Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, Redux

A few summers ago I made this wonderful buttermilk cake originally published in Gourmet (ah, Gourmet - moment of silence, please). For the Fourth of July this year, I decided to try it again. This time, instead of strawberries, I made it with blueberries and raspberries - and voila, patriotic cake!




It's as good as ever.

Experimenting with Desserts

A few months ago at a party we met a guy who's opening an ice cream store not too far from us. He doesn't know it yet, but he and I are going to become best friends. He's going to let me taste all the new flavors before they go public, and he's going to love my peanut butter and jelly sandwich ice cream idea (I won't get royalties for that, but I'll get a free pint whenever I want it). Ah, the dreams of the sugar-obsessed.

(Edited to add... The ice cream shop is Ample Hills over in Prospect Heights. And they've (sort of) done the PB&J thing. Go check it out!)

This brilliant ice cream maker (chocolate-stout ice cream with chocolate pretzels? Sign me up) is also an ace baker - he brought some amazing blondies to the party, barely cooked through with giant buttons of white and semisweet chocolate oozing out.

They inspired me to make some of my own using the butterscotch chips I bought on a whim a while back. I didn't try the amazing-sounding malt blondies from the Baked cookbook but stuck with the uber-simple Joy of Cooking recipe. These turned out butterscotchy, chewy, and a bit too sweet for me. They were unfortunately kind of one-note - next time it'll be the Baked blondies.

I got in such a baking mood that I decided to try out some meringues (the blondies recipe leaves you with an extra egg white). I've forgotten how amazing meringue tastes and how beautiful and glossy it is.

Here's the meringue recipe I used - "sugar kisses." I loved this one because it only makes 2 dozen cookies and uses only 2 egg whites. The sad part is that I couldn't get it to hold its shape very well - I'm not sure if that's me or the recipe, but it was the same all three times I made it, so I am thinking recipe?

The first version I made had blue food coloring (they were to match a theme for a party) with green sugar sprinkles, and if I had been throwing a birthday party for a four-year-old boy, they would have been perfect - they looked just like dinosaur eggs. Not so much for a bridal shower, though. So I tried again. The second version was a disastrous experiment with mint flavoring - do not make a mint meringue. Don't. Please. Yuck. I did salvage the resulting minty fluff by whipping it into a batch of brownies (mint brownies are much better than mint meringues). The third batch was white(-ish - the oven kind of browns them), vanilla flavored, and topped with crystalline blue sugar. Though still egg shaped, at least these looked pretty and tasted good. Success? Success.

I made the recipe as printed in my cookbook, which is a bit different from the online version:

I mixed in a teaspoon of extract at the very end, after the meringue was almost holding a stiff peak. I didn't pipe the cookies but plopped them by the tablespoon onto the sheet. I also sprinkled some sugar over the top before baking and put them in a 250 deg. oven for 60 minutes, followed by about 1 1/2 hrs in the oven with the heat turned off and the door closed.

How lucky I am to work at an office of people who will take some of these treats off my hands...

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Next up in our food adventures: growing our own.


I planted cherry tomatoes ("bloody butchers"), parsley, basil, peppers (a mix of ancho, jalapeno, Hungarian wax, and others), and a red potato which has been growing like gangbusters in our little bathroom greenhouse. I am envisioning salads & salsas come summer.

Our Summer of CSA - Week... ?

Where does the time go? It seems to have flown by in a flurry of weddings, writing a lot for work, getting the house in order, and enjoying the last of summer and our beautiful fall.

In between, of course, lots of cooking. We made two kinds of butternut squash soup - one with ginger, one with apples, both delicious. We hosted a birthday party for my mom and cooked her a grand French feast: coq au vin, haricots verts, Yukon Gold potatoes, plenty of wine and champagne, and flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sorbet for dessert. Heaven, all of it.

We've also had more kale than we know what to do with; I've taken to making smashed potatoes and kale, kind of two steakhouse sides in one, which feels rich and special though it's easy as any mashed potato could be.

Last week came a bag of concord grapes, which turned in grape sorbet, which has since sat in our freezer. I guess a sorbet on its own, especially at the end of October, isn't super appealing. My dream is to make peanut butter ice cream, swirl it with the grape sorbet, and sandwich that between two shortbread cookies. Sandwich ice cream sandwich! Alas, see first sentence. Where does the time go?

One thing I've been cooking a lot of in the past month is apple crisp. Boy, we had a bumper crop of apples with the CSA. Pounds of them. And pears! I made one apple cake, didn't like it too much (nor did the hubby), so went back to crisps.

I love this recipe - it's superb with tart apples, but they don't have to be super crisp or fresh. I made it mostly with Macintoshes, which tend to disintegrate, and it's like eating apple sauce with a crumble topping. Make it with a mix of apples for the best flavor. We also received some hard, tart, very red-skinned apples (Rome? Winesap?) which were great.

Best Apple Crisp

Filling

1/3 cup light brown sugar (less if you like - and make your own!)

2 1/2 tbsp flour

2 tsp cinnamon (5 or 6 shakes)

Shake or two of salt

8 cups peeled, cored, and coarsely sliced apples (or mix of apples & pears, but use a little less sugar)

Juice of half a lemon (about 1 1/2 tbsp)

1 tbsp cognac, bourbon, rum, or brandy

1 or 2 tbsp apple cider or juice (give or take - depends on juiciness of apples)

Topping

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup rolled oats (I've been using quick - accidental purchase - and they also work here)

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

5 tbsp butter, cut into small chunks

(Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. I love adding them, husband doesn't.)

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Find an 8 x 8 glass pan, deep-dish pie pan, or similar-sized casserole dish.
• In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt until blended. Stir in the apples, lemon juice, cognac, and apple cider and toss until the apples are coated with the brown sugar mixture.
• Spread the filling evenly in the pan and bake for 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the topping: in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, salt and nuts, if using. Add the butter chunks and blend in with your finger tips or a pastry cutter until they're well incorporated. You can add more butter if you like, but don't add less than 5 tablespoons - the topping won't hold together and will end up mushy after baking.
• Sprinkle the topping over the apples until no apples peek through. You might have a bit left, depending on what size pan you use.
• Increase the oven temperature to 375 F and bake for about 25 minutes more, until the filling is bubbly and the topping is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before you serve (lets the filling set up a bit, and keeps you from burning your mouth!).
• This is great served with vanilla ice cream / creme fraiche / plain yogurt / whipped cream.

- Adapted from The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett

Our Summer of CSA - Week 13

We have apples. Lots of apples. It must be September. Oh yes, we have peppers and pears and lettuce and carrots and eggplant and corn and tomatoes and basil, but mostly we have apples. So, besides eating one a day to keep the doctor away, what to do? Why make apple cake, of course.

This cake is so easy, it would be a great one to make if you're cooking with a child or someone else who's just beginning. Spicy, moist, and just right on the first real, cool day of fall. Happy New Year, everyone.

Apple Spice Cake

1 cup flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk (sub: 1 tbsp white vinegar and 1 cup plain milk)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped apple (about 1 apple)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• Lightly grease and flour an 8 x 8 inch pan, or line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 deg.
• Whisk the first seven ingredients (flour through salt) together in a large bowl.
• In a separate small bowl, mix together the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and stir together until combined and smooth.
• Mix in the apples and walnuts.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a rack about 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the cake to detach it from the pan, and invert it onto a plate. Peel off the parchment paper, if using. Let cool right side up on the rack.
• Serve with vanilla ice cream or brandied whipped cream, or just on its own.

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking.

Our Summer of CSA - Week 12

This week brought us a very manageable bounty. As I unpacked the bag, I thought, "Okay, we can do this! We can eat all this food before the end of the week!" It helped that we had some not-so-perishable goodies in there: a bunch of apples; poblano, Italian and bell peppers; and a small eggplant. We also lucked out with some beautiful green chard, which I cooked the first night we brought it home so we could enjoy it before it started to wilt (which it did pretty soon) and a huge bunch of basil, which we turned into pesto, of course, and which my husband also made into Thai basil chicken (recipe via Cook's Illustrated). We also had two amazing nectarines and some pears, which we made quick work of - no need to cook them when they're so delicious on their own - and two yellow tomatoes, which we chopped up and tossed with our pesto pasta.

As part of a deal I made with a friend, I'm making at least one healthy recipe per week - of course, I like to think I make more than one anyway, but this way I'll be thinking about it more. So with our beautiful green chard we made one of my favorite soups, Chard, White Bean and Potato ragout, which we've already made once this CSA summer. It's very low-fat and full of fiber, protein, and whatever goodness comes in green chard. It also tastes delicious.

We also made a really stunning side from Fast, Fresh & Green: Stir-Fried Swiss Chard with Balsamic Butter. It has the smoky flavor of Chinese cooking, and feels pretty sophisticated. I've adapted this from the original recipe, which had browned pine nuts in it.

Stir-Fried Swiss Chard with Balsamic Butter

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp dark brown sugar

12 oz green swiss chard

1 tbsp peanut oil

2 tsp finely chopped garlic

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp sesame seeds

1/2 tsp salt plus a pinch more

• In a small bowl, combine balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and brown sugar.
• Rinse and dry chard leaves and stems well. Remove leaves from stems. Chop stems crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces.
• Heat the peanut oil in a large (12") nonstick or cast iron skillet - you'll need it, as the uncooked chard is quite bulky. When the oil is hot, add the chard stems and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until they're shrunken and beginning to brown lightly, about 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic and stir fry until just fragrant. Add the chard leaves and 1/2 tsp salt and using tongs, toss until the leaves are just wilted (45 seconds). (Here is where I overcooked mine a bit because I didn't have enough room to maneuver in my 10" pan).
• Scrape the balsamic mixture into the pan and stir, then remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter and toss and stir until it's melted. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Our Summer of CSA - Week 11

It's not my fault that we skipped so many weeks. We went off and got married, so we were kind of busy. Instead of cooking from our local upstate farm, we cooked California produce and fresh fish caught in Hawaiian waters. We drank New Mexican champagne and ate Afghan food. And all the while, for four weeks, friends took our CSA produce home and made their own delicious meals.

We were also a little lazy, and in the last two weeks since we've been home, haven't been so good about cooking creative things. We've made a lot of salad - the same salad - over and over again. We ate apples and nectarines. We grilled corn on the cob. But this week, we're back in the groove. It helps that week 11 was a particularly delicious week. I filled our canvas bag with apples, peaches, potatoes, onions, fresh soybeans, corn, and a butternut squash. The soybeans were so surprising, though they shouldn't have been - they go hand in hand with corn as the most cultivated crop in America. But somehow, I don't associate them with small family farms. So, we learned something this week, as we seem to every week with the CSA!

I took the opportunity to make a bulgur wheat and edamade salad that I saw in Cooking Light ages ago. A friend and I started a little challenge between ourselves: to cook and blog one healthy meal per week and take one long walk per week. We both want to keep ourselves healthy and strong. It's not that we don't normally cook healthily, but this way we'll be able to share our best recipes of the week with each other.

This salad certainly fits the healthy criteria: soybeans, bulgur, tomatoes, herbs. And so summery and seasonal. I added half a red pepper and a stick of celery because we had them in the fridge. I also left out the dill. I've made tabbouleh before, and the recipe I use is very herby and very lemony. This is a more relaxed salad, meant to be eaten in a big bowl for lunch. It's important to let the salad sit before you eat it, as the wheat will absorb the extra moisture and get softer - it's purposefully underdone coming out of the pot.