Katie at the Kitchen Door

Globally-inspired, seasonal recipes

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Breakfast

Greatist Collaboration: Quinoa Apple Cake

Just a quick hello to share this cake that I made for Greatist with you.  When I saw this cake in Home Made Winter (p.s., you still have until midnight tonight to win a copy!), I was immediately intrigued.  Cooked whole quinoa to replace some of the flour?  Sounded like a good idea for a nutritious cake, and I didn’t need any fancy flours to make it.  Add to this the fact that I had a bunch of apples leftover from apple-picking slowly softening on the counter, and that it was full of fall spices, and I was sold on trying it.

Still, I’m always a little bit skeptical of “healthy” cakes, and this one was no exception.  Granted, it’s not über-healthy – it still has butter and sugar in it – but it’s no chocolate-peanut butter health monster.  So I was pleasantly surprised by how much I genuinely liked the flavor of this cake – enough to immediately crave (but resist!) another slice.  It’s very moist, very apple-y, and just cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg-y enough.  It’s a little bit loose in its texture and so falls apart pretty easily, but I think this could be combatted by adding an egg.  I’m planning on making this cake again next week to have as a snack before my half-marathon, so I’ll try the egg thing then and report back!  Speaking of half-marathons… I’m so tired of training for them.  But I did my last long run on Saturday, and I’m almost ready to taper.  Then I’m taking two weeks off – and I can’t wait!  I take my hat off to those of you who run them regularly, and those of you who go for twice (or three, or four times!) as long.  Training for these two halfs this fall has made me realize that I will never be running a full marathon, but I will make this cake for everyone I know who does.  The rest of you lazy-like-me people should make it for yourselves – head on over to Greatist for the recipe!

Also, I have to give a shout out to my little brother, who turns 22 today!  Happy Birthday, Rynie, I love you :-).  Last year I made him these Dark and Stormy Brownies, and they quickly became my most popular post of all time by a long shot (like, 6 times more popular than the 2nd most popular post on this site).  So Ryan, maybe you’re my lucky charm!  Have a great day, bro.

Cookbook

White Chocolate Latte

Time for another week.  Translation: time for coffee to get us through Monday morning.  If you’re me, preferably some milky, sugary coffee, maybe with a little whipped cream.  And chocolate.  It is Monday after all, and Mondays are hard.  Especially after you’ve spent the weekend meeting great people at a great food blogger conference at Stonewall Kitchen and you’re not quite ready to be thinking about your day job, which is not food blogging.  I’ll probably talk more about the conference soon, but for now, let me just thank Alana and Amy of Blog Better Boston for putting it together!

I was never a big coffee drinker until this year (and at 3-4 cups a week, I guess most of you still wouldn’t say I qualify as a big coffee drinker).  I’ve always liked coffee – the flavor, warmth, etc. (again, since by coffee I mean lattes with three packs of sugar, some of you might judge me – I’m OK with that), but I’m super sensitive to caffeine.  One cup of Starbucks coffee and I’m shaking, my heart is racing, and I can’t focus on anything.  Not exactly the desired effect.  But when I’m really dragging, one warm latte is just the thing to get me going.

This is another recipe from Home Made Winter, which I reviewed last week.  Doesn’t it just look like the perfect thing to warm you up on a cold day?  I adapted the recipe a little bit to use espresso instead of coffee, since I don’t have a regular coffee pot (in fact, I don’t have any coffee-making equipment – I had to borrow Trevor’s bialetti for this one!  A great little tool, by the way.)  I also used skim milk, instead of whole, since I wasn’t feeling that indulgent.  Because the recipe has you melt white chocolate into the warm milk, and slightly sweeten the whipped cream, I didn’t even need any extra sugar – I know, I’m a hero right?

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekends, and have a great Monday!

White Chocolate Lattes

Recipe adapted from Home Made Winter.  Serves 2.

Note: Original recipe calls for a smaller volume of whole milk and a larger volume of regular coffee (1 c. milk, 3/4 c. coffee for 2 servings).  Since I wanted to use espresso and have this be more like a latte, I increased the amount of milk and used a shot of espresso per glass, but I’m sure either way would be delicious.  I also don’t love the flavor of cardamom, so I made it optional, but include it if you like the flavor!

  • 1 1/2 c. skim milk
  • 1 1/2 oz. white chocolate, chopped finely, plus extra for garnish
  • 3 oz. (6 TBS) of hot espresso
  • 1/4 c. heavy cream
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (optional, but I always use it to stiffen my cream)
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground cardamom (optional)
  1. Heat the milk over low heat in a medium saucepan, stirring with a wooden spoon.  As soon as it begins to simmer.  Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate.  Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir again.  If the chocolate is not fully melted, heat gently for 1-2 minutes over low heat, stirring.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk cream until it begins to foam.  Sprinkle cream of tartar over the top, then whisk vigorously until soft peaks form.  Add sugar and vanilla, and whisk to incorporate.
  3. Divide hot espresso between two glasses.  Top each glass off with the warm milk and chocolate mixture, and stir to mix.  Top with whipped cream, any extra white chocolate shavings, and ground cardamom, if using.  Enjoy while hot!

Beef

Cookbook Review and Giveaway: Home Made Winter

Update: Congratulations to Amanda of Something Savory on winning the giveaway!  Please contact me with your information so I can send the book.

There are a lot of great cookbooks coming out this fall.  And I mean a lot.  Like, so many that Eater had to split up their fall cookbook preview into two parts due to post size restrictions.  As an avid cookbook devourer, blogger, and all around food dork, this is pretty exciting to me.  Even more exciting?  The fact that I have a stack of these cookbooks on my bedside table to review – and a few to giveaway to you.  I hope you don’t mind a bit of a cookbook and recipe frenzy here for the next few weeks!

First up is Home Made Winter, released as a follow-up to Yvette Van Boven’s wildly popular cookbook, Home Made.  Full of warming Irish, French, and Dutch recipes, this book has arrived just in time for what seems like it may be a long, cold winter – at least here in New England.  It’s a whimsical, playful tribute to the sorts of hearty, made-with-love foods that get those of us that live in colder, darker, Northern climes through the winter.  This playful spirit is set as early as possible – on the copyright page, which is covered with doodles and a “welcome cocktail” to draw you into the book.  Throughout the book various recipes are drawn out and illustrated rather than typed and photographed, which I think is cute – and a good way to remember to not take cooking too seriously.

Recipe-wise, I like this book.  There is a pretty broad range of time commitments, levels of difficulty, healthiness, and flavors represented here.  Some examples: homemade apple cider made in your food processor (time consuming), quinoa apple cake (healthy), rarebits with pear and blue cheese (easy, bad for you).  But even the time-consuming recipes are un-fussy, which appeals to me – home cooking never needs to be pretentious (even if sometimes it’s fun to be a little pretentious about it).  I’m also a fan of the comforting Irish classics Yvette included – dishes I’ve read about but never had the opportunity to try, like steak and kidney pie, bannock bread with devonshire cream, and colcannon.  Yvette’s French and Dutch roots are represented too (tartiflette, gevulde speculaas), but the Irish recipes stuck out to me the most.

Design-wise, I both like and dislike this book.  The thing I love about it is the fun – the sketches, notes, paper cut-outs, and overall friendliness of the design.  What I’m not so crazy about is the photographic style, which is not really my speed.  The photographs are a bit too, well, wintry and realistic for me – many are shot indoors with that characteristic yellow overhead light glow, some are fuzzy and blurred, others are of dark, gray, wintry landscapes – no pristine snowscapes here.  On the one hand, it’s appropriate – it truly brings to life the feeling of winter, being stuck inside, wishing it wasn’t so grey for so long, and finding comfort around the warm light of the kitchen table.  I’m sure this was deliberate, and it’s done well.  But I find that whole aesthetic kind of depressing – I typically want opening a cookbook to be an escape to somewhere beautiful and inspiring and filled with light, not a reminder of where I already am.  Now, this is not a comment on the skill of the photographer (who is also Yvette’s husband) – there are many photographs in the book that are beautifully shot and lit – it’s just a stylistic choice that doesn’t draw me in.

The first recipe I tested from this book was the Daube Provençale – a French beef stew simmered long and slow in red wine, citrus, and olives.  I served it over super-creamy garlic mashed potatoes, and it was as scrumptious as it sounds.  The beef was fall-apart tender and packed with flavor, and the wine-y notes and salty olives made it stand out from other traditional beef stew recipes.  It was also easy (although it takes some planning ahead), so I’ll for sure be making it again!

The bottom line:  Home Made Winter is a fun, accessible cookbook packed with comforting, cold-weather recipes.  The recipes are a mix of traditional and innovative – I think there’s probably a little something for everyone in here.

Giveaway:  Thanks to the folks over at Abrams Books, I’m giving away one copy of Home Made Winter.  To enter, leave a comment below, answering the question: What is your very favorite winter weather recipe?  For one additional entry, you can subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door via email or RSS, and leave a separate comment letting me know you have (you can also do this if you’re already a subscriber).  One winner will be picked at random on Wednesday, October 24th.  Be sure to include your email in the comment form so I can get in touch with you!  If the winner doesn’t respond to me within 48 hours, they forfeit their winnings and I will pick a second winner.  US only, apologies to my international readers! Giveaway is now closed!

A final note – lucky for us, (spoiler alert!), we haven’t seen the last of Yvette – she tells us in the introduction to Winter that Home Made Summer will be released sometime in the not too distant future.  In the meantime, enjoy this delicious French beef stew, enter the giveaway, and look out for two more recipes from the book to be posted here over the next week!

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or . Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: A review copy of Home Made Winter was provided to me free of charge by Abrams Books.  I was not compensated for writing this review, and all thoughts and opinions are honest and my own!

More like this…

Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops

Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops

Beef, Mushroom, and Ale Pot Pie

Beef, Mushroom, and Ale Pot Pie

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Potato Gnocchi

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Potato Gnocchi

Daube Provençale (French Beef Stew with Red Wine)

Recipe from Home Made Winter, by Yvette van Boven.  Serves 8.

A note on the orange/grapefruit: Several people have been disappointed in the orange flavor that leaving the rind in the stew gives – if you are concerned, consider omitting it. I found that, when using a grapefruit, leaving the entire grapefruit in the stew gave it a slightly bitter aftertaste (a reader using grapefruit as well found the same thing). Although not mentioned in Yvette’s original recipe, I’d recommend separately adding the zest of the grapefruit and the fruit of the grapefruit to the stew, avoiding the bitter pith. 

  • 3 lb stew beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1 (750-ml) bottle Cote du Rhone [I used Bordeaux and it was fine, but Yvette recommends Cote du Rhone, Vacqueyras, Gigondas, or Minervois]
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
  • 1 orange, washed well and cut into 8 wedges [I substituted grapefruit]
  • 1 large onion, peeled and cut into rings
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
  • olive oil
  • 1 6-oz can tomato paste
  • 3 1/2 oz. pitted black olives
  1. Season meat with salt and pepper on all sides.  Place meat in a big bowl with wine, thyme, bay leaves, carrots, orange, onion, and garlic.  Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 12 hours, and preferably 24 hours.
  2. Heat some olive oil over medium heat in a large stockpot.  Remove the meat from the marinade and brown the pieces in the oil on all sides.  Pour the marinade (including the oranges, bay leaves, etc.) over the meat and bring to a boil.  Boil for 5 minutes, skimming any foam from the surface.  Lower the heat to a simmer, stir in the tomato paste, and add 4 1/2 c. water.  Cover, and let stew on low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
  3. 15 minutes before the stew is ready, add the pitted olives.  Let cook for 15 minutes on medium heat without the lid to thicken the stew.
  4. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Serves 6-8.

  • 6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • salt
  • 8 cloves garlic, cut in quarters
  • 1/2 c. heavy cream
  1. Place cubed potatoes in a large saucepan.  Cover with cold water, salt liberally, and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Boil for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, skimming starch foam from top occasionally and checking to keep from boiling over – lower heat if necessary.  Drain potatoes and place in a blender.
  2. Return saucepan to heat, lower heat to low, and add garlic and heavy cream.  Heat until garlic is fragrant and cream begins to simmer, then add to blender.  Blend until potatoes are a totally smooth puree.  Add water or skim milk as necessary to even out texture.

Food

Homemade Pork and Apple Potstickers

Dumplings.  They seem to be one of the few foods that appear in almost every global cuisine in some form: pierogi in Poland, vareniki/piroshki in Russia, gyoza in Japan, samosas in India, ravioli in Italy, etc.  There’s even a cookbook on it, called  World of Dumplings (which I haven’t read, but showed up when I googled “dumplings worldwide” and it looks interesting!).  And why wouldn’t they be ubiquitous?   They’re delicious, addictive, bite-sized, finger food, filled with pretty much anything you want.

When I got back from my weekly long run yesterday, Trevor was just finishing making a batch of these dumplings.  He made the wrappers from scratch, rolled them out, filled them, steamed them, fried them, and even took some of these pictures.  He’s pretty good, right?  I walked in the door, thirsty and starving and cold and absolutely did work on a plate of dumplings.  As in, I ate 15.  In one go, barely taking a breath.  (And this is why you should never skip breakfast…).  It reminded me of potsticker night at Andover, when we used to have competitions over who could eat the most potstickers.  I think the record was 52 – hey, we were young and athletic then.

The filling in these, another Ming Tsai combination, is a mix of ground pork and the ginger-apple chutney I made last week.  Ming wins again.  If you aren’t as ambitious/awesome as Trevor, you can buy the wrappers pre-made and these will be pretty quick to make.  But the homemade wrappers were delicious – tender and soft and not at all rubbery – so if you have the time I’d recommend giving them a try with this great tutorial from La Fuji Mama.  We also watched this video for tips on folding them.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Pork and Ginger-Apple Chutney Potstickers

Recipe from Ming Tsai.  Makes about 40 potstickers.

  • 40-50 potsticker wrappers (store-bought or use this recipe – I think we got 30 wrappers out of it)
  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 2 TBS soy sauce
  • 1/2 c. sliced scallions
  • 1 c. ginger apple chutney
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 egg
  • 2 TBS canola oil
  1. In a medium bowl, mix together pork, soy sauce, scallions, and chutney with a spoon.  Season with salt and pepper.  Refrigerate until ready to use.
  2. Mix together egg and 2 TBS of water to make an egg wash.
  3. Lay out 6 of your potsticker wrappers on a cutting board.  Place 1 tsp of filling in the center of each wrapper.  Use your finger to rub egg wash around the edge of the wrapper, then fold over into a half-moon shape and tightly pinch all along the edges to seal the potsticker.  Press the straight side of the wrapper down gently on the board to allow the dumpling to stand up.  Repeat until all wrappers have been filled.
  4. Heat the oil in a large pan with a lid over medium heat.  Stand the potstickers sealed side-up in the pan and cook without disturbing for 3-4 minutes.  Then, CAREFULLY add 1/2 c. water to the pan and quickly cover the pan to avoid splattering.  Once splattering has subsided, uncover pan to check that there is about a 1/4 inch of water in the pan – if not, add a little more.  Cover pan and steam for 8-10 minutes.  If the water evaporates before the potstickers are cooked (they should be puffy yet firm), add a little more.  If they seem done but there is still water in the pan, drain water from pan.  Once potstickers are cooked, recrisp in the pan without any water for 2 minutes, being careful not to let them burn.  Remove them to a platter and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Fall

Greatist Collaboration: Mushroom and Farro Soup

Last Tuesday, when it was rainy and gray and I wanted nothing more than to snuggle up in bed with a bowl of soup, well, that’s what I did.  Mushroom and farro soup, to be specific.  And as I was making the soup, which only dragged me away from Up All Night for 10 minutes, including dish-washing, I thought “Why haven’t I done more soups for Greatist?”  Seriously, soup is the perfect quick, healthy food.  It can taste amazing with only a handful of ingredients, and after making a few batches while following a recipe, you’ll likely have it figured out to the point where you can take whatever you have in the fridge and throw together a comforting, veggie-centric dinner.

Speaking of veggies, mushrooms are one of the vegetables I find myself wanting all of a sudden once the cool weather hits.  I have a feeling this soup – which, by the way, is maybe one of the best-smelling soups I’ve made in years (it also tastes great, but the smell really got to me) – is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the mushroom recipes I’ll be making this season.  Since mushrooms are a pretty healthy choice, what with their immune system benefits, cardiovascular protection, and low-calorie-but-fill-you-up benefits (come on, you know what I mean…), this is good news for my taste buds and my skinny jeans.  While it’s on my mind, I thought I’d do a quick round-up of mushroom recipes – both those I’ve featured here in the past, and those from elsewhere that I hope to be making in the near future!

Check out the recipe for this soup over at Greatist, and get inspired for more mushroomy meals below!

More mushroom recipes from here…

…and around the blogosphere:

Breakfast

Potato-Scallion Latkes and Apple-Ginger Chutney

I had the best weekend.  Seriously, the best.  There wasn’t even anything super thrilling about it, just lots of tiny happy moments with my favorite person that added up together to make me feel totally relaxed and refreshed and joyful.  We went apple picking and then stopped in to say hi to my dad and check on the Andover garden.  We made apple cider doughnut cake, Kerala-style beef stew, pumpkin whoopie pies with maple-cream cheese, this chutney, and an amazing salad I’ll tell you about soon.  Saturday we went to the Ipswich River Sanctuary and Trevor let the birds land in his hands and there was almost no one there – it was so peaceful and so beautiful.  Sunday started off with Trevor bringing me a homemade cappuccino and a slice of this tart while I was still all tucked under the big white comforter, half-asleep and letting the sunshine and cool breeze and smell of coffee slowly stir me.  Then we lounged for 3 hours before walking a few miles to brunch at M3 and listening to all the crazy folks of Somerville play in the Honk! festival.  Later that day I ran 10 miles (and was proud of myself) before falling asleep watching Dark Shadows all warm and cozy.  I live the good life.

You want to know something else that’s good?  Ming Tsai’s recipes.  I’ve written about how he’s kind of my idol before, but seriously, this man puts great flavor into his food.  And now that I’m employed and everything, I’ve even been able to eat at Blue Ginger… where the food lives up to its reputation.  Knowing I had almost half a bushel of apples to use, this chutney immediately came to mind.  I’ve made it several times before, and I really love it – it’s tangy and a little bit spicy but still sweet.  It’s also great mixed with sour cream and slathered on potato latkes, which is how I chose to enjoy it for dinner tonight.  Leave it to Ming to revolutionize latkes and applesauce… give this one a try, for sure.  And stay tuned for more ways to use this chutney later this week!

Apple Ginger Chutney

Adapted from Ming Tsai.  Makes 4 c. chutney.

  • 2 onions, diced
  • 2 inches ginger, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 TBS canola oil
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 8 non-mealy apples (such as Fuji, Honey Crisp, or Empire), peeled and cored
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 c. apple cider or apple juice
  • 1 c. rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
  1. Cut apples into even 1/4 inch cubes (this will take longer than you think so budget extra time!).  Place cubes into a large bowl and squeeze lemon juice over them to prevent from browning.
  2. In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and ginger and cook for 3-4 minutes, until onions soften.  Add apples, and season generously with salt and pepper.  Stir to coat, then cook apples for 3-4 minutes, until beginning to soften.  Add apple cider/juice and vinegar and simmer until liquid is reduced by three quarters, about 30 minutes.  Adjust seasoning to taste.  Keeps for about 1 week in the fridge.

Scallion-Potato Latkes with Apple-Ginger-Cream

Adapted from Ming Tsai.  Makes 16 latkes.

  • 1 c. apple ginger chutney (see above)
  • 1 c. sour cream
  • 8 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
  • 4 medium russet potatoes, peeled
  • 2 eggs
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 TBS butter
  • 2 TBS olive oil
  1. Mix together apple chutney, sour cream, and green parts of scallions together.  Cover and place in fridge until latkes are ready.
  2. Grate potatoes on a large box grater.  Squeeze liquid out of grated potatoes into sink; place grated potatoes into large strainer set over large bowl, and continue to squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk eggs together gently.  Add drained potatoes and white parts of scallions and mix together.  Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Heat 1 TBS olive oil and 1 TBS butter over medium-low heat in large frying pan for 3 minutes.  Form patties out of the potato mixture and place in frying pan.  Cook latkes in batches for 4-5 minutes per side, or until golden brown.  Replenish frying pan with butter and olive oil as necessary as you make multiple batches.  Place finished latkes on a plate line with a paper towel.  Serve hot with Apple-ginger-cream.

Boston

Cooking Fall & Apple Cider Doughnut Cake

Does seasonal eating ever stress you out?  It does me.  Knowing that there are so many foods available for only a few months, or weeks, even, makes me feel a huge amount of pressure to cook, cook, cook as much as possible with those ingredients before they’re gone.  I know this is the wrong way to think about it, that I should just be enjoying each season in its own right, cooking what I feel like when I feel like it, just eating the produce in my fridge rather than spending hours googling “savory apple recipes” and “things to do with figs,” but this mentality seems embedded into my list-making, multi-tasking personality.  I’m the same way about life in general.  I’m such a planner and there’s so much I want to DO that sometimes I don’t get around to any of the things on the list.  Planning vacations, for example – I’ve probably spent a collective 24 hours trying to plan a 48 hour weekend getaway for this fall. Yes, the daydreaming and planning is part of the fun, but sometimes, I wish I could be more spontaneous.  Just pack up and go.  Experience things without imagining the experience 40 times over before hand.  Not have a mild anxiety attack at the mere idea of my Saturday afternoon plans changing.

However, this personality trait is useful, to a certain degree.  It means I’ve never found myself in a crisis while on the road – I always have all the phone numbers and maps and back-up plans at hand.  And it means I don’t drop the ball or let things slip through the cracks at work, which can only bring good for my career.  Really, I just need to find an internal balance – stay well-prepared without over-thinking something to the point of causing myself stress about the what-ifs; agree to an impromptu afternoon out with friends rather than automatically declining; enjoy the seasonal food I do get a chance to cook without worrying about all the things I didn’t get to this time around.  Perhaps just another way of saying “live in the moment,” but worth reflecting on.

Let’s get back to food.  Fall food.  My mental list of seasonal ingredients for this season is long – apples, pears, figs, chestnuts, mushrooms, squash, grapes, beets, brussels sprouts, potatoes and probably more that are currently escaping me.  Then there are the soups and stews and slow-braised meats that are really only appropriate in cold weather – like this Braised Lamb with Polenta or this Sausage and Tortellini Soup.  We listmakers, we sometimes get caught up making the list and never get around to doing anything on it – and I’m determined not to let that happen for the next few months!  I’m off to a good start with this super delicious Cider Doughnut Cake.  Is there anything more fall than Cider Doughnuts?  Even better, I took today off from work to pick apples and hang out with Trevor and enjoy the sunshine and leaves… and eat real cider doughnuts.  So I can attest to the likeness of this cake to the real deal.  My roommate corroborated through text message: “Strong work, tastes just like the orchard!”  If you’re a fan of the doughnuts, do you need more reason than that to try this bake-able version?  I didn’t think so.

Stay tuned for more fall recipes, soon.  Especially ones with apples, as I’m now the proud owner of half a bushel…

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Apple Cider Doughnut Cake

Adapted from Serious Eats.  Serves 12.

  • 1 stick plus 1 TBS salted butter, softened
  • 2 medium Macintosh apples, peeled, cored, and cut into cubes (about 8 oz. total)
  • 1 1/2 c. apple cider
  • 1/2 c. milk, slightly warmed in microwave
  • 3/4 c. + 4 TBS sugar
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/4 c. canola oil
  • 2 1/2 c. flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Melt 1 TBS of the butter and use a pastry brush to spread it around the inside of a bundt pan, making sure to get in all the creases.
  2. Place the chopped apple and the apple cider in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes, until apples are soft and cider has been mostly absorbed.  Let cool 5 minutes, then puree in a food processor.  Mix with the warmed milk, whisking quickly to avoid curdling the milk.
  3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together the butter, 3/4 c. sugar, and 1/2 c. brown sugar until fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, incorporating fully between each addition.  Mix in canola oil, and set aside.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and 1 tsp of the cinnamon.
  5. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the egg/butter/sugar mixture, and incorporate.  Add 1/2 of the apple cider mixture to the batter, incorporate.  Repeat with the remaining flour and cider mixtures.  Beat in vanilla until just incorporated.
  6. Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool for 10 minutes in pan, then invert over a cooling rack and remove from pan.
  7. Whisk together remaining 4 TBS of sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon.  Sprinkle cinnamon over warm cake.  Let cool, and enjoy!

Cookbook

Caramel Corn with Peanuts and Chocolate

This post is a result of the confluence of several forces.  Number one, Baked Explorations was going to be September’s cookbook of the month, until it was this weekend and I realized that I was going to be spending all my time taking my mom to tea at the Taj/ buying most of the stock at the Ann Taylor outlet/ eating homemade duck confit/ snuggled up in bed… not having a baking extravaganza like I had planned.  I’m not complaining, though, it was a great weekend.  Number two, as every food blogger and their mother has mentioned several times since the first chilly day in September, it’s fall, and fall makes us all want to eat lots of apples and stews and pumpkin-flavored things and caramel.  Number three, Trevor and I have gone to the movies every Friday for the past 3 weeks, and each time I got popcorn for dinner.  So it’s been on my mind.

The summer movie season was kind of disappointing.  I mean, Avengers was awesome, and OK, so was Prometheus, but other than that?  Not much doing.  The fall movie season though is looking pretty exciting.  The Hobbit on December 14th.  Les Mis (with Hugh Jackman!) on Christmas Day.  Cloud Atlas on October 26th.  Anna Karenina on November 16th.  Life of Pi on November 23rd. I could go on, but suffice it to say, I might be eating a lot more popcorn before Christmas.  And this particular popcorn – mixed with homemade caramel sauce, salty peanuts, and a drizzle of melted chocolate – will definitely be sneaking into the theater in my purse more than once.  The guys at Baked have gotten it right again with this recipe.  Maybe it’s hard to go wrong with caramel and chocolate and popcorn, but this recipe is addictive, and also super easy to make.  It’s a great addition to any baker’s repertoire!

I have to tell you two more things about this popcorn.  One, it would make a great holiday gift as part of a food package, especially tied up in cute little plastic bags.  I haven’t found a single reliable source for food safety information on caramel corn, but internet consensus says homemade caramel corn should last about two weeks in an airtight container.  If it’s in your house, I promise you it won’t last that long before you devour it, but I think you could get away with making it a few days before giving/serving it (and hiding it from your sight!).  If in doubt, wrap it up and freeze it until you’re ready to give it away.  Two, while straight-up air-popped popcorn is a great healthy snack, this recipe is a fat/sugar/calorie bomb.  Be careful with it.  Treat each cup of popcorn like you would a chocolate chip cookie – they have basically the same ingredients.  Now with that warning – go try it!

Caramel Corn with Peanuts and Chocolate

Adapted slightly from Baked Explorations.  Makes 10 cups.

  • 10 cups popped popcorn (about 1 regular sized bag)
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 c. brown sugar
  • 1/4 c. light corn syrup
  • 1 TBS molasses
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1 c. roasted, salted peanuts
  • 6 oz. dark chocolate, melted (1/2 regular sized bag)
  1. Preheat oven to 250°F.  Line a large roasting pan with parchment paper, and set aside.  Place popped popcorn in a large bowl.
  2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter.  Once melted, stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and molasses.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to bubble.  Then, stir constantly until it reaches 240°F, also known as “soft-ball stage.”  To see how to test for this stage without a thermometer, see this article (basically, when a drop of syrup on a cold plate or in cold water forms a sticky “soft” ball – not immediately hard and not still fluid.)  Immediately remove from heat, and stir in salt, baking soda, and vanilla.  Careful – the baking soda will make it foam up slightly, so keep stirring and don’t let it spill over the edges.
  3. Pour caramel over popcorn and stir to coat evenly.  Sprinkle with peanuts, then spread in lined baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes, remove and stir, then bake for another 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
  4. Drizzle cooled caramel corn with melted chocolate.  Once the chocolate has hardened, break the caramel corn up into pieces and enjoy!

Food

Greatist Collaboration: Raw Kale and Pecorino Salad

I don’t want to scare anyone off… but it’s getting to be kale season.  I got some in my CSA last week, and it’s one of the few veggies still flourishing in my garden.  For some, this is great news.  I happen to love kale in all its forms, and prefer it to almost any other green – I’d forego spinach for kale any day of the week.  For others, though, this is not such a good sign.  For them, the beginning of kale season signifies the descent into a long winter of root vegetables, cold-hardy greens, citrus, and the occasional guilt-inducing trip to Wholefoods to pick up that so-not-local-but-oh-so-good Chilean peach.  Fear not, we’re not at that dark time quite yet – we’ve still got time for end-of-season corn, butternut squash, chestnuts, figs, plums, apples, and a myriad of pumpkin-flavored baked goods.  But still, kale has arrived, and why not start showing it a little love now?

Kale salad was a super-trendy restaurant dish last year.  Andrew Knowlton even wrote about the ubiquity of kale salad for Bon Appetit last month, when sharing this recipe for his favorite version.  If you’re not a natural kale-lover, an entire salad composed of the stuff might be a hard sell, but I urge you to give it a try.  A little cheese, lemon, and olive oil can go a long way in transforming this green into a tender, tasty salad that even Romaine-purists might grow to enjoy.  In fact, after I had finished this bowl I almost harvested the rest of my kale right then and there to make another bowl.  Give it a try – it’s simple, healthy, and zesty.  Head on over to Greatist for the recipe.

Other tasty kale recipes from here…

… and around the blogsophere

Boston

Garden: Roast Eggplant, Pesto, Whipped Goat Cheese, Wheat Berries,

Gardening  season is winding down.  Our raised bed is barely getting 3 hours of sun a day, the last few tomatoes are ripening, and while I’m still hoping for the brussels sprouts to actually produce their sprouts, I’m not holding my breath.  It’s a little bit sad, but we’re already taking notes and daydreaming about everything we’re going to do next year.

This first year of gardening has been a roller coaster, if you can believe me that gardening qualifies as something in which I have a large enough emotional investment to describe it as a roller coaster.  It’s had extremely fulfilling moments – snacking on super-sweet sun-ripened grapes on my way out the door in the morning; moments of defeat – pulling the umpteenth San Marzano off the vine with more blossom rot; and moments of triumph – a flush of new growth on my lovely lemon tree, despite it having been close to death from a mealybug infestation a month before.  Our most successful crop was probably the cucumbers, which took over the raised bed, climbed up and over the 8 foot fence, and produced at least a dozen mammoth cucumbers.  Our least successful?  The broccoli, as it was the only crop that produced nothing at all, despite some hopeful moments early on.

Success or failure, I think it’s safe to say that both Trevor and I derived a lot of satisfaction from the whole experience.  So much satisfaction, in fact, that we’re upgrading.  My dad has (so nicely!) agreed to share the cultivation of his “back 40” with us.  There’s already a sizable vegetable plot, a dozen or so fruit trees, a raspberry patch, well-established grape vines, and blueberries, with plenty of sunshine and room for expansion.  Since my family spends the majority of the growing season in Maine, having us around to take care of the garden means they might get more than one measly peach and a glut of over-sized kale each year, and for us, well… owning land is not something that we are close to accomplishing, so having a spacious plot to play around with is the equivalent of winning the garden lottery.  Needless to say, we’re excited.

We’ve spent the last 7 or 8 Sundays at the Andover garden, getting a handle on things and caring for a fall crop of beans, peas, beets, and carrots.  Spending a few hours outside working in the dirt – sometimes dripping sweat as you shovel and rake, sometimes peacefully pulling weeds from between the carrots – is deeply satisfying.  It’s also a great way to be with Trevor, working quietly side by side, each with our own task but the same ultimate goal.  I’ve wondered once or twice if gardening is just a fad for me – will I still be this enthused next year? – but it seems so natural to work with the earth that it’s hard to imagine moving on.

Plans for next year are a constant source of conversation – should we add a melon bed?  What structures need to be replaced?  Do we want to add more fruit trees? – but for the time being we’re mostly concerning ourselves with clean up and harvest.  In particular, we’ve had a bumper crop of eggplants (which is in no part due to our efforts, as my dad put them in long before we showed up), and I’ve been struggling to eat my share.  I’ve had my eye on a recipe for Lamb and Eggplant Stew with Farro, Parsley, and Harissa in Sunday Suppers at Lucqes for a while now, but every time it comes down to it, I’m just too busy to put together the multi-day recipe.  Instead, I used the flavors of that dish and a little inspiration from Tender to put together this quicker, vegetarian version.  Eggplant gets roasted with a chile-garlic oil, then added to nutty wheat berries, parsley pesto, and a bit of whipped goat cheese.  It’s balanced in both flavor and texture, and makes an interesting and healthy vegetarian main course.  Feel free to play around with the components – would feta be a better counterpart, or perhaps a traditional basil pesto?  Should the wheat berries be dressed in a chile-paste to amplify the heat? – to see what works for you.  And let me know if you try any variations!  Or if you can think of a better name than I could…

Roast Eggplant, Parsley Pesto, Goat Cheese, and Wheat Berries

Serves 3-4.

  • 2 large globe eggplants
  • 1/3 c. + 1/4 c. olive oil
  • 7 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1/2 tsp harissa or chile powder (may need more or less depending on the heat level of your chile powder_
  • sea salt
  • 2 c. uncooked wheat berries, cooked according to these directions
  • 3 c. fresh parsley leaves
  • 1/4 c. pine nuts or walnuts
  • 4 oz. soft goat cheese
  • 1/2 c. heavy cream
  1. Wash and dry the eggplants, then slice into 1 inch thick rounds.  Salt both sides and set on a baking pan for 15 minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 425°F.  In a food processor, blend 6 cloves of the garlic, 1/3 c. oil, and harissa until a smooth paste is formed.  Use a paper towel to wipe salt and liquid from the eggplant slices, then cut the slices into 1 inch cubes.  Brush the eggplant with the chile-garlic oil, coating all pieces, then sprinkle with salt.  Roast for 40 minutes, stirring eggplant pieces about half way through.
  3. Cook your wheat berries while the eggplant is roasting according to directions in link.
  4. Make the pesto: In a food processor, blend 1/4 c. olive oil, remaining 1 clove garlic, and nuts to form a paste.  Add parsley and blend until fully combined.  Taste and season with salt if desired.
  5. Place the goat cheese in a bowl and use a whisk or fork to break it up.  Add the heavy cream, and whisk together until a smooth, thick cream is formed.
  6. Place a scoop of wheat berries in each bowl.  Top with a few spoonfuls of pesto, a scoop of roast eggplant, and a dollop of whipped goat cheese.  Serve hot.