On Claymation, Locally-Baked Goods, Kitchen Toys, Arroz con Pollo, and Yogurt Cake

Before the catch-up, the day's events:

• After watching a matinée showing of the hilarious, excellent Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Ware-Rabbit, we walked to Williams-Sonoma, conveniently located one block east of the movie theater. I snapped up the jar of butternut squash purée I had come for (I'm planning to make one of three recipes for butternut squash soup tomorrow -- the dilemma!), a pretty wooden-handled utilitarian metal whisk, and a red silicone spatula. While there, we also got to sample mini pumpkin pancakes (the size of blinis) dolloped with a W&S-brand pumpkin spread, maple syrup, and cream cheese paste prepared in the store's demo kitchen. Results were yummy. Had serious thoughts of adding the pumpkin dough mix and spread to my purchases, then chastised myself for falling for gimmickry and lazy ready-mixes. Maybe next weekend.


• Sunday is farmer's market day on Lincoln Road, so the entire strip was lined with stands selling local produce, flowers, bread, honey, nuts, and the like. Brad can get a little impatient with stand-browsing, so we usually limit ourselves to looking at the goods on our way home or to a particular store or restaurant, as the case may be. But today an unfamiliar table loaded with towers of gigantic cookies and smartly-arrayed pastries caught my eye, and we just had to stop for a chat and some munchies. Apparently the goods are the products of the recently resurrected Blu Dog Bakery, which, up until just a few months ago, occupied a small storefront somewhere around 5th and Washington. They went out of business before I was able to sample their baked goods, but after tasting their ridiculously-proportioned chocolate-chocolate chip cookie pie, I am ever so glad they're back in action.


That mound of chocolate goodness is about one-third of the actual size of the chocolate chocolate-chip cookie, which is possibly one of the best cookies I've ever tasted. It's covered by a thin, flaky crust, with the meltiest, softest dough inside. The pastry in the foreground is a raspberry-cheese danish topped with almonds, which I'm saving for breakfast.

So those were today's food-related events. Lunch and dinner (which we affectionally termed "linner," as one meal comprised both) came courtesy of the best pizza in Miami, located at Spris on Lincoln Road, home of the skinniest, flakiest pizza crust anywhere. Mine was arugula, mozzarella, and bresaola (delicious Italian cured beef, similar to Spanish Serrano ham or a sturdier Italian prosciutto) with parmesan shavings, and Brad's was chicken, goat cheese, mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, spinach, and basil. Our weekly guilty pleasure.

Actually, there was a guilty pleasure yesterday, too. In the early afternoon, we hopped the bus Downtown and then took the MetroRail to Sunset Place shops in South Miami, a large shopping center featuring movie theaters, a Virgin megastore, and a Barnes & Noble -- large-scale shopping such as you don't see, due to restrictive commercial zoning laws, on South Beach. We spent most of our time at Barnes & Noble, where I acquired the November 2005 issue of my newfound favorite food magazine, Fine Cooking, and about five other gastronomically-themed publications. I'm out of control. Then we decided to eschew the tacky, overpriced, tourist-trappy mall eateries (hello, Don Shula's Grill), and decided to check out a tiny Japanese restaurant accross the street. It turned out to be a fortuitous choice: the food was absolutely delicious, the presentation impeccable, and the service lovely. It's a family-owned business, and it shows: the owner herself, a gracious middle-aged woman, offered us the check at the end of our meal and stopped to ask about our dining experience and answer our questions. For the record, I had an appetizer of ragoon (fried crescent-shaped dumplings filled with cream cheese, crab, and smoked salmon) and a volcano roll (a pyramid of crab, avocado, and cucumber rolls covered with small scallops and a spicy eel-mayonnaise sauce), all washed down with a Sapporo. Brad had a salmon roll wrapped in paper-thin cucumber strips and a standout chicken teriyaki platter, accompanied by a Kirin. I recommend the Japanese Palace highly, if you're in the neighborhood. I believe they also cater.

As for my cooking escapades of the past week, I suppose there were two noteworthy enough to write about:

• This yogurt-based cake. It is the perfect accompaniment for one's morning coffee, afternoon snack, or, in my case, hearty dinner. See, I don't know if it's the extra-virgin olive oil I used in the recipe, or that I should have reduced the amount, but my gâteau had a distinctive flavor of olive to it. My mom, who sampled the cake, said she loved it, that it reminded her of a typical bizcocho from Mallorca heavy on the olive oil. (My mom, who attended a French school in Barcelona, remembered fondly that she used to make this cake as a kid, and promptly asked me for the recipe. Thanks again, Chocolate and Zucchini! My mom is your newest fan!) I think the next time I make it, I'm going to add a bit more vanilla and rum, and considerably scale down the olive oil. As it is, the cake was a fantastic addition to . . .

• . . . the arroz con pollo (literally "rice with chicken") recipe I pilfered from the Fine Cooking website's recipe archive. This is a traditionally Cuban and Central American dish, and, since I do live in the Latin American outpost of Miami, I figured it was time I learn to make this comfort food staple. Plus, this recipe -- although compiled, presumably, by an American food writer named Sarah Jay -- seems pretty true to form. Anyway, I used chicken drumsticks, spicy turkey sausage, and Rolling Rock beer in my incarnation of this arroz con pollo. It was delicious and flavorful, but rather than the indicated 2-1/4 cups of water, I strongly, strongly recommend you use chicken stock or broth instead, as a basal touch of salty depth would have made the dish. But yes, it was delicious, substantial, and surprisingly easy to make. This is one even my boyfriend (!) asked to add to the repertoire.

So there you have it. Another week in review. As a sidenote, the soundtrack of late is Brian Wilson's newly-released Smile, the absolutely brilliant album he waited 35 years to record. Also, I just finished reading a kids' short story collection published by McSweeney's (of Dave Eggers fame) and benefiting 826 Valencia, featuring stories by Nick Hornby, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Neil Gaiman. Last week, in several short commute-induced gulps, I read Michael Chabon's new book, The Final Solution, wisp-short yet completely satisfying. I devoured it. Further proof of this man's utter genius and joie de words.

Ok, it's well past two in the morning, and in case you couldn't tell, I'm starting not to make much sense. So, in the spirit of Mr. Chabon's latest, I'll leave you in suspense with the following cliffhangers:

- Which of three butternut squash soups will Sylvia decide to use tomorrow: generic, cider-spiked Barefoot Contessa, or heavy-cream-and-apple?

- Will she succeed in her quest for the elusive Baking Pumpkin?

- And, if said Pumpkin is not to be found . . . what will be done with the two pounds of sausage in her fridge?

Sigh.

Recent culinary experiments & goings-on:

• Tonight, made a ground turkey adaptation of the Argentine-style burger featured in the September 2005 issue of Fine Cooking. Improvised a chunky, spicy salsa as an accompaniment out of diced cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, a jalapeño pepper, and fresh cilantro, all drizzled with olive oil, white wine and balsamic vinegars, the juice of half a lemon (I am more partial to lemon than lime, in general), and a pinch of salt. Served the burger on a piece of grilled wheat toast covered with a slice of pepperjack cheese. We also munched on some vegetable crisps. Delicious, and yielded four burgers, so dinner tomorrow's a non-issue.

• Bought a small, handsome colander to use as a flour sifter. Was planning on using it for a couple of banana-cranberry loaves which have yet to materialize. Right now, my multitasking colander is keeping the potato peeler, vegetable brush, and other neglected cooking tools company inside a kitchen drawer.

• Made quesadillas based on another recipe from the September 2005 issue of Fine Cooking, which is fast-becoming my culinary bible. This particular recipe called for a prosciutto, jalapeño, and mozzarella filling, but since Brad is a little skeptical of unfamiliar cold cuts, I whipped up a fast chicken version for him. Marinated the chicken in olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper, Emeril's Chicken Rub (hey, it works -- I'm not ashamed), and Cholula hot sauce for about a half hour. Stuffed the fillings into folded-over whole-wheat tortillas and grilled with a dab of butter in a small frying pan. Coupled with mixed greens tossed in balsamic vinaigrette. My recipe tester gobbled up his three chicken quesadillas. Success.

• Made chili. (Is it obvious that I live with a Texan?) My best yet, and shunning those awful 99¢ McCormick chili-spice packets. In a deep saucepan simmered onion, garlic, red pepper, about one pound of ground turkey, cumin, coriander, chili powder, two large diced beefsteak tomatoes, a couple of teaspoons of tomato paste, salt, pepper, and a dab or two of balsamic vinegar for 25 minutes. Added a can of rinsed, drained red kidney beans and cooked for another 5 minutes. Sprinkled with pepperjack cheese, served with toasted wheat flatbread (mmmmmm...) and a side salad.

• Discovered store-bought Cantare olive tapenade makes an incredibly tasty, moist, and textury sandwich spread as an alternative to spicy mustard. It dressed my turkey lunch break sandwiches every day this past week.

• Somehow willed the Travel Channel (Tony Bourdain!) and the Food Network (FOOD NETWORK!!!) to appear on my television through my cable box. I will not ask any questions, and I will reap the benefits as long as the gastronomy gods see fit.