English Peas and Rice

English Peas and Rice

This blog started as a way for me to document my attempts at baking. Back in 2007 (can't believe the blog is that old), I was trying to go from cake-box baking to baking from scratch. Only my closest friends read this blog. Then, somehow, a few more people started reading it. I've been lucky to meet  people via the blog that I now consider some of my best friends. It's been an interesting journey. Sometimes, I go back and read  earlier posts...especially the ones where I'm traveling, eating out and visiting friends. This blog truly is an open online diary so I won't forget special people, places and times.

This post is simply about documenting the taste of English peas in summer. It's not about the recipe (toss in peas in rice), but about the fun of grabbing all the little peas...and eating half of them raw because they are fresh and delicious.

Ahhh. So pretty. I want to remember this.

If everyone had fresh peas, there might be peas on earth.

I bought these at the farmers market. They also have a big container of shelled peas. That seems like it takes away a bit of the fun so I always buy them whole.

Premium brown rice (purchased at the Japanese grocery store - Nijiya and Mitsuwa have great selections of premium California rice) and the Zojirushi rice cooker (pricey but it's just lovely to have perfectly cooked rice available for hours).

I just threw a handful of peas into the rice cooker and pressed start. They come out mushy (very English :)

Along with stone fruits, English peas are edible summer. Hope your summer is off to a great start! - mary

Parrish Magic Line Baking Pan Factory Retail Store, Gardena (Los Angeles)

Parrish Magic Line Factory in Gardena, California

Southern California Friends,

Heya! Pick up your cake round and flip it over. Does it say "Magic Line" Gardena, CA 90248? If so, I went to the factory where it is made today!

Parrish Magic Line is located in Gardena, California (in the South Bay area of Los Angeles). The factory is located in the very industrial part of the Gardena and you can just walk in and buy stuff Monday - Friday!

I've been once before and picked up a few cake pans. My favorite place, Surfas carries Magic Line pans. I've seen them in most restaurant supply stores like ChefsMart and Chef's Toys. I think they are the commercial, industry standard.


I love how the edges of the square or rectangle pans are perfectly square. Not like the casserole Pyrex 9 x 13 pan...save that for the lasagna and Jell-O. The edges make lovely brownies, coffeecakes and all bar cookies. All the bakeware is easy to clean, sturdy and offers consistent baking.

Today, I picked up extra 9 x 13 rectangle,  9 x 9 square, and 8 x 8 square pans. (I'm going to do some major baking next week and the extra pans will come in handy.)

I checked my closet and realized I own a lot of Magic Line. Um... some of my inventory includes lots of cake rounds (from 10 inch down to a 3 inch round, most are 2 inches high, but a few are deeper 3 inches). I now have two sets of 9 x 13, 9 x 9, 8 x 8 rectangle and square pans. I also have a jelly roll pan and I think there is a larger square one too...I think I'm pretty covered.


The retail outlet in the factory is less expensive than stores I visited. Today, I went to ChefsMart and a 9 x 9 square was over $14. At Parrish, it was $13.50. The 8 x 8 square was $12.50 (it's $15.50 on Amazon) and the 9 x 13 was $15.50.

Don't think this is like a fancy Outlet Mall factory store. You can walk around the shelves and pick what you need, while passing workers who are busy filling orders. You might see some people making the pans too! They have wedding cake size pans, metal rings and some other baking stuff. The staff is friendly...I spent time talking to the cashier about libraries and crazy Friday nights of watching 20/20. It's low tech...the cashier looked up prices on a sheet, swiped my credit card and then used those carbon sheets to make an imprint of my card (remember that?)

Amazon's description says "Made in the USA" - it should say "Made in the awesome South Bay!" I love them...as you can tell by my collection!

If you aren't in the South Bay during the week, here are some links to get the pans on Amazon (full disclosure, I'm in the Amazon Affiliate program so if you buy something, I get a few cents)
Parrish on Amazon
Parrish Magic Line 8 x 8 x 2 Square Pan is $15.50 on Amazon

Parrish Magic Line 9 x 13 x 2 Inch Oblong Cake Pan is $20.00 on Amazon

Parrish's Home of Magic Line Factory Retail Store (I couldn't find a working website for them)
Open (as of May 2013) Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 4:30 PM
225 W 146th Street
Gardena, CA 90248
(310) 324-2253
Yelp (just has the address and phone)

Peanut Butter Crunch Coffee Cake

Peanut Butter Crunch Cake from Piece of Cake Cookbook

Last week, I went to Smart & Final (a mini warehouse type store with more restaurant stuff than Costco) and picked up two giant jars of peanut butter. Thus, the peanut butter kick is on.

The recipe is from From Piece of Cake: Home Baking Made Simple by David Muniz and David Lesniak. Published by Rizzoli, the cookbook is filled with homey favorites. Beautiful photographs, easy to understand instructions, and weight measurements are highlights. When do I know that I like a cookbook? When there are multiple post-it tabs peeking from the top...at last count, there were 10 tabs showing!

Americans David and David opened the Outsider Tart in London. Their book says it is the first American bakery in London. Have you been? Sounds like a fun place...more places to visit on my wish list of travel!

This coffee cake has two layers of melted chocolate chips & peanut butter. Yes, two layers of goodness. And the cake batter has peanut butter. As well as the topping. Um, any craving you have for peanut butter is satisfied with this cake.

I made this in the morning, but measured what I could the night before and laid out the ingredients - mise en place.

For this recipe, you mix soft butters (unsalted butter and peanut butter) together with the sugar and flour. This makes a crumble. Pull out some of that for the topping and then add the liquid ingredients to complete the cake batter.

In the meantime, you melt chocolate chips with even more peanut butter. Then the whole thing gets assembled with two layers of batter and melted chocolate mixture. It's easy to put together! P.S. A small offset spatula is your friend to smooth out the batter.

Two layers of chocolate/peanut butter makes for a delightful coffeecake. I didn't let my cake fully cool (I was heading to work!) so the cutting was a bit messy. I image a cool cake might be nicer.

Everyone at work really enjoyed this cake! I think adults and kids alike will love this tasty cake.

Peanut Butter Crunch Cake
From Piece of Cake: Home Baking Made Simple by David Muniz and David Lesniak of Outsider Tart, London

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Swirl:
2 cups / 12 ounces / 340 grams - semisweet or milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup / 4 ounces / 115 grams - smooth peanut butter (I used Skippy)

Crumb & Batter:
3 cups / 16 ounces / 450 grams - all-purpose flour
2 cups packed / 16 ounces / 450 grams - light brown sugar
1 cup / 8 ounces / 225 grams / two sticks - unsalted butter, softened
1 cup / 8 ounces / 225 grams - smooth peanut butter
4 - large eggs, room temp
1 cup / 8 fluid ounces / 240 ml - whole milk (I used low-fat milk...I don't drink regular milk so I have those little kids cartons in the house to use one cup at a time. Some bakery aisles also have whole milk in shelf stable one-cup cartons)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a pan by lining it with parchment and/or butter & flour. The cookbook uses a 9 x 12 pan, but I used a 9 x 13 pan. If you use a bigger pan, be sure to check it a few minutes earlier.

2. Make the swirl by melting the chocolate chips and peanut butter until smooth. I used a double boiler, but the cookbook says to use low heat in a small saucepan. Set aside to cool slightly while you make the rest of the batter.

3. For the crumb and batter, mix the flour, sugar, butter and peanut butter in an electric mixture with paddle attachment on LOW speed until coarse crumbs form.

4. Topping: Pull out 3 packed cups of the mixture and set aside.

5. Batter: Add eggs, one at a time, then add milk, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the remaining mixture. Turn up to medium speed and beat for 2-3 minutes until smooth.

6. Assembly: Spread half the batter in the pan. Drizzle half the melted chocolate mixture on top. Spread the remaining batter on top. Drizzle the remaining chocolate mixture, followed by the crumb topping. Gently press the crumbs into the cake.

7. Bake at 50-60 minutes (if you are making this in a 9 x 13 pan, start checking at 40-45 minutes). It's done when a toothpick comes out clean. If the topping starts getting too brown, you can loosely cover with aluminum foil. Let cake cool on wire rack and then cut into squares. Enjoy!

*Full disclosure: I get a small % from Amazon if you purchase the book from this link.

Banana Chocolate Chunk Walnut Loaf - Dahlia Bakery Cookbook

Banana Chocolate Chunk Walnut Loaf - Dahlia Bakery Cookbook

During a time of incomprehensibly tragic news (Boston Marathon, Texas refinery explosion...), I find that baking provides a small sense of relief. Creating comfort food for you and your friends.

I made a couple things last week (will post them soon), but I think Banana Bread defines comfort food. I made this last Sunday, and enjoyed it at a meeting on Monday morning.

My loaf didn't come out very tall...the loaf pan was wider than the instructions. However, it was still yummy.

Chocolate chunks or chips and walnuts give the loaf texture and sweetness. And I believe that bread with "good fat" nuts and fruits in them push them into a good breakfast food category. :)

Have you been to Dahlia Bakery in Seattle? I haven't but can't wait to visit. The cookbook is beautiful.

Last week was also National Library Week. For the past few years, I've celebrated on the blog with a week of posts and giveaways. But last week just didn't feel right. I do hope that you visit your library soon, and celebrate all things library...and librarian!

Banana Chocolate Chunk Walnut Loaf
Adapted from: The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook: Sweetness in Seattle*
Find it in your library with WorldCat

1/2 c (2 3/4 ounces / 79 grams) bittersweet chocolate chunks (I used dark chocolate chips)
1/3 c (1 1/4 ounces / 35 grams) walnuts, toasted, cooled and roughly chopped
1 1/4 c (6 3/8 ounces / 180 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t kosher salt
About 1 pound of very ripe bananas (2-3)
1/4 c canola oil
1/2 c (3 1/2 ounces / 100 grams) sugar
1 large egg
1/4 c (2 ounces / 58 grams) sour cream

Preheat oven to 350. Prep a loaf pan (they recommend 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches) with butter & flour, or spray with non-stick spray. I line my pan with parchment paper to make it easier to remove from the pan.

Mix chocolate chunks and walnuts in a small bowl. Add 2 Tablespoons flour and toss to coat. Set aside.

Sift together the remaining flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl or some parchment paper.

Peel the bananas, cut into chunks and place them into the bowl of an electric mixer. On low speed, beat the bananas to a smooth puree until no large lumps remain. Measure the puree - you should have 1 cup (discard or add as necessary) On low speed, add the oil, sugar, egg and sour cream. Mix until everything is combined and the banana is well incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Fold in reserved chocolate-walnut mixture. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until skewer inserted into the loaf comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging but no batter, 65-70 minutes (if you use a different size pan, start checking early). For the best rise, do not open the oven door  while the banana bread is baking. The loaf will be dark golden brown and there will probably be a crack running through the top. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Unmold the banana bread, then cool on a wire rack to slightly warm or room temperature before slicing and serving.

 * I'm part of Amazon Affiliates and get a small % if you purchase from this link.

Pecan Chocolate Espresso Coffee Cake - Back in the Day Bakery

Pecan Chocolate Espresso Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake is one of my favorites things to eat and make. No frosting, easy to cut and share, and usually just a few pans to clean up. And, you can eat it morning, noon and night.

I picked up The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook from the library. The owners of this Savannah bakery wrote a fun cookbook filled with lots of comfort food. I can't wait to try more recipes, and placed the book on my Amazon wishlist. Have you been to the bakery? If I ever visit Savannah, I definitely want to go!

This is a really easy recipe. You combine the butter, flour, and sugar until crumbly in a mixer, and then pull out 3/4 cup of the mixture and combine with the rest of the topping: pecans, chopped chocolate and pecans. The remaining batter is mixed with the eggs, buttermilk, leavening (baking soda), and extracts. Just a few items to wash up so it is simple to make in the morning.

The pecans and espresso powder are a lovely addition to your typical coffee cake. Everyone's favorites are included: nuts, chocolate and coffee. A winner.

Pecan Chocolate Espresso Coffee Cake
Adapted from "The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook," by Cheryl Day and Griffith Day (Artisan, 2012), page 47. Find it in your library or on Amazon.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I didn't toast mine)
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup regular or low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (I omitted this because I couldn't find the bottle of extract...)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9-inch square baking pan with baking spray or butter, and line with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, both sugars, butter and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low speed, then on medium speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Pull out 3/4 cup of the mixture and place in another mixing bowl. Stir in the pecans, chocolate and espresso powder to form the crumb topping.

Sprinkle the baking soda onto the remaining flour-butter-sugar mixture; add the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla and almond extracts. Beat on medium speed just until combined. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle the crumb topping on top.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Lydia's Austrian Strawberry Shortbread Bar Cookies

Lydia's Austrian Strawberry Shortbread Bar Cookies

These are lovely little bites of heaven. Light and delicate, these are perfect for a potluck, dessert bar, or with a cup of coffee or tea. You can exchange the jams for different flavor profiles. Or, you can add some chocolate to the dough too.

These photos write their own jokes.

Okay, so you make the dough and split it into two. The instructions say to form into balls and freeze. Then, you grate the balls. Yes, grate the balls.

After making this recipe a few times, I came up with, I believe, is a better plan. First, grating balls of dough by hand is a pain in the neck. Pull out your food processor for this one - it's worth the washing. Second, when I tried to grate the balls in the food processor, I had to cut frozen balls to make them fit into the processor - annoying. Finally, it dawned on me to form the dough into logs so they fit into the food processor! Now, I can easily grate the frozen dough with one easy push of the machine.

The recipe calls for Raspberry Jam. For this one, I substituted Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves.

You grate one frozen log and place the pieces in the bottom of the pan (for this one, I used a 9 x 9 pan...the full recipe is for a 9 x 13 pan).

The instructions say to use a spoon or flexible spatula to spread the jam. However, I ended up carrying shreds of dough all over and it was kinda messy. So, I now put the jam into a bag and kinda pipe it into the pan. Easy peasy! Top with the second log of shredded dough.

Adapted from Butter Sugar Flour Eggs by Gale Gand
Recipe on Epicurious too

Note: Above, I made 1/2 the recipe and used a 9 x 9 pan. 

Lydia's Austrian Raspberry Shortbread Bars

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
4 egg yolks
2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup raspberry jam, at room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter until soft and fluffy. Mix in the egg yolks one at a time.

With the mixer on low, add the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until just incorporated. Don't overmix.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and form into two logs that will fit in your food processor. (You can form into two balls if you want to grate them by hand). Wrap each in plastic wrap and freeze at least 2 hours or overnight (I let it freeze at least overnight - this is a good one you can make ahead).

When you are ready to assemble the bars, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grate one of the frozen balls or logs. Place the shreds of dough the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan or a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Spread out evenly and do not press down.

Spread jam over the surface, leaving a 1/2 inch border. You can use a spoon or spatula, but I put the jam in a plastic bag and pipe it onto the shreds. I found the the spoon/spatula method was difficult because you picked up a bunch of shreds along the way.

Remove the remaining dough from the freezer and coarsely grate it over the entire surface.

Bake until lightly golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. As soon as the shortbread comes out of the oven, dust liberally with confectioners' sugar.

Cool on a wire rack, then cut in the pan with a serrated knife. You may want to dust a bit more powdered sugar on top when serving.

Spitz & Cafe Dulce, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles

Spitz - The Home of the Doner Kebab

As I mentioned in my last post (My Thoughts Over Time), I met friends for lunch in downtown LA. We stopped by Spitz on 2nd Street in Little Tokyo. I've never been (I always seem to stop at T.O.T.) and it was yummy! It's a bar/restaurant, good prices, fresh food, lots of options, and delicious sweet potato fries. Menu here.

The combo comes with a sandwich or wrap, beverage and fries or a salad. I got the super blurry Mediterranean Garden plate (lower left) (Hey, cell phone photos. And total tangent here: I'm excited to get the new Samsung 4 next month when my contract is up!)

Top photo (L-R): Spirulina churro, Sweet potato Roti, Green Tea donut
Bottom (L-R): Green Tea (donut filled with yummy light cream), Roti (super light and delicious, filled with a little sweet potato), Churro (it's chewy and fried...yum!)

Yes, I realize that I should have made the collage to correspond to the photo above it...but I wanted your mind to work. And I've gotten pretty good at cutting food into thirds with a plastic knife #lifeskills

After Spitz, we hit up Cafe Dulce in the Japanese Village Plaza (between 1st and 2nd Streets in Little Tokyo). OMG. This place is great. I come here a lot (check my instagram for proof).

Okay. My review for both places: Go.

Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
Spitz: Website | Yelp
Cafe Dulce: Website | Yelp

My Thoughts Over Time Graph

My Thoughts

Number of Words/Time

Last week, I met some friends and we talked, ate, talked and ate some more. I told them I realized as I age (I hate that I need reading glasses to see my food now), my thoughts are getting smaller and smaller. Or, as my friend says, concise. See above.

P.S. You know you have a food blog when you are too lazy to hook up the scanner and just take a photo of your graph.

St. Patrick's Day Food Ideas

This coming Sunday is pretty crazy. It's St. Patrick's Day. It's the day thousands of people run the LA Marathon (not me). It's Selection Sunday for the NCAA March Madness BB Tourney. Here are some ideas  if you want to make something green to eat on Sunday!

St. Patrick's Day Jello Cream Cake

St. Patrick's Day Ice Cream Jello

Green Tea Matcha Mochi Cupcakes

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Bars - Williams Sonoma

Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Bars

My folks have a great Meyer lemon tree. They are lovely lemons...very fragrant, thin skinned, less tart than regular lemons.

Sometimes, you have a few lemons on the counter and some leftover buttermilk. Solution? These bars!

This was originally created for regular lemons, but I substituted meyer lemons. It has a simple crust that is pressed into the bottom of a pan.

Topped with some powdered sugar, these are a nice treat. Lemon bars are always a delight 24/7, no?

Daylight savings is back! Although I'm jetlagged for a week (even though I try to get up and go to bed earlier the week before the time change), I love daylight savings. Cidney the Girl Dog loves it too...longer walks, more to see and smell, and a happier Auntie Mary.

Recipe:
Lemon Buttermilk Bars - Williams Sonoma
Found in Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast Series, Baking, by Lou Seibert Pappas (Oxmoor House, 2006) and Weeknight Cook (Oxmoor House, 2009)

Crust:
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup (2 ounces) sugar
2/3 cup (3 ounces) flour
1/8 tsp. salt

Topping:
2 eggs
2/3 cup (5 ounces) granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (I used Meyer lemons)
1/2 cup buttermilk

Confectioners/Powdered sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
2. In a mixer with paddle attachment, beat together the butter and 1/4 cup granulated sugar on medium speed until creamy. Reduce the speed to low, add 2/3 cup flour and the salt and beat until blended. Spoon the dough into the prepared pan and press evenly into the pan bottom. Bake until the crust is golden, 15 to 18 minutes.
3. While the crust is baking, make the filling. Beat the eggs and 2/3 cup granulated sugar on medium speed until blended. Add 2 Tbs. flour, the lemon zest, lemon juice and buttermilk and beat until smooth. Pour the filling over the baked crust.
4. Bake until the top of the filling is set and barely browned at the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into bars, dust with sifted confectioners’ sugar.