Apple Cranberry Crisp

The original recipe was handed down to me by Angela at EOS. I used to make variation of it on a weekly basis. I would change the fruit, the spice and the ice cream depending on seasonal market finds, and we would always run out. You can make this dessert in any oven-safe deep dish.
For the topping:
This will probably make more than 6 portions but it’s as small of a batch as I can make with my equipmen.
Dough #1: in a mixer combine 1 cup flour, ¼ cup + 1Tbs sugar and 1/8tsp salt. Mix with a paddle.
Cut 4oz (1stick/8Tbs) cold sweet butter into small chunks. Add to flour mix and mix until it forms into small crumbs.
Whisk together 1 egg yolk (large egg), 1tsp ice water, 1/8 tsp almond extract and ¼ tsp vanilla extract. Add to flour/butter mixture, mix shortly.
Crumble the dough on a pan and freeze.
Dough #2: In mixer combine ½ cup brown sugar, ¾ stick butter (3oz/6Tbs) and 1/8 tsp salt and cream with a paddle until fluffy.
Combine ¼ cup+1Tbs+1tsp flour and ½ cup+1Tbs rolled oats. Add to creamed mixture and mix until small chunks form. Do not over mix.
Crumble the dough on a pan and freeze.
Once frozen, mix the two together. You can keep in the freezer for up to a month



For the filling: (makes six ramekins)
Ingredients: 4 medium apples (I like pink ladies or Jazz apples) peeled, diced and tossed with 3Tbs of lemon juice; 1tsp fresh ginger finely chopped, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp clove, 1/8 tsp cardamom; 2Tbs butter, 2 Tbs orange juice, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup cranberries.

Melt the butter in sauce pan, add the apples, ginger and spices. Cook everything for 2 minutes then add the orange juice and sugar. When the apples are tender (about 5 minutes) add 1cup cranberries.

Cook for a couple more minutes, add 2Tbs flour and mix well.
Remove from the flame and divide into the ramekins (these ramekins are from IKEA).



Top the fruit with the dough mixture, making sure to have some of each dough. Be generous with the topping, after all if you put too much the dough will fall off the top when baking, and as the chef you will have to eat the tasty crumbiness. Place the ramekins on a parchment lined cookie sheet for easy clean up.
Bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for about ½ hour. Not all ovens are created equal, so check the crisp every 10 minutes and rotate the pan for an even bake. The crisp is done when the dough is nice and golden and you can see the filling bubbling underneath.



Make sure to wait a little before you serve the crisp to avoid burned tongues.
I make my own ice cream but a good store bought will do just as well. Enjoy!

Mica

Israel Out in the Bay

We got asked to make a cake for the "Israel in the Park" festival that was held in Golden Gate Park in SF earlier this year. After racking our brains for ideas that would represent both Israel and the community of San Francisco, we ended up with Star of David cake on a white background (Israeli flag colors) and a rainbow, representing gay pride. The entire structure is made of chocolate cake with cherry filling, covered with fondant, and colored with food coloring. The title of the cake was "Israel Out in the Bay".

One great fundraiser

Every year we take part in a fundraiser for Girl's Inc of Alameda County called "Women of Taste." It is an event that features women chef's, restaurateurs, winemakers, musicians, artists and more, and supports the organization Girl's Inc, a nonprofit with the mission to inspire girls in low-income families to be strong, smart and bold.

Every year we try to come up with a different design theme for our booth. This year we decided to use goldfish as a backdrop. We filled glass cylinders of various shapes and sizes with goldfish of various shapes and sizes, added lights, bubblers, and some great food (for the guests).

At the end of the night we bagged up the fish for the kids, but ended up giving nearly all of them to the adults in the crowd. What better way to recycle the decor?

For information on donating to Girl's Inc, go to
http://www.girlsinc.org/index.html

Oh, here's the menu...

Girls Inc 2008

Cream of corn soup

With coconut milk and cilantro; made with corn stock

Gougers filled with prawn cocktail

With shelling peas and lemon aioli

Peanut Butter and jelly bars

With raspberry jelly

trout smoking

We love to smoke us some trouts. As Mark (the bartender) says, "they're hard to keep lit, but boy are they worth it". So, the first photo is Mark with some of the magic flavor juice, the second photo is an appetizer composed of an endive spear with avocado salad, ruby red grapefruit and smoked trout, served on redwood cross-cut slabs on a grass covered buffet, and the last photo are the little fishes pre-curing and smoking.

For the trout, we give them a short cure using salt, sugar, a bit of spice depending on the final use and a splash of liquor, the variety of which also changes depending on the final use. After the cure, we wash off the curing mixture, dry the fish, and smoke until fully cured.

Alirio and the Iris cake

We always knew that Alirio was a talented dishwasher and great in the warehouse, but were we ever surprised when we found out he could paint. We were struggling with a wedding cake that needed irises painted on the sides, and Alirio stepped in and took over. At the time his wife and kids had just moved back to Mexico, so we printed copies of the photos of his work for him to send to them. I don't know if either he or we were more proud of his work. Thank you Alirio.

The Neon Bar

We just had a chance to use this again as a bar. We have used it for both food and beverage, and I can't get over how cool it is. The food that we were serving was as follows:

Mussel shooters
Refreshing slightly spice Gazpacho with plump mussels
Served in shot glasses

Vegetarian Gazpacho shooters

House made Taro chips
Dusted with smoked paprika and salt;
Served in paper cones

Crayfish funtime

Just a couple of crayfish funtime photos...

Did they really eat that much?

They told us they would eat a lot for 96 people, and we took it to heart, but I am still surprised by this one. First, here's the menu...

Wedding Rehearsal dinner

Friday, September 5^th 2008

Ipswich clam boil bar

Ipswich clams boiled at the buffet in a well seasoned broth, then dipped in clarified butter

Clarified butter, lemon wedges and Chinese chili oil

Seafood bake buffet

Served in seaweed covered wide big metal buckets

Layers of potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, onions, Cod, Mussels, Crayfish

Lobster tails and claws

Clarified butter, lemon wedges and Chinese chili oil

Assortment of bay area artisan breads

Walk away Caesar

Hearts of romaine, garlic crouton, shaved parmesan and Caesar dip

Soup station

Self served in clear coffee mugs

Prawn and pineapple soup

In a light lemongrass fish broth with Baha and scallions

Whole pig roast

Head on pig roasted in the La Caha China and carved at the buffet

Chinese hot mustard

Dessert buffet

Mini Chocolate- Pecan- Caramel bars

Mini Pluat Almond Tarts

Glazed with Apricot Jam

White Chocolate Panna cotta

Topped with Huckleberry Compote

Now, to the volume of food:
40# clams
15# mussels
15# cod
20# crayfish
40# lobster
5# shrimp
67# whole pig
2 cases hearts of Romaine
75# vegetables for boil
8 loaves of bread + 144 sweet rolls
4 gallons soup
500 servings of dessert

We didn't run out of food, but it got close. I am still in amazement. What is that, maybe 3# of food per person? Great job eaters.

I can't even cut my finger off correctly

So, for the first post of Savoy Events Tidbits, I want to share a bit about my middle finger. Don't worry, this is a family friendly bird finger posting.

In Mica and my attempt to be environmentally friendly, we run a full compost and recycling kitchen. Normally this all goes well, even with the stinky food fun in the summer (maggots in the dumpster, check), sorting garbage when it comes back from jobs all mixed together with recycling and food waste, a bit higher monthly bill with Waste Management, and three waste cans instead of one. All in all, it gives a warm fuzzy feeling.

Now, rewind to yesterday. In my garbage diligence, I saw a piece of plastic in the compost can. I, with no hesitation, reach in to remove the non-biodegradable offense, and on the way out of the can, find a piece of broken glass...with my middle finger. At first I think, no problem, a band-aid will fix this just fine. Then I see the spurting blood of a cut artery. Then I see severed tendon. Then I think, Hooray Garbage!

Mica was nice enough to show up a few minutes after I butchered the hand, and agreed that a hospital visit was in order. Before we could go, we had to butterfly a pig (yes Tien and David, we we're thinking of you with my left hand wrapped, holding a piggy with my right while Mica worked the hammer and chisel).

A few hours later with a tied off artery, a stitched tendon, a sewn finger, and as a parting gift a pair of unisex one size fits all disposable underwear, I am back at it.

Hooray Garbage.