This is the cake that my mom recently sent to us: she went down to Claire's in New Haven and them box up a whole cake--which she then shipped to us in Austin! I was so unbelievably shocked and moved by this present.
Although I'm usually a big fan of chocolate cake, there's something about this rich, dense cake that is satisfying beyond description. This is one sensational cake.
Claire's Lithuanian Coffee Cake
adapted from Claire's Corner Copia Cookbook
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp ground coffee
¼ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup raisins
½ c (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp brewed coffee, chilled
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 low-fat sour cream
2 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
Prepare the filling by combining the filling ingredients in a bowl. Stir to combine well. Set aside. Preheat the over to 350F (180C) degrees. For the cake, cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, using a hand mixer on medium speed for 45 seconds. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs, and beat for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the coffee, vanilla extract, and sour cream. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, until well creamed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Pour the creamed mixture over the top of the flour mixture, scraping the bowl. well. Mix on low speed for 45 seconds just to combine, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Prepare a small bundt pan (8-10 cup pan), either by thoroughly spraying with nonstick cooking spray or greasing with shortening and flouring the pan. Pour in half the batter. Sprinkle half the filling evenly over the top of the batter. Pour the remaining batter evenly over the filling. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the batter from the bowl and smooth the batter. Sprinkle the remaining filling over the batter.
Bake in the center of the oven for 55 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a plate.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Penne with Tomatoes, Eggplant and Mozzarella
Tonight we dive into one of Jamie Oliver's books for a staple recipe. This has become our default pasta dish, as it's quick, tasty and simple to throw together.
Penne with Tomatoes, Eggplant and Mozzarella
adapted from Jamie's Dinners by Jamie Oliver
Serves 2 adults and 2 kids
225g - 250g Japanese eggplant (two medium-sized)
olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 400g can of plum tomatoes
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
big handful of fresh basil, leaves ripped and stalks sliced
2 tbsp heavy cream (optional)
250g penne
100g fresh mozzarella
Dice the eggplant into 2cm cubes. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat, add a good amount of olive oil, and add eggplant once the oil is hot. Salt lightly and stir often until the eggplant turns slightly golden. You may need to add a little more oil.
Add the onions and garlic and continue to cook until the onions take on a little color. Sprinkle in the balsamic vinegar, stirring quickly. Put in the canned tomatoes and stir around as the tomatoes break up. Season carefully with salt and pepper. Toss in the basil stalks and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken up and become saucy. Add the cream if you like and turn the heat down to low.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt. Toss in the pasta and cook until just al dente. Drain the cooked pasta, return it to the pot and add a splash of olive oil. Stir in the tomato sauce. Tear up the basil leaves and the mozzarella, add to the pasta, and stir just enough to combine. Serve as soon as possible so that the cheese stays nice and tender.
Penne with Tomatoes, Eggplant and Mozzarella
adapted from Jamie's Dinners by Jamie Oliver
Serves 2 adults and 2 kids
225g - 250g Japanese eggplant (two medium-sized)
olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 400g can of plum tomatoes
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
big handful of fresh basil, leaves ripped and stalks sliced
2 tbsp heavy cream (optional)
250g penne
100g fresh mozzarella
Dice the eggplant into 2cm cubes. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat, add a good amount of olive oil, and add eggplant once the oil is hot. Salt lightly and stir often until the eggplant turns slightly golden. You may need to add a little more oil.
Add the onions and garlic and continue to cook until the onions take on a little color. Sprinkle in the balsamic vinegar, stirring quickly. Put in the canned tomatoes and stir around as the tomatoes break up. Season carefully with salt and pepper. Toss in the basil stalks and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken up and become saucy. Add the cream if you like and turn the heat down to low.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt. Toss in the pasta and cook until just al dente. Drain the cooked pasta, return it to the pot and add a splash of olive oil. Stir in the tomato sauce. Tear up the basil leaves and the mozzarella, add to the pasta, and stir just enough to combine. Serve as soon as possible so that the cheese stays nice and tender.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Okonomiyaki
I'm a little intimidated by Japanese food, or at least by the thought of preparing Japanese food at home. I've got quite a few cookbooks--some of them very good--but I've never been very confident about piecing together the right components to make a good meal. So most of the Japanese cooking I do at home is quite simple (like tonight's meal) or an attempt to replicate a meal I had in a restaurant.
Tonight we had okonomiyaki, which often gets called Japanese pancakes or (shudder) Japanese pizza. (I hate calling anything that lacks cheese and tomato sauce "pizza".) It's basically a savory pancake batter filled with cabbage and whatever else you like (the name translates as "as you like") and topped with a rich sauce, fish flakes, and mayonnaise.
The recipe I use is for a Kansai version of okonomiyaki and comes from our local supermarket, Co-op. I collect recipe cards from them nearly every week, and although my kanji skills are pretty damn weak, I can usually parse out the ingredient list and get the basic gist of the technique section. So here's my attempt to translate one of Co-op's recipes.
The amounts listed here are for each serving. I tripled the amounts here to feed two adults and two kids.
Okonomiyaki
50g flour
1 tsp ground sesame seeds
1/4 tsp salt
40ml milk
1 egg
1 or 2 green onions, sliced
100g cabbage, sliced thinly
2 or 3 strips of bacon (or other fatty cut of pork)
Toppings:
Okonomiyaki sauce
Katsuobushi flakes
Aonori powder
Mayonnaise
Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Beat together the milk and egg, and then combine with the dry ingredients. Add the chopped cabbage and green onions and stir together.
Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan. Add the batter and form into a round pancake-shape. Lay strips of bacon on top. Once the first side is browned, flip over and cook second side as well.
Remove from pan and place on a plate. Brush on as much okonomiyaki sauce as you like (be careful, it can get overpowering pretty quickly), decorate with thin lines of mayonnaise, and sprinkle a generous amount of katusobushi over the top. Finally, dust a small amount of powdered nori over the top.
Tonight we had okonomiyaki, which often gets called Japanese pancakes or (shudder) Japanese pizza. (I hate calling anything that lacks cheese and tomato sauce "pizza".) It's basically a savory pancake batter filled with cabbage and whatever else you like (the name translates as "as you like") and topped with a rich sauce, fish flakes, and mayonnaise.
The recipe I use is for a Kansai version of okonomiyaki and comes from our local supermarket, Co-op. I collect recipe cards from them nearly every week, and although my kanji skills are pretty damn weak, I can usually parse out the ingredient list and get the basic gist of the technique section. So here's my attempt to translate one of Co-op's recipes.
The amounts listed here are for each serving. I tripled the amounts here to feed two adults and two kids.
Okonomiyaki
50g flour
1 tsp ground sesame seeds
1/4 tsp salt
40ml milk
1 egg
1 or 2 green onions, sliced
100g cabbage, sliced thinly
2 or 3 strips of bacon (or other fatty cut of pork)
Toppings:
Okonomiyaki sauce
Katsuobushi flakes
Aonori powder
Mayonnaise
Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Beat together the milk and egg, and then combine with the dry ingredients. Add the chopped cabbage and green onions and stir together.
Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan. Add the batter and form into a round pancake-shape. Lay strips of bacon on top. Once the first side is browned, flip over and cook second side as well.
Remove from pan and place on a plate. Brush on as much okonomiyaki sauce as you like (be careful, it can get overpowering pretty quickly), decorate with thin lines of mayonnaise, and sprinkle a generous amount of katusobushi over the top. Finally, dust a small amount of powdered nori over the top.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Bi Bim Bap
I really don't cook enough Korean food at home. I don't really know why: the ingredients are all pretty accessible here in Kobe, and I certainly do adore the flavors. I should try harder to get tonight's dish into my regular rotation.
I first encountered bi bim bap over 12 years ago, when I first started teaching overseas in Uijeongbu, South Korea. It was one of those dishes that just instantly spoke to me: the combination of rice and veggies, with a spicy/sour/sweet sauce and fried egg, just seemed so natural and effortless. To this day it's one of my favorite dishes.
It's not very hard to make at home, but it is a bit time-consuming--and dirties quite a few dishes in the process, which, admittedly, is a bit of a pain in the ass. But it's well worth it in the end.
Digging around in my stash of recipes, I came across something I'd printed out long ago. It's a basic recipe for bi bim bap from Korean Kitchen, and it served as a good starting point.
Bi bim bap is basically just a bowl of rice topped with some lightly-sauteed veggies, some form of meat, a bit of kochujang sauce, and a fried egg. You can use whatever veggies you like, but each needs to be prepared separately and seasoned a little differently. This is where the website cited earlier comes in handy: most vegetables just take a bit of salt and some sesame oil, but some meatier veggies (like shitake mushrooms) can handle a bit of soy sauce, some sugar, and some garlic.
Tonight we used the following veggies:
For the meat, I took 150g of a beef/pork combo (ground by the local butcher, no less!) and fried it quickly with some soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and salt and pepper. This is basically a simplified bulgogi marinade.
Once the meat and all the veggies are done, it's time to assemble the meal: scoop a good-size serving of short-grain white rice into a big bowl, and arrange the veggies around the sides of the bowl. Pile in the meat in the center, add as much kochujang sauce as you can handle, and top off with a fried egg (sunny-side up, cooked in a splash of oil--but keep it nice and runny. The heat of the rice will finish the cooking.) Garnish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and you're done.
The kochujang sauce is really simple. The recipe I found is from AsiaRecipe.com and is adapted from a book called Flavours of Korea by Marc and Kim Millon, a British book I've never laid eyes on. The balance of flavors in this sauce seems fairly authentic to me, although I would probably up the vinegar a bit next time.
In Korean snack-bar type places (where I ate a lot of bi bim bap), this would always be served with a simple seaweed soup (called mi yeok guk). It was probably just an instant soup from a packet, which is fine with me. I recently found a Japanese version of the same soup and was happily surprised by how tasty it was. I forgot to serve it tonight, but it would've made an excellent side dish with the bi bim bap.
I first encountered bi bim bap over 12 years ago, when I first started teaching overseas in Uijeongbu, South Korea. It was one of those dishes that just instantly spoke to me: the combination of rice and veggies, with a spicy/sour/sweet sauce and fried egg, just seemed so natural and effortless. To this day it's one of my favorite dishes.
It's not very hard to make at home, but it is a bit time-consuming--and dirties quite a few dishes in the process, which, admittedly, is a bit of a pain in the ass. But it's well worth it in the end.
Digging around in my stash of recipes, I came across something I'd printed out long ago. It's a basic recipe for bi bim bap from Korean Kitchen, and it served as a good starting point.
Bi bim bap is basically just a bowl of rice topped with some lightly-sauteed veggies, some form of meat, a bit of kochujang sauce, and a fried egg. You can use whatever veggies you like, but each needs to be prepared separately and seasoned a little differently. This is where the website cited earlier comes in handy: most vegetables just take a bit of salt and some sesame oil, but some meatier veggies (like shitake mushrooms) can handle a bit of soy sauce, some sugar, and some garlic.
Tonight we used the following veggies:
- Carrots (sliced with the mandoline and quickly fried with some sesame oil and a dash of salt)
- Spinach (quickly steamed and rinsed under cold water, tossed with a dribble of sesame oil, some sesame seeds, and a pinch of salt)
- Shitake mushrooms (sliced thinly and fried with a splash of soy sauce and some sugar)
- Bean sprouts (parboiled in a bit of hot water, rinsed quickly under cold water, and tossed with sesame oil and a dash of salt)
- Eggplant (also sliced with the mandoline and quickly sauteed with sesame oil, a bit of garlic, and some salt)
For the meat, I took 150g of a beef/pork combo (ground by the local butcher, no less!) and fried it quickly with some soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and salt and pepper. This is basically a simplified bulgogi marinade.
Once the meat and all the veggies are done, it's time to assemble the meal: scoop a good-size serving of short-grain white rice into a big bowl, and arrange the veggies around the sides of the bowl. Pile in the meat in the center, add as much kochujang sauce as you can handle, and top off with a fried egg (sunny-side up, cooked in a splash of oil--but keep it nice and runny. The heat of the rice will finish the cooking.) Garnish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and you're done.
The kochujang sauce is really simple. The recipe I found is from AsiaRecipe.com and is adapted from a book called Flavours of Korea by Marc and Kim Millon, a British book I've never laid eyes on. The balance of flavors in this sauce seems fairly authentic to me, although I would probably up the vinegar a bit next time.
In Korean snack-bar type places (where I ate a lot of bi bim bap), this would always be served with a simple seaweed soup (called mi yeok guk). It was probably just an instant soup from a packet, which is fine with me. I recently found a Japanese version of the same soup and was happily surprised by how tasty it was. I forgot to serve it tonight, but it would've made an excellent side dish with the bi bim bap.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
New Toy
Ah, falafel: I can't think of any other deep-fried dish I'd make in a sweaty Japanese August. Luckily, they don't take long to deep-fry, so the time in front of the pot of hot oil can be kept to a minimum.
More importantly, today was the first day that I used the new falafel mold that I picked up in Fairfax this summer. It worked like a charm and made the shaping of the little balls much easier. I've always used by hands to squish the falafel mixture into balls, a messy process (but also kind of satisfying and fun). This new gizmo, though, lets you sculpt perfect little flattened patties--and it's a snap to spring them out of the mold and get them into the hot oil safely.
The falafel recipe I use has become my staple. It's taken from The Foods of Israel Today by Joan Nathan. Sadly, I don't own this book, but I did find the recipe on Epicurious. I really can't improve upon it: it really is a fantastic recipe. I usually cut the recipe in half and make 10 balls, enough for two sandwiches and a few extra pieces for the girls.
A few tips: make sure you add plenty of flour. If you don't, the falafel balls will disintegrate when they hit the hot oil. I made this mistake the first time, and it was a sad, sad mess in the pot. And don't skimp on the time in the fridge, as all that time sitting really improves the flavor. Lastly, don't try this recipe with canned chickpeas! We did that once and the results were AWFUL. The falafel didn't get crispy at all--a huge disappointment.
Tonight I tried slicing the pita differently. I usually just lop off a bit of pita and start stuffing. Today, though, I attempted to recreate the sandwiches served at Amsterdam Falafelshop, a really great place in Adams Morgan in DC. They slice the pita lengthwise, nearly down to the bottom and then run the pita through a toaster before plopping the falafel balls in. It worked pretty well, although one of the sandwiches ruptured pretty early on. Guess I should've wrapped it in waxed paper like they do at Amsterdam.
Toppings were simple tonight: just baba ghanouj, a cherry tomato and cucumber salad, and tahini dressing. Served with some chips and Coke, it was pretty damn great.
More importantly, today was the first day that I used the new falafel mold that I picked up in Fairfax this summer. It worked like a charm and made the shaping of the little balls much easier. I've always used by hands to squish the falafel mixture into balls, a messy process (but also kind of satisfying and fun). This new gizmo, though, lets you sculpt perfect little flattened patties--and it's a snap to spring them out of the mold and get them into the hot oil safely.
The falafel recipe I use has become my staple. It's taken from The Foods of Israel Today by Joan Nathan. Sadly, I don't own this book, but I did find the recipe on Epicurious. I really can't improve upon it: it really is a fantastic recipe. I usually cut the recipe in half and make 10 balls, enough for two sandwiches and a few extra pieces for the girls.
A few tips: make sure you add plenty of flour. If you don't, the falafel balls will disintegrate when they hit the hot oil. I made this mistake the first time, and it was a sad, sad mess in the pot. And don't skimp on the time in the fridge, as all that time sitting really improves the flavor. Lastly, don't try this recipe with canned chickpeas! We did that once and the results were AWFUL. The falafel didn't get crispy at all--a huge disappointment.
Tonight I tried slicing the pita differently. I usually just lop off a bit of pita and start stuffing. Today, though, I attempted to recreate the sandwiches served at Amsterdam Falafelshop, a really great place in Adams Morgan in DC. They slice the pita lengthwise, nearly down to the bottom and then run the pita through a toaster before plopping the falafel balls in. It worked pretty well, although one of the sandwiches ruptured pretty early on. Guess I should've wrapped it in waxed paper like they do at Amsterdam.
Toppings were simple tonight: just baba ghanouj, a cherry tomato and cucumber salad, and tahini dressing. Served with some chips and Coke, it was pretty damn great.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Lentils & Veggies
Dinner tonight came from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking, still my first go-to book for Indian food. The main dish was a recipe I'd never cooked before, and I thought it was pretty impressive. I'm not sure why I needed to soak the dal before I cooked it; most of her other recipes don't call for this step, and it didn't seem to make the dal cook more quickly.
The original recipe called for a mixture of dals, so I used what I had: to make up a 1/2 cup of dal, I mixed (nearly) equal bits of red lentils, black urad dal, and moong dal. (The black urad wasn't my first choice, but I didn't locate the channa dal until after I'd started cooking.)
The rest of the meal was just my staple Indian dishes: pullao and raita.
GUJARATI DAL (Mixed Lentils and Vegetable Stew)
adapted from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking
serves 2-3 people
1/2 cup mixed dal (see note above)
half a can of diced tomatoes
1 small Japanese eggplant (about 170g)
1 medium-sized zucchini (about 170g)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne
vegetable oil
3/8 tsp black mustard seeds
3/8 tsp cumin seeds
big pinch of asafetida
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp chopped corriander
1. Wash the dal, place in bowl, and add enough water to cover by two inches. Let soak for 90 minutes, and then drain and set aside.
2. Cut eggplant and zucchini into thick wedges.
3. Put the soaked dal in a deep pot with the turmeric, ginger, garlic, cayenne, and 360ml of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover partially. Cook for abou 45 minutes, or until the dal is fully cooked and tender. Turn off the heat, let cool for a few minutes, and then liquidize. (I used an immersion blender.) Add enough cold water to make 500ml of puree.
4. Heat the oil in a deep saucepan until very hot and add the mustard seeds. Allow them to pop and splutter for about 5 seconds and then add the cumin seeds. After about 5-10 seconds, the cumin seeds should darken. Now add the asafetida, and then very carefully add the canned tomatoes. Caution: they will spit at you! Stir the tomatoes around quickly for a few minutes and then add the eggplant and zucchini. Cook for another 3 minutes or so.
5. Add the pureed dal and salt to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, cover, and let the stew cook for 20 minutes. The vegetables should be quite tender. Stir in the corriander and serve.
The original recipe called for a mixture of dals, so I used what I had: to make up a 1/2 cup of dal, I mixed (nearly) equal bits of red lentils, black urad dal, and moong dal. (The black urad wasn't my first choice, but I didn't locate the channa dal until after I'd started cooking.)
The rest of the meal was just my staple Indian dishes: pullao and raita.
GUJARATI DAL (Mixed Lentils and Vegetable Stew)
adapted from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking
serves 2-3 people
1/2 cup mixed dal (see note above)
half a can of diced tomatoes
1 small Japanese eggplant (about 170g)
1 medium-sized zucchini (about 170g)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne
vegetable oil
3/8 tsp black mustard seeds
3/8 tsp cumin seeds
big pinch of asafetida
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp chopped corriander
1. Wash the dal, place in bowl, and add enough water to cover by two inches. Let soak for 90 minutes, and then drain and set aside.
2. Cut eggplant and zucchini into thick wedges.
3. Put the soaked dal in a deep pot with the turmeric, ginger, garlic, cayenne, and 360ml of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover partially. Cook for abou 45 minutes, or until the dal is fully cooked and tender. Turn off the heat, let cool for a few minutes, and then liquidize. (I used an immersion blender.) Add enough cold water to make 500ml of puree.
4. Heat the oil in a deep saucepan until very hot and add the mustard seeds. Allow them to pop and splutter for about 5 seconds and then add the cumin seeds. After about 5-10 seconds, the cumin seeds should darken. Now add the asafetida, and then very carefully add the canned tomatoes. Caution: they will spit at you! Stir the tomatoes around quickly for a few minutes and then add the eggplant and zucchini. Cook for another 3 minutes or so.
5. Add the pureed dal and salt to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, cover, and let the stew cook for 20 minutes. The vegetables should be quite tender. Stir in the corriander and serve.
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