Happy Paczki Day!

I did not bake- ergo the stock image- but did inherit a few from a family member who stood in line at a south side bakery for an hour!

After this my sweet tooth is in atonement for quite a while.

Cupcakes!

Not made by me, but what i call research.
The source: Cupcakes

pictured, and subsequently eaten, are:

Triple Chocolate
Rich Dark Chocolate cake filled with Chocolate Ganache and frosted with Dark Chocolate buttercream

Violet
White cake with Violet White Chocolate buttercream topped with a handmade Sugar Flower

Champagne
White cake with Champagne buttercream sprinkled with Sugar Bubbles

Double Almond Cookies=Double Happiness

Though I've been cooking all day, I had set my last two sticks of butter out earlier with the notion that I would conclude with something baked as shy of one chai biscuit and some chocolate chips, the house would be utterly void of anyting sweet for the week. Thumbing through The Sweet Life I got a little intimidated.. clearly I will need to do a little more homework before pulling off anything as ambitious as a curd, and that will not be tonight, as J and Blockbuster have leveled a deadline for watching a can't-remember-the-name Argentinian film rented weeks ago. That happening within the hour, I tried a classic back-of-the-box cookie recipe I had noticed on the McCormick almond extract. Its simplicity was an immediate sell, and makes for some fool-proof and fabulous cookies that only take 12 minutes to bake. Question: are all cookies really just globs of butter accented by a little flour, an egg and some miscellaneous flavoring? Because these are astonishing butterful.. ergo so, so good.

2 c flour
1/2 c finely ground almonds
1 c sugar
1 egg
2 sticks of butter
1/4 t salt
2 t almond extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and extract and beat to a pale yellow. In a separate bowl combine salt, flour and almonds. Gradually add flour mixture to the rest and mix until you have a uniform dough. Drop dough into tablespoon-sized dollops onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes.

Original recipe said the yield was 3 dozen, but I got 4 dozen out of this.

Butternut squash and cumin couscous

Original recipe is from Real Simple Nov. 2006. The only thing I did differently was to remove the butternut mixture from the pan with a slotted spoon once it was all cooked and then I used the remaining spice-infused broth to make the couscous. I also forgot to add the second 1/ of the cumin at the end, and I omitted the 2 t of salt altogether.

1 butternut squash
2 T olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 t cayenne
1/8 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1 t cumin
1 can diced tomatoes
1/3 c golden raisins
1 32-oz. container of No-Chicken broth
1 15.5 oz. can of chickpeas, drained
1 1/2 c couscous
2 T chopped, fresh parsley
1/4 c almonds, chopped

Halve and peel the squash. Remove the seeds and cit the squash into 1 inch chunks. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Ass the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cayenne, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/2 t of the cumin and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the squash, tomatoes, raisins, broth and chickpeas. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until the squash is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl using a slotted spoon.

Bring remaining broth back up to a boil and add couscous. Cover and remove from heat, and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Fluff with fork. Divide the couscous among individual bowls and spoon squash over the top. Sprinkle with parsley and almonds.

Lentil Soup

I'm so happy with how this turned out. It tastes very close to the lentil soup we've loved for years from Sultan's.

1 c chana dal lentils
1 carrot, chopped
1 potato, diced
1 tomato, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 t cumin
juice of 1 lemon
1 t salt

Wash and drain lentils. Peel and chop vegetables. Add to soup pot and cover with water, about 6-7 cups. Boil until lentils are tender, about 30-40 minutes. Transfer to blender and blend to a smooth consistency. Return to soup pot over low heat and add cumin, lemon juice and salt. Cook until flavors come together, 5 minutes. Serve with a sprinkle of sumac, wedges of lemon, and (optional) sambal olek red pepper sauce.

Roasted Root Vegetables

This has become my classic comfort food this winter since I first threw it together in October.

3 parsnips
4-5 carrots
1/8 c pine nuts
salt
pepper
evoo
6-7 cloves garlic

Preheat oven to 400. Slice parsnips and carrots into 1/2 inch thick pieces and add to glass baking dish along with whole, peeled garlic cloves and pine nuts. Pour 2-3 tablespoons over it all and 1/4 t salt and pepper and toss to coat.

Cook uncovered for 45 minutes, or until brown, stirring and checking on them every 15 minutes.

I've also added fresh thyme to this mixture, and other vegetables like turnips, sweet potatoes and butternut squash also roast very well with the carrots, parsnips and pine nuts.

Soy Chai Muffins

This was an experiment and they came out more like biscuits.. Not entirely decadent, but good with added honey. The chai flavor is actually more subtle than I expected. Perhaps next time around bumping it up with the addition of ground cardamom, cloves, etc.

2 c flour
4 T honey
1 t vanilla
2 t baking soda
1 c chai flavored Silk soymilk
4 T applesauce
1/4 c canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 t sea salt
1 T Tazo loose Chai

Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin pan. Steep soymilk and loose chai (in a tea ball or bag) in saucepan for 5-10 minutes. Cream together applesauce, oil, honey, and eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients, leaving baking powder last. Mix well. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top before baking. Bake for 23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 6 large muffins.

Middle East Zucchini Casserole

5 small zucchinis
evoo
2 T lemon juice
5 oz. soft, herb sheep's milk cheese
1 1/2 onions
2 cloves garlic
1 c sliced tomato

Saute onion in a little olive oil and then set aside. Slice zucchini lengthwise into thin strips. Toss with lemon juice and set aside. Slice tomatoes into thin slices. In a deep casserole dish, drizzle olive oil on bottom of pan (about 1 T) and add 1/3 of the zucchini, 1/3 of the tomato, onion, garlic and cheese (crumble it). Repeat for two more layers. Drizzle a little more olive oil over the top and cover and bake in 375 oven for 40 minutes.

I'm not sure what exactly the variety of cheese I was using is called.. it was made fresh at the Middle East grocery I went to earlier in the week. To be fair, it imparts a lot of the flavor to this recipe, as it was a salty and herbed soft cheese that melted nicely. I'll go back and do my homework and try to update the entry here with more specifics.

So it's tasty but by the time it was all done baking it was sitting in quite a bath of juices as the zucchini gave up quite a bit of water upon baking in addition to the generous olive oil. I transferred the casserole to another container with a slotted spoon and that got rid of most of the excess, but it still didn't cook together into a more or less solid form as I had imagined.

Good with fresh cracked black pepper on it and a chilled glass of Riesling.

Vin, two, three, four

Wines that are hitting the spot lately...
A to Z Pinot Gris 2005
Domaine des Gatilles Chiroubles 2004
Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2003
Clean Slate 2005 Riesling

2 of 2 new favorite markets in a weekend

Hadn't made a trip to the Middle East grocery on Foster in quite some time, and this is the first time I went with a list that included gum aspic, rosewater, pomegranate molasses and sumac-- which enabled me to value this place all the more (had everything I was looking for, and inexpensively at that). The owner told me about how he used to get gum aspic straight from the seam of an old tree when he was a boy in Jerusalem, and before I left I was packed up with some additional supplies of fresh-baked 7 grain pita (excellent toasted), some sheep's milk cheese and homemade, mega-garlicky fool madamas.

Pistachio Cake

While I am enjoying drinking my kefir, I got to wondering what effect it has on baking. Its profile as partially fermented and probiotic intrigued me enough to look around online where I discovered it can be substituted for buttermilk in, say, cornbread, which I have half a mind to make later int he week to go with a gumbo I've been thinking of making. But then this pistachio sweet treat came along that looked like an excellent compliment to all of our Middle Eastern leftovers this week. J declared it one of the best things I've ever made, and it was up there in my book too. Making this was also an experiment in how well the VitaMix grinds nuts.. pretty good.. so not just for soups, smoothies and hummus-making anymore.

1 c shelled, unsalted pistachios
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
6 eggs, separated
>1 c sugar
3/4 c kefir
1/2 c evoo

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Toast the pistachios for about 10min.

After removing the pistachios increase the oven temp. to 350 F

Once the pistachios have cooled, rub them between the folds of a clean kitchen towel to remove the skins. I didn't do this very aggressively either and some skin on the pistachios is not a problem. Grind them finely in a food processor. Some large pieces may be left and it is fine to leave them as it is, this adds a bite to the cake after it is cooked.

Add flour, baking soda, and salt and mix in a separate bowl.

In a clean vessel, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Add 3/4 cup of sugar and beat it to
stiff peaks. Transfer to a separate bowl.

Using the same beater,beat the egg yolks with the remaining half cup sugar till it is a pale yellow color. Add olive oil and yogurt and mix well. Then using a spatula, fold in the flour.

Lastly fold the egg whites, Do this gently using a spatula. The eggwhites add to the fluffiness of the cake and so when mixing be gentle so as not to flatten the egg whites.

Pour the batter into a 10inch buttered springform pan and bake for about 40 to 50 min.
Mine took the whole 50 minutes and then some. Insert a toothpick to see if the cake is ready. If the toothpick comes out clean, it is ready.

Let cool. Serve with honey and chopped pistachios or as it is.

Thanks to the blog Salt and Pepper and the website fooddownunder for theme and variations.

Eggplants with Tomatoes and Chickpeas / Moussaka'a Menazzaleh

I haven't cooked with eggplant much since previous endeavors have risked being rubbery and bitter, but this one was tasty right out of the pan- and reheated all week long with a little toasted pita and hummus for lunch.
Also from the Arabesque cookbook, though the recipe called for pomegranate molasses and I didn't have any, but simmered it instead in a cup or so of pomegranate juice. Also, I only had one fresh tomato on hand whereas the recipe called for a pound.

2 eggplants
evoo
salt
4 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
1 tomato
1 t sugar
black pepper
1 cup pomegranate juice
one 14-ounce can of chickpeas, drained
1/8 c chopped parsley

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch slices. Brush them generously with oil, sprinkle lightly with salt, and roast them in a 400 degrees oven for 15 minutes, turning once. They do not need to be cooked through as they will be stewed further in the sauce.

In a large saucepan, heat the garlic in 1 T olive oil for a few seconds, until it begins to color. Add the tomato(es) and squash them gently in the pan. Add the sugar, salt, and black pepper and cook for a few minutes. Add the pomegranate juice, chickpeas and eggplant and simmer for 30 minutes, or until eggplant is very soft.

Add parsley before serving.

Preserved Lemons

Since preserved lemon is often called for in the Moroccan food I am presently on a kick for, this is day one of the process which will take at least a month. 4 organic lemons are cut in quarters lengthwise, but are left attached at the stems. Each slit is stuffed with salt and squeezed close. They are then put into an airtight jar and over the next few days they give up a bunch of their juices and start to make their own brine. In a few days I'm to add the juice of 4 more lemons, which I don't reckon will cover them, but we'll see how it's all looking and tasting a month from now. What we're apparently after is the rind only. The middles get discarded and the salt washed off. Hmm.

Sweet Potato Salad/Slada Batata Halwa

Slightly tweaked from Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon

1 large onion, chopped coarsely
*2 T evoo
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 t ginger powder
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t paprika
pinch salt
1/8 c capers
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/8 c chopped parsley

Saute onion in oil until golden. Add sweet potatoes and barely cover with water. Add the spices and cook until potato pieces are tender. Here it says the liquid is supposed to reduce to a sauce, but that didn't happen in my test kitchen, so I ended up draining off the liquid and putting the potato and onion mixture into a serving bowl. Once in this bowl and at room temperature , toss with lemon juice, parsley and capers. I also sprinkled a dash extra of the ginger, paprika and cumin over this for added color and to make up for what may have been lost in the liquid that did not reduce to a sauce.

New Food Source

At the recommendation of L, I checked out Sunflower Market today. More affordable than Whole Foods and an inspiring all-organic produce section. I also found organic kefir, fresh radishes that have broken my life-long dislike of radishes and a tasty red wine from Abruzzo. So I'm stocked up for a long, cold weekend of cooking from my new books: Arabesque & The Sweet Life.

Nightcap at PG

After 2 hours of Matthew Barney films at the Siskel Center last night, we walked over to the Park Grill for dessert and wine. I have mixed reactions to his work whenever I see it, but it was effective in giving every bus that gusted past, every partially-constructed office building flapping its plastic tarps the added sense of "Barney-vision" on our frigid shuffle to the restaurant. The ice rink had already closed for the evening, and the PG was nearly empty, so we settled into a booth and ordered up the chocolate creme brulee and the Meyer lemon and blood orange tart with a couple of Sauternes. The nearly transparent, petrified orange slice was as tasty as it was decorative, bringing the food styling of my cookbooks to life.

NYC

Traveled to New York last week to give a reading. In spite of a lack of photographic evidence, we mostly ate for 4 days and caught up with friends we hadn't seen in a year/two. Everywhere we ate was almost an accidental decision: we're cold, we're hungry, what's within 20 paces? But still, it's hard to go wrong. Some highlights...

This depicted cup of espresso at MOMA's Terrace 5 , and every object associated with the meal we ate there, paragons of design, all. I'm keen to acquire 2 of these bird cups for myself.. Internet has so far been no help. Also eaten there: a salmon with paper-thin slices of fennel and green apple in a delicate mustard sauce with watercress. And a chocolate tart that made me want to lick the plate. It was mousse-like but with enough flour to give it a slab of cake form.

The "Christmas" borscht at Veselka, a sublime ruby soup with a mushroom and kasha-stuffed perogi floating within.

My croissant at Cafe Colonial. Catching this place uncrowded on a Monday morning, it was a tranquil spot to linger over a pot of tea and a light breakfast before starting our day, but looking at their menu, it looks like a more elaborate meal there would send me over the moon. The croissant surpassed my home turf Red Hen standby, with all the rich, airy layers of the genuine article in the France.

Jeff's Bloody Mary at Marion's. I don't even like Bloody Maries, but this one was peppery and fresh tasting with a celery-salt rim and it was a feat to finish 1 (boozey!). I had a sip for research-sake, but my palate was elsewhere with the knock-out ricotta-stuffed French toast with cardamom syrup.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

1 shallot, diced
1 leek (white parts only), diced
2 c. no-chicken broth
1 c. unsweetened Silk soymilk
1 lb. baby bella mushrooms
2 1/2 T flour
1 T paprika
1 1/2 t tamari
1 t fresh cracked pepper
3 T olive oil
1/4 c fresh dill
1/4 chopped, fresh parsley
1 T fresh lemon juice
salt to taste (a pinch)



Heat 2 T oil in the bottom of a soup pot over medium heat. Saute shallot and leek for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and rest of oil and saute for another 5 minutes, or until mushrooms start of give up their juices and all becomes fragrant. Add dill, paprika, tamari and broth. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk flour and soymilk together. Add to soup and stir well. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, parsley and let heat through just before serving.

Makes 4 servings.