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I missed apricot season. Like, really missed it.
I had a serious hankering for an apricot tart and without realizing it, I spent the whole “summer” dreaming about a luscious and succulent apricot tart served with a dollop of creme fraiche, enjoyed al fresco on some magical balcony overlooking the bay on a balmy summer evening. Needless to say, “summer” in SF lasted for about 3 days, balmy evenings are practically nonexistent here and I don’t even have a balcony. And on top of all that, apricots had an absolutely shite season, coming and going in the span of a week.
So, despite having found the most enticing recipe, there was no apricot tart.
{sadface}
Flash forward a few months… The produce section is looking heartier and more autumnal and I’m introduced to a little fruit that makes me go, “apricot, who?!”
Italian plums! Italian plums! Italian plums!
These little purple-skinned beauties were so enticing and foreign looking that I knew I had to have them. But what to make out of them… Why not revisit that apricot tart recipe, replacing those elusive fucking apricots with my new purple loves? I think I’m on to something…
Many, many moons ago, there was a delicious crop of asparagus at the markets and I had a serious hankering for slab bacon. After checking out what my fave food bloggers were up to, I decided to try the following hash as a welcome home breakfast for S when he returned from visiting his fam back in DC.
It has elements of all of my favorite dishes… bacon, hearty/filling ingredients and a one-pot nature. All good things, especially when combined in a breakfast!
Without further ado, Asparagus & Slab Bacon Hash!
Started out with about 1/2 pound of glorious slab bacon, cut into chunks…
One time, I got a mean comment from someone that started out with a “ZOMG”. I assume this person was attempting to mock my enthusiasm, but I’m turning it around because there is no other acronym that can suitably express what I’m feeling in regards to the following…
I am now the proud owner of a chrome KitchenAid Stand Mixer… ZOMG.
Here are some food-related IPhone piccies to tide me over until I can get my act together and get to bloggin’ some more recipes…
Diner Breakfast…
Everything about this recipe has me goin’…
Dark chocolate? Check.
Layers of sugar? Check.
Booze? Check.
Yes, it was love at first click and I knew that I had to have the cleverly monikered Chocolate Crack Cookies under my proverbial belt. Gather round, my friends… gather round.
Started out with a lovely Maraschino cherry liqueur – Luxardo… This was something new for me, as I am not all that well-versed in liqueurs. It’s syrupy, super sweet and surprisingly tasty with whiskey.
When I moved away from New York City, I took quite a few weeks categorizing and revisiting all the things I’d miss; Central Park on a sunny weekday, Soho’s cobblestone streets and wrought iron architecture, all the beautiful strangers, and date cake from Moto in Brooklyn.
All those other topics have been discussed at great length, so let me just take a moment to extoll the extensive virtues of date cake. Firstly, let me make it clear that I don’t even like dates, and yet, Moto’s date cake is quite possibly one of my favorite desserts.
Anytime an opportunity arose to hit up this speakeasy-esque, French-American joint nestled under the JMZ tracks in Brooklyn, I was all over it. And let’s face it, it didn’t take much…
“It’s your birthday?! Moto.”
“Your parents are here visiting?! Moto.”
“It’s Tuesday?! Moto.”
The atmosphere is just about as perfect as you can get – totally secret-feeling, but welcoming. Cozy with a small, but stellar menu of savories (Oh, hello herb-encrusted pork ribs). And my god, the date cake. Warm, dense, yet succulent cake slathered in buttery toffee sauce, served with a dollop of fresh whipped cream… Gah! I would stuff myself silly with the aformentioned pork ribs or perhaps the Chicken Dijonnaise served with a big bowl of delicious mashed taters, loosen the belt and then order a big ol’ slab o’ date cake. I think a few times, I even ordered an extra one to go! 
And then I moved away and thought I’d never achieve this culinary bliss again. But I have! After the jump, a recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding, which is so close to Moto’s date cake, it’s possibly criminal!
Started out by chopping up 1 lb of pitted dates…
I’ve only been seriously cooking/baking for a short amount of time – roughly 6 months. And in that time, I’ve tried my hand at quite a few things – making stock from scratch, oodles of pies/tarts/cakes, fancy french desserts, roasting big honkin’ cuts of meat and all manner of candies. But there’s one area from which I’ve consistently shied away and it’s becoming obscene that I haven’t jumped in yet… breads. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense since I love, Love, LOVE making pastries and delicate little sweet bready items. But for some reason, breads have darkly loomed on my epicurean horizon. Mostly, I just don’t understand yeasts. So, of course, I’m determined to get better…
So here we go… taking the plunge, head first, into breadmaking. First stop: Mushroom, Sausage & Spinach Pizza.
Yes, yes… I’m sure you’re thinking, “Those bran flakes are all well and good and who doesn’t enjoy a hearty coconut granola, but what’s it all working toward? What’s the end result?!”
Firstly, get off my back.
Secondly… bam:
Alrighty, so I had my bran flakes and was well on my way to full breakfast hippiedom. But a breakfast of just bran flakes would not sate my morning hunger. Oh no… there must be more!
And so… Coconut Granola!
Historically, granola has by no means been a favorite of mine… but since I was so pleasantly surprised by the sweetness of the bran flakes, I decided to give this a shot too! And this recipe was even easier… behold!
Started out by combining 3 cups of rolled oats (a whopping $1.25 at my local organic bulk shop) with 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes. The recipe suggested shredded coconut, but I figured the scale of the coconut flakes would better suit the application. Plus, you can taste the coconut so much more this way!
The next few recipes go against all that is Lauriebot; they are decidedly crunchy/hippie and I just need to come to terms with the fact that there’s a soft, semi-hippie thread flowing through this modern gal.
The evidence…I have a former Phish fanatic (like the kind who travel around the country, hanging out in fields and narrowly escaping hepatitis B outbreaks) for a boyfriend. Said boyfriend is also in possession of a Grateful Dead lyric tattoo. There are crystals in my house. My favorite aunt has a serious thang for faeries. Not only do I use energy-efficient lightbulbs, but I turn them off when not in use (!). I use reuseable totes for groceries and buy in bulk to reduce packaging.
Yes, there’s definitely a case in favor of my latent hippiedom. And, unfortunately, the following will not do anything to help prove otherwise.
Homemade Bran Flakes.
For some reason, perhaps it was the beautiful photography that accompanied this recipe, or perhaps it was the health conscious culinary ways of one of my coworkers, but I was utterly inspired to embark upon a homemade cereal adventure. I’ve always considered bran flakes in and of themselves as boring and borderline tasteless. Not these little babies! Sweetened with delicious turbinado sugar and almond meal, these were enticingly flavorful! So be prepared, for part 1 of Lauriebot’s Hippie Cereal Excursion…
Preheated the oven to 350F and sifted the following into a big bowl:
1 cup oat bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup almond flour
4 TBSP turbinado sugar (could also be pretty delish with palm sugar)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
