Christmas Cookies

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. A LOT like Christmas. The elves have been busy slicing, chopping, mixing, blending, and otherwise having fun in the kitchen.

We cut back this year - again. Somehow it doesn't seem like it - we have cookies, candy, fruitcake, breads... bins full of goodies that are getting plated up and given out. And there's an Italian Rum Cake that will be assembled tomorrow for our Christmas Eve dessert - along with all the rest of the goodies.

There are 4 different biscotti - orange macadamia, traditional anise, walnut, and chocolate peppermint - Aunt Dolores' Rum Balls, my mom's Spice Cookies, fruitcake, chocolate nutmeg logs, ricotta cookies, thumbprint cookies, almond butter cookies, chocolate caramel pecan cranberry candies, anise pizzelles, amaretto pizzelles... a lot of goodies.

And all of the recipes are here on the site.

 

 

This year's fruitcake came out stellar! I made this one with amaretto and kept it soaking in amaretto in the basement for a month. More mellow than a traditional brandy. I think next year may be time to bring back the apricot macadamia nut fruitcake - or come up with something completely new and different.

But that's next year. Right now I'm just going to enjoy all of this!

Merry Christmas!

 

by Tim Dineen

Ricotta Cookies

We play with these, a lot. One fun thing is to roll them in colored sugar before baking. Or chocolate dip them and cover with sprinkles or jimmies or whatever.

 

  • 2 cubes butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 15-16oz whole milk ricotta
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • pinch salt
  • 4 cups flour

Glaze:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • lemon juice
  • Nonpareils

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cream butter and sugar. Add ricotta. Add eggs, vanilla, and zest.  Mix until blended. Add flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix until combined. Dough will be soft.

Drop by a teaspoon onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake about 15 minutes or until done. Cookies brown on bottom but will remain white.

For icing, mix lemon juice and powdered sugar to form a glaze. Brush on cookies and sprinkle with nonpareils.

 

 

by Tim Dineen

Family Festivities

Christmas Parties are so much fun! Especially when family is involved. The holidays are a lot different for me on the east coast – with all of my family out west. As much as I would love to be there with all of them and all those little ones running around – Uncle Tim can be a very bad influence on little children – travel over the holidays just ain’t happening.

The next best thing is to cross the Delaware River to see the extended in-laws in Jersey. It’s extended family at its best definition. Paul is Victor’s brother’s wife’s nephew. He and his wife, Lisa have two sons. His brother Stephen and his wife Debbie – and their little boy live up in Brooklyn. Debbie wrote a fantastic cook book Parents Need to Eat, Too  that several of you have already received. I know a famous cook book author. Neener.Neener. There were probably about 18 folks there. A perfect crowd.

And it was just like being home – it was loud, multi-generational, kids running around having fun – and food for days. Just what Christmas is supposed to be like.

 

Plus there was food for days. The pictures won’t do it justice by any means, but we ate, ate, and ate some more. Pasta and outrageously-good meatballs, chicken parmesan, a really great buffalo chicken dip, a Texas caviar-type dish, baked brie, kalamata olives, salumi and cheeses…

And desserts…

Cheesecake, my cranberry tangerine bread – that actually came out really good! –  fig cookies, brownies, snickerdoodles, a couple of bar cookies that I think were chocolate peppermint and blondies, and plenty of liquor, of course.

My favorite of the boozes was a liqueur called Faretti Biscotti Famosi. What a surprisingly smooth flavor!  I could really see using it to make  Tortuga Rum Cake. Definitely good stuff.  I just have to figure out how to get some since I can’t get it shipped to this bassackwards state.

And in our Italian Polyanna, I got a bottle of hard cider. I’m still not much of a drinker but I can find plenty of uses for alcohol, so expect a stew of some sorts – maybe a pork stew?!? – when the weather turns cold.

So a really good time was had with some really fun folks

by Tim Dineen

Cranberry Tangerine Bread

 

We're off to a soirée this afternoon and besides a gift for the Italian Polyanna, we needed to bring an appetizer or dessert. I chose dessert, because, well... I like dessert. I'm the guy who will pass up the entrées and head straight - well, gaily forward - to the dessert table. It's no great mystery why my first-ever job was in a donut and pastry shop.

And this particular dessert came about because of the things I had in the house. When I decided dessert was the way to go, I looked around to get ideas about what to make. Lo and behold, we had tangerines and cranberries in the 'fridge and walnuts in the cupboard - there's always flour and sugar. I thought a twist on a classic cranberry orange bread was in order.

Holiday breads really are easy to make and with just a bit of ingredient adjustments can go from basic to really festive. They can be left plain, topped with powdered sugar, or drizzled with any number of sweet toppings.

I made two of them because I wanted one for the Christmas cookie platter(s) but the recipe can be cut in half or used to make a bunch of mini-loaves.

Cranberry Tangerine Bread

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cubes butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 tbsp tangerine zest
  • 1 1/4 cups fresh tangerine juice
  • 1/4 cup Cointreau
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a food processor, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Place in mixing bowl. In a measuring cup whisk together the zest, the juice, Cointreau, and the eggs. Add the mixture to the flour mixture and stir the batter until it is just combined - don't overmix. Stir in the cranberries and walnuts and spread evenly into two well-buttered 9x5 standard loaf pans.

Bake the bread in the middle of the oven for 1 1/4 hours, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool the bread about 15 minutes in the pan and then remove and cool completely on racks.

Serve plain or top with powdered sugar or icing glaze.

I topped it with a simple mix of tangerine juice and powdered sugar. And talk about filling the house with the scent of Christmas Cheer.

I'm glad I made two!

 

by Tim Dineen

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti

Let the baking begin!

Cookie baking is a long tradition in our home.  While I always made some cookies, it was Victor who elevated it to a mass-production art-form.  I had a couple of family favorites - he had dozens. The cookie baking just kept growing and growing and growing until a couple of years ago, we decided it was time to scale back and concentrate on just a few favorites.  We're back to having a lot of fun with it.

So... even though we're cutting back - or, at least, we're pretending we're cutting back - we always seem to find the time to make something new. My new one this year is a chocolate peppermint biscotti.

I usually leave the biscotti to Victor because he makes them so good I don't bother, but I had an idea for a chocolate peppermint version and decided to give it a go.

I'm glad I did.  It worked well.  Really well.

I used a chopped chocolate peppermint bark for the peppermint candy. Ghirardelli has a peppermint bark square that should be fairly readily available in most places, but it's also really easy to make - and just use the scrap pieces for the biscotti.

I also used a chopped up 72% chocolate to cut the peppermint - and added Jim Beam and no vanilla!

I think I may dip them in white chocolate - maybe half white, half dark.  I dunno. I'll play and see what I like best.

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti

  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cube (stick) butter
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tbsp bourbon
  • 1 cup chopped peppermint bark
  • 1 cup chopped dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 350°.

Sift together dry ingredients.  Cream sugar and butter, add eggs one at a time. Add bourbon.

Mix in flour.  Mix in peppermint bark and chocolate.

Divide dough in half.  With floured hands, shape into logs.  Place on parchment-lined cookie sheets and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Cool completely.  Slice into 1/4 to 1/2″ slices and toast on both sides in 350° oven for another 20 or so minutes.

 

by Tim Dineen

Pre-Thanksgiving Cookery

It's beginning to look a lot like Thanksgiving!

This is without doubt, my most favorite holiday. Massive quantities of food. No presents, no drama - just food.  Perfect.

We actually started the cooking a couple of days ago with an Egg Nog Cheesecake. Yeah - sounds pretty outrageous, eh?!?  I'll get a picture and the recipe posted this weekend.  It needs the final egg nog and whipped cream topping...  I mean...  I could take a picture right now but...  I'll wait until it's done...

Yesterday I made pie dough.  Today we baked pies.  I've been making the same pie dough forever and I find it infinitely easier than trying to unfold or unroll something from the frozen food section of the store.  Any time I've gotten a pre-made crust I've ended up having to do something with them, anyway.  Might as well start off with real butter and go for it.

 

Pie Dough

for a double crust:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/3 cup cake flour
  • 1/2 lb butter, frozen
  • pinch salt
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup ice water

Using a food processor, add flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse to mix.

Chop up frozen butter and add. Pulse until butter is incorporated and mixture looks grainy.

Slowly add ice water and pulse until mixed.

Turn out onto counter. Press and form mixture into 2 disks . Wrap in plastic and refrigerate about an hour to allow the flour to properly absorb the water and to relax the gluten.

Roll out crust and place in pie plate. Crimp edges and fill.

 

The Pumpkin Pies were our basic add-a-bit-of-maple-syrup recipe.  It really adds a nice touch.

Pumpkin Pie

  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups - or 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
  • 1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
  • 1 unbaked 10″ pie shell
  • Whipped cream

Preheat oven to 425°. Beat eggs, sugar, maple syrup, and spices in large bowl. Add pumpkin amd mix well. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Pour into pie shell. Bake at 425° F. for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Top with whipped cream before serving.

And then the nut and cranberry pie...

Four Nut Cranberry Pie

  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup chopped almonds
  • 1/2 cup pistachios
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup Lyle's syrup - or light corn syrup
  • 3/4 stick butter
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tbsp molasses
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pinch salt
  • 1 1/2 cups cranberries

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out pie crust and place in deep-dish pie plate. Gently press into place. Fold overhang under crust and crimp edges. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.

Line pie crust with foil and fill with beans or pie weights. Bake until crust is set, about 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans and continue baking until crust just begins to color, about 10 minutes. Cool.

Meanwhile, toast nuts until just golden, about 10 minutes. Cool.

Mix brown sugar, light corn syrup, butter, eggs, molasses, vanilla and salt. Stir in toasted nuts and cranberries. Pour filing into prepared crust. Bake until center of filling is set, about 45 minutes.

Cool and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Crostatas are pies that you make on a cookie sheet instead of a pie plate.  They're super-easy because they're free-form. And no matter how they look - it's how they're supposed to look.  I've made variations on a crostata for years.  You can go crazy with it adding nuts, raisins, and such or keep it simple as I did, today.  I did use a splash of Amaro Massagli a liquore from Lucca we brought back from vacation.

Pear Crostata

  • 4 pears, peeled, cored and cubed
  • splash liquore of choice
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • 2 oz butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 400°.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Roll dough out to about a 13" circle and place on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pile pear mixture into center of dough and bring dough up over the filling.

Bake about 35 minutes or until bubbly and browned.

The Pumpkin Cake is a take on the cake I made last week - without the cranberries.  I split the layers and filled them with leftover pumpkin mousse I made for Leah's baby shower.  The Pumpkin Mousse was really just pumpkin, maple syrup, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger folded into whipped cream.  Really basic but also really yummy.

I know this holiday intimidates the hell out of some people, but I just can't think of a way to have more fun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

by Tim Dineen

Cranberry Pumpkin Cake

It's still feed a cold, feed a fever time, and since I'm planning the Thanksgiving meal right now, I thought I'd see how an old standby would make it as a cake. I've done a variation on this as a pumpkin bread for years but thought it might make it as a cake.  It did!  There is just no such thing as too many desserts on Thanksgiving, no matter what Victor says as I pull out ingredients for yet another pie, tart, torte, or whatever...

I made this in a tube pan but I think it would also work as a layer cake - with maybe a maple cream cheese icing.  Maybe with chopped or crushed walnuts on top.  If I make it for Thanksgiving it will definitely be as shown, though.

I also like using fresh cranberries in this.  They add a nice tartness that the dried berries lack.  Besides, they're pretty. I also used my roasted pumpkin puree instead of canned but one can of good pumpkin will work.

Cranberry Pumpkin Cake

  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cloves
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 bag fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a tube pan.

Mix pumpkin, sugar, water, eggs, and oil. Mix in flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and spices being careful not to overmix. Stir in cranberries and pour batter into pan, spreading evenly.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and completely cool on rack. Top with powdered sugar.

It's definitely a keeper!

 

by Tim Dineen

2012 Fruitcake

Here’s the 2012 version of our Christmas Fruitcake.  I made it a bit different this year – no candied fruits and made with amaretto instead of rum or brandy.

It sure is looking – and smelling – good right now!  2 months to cure down in the basement!

  • 8 cups assorted dried fruits (I used golden raisins, raisins, currants, apricots, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, dates, and figs.)
  • 3/4 cup amaretto
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup wholoe wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cloves
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped assorted nuts (I used walnuts and pistachios)
  • 1/4 cup orange marmalade mixed with 1 tbsp amaretto)

In a large bowl combine all of the fruits with the amaretto and let macerate overnight.

Line the bottom of a well-buttered 9 1/2-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper and butter the paper. Into a small bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, and the spices.

Cream together the butter and the brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy and beat in 4 of the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Drain the fruit mixture in a sieve set over the batter and beat the juices into the batter.

Stir the flour mixture into the batter, one fourth at a time, stir in the fruit mixture, the almond meal, and the nuts, stirring until the mixture is just combined, and turn the batter out into the prepared pan.

Put 2 loaf pans, each filled with hot water, in a preheated 300°F. oven and put the springform pan between them. Bake the cake for 1 hour, brush the top with the remaining egg, beaten lightly, and bake the cake for 1 hour more. While the cake is baking, in a saucepan melt the peach jam with the remaining 1 tablespoon rum over moderate heat, bring the mixture to a boil, and strain it through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on the solids.

Cool cake in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes.  Remove from pan. Brush the top of the cake with glaze.

The cake will keep, covered, for 6 months.

by Tim Dineen

2012 Fruitcake

It's never too early to bake a fruitcake.  The beauty of them is they get better as they age - and soak up the liquor that is poured onto them.

I must admit that I really do like fruitcake.  I even like the store-bought ones, although the odds of me ever eating one of them with their chemicals and artificial ingredients are between slim and none.  Low as they may be, I have my standards!

So...  I looked at my 2010 recipe and decided it would be easy to update for 2012.  And from the scents wafting through the house, it came out great!

I didn't use any candied fruit this year.  I thought about making some candied orange or lemon peel and then decided it really wasn't worth it.  I went for all dried fruit - soaked in amaretto!  As I said, it smells really good!

2012 Fruitcake

  • 8 cups assorted dried fruits (I used golden raisins, raisins, currants, apricots, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, dates, and figs.)
  • 3/4 cup amaretto
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup wholoe wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cloves
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped assorted nuts (I used walnuts and pistachios)
  • 1/4 cup orange marmalade mixed with 1 tbsp amaretto)

In a large bowl combine all of the fruits with the amaretto and let macerate overnight.

Line the bottom of a well-buttered 9 1/2-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper and butter the paper. Into a small bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, and the spices.

Cream together the butter and the brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy and beat in 4 of the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Drain the fruit mixture in a sieve set over the batter and beat the juices into the batter.

Stir the flour mixture into the batter, one fourth at a time, stir in the fruit mixture, the almond meal, and the nuts, stirring until the mixture is just combined, and turn the batter out into the prepared pan.

Put 2 loaf pans, each filled with hot water, in a preheated 300°F. oven and put the springform pan between them. Bake the cake for 1 hour, brush the top with the remaining egg, beaten lightly, and bake the cake for 1 hour more. While the cake is baking, in a saucepan melt the marmalade with the remaining 1 tablespoon amaretto over moderate heat, bring the mixture to a boil, and strain it through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on the solids.

Cool cake in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes.  Remove from pan. Brush the top of the cake with glaze.

The cake will keep, covered, for 6 months.

It will be going down to the basement where it will get a weekly dousing of amaretto until Christmas!

I'll be sure to let you know just how good it was!

by Tim Dineen

'Tis The Season...

It's still officially summer for another week and a half, but my mind has already started focusing on The Holidays.

I like to plan ahead and not get blindsided by them.  I mean...  Christmas falls on December 25th every year.  It doesn't change, it doesn't rotate...  It's December 25th.  Thanksgiving is a little trickier - the 4th Thursday in November - but still... a little planning never hurts.

We'll be hosting Thanksgiving at our house, again this year.  It's pretty much tradition, so we'll have to start planning the ridiculous excess next month some time.  I actually create an excel spreadsheet of what we're making, who will be here, and then I look back at blog posts to see what we did and what it looked like.

Organized.

It's how I quantity cook without getting stressed.  It helps to have a plan.

We do the same thing with the Christmas baking, although quantities there have been drastically reduced over the years.  At our height, we were baking between 6 and 8 thousand cookies every year.  It started to get a bit ridiculous - not to mention expensive.  We'll be making considerably less - although still way too many.

And then there's the fruitcakes, the stollen, the Christmas pudding...  The last three items need to be made way in advance so they can properly age before Christmas.  Stir-Up Sunday is about 5 weeks before Christmas - the last Sunday before Advent - and a traditional day to make Christmas puddings, but that's also the Sunday after Thanksgiving and our Decorating Weekend.  Methinks I'll be scheduling fruitcakes and pudding for late October and early November...

Yep...  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - even if the weather still says summer!

by Tim Dineen

Mother's Day and Birthdays

Mother's Day is a bit different when your mom's no longer around.  It's even more so when Mother's Day and Mom's Birthday fall on the same day.

Mother's Day and Mom's Birthday were always the start of the month-long May Birthday Celebration in our house.  All four of my sisters are May-Babies, as well.  Yes, it was a crazy time.  But none of those birthdays topped Moms.  She was the Queen Bee.  And even though they were often just days apart - when they didn't fall on the same day - they were two separate occasions.

My father set the mood by having stacks of presents on the table when she got up.  He had a great eye and bought a good portion of her clothes.  He knew what she looked good in and she loved what he bought.  She very rarely returned anything.  And shoes...  Her father and brother both sold high-end women's shoes.  Back in the day she had every matching shoe/bag/belt/hat-combo there was. Imelda Marcos sought advice from her.

Mama had six kids but Mama had style.

And while she ooed and awed over her gifts, she spent extra-special attention on the things we made her.  Every picture was a Michelangelo original.  Every card, every 29¢ bottle of perfume, every inedible cake we baked, was greeted with praise worthy of an Old Master or chef de pâtisserie.  And she saved every one of those scribbled cards.

Victor's mom and my mom were born 2 days apart, on opposite coasts, in 1926.  Friday we took his mom out for dinner at the local diner - her choice - and yesterday we had his family over for a combo Birthday Mother's Day dinner.  Since I've been doing through Mom's recipes for our Mad Men Mondays I've kept eying her Chinese Casserole.  It's a dish she made up back in the '60s and feeds an army.  I haven't made it in years and years - because it feeds an army.  I decided her birthday was the perfect excuse to introduce it to the east coast family.

My mom never really followed recipes and never really quite had her measurements down.  It's a trait I totally understand, so I never have a problem following them.  You can go with them as written or play around a bit.  They always come out great.  For the casserole, the only things I changed were the soups and the mushrooms.  I used organic cream of soups - I just couldn't do the national brand and she probably used Lady Lee brand from Lucky Market, anyway... and I added a package of exotic mushroom blend to the mushroom mix.  As I said, mom would experiment all the time and as new things caught her eye she would include them when she could.

The Rice-A-Roni Wid Rice mix was a bit different, as well.  It's now labelled "Nature's Way" and calls itself "all natural."  Strange... But it worked.

In fact, all of it worked quite well.  It was Mom's Chinese Casserole.  No doubt about it.  The only things missing were her - and the huge Corning Ware casserole she made it in.

And then we had the rest of the meal...

I made a huge lasagne.  And I do mean huge.

Lasagne is something I have never used a recipe for.  I simply worked in too many Italian restaurants and made too many of them to ever think I needed one.  And I don't use no-boil noodles.  I think they make a gummy lasagne and you can't encapsulate the filling with them.  Lasagne is a wrapped package of goodness - not a semi-layered gooey mess.  Spend the extra ten minutes cooking your noodles.

The filling for this lasagne included cooked ground beef, hard cooked eggs, porchetta, speck, prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, ricotta, and lots of shredded cheeses - mozzarella, fontina, asiago...

I baked it covered Saturday night for 1 1/2 hours at 350° and then re-baked - also covered - it Sunday for 2 hours at 300°.

For the last 30 minutes I raised the temperature to 350°, uncovered it, and added shredded cheese to the top.

It made much more than we needed.  Even with doggie bags leaving, I froze a goodly amount for another day.

The meal didn't stop there...  We also had Chicken cutlets.

I breaded them with panko breadcrumbs and corn meal.    It gave them a nice crunch.

We also had another huge fruit salad - in Mom's 1960s Salad Bowl...

And the pièce de résistance was a Coconut Cake!

This was a much simpler cake than the monstrosity I made last year.  Last year was good, but it was really a one-time cake.  I don't see another one of those in my future.

This cake was much lighter and actually more enjoyable because of it.

I made a lightly-flavored coconut whipped cream for the filling and top and sprinkled shredded coconut on top.

The recipe will make either three 8" layers or 2 10" layers. I chose width over height and used 2 10" springform pans.

Coconut Cake

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup whole milk
  • ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk
  • ¼ cup Coco Lopez or other coconut cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 8 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 350°.  Butter two 10" or three 8" pans.  Line with parchment, and butter parchment.  Flour pans and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Mix  together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir together the milk, coconut milk, vanilla, and coconut cream.  Add the dry and wet ingredients to the butter mixture in three increments, starting and ending with the dry.

Whip the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until evenly blended. Divide the cake batter evenly among the two or three prepared cake pans.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes for 8" cakes or 40-45 minutes for 10" cakes - or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pans about 15 minutes, remove from pans and set on racks until completely cool.

For Whipped Cream Icing:

Whip 1 1/2 cups whipping cream with 1/4 cup Coco Lopez.  Place about 1/3 whipped cream on first layer.  Top with second layer and spread remaining 2/3 cream on top.  Generously top with shredded coconut.

This was an easy one to make and really took no time at all.  I can see it - and a few variations - becoming a part of the repertoire.

All-in-all It was a good day with a lot of good food and fond memories.

And Mad Men Monday?!?  There's a 1960s Chinese Casserole in the 'fridge right now.

Leftovers.  What a concept!

 

 

 

 

 

by Tim Dineen

Easter 2012

 

I love holidays.  I love getting together with everyone and I love the excessive amount of food.

We eat well at our house, but it takes a crowd of people to have a dozen different foods out at any given moment.  And a dozen different foods is so much fun.

It's even more fun when it's down the road at Marie and Steve's...  An impeccable table - of course - and a bountiful array of creative culinary creations that would please the palate of the most discriminating diner.

I love it!

We started off with a table of appetizers... Victor made Uncle Rudy's Easter Pie, but made it in a tart pan this year instead of the traditional pie plate.  It really was good.  Extraordinarily good.  Stellar.

Uncle Rudy's Easter Pie

Makes 2 pies

  • 3 Lb Ricotta
  • 8 eggs
  • 1/2 cup  grated cheese
  • 1/2 lb ham, diced
  • 1/4 lb prosciutto, diced
  • 1/4 lb pepperoni, diced
  • To Taste;
  • Garlic Powder
  • Pepper
  • Italian Seasoning
  • Parsley

Blend eggs and ricotta.  Add diced meats and seasonings.  Pour mixture into prepared pie crust and top with second crust.  Crimp edges.

Bake at 375° for 45 minutes to 1 hour – the crust should be nice and golden brown.

The photo above shows a 12" tart pan.  The recipe made one traditional 10" deep-dish pie and the 12" tart.

Earlier in the week I had received an email recipe from La Cucina Italiana magazine.  The email title was "An Adorable Polenta Dumpling."  How could I pass that up?!?

"Canederli" di Polenta allo Speck

Ingredients

  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Fine sea salt
  • 1 1/4 cups coarse polenta
  • 1/4 pound speck, finely chopped
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese
  • 1 tablespoon roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

 Instructions

In a large saucepan, combine water, milk, 3 tablespoons butter and ¾ teaspoons salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Slowly add polenta in a thin stream, whisking; reduce heat to medium and cook, whisking constantly, 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until polenta is thickened and tender, 40 to 45 minutes. (Because it uses less liquid, this polenta is thicker than usual.)

Remove polenta from heat; stir in speck, egg yolks, cheese and parsley. Let stand until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.

Line a large platter with parchment paper. With damp hands, form 1-tablespoon portions polenta into 40 (1-inch) balls and place on prepared platter.

In a small saucepan, heat 8 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat until butter becomes lightly browned, about 13 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large non-stick skillet, melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat. In two batches, cook dumplings until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch.

Divide dumplings among 4 bowls, spoon brown butter over the top. Serve immediately.

So... I used a small scoop and made about 65 little balls.  I started frying them in the butter as described in the recipe. but they decided to make a mess of my skillet.  I ended up putting them on a buttered sheet pan and sticking them under the broiler.  I then drizzled them with the browned butter.

They came out great!  Victor's mom - who always says she hates polenta - had one not knowing what they were and loved it!  Them.  She had more than one.  So much for hating polenta.

And things only got better.

A cold pea salad with mint, onions, feta... awesome.

And a marinated Shrimp Pasta Salad with just the right amount of everything.

Marie's Pineapple Bread Pudding that I absolutely love...

And roasted asparagus, grilled lamb loin chops, and a spiral-cut ham.

Stupendous.

After feasting on all of this, the table was cleared, the coffee was made, and the desserts arrived.

Desserts.  Plural.

I totally forgot to take any pictures of the Apricot Crostata, the Lemon Cream Tart, the Chocolate Mint Brownie Cake, the Platter of Fresh Fruits, or the half-dozen varieties of homemade cookies at Marie's, but we did bring a bit of a dessert plate home with us...

I felt it my duty to try some of everything.

And it was all wonderful.

We got the recipe for the Lemon Cream Tart from Victor's friend, Jenni.  It's quite simple, but really packs a lemony wallop!

Creamy Lemon Pie

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1 (8- or 9-inch) baked pie crust or graham cracker crumb crust
  • whipped cream. for added flavor, fold some lemon curd into the whipped cream just before serving
  • Lemon zest (optional)

Preheat oven to  325°.   Beat egg yolks, gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice.  Pour into crust.

Bake:  30-35 minutes, until set.  Cool for about 1 hour and then chill at least 3 hours before serving.

I made this in a 10'" tart pan with a graham cracker crust.  I also added lemon extract to the whipped cream and folded in about 2/3 cup lemon curd to the cream before piping it on top.

I wish I had taken a picture of the whole tart - it was really pretty.

Oh well...

 

 

by Tim Dineen