Whatcha makin’ for Cinco de Mayo this weekend?  We’re pretty sure your celebration plans include  kicking back with at least some beer, margaritas and chips!  Why not throw in some guacamole and salsa, too?  

We’ve got a really awesome portfolio of technique videos you can use.  Take a look here:  http://vimeopro.com/dearmartini/salsaandguacamole

From choosing the perfect strawberry, to slicing, quartering, fanning and macerating. All the techniques you need to make the best of fresh strawberries.

“Strawberries Rule!”  say 94% of all American households… but some strawberries are better than other berries.

How to Choose the Perfect Strawberry:

Ripe delicious strawberries should be sweet and enticingly perfumed.  Unlike many fruits, strawberries do not continue to ripen after harvesting.  From the moment strawberries are picked you are running the race to eat them before their demise!

• Choose bright-red strawberries with dark green caps
• Plump but small. Large strawberries tend to taste watery.  Giant strawberries are usually a disappointment.
• Strawberries with no smell are a bust.  Don’t buy them!
• Buy organic — Most of us know by now that strawberries are on the “dirty dozen” list which is a list of fruits and veggies that have high residual pesticide rates.  We would love to say that we only purchase organic fruits and veggies, but that isn’t realistic for many (including us) on a tight budget.  With strawberries it really makes a difference so we spend our dollars wisely and buy organic.  For the freshest berries we head to  the Farmer’s market.

Once you get the berries home they are best eaten at room temperature…the same day.  If you can’t eat them the same day, then pop them unwashed, into a container in a single layer with a dry paper towel placed on the bottom and one on top.  Allow strawberries to come to room temperature before serving for best flavor.

Strawberries ARE Wash & Dry!

Strawberries should always be rinsed and dried just before cutting.  Ignore recipes that tell you that you should never wash strawberries…  you can’t wash away their flavor! Place berries in a colander and rinse under cold running water.  Spread them out to dry on paper towels with plenty of space between them to dry.  This can be done up to 3 hours before you plan to use them.

Quarter ‘Em:

Slice ‘Em:

Fan ‘Em:

Macerate ‘Em:

One of the simplest  quick desserts is to macerate fresh strawberries — sprinkle the berries with a little sugar or honey to bring out their natural sweetness and set them aside for a couple of minutes to allow them to release their natural juices. (Watch the video to see the magic!)  Here are a couple additions to try if you want to get a little more creative:

• A squeeze of lemon or orange juice
• Teaspoon or two of balsamic vinegar
• A drizzle of rose water or a couple of drops of violet essence
• Splash of red wine or your favorite liqueur
• A couple lemon verbena leaves, basil, or mint chiffonade

Just remember to add a tiny bit at a time and taste — you’re looking to enhance and add complexity NOT loose the natural flavor.

Strawberries Aren’t Just For Shortcakes Anymore…

While we never get tired of eating fresh berries picked warm from the garden we sometimes want a little something different.  One of our new favorite techniques to prepare strawberries is to roast them!  Roasting is easy and turns the strawberries into a wonderful jammy consistency.  It’s a great way to use strawberries when you have too many (they hold up in the fridge much better than fresh berries.)  Roasting also improves their flavor if the strawberries are less than perfect.  For one of our favorite go to recipes, check out Zoë François’ lovely blog: http://www.zoebakes.com The Best Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream – roasting is the secret.

First things first — you do not need to make your cake look like a store-bought cake with the fanciest of decorations (sigh of relief heard ’round the world.) Focus on making your cake TASTE great and the looking-good will follow. In pursuit of making cake baking easier, we’ve outlined some of the tips and techniques to help you avoid the common pitfalls novice bakers face.

MAKE:

Adjust the rack before you light the oven. We’ve all opened up the oven to find the rack in the wrong place. Bake cakes (unless instructed otherwise) on the center rack for even heat distribution.

Bring all refrigerated ingredients to room temperature. It takes about 20-30 minutes for most ingredients to reach room temp about 65-70 degrees. Eggs are always large (not extra-large) and butter is always unsalted unless your recipe states otherwise.

Cold eggs are easier to separate. If you are an egg novice — try separating while cold and then bring them to room temperature.

Take the time to prepare your pans properly. It sincerely sucks when you’ve spent a lot of time making a cake only to have a major fail when trying to get it out of the pan.

Use the freshest ingredients available. This sounds like it goes without saying, but before you start a baking project, the day before double-check your expiration date on the baking powder and, if you bake infrequently, that your flour is not a million years old. Rancid flour (develops a sour-off taste) and baking powder that is old will ruin all of your hard work. It’s also the time to double-check that you have all the ingredients you need in your pantry so you don’t have to make a middle-of-the-project run to the store. Having all of the proper ingredients at hand will also prevent you from falling to the temptation of substituting ingredients or using less of an ingredient. Baking is an exact science and making substitutions is the purview of the experienced baker ONLY.

Measure your ingredients carefully. For liquid ingredients always use a liquid measuring cup (one with a spout.) For dry ingredients use the dip and sweep method. For the most accurate results, experienced bakers weigh all of their ingredients with a digital kitchen scale.

No skimping on the sifting! Sifting aerates the ingredients and ensures that all of the dry ingredients are thoroughly combined. If you don’t have a sifter (we never use one) you can use a wire mesh strainer.

Take your time when combining butter and sugar. It takes about 5 minutes to beat or cream these ingredients together. Creaming adds tiny air pockets to your batter and is the secret to a light cake.

Incorporate dry ingredients on low or by hand to avoid too much gluten development. Recipes always say don’t over beat… this is what they are referring to. Gluten development results in tough, dry cake.

Whip egg whites to the proper consistency as called for in the recipe. Need help with being able to tell soft peaks from firm peaks be sure to watch the video!

BAKE:

Baking 2 cakes? Allow enough room in between (a couple inches — pans should not touch) and on all the sides for proper heat circulation.

When you start to smell a cake, that’s usually a good indicator that it is done. But that’s not always the case. To check if your cake is done insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out with just a few dry crumbs, the cake is done. If the toothpick is moist, continue baking and check again after 5 minutes. Resist the urge to open and close the oven multiple times! Every time you open the oven you lose heat from the oven.

COOL:

Unless otherwise stated in the recipe, allow cakes to cool 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove cake from the pan and completely cool on the wire rack.

NEVER try to ice/frost a warm cake. Cakes need to be completely cool or the frosting will melt.

Enjoy:

Wishing you many great cakes and happy baking!

Mia and Terri xxoo

Ps. We love hearing from you and would love to see photos of your cakes. Send us a photo and we will share!

Shortcakes, berries and cream are all you need for a fabulous dessert!

Nothing indicates that Spring is finally here like the arrival of strawberries!  If you haven’t already made this classic all-American dessert yet, now’s your chance!

Let’s say you’re invited to a friend’s house for a weekend backyard party… and you want to contribute a dessert to the party but don’t know what to make? Herein lies your salvation. Bring strawberry shortcake! It’s everyone’s favorite! Bring the components with you in separate containers, and assemble just before serving.

There are only three components to this dessert: strawberries, whipped cream, and lightly sweetened biscuits. Follow our how-to videos to help you along with preparing each component. As always, we’ve created a portfolio of all relevant how-to videos on our Vimeo Channel: http://vimeopro.com/dearmartini/strawberry-shortcake. We hope this will earn its place in your arsenal of go-to dessert recipes!

Strawberry Shortcake

Serves 8 to 10

1 recipe shortcakes, recipe follows

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups sliced strawberries, macerated
• 2 cups creme chantilly, recipe follows
• Zest of one lemon, from a traditional zester for garnish, or
• 8-10 fanned strawberries

DIRECTIONS:

Bake the shortcakes according to recipe and set aside.  While the shortcakes are baking, prep the strawberries for macerating and whip the cream. Serve immediately.

If you are taking the shortcakes to an event, it’s best to assemble the dessert on site.  Macerate the strawberries and whip the cream immediately before serving.

To assemble for serving:

Slice the biscuits in half and warm them in an oven set to 250°F for 10 minutes (this step is optional, but the biscuits are awesome when they are warmed!)

Arrange the bottom half of a biscuit on a plate. Place a generous spoonful of the macerated strawberries and the resulting syrup on the biscuit. Spoon a generous dollop (or quenelle) of whipped cream over the strawberries. Top with the top half of the biscuit. Repeat with the remaining biscuits. Garnish with either threads of lemon zest or a fanned strawberry. Serve immediately.

Shortcakes

Makes 12 biscuits

* in this recipe, the base recipe for the biscuits is derived from our scone recipe. We like to make our own acidulated milk instead of using buttermilk from the store; so if you wish to use buttermilk, substitute ½ cup for the lemon juice and whole milk.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice or cider vinegar
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 ½ sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 cups plus ¼ cup all-purpose flour for dusting
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 egg, beaten for egg wash
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (or granulated sugar)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375˚F.

Mix the lemon juice and milk together and let it stand in the fridge for as long as it takes to prepare the rest of the recipe. If you are using ½ cup buttermilk for this recipe, eliminate this step. Cube the butter and keep in the freezer until you are ready to use them.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt with a wooden spoon. Add the butter. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or break up the butter into the flour by rubbing the butter and flour together between your fingers. Do this very quickly and randomly. You should still have lumps of butter varying from small (pea-sized) to large (blueberry sized). Do not let the butter get soft. If it does, return the bowl to the fridge for a few minutes.

Combine the eggs and milk mixture together and add to the flour mixture. Stir gently with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a shaggy, lumpy mass. It’s ok that it’s not smooth or uniformly mixed in. It’s ok to see random lumps of butter still not mixed in.

Transfer the dough onto a well-floured surface and gently, with floured hands, pat it down into a rough rectangle shape about 1-inch thick. Use a spatula and pick up one end of the dough and fold it over in half. Pick up the entire dough piece and turn it 45-degrees. Flour your hands and pat it down into another rectangle.  Repeat this patting, folding, turning method 4-5 more times. Keep flour dusted underneath the dough as you turn it.  For the last pat-down, make sure the rectangle is about 10-12 inches long and 6 inches wide. Transfer the dough to a sheet pan and cover. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes to firm up the butter.

Use a 3 ½ -inch diameter biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter to cut the biscuits. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Press the scraps together and pat and fold to recombine the dough. DO NOT KNEAD THE DOUGH TOGETHER. Continue cutting out biscuits and reforming the dough until they are all cut. Refrigerate the biscuits for about 30 minutes to firm up the butter.

Just before baking, lightly brush the egg wash over the tops of the biscuits and sprinkle the tops with the turbinado sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. The biscuits will be firm to the touch. Transfer the pans to a wire rack to cool.

Macerated Strawberries:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pint strawberries, sliced
• 1 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Macerate the sliced strawberries in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let them sit for 15 minutes or keep covered in the fridge until ready to use. In our experience, strawberries taste best when they are cool, or at room temperature. We find that the chill from the refrigerator inhibits their flavor.

Crème Chantilly:

Makes 2 cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

 Whip the cream with vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Keep covered in the refrigerator until ready to use. Set all components aside until you are ready to serve.

Did you know that it’s inexpensive and easy to make? Did you also know that it tastes better if you make it yourself?

Our idea for granola uses whole nuts, dried fruit and as little oil as possible. We’ve been making our own granola for quite some time now. Whenever we have a handful of leftover nuts or dried fruit after a party, baking project or photo-shoot, the nuts get packed away into the freezer and are marked for a future granola-making session.

Reblogged from Rantings of an Amateur Chef:

What could be better than grapefruit broiled with rum and brown sugar!

When I was a little girl my favorite Sunday brunches always included Broiled Grapefruit — “drunken grapefruit.” Mom would section the grapefruit and sprinkle them with rum and sugar. Dad would pop them under the broiler and be in charge of making sure they didn’t burn. To my young mind broiled grapefruit was the height of culinary perfection – just the right blend of sweet. sour, bitter, and my first taste of illicit rum.

Broiled grapefruit are still a big hit in our house.  My only changes from the original recipe are–I prefer the complexity of brown sugar (or honey) to granulated sugar. I also like adding a pinch of cayenne to intensify the sweetness and a pinch of salt to mellow out the bitterness. The secret is all in the broiling. The heat of the broiler brings out the juices and melds all the components into a über-grapefruity, extra-juicy, deliciousness!

Broiled Grapefruit

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 large ruby red or pink grapefruit

• 2 tablespoons rum (optional)

The secret is all in the broiling!

• ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar

• Pinch of salt

• Pinch of cayenne

Directions:

Preheat the broiler and adjust your oven rack to about 4-inches from the broiler.

Cut grapefruit in half crosswise.  Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each half so they don’t wobble.

Use a paring knife to cut around each of the segments to release them from the membrane and pith.  It’s an extra step but really improves the eating experience. Sprinkle with rum.

In a small bowl, mix the sugar, salt and cayenne together.  Sprinkle the mixture over the grapefruit.

I dare you not to lick the plate!

Place the grapefruit on a baking sheet and place under the broiler. Broil grapefruit until the sugar has melted, and grapefruit is bubbly and slightly brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Transfer broiled grapefruit to individual dishes and serve warm.

This week, after much nail-biting and sleepless nights, Saveur.com announced finalists for their first-ever Saveur Video Festival.  A call for submissions took place earlier in January, asking for videos related to the following categories:

• Ultra-short form (Less than 60 seconds)
• How-to and Recipe
• Documentary
• Animation and/Experimental
• Culinary Travel

Dear Martini is excited and proud to announce that we have been picked as a finalist!  Our Blanching Peas video is eligible to win a People’s Choice Award in the Ultra-Short Form category!

Please help us win the People’s Choice by casting your vote for our video and asking everyone you know to go vote for us as well! Simply use this link below, which will take you to the voting page.

http://www.saveur.com/video-festival-2013/vote.jsp?ID=1000014369

Thanks so much for your support!  We are so excited that our little video production endeavor is finally getting some national recognition!  Please spread the word!

WooHOO!