Homer: Two Sisters Bakery

I just recently returned from an excellent road trip involving:

A lovely 1969 VW Bus (named Klaus), breathtaking Alaskan scenery, beaches, and two of my best friends (not pictured, to their delight). Now where was the destination of this adventure? None other than Homer, the quirky and very likable coastal town south (very south) of Anchorage. And it was great.

Not to say there weren't moments when I wanted to rip my hair out - or perhaps other, more vital body parts - but all it took was a relaxing afternoon on a legitimate sandy beach with warm water and frisbee and sunbathing... and I was totally sold (also not pictured. I don't apologize for being too busy frolicking in the ocean to be worried about a camera).

But you're probably not reading this in order to be overwhelmed with envy. So, yes, food:

I'm disappointed this is the only place I have to account for from my three-day stint in Homer. It's not my fault, really. The two top places I wanted to try (Fat Olives and Cafe Cups) were either closed or too busy, so nothing there. I didn't get to try a few places, and one that I did (Sweet Berries Cafe) had such horrible lighting none of the photos came out. They did have some rockin' organic eggs benedict, though. I guess this will serve as a proper excuse to go back. Soon.

So, Two Sisters. I'm eternally thankful we stopped here to enjoy a final day's brunch.

On the left is a tomato basil soup, and unlike just about any other tomato basil soup I've gotten from outside my house, it's actually tomato-y and basil-y. It had a thick creamy texture and great flavor. For such a cheap price, it was more than worth it. On the right is a "veggie savory" as they title it. It's closer to a buttery, flaky croissant, but spread with a creamy spinach artichoke sauce. Though it's probably not as easy on the waistline as it is the tongue.

The other daily soup of the day was a squash-based soup with coconut and lime. This being the more creative of the two soups, I thought the flavors were interesting but I'd probably choose the tomato and basil over it in the end. Still, worth it. The vegetarian sandwich was on a great piece of hardy bread and filled with really delicious veggies. It wasn't exactly revolutionary, or even idiosyncratic, but it was still a dang good sandwich.

Though perhaps even more likable than its food is Two Sisters personality and charm. The place oozes character (as do the employees) and the atmosphere is whimsical and easygoing. Combined with their very reasonable prices and close access to Bishop's Beach, this makes Two Sisters one of the best hang out spots in Homer. To get a better idea of what they're all about, I'd visit their website as well as their enjoyable blog.

Two Sisters Bakery

233 East Bunnell Avenue

http://twosistersbakery.net/home.html

Anchorage: Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop

Sometimes, I'm lazy. And by "sometimes" what I really mean is the overwhelming majority of the time. All it takes is a busy weekend or a brief cold and I've pretty much abandoned any productive tendencies I might have been entertaining. This would usually be the part where I apologize for being so late with this blog post.

Well, I'm not sorry. Why? Because every wrong I might have wronged against you will assuredly be righted when you go to Fire Island, per my advice. Because just look at that damn bread and tell me you aren't mildly salivating.

Fire Island is a quaint and homey little bakery in the middle of a cute old-fashioned neighborhood (or as old-fashioned as they come in Anchorage, anyway). They have a small but varied and creative selection of breads, sandwiches, croissants, muffins, scones, tarts, blah blah carbs and everything else everybody loves.

When I saw the focaccia bread, nestled snugly in its cute paper pocket, and absolutely smothered with vegetables and cheese, my total lack of self-restraint as I hastily snatched it into my hungry little hands was of little concern to me. Really, you don't know how much I love focaccia, and this looked downright delectable.

My eyes did not deceive me. The bread itself was a hearty whole-wheat with a well rounded flavor. It was salty (but not as much as mine. That's not really saying much, though) and stuffed with goodies before being thrown in the oven to turn everything an oozing golden brown. The pocket is incredibly practical (as well as attractive) and makes for a great on-the-go brunch. In fact, my only complaint would be that I came in the afternoon and the bread had lost that soft, melty-warm texture it has when its pulled right out of the oven. Note: wake up early next time.

To finish off was an adorable little pear tart. As I began munching on the outer edges it had a nice chewy texture and a lovely buttery flavor, but was maybe on the sweet side for my tastes. But then, the center! The center! Little did I realize that a small whole pear, poached in white wine, lay buried beneath the surface. It was really, really fantastic, and I left impressed.

I suggest next time you're in the area that you stop by and give this place a go. The employees were incredibly friendly and generous, and the place felt as cozy as home. And really, bread. I don't feel like I need more of an argument than that.

Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop

1343 G St

http://www.fireislandbread.com/

Butternut Squash Baked Ziti

I'll be honest. Sometimes, I have those days. You know the ones, where everything is just so annoying, and everything seems to go wrong, and really the only thing keeping you functioning throughout the day is the ever-too-distant hope of sleeping, in your bed. For a very, very long time.

Okay well suffice to say, this dish pretty much negates all of that. Even while making it I was driving myself crazy — every clang of a pot only serving to escalate my caustic attitude — but, once it was done, and I was sitting in my slippers, listening to relaxing music, and holding this steaming bowl of delight in the then-sweaty palms of my hands, it was totally worth it. Also now I'm going to sleep like a baby.


Butternut Squash Baked Ziti (Serves 5 - 6)
Adapted (loosely) from Jamie Oliver's book Cook With Jamie.
Ingredients:

•  About 8oz of dried Penne Pasta
• 1 medium Butternut Squash
• 1 teaspoon Coriander Seeds
• 1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Red Pepper (cut this in half if you want something milder - it carries quite a punch)
• 1 large handful of Toasted Pine Nuts (around half a cup)
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Parmigiano Reggiano (you can get it at Costco, dear Alaskans. It'll change your life)
• Fresh Parsley for garnish

Seriously, this is a great recipe. I made Jamie's version a long while ago and was simply taken aback at the wonderful flavors. However, he made it as a lasagna in his version, and I wasn't particularly thrilled with the texture. Everything turned to a mildly unpleasant baby-food-mush. Needless to say, I began to ponder how I could improve the recipe to my liking and came up with a pseudo baked ziti. Traditionally ziti is a tomato-based sauce, with layers and layers of cheese (never a bad thing). But despite being a bit unconventional, I thought this recipe would benefit really nicely from the crispy, almost chewy surface of a ziti. I also threw in some touches like extra cheese and toasted pine nuts for interest.

Please note I left the skin on the squash for this recipe. This is what Jamie did and I think it gives it an interesting texture, but if the idea of eating squash skin sounds gross to you, don't hesitate to peel it first. Additionally, you could also get a bag of pre-cubed frozen squash. It's not quite the same, but it's close enough to make the lack of hassle worth it if you're in a hurry. Okay okay, moving on to the good part.

First preheat your oven to about 400ºF. Cut the end off your squash, and then cut it down the center vertically. Use a spoon to spoon out the core and all the seeds. Then chop it up into large chunks roughly the same size. Get out a nicely sized baking dish, throw in the squash with a good swig of olive oil, and add a hefty pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.

Put the coriander, fennel and red pepper in a mortar and pestle (if you don't have one, get one. Okay in all seriousness if you don't have one, try using a spice grinder or even a coffee grinder) and bash them up. Add the cinnamon and a pinch of sea salt and mix it up. Scoop up the spice mixture and layer it evenly over the squash. Use your hands to mix everything up, making sure the olive oil and spices coat everything. Cover the dish with tin foil and bake at 400ºF for about 30 - 35 minutes.

About ten minutes before the squash will be done, bring some heavily-salted water to a boil. Once it's boiling, add your pasta and stir occasionally. My tips on cooking pasta is to always set your timer for 2 - 3 minutes less than the cooking instructions say. When the timer goes off, try a noodle. If it's still too hard or chewy, go for another minute, until it's al dente. I do this because most american cooking times will make the pasta too soft and mushy, and this way you can get it just perfectly.

While the pasta is cooking, put a non-stick pan on high heat. Once the pan is hot, throw in your pine nuts and toss them for 30 - 60 seconds, or until golden brown. Pour them directly onto the squash mixture (which should be done by this point).

Once the pasta is done, strain it of most water and mix it in with the squash mixture. You might need to add another swig of olive oil to get everything to coat properly. Once your ingredients are well mixed, add copious amounts of freshly grated parmesan cheese, until the surface is thoroughly coated. It should look something like this:

Sprinkle some extra salt on top (if you're feeling dangerous, a few knobs of butter would be deadly, as well) and throw back in the oven, uncovered, for another 15 - 20 minutes, until the cheese is starting to turn golden brown. To serve, scoop onto a plate and garnish with another layer of parmesan and parsley to garnish.

Fresh Pasta

Summer: Golden. Warm. Also finally here much to the delight of Alaskans everywhere.

And what's more beautifully golden and wonderful than fresh pasta? Nothing, that's what. But let's be honest, who actually has the patience to make fresh pasta from scratch, roll it out, and then finally cook it just to eat dinner? Especially when you can just get dried pasta from the grocery store and dump it in a pot? People who know you can make pasta in a food processor, that's who. Yes,a food processor.

Using a food processor not only eliminates a large portion of the labor and time involved in making pasta, but it also eliminates about 100% of the danger. I can't tell you how stressful it is to make a well of flour and eggs only to have it come flooding onto the floor and over the cabinets (it's really stressful). And trust me, the extra 10 - 15 minutes of time it takes to make pasta from scratch is worth it. Not that dried pasta is bad, because it's not, and it's in fact better suited to certain dishes; but fresh pasta is really a different beast altogether. It's golden and flavorful because of the eggs, and has a different, more rustic texture. And it's so good.


Fresh Pasta (serves 4)
Ingredients:

• 2 cups Plain White Flour (for a more authentic pasta, use 1 or 1.5 cups semolina flour)
• 3 Eggs

That's all! Just flour and eggs. Just a warning, if you want to make a double batch, I suggest doing two single batches instead of trying to cram 4 cups of flour and six eggs into the processor.

First, put the four and eggs into the food processor.

Now put the lid on and pulse it a few times, only maybe a second each time. After a few good pulses it should be just starting to clump together. It's at this point you'll want to dump the contents onto a smooth counter and flour the dough and counter copiously before kneading for a few minutes.

Once it's smooth and elastic, cut the dough in half. This will make your life rolling the pasta about a hundred times easier. Be sure and wrap the half you're not rolling in plastic wrap. This will prevent it from drying out if you take a long time (note that you can also stick it in the fridge and it'll keep nicely for a few days).

Forgive me for not having photos of rolling the pasta, but trust me, it's hard enough with two hands. I gave up trying to devote one to a camera after about five seconds. Just use your imagination.

Basically, re-flour the dough, shove it in the roller, make sure the roller is set to a large setting (mine was on 2), and get to it. Fold it over, set the roller one notch thinner, and repeat the process. If at any point the dough begins to fall apart or stick to the machine, go back and re-flour it

Eventually you should end up with a long, thin sheet of beautiful dough (the thinness will be determined by what final setting you use. I used 6 on mine). The cooking time of the pasta will change depending on what thickness you use.

Now cut the sheet into two strips to make it easier to roll, and re-flour generously, or else it'll stick together when you cut it and you'll have to re-roll it. At this point you're ready to leave the strips as they are for lasagna, cut them into squares and fill them for ravioli, or cut them into any other noodle shape that you like. For this post, I decided to do a simple and classic tagliatelle.

For this, just gently roll up your two sheets like a carpet, and then cut with a sharp knife. Unfold the pieces and viola, your pasta now looks like pasta! Set the noodles aside and repeat the process with the other half of the dough (you don't need to cover the noodles, it's okay if they dry out a little).

To cook them, just bring generously-salted water to a boil, and cook the pasta for 1 - 2 minutes. Note that fresh pasta takes much less time to cook than dried. Test the noodles at 1 minute - if they're still too raw, go for another minute. But they should be firm to the taste. Nothing is worse than mushy, slimy, and wasted pasta.

And there you have it, fresh, made-from-scratch pasta. They're now ready for any sauce you can dream up, but I'll leave that for another post...

Anchorage: Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge

Yes, yes, my first post on my destined-to-die-at-the-first-appearance-of-boredom food blog. How lovely! But first posts talking about first posts are awful; thus, moving right along:

Chocolate! Modern Dwellers chocolate, to be precise! A better first topic than any other. Modern Dwellers is the only chocolate-y place of its sort in Alaska (that I know of, I would love to be proven wrong), and I'm grateful that it also happens to be a good one. For this posting I went with a friend to the new downtown location, which opened up a few months ago. It's a bit tidier than the one on 36th, but in a way more convenient spot. Really, I can't even describe how downright delightful a dreamy cup of spicy chocolate is on a chilly day. Let me try anyway!

First up, we ordered a spicy cup of Mayan drinking chocolate (drinking chocolate is thicker and more concentrated than its hot chocolate brethren). A swirl of dangerously dark chocolate floating in freshly whipped cream, this is so. dang. good. Really. You first take a sip; the light, airy foam of cream still on your lips; the thick chocolate ooze so warm and deep; then, seconds later, the glorious twitter of a thousand peppery synapses dance down your throat. Over dramatic, you say? You obviously haven't tried it.

Next, we tried four different types of homemade truffles. The Margarita Zing was pretty surprising, featuring bittersweet ganache, lime zest, tequila, and pink Hawaiian sea salt. The flavor was really unique (and commendably reminiscent of a real margarita) and certainly delicious. After that was the Pistachio Passion, which had a lemon zest white ganache and pistachios on top. It was incredibly light and refreshing. I'm usually not a huge fan of white chocolate, but the lemon zest really carried it. The Berbere, named after the Ethiopian spice mix, was probably my favorite. It had amazing curry-like overtones that went wonderfully well with the dark chocolate.

And finally, the Salmon Surprise truffle, topped with flakes of smoked salmon. Yes, salmon. Though perhaps a bit shameful, I admit I tried it purely for the sake of trying it. But lack of noble motives aside, it caught me off guard. It wasn't bad, or even fishy - the salmon imparted a nice smoky flavor that I can't say I've had with chocolate before. That said, I don't know if I'd be super tempted to get it again. It was more a cerebral experience than one of strictly pleasure.

Modern Dwellers is a place I've been to a few times now and I have to commend them for really pushing the envelope in Anchorage. Although it's maybe a bit spendy for some, great decor, an array of handmade jewelry and art, and a very nice selection of exotic chocolates at the 36th location really fill out the experience and I can happily suggest it to anyone who can't wait to get their fill of everyone's vice: chocolate.


Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge
423 G Street
http://www.moderndwellers.com/