  to visit.

Blog Appetit has put together a “I Wanna Be a Food Writer” book package I’d love to have for obvious reasons.

Darling Deb at Smitten Kitchen has promised to make a divine cookie care package for the winner of her prizes.  It’s not that I can’t bake a mean cookie myself.  It’s just that I sort have this crush on Deb and I like the idea of getting cookies from her…

Becks & Posh have kindly agreed to put together a custom English Afternoon Tea package.  If I’d gotten my act together sooner, I would have contributed my homemade herbal tea for the cause. 

Restaurant Widow is tempting me with Jeni’s Ice Cream, a treat I fell in love with when visiting Columbus last year.  Plus it’s nice have an ice cream chain named after me…

David from PhilaFoodie proved he knows his wines at the first Philadelphia Food Blogger’s Meet-Up.  He’s offering to pay for two classes at the Wine School of Philadelphia.  I could use the education.

Speaking of David(s) in Philly who love wine, David at McDuff’s Food and Wine Trail is kindly offering his sommelier services and free wine for a night.  Ooo, baby!

That should be enough to whet your appetite. 
What are you waiting for?  Get bidding! 

Yesterday was all about making paneer cheese, and today is all about eating it!  

It was the heavenly dish, sagg paneer, that first sparked me undying affection for Indian food.  Sagg paneer is a spicy and vaguely creamy curry dish made with pureed spinach and cubes of paneer cheese.  Sadly, due to the intimidating list of required spices, I have as yet to tackle making my own sagg paneer from scratch (although I’ve stared at the recipe at least a hundred times, thinking “maybe this time…nah, I just don’t have all of those in my pantry yet”).  But at least I have the paneer part down, right?  

Since I’m lacking in the full breadth of middle eastern spices (I do have at least ten on hand at the moment, but it’s really the garam masala that always throws me for a loop. I’ve vowed to mix up a batch one of these days), I often buy pre-made Indian sauces from Trader Joe’s and toss in my homemade cheese.  It’s certainly easy and pretty tasty.  But this recipe for a delicately spiced stir-fry centered on the soft paneer curds is really my favorite vehicle for the cheese.  Its ingredient list is, well, um, “approachable” in that you’ve probably got a lot of this on hand already. When making the paneer, I spiced my soft curds with dried dill and ground mustard, two flavors that go well with the components of this particular stir-fry.  If you have a favorite stir-fry standard in your home, consider making the soft curds with spices that compliment it.  Or conversely, just leave the paneer “plain” and toss it in whatever dish hits your mood. 

On a side note, I used up the last of my swiss chard from the farm in this recipe.  Fun fact: I’d had this swiss chard in my crisper drawer for over a month and it was still as fresh as a daisy.  It really is a miracle veggie!   Other WW Farm contributions were the scallions and some tiny sweet carrots.  The carrots were so sweet in fact, it was very tough not to just gobble them up raw!

Vegetable and Soft Cheese Curd Stir-Fry
Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian

1 c. homemade Indian cheese, prepared in the soft curd style
1 bunch of swiss chard, roughly chopped
1/2 c. carrots, sliced thin on an angle
1/2 c. shelled peas, defrosted if frozen
2 scallions, chopped
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. tahini (sesame paste) OR sesame oil
3 T. low sodium soy sauce
prepared rice for serving

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  To hot oil, add the carrots, peas, and scallions. Stir and cook for one minute.  Add the swiss chard and stir for another minute.  Add 1/4 cup of water and bring to a simmer.  Lower heat to medium-low and cook vegetables for three to four minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. 

Add the tahini and soy sauce.  Stir well and let cook gently for a minute while you break up the cheese curds into small pieces.  Add cheese to the skillet and stir to coat with sauce and heat through. 

Serve stir-fry immediately over prepared rice.  Makes a nice leftover lunch too.

(serves 3-4)