When I was in High School, I had a thing for bad boys.  Not boys who did bad things, but boys who probably weren’t going to become doctors or lawyers, or even attend college for that matter.  Not dumb, just tough, hard working, strong boys – the kind that scared your parents just a little bit god forbid we marry one.  Bad boys like a young Matt Dillon, Jared Leto as Jordan Catalano on My So -Called Life etc – you get the gist.

I lived in a pretty affluent town, where most of the residents had loads of money, old and new, as did the other town that used our High School because they didn’t have a High School – probably because it was even more affluent than our town and didn’t want some old High School decreasing the palatial estate property values.

Most of the guys were clean-cut and super-duper spoiled.  Even the ones who ‘looked’ like bad boys, were wealthier than the clean-cut guys and the Phish/Deadhead stoners were even wealthier than the rich guys who looked like bad boys.  I’m not saying there weren’t some great guys in the bunch, I just wasn’t feeling ‘it’ on a romance scale.

I guess there were just too many of them, and after a while, any attraction I had, poofed as I grew up.  It was the same old same old – Stepford boys who received brand new porsches and corvettes the minute they got their learner’s permits – not driver’s licenses, learner permits!  Some celeb’s kids were dropped off in limo’s.  Really vulgar displays of wealth at times.

I was the opposite of a gold digger.  The blue-collar cuties who had to actually work for extra spending money, with a natural toughness/grittiness and sexy, deep voices, made me weak in the knees.  The type of guy who would always defend your honor and not hide under a table when a fight broke out at a party (Yes, one of the clean cuts I dated did just that).  Ladies, have we all not had at least one moment like THIS, in some form, sans the dyslexic talk?

 Turn this upside down……..

Well, I finally found my ultimate bad boy, or rather, he found me.  It was the summer of my 15th year (going on 16) of life, at the Jersey Shore, before the show of the same name completely bastardized it and turned it into something that it was the polar opposite of when I was a teen.  Back then, it was all about the beach, the boardwalk, beach parties and rock music- not the guidos/guidettes, tanning salons (they’ve got the beach as their front or back yard, for chrissake) and discos you see on TV. There were no Snooki’s in my Seaside.  In fact, the only time I saw guidos and guidettes, was on Sundays when they would crowd the boardwalk, lasers of sun reflecting off their gold chains, blinding you, as they sauntered down the boardwalk in their guinea tee’s, making all kinds of lewd remarks to us. Eating an ice cream cone was grounds for;

“Oh man, I wish I was dat ice cream cone…come mere, baby…tawk ta me!”

It was only one day a week, and everyone has a right to enjoy the shore, so no big deal.  I probably wouldn’t enjoy it now, if it’s like that 7 days a week.  Since the TV show started airing, Seaside Heights is a sticky fly trap for them.

So,  I finally met my ‘dream guy’.

 …….and you get this

It was an uncharachteristically chilly night for August, so I had an oversized jean jacket over my thin, lacy white mini skirt and top, my arms wrapping it around me like a straitjacket.  My friend and I were on the Casino Pier watching some hunky guy climb to the top of a pirate ship ride to fix it, with shock and awe.  She was scoping him out (blue-collar boys didn’t have the luxury of free summer vacations like we did…they had to work to play).  Suddenly, she nudged me hard in the ribs and whispered..

“That really hot guy that works on the bumper cars is trying to get your attention…OMG, Lisa..LOOK!”

I had seen this guy a few nights before and almost melted into a puddle of goo, but there were too many girls standing around trying to get his attention, and frankly, I was way too young and shy to even think of joining the fray of adoration.

I turned my head, and there he was, signing to me by rubbing his arms and mouthing ‘Are you cold?”.  I nodded ‘Yes’.  He gave me a huge smile, then shouted out,

“Come over here, it’s warmer”

I don’t even remember how I got there.  I couldn’t feel my feet, much less my legs, but soon I was standing before him.  Ironically, ‘Walking on the Moon’ by the Police was the song that was playing on the classic rock station he had blasting for the ride.  I was most certainly walking on the moon, not to mention over the moon.  I’d never felt this in my entire, albeit brief, life.  Sure, I’d dated, I’d had crushes, but no one had ever lifted my body and soul off the earth like this.  The colorful lights around me turned into a kaleidoscope of blur, and his beautiful face and blue blue eyes were the only thing in focus.  Then the voice – deep, tough and sexy.

“Feeling warmer?  What’s your name?”

I’m pretty sure I said “Lisa”. but my friend repeated it, so it probably wasn’t very audible.

After the usual “Where are you froms…where are you staying…how long are you here for”..questions…he asked how old I was.  I gained some sense of clarity (aka landed on earth) for a moment, and asked him the same before I gave him my answer.

“18…so, how about you?”

When you’re a teenager. a 3 year age difference is akin to a 50-year-old man dating a 25-year-old woman.  A 15-year-old would be a ‘kid’ to him.

“I’m..I’m…17″

I hated myself, but I never wanted someone so much in my life at that moment.

He asked me if I wanted to do something when he got off work.  YES YESS YESSS I screamed inwardly, but I kept it as cool as I could outwardly.

“Sure”

Oh, and as luck would have it..the hunky guy my friend was checking out, who bravely climbed the ‘what seemed to be’ thousand foot tall ride, as fast as a monkey up a tree,..was also 18, and his good friend.  So, he would be there too.  It was all too perfect.

Problem was…we were 15, we had a curfew,  and that curfew was midnight, but since it was a weekday, only my mother was at the house we rented, since my father only came down on weekends due to work.  She was easy to sneak out on, we’d been doing it since we got there a few days before.

He asked me to meet him by the carousel around midnight.  My friend and I decided to go home early, so my mother would fall asleep early, giving us plenty of time to sneak out and be there at midnight.

I was still floating, walking on the moon, not feeling my feet as we hurried down the boardwalk to meet them.  I’d never felt so alive, the salt air blowing my hair every which way, the sound of crashing waves in the dark night, the faint smell of popcorn and cotton candy getting closer with each step, the ‘perfect’ guy waiting for me.  As the lights got brighter and the music louder, I looked up, and there he was..his face breaking out in a huge smile.

“Hi, I’m so glad you showed”,  he said in that tough, sexy Matt Dillonesque voice that somehow didn’t completely jibe with his amazing face (sorta like Matt Dillon, I guess), but that’s exactly how I liked my fantasy  ’bad boys’.  I was again melting into a puddle of goo.  Where are my legs?  I can’t feel them!  Oh, there they are – they just turned into JELL-O sticks.

We couldn’t stop staring at each other as my friend and hunky monkey man chatted away, shy, fleeting glances from my end - more direct, confident ones from his.

This is where I stop because speaking of ‘bad boys’, I’ve got some sticky buns that need a little attention here.  Part two coming on the 27th. – I promise..and it gets better..with a twist!

So what happens if you take a brioche recipe by Nancy Silverton, and sticky bun inspiration from Joanne Chang of the Flour Bakery and add orange and chocolate?  You get these sticky buns!

I call them my ‘If Nancy Silverton and Joanne Chang’s sticky buns had a baby with orange and chocolate, STICKY BUNS’.

I love Nancy Silverton’s brioche recipe..I love Joanne Chang’s sticky buns.  The goo is amazing in Joanne’s recipe – but a little too sweet for me, so I took the amount of sugar down a bit, added orange zest, orange supremes and substituted freshly squeezed orange juice for the water.  The filling is mine.  Why not add chocolate to a sticky bun filling?  This is what makes them bad boys, in relation to this ‘bad boy’ theme I’ve got going here.  One thing I did, via Nancy Silverton’s sticky bun recipe, was also add chopped pecans to the filling.

Big mistake.

Since I use 1 cup of chopped and whole pecans in each pan of the goo, the pecans in the filling were nutty overkill.  I omitted them from the filling in my second roll of sticky buns, and as you can see in the cross-section photo above, pure brown sugar, chocolatey, orange goodness.

The best part about these outside of the chocolate?  The orange supremes caramelize so perfectly, they’re like soft orange candy.

Orange Chocolate Toasted Pecan Sticky Buns
Makes two 9-inch round pans – 14 sticky buns, if using whole batch of brioche

The directions for rolling, filling, and cutting the buns are from Nancy Silverton’s recipe, with my additions and subtractions.

One batch Nancy Silverton’s Brioche Dough

Filling – this is the amount for one pan of 7 sticky buns using half the dough – make another batch for the other half of the brioche dough if making two pans.  If not, make something else with the other half of the brioche dough or freeze it for later use.
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup grated milk or dark chocolate

Gooey Topping
Adapted from Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery, with my revisions
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks), unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 to 2 teaspoons orange zest
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Supremes from 4 navel oranges, divided – How to supreme an orange
2 cups toasted whole pecans, half of them chopped, divided (1 cup for each pan)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Divide dough in half; keep one half covered and chilled while working with the other. On a floured work surface, roll dough into a 11 inch wide, 13 inch long, and 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Dot surface evenly with half the softened butter and fold dough in thirds. Turn it so the closed fold is on the left and roll out again, without rolling over the edges. Fold dough in thirds again, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Repeat rolling, folding, and chilling with second piece of dough and remaining butter. (This is what I love about Nancy’s brioche for sticky buns, the additional butter with turns)

2. Rub orange zest into sugars until fragrant, then stir in cinnamon; set aside. Make another batch of the sugar, cinnamon and zest mixture  in a separate bowl and also set aside. Have two separate bowls, each containing 2/3 cup grated chocolate, ready.

3. Remove first piece of dough from refrigerator and roll into an 11 inch wide, 13 inch long, and 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Paint surface with beaten egg. Leaving top quarter of dough bare, sprinkle one bowl of the cinnamon, orange sugars over the dough, spreading it lightly with your fingers. Top with the 2/3 cup of grated chocolate; spread with fingers to distribute evenly. Use a rolling-pin to lightly press the filling into the dough. Starting from the short side, roll into a log and pinch the seam to seal.

4. Make the gooey topping.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar and cook, stirring, to combine until uniform.  If it separates, that’s ok, keep stirring until it comes together somewhat. Remove from the heat and whisk in the honey, cream, orange juice, orange zest and salt. Strain to remove any undissolved lumps of brown sugar. Let cool to room temperature.

5. Wrap log in plastic and freeze until firm. Repeat with second piece of dough. While logs are chilling, lightly butter two 9-inch cake pans and divide the gooey topping evenly between them. Top each pan of gooey topping with half the orange supremes, and 1 cup toasted whole and chopped pecans.

6. Remove a log from freezer and trim ends if ragged. Slice log into seven 1 1/2-inch slices with a serrated knife. Lay each slice flat, flatten slightly, and round the sides. Place rounded buns in a circle with the last one in the center; seams of buns should face outside of pan.

7. Repeat with second log. Let rest, uncovered, for 2 hours, until slices touch. Arrange oven racks so one rack is in the middle and the other just below, and preheat to 350°F. Put pans on middle rack and put a foil-lined jelly-roll pan underneath to catch drips. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Invert immediately on serving dish – one that’s big enough to catch any extra gooey topping that drips down the sides.

8. Use any extra goo on the bottom of pan or plate you turned buns over on, to drizzle over individual buns.

Finally, did you know that sticky buns originated in Germany and and are known as ‘Schnecken’?  They were brought to Pennsylvania via German Settlers in the 18th century.  Germany is one of many countries I’d love to visit in Europe, so I’m submitting these to Bread Baking Day #46, in which the theme is baking a bread from a place we’d love to visit, hosted by Noor of Ya Salam Cooking.

I’m also submitting these sticky buns to Yeastspotting, a weekly bread baking showcase hosted by the uber talented Susan of Wild Yeast.

Don’t forget to tune in to Part Two of Bad Boy First Love, on the 27th!

I couldn’t find my big platter, so I stuffed everything onto this medium dish.  It really wasn’t served this way…lots more carrots and potatoes behind where this photo was taken.

The first thought that came to mind, was a chicken dish by Rick Bayless, basted with his red mole and agave syrup, that looks similar after being roasted.  He calls it Lacquered Chicken because it looks well, lacquered – not unlike a door, floor. or piece of furniture you all probably have at least one of in your homes.

Great, I’m comparing chicken to lacquered wood.  I bet that’s really juicing up your appetite!

Thing is, there are people who actually do use not food safe lacquer, stains and all kinds of liquid substances that will probably poison you.  These people are professional food stylists.  Ever see those pictures of perfectly, deep, golden brown turkey’s on a beautiful platter with lots of fixings, smack in the middle of a Thanksgiving table, not a burnt spot or flaw to be found?  Ever wonder why that look is almost impossible to achieve ?  Because, although it’s real fowl, you cannot eat it.

I usually truss before buttering or oiling, but I wanted to show the butter in every nook and cranny.  So, the wings got cut off in the buttering photo – and this was the only collage I liked.  Oh, well.  Just truss and reach in and underneath where the wings are folded and tied down, to distribute the butter.

I always found that to be a waste, especially with all the starving people in the world.  Take a perfectly edible turkey, roast it until it’s nice and brown, then slather it with wood stain and Minwax super gloss clear finishing lacquer to give it that lovely, burnished, flawless appearance.  YUM, pass the compound and sandpaper, please!

I guess they throw these turkeys and chickens in the garbage once they get the photo they need.  Change that ‘I guess’ to ‘I hope’.

As mentioned in the first paragraph, my chicken contains none of the above, and look at the lovely deep, glossy skin I got.  No, it’s not perfect, and you won’t see it on one of Norman Rockwell’s holiday tables, but it’s completely edible and delicious!

For this month’s love bloghop, the theme is citrus.  I had sweets on the brain, orange sticky buns, individual lemon charlottes, orange chocolate chunk cookies of some sort, etc.  After picking up an organic chicken a few nights ago my plans changed.  I was craving roast chicken, so why not an orange roast chicken?  I still had sweets on the brain, so the cookies were made, and the finished brioche dough for sticky buns is resting in the fridge as I type this.  I will be posting both, but once this chicken came out of the oven, it got the job – I knew this was going to be my #citruslove.

To start, I made an orange compound butter to massage into the chicken, on top and underneath the skin…mostly the breast because thighs and legs don’t take kindly to their skin being pulled away and stuffed.  They tear in protest if you go to deep..no matter how gently, so I usually do the best I can, which means the fat part of each drumstick ends up with a glob of butter, herbs or whatever, smack in the middle, which has to be massaged on the outside of the skin, to disseminate it throughout the rest of the fat, bulbous part.

SCREEEECH! Hold on!…Time to segue.  As I type this, feeling no flow whatsoever, completely disjointed, discombobulated - I’m realizing how boring all of the above is.  Last week I received an email from a reader…

“Why aren’t you as funny anymore?  You used to crack me up.  Are you ok?”

There’s too many answers to that question, and that was part of my response to her.  The rest “I promise it’ll return, just not in a great place, or flowing at the moment”, with a huge smiley emoticon at the end –> :)

Maybe I should just post my food photos with poetry, or songs?  I’ve heard some of the best of both have come during ‘down times’.  How about a Haiku?

Oh lacquered chicken
How beautiful thy skin is
I want your drumstick

OK, maybe not.

It’s really tough to get a good photo when everyone is begging to eat.

Back to the boring writing chicken.  I wanted to infuse a good amount of orange flavor into it since I’ve had plenty of orange roast chicken where you could barely taste the orange, so I layered – I layered like I do to my skin when I get out of the shower – body oil of scent I plan to wear, powder of scent I plan to wear, then the scent.  Orange compound butter inside out, oranges stuffed in the cavity, orange lacquer (I really love calling it that) – a few herbs, seasonings, and other stuff to contrast and enhance, and the orange flavor popped, but not in an overpowering way.  Not to mention, this chicken was juicier than Violet Beauregarde, pre – dejuicing room.

As I mentioned above…January is #citruslove month!  Please join in on the #citruslove fun by linking up any citrus recipe from the month of January 2012. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to stop by the #citruslove (the hashtag) event on Twitter!

A shout out and thank you to my co-hosts for #citruslove;

A Little Bit of Everything, Astig Vegan, Baker Street, BigFatBaker, CafeTerraBlog, Cake Duchess, Cakeballs Cookies and More, Easily Good Eats, Elephant Eats, Food Wanderings, Georgiecakes, Hobby and More, Mike’s Baking, Mis Pensamientos, No One Likes Crumbley Cookies, Oh Cake,, Peaches and Donuts, Savoring Every Bite, Simply Reem, Smart Food and Fit, Soni’s Food for Thought, Teaspoon of Spice, That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!, The Art of Cooking Real Food, The More Than Occasional Baker, The Spicy RD, The Wimpy Vegetarian, Vegan Yack Attack, Vegetarian Mamma, You Made That?

Please visit their blogs to see all the delicious #citruslove they created!  OH, and of course - the linky!  I’ve been rather involved with the linky’s lately, huh?  Well, it’s just one click below to citrus porn!

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Orange Lacquered Roast Chicken

1 5 lb organic chicken
Orange Butter (recipe follows)
2 sprigs parsley
2 sprigs rosemary
4 sprigs thyme
Cut up oranges (use the ones you squeezed for the juice, plenty of orange flavor left in them)
kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
Orange Lacquer (recipe follows)

Orange Butter
1 stick (4oz) unsalted, room temperature butter
1 tablespoon grated orange zest

Orange Lacquer
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (about 6 to 8 navel or navel sized oranges.  Save the squeezed orange halves to stuff into cavity of chicken)
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 scant tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (regular sesame oil is fine)
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Grate all the zest you will need in this recipe from your oranges, then split them in half and keep squeezing until you get 1 cup of juice.  Set aside zest and juice.

2. In a medium bowl..stir together the butter and one tablespoon of orange zest until creamy and uniform. Set aside.

3. Remove giblets and neck from chicken, then rinse under cold water inside out.  Dry thoroughly.

4. Rub some of the orange butter all around the inside of the cavity, then salt and pepper it liberally. Stuff with all the herbs and as many orange halves as you can fit into the cavity.  Truss the chicken.  THIS is the method I use..quick and easy. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

5. Rub the rest of the orange compound butter all over the chicken, inside and out, lifting the skin where you can without tearing, and sliding some in – placing the skin back down and pushing it around on top of the skin until it covers most of the meat.  Throw any leftover compound butter into the cavity (the hole is still big enough to get it in even though it’s trussed). Salt and pepper the outside of the chicken, liberally.

6. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan.  Pour a little chicken stock or water on the bottom of the pan, if you like.  Easier clean up, and gravy, if desired, although this chicken doesn’t need it.

7.  Place roasting pan with chicken in the preheated oven.  Roast for 1 hour.  Check every 20 minutes to make sure it isn’t burning in spots.

8. While chicken is roasting, make orange lacquer.  Place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan, except the sesame oil.  Cook over medium heat until the brown sugar is disssolved, then bring to a boil, stirring.  Let it reduce to almost half of what it was.  It won’t be super thick when done, more syrupy.  Stir in sesame oil.

9. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and remove chicken.  Paint the lacquer all over the chicken, getting into every nook and cranny with the brush.  Place back in the oven and roast for 15 minutes.  Remove it again, and paint.  Do this every 10-15 minutes for a total of 35-40 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh register 165 degrees F.

9.  Remove from oven and let rest for 15-20 minutes (this is when you should take photos if you’re a food blogger ).  Carve and enjoy!  I served mine with glazed carrots and smoked paprika roasted potatoes.

This post was scheduled to go up at midnight. But I scheduled it a few hours earlier, so in retrospect, this is Lisa of New Years past speaking.  Let me explain…

The reason I initially scheduled this for midnight was because I was invited by Lora of Cake Duchess and Sanjeeta of Lite Bite to take part in a Virtual Party Bloghop to welcome in 2012 , and that’s when they asked us to put it up, at or after midnight.

I kind of cheated and scheduled this post for 9:30 pm because these smoked salmon crisps are so amazing and so amazingly easy to whip up that there’s still a ton of time to make it for a New Years brunch, plus, on the East and West Coasts, you would have plenty of time to whip it up tonight if you’ve got some smoked salmon on hand!  My other reasoning is, it’s already 2012 in other parts of the world, like Europe, for instance.  My family hails from Russia…so let’s pretend I’ve already celebrated with champagne, blini and vodka.  I’m three sheets to the wind..ready for sleep.  Boy it’s cold here!  S Novym Godom!

That said, there’s a bunch of great food bloggers taking part, so once all posts are up, (this party is on until January 7th), just clicking the linky at the bottom of this post will take you to a gallery of gorgeous dishes to celebrate the New Year. The Twitter hashtag is #Welcome2012.  Join us all week long!

Logo created by Heather of Farmgirl Gourmet

Like my Christmas Morning Coffee Cake, these can be anytime hors d’oeuvres, or appetizers.  One would make a great amuse bouche, so I’m thinking this suits all three categories.  I think I need to create an hors d’oeuvres category.

The recipe is by Thomas Keller, from his French Laundry cookbook.  You do not have to smoke your own salmon to make this.  I don’t own a smoker (gave it away years ago because I hardly ever used it – but now wish I didn’t) so I did the next best thing – I bought my smoked salmon from a Jewish deli that smokes their own salmon.  There you go!  There are also great packaged Novia Scotia salmon brands in the supermarkets, so you also don’t need a great Jewish deli nearby to make these.

Thomas Keller is brilliant – a culinary virtuoso, so I really didn’t think I was going to change a bit of this recipe.  Then the thought came to me – smoked salmon, LOX, LOX and cream cheese on a bagel. Bagels with cream cheese and lox has been a food staple since childhood.

I now dub these bagels with cream cheese, lox and onions, REFINED.  Oh, with a lot less calories too, if you don’t eat 3 dozen of them.  Speaking of bagels, do any of you order your bagels ‘scooped’?  This is where they tear out the doughy innards before filling it with whatever you choose, to cut carbs and calories.  I’m sorry, I will try to eat as healthy as I can, but no way in hell am I ever giving up those doughy innards when I treat myself to a bagel with cream cheese, lox, onions, capers, or whatever I’m craving that day. It’s sort of sacrilege to me…it’s the best part!

I totally digress…creme fraiche is a lovely, tangy topping, and easy to make, but to welcome in 2012, the New Yorker in me felt these called for cream cheese – so I used cream cheese.  When I tasted my cream cheese topping, it needed a little kick.  Wasabi goes extremely well with salmon. I loved it, but you don’t have to use it – it’s fine without it.

One small caveat (another favorite and oft used word of mine) – the baking time for the tuiles in Chef Keller’s recipe was too much.  My first batch burnt.  Maybe this is because I baked only one sheet at a time, so if you’re going to do the same, 15 minutes is way too long.  8-10 minutes is perfect, but start checking at 6 minutes.

One last thing before I get to my top posts of 2011.  As part of this virtual New Years party, we were given a list of things to do.  One was optional, asking us to name and link to bloggers who inspired us in 2011.  People who know me in real life would say one thing.  “Nope, she never picks out people and leaves others out, so she won’t do that”.  Yes, that’s the truth..I’m the type of person who will drive my kids crazy by making them invite everyone in the class to their birthday parties when they’re in elementary school, and I still have enough reign/authority to do so.

BUT, to be honest, this is not even a case of leaving people out.  The truth is, every single food blogger I know or don’t know..but read, inspires me in some way, shape or form.  There’s no way I can just choose 5 or 100, it just isn’t possible (Plese don’t misunderstand, there is NOTHING wrong with choosing favorites, whether it be people, places or things – it’s just how I operate) lol), so I’ll leave it at ‘YOU ALL inspire and affect me in so many different ways’.  I’m quite the softie, I can’t ignore, leave out or hurt people. Someone has to do something pretty mean or awful to me for none of that to apply. Being too nice is not always a good thing in life, and some take advantage, but hey, maybe it’ll serve me well somewhere down the road.  Now back to our scheduled programming – minus the cheese.

Herein lies my top posts of 2011.  I decided to forgo the usual top 10, 11 for 2011, or 12 for 2012.  Instead, 2+0+1+1 = 4, and I prefer odd numbers, so here are my TOP 5 posts of 2011.

1. My Much Discussed Levain Copycat Cookie - This was my first post ever, and it still gets the most hits every year.

2. Possibly the Best Burger Buns Ever - And they are still possibly the best burger buns ever.

3. Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet – Peanut Butter and Chocolate all Decked Out - I loved this so much, I’ve made it twice since.  Best Lowel Ego Light photo ever (for me).  Could never replicate the lighting and sharpness of this photo again – weird Lowel Ego juju moment.

4. Three Pies in One – Cheesecake Pumpkin Pecan Pie - Need I say more?

5. Candy, Candy, Candy I Can’t Let You Go – Almost everything candy, from tempering chocolate to pate de fruits.

Well..that’s all folks!  Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!!  See you in 2012!  Don’t forget to click the linky below!

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Smoked Salmon Crisps with Lemon Wasabi Cream Cheese
Recipe for Tuiles and Salmon from Thomas Keller’s French Laundry Cookbook.  Lemon Wasabi Cream Cheese Topping by Yours Truly.
Makes about 2 to 3 dozen

Tuiles
4 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 chilled large egg white
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Black sesame seeds

Smoked Salmon Topping
4 ounces sliced smoked salmon, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons very finely chopped shallot
1 1/2 teaspoons very finely chopped chives, plus a few snipped, for garnish
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Freshly ground white pepper

Lemon Wasabi Cream Cheese Topping
4 ounces (half a package) cream cheese
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
pinch of white pepper
pinch of salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon wasabi powder or paste (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar and salt. Add the egg white and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the butter until smooth and creamy.

2. Spoon about a teaspoon of the batter, each 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and spread to 2-inch rounds. I make my own tuile batter stencils so I get uniform shapes.  To do that, take a plastic cover from an empty tub of margarine, rice pudding, or whatever you have on hand, cut off the thick rim, then draw your shape onto the side you won’t be spreading batter on.  Poke a hole in the middle with a knife, then cut out your shape following the outline.  You can see mine in the collage above.

3. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and bake in the upper and middle third of the oven for about 8-10 minutes, shifting the pans from top to bottom and front to back, until the tuiles are golden and fragrant. Let cool.

4. While tuiles are cooling, make the lemon wasabi cream cheese topping. In a medium bowl combine the softened cream cheese, salt, wasabi powder (if using), white pepper and heavy cream.  Beat until smooth and fluffy  Stir in the lemon zest and place into a piping bag with the tip of your choice, or a ziplock bag with one end snipped off.  You can just spoon it on each salmon crisp if you prefer.  Set aside.

5. Make the smoked salmon topping. In a medium bowl, combine the salmon with the shallot, chopped chives, lemon zest and a pinch of white pepper. Spoon the salmon onto the tuiles and top with a dollop or piping of the lemon wasabi cream cheese.  Garnish each crisp with a few snipped chives.   Make Ahead – The tuiles can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.