NY Anything - It's a New York thing

9/30/2005

開心果義大利脆餅 (Pistachio Biscotti)

Biscotti 的中文我找了好久, 有的叫義大利咖啡脆餅, 有的叫烤兩次的脆餅, 有的叫義大利脆餅, 其實現在你說 biscotti, 很多人都知道它是一種餅乾, 通常是香香脆脆, 長條狀的, 適合拿來沾咖啡吃, 有時想想, 似乎是和油條配豆漿是一樣的吃法.

以前常常做 biscotti, 但總是失敗, 有時太圓胖, 有時太細長, 大部分都是太扁平, 真是傷透了腦筋! 有一天不知在哪本雜誌意外讀到, 為了要做出完美 biscotti, 必須將麵糰稱重, 每個麵糰是 12 盎司, 也就是 336 公克, 然後再將麵糰整型和標準的考盤長邊一樣長. 如此一來, 不管你的食譜份量是如何, 也能做出超完美的 biscotti.

Recipe from Craft of Cooking by Tom Colicchio.

Biscotti means "twice baked" and it's very crunchy and made to dip into coffee or wine. I have been making this delicious and very popular cookie from time to time, but the first few times, the biscotti either came out too big, too small, or too flat.

After these failures, I found out from a magazine that you need to weight the dough to 12 oz. per log, and stretch the dough into the length of regular baking pan. This way, each log of the biscotti will be the same, so you will have very uniformed cookies.

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9/23/2005

藍莓鬆糕 (Blueberry Muffin)

早餐的咖啡怎麼可以沒有好吃的藍莓鬆糕呢?

鬆糕是很常見的點心, 口味上的變化很多, 而且也並不難做, 可以說是自己動手做甜點的第一堂課.

告訴大家一個小小的訣竅:當製作好麵糊準備加入藍莓時, 先將 1/4 的藍莓混入麵糊中攪拌, 所以藍莓會稍微被擠壓出汁, 然後將剩下的藍莓加入一大匙的麵粉, 輕輕的讓藍莓包裹著一層薄薄的麵粉, 再小心拌入麵糊中, 這樣的話, 藍莓就不會都沉到鬆糕裏, 而會平均分散在鬆糕中. 如何? 手癢了吧? 趕緊動手試試嘍!

What a sunny morning! Breakfast is great with a cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin, a moist, light and not so sweet muffin bake with fresh blueberry.

The tip of making beautiful blueberry muffin is fold 1/ 4 of the blueberries into the batter, then mix the rest of berries with 1 tablespoon of flour, so the blueberry will distribute evenly in the muffin. You should give it a try!

Recipe from "How To Bake" by Nick Malgiere.

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9/16/2005

麗克塔起司抹醬 (Ricotta Cheese Spread)

怎樣才可以做出低脂又美味的起司抹醬呢? 吃起來要有像奶油抹醬般的滑順口感, 也要同時兼顧健康的因素, 要清淡些, 其實訣竅就在於用麗克塔起司代替少許的奶油起司. 做法如下:

  1. 再要製作抹醬的前一天, 先將麗克塔起司用紗布或廚房紙巾和濾網盛著, 放入冰箱隔夜, 讓多餘的水分流出.

  2. 在容器中加入一比二的麗克塔起司和奶油起司(最好是室溫)均勻混合. 加入自己喜歡的配料. 在照片中, 我是使用切碎的九層塔、巴西利和細香蔥. 不要忘了要加入適量的鹽和黑胡椒調味.

  3. 口味上的變化可以有很多, 鹹的甜的, 隨你自己喜歡.


What can we do to make those cheese spread lighter and creamier, also low in fat? The answer is using some ricotta cheese instead of usual all cream cheese. The cream cheese spread we see at the supermarket is delicious, but with high calories and fat. If you want to make this low-fat spread, here is how:

  1. Drain the ricotta cheese the night before you are making the spread, with two layers of cheesecloth or paper towel on a strainer, and keep it in the frig to let it drain.

  2. Mix 2 part of drained ricotta cheese and 1 part of room temperature cream cheese in a bowl, and add the flavors you prefer. For example, some minced basil, parsley, and chives at the picture here. Don’t forget to add salt and pepper to taste.

  3. The flavor of this spread could be endless, use your imagination to create something just for your family and yourself!

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9/09/2005

用處多多的燉香橙 (Stewed Orange)

只要住過美國一陣子的人都知道, 不論你住在哪一州, 一年四季超市的水果永遠都是蘋果、香蕉和柳橙, 無趣透了. 然而柳橙在甜點製作的時候, 卻是很好發揮的材料之一. 只要加上砂糖和水燉煮, 就成了這又香又美又好用的燉香橙.

燉香橙的使用方式:

  1. 作為甜點的裝飾, 例如:放在戚風蛋糕或香草奶酪上.

  2. 作為甜點的盤飾, 以增加美感和口感.

  3. 將其切碎作為蛋糕或蛋糕捲的內餡.

  4. 將其一層一層放入奶油磅蛋糕中再烘培, 可以讓蛋糕更鬆軟濕潤.


不知你還有沒有更好的點子呢?Orange is a very common fruit in the States. So what can we do with orange, sugar and water? Using cooking method–stew some orange slices doesn't sound very attractive, but it is a very good way to go, if orange is the only fruit you have handy for making a dessert.

For example, put the stewed orange slice as a garnish on the top of a chiffon cake, or vanilla panna cotta. Use it as a plate decoration for its color and flavor, chop it fine and make it as a spread for filling the sponge cake or roll, or even layer it into pound cakes to make it more moist. Tt's that versatile.

Enjoy, maybe you can create some amazing desserts from this!

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9/02/2005

無花果杏仁塔 (Fig Almond Tart)

無花果可以說是我最喜歡的一種水果, 飽滿水滴的討喜外型, 神秘黑色的薄皮加上溫潤多汁的果實, 真是讓我打從心裡喜歡. 每到無花果盛產的季節, 各家餐廳的大廚都不約而同的選它為最紅的當季食材.

位於 SoHo 的 Balthazar Bakery 是有名的甜點店, 無意中發現的無花果杏仁塔, 令我不禁深刻的感受到住在紐約的幸福. 鬆脆的塔皮, 充滿濃濃奶油香, 盛著將蛋白打發後再加入杏仁醬 ( Almond Cream ) 裡的餡料, 使得原本厚重紮實的杏仁醬變的輕盈許多, 最後擺上刷了果膠的正熟無花果, 這道塔點可以說是完美無缺.

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