Urban fruit foraging, Los Angeles

Since defending my dissertation a month ago (!!), I've been living in Los Angeles temporarily (and bouncing back and forth to San Francisco every few weeks), working on a collaborative research project that started back in April, before my next position (! more on that in future posts) starts in January. It's been a bit tedious being away from home for so long. For one, I desperately miss my kitchen. In fact, I miss cooking and baking altogether, since I'm living in a sublet with um... a microwave. Yeah.... (Thank god for Trader Joe's.)

At the same time, though, there are days like today, when it was mild and 80 degrees F outside--in the middle of December, no less!--, and the air smelled of sweet honeysuckle. And, I get to work with and hang out with some awesome colleagues here, so really, I will gladly forgo (temporarily) my kitchen privileges for this opportunity.

One of my favorite parts of academia (you know, besides the part where I get to spend my days in the pursuit of knowledge) is the people. I find that, given the nature of the field, academia tends to attract curious minds, which in turns leads to a host of people with eclectic and fascinating hobbies. Like my collaborator--Kie--here in LA, who eats things off of trees. Or, to put it fancily, Kie is an urban fruit forager. (She's pictured below, escaping from the frame of a photo of a strawberry guava tree.)

[top: strawberry guava tree; bottom: Natal plum blossom]

When I first met Kie a few years ago, this behavior of eating the random fruits of plants we happened to stroll by alarmed me greatly. (Actually, I find that many academics seem to harbor a secret death wish, like the professor at my home university who likes to speed around on his motorized bicycle without a helmet and tauntingly race 20-something-year-olds on road bikes....) But it turns out that she knows what she's doing, so I asked her to take me on a tour of West LA's urban offerings during my visit this time around.

[above: pygmy date palm fruit]

The tour was so eye-opening because it's amazing how many plants have edible fruits that you wouldn't even think of! I've walked by so many of these trees and bushes every day, writing them off as background scenery on my way to get somewhere else, and yet, here they are, laden with interesting treats to experience. Instead of stopping to smell the roses, it's like stopping to munch on the roses... or, the rose hips, as it were (pictured below), which are sweet and crunchy--like apples, but more floral and less tart.

[top: rosehips, bottom: kumquats]

Of course, there were familiar offerings, like hanging rosemary, or the kumquat tree, which was just coming into season and barely ripe. (We even saw a banana tree!) But most of the fruits and plants that Kie introducted me to were more unfamiliar. On campus, there was this African berry plant (below), which I conveniently forgot to write down the name of. The berries reminded me of such a familiar flavor, almost like a grape juicebox. It's a funny association because Kie pointed out that "monkeys and kids" snack on these berries in Africa. There were also natal plums, which have these amazingly fragrant white blossoms (though I don't think the blossoms are edible). The plums themselves are soft and candy-sweet and bright red. And the California pepper tree--not actually related to real pepper--produces these pink peppercorn-like pods that Kie mentioned were really good in salads.

[top: African berry plant; bottom: California pepper tree]

My favorite find of the day, however, were the Lilli Pillis (below). When Kie first handed me one to eat, I got so excited, because as it turns out, these tiny little fruits are related to Malay rose apples, which were a favorite childhood fruit of mine when I spent summers visiting family in Asia. Even though many tropical fruits are now available in the States (e.g., passionfruit, lychee, guavas, etc), Malay apples have for whatever reason never made it onto the import lists, and I've never been able to find them here. So imagine my surprise and delight to learn that there were miniature versions of these fruits growing in plentiful clumps that I walk by all the time! Eureka!

[above: lilli pillis]

So I'll be able to enjoy these fruits for a couple weeks longer before it's time for me to head back home to the Bay. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! I will be celebrating it a bit late, once my kitchen and I are at long last reunited. :)

[above: a collection of arbutus fruit, lilli pillis, strawberry guava, natal plums, 

California pepper, and flowering rosemary]

(PSA: Please if you do go foraging, do so with someone who knows what they're doing as your guide. Not everything red is delicious and benign!)

Kiwi and Pineapple Sorbet, and the glory of a household with two ice cream machines

A few days ago, the people over @Tastespotting twittered the question: "so... how many of you have a stand mixer?"  Upon seeing that, I literally laughed out loud.  One stand mixer???, I thought, that's laughable! ludicrous! Because, folks, I have TWO.

Yes, that's right, people.  Count them: one-two- TWO!  One's a dainty four and a half quart-er that R gave me for our second dating anniversary (and, after six years, it still ranks as one of the best anni presents ever).  The other's a powerhouse six quart-er that we affectionately call "Bessie the Beast," which I have on extended borrow/loan/keep from my parents who bought her and used her all of... twice?  No, I don't live in a bakery, thought sometimes it sure seems like it, and yes, I'm quite proud of the fact that I'm probably one of the only graduate students out there with two stand mixers lying about.

But, the awesomeness of living in our little household here doesn't stop there.  No, no.  The craziness goes on.  At last count, I cataloged about forty cake pans that I own, and that was two years ago.  I have a feeling that I'm pushing upwards of fifty by now.  What?  Don't judge me!  People, for some unknown reason, enjoy gifting me with baking pans and cake molds, so it isn't all just me.  Oh, and by "cake pans," I don't mean tart molds.  Those have a whole 'nother count of their own, and if you let me include my mini tartelette molds individually (because, they aren't connected!), that puts me at well over fifty already.

Granted, there are times when our kitchen resembles your more average graduate student's.  Case in point: I have one frying pan, which I bought for ten dollars at Ross and which does not have a flat bottom.  Yes, it SPINS--which, I guess if you want to look at the silver-lining, is an extra feature that I didn't pay for!  (sarcasm, people.)  We also only own six normal sized plates, four bowls, four shallower bowls, and six rice bowls.  Add that all together, and it doesn't even begin to touch my cake pan collection.  Maybe we should just be eating out of my pans...

Okay, but really--you ask, where is all of this rambling going?  Here's the point: not only do we live in a house with two stand mixers, over forty cake pans, and one lone spinning frying pan, but we also live in a house with two ice cream machines.  Yes.  This is why we are awesome.  Two ice cream machines means that I can make two flavors at once, without having to wait 24 hours between each batch for the ice cream bowl to freeze properly again.  Two ice cream machines means that, within the space of less than an hour, I can whip out two yum-licious and refreshing flavors of sorbets--kiwi and pineapple--for a tropical party in your mouth.

Before you call me crazy (if you haven't already), I want to defend myself and say that both of these ice cream machines were wonderful gifts from wonderful people--no, I did not go out and buy two ice cream makers.  But anyways, back to the sorbets.  Sorbet-making, it turns out, is a great way to use up vast amounts of fruit that you might happen to have floating around.  I had a whole batch of pineapple puree left over from making pina colada cupcakes, so I added some water and a dash of rum, and voila!--an amazing, fresh, and icy-almost-wannabe-granita pineapple sorbet.  As for the kiwi sorbet, I added a dash of Grand Marnier--not enough to really taste but just enough to enhance the tart sweetness of the kiwifruit.  The kiwi sorbet also turned out awesomely.  The smooth texture is almost exactly like a raw kiwi, studded by crisp little seeds.  For an extra kick, I snuck a bit of finely grated chocolate into the kiwi sorbet at the very end, just to make it ever-so-slightly richer and creamier.  It was like eating summer in the middle of winter!

Anyways, have a wonderful first week of March, everyone! Spring is coming so soon!


Read on for the recipes...

Drunken pear frangipane tart

David Lebovitz beat me to it today with his almond and pear tart post!  Then, the NYTimes Minimalist with this post on upside-down pear cake.  The whole world is going pear crazy, I swear.  (And, to my credit, none of their pears are drunken. :-) )

But with good reason.  Pears are good.  And, I subscribe to the belief that they can cure a sore throat.  So bonus to pears.

Anyways, I was so excited last week when I went to Costco for eggs and discovered boxes of beautiful seckel pears for ridiculously cheap!  These tiny little pears are so cute.  Kind of like what crab-apples are to apples, seckel pears are to pears.  (Yes, I rocked analogies on standardized tests.)  And who can't resist things in miniature?

This past weekend, I finally broke into my pounds of seckel pears.  So tender and sweet and juicy--really, I could just gobble them up as is.  But, no, no.  What would be the fun in that? :-)  So, I busted out the poaching liquid that I'd saved from making poached pears with rosemary pancakes and added a good half bottle of leftover red wine, since there wasn't quite enough liquid, along with some additional spices.  The resulting poached seckel pears were so flavorful and totally drunk with wine.  (Actually, as I was poaching, my roommate claimed she was getting drunk just on the smell of the poaching liquid. :-P)

Drunken seckel pear frangipane tart

The drunken pears were a perfect accent for the almond nuttiness of the filling, the sweet crispiness of the tart crust, and a hint of apricot glaze.  The alcohol came through in a bit of a whisper in the end of each bite, which was perfect.

I took the large, rectangular tart to a workshop for my day job, saving the small round one for personal devourment.  One participant of the workshop said to me afterward--and I quote--:  "You have truly attained proficiency in the grammar of high desserts."

Okay, that really cracked me up.  But it was an appreciated compliment nonetheless.  So, folks, here's the lesson: this tart may not look as pretty as its summer fruit counterparts, but, trust me, it is most definitely yummy.

Read on for recipe...

PotW: Whole wheat pancakes with almond fruit and mascarpone cream

I don't know if anyone else gets this, but sometimes, there are just certain foods that you tend to cook with certain people.  And, for my awesome Icelandic roommate, Maria, and I, it's grilled cheese sandwiches and pancakes.  We've gone through several incarnations of pancakes already, and there's nothing more I look forward to on a Saturday morning than to wake up to the newest version of pancakes that we can think and cook up.  So, I'm starting a new weekly feature here on Desserts for Breakfast: the Pancake of the Week  (aka: PotW), since pancakes are, after all, a dessert.  :-).

[last week's PotW: vanilla pancakes with white peaches, caramelized brown sugar, and ricotta cheese]

This week, we had some leftover almond-berry-stone fruit mix from the night before, so we decided to concoct something that would complement this last hurrah of summer fruits:

Whole wheat pancakes

with summer fruit - almond mix

and almond mascarpone whipped cream

The whole wheat pancakes here aren't very sweet, so they were the perfect accompaniment to the summer fruits and mascarpone whipped cream.  And, the slight almond flavoring in the whipped cream went well with the slivered almonds in the fruit.  All in all, definitely a good send-off of summer fruits... looking forward to fall!

For the recipe, read on.

the CLRF Reception

120 people + early evening reception = a three-table spread of serious food. Yes, everything (with exception of cinnamon twists) was made by me.

A sample of the spread:

Apricot-goat cheese baguettes
Broccolini, wrapped with carrots, with vegetarian oyster sauce
Fruit plate, with cantaloupe, grapes, watermelon
Twists plate: cinnamon twists and garlic-parmesan herb twists
Chocolate and vanilla meringues
Mini fruit tarts
White/dark chocolate-dipped, tuxedo-ed strawberries

Not pictured above:
Mozzarella, artichoke, cherry tomato skewers
Cheese plate
Red bell pepper hummus + pita
Baba ganoush + pita
Tzatziki + pita
Buffalo shrimp with celery and blue cheese dip
kalamata olives + pimenton-salted almonds

Strawberries were harmed in the making of this....

Strawberry cheesecake,
with strawberry syrup made from lots! of crushed strawberries
(for Richard's birthday)

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's tradition for me to make two things at Valentine's Day: tuxedoed strawberries and a fruit tart. Here's my fruit tart from this past year: vanilla custard tart with fruit and passion fruit syrup.