The 47th Anniversary of My 21st Birthday
I guess most people have at least a vague recollection of their 21st birthday. It is a right of passage, after all... I spent my 21st birthday floating a few miles off the coast of California. I was still in Uncle Sam's Yacht Club and my Leading Chief denied my 3 day leave request. We were back from Viet Nam and stationed back in Alameda, awaiting a trip to Long Beach in a few weeks. It was just to get the boat out for three days to run drills and the like. Your taxpayer dollars at work.
He knew it was my 21st birthday and his sole function in life at that point was to mess with me any way he could. He really hated that I was ridiculously organized and took to production baking like a duck to water. He hated my attitude - the perpetual smirk on my face. The fact that I could get things done without going through proper channels.
He had pulled me out of the bakeshop and made me Office Yeoman so he could keep an eye on me. Of course, he quickly found out he couldn't say anything in front of me because others might hear about it. Pity.
I had been on the boat for almost a year and a half by this point and had been finally taken out of the office and assigned to the storeroom - mainly just keeping records of food supplies coming in and going out. Keeping track of requisitions and making sure the proper signatures were always in place. It was pre-computer - all manual - and the military loved its forms in triplicate. He always tried like hell to find errors - but I was really really good at my job. That was another reason he really disliked me. My very sincere disdain for military authority probably topped the list, though.
Yes, boys and girls, I was a smart-ass at the ripe old age of 21...
Six months later - when it came time for my active duty discharge, he made me get a regulation-style haircut before he would sign my separation papers. It grew back and I never had to see him, again.
One of 68 birthdays... there are others that stand out, as well... There were five of us at Tahoe whose birthdays were 26-30 July. We decided to hold a joint birthday party at our house. We had a live band and literally hundreds of people.
It was the first time I had ever taken acid.
I was not a stranger to recreational drugs, but I had just never taken LSD. I had talked far too many people down from it in high school. There just wasn't a huge urge to do it.
And then I did...
Besides having an absolutely wonderful time, I do remember at one point being up in the loft and looking out over a sea of heads downstairs. I thought it would be fun to just walk across their heads. Evidently, someone noticed me starting to climb over the railing and convinced me it wasn't such a great idea. That was a great house!
And I still talk regularly to my old roommates... we've all known one another well over 40 years. Not bad.
Speaking of forty...
My brother got a box at Candlestick for my 40th birthday. The Giants and The Dodgers almost always have a home game on my birthday - and almost always at night. Late July at Candlestick could be freezing! And look at that - nary a gray hair on either of us!
And Victor threw a big ol' party for my 50th...
My first birthday in this house was my 49th. My 55th was the day after I had a wisdom tooth pulled and Victor had foot surgery. That one was a Percocet and Vicodin haze.
And we saw Mama Mia one year, did a few days in Atlantic City another - driving home the Black Horse Pike to hit the farm stands... The past few have been pretty lowkey... we're saving up for next year when we celebrate on the west coast!
The Social Security Birthday saw us up in Rochester visiting dear old friends with a trek to Niagara Falls. I hadn't been to the falls since I opened the Hyatt Regency Buffalo back in 1984.
We had a so much fun we went back in the winter! Brrrrrr.....
As a kid growing up, my birthday dinner was veal scalopine and pineapple cream pie. It has morphed over the years to Stuffed Cabbage, and this year, Victor made his famous Apple Cake for dessert!
The stuffed cabbage was a labor of love because Victor is not overly fond of cooked cabbage. After making this, however, he's become a convert!
Stuffed Cabbage
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons good olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
- 2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes and their juice
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large head Savoy or green cabbage, including outer leaves
For the filling:
- 2 1/2 pounds ground chuck
- 3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onions
- 1/2 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onions, and cook over medium-low heat for 8 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, brown sugar, raisins, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Remove the entire core of the cabbage with a paring knife. Immerse the head of cabbage in the boiling water for a few minutes, peeling off each leaf with tongs as soon as it s flexible. Set the leaves aside. Depending on the size of each leaf, you will need at least 14 leaves.
For the filling, in a large bowl, combine the ground chuck, eggs, onion, breadcrumbs, rice, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add 1 cup of the sauce to the meat mixture and mix lightly with a fork.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
To assemble, place 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Remove the hard triangular rib from the base of each cabbage leaf with a small paring knife. Place 1/3 to 1/2 cup of filling in an oval shape near the rib edge of each leaf and roll up toward the outer edge, tucking the sides in as you roll. Place half the cabbage rolls, seam sides down, over the sauce. Add more sauce and more cabbage rolls alternately until you've placed all the cabbage rolls in the pot. Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls.
Cover the dish tightly with the lid and bake for 1 hour or until the meat is cooked and the rice is tender.
Serve hot.
And the Apple Cake... ::sigh::
He often makes it in a tube pan. This time he used a 10" springform pan. Perfection.
Apple Cake
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup oil
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 5 large apples
Preheat oven to 350°. Peel and cut apples into small chunks. Add 4 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon and stir together.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and set aside.
Beat together eggs, OJ & vanilla. Add oil, mix in flour mixture.
In a well-greased tube pan, pour alternate layers of batter and apples. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.
Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done.
Cool before slicing.
I have said over and over that it just does not suck to be me. I have a great life, the love and support of great family and friends, and the special love and support from one truly outstanding guy. It is a great life, indeed.
So here's to the last birthday in Pennsylvania, and here's to all of the future ones in Vancouver.
Little Sister said that she'll make me a Pineapple Cream Pie.
*edited to state we never moved to Vancouver. It sucked. We settled in Beaverton, OR - blocks away from little sister!!
Flour Power
Flour has not been easy to find in our local grocers. Pre-pandemic, we baked a lot - and we've been baking even more since the onset. Seems everyone else is, too.
Early on, we were able to score a 25 pound bag of flour from Adluh in Columbia, SC., but it's a soft wheat flour. It's perfect for cakes, cookies, crusts, muffins, biscuits and all of the dessertish-type things, but it's not a great yeast bread flour.
I will mix it with whole wheat or other flours to bulk it up, but... when it comes to bread, I'm particular. We were finally able to order bread flour from King Arthur - limited to two five-pound bags - and I got some white whole wheat and whole wheat bread flours from Palouse in Washington.
In the meantime, we had almost six pounds of wheatberries I had bought from Palouse many months ago. I like cooking them up and using them in salads, dropping a few handfuls into soups... they're fun and versatile - and also what one would grind into flour - if one had a grinder.
We don't have a flour mill, per se, but we do have a KitchenAid burr coffee grinder. We've had it for years - and years.
I decided to give it a try. It's pandemic time, we're staying at home... It's not like I don't have the time, ya know?!? I cleaned it out well, ran a few grains through to get rid of the last of the coffee, and went to town.
It pretty much, more-or-less, worked.
It's not quite as finely-powdered as a commercially milled flour, but it's very reminiscent of the flours from places like Anson Mills. It's definitely flour.
First thing to make was a banana bread. We have a plethora of bananas, right now, so we're getting creative...
I think everyone probably has a favorite banana bread recipe. This one is based on mark Bittman's from the NY Times. I add chocolate chips and Heath Bar chips to the batter just for grins and giggles. It came out great.
Banana Bread
Ingredients:
- 1/4 pound butter
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork until smooth
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup butter brickle pieces
- 1/2 cup grated dried unsweetened coconut
Instructions:
Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan.
Mix together the dry ingredients. Cream the butter and beat in the eggs and bananas. Add vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients. Gently stir in chocolate chips, brickle pieces, nuts, and coconut.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 60 minutes, until nicely browned. A toothpick inserted into the center of the bread should come out fairly clean when it is done. Do not overcook. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.
Moist, not too sweet... a really good loaf.
And speaking of loaves... next was my favorite Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread!
This has become my go-to sandwich bread. It is just too easy to make. I usually have buttermilk powder on hand, so I use it with regular milk, but if you don't have the powder or buttermilk, add a teaspoon of vinegar to the milk.
Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread
- 1 tbsp yeast
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups bread flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup rye flour
Dissolve yeast in the sugar and a bit of the buttermilk. Blend flours and salt together.
Add remaining milk to yeast mixture. Add butter. Mix in flour.
Knead by machine for about 8 minutes or by hand for 10 – until dough is smooth.
Roll into a ball and proof until double in size – about an hour.
On a lightly floured board, form dough into a loaf and place into a well-greased standard bread pan.
Lightly cover and proof, again, until double in size.
Bake in a pre-heated 350°F oven for about 35 minutes – until top is nicely browned.
Immediately remove from pan and cool before slicing.
I usually put the bread in a store-bought bread bag because it's easier than wrapping/unwrapping, but this loaf rose too much - it won't fit!
Everyone should have such problems!
Tonight's dinner will be pizza using my favorite 2-day rise pizza dough.
This really is the perfect pizza dough. It develops a great flavor with the slow refrigerated rise. This is a take on a pizza dough from La Cucina Italiana, but it’s also pretty darn close to the dough I used to make at Pirro’s in San Francisco back in the ’60s and early ’70s.
2-Day Rise Pizza Dough
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (100º to 105º)
- 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 4 cups “00” flour or unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- olive oil for bowl
Sprinkle yeast over warm water in bowl of mixer fitted with dough hook. Let proof about 5 minutes.
Mix together flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Mix on low speed about 4 minutes or until dough forms a coarse ball. Stop mixer and cover bowl with a towel. Let dough rest about 5 minutes, then remove towel and continue mixing another 2 minutes or so.
Lightly oil a large bowl. Form dough into a ball, transfer to bowl and turn to lightly coat with oil. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.
Punch down dough, re-roll, and return to bowl. Tightly cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
Divide dough into 2 pieces; shape pieces into balls and place on a lightly floured work surface. Loosely cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise at warm room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.
More on this, later...
Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake
'Tis the season to eat pumpkin - and while pumpkin pie is one of my most favorite desserts, a pumpkin cheesecake ain't too shabby, either - especially when pecans and maple syrup are included!
We're bringing a couple of desserts and an appetizer to dinner, tomorrow - the aforementioned cheesecake, and Victor made traditional anise biscotti. Certain things are better made a few days in advance - and cheesecake is definitely one of them - it should sit a good 72 hours before cutting into it. Really. Most recipes you see online will say cool for 4 hours or overnight. I've made a lot of cheesecakes in my life. I can make them blindfolded with one arm tied behind my back and standing on one leg while singing Bohemian Rhapsody. If you want to eat a cheesecake on Saturday - make it on Wednesday. Trust me on this.
Untying myself and stepping off my soapbox, here's the recipe I came up with for an 8" springform pan. You can use a standard 10" pan, if that's what you have. It will be a bit thinner and take a bit less time to bake - or you can add another brick of cream cheese and a splash of heavy cream to the amounts below. Either way, it will come out just fine... Cheesecakes are very forgiving.
Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake with Maple Pecan Caramel Topping
crust:
- 1 sleeve graham crackers
- 3/4 cup chopped, toasted pecans
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- 2 tbsp sugar
filling:
- 3 8 oz bricks cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 can pumpkin
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp vanilla
- pinch salt
topping:
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1 tsp vanilla
Butter an 8" springform pan. Set aside.
Place graham crackers, pecans, and sugar in food processor and process until they are fine crumbs. Add melted butter and pulse until it is all mixed well. Spread crumbs into pan and press firmly using a measuring cup or straight glass, pressing a bit up the sides, as well. Refrigerate until needed.
Blend the cream cheese until creamy. Add the pumpkin and mix well. Mix in the two sugars, vanilla, and a small pinch of salt. Blend well.
Add the eggs and egg yolks and continue mixing until fully incorporated but not over-mixed.
- There are two schools of thought on mixing cheesecake batter: One is to mix like hell and incorporate air into the batter. The other is to mix minimally to not incorporate air. I am of the latter school. I mix as little as possible. Personally, I find mixing in too much air makes the cheesecake more prone to cracking. That being said, go with what works for you! -
Pour batter into pans and level top. In an 8" pan, the batter comes fairly close to the rim of the pan. I found making a foil collar helps in keeping the cheesecake from over-browning on top.
Place in a preheated 425°F oven and immediately lower the heat to 350°F. Bake for about an hour.
Turn off heat, open oven door about a third, and allow to slowly cool in the oven for another hour or so.
Cool completely, wrap, and refrigerate for a few days.
On the day you're going to serve, make the topping:
Bring maple syrup and pecans to a boil and reduce by about a third. Stir in heavy cream and boil again, for a minute or two. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Spread on top of cheesecake and refrigerate.
Pull out of 'fridge about 30 minutes prior to serving.
I'll try and remember to take a picture of a slice of this on Thursday...
Grape Clafoutis
I was looking for a quick dessert and just happened to have some grapes in the 'fridge. Next thing I knew, there was a clafoutis in the oven!
Clafoutis is a French dessert that is traditionally made with cherries with the pits - along with milk that has been steeped in ground almonds.
I have made the traditional, but I have also made numerous variations on the theme. It's one of those recipes that you can do anything to!
Green Grape Clafoutis
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp creme de casis
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 375°.
Butter 10″ pie plate and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
Arrange grapes in bottom of pie plate.
Beat eggs and sugar until frothy. Add flour, salt, creme de casis, and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add milk and mix until smooth.
Carefully pour batter over grapes and bake about 35 minutes or until knife in center comes out clean.
I've made them with peaches, apricots, cherries, bananas and raspberries... go for it and have fun!
Peach Upside Down Cake
In keeping with our mini-dessert theme, Victor headed into the kitchen and made a mini Peach Upside Down Cake - and it is outrageously good! It's one of those things that is so basic in concept and so over the top in flavor. One simple perfectly-ripe peach and a simple vanilla cake blend together to make an anything but simple-tasting dessert! It's the ultimate in a few quality ingredients making a huge statement.
There's no trick to this other than getting into the kitchen and making it!.
Peach Upside Down Cake
Topping
- 1 peach, sliced
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Cake
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 6" pan.
Topping:
Melt the butter and pour into pan. Sprinkle in brown sugar. Lay peach slices over mixture and sprinkle with nuts.
Cake:
Beat the butter and sugar until light.
Beat in the egg. Mix vanilla with milk.
Add the flour alternately with the milk in three additions.
Spread batter over peaches.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool slightly then invert onto serving plate.
Every bite put a smile on my face!
Chocolate Cake For Two
We have dessert every night. Yep. Every night. 7pm. The Jeopardy theme song starts playing, Blanche perks up, and dessert is served. Every night.
Blanche gets her two cookies and we get cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream - sometimes even something silly like a bowl of fresh fruit - with or without freshly-whipped cream. It's all just a part of our daily routine.
The problem is making a dessert that only two people are going to eat. Nonna will only eat vanilla cake with vanilla icing, nowadays, and when I walk into the kitchen, the usual result is enough food to feed the neighborhood. Day Five of seeing the same cake is, well... Day Five. I think that Day Three would be better suited for a new treat - and with more free time during the day, I think it's time to start thinking about making more mini desserts instead of my traditional family-sized creations.
My mindset has pretty much been that if I'm going to make something, I might as well make enough for it to be worthwhile. I need to train my mind to start thinking that I can make something every single day if I want, so I no longer need to think in terms of when I have time and when I don't.
I decided to start off by doing a cake, since they're the most difficult to make smaller. Pies are simple, as are cookies - but the proportions in a cake batter to produce 2 cups of batter for a 6" cake pan is a bit trickier. Not every cake recipe is going to easily divide into halves - or in thirds - and come out right. You need to play a bit. Fortunately, this didn't take a lot of play.
A starting point for a basic 2-layer cake recipe to convert to a single 6" pan would be dividing the recipe by thirds. Obviously, that's not going to easily work in recipes calling for 2 or 4 eggs, so that's where you need to play. I have a chart for cake batter and cake pan sizes put out by Wilton to give an idea of volume needed.
Chocolate Sour Cream Cake for Two
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp Kahlua
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 6" cake pan.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy - about 4 minutes. Add egg and mix about 20 seconds. Add sour cream, vanilla, and Kahlua.
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir into liquids and mix well.
Pour into pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until pick comes out clean.
I split the layer and made a simple chocolate cream cheese frosting with a bit of Kahlua added.
It came out pretty swell. Moist, really chocolatey, and just the right size.
Banana Pound Cake Pudding
The problem with making desserts around here is there's only two of us eating them. There comes a point, once in a while, where something goes stale before we can finish it. I've pretty much stopped trying to freeze things, because... we keep running out of freezer space. If we had more freezer space, I would just fill it - I wouldn't stop making things. So... when something really good is starting to go stale, I think of ways to re-purpose it.
Like turning pound cake into a bread pudding.
A few ripe bananas and a couple of eggs made for a brand new dessert!
Banana Pound Cake Pudding
- bananas
- pound cake
- eggs
- sugar
- milk
- vanilla
- chocolate chips
- pinch salt
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cube pound cake. Slice bananas. In bowl, mix eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, and pinch of salt.
Add pound cake cubes, banana slices, and chocolate chips. mix carefully and pour into a buttered casserole.
Bake about 40 minutes or until set.
Really simple. Really tasty.
Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry season! My favorite time of year - besides Peach season, Blackberry season, Watermelon season...
I remember the strawberries at my grandparents house in Bakersfield. There was a brick BBQ pit in their backyard that had been filled with dirt and planted with strawberries. Bright red, sweet and juicy... Free for the taking. We never tired o0f them.
Their backyard was a great place for kids to play and explore... They had a chicken coop with lots of chickens we got to feed - and eat - although a couple of them were pretty mean and didn't take to kids being in there with them. There was a grape arbor along the side of the house with huge juicy sweet grapes with seeds and a neat old tree where my brother and I built a tree house.
Grandpa always had something growing back there - the place was a riot of color with flowering trees, roses, and gladiolas. My brother and I would take grandma's canning jars and catch bees from one of the trees in front of the house - when we weren't taking shotgun shells and hitting them with bricks and shooting them across the street. (We got into a LOT of trouble over that little trick.)
Mrs. McNamee next door had a peach tree where we would get fresh peaches, and next door on the other side was Mr Brown - Grandpa's drinkin' buddy and grower of huge watermelons. We stole his prize seed melon one year - not knowing it was a seed melon - it was just the biggest melon in his yard. He was royally pissed. Everyone knew we had done it, but we denied it like hell - and they couldn't prove it. We stayed clear of his yard after that.
But back to strawberries...
Back in those thrilling days of yesteryear, strawberry shortcake was a standard summer dessert - made with homemade shortcakes. Shortcakes, biscuits, and scones are all in the same family and they're all made pretty much the same way. Tweak a few things to sweeten or make them more savory - cream instead of buttermilk, butter vs shortening, sugar or no sugar... But if you can make one, you can make the others - and most cooks could make all three with their eyes closed.
This is a foolproof shortcake recipe. It uses both butter and shortening, but feel free to use all of one or the other. Or... make another old standby...
Strawberry Shortcake
- 2 cups flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp shortening
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- Melted butter and sugar for tops
Heat oven 450° F.
Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in butter and shortening. Mix in cream. Form into a circle about an inch thick and slice into 4 to 6 wedges. Place on a baking sheet.
Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until brown. Cool.
Split shortcakes and fill with strawberries and whipped cream.
I sliced the berries and added a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of Grand Marnier and let them sit for an hour to macerate.
They came out pretty damned good. Maybe not as good as Grandma's, but she would have eaten them and loved every bite!
The Weekend Food Fest
It doesn't get much better than having dear friends over for the weekend - especially when said friends are as enthusiastic about food as we are about cooking it. Definitely a friendship made in heaven!
Ann and Julie drove down from Rochester, taking a couple of days and meandering through Lancaster and the environs... Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse, Blue Ball... all the places with names that can get junior high school kids - or senior citizens - all in a twitter with double entendres.
Maturity is so overrated...
They arrived for dinner and the food-fest began!
Prosecco, of course, because... Prosecco. And a simple seafood dinner. Haddock with an Italian Salsa Verde, Potatoes and Savoy Cabbage, and Roasted Rainbow Carrots - and homemade bread, of course...
I picked up the haddock at Reading Terminal Market. I set it on lemon slices in a pan, added a bit of white wine, and put it in a 375°F oven for about 10 minutes.
It was topped with a fresh herb sauce:
Salsa Verde
- 1 cup parsley
- 6 sprigs thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 8 leaves basil
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 anchovy fillets
- 2 tbsp capers
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper, to taste - if desired
- 1 cup olive oil
Place everything but olive oil into food processor and process until reasonably smooth. Slowly add olive oil.
Taste for seasoning and add salt and/or pepper, if desired.
It is really refreshing! Lots and lots of flavor going on.
The potatoes were cooked and mashed with savoy cabbage. This was Victor's idea. He generally dislikes cabbage, so when he suggested it, I ran with it! I love cabbage and just don't seem to get it often enough.
It was not unlike a Colcannon, but with an olive oil twist.
Mashed Potatoes with Savoy Cabbage
- 2 lbs russet potatoes
- 1/4 head savoy cabbage
- butter
- olive oil
- S&P
Peel and cube the potatoes. Chop the cabbage. Place both in a pot and cover with salted water.
Boil until the potatoes are tender. Drain.
Return to pan and mash with butter and a healthy drizzle of olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper and top with chives, if desired.
Really simple and they played well with the fish.
Another thing that played well was little rainbow carrots. Roasted in the oven with olive oil and thyme sprigs, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Really simple. Nothing overpowered anything. The flavors all spoke for themselves.
And a loaf of bread. Also simple.
Dessert was Panna Cotta topped with Blackberries in Sweet Marsala.
I didn't get a picture of it because I served it just as Lawrence Welk was starting. Lawrence Welk, you say?!? Yes... Lawrence Welk. We've had a long-standing tradition of watching Lawrence with Ann and Julie - us in Pennsylvania and them in New York. Texts flying back and forth with "My gawd, can you believe what she's wearing?"or "Rose must have been on drugs to come up with that outfit." It is a total hoot to watch a totally campy show with friends long-distance. I highly recommend it.
This is the most basic of recipes - and easier than easy to prepare.
Panna Cotta
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
- 2 tbsp cold water
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Soften gelatin in the 2 tbsp water in a small saucepan. Heat to dissolve. remove from heat.
Bring heavy cream, half & half, and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in gelatin and vanilla. Mix well.
Pour into 6 6oz ramekins. Chill until completely set.
To unmold:
Dip ramekin in hot water for a few seconds. Run a sharp knofe around the ramekin and unmold onto a small plate.
Top with your favorite topping.
Blackberry Marsala Sauce
- 8 oz blackberries
- 1/2 cup sweet Marsala
Rinse berries. Pour Marsala on top, and mash a few of the berries. Let macerate an hour. Spoon over panna cotta.
More fun, laughter, and Pistachio Liqueur, it was time to call it a night.
We started off Sunday with Brunch - a fritatta. It's simple to make. Mushrooms, leeks, eggs, asparagus, herbes d'Provence... It was served with Blackberries in Prosecco - because we had leftover blackberries and leftover prosecco. It's great when things work out like that. We also had roasted potatoes with thyme and fresh squeezed blood orange juice with seltzer. Yum.
Of course, I forgot to photograph all of that when it was being served. Oh well. here's what was left.
We sat around talking and laughing and all the tomfoolery that friends seem to do, when I noticed it was getting into the middle of the afternoon, so I headed off into the kitchen and whipped up a loaf of bread and a torta di mele - an Italian Apple Torte - while the kids were all occupied.
The bread is straight James Beard. I have been making it for years and years. It is a one-rise-into-a-cold-oven loaf. It never disappoints.
James Beard French-Style Bread
- 1 pk active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 3 tbsp Yellow cornmeal
- 1 egg white mixed with 1 tbsp cold water
Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough.
Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary.
Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk..1 1/2-2 hrs.
Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into a long, French bread-style loaf. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal, but NOT buttered.
Slash the tops of the loaf diagonally in two or three places with a single edge razor blade or sharp knife, brush the loaves with the egg white wash.
Place in a COLD oven, set the temperature at 400° and bake 35 minutes, or until well browned and hollow sounding when the tops are tapped.
I use the microwave as my proofing box, nowadays. I boil a 2 cup measure with water, place it in the corner, add the bowl of dough and close the door. It drives Victor crazy because inevitably he wants or needs to nuke something, but the concept works great.
And then dessert... a Torta di Mele.
This is another simple dessert - but it looks impressive as hell.
Torta di Mele
- 4 apples - I used an assortment
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 7 tbsp butter
- 2/3 sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/8 cup Calvados
- 1 lemon - zest
- 2 tsp baking powder
- salt
Heat the oven to 390°F.
Cream sugar with butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs and egg yolk. Add Lemon zest. Add milk and Calvados.
Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.
Peel and core apples. Slice half into wedges and chop half.
Stir the chopped apples into the batter.
Spread into a 10" springform pan that has been buttered and floured.
Arrange apple wedges around torta.
Bake about 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
I vacated the kitchen and Victor came in to make a baked pasta. Pasta with sausages, ricotta, five cheeses, and homemade sauce... Be still my beating heart. It was delicious. Even Nonna licked her plate clean.
There is something so comforting about ooey-gooey-cheesy pasta that is only made better when shared with friends. Then again, I think Italian food, in general, evokes family and friendship. There's just something about it that makes you want to eat, laugh, share, and talk for hours upon hours.
We never left the house. We simply moved from kitchen to living room to kitchen to living room.
So invite friends over for the weekend and just sit around and cook and eat. I highly recommend it!
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
It's Saturday Night. We need a new dessert!
Dessert is a nightly adventure at our house. 7pm. like clockwork, Jeopardy comes on and I get dessert. Even Blanche gets into the act. She hears the Jeopardy theme and into the living room she comes for her own cookies. She has us trained well.
Since the Olympics are on, we're having dessert in front of the tube, cheering on all the gay boys and girls who are making our vice president all squirmy with impure thoughts. But enough of that idiot... on to the dessert...
I wasn't sure what I was going to make, today, but I knew it was going to be pineapple-related in some way, shape, or form. I was up in the cupboard the other day and found 2 small cans of pineapple that needed to be used - one chunks and one rings.
I searched all my mom's recipes, looked through the blog, pulled out a couple of cookbooks, and then finally settled on my old standby. It's quick, easy, and never fails!
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
topping:
- 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
- 1 lg can pineapple
cake:
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tbsp. rum
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup pineapple juice
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a round 9” cake pan.
Make topping: Melt butter and pour into pan. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Place drained pineapple rings on top of sugar.
Make batter: Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Cream butter with sugars. Beat in egg, vanilla, rum, and sour cream. Add flour and juice in 2 additions.
Spoon the batter over the pineapple, spreading it evenly.
Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 35 minutes.
As I said... quick, easy, and never fails...
Homemade Pasta and 2017 in Review
If the only thing that happened in 2017 was political, I'd simply kill myself and get it over with. Having that man become President has been painful. Watching the travesties coming out of Congress have been worse - and that's saying a lot. Just when you knew they couldn't possibly get any lower - they did. And they blatantly continue to lower the bar of decency to levels unseen since Caligula.
Yeah... politically, it's been a rough year.
But if you pull politics out of the equation - and I really do have to now and again to keep my sanity - some really fun things happened this year!
Victor retired! How sweet that has been for him. I'm there in six months - can't wait! We spent close to two glorious weeks with siblings and spouses in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, and saw another sister and her two daughters in New York City for her birthday. We saw Bette Midler in Hello Dolly. And I wrote 131 Blog posts.
Food was a highlight in 2017 - and every other year since Year One. I foresee it being in the center of 2018, as well - especially since I'll be able to shop anywhere I want whenever I want, and make things when I want and not try to just squeeze something in half-assed because I have to be somewhere in an hour. Retirement is going to really see me in the kitchen! I see a lot more canning and creative label-making. The pepper sauce was an eye-opener for me, as was the Pistachio Liqueur. I need to make more of this stuff!
Retirement was good for Victor in the culinary end of things, too. He's been able to spend more time creating and it's been great having dinner waiting for me when I get home.
Today, he created homemade pasta in a crab sauce while I baked bread and a Lemon Polenta Cake. I first made this cake in December 2010 and then waited 3 1/2 years to make it again - stating I wasn't going to wait 3 1/2 years to make it, again. I waited 3 1/2 years to make it, again. That, of course, merely proves that there are so many good things to make, there's no sense constantly repeating yourself!
We start with the Tagliatelle... Homemade pasta is where Victor really shines. It's just unbelievably good.
Tagliatele
- 2 cups flour (we use Tipo "00")
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp cold water
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
On a clean work surface, mound flour and form a well in the center. Add eggs and oil to the well. Using a fork, gently break up yolks and slowly incorporate flour from inside rim of well. Continue until liquid is absorbed, then knead for 10 minutes. Wrap dough tightly in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.
Divide dough into 3 pieces. Cover 2 pieces with plastic wrap. Flatten remaining dough piece so that it will fit through the rollers of a pasta machine.
Set rollers of pasta machine at the widest setting, then feed pasta through rollers 3 or 4 times, folding and turning pasta until it is smooth and the width of the machine.
Roll pasta through machine, decreasing the setting, one notch at a time (do not fold or turn pasta), until pasta sheet is scant 1/16 inch thick.
Cut sheet in half widthwise; dust both sides of sheets with flour. Layer sheets between floured pieces of parchment or wax paper. Cover with paper and repeat with remaining dough.
With the short end of 1 pasta sheet facing you, loosely fold up sheet, folding sheet over two or three times from short ends toward the center. With a large chefs knife, cut folded sheet into ribbons.
Unroll strips and lightly dust with flour; spread on a lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pasta sheets.
To cook the tagliatelle, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain pasta, transfer to a large serving bowl and toss with sauce.
It was flippin' awesome! The sauce was sauteed pancetta, garlic, a bit of tomato paste, white wine, crab, crushed red pepper, parmesan cheese, and oregano - with fresh basil and more cheese on top. It was a wing-it recipe of the highest caliber. Just flippin' awesome!
Then we have the bread. It's a take on my most favorite Pugliese from Carol Field.
I made three smaller loaves - one round and two baguettes. It's a crusty bread with a slightly sour crumb. As I said, it's a favorite. I always make half this recipe - and it still makes a lot of bread!
Pane Pugliese
- 1 packet dry yeast (or 1/2 package fresh yeast)
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3 cups water; room temp
- 1 cup biga
- 7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp salt
Proof the yeast in the warm water. Add 1 1/2 c water and the biga, mix till blended. Add flour and salt, mix till dough comes together and pulls off the sides of the bowl. Knead 3-5 minutes in a mixer, longer by hand. Dough will be very soft and elastic. Let rise about 3 hours, shape into 2 small round loaves or 1 big flattish one. If you have baking stones, place loaves on baking peel or on baking sheets sprinkled corn meal. Let rise about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 450°, and 10 minutes before baking flour the loaf tops and dimple them with your fingers. Bake 50-60 minutes for big loaves, 30-35 minutes for small. Tap the loaves to test for doneness (hollow=done) and cool on a rack.
Biga
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (or 1/10 package fresh yeast)
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 1/4 cup water (room temperature)
- 3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Stir the yeast into the warm water and let stand until creamy – about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining water and then the flour, one cup at a time.
Mix with the paddle attachment on the mixer at the lowest speed about 2 minutes.
Remove to a slightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise at cool room temperature for 6 to 24 hours. The starter will triple in volume and still be wet and sticky when ready. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
This bread makes great sandwiches, excellent toast, and sops up sauce just like a good bread should.
Finishing the meal - and the year - is Lemon Polenta Cake. Making something three times in 7 years isn't bad, for me.
Lemon Polenta Cake
adapted from Nigella Lawson
Cake:
- 1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 cup superfine sugar
- 2 cups almond meal
- 3/4 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.
Moist, lemony, great texture... The question is... will I wait another 3 1/2 years before making it, again?!?
Probably.
2017 is drawing to a close and 2018 is a mere few hours away. And since the weather outside is not conducive to frolicking, we'll be indoors.
While I worked more New Years Eve's than I had off in my younger years, I did get to First Night in Boston a couple of times. A flask of Brandy helped to keep the chill to a minimum back in those days. Spending New Years Day 1973 in the Gulf of Tonkin drinking homemade apple wine during an unrep and getting caught. The Hyatt Lake Tahoe NYE 1978 and glasses being thrown through the casino in the general direction of the huge lobby fireplace... Getting guilted into flying to Philadelphia from San Francisco on Y2K - in an empty plane - because Victor's mother "won't be here for the next millennium."
And on and on and on...
I'm liking the quiet ones now, but I'm not ruling anything out... we shall see what tomorrow brings.
Here's to a great year for all of us and especially at the ballot box on Tuesday, November 6th. Vote these bastards out of office before there are no tomorrows left for any of us.
Maple Walnut Cheesecake
You know me... any excuse for a party. And any excuse for making a wicked dessert.
This particular excuse was my friend and coworker, Fran's, birthday. With so many employees, our basic rule-of-thumb at work is we'll celebrate your day if you're actually working it, or, if it's a significant number.
Fran made the significant number rule.
Her stunning outfit was created by our Funderella Czarina, Diane - one of the best trash-to-treasure mavens on the planet.
Diane came up to me the other day while I was cashiering and the following conversation ensued...
Diane: Have I ever told you what a fantastic baker you are?
Me: Why, no.
Diane: I haven't? Gee, you're one of the best bakers I know.
Customer to me: Careful. She wants something.
After hilarity and denials, the something was something for Fran's birthday. Cupcakes, cookies, something...
As luck would have it, I was thinking of making a maple cheesecake for Thanksgiving! This would be the perfect opportunity to test it out. Of course I said yes!
And I'm glad I did - this sucker is G-O-O-D!
It's pretty much a riff on my basic cheesecake but the idea and the maple walnut caramel topping comes from Kraft.
Maple Walnut Cheesecake
crust:
- 1 sleeve graham crackers
- 3/4 cup walnuts
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
filling:
- 4 pkg cream cheese
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup mascarpone
- 4 eggs
- pinch of salt
topping:
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup walnuts
Preheat oven to 325°F / 160°. Butter or spray a 10" springform pan.
Make crust:
Pulse together graham crackers, walnuts, and brown sugar until fine crumbs are formed. Add melted butter and pulse to combine. Press firmly onto bottom of buttered pan - a flat-bottomed glass or measuring cup works well.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Make filling:
Mix cream cheese, mascarpone, spices, and pinch of salt together until creamy. Add maple syrup and mix well
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Pour into crust and smooth top.
Bake until center is barely set - about 1 hour.
Remove from oven and cool before refrigerating overnight.
Make topping:
Mix together 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup maple syrup. Heat to boiling - stirring constantly. Reduce heat and reduce to about 2/3 cup, stirring occasionally. Stir in nuts and refrigerate.
Final assembly:
Spread cold caramel topping over cold cake almost to edge.
Slice and enjoy!
As I said, this came out great. The only problem I had was making it at night for early morning, so it went into the 'fridge too soon and it cracked. The topping hid it, but do make sure to cool completely before refrigerating.
You could also top it with a maple sour cream and serve the caramel on the side.
No matter how you do it, though, it's going to come out most excellently!