Dinner with Old Friends

07-06-14-bresaola-arugula

It is so much fun seeing old friends. Susan and I first met in 1989 when we worked together at San Francisco General Hospital. She was a registered dietitian and I was a food service supervisor. What a wild place it was. From the AIDS wards to the prison wards, crack babies to naked people coming into the Emergency Department on any number of drugs, gun shots and trauma, there was never a dull moment. It was actually fascinating. looking back. However, while I was there, I think my main goal was just to stay out of the Director's way. To say that the place was disorganized and morale was always low would be painting a rosy picture. It was a difficult job, but we always made the best of it - and did a great job in spite of the many obstacles.

You know how jobs are often about who you know?!? Well... that's how I was originally hired. Bob, the manager who interviewed me, was best friends with Wayne, who I had recently worked with at the Westin in Indianapolis. Bob called Wayne, Wayne said hire him, and Bob hired me.

I ended up going to UCSF a year later - I was a provisional employee with the city with no prospects of getting on permanent - and needed to get into a retirement system.

In the meantime, Susan met a cute Dr named Rob who has become a renowned robotic cardiac surgeon. Two kids and a half-dozen cities later, they may be moving east and becoming our neighbors - or, at least, neighbors withing an hour's drive! And we're all still friends.

It's amazing how things work out.

Susan sent me an email saying they were going to be back here doing some interviewing and we needed to get together for dinner. She said they'd take us out. I said we'd cook. It's easier to sit around and talk for hours when there's not a waiter hovering, ya know?!?

Besides. We like to cook. And they brought along their friend Patty who is also an SFGH alumni. She is a Respiratory Therapist. We didn't know each other at General, but we all became fast friends tonight.

We chose a rather eclectic menu - a couple of goodies from our Sicily trip, and a couple of favorites. And an awesome dessert.

06-08-14-focaccia-8

 

We started off with the Focaccia Ragusa - two varieties, peppers and eggplant. It has become one of my most favorite things to eat.

Focaccia Ragusata

(makes two)

  • 9 oz all-purpose flour (Italian “00″ if you have it!)
  • 5/8 cup warm water
  • 1/2 tsp yeast
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • pinch salt

Proof yeast in warm water. Add flour, salt, and oil, and mix well. Knead about 5-6 minutes or until a smooth, elastic dough forms. Roll into a ball, cover, and let rest 30 minutes.

Divide dough in half and roll into a large, very thin circle. Spread with a very thin layer of tomato sauce and then top with a thin layer of ricotta. Add slices of fried eggplant.

Fold sides to almost meet in the center. Brush new tops with a bit of sauce and cheese. Fold in half, again, and press lightly to seal. Paint a bit of sauce on top.

Put into a preheated 475° oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until dark brown. Take out of the oven and cover with a towel to trap steam and soften the top.

I tell ya - it is one easy dish to make. And it's really, really good.

The second thing to come back from Sicily was the Bresaola and Arugula pictured above. This is i=one of those pure genius recipes. All it is is bresaola wrapped around arugula and drizzled with olive oil and a bit of parmesan cheese. I placed them on thick slabs of beefsteak tomato. Really, really good.

Then the eclectic started...

Phoebe's Baked Beans. My go-to baked beans for years, now. They are perfectly spicy and always a crowd-pleaser.

Phoebe's Baked Beans

  • 1/2 cup minced shallots
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup tomato puree (I use tomato paste – I never have puree in the house!)
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 chipotle chiles, canned in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped
  • 2 (28-ounce) cans baked beans

Preheat oven to 300°.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shallots; sauté 4 minutes or until golden. Add cumin and garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Add tomato puree and oil, and cook for 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients (except beans.). Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine beans and shallot mixture in a 2-quart baking dish. Bake at 300° for 1 hour or until thick and bubbly.

And a couple of coffee-rubbed tri-tips. The first one was a bit over done. That's what happens when you're talking instead of paying attention to cooking. Oh well. It was still really good - and the second one came out better.

07-06-14-tri-tip

And what's a summer gathering without corn on the cob?!? I made a sun-dried tomato butter to spread over it. Pretty good stuff - and the kids loved it!

07-06-14-sun-dried-tomato-butter

I used a small food processor to chop the ingredients and then just smooshed them into a cube of butter.

Sun-Dried Tomato Butter

  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 2 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes in oil
  • 2 tbsp fresh basil
  • 2 tbsp Italian parsley
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Finely mince all ingredients and fold into softened butter.

You can add anything to a cube of butter. Anything.

And then when we were all nice and full, we had dessert. Grilled peaches with homemade lemon ricotta and raspberry caramel.

07-06-14-grilled-peaches-with-lemon-ricotta

This rocked the casbah.

Victor made his fabulous fresh ricotta and added just enough lemon and sugar to make it even more awesome than it normally is. I mean, awesome.

Fresh Ricotta

1 cup heavy cream
3 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest

Add all ingredients to a heavy pot and simmer 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 30 minutes.

Scoop curds into a cheesecloth-lined sieve and drain about 30 minutes. Squeeze to remove as much whey as possible.

Cover and chill.

Omit the sugar and lemon for a traditional ricotta.

And then the raspberry caramel...

Raspberry Caramel

  • 2 cups raspberries
  • 3/4 cup sugar + 2 tbsp
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp Chambord
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of raspberries with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the berries start to burst.
Smash them as they cook until they are nearly smooth. Whisk in the cream, raspberry liqueur, vanilla and salt. Strain out the seeds.

In a medium saucepan, combine 3/4 cup of sugar with 1/4 cup of water. Cook over moderate heat, swirling the pan and brushing down the side with a wet pastry brush, until the sugar dissolves.

Cook undisturbed until an amber caramel forms, about 7 minutes. Add the raspberry cream and simmer, whisking, until the caramel is smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

Let cool slightly, then stir in the remaining 1 cup of raspberries; let cool to room temperature.

 

This works over grilled peaches, over pie or cake, and as a fantastic ice cream topping. You can switch out the berries to just about any fruit you can imagine.

So we ate, talked, laughed, and ate some more. Great fun and a great time.

Can't wait to do it, again. Of course, we need to get Bob back here, as well...


Lemon Polenta Cake

06-29-14-lemon-polenta-cake

It's been about 3 1/2 years since we last made Nigella's Lemon Polenta Cake and today seemed the perfect day to rectify that. It's a great cake with lots of flavor - and really easy to pull together.

The original recipe calls for almond meal. I used macadamia meal today, because that's what I had in the cabinet. I also used demerara sugar that I pulverized in the food processor and stone-ground yellow grits from Adluh in South Carolina that I also pulverized in the food processor.

The changes made for a great cake - although the original is pretty darned good to begin with!

Lemon Polenta Cake

adapted from Nigella Lawson

Cake:

  • 1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter
  • 1 cup superfine sugar
  • 2 cups macadamia nut meal (or almond or nut of choice)
  • 1 cup fine polenta or cornmeal
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3 eggs
  • Zest 2 lemons (save the juice for the syrup)

Syrup:

  • Juice 2 lemons
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the pan with parchment paper and grease lightly with butter.

Beat the butter and sugar till light.

Mix together the nut meal, polenta and baking powder, and add a bit to the butter-sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while.

Beat in the lemon zest and spread the mixture into the pan and bake for about 35 minutes. A cake tester should come out clean and the edges of the cake will have begun to shrink away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven to a wire cooling rack, but leave in its pan.

For the syrup:

Make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar in a small saucepan. Prick the top of the cake all over with a cake tester and pour the warm syrup over the cake. Leave to cool in the pan before placing it on a cake plate.

Powerfully lemony with a really interesting cornmealy-grit. It's pretty much a taste sensation and just different enough to be really enjoyable.

I don't think we'll wait another 3 1/2 years before making it, again.

 

 


Nectarine Squares

06-22-14-apricot-bars

This is a bit of a no-brainer bar cookie that really works well with thin slices of fresh fruit. I've made it it peaches, plums, and nectarines, so far, and I imagine just about anything would work - including bananas or thin-sliced or chopped cherries. Or apricots. Or whatever looks good at the grocers or farmers market.

What's nice is there is no additional sugar in the filling - just a thin layer of fresh fruit.

Nonna loves them. She's finding lots of reasons to get up and head into the kitchen for one of those "as long as I'm here" moments!

Nectarine Squares

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • pinch salt
  • 3-4 nectarines or peaches

Preheat oven to 375°

Butter a 9×13 inch pan. Mix together sugar, baking powder, flour, salt and spices. Cut cold butter into dry ingredients. Add egg and mix well.

Press 2/3 of the crumbs into buttered pan, pressing well.

Layer nectarine slaices over packed crumbs.

Sprinkle remaining crumbs evenly over the top and bake about 30 minutes or until top is slightly brown.

Cool and then cut into squares.

 

 

 


Birthdays and Mother's Day

05-11-14-mothers-day-1

Today was Victor's Mom's Birthday. I remember the Mom' Birthday/Mother's Day combo quite well - my mom's birthday is May 13th and many was the year they fell on the same day. I always thought it funny that my mom and Victor's mom were born 2 days apart, 3000 miles away, in the same year - and were so totally different.

But since my mom is no longer here to spoil, I have to make sure Nonna gets her deserved spoils for the day.

Starting with a cheesecake. This is one similarity the two moms shared - a love of cheesecake. And the cake I made is a variation on Lucille's cheesecake - our old neighbor from 46th Avenue.

We had a ton of food, today - antipasto platters, baked pasta, homemade meatballs, sausages, salads - enough food for an army or two. Somehow, I only managed to get pictures of the desserts. Go figure.

A Variation on a Cheesecake

Crust

  • 2 pkgs graham crackers
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 2/3 cup melted butter
  • 6 tbsp sugar

Mix graham crackers and walnuts in a food processor. Add sugar and pulse a few times.  Add melted butter and mix well.  Pack into 10″ spring form pan bringing it up on sides.  Place in refrigerator while preparing filling.

Filling

  • 4 8oz pkgs cream cheese
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 tbsp vanilla

Topping

  • 16oz carton sour cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla

To make

Cream cheese with sugar.  Add unbeaten eggs one at a time.  Mix well, scraping down bowl, as needed.  Add unwhipped cream.  Stir in vanilla.

Pour into crust.  Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

Allow to cool on rack for 15 minutes.  Spread on sour cream topping.

Return to oven for 5 minutes.

Cool completely and refrigerate.

I have to tell ya - it came out great. Nonna was thrilled with it - and there's going to be plenty left over for treats while we're away. I sliced up several pieces and put them in the freezer to be doled out...

05-11-14-mothers-day-5

Since there were two occasions, we needed two cakes, right?!? Right!

05-11-14-mothers-day-4

The second was a caramel cream roll.

Basic sponge cake with a filling of heavy cream whipped with a jar of salted caramel sauce. Yes. It was decadent.

Caramel Cream Roll

  • 1 1/2 cups pastry flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • ¾ cup white sugar
  • 1 cup nonfat milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup egg whites (approximately 8 large eggs)
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • pinch of salt

Sift the flour and baking powder together.

Dissolve the ¾ cup of sugar in the milk. Add the vanilla. Beat the whites with ½ cup of sugar and salt until stiff moist peaks form. Gently add the flour into the liquid ingredients and fold in the egg whites. Do not overwork. Spread gently into a sheet pan  pan that has been lined with parchment paper and sprayed with nonstick spray.

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 15-18 minutes until set and golden. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan. Dust a clean kitchen towel with powdered sugar. Turn cake out onto towel and roll cake. Allow to cool.

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 jar salted caramel sauce

Whip cream with caramel until thick. Unroll cake, spread with filling and re-roll. Top with powdered sugar.

05-11-14-mothers-day-2

And because no party is complete without chocolate-dipped strawberries, Victor dipped strawberries!

05-11-14-mothers-day-3

We had 5 mothers and 1 birthday, today. And seven mothers who I wish were here with us, today. My mom, my four sisters, and my two sisters-in-law.

Happy Mother's day to all of ya!

 


Easter Muffins

In Your Easter Bonnet

Growing up in a large family had its advantages around the holidays. We never did things small. We colored dozens of eggs at Easter, had Easter Egg hunts out in the back yard, Easter baskets filled with candy, new clothes, and a huge dinner - ham if we were at home, and roasted leg of lamb if we were at Aunt Phoebe's and Aunt Dolores' house.

Aunt Dolores made the absolute best leg of lamb. And the best lamb gravy - neither of which I've ever been able to replicate. It was always a bone-in leg as "boneless" didn't exist for anything back in those days. And what a difference in flavor it made.

The rose-colored glasses definitely come on when I think about those days. Reality was we were usually fighting with one another, getting each other in trouble if we could, and generally causing mayhem when-and-wherever we could. There was never a dull  moment around our house.

I have to admit I miss all that chaos now and again. For all the yelling and fighting, there was also a lot of fun and laughter - not to mention conspiracy as we tried to figure out how to get away with something without my mother finding out. We probably failed more times than we succeeded - but we did succeed now and again. And then there was watching Easter Parade and eating homemade fudge with mom on those nights we were actually behaving ourselves.  It was a great time to be a little kid.

Fast-forward 50 years or so and three of the six are heading to Sicily together for 2 weeks in May. I can only imagine the international incidents we could cause if we put our minds to it. We've gotten older. We haven't necessarily matured. Not to mention that our spouses are just as bad as we are. Who says opposites attract?!?

So missing those thrilling days of yesteryear, we also missed our annual Egg Dying and Pizza Party we've had every year on Saturday night before Easter since we moved east. Traditions end, but the memories linger on...

So... with a relatively-free evening, I made cupcakes. I saw a recipe in the Betty Crocker Cupcake Book that really looked fun and decided it would make a nice addition to whatever desserts are being planned for dinner today. One can never have too many desserts, says I.

The actual concept is a bit different than what I did, but the cupcakes, themselves, were pretty much as written.

Betty's Sunflower Bouquet

Cupcake:

  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1 2/3 cups sugar
  • 5 egg whites
  • 2 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. Beat butter about 30 seconds to lighten. Add sugar, about 1/3 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping bowl, as necessary. Add egg whites 1 at a time and mix well after each addition. Add vanilla, and then add flour alternately with milk in three additions.

Fill mini muffin cups about 2/3 full and bake 12-16 minutes.

Frosting:

  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pinch salt
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp milk

Cream butter. Add vanilla and salt.

Beat in powdered sugar, scraping bowl, as necessary. Add milk to thin to desired consistency.

To assemble:

Fit an open star tip (#18) on a pastry bag, and fill with frosting. On each cupcake, pipe 6 lines from the center of the cupcake, out to the edge, making an evenly spaced "spoke-like pattern" on each. With the same tip, start in the center and make a loop by going down one side of each spoke, turning at the edge of the cupcake and following the next spoke back into the center. Repeat ending with 6 loops. Place black gummy raspberry in center of each cupcake.

Place 2 sheets of tissue paper inside pail. Cut dry oasis to fit inside pail. Thread wooden skewer through green licorice. Thread spearmint leaf on skewer and then cupcake. Repeat to make 6 additional flowers. Arrange flowers in pail. Place remaining cupcakes on platter. Store loosely covered.

I couldn't find green licorice out here in 'burbia but did get a bright yellow and a bright pink. They definitely looked cute - like something out of a Dr Seuss book.


Coca-Cola Cake FAIL

02-24-14-coca-cola-cake-3

 

I just threw out a cake. A homemade cake. That I made.

I have to admit that I have not thrown out too many cakes in my life. I'm a cake-eater and - for better or worse - can eat just about any of them out there. But I met my match, tonight.

I don't drink soda as a rule, but a couple times a year I can go for an ice-cold Coke. Real Coke. The stuff made in every country but the USofA. - with sugar - and not high fructose corn syrup. At $1.25 a bottle, it's pricey enough that I'm not downing six-packs of the stuff, but eminently affordable to have around. There's been a bottle in the cupboard for a couple of months that I first thought I'd use to make a BBQ sauce. Today, out of the blue, I decided to make a Coca-Cola cake.

I should have made the BBQ sauce.

I got the recipe from the Coca-Cola website. I had done a bit of searching and just about every recipe out there was identical. I thought I'd go with the pro. It was horrible. The cake was moist and all - but it just had no flavor.  And the icing was nothing but sugar-flavored sugar.

Victor summed it up perfectly: "All I can taste is sweet. There is no flavor, at all - just cloying sweet."

What a disappointment.

I went back and read comments on the Coke site and while a couple of folks didn't like it, either, we're in the minority. Most folks who have made it love it.

I have to admit I didn't know what to expect because I had never had one, before, but the ingredient list should have given me a bit of an alert - 2 cups of sugar and a cup of Coke is going to make a sweet cake no matter what else goes in it. And the icing was just more sugar and more Coke.

I guess it would have been nice if there had been a hint of Coke flavor - but it was buried under all the sugar.

Oh well... Live and learn.


Pistachio Ricotta Tart

02-16-14-pistachio-ricotta-tar-1

 

It's always fun when Victor disappears into the kitchen. I know I'm in for a treat. And treat is what I got on his take on a Mario Batali recipe.

We had ricotta, we had pistachios, we had pistachio cream - why not make a pistachio ricotta tart instead of his Sambucca and orange and stuff?  Why not, indeed?!?

The original recipe called for a 9" cake pan. Victor used a 10" springform to make a thinner tart-like dessert.

Pistachio Ricotta Tart

  • 1 16oz container ricotta
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup Pistachio Cream Liqueur
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 3/4 cup coarsely-chopped roasted, unsalted pistachios
  • Butter for greasing the pan

Preheat the oven to 300°.

Lightly butter a 10" spring form pan.

Combine the ricotta, sugar, pistachio cream, and 3 egg yolks. Mix until blended. Add the egg whites 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Pour the ricotta mixture into the prepared pan and bake until light golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Serve warm, room temperature, or cold!

02-16-14-pistachio-ricotta-tar-2

It rocked! Rich and creamy with the perfect amount of crunch. I even went back in and sneaked another sliver. I could have consumed more.

The beauty of a dessert like this is as long as you keep the proportions in line, you can make it into anything you want.

Have fun with it - and when you're heading back for that second piece, don't say i didn't warn you!


Brownies

 

 

Sometimes I want dessert but really don't feel like spending six hours in the kitchen creating a culinary Mona Lisa. That's when a boxed brownie mix, a jar of caramel sauce, and a bag of candied pecans come in handy.

  • Bake brownies.
  • Heat caramel sauce.
  • Stir in pecans.
  • Spoon sauce over brownie.
  • Eat.

And it tasted even better than it looks.


Miracle Canned Caramel

11-24-13-caramel

 

I have baked and cooked for more years that I care to admit to. I have learned a bazillion tricks of the trade over the years and have probably forgotten more things than the average person will ever know. That's not a brag, it's just that food has been my passion since forever and I have always made it a point and taken the time to learn new things.

And today, I learned another one.

Did you know you could boil a can of sweetened condensed milk - in the can - for three hours and turn it into caramel? It's a freakin' miracle!

A dear friend of ours down in Atlanta posted a Facebook comment looking for the best Thanksgiving desserts. I answered with my mom's Walnut Pie recipe I'll be making. Another friend posted a Southern Comfort Caramel Apple Pie recipe that I will have to make some day. Another for a Bourbon Chocolate Pecan pie. Chocolate and Vanilla custards...So many desserts, so little time...

And then I saw a recipe for mini caramel tarts. As I read I couldn't believe my eyes. All it was was a can of sweetened condensed milk that had been boiled in water for three hours. I immediately got up and put a can on to boil.

Three hours later, I pulled it out of the water, opened the can - it spit at me so be careful - and swooned. OMG! A deep caramel sauce was staring back at me! I was dumbfounded.  I spooned it into the filo cups that just happened to be in the cabinet - we do have some odd things lying about - and then topped a few with chocolate chunks and the rest with candied pecans.

Stellar. Simply stellar.

The actual recipe is pretty simple. Tracie tops them with whipped topping but I thought they screamed for a pecan. And her instructions are simple and to the point:  Take the label off the can fill a pot with enough water to cover the cans or can. Boil the cans for three hours. Just glance at it once in awhile to make sure still covered. When it's done, let it cool a bit, or all the way. Open can, stir up and spoon into shells. Let chill in the fridge till completely cool.

It makes enough for about 2 packages of prepared mini phyllo shells.

The mind is spinning with more possibilities. I think I have a new toy to play with!


Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes http://www.tahoet.com/tjrclone

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Cake

Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes https://tjrecipes.com

 

I didn't roast my pumpkin this year.  It's been tradition for a while that I get a huge fairytale or cinderella pumpkin, roast, puree, and then freeze the puree in 2-cup containers for use throughout the season. Pumpkin soup, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake...  I like pumpkin.

Alas, Nonna really doesn't care for pumpkin, so I decided I'd just pick up a couple of cans this year and have it on hand for the occasional dish. At last count, I had picked up 10. Time to use up some pumpkin. Granted, it's not going to go bad any time soon, but, still... 10 cans is a bit obsessive.

I decided I wanted a dessert since Victor is cooking a fabulous lasagne today - complete with homemade lasagne noodles - so I headed off to Epicurious to see what ideas they had.

Right away, I found a recipe that not only would use up some pumpkin, but also use up a couple of apples that were in the fruit bowl.  Win-win!

I haven't cut into this one, yet, but dayum! does it ever smell good!  It is just wafting through the house.

I followed the recipe pretty much as written. It seemed very straightforward. I'll let ya know later how it actually tasted, but I don't think anyone will be disappointed.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Cake

adapted from Bon Appetit

Apple Topping

  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 4 cups diced apples
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup (firmly packed) brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamom
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeng
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 large eggs

preparation

For apples:
Melt butter in skillet Add apples and sauté until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add sugar and cinnamon and sauté about 3 minutes longer. Cool.

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Combine flour, brown sugar, butter, and salt in large bowl. Beat until mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside 2/3 cup of mixture for topping. Beat pumpkin, sour cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, spice, and baking soda into remaining flour mixture, beating just until smooth. Beat in eggs.

Transfer batter to pan. Scatter apples evenly over top. Sprinkle reserved topping over apples.

Bake cake until topping is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 20 minutes.  Remove pan and place on platter.

Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream.

 

Okay. This rocked the casbah!

Make it. Right now.

 


Banana Upside Down Cake

10-29-13-banana-upside-down-cake-2

 

I came home to several rapidly-blackening bananas. It seems Nonna just hasn't been in a banana mood this week.

Having an 87 year old living with you is not unlike having a youngster living with you, at times. Tastes change and what was yummy and a necessary food one week is ignored the next. The main difference, though, is I have no qualms about telling a youngster to eat it or go hungry. I don't have the same feelings with an 87 year old. At that age, they've earned the right to like and dislike things - even if the likes and dislikes change on a regular basis.

I used to work in nutrition and dietetics. I understand that taste buds diminish as we age. And with that in mind,. I try to make sure the foods I cook have enough going on to keep her interest. But a week of not eating bananas is a new one - for years she was almost eating a banana a day.

But her loss is our gain. Banana Cake!

With 6 bananas to use up, I needed more than a banana bread. I like it but I, too, needed a change. An upside down cake would use up a lot of bananas...

With a thank you to Epicurious, I found a recipe that worked just fine. I tweaked it - of course - but still follwed the original intent of the recipe.

Banana Upside Down Cake

  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 - 3 ripe bananas, sliced
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 ttsp salt
  • 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tbsp dark rum
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350°.

For topping: Cream brown sugar and butter until well mixed. Spread brown sugar mixture over bottom of 9" -10" springform pan. Arrange banana slices atop brown sugar mixture, covering completely. Set cake pan aside.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix mashed bananas, buttermilk and rum in a measuring cup.

Cream 1 1/4 cups sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients alternatively with buttermilk mixture, mixing until just combined. Pour batter over bananas in pan. Bake until cake pulls away from sides of pan and toothpick comes out clean, about an hour. Transfer to rack and cool.

10-29-13-banana-upside-down-cake-1

The topping was nice and caramelly... slightly different than melting the butter and sugar the way I usually do. It was a really nice way to use up bananas .

Nonna probably won't have any because she watches her sugar - sometimes. Besides, Victor just made her a batch of sugar-free biscotti - her favorite.

That's okay - more for us.

And you can be assured that next week when I don't bring home any bananas, they will be the first thing she asks for! And that's okay.


Puff Pastry with Almond Cream

10-25-13-almond-cream-pastry

 

'Tis the season for Puff Pastry!

I have made puff pastry more times than I care to admit to, but I tell ya... there is just nothing better than a good-quality puff pastry coming out of the freezer. Making puff pastry from scratch is a serious all-day affair. It's rolling, folding, and refrigerating over-and-over-and-over...  It's worth the trouble, sometimes, but as I said, it's nice having a good-quality puff pastry in the freezer. And I do mean a good-quality puff pastry sheet - not the national brand franken-food version found in your typical supermarket frozen food case.

There is just so much that can be done - from sweet to savory, dessert to dinner to hors d'oeuvres - filled or topped, rolled or sliced.

Armed with my thawed sheets and a can of almond paste that has been in the cupboard since the last Republican administration, I went looking for ideas.

I found a recipe on Epicurious that gave me an idea - and off I went...

Puff Pastry with Almond Cream and Mascarpone

  • 8 oz can pure almond paste
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp butter, softened
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp amaretto
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 4 oz mascarpone
  • 1 (2 sheet) package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

Preheat oven to 450°.

Mix almond paste, granulated sugar, butter, and a pinch of salt with mixer until smooth. Add egg and amaretto and mix until light. Add flour and mix until incorporated.

Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet into a square. Place on parchment-lined sheet pan.

Spread mascarpone to about 1 inch from edges. Spread almond cream generously on top of mascarpone. Top with remaining sheet.

Crimp edges to seal and cut small vent holes on top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in lower third of oven until puffed and golden, 13 to 15 minutes.  Let cool.

 

It was like the perfect almond croissant or danish pastry. I can see some fun variations on this...