Long time readers know that I have been baking cheesecakes for my dear friend and brother, Dan, for his birthday for quite some time. And I have posted the Universal Cheesecake Recipe which I use as a basis for every variant I have made and recorded on this blog. The different flavors I have posted about include Pomegranate Cheesecake, Strawberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, and Irish Mocha Cheesecake.

This year, I had a couple of ideas for what kind of cheesecake to make for Dan.

One was a Turkish Coffee Cheesecake, which would use chocolate, espresso powder and cardamom in the batter, chocolate wafers and almonds with cardamom in the crust, and would be garnished with chocolate shavings, almond slices and espresso beans. That sounded good, but too similar to the chocolate raspberry cheesecake I made for him last year. I wanted something a little lighter.

I also thought of doing a rhubarb cheesecake, since the tart tourmaline-colored stalks have just come into season, but I wasn’t certain that Dan liked rhubarb.

What I knew he liked was blackberries, and since I had some in the freezer, I thought that would be a good choice.

I chose cinnamon graham cracker crumbs for the crust, and flavored the batter simply with vanilla bean paste, lemon zest and lemon juice. To one third of the batter I added some “Simply Fruit” blackberry jam, beating it in thoroughly until the batter turned pink. This was spooned into the plain batter after it was added to the crust in the pan, and swirled around for a pink and cream-colored marble effect.

For a topping, I thawed out frozen blackberries, added a dash of rosewater, some raw sugar, and a bit of lemon juice. I put this in a saucepan with the remainder of the jar of jam and added a little bit of cornstarch dissolved in cold water. I cooked this mixture until the juice thickened to a syrupy consistency. I cooled it in the fridge, and after the cake was baked and cooled (I cooled it in a nearly empty freezer), I spooned the blackberries and juice over the cake.

How did it turn out?

Well, Dan liked it, because it tasted light and fresh, and he was better able to be gluttonous and eat a ton of it at a sitting than a richer, chocolatey cake.

I loved it because the texture was fluffy and it was tangy and not too sweet. It was amazing. I think I liked it better than just about any of my other cheesecake creations, except perhaps the Pomegranate Cheesecake.

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

Dan’s Blackberry Cheesecake

It also serves one Dan, and a few of his friends, if he feels generous enough to share.

There are few foods more luxurious than a velvety cream soup. The cream not only gives the soup its incredible mouthfeel, which is decadently intense bordering upon sinful, but it also boosts the flavors of the main ingredients because, as we should all know by now, fat carries flavor.

When your soup is based upon a vegetable, cream really strengthens the flavor and fragrance because the flavors and scents of many vegetables, herbs, aromatics, and spices, are fat-soluble, which means that if they are bathed in warm fat, more of the molecules that carry their scent and flavor will be extracted from the vegetable matter. Adding to this flavor-boosting effect is the fact that cream soups are always pureed–this process also releases more flavoring agents into the dish, because of course, the more surface area of a substance that is exposed to heat, the more flavor can be extracted.

So, I guess you can tell from the above two paragraphs that I am personally in favor of cream soups.

And it is true, I am, although it was not always thus.

I grew up with hearty vegetable soups that were based on tomato and meat broth and which contained chunks of vegetables. The only creamy soup I really liked was cream of broccoli or cheddar broccoli soup, which I ate rarely because few people I knew made them, and the canned versions were, well, they left a lot to be desired. (The truth is that I also loved Campbell’s Cream of Tomato Soup, too, but as it is not made with real cream, I don’t really count it as a cream soup. It may have been good, smooth and silky, but it was made with milk, so it didn’t count.)

But when I first had a sip of a real cream-based soup, which I believe was lobster bisque, it was love at first taste.

Not surprisingly, when Hilarie asked me to come up with a soup course for the Valentine’s Day menu, and I saw that asparagus was currently cheap at the wholesaler, I jumped on the idea of a cream of asparagus soup with Indian spices. Besides, it would offer a beautiful, cooling, spring-like color scheme of shades of green and white, which is soothing, while the flavor would be at once subtle and seductive.

As I was thinking of how to serve the soup–in what way I would present it for the greatest visual impact, I had the inspiration to put a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream in the center of the soup, and garnishing it with a pair of emerald colored steamed asparagus tips, some thinly sliced chives and a gracefully curved long chive leaf.

I could have used creme fraiche or sour cream, but I liked the idea of unsweetened whipped cream better. I didn’t really want to change the flavor profile of the soup in the way that either creme fraiche or sour cream would, but I loved the idea of a cloud-like island of billowy soft cream in the center, framed by darker green vegetation, floating in the sea of pale jade soup.

So, that is what I did, and it made people very, very happy.

One more note before I give the recipe: you can make these completely vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of the chicken stock in this dish. I did, in fact, make a small pot of a vegetarian version of this for the vegetarian guests whom we knew to be coming, and it was quite good. It was not quite as luxurious and richly golden in flavor, but it was still very, very good.

I wouldn’t make it vegan, however–unless you are really allergic to dairy products. And even then–well, I would hesitate to make this recipe without real cream or at least half and half. In my experience vegan alternatives to dairy products do not always taste as good in cream soup recipes as the real McCoy, so keep that in mind. If you do decide to substitute and it turns out odd or weird tasting–don’t complain to me–I warned you, but do indeed experiment, try again and let me know if you manage to come up with a vegan version that is really, really tasty and doesn’t suffer from the lack of real dairy products.

One more note–you really need a good immersion blender to make this soup successfully. If you have a good one like we do at Salaam, you don’t have to strain the soup after it is pureed–it will be velvety enough on its own. If you only have a conventional blender, you can still make this soup, but be prepared to strain the resulting puree through a fine-meshed sieve. I say go for the immersion blender–once you have one, you will never know how you did without one for so long.

Cream of Asparagus Soup With Cardamom and Chives
Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1 cup thinly sliced yellow onions
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dry sherry
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom seeds
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white peppercorns
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
4 quarts chicken stock or broth or vegetable broth that was made without tomato
3-4 pounds fresh asparagus
1 really large potato peeled and cut into thin slices
1-2 cups heavy cream–use at your discretion
salt and white pepper to taste
fresh lemon juice to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream whipped to soft peaks
thinly sliced fresh chives and uncut long fronds of fresh chive for garnish (In season, chive blossoms would look amazing as a garnish with this soup–the pale lavender would look stunning with the light jade color of the soup, the white cream and the deep green chive leaves and asparagus tips)

Method:

Heat oil in the bottom of a heavy-bottomed soup or stockpot over medium heat. Add onions and sprinkle with salt. Cook, stirring as needed, until the onions turn a medium gold color. Then deglaze the pot with the sherry, add the garlic, spices and lemon zest. Allow the alcohol to boil away, then add the stock or broth, and bring to a boil.

Remove the lowest quarter of the asparagus stalks–the toughest parts, and choose about twenty of the prettiest tips, and cut them off on the diagonal from the stalk. Put them in a bowl, add a few tablespoons of water, cover loosely with plastic wrap and microwave for about forty five seconds to a full minute–just until the tips become tender and deepen to a vibrant emerald green color.

Slice the rest of the asparagus stalks and tips into slices about 1/2″ in length, and add to the boiling stock or broth. Add the thinly sliced potato, and cook until the potato is completely tender and the asparagus has just turned tender. Do NOT overcook the asparagus–you want it to retain as much of the fresh green color as possible. If you cook the stalks until they are completely mushy, the color will become a dull olive drab and the resulting soup will not look fresh and inviting, but instead will look rather vile and unappetizing. So take my advice and watch the asparagus like a hawk.

When it is done, strain out the solids, by pouring the soup through a sieve set over another soup or stockpot. This way you can reserve the cooking liquid, because you are going to need some, but probably not all of it.

Then, put the vegetables back into the soup pot, add about a cup of the cooking liquid and then puree with an immersion blender, adding liquid as needed to help the vegetables form a velvety smooth pureed texture.

After you have the vegetables completely pureed, warm the cream you are going to add to the soup in the microwave. Add as much cream and the reserved stock to make the soup as thick and creamy as you like. When it is done, adjust the seasoning to taste with the salt, pepper and most importantly, the lemon juice, and hold above 141 degrees F. until service.

To serve, ladle into small bowls, add a little dollup of the whipped cream to the center of the bowl, sprinkle sliced chives around the little whipped cream island, place two asparagus tips next to it at close to 45 degreet angles to each other, with the cut ends sunk into the cream, and place a long curved frond of chive with the cut end in the cream between the asparagus tips, arcing over the soup gracefully. (Use the photos above as reference for plating.)

I guarantee that this soup will not only taste amazing, it will also look gorgeous on the table. It is perfect for an evening of romance and seduction.

It is true when people say that for restaurant people, working Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day is like the entire pre-Christmas retail season rolled into one long shift or so. Those are the two days in a restaurant’s calendar that are destined for wild and crazy amounts of business.

This year, Hilarie had the idea to put together a special prix fixe five-course menu which would include a small selection of appetizers (we ended up with three), a soup, a salad, a main course (we had three options), and a dessert. Of course, a prix fixe menu is all-inclusive, with one price for the menu which includes no substitutions. (Although, the truth is, we made substitutions from our regular menu for some customers, ones who are lactose-intolerant, for example. We just are not good at being true hard-asses as some restaurant folks are.)

Of course, the problem with the prix fixe menu, is that we also offered our regular menu items; this isn’t necessarily problematic, except that it tended to confuse the flow of food out of our kitchen.

Basically, what happened is that the kitchen crew had to learn how to cook, plate and garnish totally new menu items, in addition to the usual items we can all do with our eyes closed. It was a little confusing at times, but the truth is, the staff did beautifully, and everything went out smoothly. There were some little mix-ups, but nothing horrible happened during service. No courses were lost, no patrons were run over by errant food runners (I count myself in that number), nor did any of us trip and fall up on the stage where the band was playing great gypsy jazz and torch songs.

It was really a lot of fun, if tiring. I spent most of the first part of this week prepping the food for this one meal, but it was all worth it.

For an example, take a look at the appetizers up above. The muhammara was made yesterday, and it is really simple and delicious. The lebni–which is on the left hand side, is a delectable drained yogurt cheese blended with fresh dill, a bit of salt, and walnuts, with a few other seasonings. Both of these were served with pita triangles.

Between those two spreads is the troublesome menu item: green Spanish olives stuffed with feta cheese and marinated in lemon juice, preserved lemon bits, chili pepper, black pepper, olive oil and garlic.

Everyone loved these, which was great. They should love them, because stuffing feta cheese into olives is a bloody annoying task which I would wish on no one. I declared to all and sundry that I was never going to make them again, and in fact, cursed myself for having such a daft and maniacally obsessive-compulsive idea the entire time I stuffed these critters, but really, they are good. You’d think that the olives and feta would be too salty together, but they really weren’t. The marinade, which was tangy and lemony and garlicky, helped with that.

After all of the compliments on those olives, I resolved that if asked nicely, I would probably do them again, even if they were tedious to put together.

But they still stand as a testimony to the streak of compulsive behavior that most chefs have in the makeup of their personalities.

The next course, of course, was soup.

As you can see, this is cream of asparagus soup spiced gently with cardamom and other Indian spices.

There are all sorts of tasty ingredients in the soup: chicken stock, fresh asparagus, lemon zest, lightly caramelized onions, fresh garlic, cream, half-and-half, potatoes and chives. I also made a vegetarian version that did not include the chicken stock–I made it with water, but finished the soup with a bechamel sauce enriched with egg yolk.

It turned out beautifully. The compliments for the soup came fast and furious, and I was thrilled with the response.

I especially liked the elegant presentation: I put a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream in the center of the bowl of soup: it floated like a fluffy island of dairy goodness. Next to the whipped cream are two steamed asparagus tips, with a long spear of chive between them, with tiny flecks of chopped chives surrounding everything. The deep green of the chives and the emerald of the asparagus tips contrasted with the pale jade of the soup and the pure white of the whipped cream. It looked just like spring, the spring that we all hope is going to be wending our way soon.

Here is the salad: caramelized pears over mixed greens with sliced almonds and pan-fried goat cheese with a pomegranate dressing.

I was surprised that no one had tasted pan-fried chevre; I thought that it was a rather over-done appetizer and salad topping. Then, I had to remember that I was chided for loving that when I was in culinary school, among chefs from New York, Paris, Alsace, Italy, and all over Europe. These folks had seen and done everything, so pan-fried cheese was passe to them.

But not to the folks of Athens.

I have to say, they took to it naturally–folks raved about it. We fried the little patties of cheese a la minute, which means, at the last minute, so the were sizzling hot on top of the cold greens and chilled caramelized pears.

I promise to put up a recipe for this one–caramelizing the pears was fun, and making the cheese is even more fun. I think that it would make a great salad for a dinner party.

Now we come to the main courses.

Here is Hilarie’s Moroccan roasted lamb and vegetables. This is one of my favorites of her dinner specials, leg of lamb marinated with garlic, olive oil, spices and herbs then roasted with sweet potatoes, onions and carrots, all marinated in the same tasty goodness. She makes a cracking-good gravy to go with it, and tonight, we had it with rice, though it goes perfectly with couscous, too.

Do you like the cute little red heart cut from bell pepper? Those are fun to make with little heart-shaped cutters, and they are fast, too.

I can still smell that lamb.

I probably should have had some to eat myself. Duh!

That is one of the stuffed peppers I made for a vegetarian entree.

It is a blanched sweet red bell pepper, with the top cut off, and then cut partway in half from top to bottom, and spread apart.

The stuffing is a mixture of rice, chickpeas, tomatoes, lentils, onions, garlic, spices and almonds. I put a scoop of the stuffing under the pepper, then a generous mound of it in the pepper. I topped it with some more of that egg enriched bechamel sauce, and topped that with crumbled feta cheese, and then baked it. When the sauce was bubbly and the feta was browned, I sprinkled some chives and parsley over it and added another little pepper heart.

As for the salmon with green chutney–it looked pretty much like the fish I posted about last week, except it had another red pepper heart tucked in the lemon twist.

Now we come to the dessert: Chai Creme Brulee.

I was a goof and forgot to take a photograph of it plated and pretty, but here is an action shot of the sugar topping being caramelized with a propane torch by Becky. It was a huge, HUGE, and I mean HUGE hit for everyone, such that it is going to become a signature Salaam dessert which we will have on our dessert tray most of the time.

The guests, of whom there were many, loved the dinner, especially the creme brulee. When I was taking various courses to the tables, I was thrilled to be thanked by all and sundry, many of whom were effusive in their praise of the entire dinner. When asked what my next project would be, I answered, “Ice cream and sorbet!” and was met with many anticipatory smiles.

I finally left near the end of dinner, after the third seating came in and their dinners were going out. Hilarie introduced me to many of her old friends, and then gave me a hug. I looked at her and said, “Whose stupid idea was this anyway?”

She snorted and retorted, “Hey, you went along with it!”

What could I say except, “I’m crazy enough to think that stuffing hundreds of olives with feta cheese by hand is a good idea, so what do you expect?”

It was fun, even if it was a lot of work.

The payoff was great–we were surrounded by people with happy bellies, the scent of great food in our noses, and the sound of lovely music in our ears.

I can’t wait until next Valentine’s Day.

It is very fun working in a small, local restaurant, especially around holidays.

For something new and different this coming Valentine’s Day at Salaam, Hilarie came up with the idea of offering a prix fixe menu that included special appetizers, soup, salad, a choice of two main courses, and a dessert. The Django Reinhardt tribute band, the Coolville Hotclub will be playing gypsy jazz with guest singer Emily Burhans, whose whisky-smooth voice slithers sensually through love songs like a silk dress over a woman’s hip.

Considering the intimate, cozy dining room, the ambiance created by the band, and the general Silk-Road theme of Salaam, I had a great time coming up with a series of courses to beguile and entice our guests.

The appetizers will be lebni, which is a cheese spread made from strained yogurt, walnuts, dill and spices, muhammara which is just the sexiest dip ever conceived by humanity, and feta stuffed Spanish olives marinated in preserved lemons, herbs, olive oil and Aleppo pepper, all served with a side of toasted pita triangles.

Then, we will have a cream of Asparagus soup with chives and Indian spices, garnished with asparagus spears.

Next is a salad of caramelized pears over mixed greens with fried chevre and almonds, dressed with pomegranate salad dressing.

The entree choices are Moroccan roasted leg of lamb with roasted vegetables or salmon steaks baked over rice and tomatoes with green chutney. (We are also doing a vegetarian option of a sweet pepper stuffed with rice, lentils, golden raisins and almonds with bechamel sauce and feta cheese on top for vegetarians who call ahead.)

The dessert is the show-stopper–chai creme brulee. I developed the recipe using Anthony Bourdain’s basic creme brulee recipe from his Les Halles Cookbook which I fiddled with to give the the rich custard the delicate flavor of spiced tea, without making it taste–well, like some very nasty cremes brulees I have had in the past at other restaurants.

The menu will be a bit of a challenge to serve considering how tiny our kitchen is, but the staff we have to work with is amazing, so I am confident that all will go well. I spent most of today prepping appetizers (remind me never to suggest stuffing olives with feta cheese again–yeah, it tastes great, especially after they are marinated, but geez, Louise, is it a royal pain in the hind end), and making on the chutney for the fish, the caramelized pears, and the creme brulee. Well, I made the custard today, after letting the flavorings steep in the cream overnight. The burnt sugar topping won’t get made until service tomorrow–I don’t like burning the sugar and sticking it in the fridge–I like the contrast between the cold custard and a crisp, warm sugar crust.

Tomorrow, I need to go in early and make the soup, prep the garnishes and the cheese, which will be fried at service.

It should be fun.

I promise to post pictures either tomorrow night or Friday morning!

The first year I wrote my resolutions, one of my biggest ones was to cook more Thai food and blog about it, which I did accomplish. Last year, I resolved to work on my book proposal, which I utterly failed at, because I discovered that postpartum depression is more pernicious than at first it seems, and it can trigger a latent genetic tendency to depression. This is not fun, but I refuse to let depression sap me of my will to create and write. So, this year, I am back to the drawing board on the book proposals. (Yes, in the plural. I have another idea for a book–a cookbook this time….finally!)

So, what are my culinary resolutions for the coming year?

To continue to be creative at coming up with dinner specials that fit the theme of Restaurant Salaam, which not only keep food costs down and work within the limitations of our kitchen, but which beguile the senses of our guests, enliven their imaginations, and keep them coming back for more. I also want to keep writing about my experiences in the restaurant kitchen; I think that readers are interested in what goes on behind the scenes, and what it takes to make food come to life in a restaurant setting. It is certainly different than working in a home kitchen, but not entirely. To do well in a professional kitchen, not only does one have to be skilled–and that is something that ever cook or chef works to improve constantly–everyone wants to absorb new techniques and ideas–but you also have to have love and passion. Food cooked without love or passion lacks soul no matter if you are cooking at home or in a restaurant. It may be technically beautiful, its presentation may be divinely inspired, and its flavors may be interesting and complex, but without love, something is always missing.

One of my goals is to get that feeling of cooking with love across to my readers this year.

Another resolution is to continue writing about the glories of the local food scene here in Athens. Recently, after the story about Tigers & Strawberries appeared in the local newspaper, expatriates of Athens have written emails to me telling me that they are thrilled to find out about my blog and want to hear more about what is going on in Athens in regards to food. That is great–because exciting things are happening, and I have quite a few good posts lined up to highlight these new developments. And while looking at the new in Athens, I want to write about the old, as well–here in Appalachia, traditions change slowly, if at all, and I like to share our foodways with my readers, from fishing, hunting and gathering food in the wilds, to gardening, to canning and beyond, I will continue to write about the local food traditions that are still extent in my home.

Another resolution is to spend more time and energy on making vegetarian and vegan meals that are not only healthy for my family and sustainable for the earth, but also delicious and satisfying. As I get older, I like to eat less meat, and I find that both Zak and Morganna are becoming more apt to be happy with meatless meals, so I hope to showcase more of them in the future, particularly those based on recipes from Asia.

Speaking of Asia, I also want to keep writing more informative pieces on individual ingredients or classes of ingredients as well as reviewing cookbooks for the many cuisines of Asia. This has been the focus of my blog from the beginning and I want to continue to offer my personal explorations in the foods of China, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea to the delectation of my readers.

I also want to do more informative posts on individual ingredients and spices–just to help along some of my readers who are just dipping their toes into the realm of highly-flavored cookery. Spices, in particular, can be daunting to a new cook, and I want to do anything in my power to make a neophyte as comfortable with spice cookery as possible.

Finally–I will continue to write essays on subjects relating to food, health, cooking, cookbooks, agriculture and culture as my will to write them arises.

Now–it is everyone else’s turn: first, what else would you like to see me cover in Tigers & Strawberries in the coming months, and secondly–what are -your- culinary New Year’s resolutions? What are you going to do to stretch your food horizons in the coming twelve months?