Recipe: Last-Minute Griddle Cakes

Sometimes I wake up on a Sunday morning with every intention of doing all the things one is supposed to do to be a member of the Responsible Grown-ups Club. I'll get to a great start - brushing my teeth and cooking eggs and making my bed. Sometimes, though - as with this last Sunday - my carefully laid plans will be interrupted - in this case, by an 11:30 ping on my phone: "brunch at noon! bring something to share!"

It only took me 2.8 seconds to decide that homemade food with friends was an infinitely better plan for the day than anything else I had on my list (showering and paying bills, for example). I let my fried eggs get cold in favor of scrapping together some last-minute baked (well, griddled) goodness. 

Luckily, brunch items are some of the easiest to throw together. Scones are my personal favorite, but having just discovered the amazing fact that my stove has a large built in grill (!!) and eager to test it out, I turned to a recipe that uses a scone-like dough but cooks it on a grill. I'm excited to report that the grill heated up super evenly and made for perfect little wholesome cakes that cooked up in a flash and were still warm when I arrived at brunch exactly 30 minutes later.

Notes: Like scones, these are infinitely adaptable. Try cardamom and dried apricots, some lemon zest and poppy seeds, or bacon and cheddar as mix-ins.

Whole Grain Welsh Griddle Cakes

(Adapted slightly from food52.com)

In a large bowl, combine one cup all purpose flour with one cup spelt or whole wheat flour (I'm a huge fan of this brand which supplies sprouted whole grain flours that make tummies happy). Add 1/4-1/2 cup sugar (I like things less sweet), 2 tsp baking powder, a large pinch of salt, and a few shakes each of cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk to blend.

Cut 4 tbs cold diced butter and 4 tbs cold lard (or 8 tbs butter if you don't love lard as I do) into the dry mixture using a pastry cutter or your deft hands. Add a half cup dried fruit (currants, apricots, or cherries would be great) and the zest of one lemon. Stir in one beaten egg and enough whole milk to make the dough come together (about 1/4 cup). 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a few times to ensure it sticks together. Roll it out until it's about a quarter inch thick and use a cookie cutter or water glass to cut it into tennis-ball-width rounds.

If you're a lucky duck like me with a griddle, heat it to 350° F. Otherwise, heat a heavy skillet over medium low. Add a little butter or lard to the surface and cook the cakes 3-5 minutes on each side or until dark golden brown. Remove and eat right away, burning your mouth with deliciousness, or wrap loosely in a towel and quickly ride across town to deliver to your hungry friends. 

Event Highlights: Holiday Dinner with Pley

Mung bean hummus (left) and beet caviar

Malcolm presides over the half-set table

A few shots from my dinner with Pley last Saturday. I fed 24 of their employees at my home - such a fun group!

Christmas Bounty

The menu from last night's Christmas party.

Sweets For Your Sweets

Looking for a sweet gift? I'm selling my homemade caramels and cookies again this year.

I use only organic butter and cream from happy cows and organic flour and sugar in my treats. I regret to inform you that this does NOT reduce the calorie count.

Each parcel of goodies will be carefully wrapped and packaged in a pretty box (see last year's in the photo below) so that you can be proud to give it as a gift to someone you love. Boxes will be delivered by foot or postman within 10 days. Shipping is extra.

Take a look at the menu and send me orders at 7SSupperClub@gmail.com by December 15th. I'm also happy to take custom orders as well as special orders for pies/cakes/cookies.

---

Caramels

Fleur de Sel
Honey + Nut + Thyme
Apple Cider
Spiced Mexican Chocolate

Brittle

CoCoCaCa Brittle (Coconut, Cashew & Cardamom)
Sesame Almond Ginger Brittle

Shortbread

Lavender Lemon
Chocolate-dipped
Pistachio + Rose

Small boxes come with either one flavor of your choice OR a surprise combo. Large boxes contain up to two types of your choice OR a surprise combo.

Small Box - 12 pieces - $15
Large box - 24 pieces - $25

 

Signed, 

Sophie "Caramel" Speer

Shares on a Tear: MSNBC visits 7S Supper Club

It appears the mainstream media are finally trying to catch the sharing economy train. MSNBC dropped by one of my dinners a few month ago - here's the final cut.

(Non) Recipe: How to make shortbread without a recipe

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Yours in 20 minutes - spelt and whole wheat shortbread with cumin, lemon zest, and himalayan sea salt

I have the bad habit of alienating non-cooks who compliment my food by exclaiming things like "it's so easy to make! You just make a choux paste, and you'll need some piping bags, but after that blah blah..." at which point they either feel put to shame or their eyes have turned into glacé cherries in disinterest. Social grace, where art thou?

But shortbread! It really is very easy. I mean, really. I swear. If a friend says he's dropping by in 30 minutes, you can blithely say "ok, I'll make some cookies!" and mean it because it's 1) super likely you have all the ingredients and 2) easy to scale up or down (if you just wanted 4 cookies you could do that!) and 3) they only take 20 minutes - total. Here, I've broken it down into a simple ratio that you can memorize and apply to whatever you have on hand:

Ratios:

• 1 part sugar/sweetener
• 2 parts butter - room temperature
• 4 parts flour
• salt to taste (more if butter is unsalted)
• flavorings/spices

By flour, I mean any type of flour! Whole wheat, spelt, pastry - a blend of any of these - all will taste great. There are two exceptions: almond flour, which is a great GF alternative but will only need half as much butter, and bread flour, which will make a tough cookie and should be avoided. 

By sugar, I mean any sweetener - white sugar, brown sugar, sucanat, powdered sugar (which make for extra delicate cookies), or even honey will work. 

By butter, I mean any fat that's solid at room temperature: salted butter (use less salt), unsalted, lard, duck fat, or coconut oil.

By flavorings, I mean any assortment of the following (which is by no means an exhaustive list): vanilla, almond, or lemon extract, citrus zest, lavender, cinnamon, nutmeg, rosemary, sage, black pepper, chopped nuts - either folded in to the dough with the flour or sprinkled on top of the cookies before baking.

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350.

In a big bowl, cream butter, sugar, and any wet add-ins. Really cream them. Cream them like you're a sixth grader who wants their 4th-grade lunch. The more you whip them, the lighter your cookies will be.

In a smaller bowl, combine flour, salt, and any dry add-ins. Slowly incorporate into wet ingredients, stirring only enough to combine. Don't overwork the dough! If you have a flour sifter, you can use it here - it will make your cookie extra tender.

With a gentle touch, gather the dough in the bowl until it's all one mass and set on a floured surface. Roll out to a cylinder as fat as you want your cookies wide.

If the dough's too soft to handle, wrap the cylinder and stick it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up.

Slice the dough into thin (1/2 in) slices and arrange on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with any additional toppings and bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Good People

Guests from my September dinner. From as far as Brazil and as close as down the street...a wonderful group!

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast (backpacking recipe)

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Bound to get you movin' ...

Oatmeal! It's the gloppiest. When it's bad, it's so bad. 

The following is my way to make it not bad, even when it's instant oatmeal and you're out in the middle of nowhere with no fresh fruit or pats of butter to smear it with.

I developed this "recipe" (if you can call it that) to feed our group breakfast on a short backpacking trip last weekend (see: previous post). 22 miles of undulating terrain under the weight of heavy packs calls for some serious sustenance that's (in order of priority) lightweight, instant (just add water), filling, and delicious. 

I'm not much of a breakfast person (too lazy - toast is about as far as I go), but when I got home I had some leftovers of this stuff. I ate it every day this week (making more when I ran out) because - seriously - it's like rocket fuel. It's in no way low-calorie, but it's instant, delicious, and will get you through the day (whether you're hiking 10 miles or just have back-to-back meetings until 3pm). 

Rocket Fuel Oatmeal

(serves four, or one over four days!)

• 2 cups instant oatmeal
• 1/2c hemp hearts
• 1/4c dehydrated milk powder
• 1/4c coconut butter (if you can't find it, use coconut oil)
• 1/4c dried sour cherries (or other dried fruit)
• 1 scant tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon or ginger (optional)

Optional toppings: brown sugar, cacao nibs, roasted almonds, granola, fresh fruit

Instructions:

Melt your coconut butter or oil in the microwave or on the stovetop until liquid.

If you're backpacking, combine all non-topping ingredients in a ziploc gallon bag and shake. If you're pre-making breakfasts for home, combine ingredients in a bowl and portion into ziplocs (less eco-friendly) or small Tupperware containers. 

When you're ready to eat, mix oatmeal and boiling water in about equal parts and let sit for at least 5 minutes. Add toppings and enjoy!

Note: I like my oatmeal unsweetened except for fruit and love the textural contrast of topping it with crunchy granola. Try it.

Relaxing in the hot pools before hitting the trail again

October Menu

Photo courtesy of Seth Minard

Last weekend marked the fall equinox, which I spent hiking to Sykes Hot Springs in Big Sur. On mile 10 of the 11-mile hike back, we noted that the silty black trail had been scattered with a layer of golden and ochre leaves. Their smell instantly recalled Halloweens and hay rides past and I got a little goofy with joy. 

We don't get a whole lot of fall leaves in San Francisco (sadly), so we'll have to mark its presence by eating its fruits instead. Here's the menu I put together accordingly for my next Supper Club:

____

7S SUPPER CLUB MENU

October 2nd, 2014, 7pm

____

seasonal salad

pear // jicama // sesame crackle // cilantro oil

​​

silverdollar socca

homemade yogurt // smoky roasted root veggies // lemon caper dressing

​​

lamb shank braised w. mint & mustard

Jerusalem artichoke & cauliflower puree // herbed beets

lemon verbena semifreddo

huckleberries // coconut brittle

This meal is gluten free and a vegetarian option is available. Wine will be plentiful but more is always welcome. Seat can be purchased here and if you bring a friend or partner they're half off (just use the code "sykes").

Hope to see you there,

-Sophie

Recipe: The Last of the Gazpachos

Life in San Francisco sure does screw up one's sense of the seasons - so much so that I hosted a Supper Club celebrating the beginning of summer...

...a week after Labor Day.

It's consistently sunny and warm these days (as compared to August, when I had the foggiest and coldest birthday party of my life). In fact, the only way you can really tell what season it is around here is by what's ripe at the farmer's market. Luckily, while fall's deep gems are creeping their way into the rotation, there's still plenty of summer goodies to cook up for a dinner with friends. That's just what I did last week, when I started my dinner with friends with this vegan and nearly-raw soup. While it's quite a long process to put it together, the end result is quite transcendent - it tastes like everything bright and good about summer in San Francisco. 

NOTE: This recipe will put some serious miles on your blender. Don't worry too much about a thorough cleaning after each go - I just rinsed it out (it's all being mixed together eventually anyway!)

Golden Gazpacho w. Sriracha Granita & Basil Oil

adapted from Serious Eats by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

For soup:

• 4 pounds very ripe yellow tomatoes, cored (I used a mix of super flavorful baby tomatoes and larger heirlooms)
• One medium cucumber, peeled & seeded
• 1/2 pound (about 1 medium) red onion, peeled
• 1/2 pound (about 2 medium) yellow or orange bell peppers, cores removed
• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 6 ounces (about 3 slices) white sandwich, French, or Italian bread, crusts removed and set aside (no sourdough or otherwise strongly-flavored bread, but GF should work)
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar (white or red wine vinegar will work too)

For granita:

• One container (about 10oz) red cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tb sugar
• 2 tsp sriracha or other hot sauce (to taste)
• 1 Tb tomato paste (if you don't have any, ketchup is acceptable - this is for color)

For basil oil:

• 2 cups basil
• 1 cup mild olive oil or grapeseed oil

Roughly chop tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and pepper into one-inch chunks. Combine with garlic and salt in a large bowl and toss to coat thoroughly. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, start on the granita:

Blend one container of red cherry tomatoes in the blender until reasonably liquidated.

In a pan, combine water, sugar, sriracha, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Using a fine mesh strainer, pour in the tomatoes. Stir to combine and transfer to a wide bowl or baking dish (a cake pan would work well). 

Put granita into the freezer. 

Back to the soup:

Drain accumulated veggie juices into a large bowl and add the bread. Transfer the drained vegetables to a rimmed baking sheet and place in freezer until vegetables are frozen, about 40 min.

When the soup veggies are frozen, remove them from the freezer. While you're in there, give the granita a brisk stir with a fork. You'll want to do this every 45 minutes or so from here on out so it doesn't become one big ice block. Allow the veggies to sit at room temperature until mostly thawed, about 30 minutes (another good time to stir the granita!). Transfer vegetables and all their juices from the pan to bowl with soaked bread.

Working in batches as necessary, blend vegetables, juice, and bread at high speed, slowly drizzling olive oil and sherry vinegar into blender as it blends. Strain soup through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Gazpacho can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

By now, the soup is done and your granita is workin' on becoming icy (keep stirring it every so often!). The only part left is the most delicious - basil oil! Using your blender once again, blend the basil & oil until it's pesto-ey. Pour into a small saucepan and let it infuse over very low heat for 30-40 minutes. Using a very fine mesh filter, cheesecloth, or a coffee filter, strain basil out and reserve oil.

If you'd like croutons, crumble the bread crust you reserved earlier and fry over medium heat in basil oil until golden.

To serve, use a fork to loosen flakes of the granita and top each bowl with a spoonful. Add a few elegant squirts of the oil and a pinch of the croutons. Enjoy right away, before the ice melts and summer is over!

<3 Sophie