Book Review: Saffron Skies

Book Review: 

Saffron Skies

By Lesley Lokko

This book follows the story of three women, from adolescence into adulthood, across several countries and continents. They are best friends but take vastly different paths in life.

Saffron Skies is a book about love, friendship, and family. But even more than that, it is about a journey – about finding yourself and your path in life. I’ve included a brief synopsis of the three women and the paths they take, but I promise, it won’t ruin the book if you read it – I would recommend reading it!

Amber: Her family is completely messed up. Her father, Max, is a powerful business man that splits his time between her family and his mistress and her daughter. Between the two families, Amber is the only normal one – her mother is a drunk, her brother is a drug addict, her father’s mistress and other daughter are flighty… Family drama abound, Amber is the only one in the family that is grounded. She becomes a journalist, falls in love, and ends up living a happy life far away from her family.

Madeline: From a poor family of Hungarian immigrants, Madeline was never really happy living at home. Her parents were strict and seemed to live in their own little world. Madeline ends up going to med school and bounces around between men, jobs, and countries. Life takes her from med school, to working in an ER, to a war zone, and to the United Nations. Madeline ultimately ends up back at a hospital, returning to her parents that she had spent so much time trying to avoid.

Becky: Becky grew up in a middle-class, supportive family. She pursued her interest in art, and over the years, was always able to look to her parents for support. Becky was a bit lost in life – she made mistakes, hid from them, and took a while to come back to her own after each time. However, her friends and family helped her through hard times and because of that, she seemed to always end up standing on her feet.

Recommended? Yes! It was a wonderful story of a journey and of friendship.

Grade: B+

Valentine’s Day Menu For Two, 2010

We normally don’t do much for Valentine’s Day, as long as we spend it together, we don’t need special plans. However, since I had the whole weekend to plan for this year and I’ve been itching to try some new things, I decided to go all out.

All of the below recipes have been adjusted to serve two, but they can easily be doubled or tripled according to your needs.

Appetizer:

Caramelized Onion and Feta Tartlets

Dinner:

Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Cranberry-Port Sauce

Parmesan-Sage Rice Pilaf

Roasted Green Beans

Dessert:

Chocolate Lava Cakes with Cherries

Drink:

Shiraz

Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Cranberry-Port Sauce

The only change I made with this recipe was to make two birds instead of four. If you’re going to make four birds, be sure to double the sauce below.

This recipe was mighty intimidating. I don’t like to make turkeys or chickens (um, ew, pulling out the innards?), and have never deboned any bird in my life. Since this was part of my special Valentine’s Day dinner for the hubby, I started the day early (when he was involved in video games and not paying any attention to me). It was slightly traumatic, and they weren’t the prettiest birds, but I did it!

Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Cranberry-Port Sauce

Adapted from: Fine Cooking No. 102 (p. 65)

Ingredients for the Birds:

  • 2 Cornish Game Hens, 1 1/2-2 lbs. each
  • 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh sage leaves (save the stems for the broth)
  • 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme (save the stems for the broth)
  • Kosher salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter

Ingredients for the Broth:

  • 2 tsp. olive oil
  • 2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/3 c. chopped shallot
  • Reserved backbone & wing tips from hens
  • Reserved sage & thyme stems

Ingredients for the Sauce:

  • 1/3 c. ruby port
  • 1/3 c. dried cranberries
  • 1 Tbs. unsalted butter
  • 1 Tbs. minced shallot
  • 1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
  • Kosher salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper

Prepare Birds At Least 12 Hours in Advance:

Step 1: Split each hen down the center of the back using a chef’s or butcher’s knife. Remove the backbone. Or, using kitchen shears, cut along both sides of the backbone. Set backbone aside.

Step 2: Extend wings on each side and chop off the last two joints. Set wing tips aside, with backbone.

Step 3: Combine sage, thyme, 1 Tbs. salt and 1 tsp. pepper in a small bowl. Pat hens dry and rub sage-thyme mixture on both sides of the hen. Place hens, skin-side up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Hens should not be touching. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 12 hours, or overnight.

My backbone-less hens… not the prettiest but they sure were tasty.

Make Broth & Sauce 12 Hours in Advance:

Step 1, the Broth:  Heat oil in a 3-4 qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Pat the wings and backbone dry and add to hot oil. Stir a few times until browned on all sides. Add chicken broth, shallots,  and sage & thyme stems. Reduce heat, simmering for 30 minutes. Strain, removing the solids, and let cool. Refrigerate overnight.

Step 2, Start the Sauce: Combine port and cranberries in a small bowl. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight, so that cranberries plump up.

A couple hours before mealtime… remove the hens from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for an hour.

Roast the Hens:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Melt 1/2 tbs. unsalted butter and brush it over the hens. Roast the hens for 30 minutes, rotating half-way through. An instant thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh should read 175°F to 180°F when done. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Meanwhile, Finish the Sauce:

Remove broth from fridge and skim fat off broth, and heat in a small sauce pan.

In another saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 tbs. butter. Add shallots and cook until tender, about 1 minutes. Stir in flour and whisk for about 30 seconds, until a thick paste has formed. Strain port into sauce pan, setting aside the plump cranberries. Whisk for another 30 seconds.

Whisk in broth until the sauce is smooth. Lower the heat to maintain a simmer, whisking occasionally until sauce reduced to 1/3 its volume, 5-8 minutes.

Stir in cranberries and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Just prior to serving, pour any juices left from the roasted hens into the sauce, stirring to combine.

Serve roasted hens with a drizzle of the cranberry port sauce.

Caramelized Onion & Feta Tartlets

Cara Onion & Feta Tartlets

A little pre-Valentine’s Day trip to Williams Sonoma got me excited about using these cute little tartlet pans I bought. Since I bought them and then ran to the grocery store, I didn’t have a recipe to work with for our Valentine’s Day dinner, I improvised. The dough is a basic savory pastry dough that you can find just about anywhere (I adapted this one from Fine Cooking). I halved the recipe, hoping to get 3 tartlets, but somehow ended up with enough for 6 (the below is an adaptation of the recipe for 6 tartlets, so don’t be surprised if you have extra dough). The caramelized onion and feta filling was my own little creation – sweet yet still savory.

Caramelized Onion & Feta Tartlets

Makes 1-10 inch tart or 6 tartlets

Ingredients for the Dough:

  • 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp. table salt
  • 9 Tbs. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 6 Tbs. ice water

Ingredients for the Filling:

  • 2-3 Tbs. olive oil
  • 2-3 medium onions, sliced thinly
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 c. feta cheese

Make the Dough: Whisk together flour and salt. Add butter and with a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until little balls form, almost like coarse cornmeal. Add water a tablespoon at a time, stirring with a for until the dough comes together.  You may not need all the water. (This can also be done in a food processor, step by step.) Roll dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Caramelize the Onions: Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add onions and salt. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are browned and sweet.

Make the Pastry: Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough. Cut out pieces, slightly larger than tartlet pans. Press into pan, and cut off excess dough. Add caramelized onions and feta on top.

Bake at 400F for about 15 minutes.

Lava Cakes For Two

So rich and decadent, this was the ideal cap to our Valentine’s celebration. The lave cakes were surprisingly easy to make, and both sauce and cakes can be made up to one day in advance.

Lava Cakes with Cherry Sauce For Two

Adapted from: Epicurious

Ingredients for the Cakes:

  • 2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1/4 c. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp. all-purpose flour

Ingredients for the Sauce:

  • 1 16-ounce bag frozen pitted dark sweet cherries, halved, thawed, undrained
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup kirsch (clear cherry brandy) or regular brandy
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Confectioners sugar, for dusting

Make the Sauce:

Note: Make the sauce before the cakes, as you’ll need to pull out some cherries to include in the cake. Also, you will have extra sauce. Try serving it over ice cream!

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, combine cherries and cherry juices, 1/2 c. sugar, kirsch or brandy, and cinnamon. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens and reduces, about 10 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, take out 1/4 c. cherries. Drain and coarsely chop. Set aside chopped cherries for the cakes.

If making in advance, cover and refrigerate sauce.

Make the Cakes:

Butter two 3/4-cup ramekins or custard cups and set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat, stir chocolate and butter until melted and combined. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together cocoa and 1/4 c. sugar. When chocolate-butter mixture is combined and smooth, remove from heat and whisk in cocoa mixture. Whisk in egg yolks, whole egg, and flour. With a rubber spatula, fold in chopped cherries.

Divide batter between buttered ramekins. If making ahead of time, cover and chill.

Bake:

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 350°F and begin warming sauce over low heat.

Bake until edges are set but center is shiny, about 22 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center will still have some wet batter attached to it.

Serve Warm:

Using a butter knife, cut around cakes to loosen. Turn out onto plates – it’ll fall right out. Spoon sauce over cakes and sprinkle with confectioners sugar.