It feels like the warm weather is finally here to stay and we have so many ideas for the summer we can hardly keep them straight, so we’ve decided the best thing to do is put them on internet paper so our loyal readers can hold us to them!
Here is what we hope to feature in the coming months in either post or video form…
And of course, lots more sultry photos of us in custom made c&m aprons:
Dad says: A Clean kitchen is a Happy kitchen. #catandmaramakefood
Do you remember the Lemon Cookie post from a few months ago?!
The same Lemon Cookies that are on sale at the DBA Pour Over Bar @ The Last Bookstore in downtown LA?
Well, guess what?!?
They make an AWESOME CRUST for a SPRING FRUIT TART!
Sometimes when we’re bored, we make pastry cream. Totally sexy, right?
Now the original idea was to dabble in the world of puff pastry, specifically eclairs.
But we had an entire batch of lemon cookies lying around and we don’t want to waste those! Then it dawned on us to smash ‘em all up with some melted butter and make a lemon tart crust! Then put the pastry cream on top! Then add some artfully arranged strawberries, blueberries and clementine slices!
It was so good (and pretty) we had to break out that heavy ass cake dome that lives in the “seasonal” section of the kitchen cabinets, and take a picture of it. You know what also lives there? Run-on sentences.
Then the boyfriends ate it. All of it. In record time.
If you man needs more fruit, make this for him.
It was a really good idea.
Pastry Cream:
2 Cups Half-and-Half
½ Cup Sugar
Pinch Salt
5 Large Egg Yolks
3 Tablespoon Cornstarch
4 Tablespoon Cold Unsalted Butter, cut into 4 pieces
1½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Bring the half-and-half, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, and the salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. As the half-and-half mixture begins to simmer, whisk the egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar together in a medium bowl until smooth. Slowly whisk about 1 cup of the simmering half-and-half mixture into the yolks to temper, then slowly whisk the tempered yolks back into the simmering saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, whisking vigorously, until the mixture is thickened and a few bubbles burst on the surface, about 30 seconds. Off the heat, stir in the butter and vanilla. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface, and refrigerate the pastry cream until chilled and firm, about 3 hours.
Lemon Cookie Crust:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Either with a food processor or a meat mallet, smash some lemon cookies until you have about 1 1/3 C crushed lemon cookie crumbs. Drizzle in some melted butter (start with 3-4 Tablespoons and you can add as much as 6 Tablespoons) until you have the consistency of damp sand. Err on the dry side of things because there is butter in the cookie crumbs as well. Press into a tart pan with a removable bottom.
Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is set and almost golden. Or it can be golden, whatever. Let it cool.
Spread the pastry cream on the lemon cookie crust. Artfully arrange some fruit on top. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve when sunny.
Taking care of business.
Come HERE tonight to see our cute faces and drink some dranks!
The very first c&m gift basket which was delivered all the way to NYC!
Featuring: lemon cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, our signature salty sweet vanilla cookies, spicy chili lime popcorn, supa sticky salted caramel popcorn, bbq spice rub, preserved lemons, and chocolate chip walnut banana bead.
And of course, a Virgin Mary Candle.
So say your prayers and stuff your face.
The world really is going to end.
In case you weren’t aware, c&m sells a small but very thoughtful selection of baked goodies at an amazing used bookstore in Downtown LA called The Last Bookstore. Cat pulled some strings (she’s very well connected, you know) and we were able to hawk our muffs and stuff through a mutual friend from CalFarts who actually built the coffee shop that lives in a sunny back corner of the Bookstore. We deliver there once a week-ish and until recently Cat was mostly in charge of the baking, packaging, and general masterminding of the little packs of c&m bakery cookies and things. Since she’s been in Taiwan, I’ve been taking over and there are a few things you should know:
1. I made a shit ton of cookies this week, several batches of which were ruined for various reasons (dropping sheet pans, not setting my timer, falling asleep, melting plastic in the microwave, etc.). Mostly things got ruined because I vastly underestimated how much time would need to go into this mixing, chilling, rolling, baking, cooling, glazing, cooling, packaging process. I’m no stranger to baking off a dozen or so cookies on a whim but we’re talking wholesale-status cookie baking. Multiply your home baking dozen by 20. Now we’re talking.
2. I will be more instrumental in aiding in the baking/delivery process because two cute heads are better than one.
3. Please go buy/eat the cookies and give us some feedback (and praise) so we can keep baking for the Bookstore and possibly expand the offerings.
4. This post was accidentally published before it was completed (or thought through: it was more of a journal entry). Please disregard and/or forget any typos or generally stupid sentences.
lots of love,
Mara and thusly, Cat.
PS
Catherine is home.
PPS
thank you, jesus.
You should be jealous:
I know I am. Jealous, sure, but mostly I just miss the Cat half of Cat and Mara Make Food. This recipe is in honor of Catherine: it’s her favorite lady lunch turned drinking night meal. And usually the conversation leading up to the decision to eat this meal goes something like this:
Mara: I bought this bottle of champagne.
Cat: Great. I’ll open it.
Mara: Maybe we should cook something too. This is technically supposed to be a business meeting and we said that we were going to write some posts.
Cat: Yeah, our last meeting was very unfocused. All we did was watch the entire first season of Downton Abbey. In one sitting.
Mara: Is the second season on Netflix yet?
Cat: No.
Mara: Damnit. I miss it.
Cat: I know, me too. Let’s open that champagne already. Can you make me the anchovy thing?
Of course it doesn’t always begin that way. We’re very professional, you see. But being that we are (if you remember correctly) in the midst of a couple of quarter-life crises and trying to figure out the meaning of the universe, sometimes we need a drink. Or several. Luckily, this tapas-ish meal encourages lingering for hours while finishing our booze and discussing the outrageous cattiness of rich British people in 1912. And writing blog posts. Best of all, this is also super easy to prepare, which is a plus just in case we’re already in the midst of those champagne giggles….
An original recipe by Cat and Mara Make Food!
Ingredients:
1/3 cup very thinly sliced red onion
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Good handful of Italian Parsley, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons capers, chopped
3/4 can cannellini Beans, drained
2 cans of sardines in olive oil
1 tablespoon preserved lemon, minced (optional, because sometimes they are hard to find, but necessary because they are so good)
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Freshly Cracked Pepper
Here is the recipe:
1. In a bowl, dress the onions with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, the chopped parsley, and a good sprinkle of salt. Set aside. (you could potentially just stop there and eat just the onions with lemon juice because they are THAT good.)
2. In another bowl, combine the capers, cannellini beans, preserved lemon and the sardines in their oil. Mix lightly, gently breaking apart the sardines into big pieces, but don’t go crazy. Big hunks are better. This isn’t tuna salad.
3. Add the onions to the sardine mixture. Season with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Toss to combine. If you aren’t using the preserved lemon, add a little more lemon juice to taste. If you are, you’re probably lemon-y enough. Add salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste but go easy on the salt- the sardines, capers, and preserved lemon are already very salty.
Along with this little salad we like to also have nearby:
1. Wine (and lots of it)
2. Roasted red peppers
3. Goat Cheese
4. Toasted bread (some sort of baguette or an image of bread if you’re trying to cut down on the carbs.)
5. Cornichons (or as Catherine calls them: “TINY PICKLES!”)
6. Olives, cured meats, other good cheeses, marcona almonds, fresh fruit, and anything delicious and nibble-y
