Apron Strings Blog

Happy Summer!

Hopefully you have been keeping cool in the unusual San Francisco heat. We’ve been making lots of ice cream, yogurt pops and icy lemonade in our kitchen, in an attempt to beat the heat.

Before we know it, these sunny days will turn into cool, crisp Autumn ones, which means one thing in our kitchen…pie! Join us for an amazing kids’ pie class in our kitchen on Saturday, September 25 from 9-12 AM. Email Roberta at roberta@apronstringssf.com to register.

Also, be sure to book your child’s birthday party at Apron Strings today! As the school year goes into full swing, our calenders fill up quickly. Our birthday parties feature homemade pizza, birthday cake and lots of fun for kids of all ages (grown-ups too!).

Here’s a great ice cream recipe to you cool down this weekend:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ripe mango, diced, peeled
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 cups milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 cup whipping cream

Preparation:

Combine mango, 1/2 cup of sugar and lime juice in a non-metallic bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Make a custard by scalding the milk in a 2-quart saucepan. Whisk the egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the hot milk in a thin stream while whisking. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over medium heat, uncovered, until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 3 minutes. Do not let it boil. Strain into a bowl, and let cool to room temperature.

Stir the mango mixture into the custard mixture. Stir in the cream. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if desired. Freeze in an electric or crank ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions.
Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.

This easy and yummy quiche is delicious for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s an easy  and inexpensive way to feed a crowd. Feel free to get creative about your fillings. We also love spinach, bacon, cheddar, potatoes…the list goes on and on!

Ingredients

• 1 recipe Food Processor Tart Dough
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  
• 1 cup half-and-half
  
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
  
• 1 6” grilling sausage, any kind, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil for greasing pan

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8” pie pan with olive oil.

Combine eggs and half-and-half and beat together. Stir in cheese, sausage, onion, parsley and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Turn tart dough out onto a lightly-floured surface. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a 10-inch circle.

Transfer dough to the greased pie pan (if this is tricky, try rolling the dough onto the pin and then unrolling it over the greased pie pan). Press the dough gently into the pie pan, using your fingers or a fork to make a decorative crust (see here for help with this).

Pour the prepared mixture into the prepared pie crust and bake for 35-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and custard is set and browned in spots.

Serves 4-6.

Attention! There are 2 whole weeks left of Culinary Camp (August 9-13, August 16-20), so call or email Roberta to sign up today! (roberta@apronstringssf.com, 415.550.7976).

Culinary Camp students will learn basic cooking skills and different cooking methods. Each day the cuisine reflects a theme. This includes foods native to countries such as Japan, Greece, India and Italy. Or we’ll try our hand at ballpark or comfort food. The menus include soup, salad, bread, entrée and dessert.

Our culinary camps are an interactive hands on learning experience. Students get to eat what they cook in the class.

Classes are Monday – Friday 9:30-1:00

The fee is $400 per week and it includes costs for equipment and food.

Here’s a taste of one of our Culinary Camp creations, Apricot Crostata:

Ingredients

1/2 recipe Food Processor Tart Dough

10 ripe apricots, sliced into 1/8ths

1/4 cup sugar plus more for sprinkling

1 egg, beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly flour a baking sheet (or line with parchment)

On a floured surface, carefully roll the  dough into a 10″ circle. Carefully transfer dough to prepared pan.

In a mixing bowl, toss apricot slices with sugar.

Lay slices decoratively atop dough, leaving a 3″ border. Gently fold dough over to make a crust, pinching attractively.

Brush gently with egg. Sprinkle egged dough with sugar.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until crostata is golden brown and apricots are juicy.

Serves 6-8.

Yet another amazing creation by our Culinary Campers! This delicious, tangy tart has all the creaminess of cheesecake, but with much less fat. Plus, it’s ready in half the time. Serve on its own or with fresh fruit.

Ingredients

1/2 recipe Food Processor Tart Dough

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 c plain yogurt

2 tbsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups berries of your choice

1/3 cup almonds, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out chilled crust and fit into a lightly-greased 10-inch springform pan or removable-bottom tart pan. Fill with pie weights and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Remove weights and let cool.

Reduce heat of oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat eggs with sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add yogurt and vanilla. Sift in flour and stir to combine.

Pour into cooled crust, so crust is about 2/3 full. Scatter berries and almonds on top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until yogurt custard has set.

Serves 6-8.

This easy dough is great for tarts, pies and the like. Make sure to use very cold butter.

Ingredients

1/2 lb (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter

2 cups unbleached flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup ice water

Directions

Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes. Since butter softens rapidly with handling, return the cubes to the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes while you set up the food processor and gather dry ingredients.

Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine.

Add the butter, tossing quickly with your fingers to coat each cube with flour, taking care not to touch the blade. This prevents the butter cubes from adhering to each other and helps them break apart and combine more evenly with flour.

Pulse 15 times, or, until the butter particles are the size of small peas.

With the motor running, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Process for about 10 seconds, stopping the machine before the dough becomes a solid mass.

Turn the contents of the bowl onto a sheet of aluminum foil, pressing any loose particles into the mass of dough. Roughly form the dough into a 7-inch disk.

Cover the dough completely with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least an hour. The dough may be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 weeks.

Makes 18-20 oz. of dough or, enough for 1 tart, 2 9-inch shells or 4 little tarts for 2.

We had a ton of fun making cinnamon rolls at Culinary Camp yesterday! Here’s the recipe so you can make them at home! 

Ingredients

1. 2.5  cups all-purpose flour
2. 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3. 1 tablespoon cinnamon
4. 3/4 whole cup milk
5. 1/8 cup sugar
6. 1/8  cup butter
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
8. 1 egg
9. 3 tablespoons butter, just about melted
10. 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
11. 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
12. chopped pecans or walnuts or raisins/or both nuts and raisins(Optional) – makes a nice addition
    

For the sugar glaze:

1. 3/4 cup powdered sugar
2. 1 teaspoon melted butter
3. 2-4 tablespoons milk (or just enough to make a thick consistency)

Directions

To make the  Sugar Glaze:

Whisk together the sugar, butter and milk till it reaches a thick, but slightly pourable consistency.

To make the Rolls:

In a large bowl combine 1 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour and yeast. Heat the milk, 1/8 cup sugar, 1/8 cup butter and salt just until mixture is warm (not hot) and the butter is just melted, stirring slowly.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture; add the eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for about a minute while  scraping the sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Dough will be soft.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl & cover; let it rise in a warm place until double (about 1 to 1.5 hours).

Punch dough down. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half and shape each half into a ball. Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes. On lightly floured surface roll out half of the dough into a rectangle/oblong.

Spread generously with 1.5 tablespoons softened butter. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle half over the stretched dough. Sprinkle the nuts/raisins if you are using them. Roll up from a short side.

Arrange slices, cut side down, in a greased baking pan. Cover; let rise until nearly double (about 30 – 45 minutes).
Place the rolls very close to each other on a baking tray. Bake rolls in a 360 F degrees oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown. If required, to prevent over-browning, cover rolls loosely with foil the last 5 to 10 minutes of baking.

Invert at once onto a wire rack. Cool slightly.

Drizzle rolls with the already made  Sugar Glaze.

Serve warm. Makes 14-16 cinnamon rolls.

Fresh basil pesto is one of those foods that you’ve probably bought prepared, but once you make it fresh you will find yourself making it again and again. Fresh lemon juice and zest brightens up the flavors and keeps your pesto tasting fresh for days.

Ingredients

• 2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 6-8 cloves garlic, peeled and ends removed
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• zest and juice of one lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Pummel all ingredients in a mortar and pestle (add the basil gradually so it breaks down without creating a huge mess). Alternatively, place all ingredients except lemon juice and olive oil in a food processor or blender and stream in liquids as the machine runs. Process until you have a smooth paste.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups pesto.

On Tuesday afternoon, we welcomed a great team from Intuit to the Apron Strings kitchen for an afternoon and evening of cooking, wine and fun. If you think your office, team, family or activities group would enjoy a day of kitchen bonding and fun, contact Roberta at roberta@apronstringssf.com or (415) 550-7976

Intuit Team-Building Day

The menu: Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans, Strawberries and Poppy Seed Dressing

Chili-Gilded Pan-Seared Chicken or Oven-Roasted Salmon with Mango Salsa

Fresh Bread with Butter

Nectarine Cobbler

We had a ton of fun getting to know this great team! Check out our pics from a fabulous day:

Brian whisking the coating for the candied pecans.

Craig whacking the chicken before it was seasoned and pan-fried.

Separating the egg yolk from the whites.

Fresh mango salasa.

Preparing fresh nectarine cobbler.

Dinner time! Enjoying a delicious meal and one another's company!

As Spring comes to a close and Summer approaches, we’re finding ourselves busier and busier in the kitchen at Apron Strings, planning great adult classes. Adult cooking parties/classes at Apron Strings are a great way to celebrate special occasions such as wedding showers, baby showers or birthdays. We can customize your party, planning a unique menu to suit whatever you’d like to cook and eat.

Adult cooking parties and classes are also a unique and effective way to do corporate team-building. Food is a universal language and nothing brings people together better than creating a meal. An Apron Strings corporate team building cooking class is an innovative and unique way to make your employees happy and productive, Bringing them out of the office and into the kitchen is a great way to introduce them to new things about themselves and one another!

Contact Roberta today to plan your very own adult party at Apron Strings! (roberta@apronstringssf.com, (415) 550-7976)

Also coming up in our kitchen is Culinary Camp! Culinary Camp is the ultimate summer activity for kids age 10 and older to combine the magic of cooking and new friendships, while developing critical thinking, math, science and  chemistry concepts.  Culinary Camp students will learn basic cooking skills and different cooking methods. Each day the cuisine reflects a theme. We travel around the world in our kitchen, preparing foods native of countries all over the globe–from Italy to Mexico to Greece to Japan! Classes begin June 21st and are Monday – Friday 9:30-1:00

The fee is $400 per week and it includes costs for equipment and food. Be sure to download a Culinary Camp Release Form to send in with your registration to Roberta at 1335 Guerrero Street

San Francisco, CA 94110-3622.

Recipe of the Month:

Rhubarb is in season, so we picked some up at the local farmers market and brought it to the kitchen to make fresh pie. Be sure to pick some up this week and make it at home!

Rhubarb Pie

For crust

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 10 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling

• 3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
• 1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Preparation

Just a quick note from Apron Strings to let you know about a few great things we have coming up!

On Sunday April 18th from 12-2:30 PM, we’ll hold a class for adults on cooking healthy food that children will love. Do your kids claim to hate vegetables? Swear that mac-and-cheese is all they’ll eat? Then this class is for you. Learn how to make healthy, delicious meals that will have everyone in the family asking for seconds!

Register with Roberta DesBouillons:                          roberta@apronstringssf.com, (415) 550-7976.

Also coming up is Culinary Camp at Apron Strings! If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to register your kids for a summer of great cooking! available in week-long sessions, Culinary Camp students learn basic cooking skills and different cooking methods. Each day the cuisine reflects a theme. This includes foods native to countries such as Japan, Greece, India and Italy. Or we’ll try our hand at ballpark or comfort food. The menus include soup, salad, bread, entrée and dessert.

Our culinary camps are open to children 10 and older and is an interactive hands on learning experience. Students get to eat what they cook in the class. Classes are                 Monday – Friday 9:30-1:00 The fee is $400 per week and it includes costs for equipment and food.

Culinary Camp Schedule

June 21-25

June 28 – July 2

July 6-9

July 12-15

July 19-23

July 26-30

August 2-6

August 9-13

August 16-20

Register with Roberta DesBouillons: roberta@apronstringssf.com or  (415) 550-7976.