Roasted tomato soup with pesto

I haven’t been to the movies since “Hugo”, but I did watch a fantastic movie at home, “No Country for Old Men”: to me the Coen brothers are an acquired taste – they’re like anchovies, you’ll learn to love them eventually; I don’t like “Fargo” but love “The Man Who Wasn’t There”, “O Brother, Where Art Thou” and “True Grit”, therefore I decided it was about time I watched “No Country for Old Men” – that movie proves that a great plot can lock the viewer in their seat (I wouldn’t have left the room for nothing in this world!) and that the good old formula of good script, director and cast still is unbeatable. It’s the second amazing movie I've watched based on Cormac McCarthy’s books – the other being “The Road”; I think it’s time I read some of his work, too.

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Most people I know love summer days but to me 30°C/86°F (or over) days are dreadful – sleeping gets difficult, exercising is even worse, I feel dizzy and tired. That is why I hope the fall temperatures arrive soon around here, and I even made some soup to celebrate the new season, enjoying the last tomatoes at the same time (I still want to make a tomato tarte tatin). Though not pictured, I served the soup with Barbara Lynch’s irresistible crispy grilled cheese – those of you who have tried it know what I mean. :)

Roasted tomato soup with pesto
adapted from two delicious books: Fresh from the Market and From Season to Season (mine was bought here)

700g ripe Italian tomatoes (about 6 large tomatoes)
2-3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
5-6 fresh thyme sprigs
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ large onion, finely chopped
1 fat garlic clove, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon sugar
1-2 tablespoons pesto sauce

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a roasting pan – one that holds all the tomatoes – with foil.
Halve the tomatoes lengthwise and place them, cut side up, into the prepared pan. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and the thyme sprigs. Roast for 45-50 minutes or until tomatoes are soft. Set aside until cool enough to be handled.
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Meanwhile, using a spoon, remove the seeds from the tomatoes. Roughly chop them and add to the saucepan, along with the sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes are even softer and heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a mixer and purée until smooth (be careful because you are dealing with hot liquid) – add a little water if necessary. Divide into serving bowls, top with some pesto and serve.

Serves 2

Tangerine-poppy seed chiffon cake

Up until a couple of weekends ago the only chiffon cakes I’d baked were layer cakes: they were delicious and perfect for birthday celebrations, but I wanted to make one of those tall, elegant chiffon cakes (baked in tube pans) I’d seen on some cookbooks and blogs. I chose this recipe because I love tangerines and the idea of a cake made with them sounded very refreshing, exactly what that very warm Saturday called for. The cake turned out fine – there was a bit of swearing during the unmolding moments, but nothing serious – and eating it felt like biting a cloud (not that I have ever bitten a cloud, but you get the picture), but unfortunately the tangerine flavor was too mild – maybe because I did not add the tangerine oil, I don’t know. Therefore, I have suggestion for you: make this cake using lemons or limes instead and go wild with the zest – I promise you I’m not being biased (at least not this time). :D

Tangerine-poppy seed chiffon cake
from the great The Art and Soul of Baking

Cake:
1¾ cups (210g) cake flour*
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons (176g), plus ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup poppy seeds (optional)
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons flavorless vegetable oil
6 large eggs, separated
finely grated zest of 2 large tangerines
½ cup (120ml) strained freshly squeezed tangerine juice
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon pure tangerine oil**
¾ teaspoon cream of tartar

Icing:
1 ½ cups (210g) confectioners' sugar
1½ -2 tablespoons strained freshly squeezed tangerine juice
1/8 teaspoon pure tangerine oil**

Preheat the oven to 165°C/325°F. Have ready an ungreased 25cm (10in) tube pan with a removable bottom (I once made an angel food cake with a regular tube pan and it worked out fine – I just placed a ring of baking paper in the bottom of the pan).
Make the cake: sift the cake flour, the 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons (176g) granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt into the large bowl. Add the poppy seeds and whisk to blend. Make a well in the center and pour in the oil, egg yolks, tangerine zest and juice, vanilla extract, and tangerine oil. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is very smooth. Set aside.
Make sure your whisk attachment (or beaters) and your mixing bowl are scrupulously clean. In the bowl of the stand mixer, whip the egg whites on medium just until frothy. You can also use a hand mixer and a medium bowl. Add the cream of tartar and whip on medium-high until soft peaks form. With the mixer on medium, slowly add the remaining ¼ cup (50g) of granulated sugar and whip until the whites hold very firm peaks. (This cake requires stiff egg whites for its height and open texture, so don't be afraid to beat a few seconds longer than you normally would for firm peaks.) To check for firm peaks, with a spoon scoop bowl when the spoon was lifted should hold their shape.
Use the spatula to gently stir a mound of beaten whites into the bowl of batter. This step slightly lightens and loosens the mixture, making it easier to fold in the remaining whites without deflating them. Scrape the remaining egg whites into the bowl and gently but thoroughly fold them into the batter until no streaks of egg whites remain.
Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the cake has risen, the top is lightly golden and feels firm to the touch, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Immediately invert the pan onto its feet or over the wine or soda bottle***. Allow to cool completely, at least 2 hours.
Invert the cake so it is right side up. Run the thin, flexible knife or spatula around the edges to loosen it from the pan. As you do this, gently press the knife into the side of the pan to avoid gouging the cake. Push the removable bottom upward to free the cake from the side. Run the same knife around the inside tube and along the bottom of the cake, if necessary, to finish loosening it. Place a plate on top of the cake and invert, removing the cake from the pan, then invert it again to set it right side up.

Make the icing: sift the confectioners' sugar into the medium bowl. Whisk in the tangerine juice and tangerine oil until the mixture is very smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake.

The cake will keep well at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap or under a cake dome, for several days. Once cut, press a piece of plastic wrap firmly against the cut surfaces to help keep it fresh

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

** I did not use the tangerine oil (I’ve never seen it here in Brazil) that could be the reason why the tangerine flavor in the cake and the icing wasn’t strong enough

*** I could not find a bottle that fit into the tube of my pan, so I inverted it onto a cooling rack

Serves 10-12

Coconut custard bars + the unforgettable "Hugo"

I don’t have kids, but I imagine that if I did I would love to cook and bake for them, because I already do that with lots of joy for the people I love and care about – I guess it’s a way of expressing my feelings. Maybe people like doing things they love for the ones they love. And why am I telling you all this, you might ask? Well, because that crossed my mind when I left the theater a couple of nights ago, after watching the fantastic “Hugo” – that was Scorsese’s way of expressing his love for his daughter: doing what he does best, what he loves to do for someone he loves. Some people say “I love/like you”, some bake cakes, and others make movies. :)

As I sat on my chair and started enjoying my popcorn, several kids entered the theater and sat down, too, waiting for the film to start. That is not something I see very often, given the sort of movies I usually watch. Fifteen minutes into the film and I thought to myself, “are these kids lucky or what?”, because as a child I did not have the opportunity to see something so strikingly beautiful, so perfectly made – actually, to be honest, even as an adult I haven’t seen many movies as beautiful as “Hugo”. I was mesmerized by the images, the colors, the sounds – I was in Paris. Asa Butterfly and his big blue eyes (which remind me of Elijah Wood’s) won my heart completely – he made me cry like a baby and by the end of the movie I wanted to take the kid home with me. I know Scorsese is a very gifted director and has the ability of improving just about anyone’s performance, but I never imagined he’d be so good at directing kids. On the other side, for each tear I shed there was lots of laughter with Sacha Baron Cohen – I thought he was delightful to watch, funny and adorable, which, to me, is Scorsese’s touch again (those of you who have watched Cohen’s previous performances might agree with me).

I wish I could tell you more about “Hugo” but I loved it so much and it moved me in such way that I sort of got speechless – this 33-year-old won’t be forgetting Martin Scorsese’s “kid’s movie”. Ever.

Coconut custard bars
slightly adapted from the wonderful The Good Cookie

Crust:
1 1/3 cups (186g) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and chopped into 1cm (½in) cubes
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons cold water
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 cup (240ml) unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 cup (100g) sweetened shredded coconut

Make the crust: preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 22cm (9in) square pan*.
Place flour, sugar, salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until blended. Scatter butter pieces over the flour mixture and process until mixture resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk, water and vanilla. With food processor running, add yolk mixture through the feed tube and process just until the dough begins to come together in large clumps. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and, using your fingers, pat it evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake crust until golden, 20-25 minutes. Transfer the pan to wire rack and cool completely. Leave the oven on.
In medium bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolk, and granulated sugar until blended. Slowly whisk in the coconut milk. Whisk in the vanilla, rum and flour and salt.
Sprinkle the coconut evenly over the cooled crust. Pour the filling through a fine sieve over the coconut, covering the crust completely. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until filling is set and the edges are golden brown. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Using sharp knife, cut into bars.

* I made the exact recipe above using a 20cm (8in) square pan; since it has a removable bottom it was easy to unmold and cut the bars

Makes 12

Cinnamon and cardamom buns

I usually feel the urge to bake yeasted breads when there is no time at all for that – go figure. And this time, to make things even more difficult I felt like baking a very specific type of bread: I wanted it to look good (I’m a complicated human being, my friends, I’ll admit to that). There was an amazing recipe using bananas in one of my current favorite cookbooks, but I would not have the time to defrost the bananas in my freezer. That was when I remembered Tessa Kiros’ gorgeous buns, and to make things even better they were filled with a butter, cinnamon and sugar combo, a.k.a. “the irresistible combo”.

Don’t the buns look beautiful? And I can guarantee you that they might look difficult to shape, but they’re not.

Cinnamon and cardamom buns
slightly adapted from the glorious Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes

Dough:
1 cup (240ml) lukewarm whole milk
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
10g dried yeast
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom
½ teaspoon salt
5 cups (700g) all-purpose flour, more if necessary

Cinnamon butter:
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar + 1 tablespoon for sprinkling
5 ½ tablespoons (77g) unsalted butter, very soft
1 egg, lightly beaten, for brushing

Put the milk, sugar and yeast in the large bowl of a stand mixer and whisk with a fork. Let stand for 5-7 minutes, or until the yeast begins to activate. Add the egg, butter, cardamom, and salt and mix in low speed with the hook attachment. Gradually add the flour, then mix until smooth and elastic, 5-7 minutes – you can knead by hand if you wish. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel and leave in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
Cinnamon butter: in a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Divide the butter into four portions and set aside.

Put the dough on a floured work surface and divide it into four portions. Begin with one portion, covering the others with the kitchen towel so they don’t dry out. Using a rolling pin, roll out a rectangle, roughly about 30x25cm (12x10in) and 3mm (1/8in) thick. Evenly spread one portion of butter over the surface of the dough with a spatula or blunt knife. Sprinkle with ¼ of the cinnamon mixture. Roll up to make a long dough sausage. Set aside while you finish rolling out and buttering the rest of the dough, so that you can cut them all together.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Line up the dough sausages in front of you and cut them slightly on the diagonal, alternating up and down, so that the slices are fat V shapes, with the point of the V about 2cm (¾in) and the base about 5cm (2in). Turn them so they are all the right way up, sitting on their fatter bases. Press down on the center of each one with two fingers, until you think you will almost go through to your work surface. Along the sides you will see the cinnamon stripes oozing outward. Put the buns on the baking sheet, 5cm (2in) apart. Brush lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle a little sugar over the top. Let the buns rise for 30 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180/C/350°F.
Bake them for 20-25 minutes, or until they are golden. Check that they are lightly golden underneath as well before you take them out of the oven. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature and, when they are cool, keep them in an airtight container so they don’t harden.

Makes about 35 buns – I halved the recipe and got 15

Oatmeal biscotti

And the biscotti saga continues: these, packed with oats, pecans and apricots have a healthy feel and taste delicious. A couple more great things: they last a month (not that I think they will, but...), travel well and are wonderful as snacks between meals, but... As much as I hate to admit it, I think it will be really hard to find one biscotti recipe that can top the caramelized-pecan orange ones. Well, I don’t mind keeping on testing new recipes to find that out. :D

Oatmeal biscotti
from the amazing The Craft of Baking: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets with Ideas for Inventing Your Own

1 cup (115g) old-fashioned rolled oats
1 ¾ cups (245g) all purpose flour
¾ cup (131g) light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
¼ cup (60ml) dark molasses
2 tablespoons canola oil
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (82g) pecans, lightly toasted, cooled and roughly chopped
¾ cup dried apricots, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Place ½ cup of the oats in a food processor and process until finely ground. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment whisk together the oat flour, remaining ½ cup oats, all purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, molasses, oil and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed slowly add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix until combined. Mix in the pecans and apricots – dough will be stiff.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Shape each portion into a 40x5cm (16x2in) log and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet, 7.5cm (3in) apart. Bake until the logs are golden and firm to touch, about 30 minutes. Transfer the logs, still on the parchment paper, to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C/300°F and line two baking sheets with baking paper.
With a serrated knife, slice the logs on the diagonal into 8mm (1/3in) thick slices. Place the biscotti slices onto the prepared sheets 2.5cm (1in) apart and bake until they are dry and firm to touch, about 40 minutes. Cool completely on the sheets over a wire rack.
Biscotti can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

Makes about 3 dozen