Really Good Sangria

Recipe may be doubled and stored in a gallon jar.

750 ml off-dry red wine, such as Les Chiens-Chien
1 medium lime
1 d'Anjou pear
1 Fuji apple
1/2 cup simple syrup, chilled
1/2 cup sweet vermouth
1/2 cup frozen limeade concentrate

1. Core and thinly slice apple and pear. Thinly slice lime. Place fruits in half-gallon jar.

2. Add remaining ingredients. Close jar and shake gently to distribute ingredients. Chill for at least 2 hours. Flavor improves overnight.

3. Shake gently before serving. Serve with 1 or 2 slices of fruit from the jar.

Really Simple Chocolate Cake

7.5 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
7 oz sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 oz Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1 teaspoon espresso powder
8 oz very hot water

2.25 oz mayonnaise
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place parchment paper in bottom of 8-inch square baking dish.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In second bowl, combine cocoa, chocolate, espresso powder, and water; whisk until smooth. Into chocolate mixture whisk mayonnaise, egg, and vanilla until completely smooth. Add chocolate mixture to flour mixture and stir until combined.

3. Scrape batter into pan and smooth the top. Bake until cake surface is cracked and top has puffed. A wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out with few crumbs attached, 30 - 35 minutes.

4. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack, 1 to 2 hours. Run thin knife around pan edge to loosen cake. Invert and place on serving platter. Can be dusted with confectioner's sugar.

With thanks to Keith Dresser for his article in Cook's Illustrated, March 2009.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Yields one dozen, 2-inch cookies

258 g peanut butter, crunchy, organic, no additives
1 large pinch salt (if peanut butter is unsalted)
162 g light brown sugar
30 g honey
1 large egg
7 g vanilla extract

1. Place oven rack in center of oven. Preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In medium bowl, mix all ingredients. When blended, divide into 12 equal portions (divide in half, then in thirds, then each one in half). Using palms of hands, roll into balls and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Press tops lightly but firmly with fork, first in one direction, then again at 90 degrees to make the traditional hatch pattern. Cookie dough should be about 3/4 inch thick.

3. Bake until cookies are slightly puffed, lightly tanned, and edges have begun to set, about 10 - 12 minutes. Do not brown. Cool 2 minutes on the baking pan, then remove cookies to cooling rack.

Adapted from Shirley O. Corriher's BakeWise (2008), published by Scribner.

Oatmeal Cookies

6 1/4 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 oz old-fashioned rolled oats
4 oz pecans, toasted and chopped
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
5 oz dried sour fruit, coarsely chopped (sour cherries, cranberries)

6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but cool
10 1/2 oz dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. In second bowl, stir together oats, pecans, fruit, and chocolate.

3. In standing mixer with paddle blade, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until no sugar lumps remain (1 minute). Scrape bowl, add egg and vanilla. Beat on medium low until fully incorporated (30 seconds) and scrape bowl again. With mixer at low speed, add flour mixture. Mix until just combined (30 seconds). Add oat-nut mixture until just combined (30 seconds). Check for even distribution of oat-nut mixture and ensure no pockets of flour remain.

4. Divide dough in half. Divide each half in half (4 equal portions). Repeat again twice for 16 equal portions. Using palms, roll each portion into balls and place on baking sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart. Flatten each ball to 1 inch thickness. Bake 12 minutes, then rotate sheets back to front and switch top and bottom sheets. Bake 8 - 10 minutes longer until edges are set, but centers look wet and shiny.

5. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Adapted from Erika Bruce's "The Ultimate Oatmeal Cookie" in Cook's Illustrated (May/June 2005).

Meyer Lemon Bars

Hints to really great lemon bars:

• A key to crisp crust, un-gummy next to the filling, is to put the filling into the warm crust. Be sure to follow chilling time for purposes of hydration. (This works for pumpkin pie, too.)
  
• Bars can be made ahead, but begin to loose their lemony goodness after 1 day and the crust does soften somewhat.
• Sifted confectioners' sugar on the finished bars is troublesome and showy on the dark clothes of diners. Plus, it always seems to disappear into the bars after a little while.
• Using a kitchen scale saves time and dishes and it's more accurate, anyway.

With appreciation to Susan Logozzo for her May 1998 article in Cook's Illustrated. I reduced her sugar amount slightly to compensate for the Meyer lemons' sweetness.

Meyer Lemon Bars
Yield: two dozen 1.5- to 2-inch squares

The Crust
14 oz all-purpose flour (1 3/4 cups)
2.5 oz confectioners' sugar (2/3 cup)
1 oz cornstarch (1/4 cup)
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 oz unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), frozen and grated, plus additional for greasing pan

The Filling
4 large eggs
9 1/4 oz granulated sugar (1 1/4 cups)
3/4 oz flour (3 Tablespoons)
finely grated zest from 4 Meyer lemons (1 - 2 Tablespoons)
5 oz strained Mayer lemon juice (2/3 cup)
2 1/2 oz whole milk (1/3 cup)
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. For the crust: Lightly butter 13-by-9-inch baking dish and line with one sheet parchment or wax paper lengthwise in pan. Dot paper with butter, then lay second sheet crosswise over the first.
2. Mix flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl. Toss frozen butter to coat. Rub pieces between fingers until flour turns pale yellow and coarse. Sprinkle mixture into lined pan and use fingers to press into 1/4-inch layer over bottom, reaching about 1/2-inch up pan sides. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
3. For the filling: Meanwhile, whisk eggs, sugar, and flour in medium bowl, then stir in lemon juice, milk, zest, and salt. Blend well.
4. To finish: Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Sitr filling mixture to reblend, then pour into warm crust. Bake until filling feels firm when touched lightly, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack. Cool to near room temperature, at least 30 minutes. Grasp edges of the cross-wise paper and lift bars onto cutting board. Fold paper down and off edges. Cut serving size bars using knife or pizza cutter, wiping clean between cuts, as necessary.
   

Meyer Lemon Adventures

Recipes below are for Meyer Lemon Syrup, Dried Whole Meyer Lemons, Meyer Lemons in Salt and Juice, Brine-Boiled Meyer Lemons, Pickled Meyer Lemons, and Meyer Limoncello.

From Uncle Merrill and my sister, Melanie, I was the happy recipient of 14 pounds of Meyer lemons on New Year's Eve. Stowing them carefully in my backpack, I made it back to the frozen north and began processing.

In my research, I found maturation -- time -- to be one of the common themes. As usual, the main preserving media are oil, salt, alcohol, and sugar, plus generous amounts of water in the processing.

Elusive and difficult to describe, the taste and value of Meyer lemons hasn't stopped people from trying.

David Karp (Splendid Table, 1998): The complex flavor and aroma hints of sweet lime, lemon, and mandarin.

Alice Waters (Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook, 1999): Meyer lemons are sweet, thin-skinned and famous for their ethereal perfume.

Kay Rentschler (Cook's Illustrated, 2000): The Meyer, with its floral notes, more complex flavor, and greener, grassy finish, took some getting used to.

Amy Scattergood (Los Angeles Times, 2008): Plump, smooth-skinned, colored an unmistakable dark yellow -- canary yellow, the color of egg yolks or the sun at noon -- they're sweeter than other lemons, with an intoxicating aroma that has hints of honey and thyme.

Four Winds Growers, the California developers of the Improved Meyer lemon: It is slightly sweeter than the classic commercial varieties (Eureka and Lisbon). Its soft skin develops an orange hue when fruit is fully ripe, and its distinctive, mystical flavor combines lemon with a hint of tangerine.

Lemon Syrup
Yield: 24 oz

12 oz sugar (1.5 cups)
8 oz water (1 cup)
zest of 6 lemons (about 1 tablespoon)
10 oz strained lemon juice

1. Combine zest, sugar, and water in small pot. Stirring constantly, bring to boil. Cover and remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
2. Strain cool syrup into jar. Add juice. Seal and chill.

Dried Whole Lemons
Yield: 12 dried lemons

12 lemons without blemishes

1. Wash lemons thoroughly and discard any with blemishes. Remove any parts of the stem without damaging the lemon skin. Dry.
2. Place lemons on parchment paper sitting directly on oven rack, not on a cookie sheet. Heat oven to 145 degrees F and cook undisturbed for 48 hours. Increase heat to 175 degrees F and cook for 36 more hours. Lemons are fully dried when skins have shrunken slightly (some wrinkling will occur) and become hard to the touch.
   

Lemons in Salt and Juice
Yield: half gallon lemons
Following Claudia Roden (2000).

12 whole lemons
1/2 cup salt
8 oz lemon juice

1. Wash and dry lemons, discarding any stems. Slice each lemon almost into quarters from the north pole. Leave the south pole intact. Spreading the quarters apart, generously sprinkle salt on cut edges. Pack into wide mouth half-gallon glass or ceramic container with tight-fitting lid. Process all lemons in this manner. Press lemons together. (Roden says "squash them.")
   
2. Seal and let lemons rest for 4 days. Press lemons together again so they are covered with their own juice. Add fresh lemon juice if necessary and reseal. Store in a cool place. Repeat each day for two weeks, topping up with lemon juice as necessary.
3. After 2 weeks, the lemons should be rather limp and the skins marginally translucent. Store, sealed in a cool place for another 2 weeks undisturbed, but ensuring that juice covers all.
   
4. If harmless white mold develops, just rinse off. To use lemons, discard the pulp and rinse.
   

Brine-Boiled Lemons
Yield: 1 pint
Following Claudia Roden (2000).

8 lemons
8 Tablespoons salt

1. Wash and dry whole lemons, discarding stems. With sharp knife carefully incise each lemon's skin from pole to pole without cutting into the pulp.
2. Place lemons in pot with salt and water to cover. Keep lemons submerged using a heavy plate and boil for 25 - 30 minutes or until skin is very soft. Remove from heat and cool.
3. When cool enough to handle, remove pulp with a spoon and pack skins into wide-mouth jar. Cover with fruity olive oil. Seal and gently tap to release trapped air bubbles. Top up with oil to cover, if necessary.
4. Seal and let rest for 1 week.
   

Pickled Lemons
Yield: 1 pint
Following Claudia Roden (2000).

12 lemons
1/2 cup salt
1 Tablespoon smoked paprika (pimenton de la vera)

1. Wash and dry lemons, discarding any stems. Following line of equator, thinly slice. Sprinkle generously with salt and place in single layer in wide, shallow colander. Cover lightly with dish towel and set over pie plate or deep dish to catch exuding juice.
   
2. After 12 hours, carefully toss lemon slices and lightly sprinkle with more salt. Discard exuded juice and replace the plate and dish towel. Let rest for another 12 hours.
3. Discard seeds and arrange slices in wide-mouth pint jar, lightly sprinkling a little paprika on each side of each slice. Cover with fruity olive oil. Seal and gently tap to release trapped air bubbles. Top up with oil to cover, if necessary.
4. Seal and let rest for 3 weeks.
   

Limoncello
Yield: 3 pints

12 lemons
1 750ml vodka
7 oz sugar
8 oz water

1. Wash and dry lemons, discarding any stems. Zest the lemons carefully, avoiding the bitter white pith. Place in quart jar and add all the vodka. Seal and store in cool place. Shake the jar twice daily for 2 weeks.
2. Combine sugar and water and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Cover and cool to room temperature.
3. Strain vodka and discard exhausted zest. Add syrup to vodka and fill 3 pint bottles. Seal and store in freezer.
   

Breadless Sandwich

Could also be known as romaine burrito, I suppose.

Ingredients
Spear of romaine lettuce
3 thin slices of spicy capicola sausage
Dijon-style mustard
4 fillet beans, blanched and chilled

1. Place sausage slices on lettuce. Smear with mustard to taste. Lay beans along natural indentation (following lettuce rib).
2. Serve immediately. Can be eaten with fingers by folding along lettuce rib.

Pickled Baby Beets

Ingredients
2 lbs baby beets
1/4 cup olive oil

4 oz light brown sugar
2 oz cider vinegar
2 oz sherry vinegar
1 oz champagne vinegar
1 chile de arbol
1 bay leaf
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 oz shallots, peeled and sliced thinly
6 oz orange juice, plus additional for topping up syrup
1 orange, sliced thinly across equator

Equipment
baking pan
foil
saucepan with lid
2 1-quart jars with lids

For the beets

1. Preheat oven 400F.
2. Wash beets well. Remove greens to within 1 inch of root, if necessary. Place beets in single layer in baking pan. Toss with oil to coat. Cover and seal with foil.
3. Roast for 1 hour or until beets offer no resistance to skewer.
4. Remove and cool without removing foil.
5. Peel beets by rubbing with paper towel. Discard skins.

For the syrup

1. Combine all ingredients except beets in saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, partially covered for 5 minutes.
2. Strain syrup into heatproof measure. Add additional orange juice to equal 2 cups.
3. From syrup flavorings, remove cinnamon stick and chile and place in quart jars. Add a few beets to the jars, add slices of orange, then continue filling with beets. Pour hot syrup to fill. Seal and cool to room temperature. Chill.

Keeps for 2 weeks.

Tolerance, Intolerance

In the world in which I live, tolerance is a concept embraced by many of the privileged who work with lesser-privileged people, by people who work in settings where people of differing cultures interact, and by people who work for justice and social change. Tolerance is a good place to begin acting on new awareness that a person isn't alone in the world. Acting from a place of tolerance broadens the horizon of personal possibilities and creates alliances that couldn't have been envisioned without it. Tolerance is a good place to begin.

As awareness and experience expand, tolerance begins to limit deepened relationships, in particular those with whom there are fewer shared life experiences. If, however, life experience does not include oppression, marginalization, invisibility, enforced silence, and forms of self-hatred, then how can such life experiences be sought and understood by those who have not had them? Similarly, how can those who are not privileged seek and hear those who have privilege? Why should either group want to hear the other?

Because we are all living together in a world of decreasing resources. If we don't understand each others' life experiences, then how can problems we face together be solved together? Solving problems -- understanding problems -- can be neither the sole domain of those with power and resources nor those without them.

Consider how pharmaceutical companies, government policy-makers, and people with AIDS finally learned how to listen to each other. The problems they each face still exist, but they are better able to help each other now that they can understand each other.

Consider how medical practitioners, parents, researchers, scientists have begun to change problems associated with naturally-occurring arsenic in Bangladesh's water supply.

I believe that by reflecting critically on my experience, I can change my awareness of who can help me with the problems I face. I don't have to be alone in my discomfort, despair, and deprivation. I recognize that I have sufficient privilege to reflect critically. I have time, money, education, and intelligence enough to do so. And, I have the motivation to do so.

I do not tolerate several things that interfere with the quality of my life. That is, my world is filled with foods that include substances my body does not deal well with. I am not allergic. However, I dislike the physical results of consuming corn, soy, wheat flour, and bovine dairy products.

Similarly, I dislike spending money for food that has traveled many miles to reach me. I need fresh food in my life, but where I want to live, I can't always have it fresh. I don't trust corporations producing some of my food to have my health in mind; I recognize that a corporation's obligation is to make money, not necessarily food that is good for me to eat.

In a world dependent on decreasingly available oil, I would like to use as little of it as possible. Because I like to eat three times a day, my food choices become one way to do that. I would like to eat less overall, eat food that is grown nearby, and preserve more. I would like to increase my support for neighbors who have expertise in food production that I don't. Vegetables. Meat. Grain. Fruit. How can I support them? How can I supplement what they aren't able to provide me? I'll need to ask them and listen carefully.

Community-supported agriculture
Slow Food International
Locavore

More about my thinking, eating, tolerance, and intolerance another day.

How do you express your beliefs?

Big River Keep on Rolling

Another delightful meal at Burdick's Cafe, this one to remember our wedding, nineteen years ago in Rockingham, Vermont, a short way from the Connecticut River. It was a perfect day, just like today.

Pomegranate cocktail

• vodka, pomegranate juice, Cointreau, lime juice

Salade lyonnais

• frisee, warm lightly poached egg, warm bacon dressing, croutons

Braised rabbit

• cooked in riesling with fennel and mirepoix
• kale braised with bacon
• fingerling potatoes

Beaujolais

• served in a proper glass at a proper temperature
  

Eierlikeur taart

• layers of pleasure on a fork
• base of thin flaky pastry glazed with dark chocolate
• toasted hazelnut cake
• raspberry coulis
• vanilla-bean whipped cream
• egg liqueur

Without realizing it when I ordered it, my meal had a theme: Big Rivers.

First, the Lower Rhine. That is, the river valley just as it begins to broaden into its distributaries and forms one of Europe's largest river deltas. Rabbit, riesling, potatoes, eggs, chocolate, hazelnuts, raspberries, kale, frisee, cream, and bacon are common in this region, the borderlands of Germany's Ruhr and the Netherlands' Gelderland.

Farther afield, I'd like to thank the ancient peoples of the Baltic region between the Vistula and Daugava rivers for vodka, the Atrak river valley's pomegranate cultivators, and Burgundy's wine and salad progenitors. This meal, consistent with previous meals at Burdick's, was a delight to the eye, the palate, and the intellect.

Our server Juliette, a friend of many years, was affectionate, attentive, and accommodating.

The pleasures of John Calvi's company can't be beat. We talked about the past, the present, and the future, a river on its way. Love is inexhaustable, inevitable, ever changing and unchanging. How much different I was 19 years ago. As different as the Connecticut River in Canada is from the same river known at Old Saybrook.

Pineapple Ginger Punch

1 cup pineapple juice, strained
1 cup ginger syrup
1 cup sparkling water or sparkling wine
1 sprig fresh mint or lavender
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Thoroughly chill liquid ingredients. Remove leaves from stem of herb. Discard stem and muddle leaves with sugar in a chilled serving container. Add cold liquids, stir, and taste. Correct balance according to taste. Adding ice will dilute flavors.

For pineapple juice
Make your own or buy the very best you can afford. Commercially manufactured juice may have additions of water, sugar, preservatives, and grape, apple, pear, or other juices, and will decrease the intensity of the pineapple's flavor.

For ginger syrup
Very thinly slice 4-inches of fresh ginger root. Place in saucepan with 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar. Cover and bring to boil without stirring or removing the cover. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. Without removing cover, take off heat and cool. Strain and chill syrup. After a month, the flavor begins to fade. Recipe may be doubled or halved.

Double Pie Crust

12 oz all-purpose flour (2.5 cups)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
8 oz unsalted butter (2 sticks) cut into 1/4-inch dice, cold
1/4 cup frozen vodka
1/4 cup ice water

1. Blend flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in butter until pieces no bigger than split peas remain. With large spatula, quickly fold in both liquids, until fully incorporated. Dough should clean sides of bowl. With floured hands, press slightly more than half of the dough into a ball, then flatten into a 4-inch disc. Lightly flour, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 4 hours. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

2. Let larger dough disk rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before rolling. Roll to 1/8-inch thickness, a disk about 13 inches in diameter. Roll onto pin and unroll into pie plate. Without pressing, work dough into corner of plate and trim edge to 1/2 inch overhang. Chill. Roll out the second dough disk to 1/8-inch thickness and place on floured, rimless cookie sheet. Chill both doughs for at least 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rimmed cookie sheet on lowest level. Let both doughs rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before working with them. Fill the pie plate, place second dough disk atop pie and trim with scissors to match bottom edge. With fork, seal top and bottom crusts. Crimp, vent, and bake on pre-heated cookie sheet for 30 minutes. Crust will be just beginning to color. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to bake until crust is nut brown, another 40 minutes. If filling begins to bubble, but crust is not deeply brown, then switch heat source to broil without moving the pie and watch very closely. Crust will begin to color in less than 1 minute. Remove and cool on rack, about 4 hours.

July Cream Puffs

Sunday, July 5
in the kitchen of Sharon Myers, for the 8th year in a row voted Brattleboro's best caterer

Appetizer
Tea-smoked salmon on cucumber and baguette with sesame mayonnaise and scallion

Dinner
Thai fried rice with grilled salmon
Steamed salmon coconut pudding with red curry in banana-leaf bowl
Pan-Asian coleslaw (1 part sesame oil, 1 part mirin, 1 part rice vinegar, plus cayenne, lime zest, lime juice, salt)
Snap peas and zucchini with red wine and mint

Dessert
Gateau St.-Honorè
Profiteroles

Guests
Michael Krasner
John Calvi
Brian Long
Lyn ___
Lynna ___

Sunday Snack

If necessity is the mother of invention, then is feeling peckish the father of snack creation? I made these up today when the cupboard looked bare. I totally love them.

1 cup whole dates
2 Tablespoons unsalted peanut butter
1 Tablespoon honey
1/16 teaspoon cayenne
pinch fine sea salt

1. Pit the dates. Using the back of a strong fork, mash the dates into a course pulp.
2. Mix cayenne and salt into peanut butter. Add honey and stir until blended.
3. Fold peanut butter mixture into date pulp. It should make a stiff paste. Taste for seasoning. When thoroughly blended, pinch a piece off and, using the palms of your hands, roll into balls about 1.5 cm or one-half inch in diameter.

Serve at room temperature.

Moroccan Appetizer Mystery

It looks delicious, doesn't it?

What do you think it is?

Place of origin: Morocco

Hors d'oeuvres in May

Cream Puff Dinner
comprised entirely of appetizers

country crackers
red lentil humous
crab cakes with tomato marmalade and cilantro
Thai shrimp cakes with sweet-sour plum sauce
Turkish carrot kofte with lemon and dukkah
Andean arepa with mozzarella and basil
Spiced lamb rolled in filo
Ethiopian-flavored chicken drumsticks
Grilled Swiss chard purses with mozzarella and prosciutto
Vidalia onion with parsley on challah

Skyy vodka, tonic water, and lime
White wine

Guests: Hal
Cooked in Sharon's new kitchen designed by Deborah

Flourless Orange-Chocolate Cake

Flourless Orange-Chocolate Cake

Based on a recipe of Alice Medrich's. The cake can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight (up to 4 days). It must be at room temperature for serving and decorating. Favorite chocolates include Scharffen Berger, Ghirardelli, and Callebaut.

8 eggs, chilled
16 oz (1 pound) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped coarsely
1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 sticks)
pinch fine sea salt
1/4 cup triple sec
zest of one navel orange

1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line bottom of 8-inch springform pan with parchment and grease pan sides. Cover pan underneath and along sides with sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil and set in large roasting pan. Bring kettle of water to boil.

2. Beat eggs until tripled in volume, about 2 quarts. If using hand-held mixer, mix on high speed for about 20 minutes. If using a standing electric mixer, use wire whip attachment at medium speed to achieve same result.

3. Meanwhile, melt chocolate and butter with salt, liqueur, and orange zest in large heatproof bowl set over pan of almost simmering water, stirring until smooth and very warm (115 degrees). (For microwave, melt chocolate and butter at 50% power until smooth and warm, about 6 minutes.) Pour melted chocolate mixture through fine meshed sieve into large mixing bowl. Fold 1/3 egg foam into chocolate mixture using large rubber spatula until only a few streaks of egg are visible; fold in half of remaining foam, then last of remaining foam, until mixture is totally homogeneous.

4. Scrape batter into prepared springform pan and smooth surface with spatula. Set roasting pan on oven rack and pour enough boiling water to come about halfway up side of springform pan. Bake until cake has risen slightly, edges are just beginning to set, a thin glazed crust (like a brownie) has formed on surface, and an instant read thermometer inserted halfway through center of cake registers 140 degrees, 22 to 25 minutes (it will continue to cook when removed from oven). Remove cake pan from water bath and set on wire rack; cool to room temperature. Optionally, cover and chill.

5. About 30 minutes before serving, remove springform pan sides, invert cake on sheet of waxed paper, peel off parchment pan liner, and turn cake right side up on serving platter. When cake is at room temperature, sieve light sprinkling of Confectioner's sugar or unsweetened cocoa powder over cake to decorate, perhaps through a paper doily.

This cake does well with a sauce. Try a raspberry sauce (frozen raspberries, thawed and sieved, with a few drops of lemon juice and sugar to taste), an orange sauce (follow instructions for lemon curd substituting orange ingredients), or, daringly, a warm orange-caramel sauce.

Researching Chocolate Companies

From whom can I buy chocolate that meets these criteria?

• tastes good, looks good, and performs well
• fairly compensates the grower and other laborers
• is not dependent on the labor of children
  
• is agriculturally sustainable and environmentally agreeable
• includes additives, such as sugar, that have similar properties
• is free of fruit, milk, nuts, soy
• sells for about $1 per ounce
  

These companies have come to my attention. What chocolate do you use?

Cocoa Camino
http://www.cocoacamino.com

Divine Chocolate
http://www.agreatergift.org
Of Ghanian origin

Ithaca Fine Chocolates
http://ithacafinechocolates.stores.yahoo.net

Omanhene
http://www.omanhene.com
Of Ghanian origin

Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates
http://www.sweetearthchocolates.com

Theo Chocolate
http://www.theochocolate.com/

Ones to watch***********************

Chocolate Co-op
http://www.chocolateco-op.com
Organic, but not fair-trade. Many awards for quality. Single-origin products.

Dagoba (now owned by Hershey's)
http://www.dagobachocolate.com

Equal Exchange
http://www.equalexchange.com
A distributor, not a manufacturer.

Scharffen Berger (now owned by Hershey's)
http://www.scharffenberger.com

Sjaak's
http://sjaaks.com
Pending fair trade certification

Yachana Chocolate
http://www.yachanagourmet.com/
Chocolates mixed with tropical fruits and nuts only, no pure chocolate

Orange Chocolate Pots de Creme

I have a high standard for chocolate. Initially, I liked Scharffen Berger for several reasons. It was a small company that seemed to care about the quality of its product. It was made in a setting free from nuts. It performed well if shaved or melted. And, it tasted good.

Now that Scharffen Berger is owned by Hershey's, its quality has degraded somewhat and the labels do not indicate it is nut-free. The quality of the chocolate is still excellent, but its manufacturing conditions have changed.

As a result, I am now looking for a replacement and have added global awareness to my expectations. I want several things of my chocolate:

• Is free from nuts and dairy
• Performs well in the kitchen (melting point, shaving)
  
• Made by people whose intention is finest quality chocolate
  
• Made using fair-trade practices

I haven't found a chocolate that meets these criteria. If you know of one, please be in touch!

***************

Orange Chocolate Pots de Creme

A key to success is the temperature of the cream mixture when it is removed from the heat. Remove too soon -- when the mixture runs off the back of a wooden spoon -- and the pots de creme will not congeal and will be too thin. Remove it too late -- when the mixture shows lumps of coagulating egg yolk -- and the pots de creme will taste grainy and not be able to fully incorporate the chocolate.

Yields 8 servings.

10 oz bittersweet chocolate
5 yolks from large eggs
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup water
zest of one large orange (about 3 tsp)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla

1. Using box grater, grate chocolate. Place in heatproof bowl and set aside at room temperature with fine-mesh sieve.

2. In heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk yolks, cream, water, zest, and salt until smooth. Heat gradually over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon. When cream mixture reaches 175 degrees Fahrenheit and coats the back of the spoon, about 12 minutes, immediately remove from heat and pour through sieve into chocolate.

3. Wait 2 minutes for chocolate to melt and whisk gently until thoroughly blended. Do not whip. Pour into ramekins or individual serving bowls. Cool to room temperature, then chill for at least 4 hours.

4. To serve, remove ramekins from refrigerator 20 minutes before serving. Can be served with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream and gratings of chocolate or sprinkles of cocoa.

Roasting Salmon

Fresh, wild salmon is a wonderful thing and is unlike most other vegetarian fish. Mine is from Alaska, caught, dressed, and frozen by the man who sells it to me, a privilege I share with few others and for which I am thankful. Here's how I prepared the most recent one.

Sockeye salmon, dressed and ready for preparation.

Slicing the skin on the top side enables expansion of the cooking meat in an attractive way.

Meat is lightly scented with parsley and lemon and seasoned with flor de sal (white bag).

Dinner is served.

Roasted Whole Salmon

3.5 pound whole salmon, dressed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch parsley
2 fresh lemons
salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line shallow roasting pan with a layer of parchment or foil. Lightly oil perforated top and assemble. Place several thick lemon slices where fish will rest on pan. Measure thickness of fish by placing ruler alongside resting fish. Calculate 10 minutes of roasting time for each inch the fish is thick.

2. Ensuring the fish is completely thawed, rinse under cold, running water. Dry with paper towels. Lightly oil all skin. Using scissors or very sharp knife, carefully cut top-side skin in several places, trying not to cut meat. Lightly salt the inside and add a half-bunch of whole parsley stalks and several slices of lemon.

3. Place prepared fish atop thick lemon slices and roast. Ten minutes before calculated completion time, check fish for doneness. Fully roasted fish, flesh and bone should be opaque. Flesh will flake easily all the way to the bone. The skin will be well browned in most places. Let fish rest 15 minutes, then remove to serving platter. Present with fresh parsley and more lemon slices. Pass lemon wedges, salt, and pepper to taste.

This dinner, hosted by John Calvi and me, honored the visit of our friend, John Meyer,
Saturday, October 27, 2007.