Slow Cooker Try #2

I just made a recipe in a slow cooker for the second time ever -- I picked it because it was super simple and would make for a nourishing meal that would keep me from eating all of the cookies I was planning on making for Christmas.

But when I tried to make it on Thursday, I couldn't get the jar of salsa verde open (Trader Joe's, you've failed me) and resorted to a frozen vegetarian pad thai I'd picked up on sale at HEB. (Review: Not bad, would buy again, especially for $1.91.)

But what I did learn today from this recipe is that if I were to make it again, I'd make a few tweaks to it: half a dozen garlic cloves, a teaspoon or so of dried oregano (or a few fresh sprigs), and maybe even an onion. Or, perhaps, I just need to get a nice dutch oven and forget about slow cookers so I can toast the aromatics first. Or maybe I need to use a different salsa verde, one with more of a punch and not a boring, basic one.

How My Pumpkin Themed Night Was Squashed

It all started when I was flipping through my copy of Great Food Fast and saw a butternut squash soup recipe with spiced toasted pumpkin seeds about two weeks ago. I had to make it, and it had been a while since I'd cooked dinner for my family. It hit me: make a three-coursed themed dinner.

Which is way too overambitious for me, especially with papers for school and college applications looming over me. But I figured I'd need a release.

I figured wrong. Later that week, my friends and I decided to make shirts for math team, and Saturday night was the only time. So I made plans for that evening - after dinner, that is. Which put dinner on a deadline.

I don't cook so well under pressure. Which is probably why when I first started, I made muffins in the afternoon. Okay, that's baking, but you get the point. There's no pressure.

On Wednesday, I picked up the October Bon Appetit, flipped it open, and it landed on the page with the Pineapple Upside-Down Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake (try saying that three times fast) and was hooked. I had the outer ends of my meal, all that was missing was the main course.

Which was picked out on Saturday once I returned from the last farmer's market of the season, and the grocery store. I had kale, and flipped through Veganomicon for ideas. I found something that used up the kale I'd just bought, and fit with my theme: Kale and Potato Enchiladas.

So, now that there's an insanely and unnecessarily long set-up, I'll sumamarize what went wrong in one word: timing.

I managed to get the soup and cake done no problem, unless you count the shopping for the cake*, but mom got home with the potatoes (and chili powder that I discovered we were out of) a bit later that I'd expected, which pushed things back a bit. At least I realized that it wasn't going to come together before it got too late, and the enchilada sauce and cooked potatoes were set to cool, and the sauteed onions were served with the soup. A loaf of rosemary bread thrown into the mix, and we had a nice light, overly gingered, autumn meal. Though I can't say I'll make the soup again.

And the cake. It lasted less than 24 hours.

*My local supermarket is well-stocked. But frozen pineapple juice concentrate? Nope. I could get Pineapple-Orange or Pineapple-Apple-Orange.


Pineapple Upside-Down Pumpkin Gingerbread
adapted from Bon Appetit October 2008
serves 10

Topping:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed (I cou
1 teaspoon mild-flavored (light) molasses
1 ripe pineapple, peeled (I used a peeled and cored pineapple)

Cake:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup mild-flavored (light) molasses
1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/2 cup boiling water

The Toughest Question

The hardest question to answer, I think, is that "what is your favorite food?" question. I don't know the answer. It depends on the day. I used to say, definitively, that is was khorosht-e karafs, but now I'm not so sure. So then the interrogator moves on to their next question, unhappy with that answer.

What's your favorite type of food?

Uh, edible?

But no, of course that's what they mean.

They want an easy to digest answer, like Italian, Greek, Thai, Mexican, Middle Eastern, etc.

None of those answers satisfy me though. None of them really mean anything. Well, they do, but to different people they mean different things. Take Italian for example; for some people it conjures up images of red checkered tablecloths, pizza, and spaghetti and meatballs. To another person, it may conjure up fresh seafood dressed simply in olive oil and some vegetables following a course of fresh pasta tossed simply with rapini. The answers really aren't that simple.

And then what about American? What does that mean? I don't even want to try to wrap my head around that.

Like this dish. It has Asian flavors, but is it Asian? Highly doubtful. It was conjured up in test kitchens, and is tasty. But it fuses together flavors and different cultures and fresh ingredients and fits them nicely onto my plate.

Now that's my favorite kind of food.

As for the actual dish composed of the elements above, it jumped out at me when I was looking at the index of the August issue of Bon Appetit and had avocado in the basement on Monday and saw Asian Avocado Salsa. Dad however decided to make something that wouldn't go with the salsa, and the watercress at the store was droopy. Wednesday night, with the remaining avocado, I made a small batch of salsa based on the recipe, and as per one of the suggestions in the magazine, tossed it with some summer squash Dad grilled, soba noodles, and topped with (accidentally untoasted) sesame seeds.


Asian Avocado Salsa
based on recipe in August 2008 Bon Appetit
makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons mirin
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon wasabi paste*
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 green onions, thinly sliced on diagonal (about 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup 1/3-inch cubes jicama (about 1/2 4" jicama)
1 large avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, but into 1/3 inch cubes

In a medium bowl, whisk together vinegar, mirin, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and wasabi paste. Stir in cilantro, green onions, and jicama. Gently stir in avocado.

*I used wasabi powder mixed with water to create a paste so I'm not sure in intensity how it compares to a purchased wasabi paste. However, if the salsa is mixed with pasta and vegetables, an extra 1/2 teaspoon or so does not hurt because the squash mellows it out.

TheNotChocolate Birthday Cake

I didn't make a dessert for Thanksgiving dinner. But I have been baking, and yes, it is Thanksgiving today.

It also happens to be my great-aunt and great-uncle's birthday. And it is one of those years that ends with a zero. How can that not be commemorated with a cake?

Daunting may have been the word to describe making a birthday cake for Thanksgiving, especially from scratch. Actually, foolish, because I've never made one before. I guess layer cakes aren't hard, but they require some patience (something I lack when under time pressures, hence the reason I bake muffins to go in the freezer: nobody's impatiently waiting for breakfast). So even with Thanksgiving, and not having the day before off, I decided to bake this cake, and it was well worth it. All it meant was that nothing was prepped at all for Thanksgiving until today because I took over the kitchen from 4:30 until 9:30 Wednesday night.
The determination and slow pace paid of. This is the first layer cake that I've made from scratch, beginning to end, on my own. It even tasted good enough to allow my aunt to forgive me for breaking the "birthday cakes are chocolate cakes" requirement. But mostly, I'm just glad that despite one of my layers falling apart, I was able to stay calm and nobody knows. Well, except you and my dad who I accused of eating it because a chunk was missing, but really it had just collapsed.

I also didn't have the cake picked out until yesterday morning, even though I did all the shopping for it over the weekend (except the brown sugar because that wasn't in the first recipe I'd picked out.)
But when I went to print out the recipe, I stumbled upon another one, and decided to go with it instead. It was similar, but looked like it was more foolproof and would taste better. But it required three layers, and I only have two pans. I ended up borrowing four pans from my neighbor and making a four layer cake that was slightly smaller in diameter.

And I now have a new favorite cake for this time of year. But I'm only allowed to make non-chocolate cakes for my aunt if her birthday is on Thanksgiving. And I have tendencies to try something new when it comes to making special things because they really need a crowd to feed.

Some notes about the recipe: The original recipe on epicurious called for making applesauce in the cake, and I omitted that step, and used one large jonagold apple and one large granny smith. My frosting also didn't have a pronounced maple flavor because I am still looking for maple extract that isn't artificial imitation maple flavoring. I also noticed my walnuts had a funny taste when I was chopping them (I think if I'd rinsed them they would have been fine, because it wasn't evident in the cake or when dad put them in a fritatta earlier this week), so I just didn't press them into the sides of the cake. Instead I used some extra currants and decorated the border, but the top instead of the bottom of the side because I was tired and didn't realize that would have been the most attractive place until the morning. Oh, and the cake is similar to a carrot cake.


Apple Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Bon Appetit October 1998
Makes a 3 layer 9" cake or a 4 layer 8" cake, easily serves 12

Cake:
1 cup (140 g) plus 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (200 g) whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 lb apples (such as Pippin, Granny Smith, or Jonagold, about two), cored and shredded
1/4 cup water
1 cup dried currants (about 5 ounces), plus about 1/4 cup more to decorate cake (optional)
1 cup walnuts(about 4 ounces), toasted, chopped

2 cups sugar (I used slightly less because our sugar is weird right now and looks powdery)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tablespoon brandy
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs

Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

To make cake:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour four 8-inch diameter pans.

Sift 1 cup all-purpose flour and next 6 ingredients (through cloves) into a medium bowl. Toss currants with remaining 1 tablespoons flour.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, brandy, and vanilla in a large bowl until blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in half of flour mixture and 1/4 cup water. Beat in remaining flour and shredded apples with any liquid that drained from apples. Stir in currants and walnuts.

Divide batter among prepared pans. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cut around sides to loosen and turn out onto racks to cool.

To make frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl until blended. Beat in cream cheese; then maple syrup. Chill until beginning to firm, about 20 minutes.

To assemble cakes:
Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with second layer, spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with third layer; spread 1/2 cup frosting. Top with fourth layer and spread 1 cup frosting in thin layer over entire cake. Chill 15 minutes and then spread remaining frosting over cake. Press currants, if desired, around base of cake. Chill until frosting is set, at least 30 minutes.
Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

(Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.)

Nice Spice Granola

When flipping through the November Bon Appetit last month, one of the pages I dog-eared (okay, put a torn part of a receipt in) was one with two delicious looking and simple recipes. I would love to say that I've made both of them, but the night I was going to make the squash, mushroom, and spinach one I ended up having too much homework and not buying the mushrooms. The squash though was eventually used in the risotto and the cake. And then a few other uses since that one squash sure stretched far bread pudding and a side dish weeks later).

But the granola recipe on the left side of the page, that I managed to make. I've only made granola a few times before, and while it was good, I was disappointed with my greasy results and lack of clumps. Store-bought granola seems to suffer the same dilemma sometimes too, and it always seems so expensive or not full of oats or ruined with chocolate. (Yes, I said chocolate. Please don't hurt me.)

I have a feeling that everyone in the house would have preferred that I didn't make the granola the first time around. It isn't that it wasn't good, but it involved some poor planning on my part that led to a nasty mood. I made it in the morning. Before school. And it isn't that granola is difficult, it just requires quite a bit of time in the oven. I woke up before six, so I figured I was all set. I was in the kitchen around 6:05 and had everything on the counter by 6:10. With 15 minutes to get it onto a baking sheet and 35 minutes in the oven, I was fine. It would be ready by seven o'clock. Except that it didn't need just 35 minutes in the oven. And it took my twenty minutes to get it into the oven. I somehow misread a time in the recipe and it really needed closer to an hour. I'll leave it to you to decide whether you want to know how the course of events and my disposition played out.

I will say this: it was tasty granola the next day. I just knew it could be better.

This time it was better. I made it at night, and though it kept me up until 9:30, it was better than running late for school.


Spiced Maple-Walnut Granola with Dried Cranberries
makes about 6 cups
(based on a recipe in November 2007 Bon Appetit, it resembles the original recipe, but I'm too lazy to find the link since I'm offline)

2/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, divided
1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup egg whites (about 2 large)
3 cups old-fashioned or quick oats (my dad prefers quick because it isn't as hard, but I use old-fashioned since that is what I keep on hand)
1 cup walnut halves, halved
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a large rimmed baking sheet.

In a small saucepan stir in 1/4 cup brown sugar into maple syrup over medium heat to dissolve. Remove from heat and pour into a medium bowl to cool.

(If you get out all your ingredients before you start, I measure them while the syrup cools. That's also when I turn on the oven and grease the baking sheet)

Whisk cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, and egg whites into syrup. Stir in oats, remaining 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar, and walnuts to coat.

Spread the oat mixture onto the baking sheet into an even layer and bake in oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and flip over with a large metal spatula. The bottoms should be browned. Bake for an additional ten minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with dried cranberries. Return to oven for another 5 to 10 minutes or until dry.

"The Best Cake I've Ever Had"

This is the story of a cake. It had great aspirations and always knew it could do better. Each time it failed, it saw it as a chance to rise up and do better...

Okay, I'll stop with the crazy story that isn't anywhere close to true. This cake came straight out of October's Bon Appetit, and came out fine on the first try. And only took two hours start to finish. And I move slowly, though my grandfather did help me with the hard parts. (He offered to help, so I gave him what I knew my fussiness couldn't have a problem with: Grating the ginger, and then when he finished that, he finished grating the squash for me.)

I was supposed to be over at my aunt and uncle's around 6:30, but ran late because of the cake. I don't think anyone minded. The cake was a shining star at the end of the meal, and due to my poor cutting skills and trimming of the gigantic pieces, my uncle was left with three small pieces to enjoy the rest of the weekend. He is the one who said it was the best cake he's had. And I had low expectations for this cake.

Even though it's a ginger-squash cake, the squash hides in the background while the ginger is mellowed by the other spices and, while dominant, not overly pushy or dominant. I was a bit hesitant, because I once put too much candied ginger into bulgur pudding, and I couldn't handle it. But the ginger was just right in this cake.

Ginger-Squash Cake with White Chocolate Frosting
from Bon Appetit October 2007
Serves 8 (unless you cut poorly like me and get 9 squares and three little strips)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (I used 1/2 teaspoon, but my allspice is just about dead)
1 cup packed finely shredded butternut squash
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 1/2 Tablespoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger root
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
3/4 cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts (about 4 ounces), divided

3 Tablespoons whipping cream
3 ounces high-quality white chocolate


Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9x9x2 inch metal baking pan with nonstick spray, or otherwise prepare for baking. Whisk flours and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat squash, brown sugar, butter, egg, ginger, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in large bowl to blend. Fold in flour mixture and 1/2 cup hazelnuts. Transfer to pan, spreading to edges (layer will be thin). Bake cake until tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool.

Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate and remaining 1/4 teaspoon vanilla; whisk until smooth. (Alternately, do all of this in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.) Let stand at room temperature until thick enough to spread, about 20 (I only needed to let it stand about 10.) Spread over cake (layer will be thin.) Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup nuts over cake. Let stand at room temperature.

Cut into squares and serve. (The recipe says 16 squares and serves 8, so I just went to cut it into 9 at my aunt's suggestion. She thought the 16 square would be too small.)

Ew, anchovies!

I think I may agree with that sentiment. I figured, I'll give you a try. Hello little anchovies in the see through glass jar. You don't look too bad. Boy was I wrong. As soon as I twisted off the cap I started wishing we hadn't used the end of the jar of capers Saturday morning and I'd have some salty element to replace the anchovies. I'm not sure if capers would have done the trick, but they sure do smell a lot better.

I suppose not that many people actually like anchovies, but I'm not sure if I've ever had anchovies that weren't disguised or hidden (such as in Caesar dressing) so the word anchovies did not scare me away from trying out the recipe. Which, other than the whole nasty smell while making it and only using half as many anchovies as called for because I couldn't bring myself to open the other jar, was followed closely.

The most surprising (in a good way) part of the meal though was what happened to be the most expensive: the pasta. But I cooked it just right (I actually managed al dente for once!) and it helped to make the meal. Bionaturae was the only pappardelle pasta I found (and I did go to two grocery stores), and all it was was semolina and eggs. I was almost tempted to try to make pasta, given the simplicity of the dish, but figured without anything to flatten it for me, I might make something gross and full of elasticity.

But I digress. This simple dish is perfect for a summer night when you want something warm and light tasting. Following it with raspberry sorbet, well, that can only make it better.


Pappardelle with Zucchini, Mint, and Anchovies
adapted from a recipe by Melissa Clark in Fast, a special Food & Wine

2 ounces anchovies, drained and minced
1/4 cup finely chopped mint
2 tablespoons snipped chives or tareh
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 lbs medium zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise*
coarse salt
2 (8.8 ounce) packages dried pappardelle
Freshly grated parmesan cheese and lemon wedges for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

In a large bowl mix together the anchovies, mint, chives, and 2 Tablespoons of the oil.
In a large skillet heat the remaining 1/4 cup of oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic crushed red pepper and cook over moderate heat until the garlic is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, season with salt, and cook over moderately-high heat, tossing occasionally until tender, but crisp, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the pappardelle to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot and stir in the zucchini and reserved cooking water. Stir together gently over moderate heat.
Transfer the pasta to the large bowl with the anchovy mixture, and toss until the pasta is coated. Serve with parmesan and lemon wedges.

*I have trouble thinly slicing things, so I attempted to use a mandoline. I'm not so great with mandolines either, so I cut my right thumb (I cut the left thumb last week with a serrated knife) and decided to just use a vegetable peeler to get strips of zucchini. The only problem with that method is that you end up with a chunk of zucchini. If anyone knows an effective way to thinly slice zucchini lengthwise, please do tell!

Poached Pears by the Numbers

Mom bought the November issue of Bon Appetit this week when she stopped at the grocery store hoping it would cheer me up as consolation for her working so much this week (I don't understand the reasoning, but oh well.) Flipping through it in Spanish class I came across the recipe for CORNMEAL POUND CAKE WITH ROSEMARY SYRUP, POACHED PEARS, AND CANDIED ROSEMARY and just knew I had to try it. It serves 8, so I got home and asked "Mom, can Maddy and her parents come over for dinner on Saturday night? I have a dessert I want to make, and I haven't seen Maddy in forever!"

Now to the pears. To make the poached pears, you need:
3 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 cup Riesling
3 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
8 Forelle pears



First, I washed a dried the pears and rosemary (1). Then, in a large saute pan, I combined the water, sugar, Riesling, rosemary, vanilla bean, and peppercorns. (2)
I then peeled the pears, leaving the stems intact, and using a melon baller removed the part at the bottom. Forelle pears size make them hard to core, so I didn't core them completely. I cut off any bad parts of the pears and placed them in a bowl filled with cold water.
Once all 8 pears were peeled and ready, I went back to the stove and put the pan over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar completely dissolved. (3) I added the pears (4) and turned up the heat to bring to a boil, turning the pears occasionally (with my fingers and spatula.) After it came to a boil, I reduced the heat to medium-low to a simmer and covered the pan (5), occasionally checking on the pears for tenderness for about 20 minutes. Then I removed the pan from the heat until the syrup cooled a bit.
I then placed the pears in a container and poured the syrup over them (6) and refrigerated them, uncovered until dessert time!

Banana Nut Muffins

I just made banana nut muffins out of two ripe bananas we had. I used a recipe I modified from Bon Appetit.
It took me a while, and I toasted the nuts and forgot to put them into the batter until I'd scooped three muffins, and I saved too much nuts for the tops, so they're very nutty on top.

Makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

two ripe bananas, or around 1 cup mashed

1/2 cup 1% milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup normal sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup pecan or walnut chips toasted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with papers. Toast nuts in oven for 2-5 minutes, or until toasted.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas, milk, and vanilla.

Beat butter in a large bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat banana mizture and flour mixture alternately into butter mixture in a couple of separate additions. Stir in most of toasted nuts and with a scoop, scoop into muffin pan. Top with remaining nuts.

Bake muffins until tester inserted into a muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes.