fall

Christmas Morning: Cardamom Coffee Cake

December 19, 2011

We plan to make this cardamom coffee cake to pass around while opening presents on Christmas morning. This recipe is from the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. It is our favorite cookbook by her; we have found so many recipes that we love.

Cake:
1 lb. butter, softened
2 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 c. four
2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbls. ground cardamom
2 c. sour cream or plain yogurt

Topping:
1 c. (packed) brown sugar
1 Tbls. cinnamon
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 10-inch bundt pan (or a medium-sized cake pan, if you don’t have one). In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in vanilla.

Sift together dry cake ingredients in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture a bit at a time to butter mixture, alternating with the sour cream or yogurt. Stir, but don’t mix or overbeat. The batter is thick.

Combine topping ingredients in a separate bowl. Spoon 1/3 of batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with half the nut mixture, then add another third of batter. Cover with remaining nut mixture, then add rest of batter.

Bake for about 1 hour or until a knife inserted comes clean. Allow to cool in pan for about 20 minutes before inverting onto a plate or cutting into pieces.

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Seasonal Cocktail: The Hairy Apple

December 2, 2011

Inspired by a recent trip to Nashville – great name, great drink. Try it this weekend.

Serves 1

In a champagne flute…

1.5 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
About 1/2 oz. honey syrup (honey thinned with boiling water)
1 crushed ice cube
Sparkling apple cider

Place first four ingredients into glass, then fill with sparkling cider.

Cheers!

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Thanksgiving Backup: Pear or Apple Galette

November 18, 2011

Although for Thanksgiving we generally try and knock out as many make-ahead dishes as possible, we are making an exception. This simple free-form tart requires just a handful of ingredients and is meant to be rustic. Not only is this wonderfully delicious, it is remarkably easy (don’t be intimidated by the recipe’s length – it is only meant to clarify directions for assembling). If you are looking for more than just pumpkin pie, assemble this earlier in the day and then placed in the oven to cook while you’re enjoying dinner.

Serves 8-10

For the pate brisee:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. sugar
Pinch of salt
6 Tbls. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, just softened and cut into 1/2″ cubes
3 1/2 Tbls. chilled ice water

For the filling:
8 firm pears or apples, we’re using Boscs & Jonathans from our farm market
1/2 lemon (to keep the peeled apples from browning)
2 Tbls. unsalted butter, melted
2-3 Tbls. sugar, or more depending on the sweetness (or tartness) of your apples.

In the bowl of a standard mixer, add flour, sugar, salt and two tablespoons of the cubed butter. Blend well. Add remaining butter and blend until it resembles large peas. Slowly dribble in water 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough just holds together. Using your hands, remove the dough from the bowl and knead together on a lightly floured surface until the dough holds together firmly and can be formed into a flattened four-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up until a couple of days ahead of time.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and core the pears or apples and then slice them thinly. Keep the sliced halves together because you will want to tightly “armadillo” them when you are assembling (as you see in the photo). You can set them aside on a plate and squeeze lemon juice on them to avoid the fruit from browning.

Remove from the fridge and (if the dough has been in there much longer than 30 minutes) let it soften a bit until it is pliable but still cold. On a lightly floured surface, roll until thin (about 1/8″ thick). Do not worry if the shape is wonky and not particularly round.

Carefully move the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Overlap the apples in a concentric, tight ring, keeping 2 inches of dough around the outer edge. Fold this extra dough over the fruit and crimp together to hold.

Brush melted butter over the fruit and onto the dough edge. Sprinkle sugar over apples and dough edge. Bake in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes, until the fruit has softened and the dough has turned a dark golden brown. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

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Afternoon Snack: Rustic Root Vegetable Soup

November 14, 2011

Instead of satisfying your (or your kids) afternoon hunger with cheese, crackers, various dips, muffins, or cookies, try a cup of vegetable soup. We have started a habit of keeping warm soup on the stove top as an afternoon or after school snack. It curbs the appetite, prevents overeating at dinner and strengthens the fluids in our body that we tend to ignore when the weather starts to cool.

Vegetable soup is one of the easiest to quickly pull together and offers a good way to use up leftover vegetables in the fridge. A soup based on root vegetables is delicious this time of year, but you can always experiment with what you have. Tip and Note: So many recipes call for chicken stock to be added to vegetable soup. You don’t need it. Use water instead. It will taste just as good. Rutabaga tastes like a cross between a potato and a mild radish.

Today’s Soup: Rutabaga, Potato & Baby Kale

2 Tbls. butter or olive oil
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
1 lg. rutabaga
3 med. organic russet potatoes
3 med. carrots
1 Tbls. kosher or coarse salt

Finely chop onion and garlic. Add to soup pot with butter. Cook onions to soften, about 5 minutes. Peel and cut rutabaga, potatoes and carrots into spoon-size pieces of the same shape and size. Add to pot. Add salt and about 7-8 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes, until vegetables are just soft, but do not overcook. Add a large handful of baby or chopped kale. Stir. Turn off the heat, cover and let cool for just a few minutes before eating. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper as needed (soup should taste a bit salty). It can be left on the stove top and reheated as needed throughout the afternoon.

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Weekend: Cider Steamed Mussels

November 11, 2011

Fresh apple cider is one of fall’s treats and the quality of the cider does make a difference. If you can, splurge on unfiltered, unreconstitued, locally-produced cider. It will not keep in the fridge as long as the pasteurized version, but it tastes better and is not stripped of all of it’s healthy properties. When it starts to taste a little fizzy like it has fermented too much, use it to cook with. Just like wine, it can be reduced and used to add flavor. Here is a remake of a recipe inspired by a wonderful restaurant in Richmond, Vermont, near Burlington – The Kitchen Table Bistro. It was one of the best restaurant meals we had this year. We made it at home for Sunday supper with friends.

Recipe: Cider Steamed Mussels with Slab Bacon, Garlic & Grilled Bread

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Cider Steamed Mussels with Slab Bacon, Garlic & Grilled Bread

November 11, 2011

Mussels are like a secret weapon: they are abundant, sustainable, nutritious, delicious, gorgeous and inexpensive. We doubled this recipe to feed two families last Sunday night and the total cost per person was a buck seventy-five ($1.75) in mussels.

Serves 4

1/2 lb. good quality, thick bacon slices (try smoked)
2 lbs. mussels, debearded and scrubbed clean (ask your fishmonger if they’ll do this for you)
2 lg. cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
1 c. good-quality cider
1/4 c. creme fraiche
1 bunch fresh tarragon or thyme (whichever you prefer), leaves picked and roughly chopped
1 sm. bunch parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped

For the Toasts:
1 sm. loaf ciabbata or other rustic bread, sliced 1/2″ – 3/4″ thick
2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
Best quality extra virgin olive oil

Heat a large, high-sided pan, then add bacon slices. Cook until done. Remove bacon to a small plate and set aside. Pour off a little of the bacon fat to discard but not all.

Meanwhile, toast bread slices. While still warm, rub toasts with the cut side of the garlic clove and drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil. Set aside.

Before cooking mussels, make sure that each one is good. If they are open, tap them lightly. If they don’t close up, discard. Add the mussels to the hot pan; add garlic, cider, and a glug of olive oil. Toss to mix. Cover with a lid and let steam for about 3 to 4 minutes – shaking the pan occasionally – until all the mussels have opened.

With a slotted spoon, transfer mussels to a large bowl. In the hot pan, stir in creme fraiche and return to a boil. Let simmer for a couple of minutes, then add herbs and chop up the bacon to add as well. Pour this sauce over the mussels. Lay your toasts around the edge of the big bowl and place in the center of the table for everyone to dig in and enjoy.

Serve with a simple side salad.

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Celery Root Bruschetta

November 8, 2011

Celery root is becoming more popular with home cooks and can be found at most markets (regular and farm) in the fall and throughout the winter. Going beyond mashing or pureeing, roasting it is a great option. We like this idea of using it as a wintery topping for bruschetta. The origins of bruschetta (pronounced brus-ketta) date back to at least the 15th century as a way to use up stale bread. This recipe is a really delicious adaptation for the colder months. You will love it for lunch, as a snack or served simply as a starter with friends. Or, you could even try it tonight with soup for a weekday meal.

A knob of celery root, also called celeriac
Good olive oil
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Ciabbata, sliced
Garlic cloves, peeled and halved

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel celery root and cut into large chunks. Place on a rimmed baking pan, drizzle with olive oil, and toss to coat. Bake in oven until tender, about 20 minutes (depending on cut size). Remove from oven and mash with a fork (no need to be too precise).

Toast ciabbata slices. While warm, rub bread with open garlic half. Top with mashed celery root, drizzle with a bit more olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf

November 7, 2011

You may have had enough already of pumpkin, but we haven’t. This recipe makes a wonderful after-school treat, as well as a weeknight dessert and a morning snack. As memory recalls, this is one of Renee’s. She is a dear friend and a terrific baker. We’ve doubled the recipe so that you can make just enough to share. This loaf is incredibly rich and spicy and, if made one or two days ahead of time, improves with time for best flavor.

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 1/2 c. all-purpose or white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. sugar
4 lg. eggs
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 7×3″ loaf pans. (Note: the aluminum loaf pans at the supermarket come in 3 packs).

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low flame. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add sugar. Gradually beat in eggs, one at a time. Add pumpkin and beat well. Add melted, cooled butter and mix well. Gradually add dry ingredients to “wet” ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Transfer batter among three prepared pans. Bake loaves for about 40-45 minutes until tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pans for about 15 minutes, then turn loaves out onto racks and let cool completely.

These loaves can be made up to two days ahead, wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature.

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Ajiaco – a Colombian Chicken and Potato Soup

November 1, 2011

For anyone in the northeast, it was a pretty unusual weekend — to have a proper snowy day in October is really a bit crazy. Yet, in Washington, DC it wasn’t actually a very pleasant snowfall; it was more like intense, wet sleet with some spurts of big, meaty flakes – but mostly rain. With a highschool football game to cheer on, one incredible family cooked up a huge pot of gourmet comfort food to warm up the fans and to add to the school’s concession sales. We loved it and decided to try it on Sunday with the family.

Potatoes originate from the Andes and this soup is traditionally made with papas criollas – a small, yellow, creamy, buttery variety. The Delgados used five different potato varieties they found at Whole Foods including Yellow Finn, Purple Peruvian and Russet. While this simple soup is simmering away, the starch from the potatoes breaks down and thickens the soup to a creamy consistency. Delicious and easy enough for a weekday meal; the hardest part is peeling the potatoes.

Recipe: Ajiaco

Serves 4-6

2 qts. chicken stock (preferably low-sodium or homemade)
2 split-half bone-in, skin on chicken breasts
l lg. yellow onion
2 bay leaves
5 lbs. of a variety of potatoes (see above), cut into 1″ cubes
1 sm. bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
2-3 ears corn, shucked and cut into 2-in. rounds (we like them in smaller pieces than the photographer’s photo but you can decide!)

For the aji:
1 sm. onion
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the table cream:
You can simply use heavy cream, or you can combine 1/2 c. sour cream with 1 Tbls. milk.

Additional toppings:
1/2 c. capers
1-2 ripe avocado, halved and cubed into 1 in. pieces

In a big soup pot, combine chicken broth, chicken, onion, bay leaves, potatoes, and parsley. Add more water, if necessary to make sure that all the solids are covered. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate and set aside.

Continue simmering the soup for another 35 minutes. Then discard onion halves and bay leaves. Mash the potatoes somewhat in the pot, leaving enough chunky pieces for texture. Add corn cob pieces and cook another 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile make the aji by combining the chopped onion, cilantro and jalapeno in a small serving bowl, then add water to cover. Season with salt and set aside.

Also, discard the skin and bones from the chicken pieces and then shred the chicken into bite-size bits and place on a serving plate or in a bowl.

When the soup is finished cooking, season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into big soup bowls and add a handful of chicken, a dollop of aji, a teaspoon of capers, a spoonful of table cream (either version) and a healthy serving of avocado to each bowl. Eat right away!

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Kitchen Garden: How to Plant Garlic

October 25, 2011

This is the best time of year to plant garlic, whether in containers or in your garden. All you need is some wide, deep, drainable space (18″ deep and 12″ wide) and sun (at least 6 hours worth each day)!

We found beautiful “hardneck” bulbs at our neighborhood farm market. This type of garlic is a single layer of cloves surrounding a hard, central stock; it produces garlic scapes in spring – a particular Loulies favorite. We planted ours in raised beds but, whether you choose this option or the container option, use good-quality potting soil.

Separate the garlic cloves from the stock, making sure to keep the papery layer intact. Choose the largest cloves to plant. Use the smaller ones to cook. Plant the cloves 2 1/2 inches deep and 5 inches apart, with the pointed tip facing up. Cover with soil.

In the Spring:
Make sure to keep the soil consistently moist (water it) and consider adding some liquid organic fertilizer every 3-4 weeks. Cut the scapes off after they emerge (and use them!), this will keep the garlic’s growing energy working to make big, healthy bulbs that should be ready to harvest in early summer (when the bottom one-third of the leaves have begun to yellow).

Check out these colorful, recycled milled steel planters!