The Naptime Chef

What’s Going on Today: My daughter is mad at me because I didn’t make it to the store in time and they are sold out of sleds! (Hoping someone will let us borrow one when we get to the hill!)
Naptime Goals: Bake Pear Butter Cake, place chicken in the marinade – leave it in the fridge until dinner.
Tonight’s Menu: Soyaki Chicken Thighs, Carrot Souffle, green salad, Pear Butter Cake
Parenting Lesson of the Day: You feel guilty when the reason they didn’t get what they wanted is because you didn’t try hard enough.

We have been on a pear kick in our house lately. Every morning my daughter and I slice up a Bosc or two and enjoy a big bowl of them while we wait for our oatmeal to cook. My husband loves pears too, however, he’s usually gone by the time we wake up in the morning so I try to make sure there are some in the fruit bowl when he gets home.

The other day I was doing my weekly flip through Apples for Jam – I read it as regularly as I read the newspaper – and came across this recipe for Pear Butter Cake. Perfect, I thought, just the thing to make for a dessert after a hearty winter meal. Plus, it would be a really nice way to give my husband a nice pear dessert – his ultimate favorite and something I’ve definitely slacked on this winter.

Like all of Tessa’s recipes, the beauty of this cake it in it’s simplicity. It’s easily to assemble and has an almost rustic quality to it. The flavor comes from the citrus zest and vanilla and perfect layer of pears on top. While it bakes the sugar on top of the pears forms a syrup that seeps into the top of the cake, giving it a light pear flavor that enhances the soft spices of cardamom and nutmeg that have been gently folded into the batter.

We were so thrilled with this cake in every way. It was light, flavorful and incredibly simple for me to bake while my daughter napped. Once I assembled the batter and started it baking I was able to put the chicken thighs into marinate and spend the rest of my time catching up on my to-do list. I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking delicious fruit dessert to make at a time when most fruits aren’t in season. That said, after the debacle of not making it to the store in time to buy a sled for my daughter, I can’t wait for winter to be over so I can stop thinking about snow activities. It is time for spring to be on it’s way!

What’s Going on Today: Negotiating snow-laden New York with a stroller, morning trip to Time Warner Center for a pastry at Bouchon.
Naptime Goals: Make Millionaire Shortbread for husband’s office and to give to friends.
Tonight’s Meal: Tomato Soup Florentine with a green salad and cheese toast.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Snow snow go away, being stuck inside does not make our day.

Sometimes my love of baking overtakes me to the point that I have too many sweets in the house. When this happens I tend to pack off a nice big box of cookies and brownies to my husband’s office and give several bags of goodies away to my friends. As for my husband, his colleagues love me for it, and I like to think it helps him earn some extra points with the boss. As for my friends, well they love me for it too, although not right before they leave for vacations that require bathing suits. Either way, it’s the best way I can think of to move temptation out of my house before I gorge to the point of needing an entirely new wardrobe that is two sizes bigger than my current one.

Lately, I’ve been hooked on shortbread of all kinds. I’ve made Silver Palate Shortbread Hearts by the dozen, and when they’ve run out, I’ve made more. Then, the other day, I was flipping through my recipe box and found this old recipe of Millionaire Shortbread from my mother. I was immediately smitten, there was no better time to come across a recipe for shortbread with a layer of caramel and chocolate on top. The addition of these flavors were the perfect thing to take my shortbread making straight over the top.

Baking these during my daughter’s naptime is a snap. In fact, the baking time is a short 20 minutes since only the shortbread needs to bake. The rest is matter of stirring the caramel and melting the chocolate. What sets this shortbread apart for me is the addition of rice flour to the batter, it creates a more delicate crumbly cookie instead of hard buttery brick. The caramel and chocolate layers are spread very thinly on top of it, setting for 30 minutes before each application, giving the whole bar a very refined appeal.

When I told my husband that I was making these this week he actually asked if he could take them to the office. Of course, I said yes. I do not need an entire 15×10 pan of these all to myself although, though, lord knows, I could polish it off in the matter of hours. After making during the naptime I let them chill overnight and cut them into squares the following morning. Half of the pan was sent to work, another quarter was given to friends and the rest stayed home with me. It’s a good thing I portioned it this way, I’ve already eaten through my entire stash.

What’s Going on Today: Returned from vacation- unpacking, laundry, errands… quick trip to grocery store for a few staples.
Naptime Goals: Baked White Truffle Potato Chips to serve with dinner tonight. Make grocery list for tomorrow’s shopping, finish laundry.
Tonight’s Meal: Paninis with Baked Potato Chips – that’s as fancy as I get the first day back from vacation!
Parenting Lesson of the Day: When flying with kids bring cash so you can buy drinks for the poor souls sitting in front of you.

We returned from Florida a couple of days ago with decent tans, happy memories and several loads of laundry. It was sad to leave our fun family vacation, but my daughter was really glad to be home. Upon return she spent hour after hour playing with her toys and getting reacquainted with her stuffed animals. I didn’t mind this in the least, it gave me some free time to unpack our bags, shake out the sand and put away our warm weather clothes for another few months.

As you’ll see in this webisode, when we got home we also returned to a big fat empty fridge. Of course I expected this since I so diligently cleaned it out before we left. (If you’ve ever returned home to rotten milk and spoiled cheese in your kitchen you’ll know exactly why it is important to clean out the soon-to-expire items before you depart.) In an attempt to control the catch-up chaos I opted to take the easy route and buy a few key food staples to get us through the first few days home, then do a big grocery shopping later. It was during this quick shopping trip that I picked up the makings for baked chips and paninis.

Making sandwiches and chips may seem like a pretty lame meal for our first night home, but I assure you it is not. To me a hot toasted sandwich served with crisp salty chips is comfort food in it’s finest form, and this meal fits the bill. Though it is a tad more laborious then buying chips at the store, making these baked chips is simple and the end result is far healthier and more flavorful then anything I’ve ever eaten out of a bag. In this case I used white truffle oil and a touch of sea salt as my flavor combination of choice, but you could also use pepper, herbs or other flavored oils. Almost anything goes. The flavors of the sandwich are also well-balanced with oozy mozzarella, juicy tomatoes and a good spread of my Perfect Pesto – thawed from the freezer – to give it an extra pop of flavor and moisture.

Rest assured, after shooting this I took quite a lengthy trip to the grocery store and had the makings of several more meals delivered straight to our apartment. We will be eating heartier, more involved meals in the weeks to come, but this was the perfect way to give ourselves a big welcome home.

What’s Going on Today: Packing for return to NYC, building last few sand castles on the beach.
Naptime Goals: Reading on the balcony, gather up toys to pack in the diaper bag for the flight.
Tonight’s Meal: Tomato Risotto, Salad

It seems appropriate to kick-off my Cooking with Tessa series while on vacation. If you’ve ever read one of her books you’ll understand that Tessa’s approach to cooking is very similar to mine. She is an accomplished professional chef (I am not a professional, but I feel like one when I cook from her books), busy wife and mother of two. It is clear through her writing and photographs that she is constantly fitting great food into family life and I am simply in awe for her capability to do so.

I’ve been cooking from her books for quite some time, and this is one of my favorite dishes. It’s not a stretch to say that I make this at least twice a month, so it only makes sense that I share this recipe first.

I chose to make this during our stay in Florida because it is so easy and delicious. Though my daughter has been taking long naps on vacation, (there is nothing like fresh air to tire a kid out!), I’ve been using that free time to relax myself. Therefore, when it comes to make dinner each night I stick to menus that are light, delicious and easy to assemble. In this case I made the Risotto and salad right before dinner time and served some fresh fruit for dessert.

Note: I plan to continue Cooking with Tessa on a bi-monthly basis, giving you a background on her and her work, sharing favorite recipes and fun tidbits along the way. Enjoy!

My Day So Far: Laundry, packing, stocking up the iPod, hoping airport delays will clear up…
Naptime Goals: Make Flourless Chocolate Cake for early Valentine’s Day celebration
Tonight’s Meal: Take-out from our favorite restaurant, cake for dessert.

Parenting Lesson of the Day: There is no such thing as too many toys in the diaper bag when traveling!

We are celebrating Valentine’s Day a little early this year because we will be in Florida during the actual holiday. This doesn’t bother us in the least. Hallmark holidays are fun and all, but we don’t take them too seriously. In fact, this year we are happy to pass up going out to dinner altogether since we plan to be taking in the ocean breezes from my in-law’s porch in Venice, Florida.

There is one thing about Valentine’s Day I refuse to give up, however, and that is chocolate. I’ll happily forgo balloons, sugar candies and roses, but you’d better give me a rich, dense chocolate dessert or I will be one unhappy girl. For this year’s meal we are ordering out from one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants. Since we are traveling the following day I don’t want to buy lots of ingredients that will go bad in the fridge. Instead, we agreed to order the main course and cap off our meal with a fabulous homemade dessert.

Obviously I am more than happy to be responsible for the cake production given my love of baking. Last year I made mini-bundt cakes and this year we’ll enjoy a delicious Flourless Chocolate Cake from one of my new favorite cookbooks, Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations. You may remember, I hosted a virtual celebration to trumpet it’s release back in October. Since then I’ve been cooking and baking my way through each chapter, loving the delicious results of each recipe.

I don’t have a very well-stocked bar, so I had to wing it a bit when it came to the whiskey-soaked currants. I used Grand Marnier instead, which I quite enjoyed. I loved the boozy orange flavor it gave the cake and think I will do it again the next time I make it. Best of all, this cake is ideal to make-ahead. Since part of the process of making it is allowing it to cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours, I had no trouble making it during my daughter’s naptime. It would also be great to make in the morning, or even the night before you want to eat it since it can chill for up to 24 hours without going bad.

As you can probably guess, I had about .5 seconds to take the photographs here before my husband dove right in for a bite. I guess that is to be expected with something this good. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Since Valentine’s Day puts me in the giving mood I am happy to give away a cookbook to one lucky winner. To enter please leave me a comment below by midnight EST on 2/22/10 and tell me your favorite Valentine’s dessert!

My Day So Far: A morning trip to Dorie’s Cookie Bar with friends!
Naptime Goals: Prepare Crunchy Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon for dinner, start packing for trip to Florida!
Tonight’s Meal: Macaroni and Cheese, green salad with arugula, pine nuts and gorgonzola.

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Sometimes packing for vacation feels like moving an army.

I’ve never met anyone who does not like Macaroni and Cheese. It probably isn’t totally off base to assume that it is one of America’s favorite casseroles. There are endless variations, and even entire cookbooks devoted strictly to the myriad of ways it can be assembled. My family is no different from the rest of America in our love for this classic dish. In fact, it is often served as the main course at our house these days, too prominent and important to be regarded as the side dish to larger meals like baked ham or steak.

Recently I came across this recipe on Food52 which directed me to this other article by Julie Moskin. In both instances the authors write about their preference, on occasion, for crunchy macaroni and cheese instead of the common creamy variety.  I couldn’t agree more. Sometimes I am in the mood for a dense pasta casserole full of white sauce and several mild cheeses similar to my Orecchiette with Three Cheeses and Pancetta, but other times I prefer a sharper cheese and firmer pasta. In fact, to be completely honest, I have been known to eat the crust off of my deep dish macaroni and cheese, then leave the rest for my daughter.

Imagine my glee when I discovered this new technique for making macaroni and cheese on sheet pan. It contains all of the delicious sharp cheddar flavors I love and is baked in a single layer to maintain an even crunch. The touch of milk poured on top helps keep the cheese slightly loose, but this recipe essentially makes a delicious macaroni and cheese crust without the soupy underbelly. To give it some additional flavor adapted the original recipe by adding some crunchy bacon and panko bread crumbs.

To demonstrate how easy this is to prepare I made the video above during my daughter’s afternoon naptime. I simply baked the pan and reheated it in the evening. However, I should mention that this is so simple it can also be assembled right before you want to eat if you don’t have much time to prepare it during the day. I guarantee once you try this you will love it, it is the family classic re-invented.

A few weeks ago Jennifer at Savor The Thyme and I started talking about teaming up for a fun Valentine’s Day event based on the idea that ‘Food is Love.’ We thought it would be great to see how everyone shows their love to families through food on this particular holiday. What do you make to brighten someone’s day, put a smile on his or her face?

Share with us your delicious creations along with a little blurb about the dish and, perhaps, a picture of it as well. At the end of the challenge we’ll do a round-up, post every entry and give some fabulous prizes from Scharffen Berger (my personal favorite chocolate ever!) in three categories:
1. Romantic
2. Silly and/or Funny
3. Kidtastic

The Challenges Runs from February 8th – February 16th at Midnight EST.

To Enter:
1) Post about your creation on your blog, linking back to Savor the Thyme and The Naptime Chef. Send us a link and photo of your post! We welcome any posts that were published before the start of our challenge, just be sure to update it with a link to both sites. Enter as many times as you wish.

2) No blog? No problem! Send us a photo, video or vlog of your entry telling us what, where and when it was taken. Provide a URL, if applicable (a still shot or capture would be great, too).

3) Unfortunately we can’t accept international entries.

4) EMAIL YOUR ENTRIES TO: foodislove2010@gmail.com. Please include your name and e-mail address so that we may contact you should you win a prize.

5) Prizes will be announced and sent after the completion of the contest!

Feel free to show us some sweet tweet love. After all, the more support you garner, the better for voting. Tweet about this challenge using the #foodislove hashtag (@savorthethyme @TheNaptimeChef)

There will be a round up on both sites February 18th!

Thanks for your participation!
Jennifer and Kelsey