Scones, glorious scones!

Grande green tea latte with soy...grande green tea latte with soy...grande green tea latte with soy - oooh! scones!
Ever notice that no matter how many times you repeat a mantra, baked goods can quickly break you down? But step back from the glass display case for a moment. $4.25 for a scone? Guess again, my fellow foodies. Get ready to make a whole dozen for that and to top it off, these are more flavorful than anything you can order with your latte.
Dried Fruit and Nut Scones
Heat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2 C All purpose flour
1/3 C granulated sugar
3 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 C dried apricots, chopped
1/4 C dried cranberries
1/4 C raisins (golden or dark)
1/2 C nut of your choice, chopped (pistachios or pecans are especially tasty)
3 1/4 C heavy cream
Method:
In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add the cubes of butter and knead it into the dry ingredients until pea-sized clumps are formed. Add the dried fruit and nuts. Add the heavy cream and knead until the mix comes together in one ball. Stop kneading as soon as this happens. Portion the dough into 12 equal balls. Bake for 14 minutes, rotate, and bake another 14. Serve warm with your favorite hot beverage.
Optional:
Glaze the scones with a simple icing made from 1/2 C confectioners' sugar and 2 tsp water or milk.

Brownsugar Shortbread

I am a firm believer in simplicity. If you start with quality ingredients, you shouldn't need to add much to create an amazing finished dish. Take my recipe for shortbread cookies. 4 ingredients, one bowl, and melt-in-your-mouth cookies at the end. These are kid friendly, budget friendly, and if used to garnish a frozen dessert, dinner party friendly.

Combine 1 pound of light brown sugar and 4 cups all purpose flour in a large bowl. Chop 1 pound of unsalted butter into small cubes and crumble into the sugar/flour mix. Rub the butter bits into the dry ingredients until you have pea-sized pieces. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or your favorite flavoring and continue to blend until the dough can be formed into one large clump. This can also be done in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Heat a non-convection oven to 375. Roll the dough as thick or as thin as you like. The thinner the dough, the crispier the finished cookie. If you plan to use these as garnish, roll 1/4 inch thick. If using as a stand alone dessert, roll 1/2 inch thick.

Cut the dough using a knife or your favorite cookie cutters. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet until golden brown using the following guidelines.
For thin, small cookies, rotate after 5 minutes and checking after another 3.
For thicker cookies, rotate after 7 minutes and check after another 6.

Dust with confectioners' sugar and allow the cookies to cool. These are fantastic with vanilla ice cream.

Restaurant Review: Ana Beall's Tea Room, Westfield

What makes a great restaurant? Is it the food? The service? The atmosphere? Or, could it be an establishment's ability to be what you need in the present moment?

Take for example a wonderful new restaurant in Westfield, Ana Beall's Tea Room just off South Ave. For years, literally, years, a dear friend and I have been searching for a respectable Sunday brunch location. We really aren't that picky. High quality, semi-healthy food, good hot beverages, a relaxed atmosphere, decent service, and please, no overpriced buffet. We had tried diners, upscale chains, and cheap-eats pig outs, yet nothing seemed to be what we were looking for. Finally, though, I think we have a place where we'll happily become bi-monthly regulars.

Ana Beall's is in an unassuming Victorian house not far from downtown Westfield. The bright yellow interior is as welcoming as the cheerful staff. After reading a favorable article on the tea room in The Star Ledger, I had called ahead to secure reservations. As I was led to a table on the restaurant's second floor, I was certainly happy I had. Ana Beall's was packed!

Like any busy restaurant, service was a little slow. Our poor waitress seemed to be taking care of the entire second floor by herself! The slight wait gave my friend and me some time to chat and notice the acoustics. While the atmosphere of the tea room is clean and tailored, the hardwood floors and general lack of sound-controlling fabrics made initial conversation difficult. After getting acclimated to talking at a slightly higher volume, though, we were able to continue our chat.

The teas at Ana's did not disappoint. My Versailles Lavender Earl Grey was fantastic. Lavender can be a difficult flavor to master; too much and the drink turns into eau de Bath and Body Works. Here, though, the floral notes were balanced with the savory bergamot. My friend greatly enjoyed her jasmine with flowers tea, calling it one of the best jasmine teas she's ever had.

Our entrees arrived soon after our tea. My vegetarian quiche of the day was light and flavorful. Goat cheese, tomatoes, red onion, and spinach were mingled with perfectly cooked eggs in a tender pastry crust. The side of pesto was a pleasant garnish. I do wish that the side of out of season melon had been omitted. My friend ordered the arugula and artichoke salad. The huge mound of arugula was tossed with a savory Parmesan vinaigrette and garnished with cranberries, red onion, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I have honestly never seen such a mammoth salad serving, but my friend cheerfully gobbled it up. Ana Beall's certainly gets an A in the semi-healthy category!

If you choose to go, do not miss the house made muffins and breads. The pastry chef is an alum of Gotham Bar and Grill, one of New York City's most celebrated restaurants. The bran muffins were hearty, crispy on the outside and perfectly moist on the inside. A real winner in the bread basket is the apple loaf. Lightly toasted and amazingly cake-like, this quick bread is a great accompaniment for tea.

Ana Beall's might be the perfect spot for a relaxing morning. As for me, I considered this Sunday morning to be a highly productive one; I found my new brunch spot.

http://www.anabeallstearoom.com/

Slave to the Smell

One of the reasons I love cooking, baking, food in general is the way all of the senses are used. From the way a plate looks, to the feel flour and butter getting worked into pie crust dough, to the crackle of a fatty duck breast rendering as it hits a hot pan, the creation of a meal entices all of the senses. There's the obvious sense of taste being used, but my favorite is smell.
For as long as I can remember, I've had an acute sense of smell. I love the way my station fills with the aromas of yeast and sugar when I bake bread. Cold weather spices like nutmeg and cinnamon linger on the air like old friends, yet summer's lemon and berry aromas arrive in a burst and leave just as quickly. Even when I am about to enjoy a meal, I usually deeply inhale before sampling the first bite. Pause before your first bite of a ginger snap, juicy roasted chicken, or even that morning coffee and see how much more you are aware of the flavors before they ever hit your tongue.
My sense of smell, though, has gotten me into trouble. Like an overly enthusiastic Lab puppy not yet grown into his paws, my sense of smell sometimes runs me into doors. Take last week. Recently, I had received a coupon for a free Dunkacchino from Dunkin Donuts and decided to see if the drink lived up to the hype. The coupon proclaimed, "It's back!", leaving me to believe that many Dunkin regulars were clamoring for the return of this beverage. If people are clamoring, surely it must be worth trying.
After getting my free beverage, I continued my commute. Years of being a hot coffee consumer have taught me to wait a few moments before that first sip. As I let my drink cool, my car filled with the most enticing aromas. There was chocolate, reminiscent of childhood vacations to Hershey Park. There was sugar, warm like holiday baking. There was a slight undertone of coffee, welcoming like an easy Sunday morning. I kept inhaling, eagerly awaking the first sip of this concoction that was filling my car with joy.
I clasped the styrofoam cup in my hands and took a tentative taste, wondering if this would be one of those drinks to be savored slowly. But, something was wrong. There was no chocolate and there was certainly no coffee. All I tasted was watered down immitation vanilla flavoring with an overly sweet aftertaste! I took another sip, larger this time, thinking the first must have been a fluke. Nothing changed. If anything, this sip was more disappointing than the first.
I put the cup slowly back in my cup holder, wondering what had gone so wrong. My car was filled with the most enticing aromas that evoked happy memories, yet all I had to taste was a sham of a drink. I stared down the styrofoam cup as it continued to taunt my sense of smell.
Yes, sense of taste, you were let down with this one. Sense of smell? I hope you enjoyed the free air freshener.

Selfish, Selfless, and a Recipe

The food service industry is perhaps the most personal of all artistic outlets. Yes, one can feel connected to actors at a theater performance, go crazy at a rock concert, or even simply be moved by an incredible painting. Yet food is the only medium necessary for survival from a biological view. The "art" a chef creates nourishes on many different levels.
Before a dish is ever ordered, hours of prep work go into it. From sauce making, butchering, chopping, blanching, and even purchasing, good food requires dedication.
Sure, this is all great and the food service industry now sounds like a collective bunch of altruistic artists. But here's the catch, a reasonable cook can make good food, but a successful one can make food others enjoy and come back for. You might be the one in front of the stove, but you're not the one about to eat. You could create the best dish you've ever experienced, but if you're the only one who thinks so, you just made the equivalent of blob of Play Doh in a sculpture gallery. Who cares what you think if it doesn't resonate with anyone else?
There is also the flip side to this. How can you create a dish with integrity if you wouldn't even order it?
The answer is simple: seek out people who would order it and have them taste it. I recently faced this issue with banana sorbet. There are many foods I choose not to eat for personal reasons, but bananas are one of the few foods I flat out refuse to taste. I have never liked them and I am sure I never will, so having me taste a dish with them won't give me an accurate evaluation of the finished dish. So the following is my recipe for banana sorbet. I've been told it's good.

3 C granulated sugar
3.5 C hot water
2 Tbsp creme de banane liqueur
3 C banana puree (about 5 bananas)

Make a simple syrup by heating the water and sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat. All of the sugar should dissolve. Allow this to cool to room temperature. Measure 3 cups of simple syrup and combine with the liqueur and puree. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's instructions. Place sorbet in a plastic container and cover the surface of the sorbet with plastic wrap. Allow sorbet to chill in the freezer for at least one hour.

Edo My Sushi!

Restaurant Review: Edo Sushi, New Brunswick, NJ

New Brunswick is a living oxymoron. It's a restaurant city, a college town, and yet driving and parking for the myriad of services offered by these two labels never ceases to be a nightmare. I think that's because road construction never ceases, but that's a whole other post.

A dear friend and I were able to make last minute lunch plans when, lo and behold, our work schedules meshed. The joys of maintaining a social life in this industry... After the holidays, both of us needed a little indulgence, but nothing extravagant. Edo Sushi was the perfect fit.

Edo is a quaint restaurant with enough options to please both sushi lovers and land lubbers. Like all good sushi places, Edo was spotlessly clean. If you ever enter a restaurant, especially one that focuses on serving highly perishable raw product that even hints at being unsanitary, leave immediately.

The menu at Edo is extensive and my friend and I needed some time to decide. Our green tea arrived moments after we ordered it, yet our friendly waitress gladly gave us extra time make our sushi choices. Sadly, the day for our lunch was a cold, rainy day, hardly raw fish weather. Luckily for us, Edo offers traditional udon and ramen noodle bowls. Hot broth and slurp-worthy noodles were made for rainy days!

In fitting with Edo's business lunch crowd focus, diners can choose from a variety of combo specials. A huge bowl of ramen in homemade broth with a spicy tuna roll for $12.95? I'm there!

Unlike other spicy tuna rolls I've had in the past, Edo keeps the tuna in solid pieces rather than mincing it fine before mixing it into the spicy sauce. Not only does this make for a nicer presentation, but the integrity of the fish is maintained. Mincing the fish means that the sushi chef can use scraps from cleaning the tuna, including the less savory bloodline, before mixing into chili mayo. Edo's way demonstrated their commitment to quality sushi.

Both of our soups were served piping hot. The broths were incredibly savory, rich with soy, scallions, and vegetable flavors, yet light.

Glancing around the dining room, my friend and I noticed we were the only people there. Yet Edo does a brisk take out and delivery lunch business. Considering the weather, I can't blame people for not wanting to leave their offices or dorms!

Our meal ended with green tea and red bean ice creams. Yes, it was cold outside. Yes, we started our lunch clutching the cups of green tea, but ice cream is always appropriate. Green tea ice cream is one of my favorite flavors, but the smooth, creamy red bean might be my new flavor of choice. Reminiscent of watermelon freshness and vanilla complexness, the ice cream was a perfect way to end a warming lunch.

After paying our ridiculously economical check, we realized that lunch for two had cost less than half of dinner for one at the nearby The Frog and the Peach. Amazingly, our experience at Edo was just as refreshing as an extravagant dinner.

Happy 2009!

Congrats to anyone else in the restaurant industry - you have survived the first two of the "Big Three" as I refer to them. Christmas, New Year's Eve, and Valentine's Day are all high profit/ high pressure days for anyone who cooks or serves as a way to put bread, beer, or organic quinoa on their own table. If you know someone in this business, please be extra kind to them during this time of the year. Tempers may be short, time is not on our side, but you can return to your regularly scheduled cook or server on February 15th.

As January gets off to a hopeful albeit cold start, it's hard not to reflect on the past year. I've never been a fan of regrets and second guesses usually only lead to mistakes. The more I think about it, the more obvious it becomes that January is the worst time to start anything. Let's face the facts. If you're living in a place with highly defined seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, most likely, you haven't seen sunlight past 5PM and enjoy rocking the layered look. Do you seriously want to go for a walk after work to burn off that eggnog you drank a month ago? If you have a gym membership, how likely are you to drag yourself out of your cocoon of a bed early to go?

But it's the food this time of the year that really provides downfall. Braised short ribs, thick cut French toast on Christmas morning, cream-based cocktails, hearty soups, the list goes on. And yes, Christmas cookie calories do count even after the new year. There's snow on the ground; I really don't want a salad. Do you have some nice risotto with a side of larger pants, please?

Food this time of the year is hearty, comforting, and most likely traditional. The only problem is, these traditions come from a long ago era. A majority of us are not farmers who go out into their fields 7 days a week and physically need the calories a large meal provides. A majority of us sit at desks in climate controlled offices, yet the primal craving for stew lives on.

So this is where we are. Socially expected to make drastic personality changes overnight, to atone for holiday overeating sins, and to find the time to balance the checkbook, volunteer as an EMT, and write The Great American Novel. I'm not saying it can't be done. Quite the contrary. I just need to start my New Year in May.