pistachio milk + some other things i'm loving these days

hello from austin where i am in bed at 8 and living my best life, eating a room service quesadilla, extra guacamole, extra unidentified white sauce, and hoping with all of my might that pitch perfect 2 is on demand. i really really really wanted to go out tonight and eat at all of the restaurants in jeanine's austin guide but i am completely pooped after this weekend because i have been in chicago, busy celebrating (wait for it) mum's 60th birthday!!!!!!!! it was so fun. relatives came from out of town, stoopie cooked a middle eastern feast, i made a chocolate mint cake, and we showered my mama with love!! i miss everyone so much already.

now i gotta get *in the zone* for a fun video i'm shooting with whole foods tomorrow! but first, let's talk about some stuff i'm loving these days:

-the bulk pistachio bags. making things with pistachios is fun, but making things with pistachios without ever feeling like you're going to run out is infinitely more fun. i've been working on a pistachio cake for my book, and i just learned how to milk a nut! it is so great, i can't believe i went this long without milking nuts before. (see below for gena hemshaw's nut milk recipe!)

-homemade halva. i don't think i ever really told you about my homemade halva struggle, but there was a very long and hard one and a lot of tahini was lost but finally the new york times posted michael solomonov's recipe and it worked and i feel like i can accomplish anything now. even a juice cleanse. no, just kidding, not a juice cleanse.

-this lauren winter jumpsuit. my friend lydia introduced me to lauren's work and i am so obsessed with this jumpsuit for one main reason: it is a beautiful elegant dinner-appropriate garment that completely disguises the fact that you feel like you are in your comfiest pajammies. i love it so very much.

-pilates. ever since rebecca led a mat class for alana and me last month, i have been hooked. it makes me feel sooo good and tall. i've been trying out a bunch of different youtube videos but have yet to find a clear winner... do you have a favorite online pilates video??

-sitting at the town coffee shop. ok! i've been leaving the house more and more these days. about once a week, i go to the town coffee shop, sit on my computer, and type up recipes/eavesdrop on conversations about the town gossip and what not. it makes me feel so alive. and then after that i sometimes stop at the co-op to look at the farro and pet the squash.

-fresh's cocoa body exfoliator. it makes me feel like a tootsie roll from head to toe.

-this is ground's mod laptop case. until I found this is ground, I thought that my days of organizing school supplies with such systematic glee was just a thing of my Hello Kitty pencil case past. but now! i get so much more pleasure out of bringing my work on the road, to the coffee shop, to my couch, etc. there is a designated spot for everything i need and it looks so darn cool.

-how to get away with murder. it's borderline scary for my taste, so i can't watch it without eggboy but we love it.

-quin candy. i had my first taste in portland the other day and since then i have not been able to stop. i feel like a monster when i eat it because no matter how forcefully i tell myself that this is the last piece, it is never the last piece. i've had their pretzel chews, mint chews, and fruity chews and they are all the best.

-my chickens. duh. we're ready for them to start laying eggs though. come on, macaroni!!!!! hurry up!!!!! 

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here is the recipe that inspired me to try making nut milk! i've seen recipes for it many times before, but after looking through gena hemshaw/food52's new vegan cookbook (and picking up a nice big bag of pistachios), i finally got to work! it is such a tasty treat. it's like a milkshake but better because you can have more of it without feeling like butt afterwards. i like the weird sensation of drinking unstrained nut milk, it almost feels like you're drinking milk after having dunked a bunch of oreos in it and the oreo crumbs are at the bottom. but if you'd like to strain it, go ahead! i also like adding a little splash of almond extract. thank you, gena, for inspiring me to try this new tasty thing!!!! 

pistachio milk

makes 3 cups

ingredients

1 c pistachios, soaked in water for 8-12 hours and drained

4 cups water

1/4 c maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

clues

put all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until completely smooth, 2-3 minutes.

cover the mouth of a large container with two layers of cheesecloth, leaving a well in the cheesecloth (a new paint strainer bag or a nut milk bag will also work well). Secure with a rubber band, then pour in the blended mixture. you might need to do this in batches, gently pushing some of the pulp to the side or spooning it out and discarding it. after pouring all of the mixture in, let it sit for about 10 minutes. loosen the cheesecloth from the rim of the container and gently squeeze to extract as much liquid as possible.

stored in an airtight container in the fridge, it will keep for 2-3 days. shake well before using.

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-yeh!

raspberry pistachio mini pavlovas + a giveaway

haaaaappy monday, everybody!!

how were all of your weekends? mine was as relaxing as can be, right down to the socks with birkenstocks that i wore outside not once but twice (!!!) for warmth (low was in the 30s!), comfort, and to imitate my style icons the olsen twins. i did all the fall things: hosted an apple picking party, made caramel apples, made chicken with apples, made a (sadly flopped) honey cake with apples... and then wrapped things up by watching miss america at the town pizza parlor and it was magnificent.

today a thing called beet harvest pre-haul starts! it's basically the amuse-bouche of beet harvest: you get all of your equipment ready, start picking from your fields, and take in a sampling of beets to the plant so you're ready to get your harvest on come october first. there is a big truck filled with beets in our yard right now! i am tempted to yoink one and do recipe experiments but i'm afraid to climb up onto the truck. actually mostly i'm afraid to go outside right now because of the cold. 

ok now let me tell you about these pavlovas. first, the person behind these pavlovas, who is also one of my favorite bloggers ever, stephanie! i feel like she doesn't need an introduction because if you read my blog then you've seen the zillion times i've linked to her blog and if you've seen her blog even just once you know she is the tops. she is also the tops in real life, we were each other's dates to the saveur awards when our men couldn't make it, and if we lived in the same town, i could see some major kimmy gibbler/d.j. tanner action happening. her joyful and fun personality oozes from her work the way the hollandaise oozes from this grilled cheese. i've made so many of her recipes and they are all delicious while managing to be shockingly simple... which is why it is about time that her book comes out! i can't sing enough praise about it. it's inspiring, it's approachable, it's creative, it's flavorful, it's nothing you don't want, it's fit for pretty much anyone. i see these pictures and think, shit, i cannot make that. and then i read the recipes and i'm like, wait a second, i think i can. i think i can. i think i can. and so pictured here is the first ever pavlova i ever did make. and despite me planning on having people over to help us finish them, eggboy and i demolished them and didn't even look back. 

they're fluffy, airy little creatures with a perfect amount of sweetness, sourness from the raspberries, and savoriness from the pistachios. they also look cute, like a cartoon version of a dessert. but they're real! and real good.

raspberry pistachio mini pavlovas

from stephanie le's book, easy gourmet

makes 14 mini pavlovas

ingredient

2 large egg whites

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/4 c pistachios, roughly chopped

1/2 c whipping cream, whipped into soft peaks

1 c raspberries

chopped pistachios, to serve

clues

preheat oven to 350ºf.

with an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with the salt until peaks start to form. add the sugar in a slow stream. continue to whip until the eggs are shiny and stiff. sprinkle in the cornstarch, vanilla, vinegar, and pistachios. gently fold to combine.

scoop the meringue into equal mounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet. place in the oven and immediately turn down to 300ºf and bake for 25 minutes. turn the oven off and leave in for another 25 minutes and then remove from the oven. cool completely.

to serve, top with softly whipped cream, raspberries, and an extra sprinkle of chopped pistachios.

note: if you want super-green pistachios, blanch them in boiling water for 10-15 seconds. strain, then rub with a clean towel to remove their skins. if the skins are still clinging, keep the pistachios in cold water as you rub.

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annnnd.... i'm giving away a copy of easy gourmet! to enter this giveaway, leave a comment with the best dessert you've ever had! this giveaway is open to u.s. residents only.

update 9/22: this giveaway is now closed and the winner has been notified. thanks so much everyone!

-yeh!!

pistachio cream cake with chocolate ganache + a giveaway

one of my smiliest moments as a jewish transplant in this predominantly scandinavian town has been seeing my norwegian future family-in-law incorporate the word nosh into their vocabulary. many little snacks have been enjoyed over conversation and etymology lessons about the word nosh, and to see the egg family realize that there is a name for this thing they so love to do is satisfying in the most jewish motherly way. i squeal every time the egg dad knocks on our door, asking if he can come in for a nosh (he keeps a jar of unsalted peanuts in our house for when there's no time to walk all the way across the street to his house). hehe. 

noshing might be my favorite way to enjoy a cake. i get so much more joy out of having one itsy bitsy sliver every hour or so than i do having a large piece after a meal or with afternoon tea. the calories seem way less significant that way too. there are currently four half-eaten cakes floating around my kitchen, and probably twice that in my freezer, so a lot of varied cake noshing gets done around these parts.

recently i've found myself going back over and over to the same cake--neglecting pumpkin cake and sprinkle cake even--to this pistachio beauty from jessica's book, seriously delish! it's a sturdy nutty creature filled with tangy mascarpone and covered in thick ganache. it was a huge hit at my brunch club this weekend, and luckily there were leftovers for me to... nosh on. making it commands nothing in the way of decorating skills because in its purest form--chocolate on top of cake on top of mascarpone on top of cake--it is a delicious thing of beauty. 

ok and can you guys just let me gush about this cookbook for a second though?

i honestly don't remember the last time i stayed up so late reading a book. i mean, i like reading and i do it a lot, but in bed, when sleep is looming, i usually just conk out and ideally dream about fluffy puppies. but then when jessica's book arrived the other day, i tore into it like it was going out of style (it's not gonna) and i did not stop until well past midnight, which in my grandma-esque mind is pretty much nearly sun up.

jessica's fun and lovable personality, which has made her blog one of the happiest places on the internet, has taken on physical form in this book and there are so many recipes that i can't wait to try: baked breakfast risotto, chicken pitas with jalapeño whipped feta & quick tzatziki, whole wheat blueberry bundt cake, and a handful of outrageous grilled cheeses. having this book on my shelf has made my kitchen even brighter.

pistachio cream cake with chocolate ganache

from jessica merchant's seriously delish

serves 8

ingredients

cake:

1 1/3 c unsalted pistachios

1 1/3 c cake flour

1 1/3 c all-purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 c sugar

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 c whole milk

filling:

2/3 c mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

2 tb unsalted butter

1 1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp whole milk

ganache:

8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 c heavy cream

clues

1. preheat the oven to 350f. spray two 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray*. cut a round sheet of parchment paper, place on the bottom of each pan, and spray once more with nonstick spray. set them aside. 

*i made this with two 6-inch pans and my new favorite (mini cake!) pan and it worked marvelously.

2. add 1 cup of the pistachios to a food processor and pulse and blend until very small crumbs remain. measure out 1/4 cup of the crumbs and set them aside for the filling. place the remaining crumbs in a bowl. in a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt.

3. in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed after each addition. add the vanilla extract and beat for 1 more minute. add the pistachio crumbs, beating on medium speed until incorporated. with the mixer on low speed, gradually add in half of the dry ingredients. add the milk, mixing until combined. add the remaining dry ingredients and beat on medium until the batter comes together, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed.

4. scoop the batter equally into the greased and lined cake pans. bake the cakes until the tops are golden brown and set, 25 to 30 minutes. remove the pans from the oven and let the cakes cool for 20 minutes in the pans, then invert the pans and remove the cakes. let them cool completely on a wire rack.

5. for the filling, beat the mascarpone and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer on high speed until creamy. add the reserved crushed pistachios, beating until combined, then adjust the speed to low and gradually add the sugar. add the milk and beat the filling for 1 to 2 minutes on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed.

6. place one of the cakes on a plate or stand. spread the filling evenly over the top of the cake, then place the other cake on top of the filling.

7. for the ganache, add the chocolate to a large bowl. heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat just until it bubbles around the edges. remove the cream from the heat and pour it over the chocolate. let the chocolate stand for 30 seconds, then stir continuously until the chocolate melts and a smooth ganache comes together, 1 to 2 minutes. pour the ganache over the cake.

8. chop the remaining 1/3 cup of pistachios coarsely and sprinkle them over the cake.

9. this cake will stay fresh for 1 to 2 days if kept at room temperature and wrapped in plastic wrap or covered with a cake dome. i like to keep it in the fridge, where it will keep for an additional 2 to 3 days.

and lastly, i'm giving away a copy of seriously delish! (this giveaway is open to u.s. residents only, i'm sorry!!) to enter, leave a comment with the last thing you ate that was... seriously delish :)

update 9/12/14: this giveaway is now closed.

-yeh!!!!

pistachio bakewell pop-tarts

every day, i wake up, boil water for my oatmeal, grab the oats jar from the shelf, pour the oats in the water, and find myself well with the world. but last week molly decided that she needed to buy the massive, only-buy-if-you-own-a-bakery container of sprinkles, and then didn't have anywhere to put them except inside of my oats jar. so, i reached for my oats the next morning and came frighteningly close to melting $50 worth of naturally dyed sugar pellets. this is all coming back to me as i look at those sprinkles on today's pop-tarts. 

i used to love pop-tarts. during every track meet in high school, i would eat a brown sugar cinnamon frosted two-pack to get jacked up for the triple jump. i moved on to other things, though, cuz nobody's ever wanted to be pop-tart boy.

...until these guys popped out of the oven. take it from someone who has only eaten oats and peanut butter for the past 36 hours: these are the real deal. you know when you try to reinvent a favorite childhood food, but with better ingredients and an advanced culinary insight? you think you want somebody to say "holy cow, these are better than dunkaroos!" but what you are actually, secretly, deeply hoping, is that somebody will say "these taste JUST LIKE DUNKAROOS!" and because nothing can compete with childhood nostalgia, if you can bake something that "tastes JUST LIKE DUNKAROOS" today, well, my friend, you have made it.

ba(t)ching update: i was watching the episode where aunt bee leaves andy and opie alone for a few days, and i wished i could relate to their father-son antics, but unfortunately i don't have a mini ron howard around to yell "pa! the chicken's burning!"

-eggboy

pistachio bakewell pop-tarts

makes 8-10

ingredients

1 stick butter, softened

1/4 c sugar

1/4 c pistachio paste

2 large eggs

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c flour

1 lb pie dough

1/4 c jam

1 1/2 c powdered

about 2 tb milk

crushed toasted pistachios and sprinkles

clues

preheat oven to 400. line a baking sheet with parchment and set it aside.

in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and pistachio paste. add 1 egg (reserving the other for an egg wash), followed by the lemon juice and extracts.

mix in the salt and flour until just combined.

cut out 8 2-inch by 3-inch squares of pie dough and place them on your baking sheet. spread each with about a teaspoon of jam and top with a healthy blob of pistachio batter. you could also spoon the batter into a piping bag and pipe it on. 

from the remaining pie dough, cut out rectangles that are about 1/4-inch longer on all sides, so that they fit over the filling.

whip up the remaining egg with a splash of water and brush the edges of the tarts. place a layer of pie dough over the top and crimp the edges with a fork. seal the edges well!

poke the tops with a fork a few times and bake for 10-15 minutes, until slightly browned.

let cool.

whisk together the powdered sugar and milk, adding more or less milk to achieve your desired consistency. spread this on the tarts and top with crushed nuts and sprinkles.

enjoy!

other fun bakewell recipes! gluten free mini bakewell tarts + bakewell cookies + bakewell bars