Apple Cinnamon Cake

 It's that season here in the Northeast U.S. when apple cake recipes are as ubiquitous as falling leaves, but of all the apple cake recipes I've baked and eaten, this one (from The Sweetest Menu) takes top billing. It's hard to resist that crunchy swirl of cinnamon/sugar/butter that permeates the flavorful cake with its moist, tender crumb. There's no butter in the batter, only vegetable oil and Greek yogurt. You don't even need a mixer -- a wooden spoon and bowl will do. Drizzle with a little confectioner's sugar glaze to make it even more delicious. It's great at room temperature but divine eaten a little bit warm.

Place the dollops of cinnamon sugar on top and swirl a bit with a knife or spoon to incorporate.

The heavenly aroma wafting throughout the house will draw everyone to the kitchen.

It will be hard to resist digging in but if you don't want the confectioner's sugar glaze to melt, don't apply it hot from the oven. Wait a wee bit till it has cooled off somewhat. I'll be making this on repeat all fall. I hope you will too.

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Apple Cinnamon Cake

(From "The Sweetest Menu"

Ingredients

Apple cake

• 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 150 grams (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
•  2 large apples, peeled and roughly chopped, mixed with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) Greek yogurt

Cinnamon topping

• 50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Sugar glaze

• 30 grams (1/4 cup) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
• 1–2 tablespoons milk

• Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and flour an 8 1/2" springform pan.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add chopped apples mixture and stir briefly to combine.
  3. In a separate bowl, add eggs, vanilla, oil and yogurt. Whisk briefly just to break up the egg yolks.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently mix with a wooden spoon until combined – but be careful not to over mix. Spoon batter into prepared tin.
  5. To make cinnamon topping, combine cinnamon, sugar and butter. Mix together until lumpy and wet. Sprinkle over cake batter and using a spoon, mix lightly into batteer.
  6. Bake cake for approximately 30-35 minutes (mine took more like 40-45 minutes) or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. To make the glaze, mix together sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk. Stir until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add an extra tablespoon of milk. Drizzle glaze all over the cake.

Blame It On The Baklava

Gone two weeks in Greece and I gained 5 pounds, even though I ate fish for dinner 99 percent of the time. Blame it on the baklava, one of my favorite desserts. More than 40 years have passed since I first tasted baklava at a fund-raiser for my children's nursery school. I've been making it since then (but not too often since it's highly caloric) using a recipe given to me by the woman who made it for the school. For years now, I've been thinking about posting that recipe, but never got around to it. However, since returning from Greece last week, and having just made it to serve to my Italian chit-chat group yesterday, the time was right to post here.

First let me say I ate my fair share of baklava while in Greece, (as the scale revealed) some quite good and one just so-so. Let me also state that the baklava I make (recipe below) is every bit as good as any that I ate in Greece, and dare I say, even better? Yes, I know, you may think I'm exaggerating, but truly, I've served it to Greek friends and to someone who has traveled to Greece a number of times, and they agree with me. I know it seems strange, since the recipe is from the now-extinct McCall's magazine, but I think I know why this recipe is so darn good: 1. The syrup is infused with oranges and lemons, while most recipes use only lemons, and 2. It uses both walnuts and almonds, while most recipes call for only one type of nut. That combo makes this recipe irresistibly delicious.

Meanwhile, while in Greece, my first baklava was from a bakery on the island of Naxos. I couldn't wait to dig in and started eating it in the car. It was really good, and especially crispy on top. I should have waited to eat it with a fork rather than gobble it down using my fingers.

The second one had pistachios, which I do love, but it turns out, not so much in baklava. If Paul Hollywood (of "The Great British Bakeoff" fame) were judging, he'd say "It's a bit stodgy." The addition of ice cream was a nice touch though.

This one from a bakery in Athens was good but lacked much flavor.

And this one eaten at a restaurant in Athens was probably the best I ate while in Greece. Again, extra points for ice cream on the side.

But my homemade baklava still beats out any of the above. It's not even hard to make, provided you buy store-bought phyllo pastry (who makes phyllo from scratch anyway?)

The most important thing is to keep the unused phyllo sheets covered while working with the recipe, buttering every other sheet (I told you it had lots of calories).

Sprinkle the nut mixture in several layers.

When you've used up all the phyllo, slice through the top layer only, making diamond shapes, and if desired, poke a whole clove into each section. Bake.

Drizzle the honey/syrup mixture over the top while it's still hot, then let it cool before serving. As you can see, it makes a lot. I hope you have a crowd coming, but if not, it freezes pretty well too, although it won't be as crispy as when you first make it.

And if baklava isn't enough to entice you to visit Greece, here are a few photos that might put a bug in your ear:

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From McCalls's Magazine 

BAKLAVA

FOR THE SYRUP:
3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups honey
1 (2-inch) cinnamon stick
4 lemon slices
4 orange slices
FOR THE BAKLAVA:
1 pkg (1 lb size) prepared phyllo-pastry leaves, 15 by 12 inches, about 32 leaves*
2 cups finely chopped or ground walnuts
1 cup finely chopped or ground blanched almonds
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sweet butter, melted

TO MAKE THE SYRUP:
In medium saucepan, combine 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup water. Bring to boiling, stirring to dissolve sugar; add honey, cinnamon stick and lemon and orange slices. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Strain; cool. Should measure 2 1/2 cups.

TO MAKE THE BAKLAVA:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove pastry leaves from package. In small bowl, mix walnuts, almonds, sugar, ground cinnamon and nutmeg. Place 2 pastry leaves in a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1-inch jelly-roll pan; brush top leaf with some of melted butter. Continue stacking leaves, 14 in all, and buttering every other leaf. (Keep rest covered with damp towels to prevent drying.)

Sprinkle with third of nut mixture. Add 6 more leaves, brushing every other one with butter. Sprinkle with third of nut mixture.

Layer 6 more leaves, brushing every other one with butter. Sprinkle with the last third of nut mixture.

Stack remaining pastry leaves on top, brushing every other one with remaining melted butter and buttering top pastry leaf. Trim edges, if necessary.

With sharp knife, cut through top layer on long side; make 8 diagonal cuts at 1 1/2-inch intervals. Then, starting at one corner, make 9 cuts, on diagonal at 1 1/2-inch intervals, to form diamonds. (Cut through top layer only; do not cut through layers.)

Bake 60 minutes, or until golden and puffy. Turn off heat. Leave in oven 60 minutes; remove.

Pour cooled syrup over hot baklava. Following diamond pattern, cut all the way through baklava. Cool in pan - to absorb syrup - on wire rack.

*If phyllo is frozen, thaw in refrigerator.

Makes 35 pieces
From: Recipelink.com
Source: Magazine: McCall's Cooking School, Number 8, 1980, 1981

Sausage and Rice Stuffed Eggplants

More eggplants? Well, vegetable gardens are prolific this time of year. My eggplants this year have been producing more quickly than rabbits in heat, and it's hard to keep up with them all. The eggplant "fries" from my last post have been a big hit, but man does not live by eggplant fries alone. Stuffed eggplants hit the right notes for my husband, with a filling of Italian sausage, rice, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. It's like eating eggplant parm but with the extra benefit of more protein. If you're vegetarian and want to eliminate the sausage, it will still be delicious. 

I started with these "fairy tale" eggplants, which I've never grown until this year. They're tiny, even when mature, reaching only three or four inches in length. They tend to morph from white to yellow when they ripen, with a purple striation that turns beige when cooked. But you can use those longer, glossy, all-purple eggplants too. I trimmed most of the green from the top (see the one that isn't trimmed below as well as the ones that are trimmed) but left a little nub at the top to keep the eggplants from opening up too much.

Make a crosshatch in each one, being careful not to break the skin. Smear with some olive oil, salt and pepper.

Then flip them over and bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.

They'll come out of the oven looking like this. 

Scoop out the insides, being careful not to break the outer shell, if possible.

Chop the interior into small pieces.

I saved some of the interior for later use to make eggplant "meatballs." Cut up a mozzarella, and use half in the stuffing, then save half to spread on top.

Mix all the filling ingredients together.

Spread some tomato sauce on the bottom of a pan, then place the stuffed eggplants on top. Spread the remaining mozzarella and a little more tomato sauce over everything.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, covered with aluminum foil, but remove the foil for the last 15 minutes. Sit down and enjoy these beauties.

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Sausage and Rice Stuffed Eggplants

8 small "Fairy tale" eggplants, or three large eggplants

3 cups cooked rice (brown or white)

1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1 lb. Italian sausage (raw)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated 

salt, pepper

minced parsley

marinara sauce

Trim the stems of the eggplants but leave a little "nub" at the top to help keep it together when it bakes in the oven. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise, then make crosshatch marks on each half, being careful not to cut through the skin. Rub with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place skin side up on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the eggplants from the oven and when they are cool enough to handle, scoop out the interior with a spoon. Using a sharp knife, chop the cooked eggplant into small pieces.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, add the rice, parmesan cheese, raw sausage, eggs, salt, pepper, parsley and about 1/2 of the mozzarella, keeping the other half aside to use on top.

Add the chopped eggplant to the bowl, along with 1/2 cup of marinara sauce. Mix everything well, then stuff into the eggplants.

Line a casserole (or two as I did if using the fairy tale eggplants) with some marinara sauce. Place the eggplants in the casserole and then top each eggplant with more of the mozzarella and more of the marinara sauce. Cover with foil and bake in a 350 for 45 minutes or until the sausage is cooked and the dish is piping hot. Remove the foil during the last 15 minutes.

 

Crispy Oven Baked Eggplant Fries

It's the end of August and like many people with vegetable gardens, you may be finding yourself with a surfeit of eggplants. We sure have an abundant supply and for the first time, they're not those typical shiny oblong purple eggplants that are used in Italian cooking. The ones growing in our garden are called "fairytale eggplants" and they are small and stripe-y looking. The grow only about three to four inches long when mature, making it a little difficult to cut large, long slices. I was trying to figure out what to do with them when I came up with the idea of making baked eggplant fries. 

In order to get the stick shape I was looking for, I cut thick slices (about 1" thick), then sliced the slices into three or four pieces. See photo below:

Using the traditional method of breading anything from chicken cutlets to vegetables, I arranged three plates with flour; beaten egg; and a bread crumb mixture. The bread crumb mixture contained both regular and panko bread crumbs, plus parmesan cheese and fresh, minced oregano. The first time I made these I used only panko, but they were so crunchy it hurt my teeth, so I tempered it with regular bread crumbs.

It's a messy job to dip the eggplant sticks into the three separate mixtures but keep a moist paper towel handy to clean up your fingers when you need to. Grease a cookie sheet with olive oil, then arrange the eggplant sticks on top and drizzle with more olive oil. Bake in a 425 degree oven. 

Flip them once while they're in the oven, and after 15-20 minutes, you'll have these crunchy, delicious baked eggplant fries. They make a great side dish, or serve them as an hors d'oeuvres, with a marinara sauce or aioli.

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Crispy Oven Baked Eggplant Fries

3 or 4 "baby" eggplants or 2 traditional purple eggplants

3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

3/4 cup regular breadcrumbs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 eggs, beaten

a handful of fresh herbs, minced (I used oregano but basil, thyme or marjoram would be nice too)

olive oil to drizzle on cookie sheet and over top of eggplants

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Slice the eggplants into thick 1" slices, then slice each slice into three or four "sticks."

In three separate plates, place the flour; the beaten egg; and the bread crumb mixture, made by mixing the two bread crumbs with parmesan cheese and minced oregano. 

 Dip each stick into first the flour, then the egg and finally the bread crumb/parmesan mixture.

Smear a cookie sheet with olive oil, then place the "sticks" over the olive oil. Drizzle more olive oil on top, then place in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, flipping once. 

Serve with a marinara sauce or aioli, or just plain.

Seared Tuna With Salmoriglio Sauce

Seared tuna is a delicious meal that takes only a couple of minutes to cook. Serve it with this salmoriglio sauce and you've got a real winner, for company or for any night. But first you need to be sure of getting really fresh tuna. We were fortunate to receive this gift of fresh tuna last week from our friend Lou, who had just returned from an overnight fishing trip, where he and friends travel 60 miles offshore in search of the prized catch. It doesn't get much fresher than this, unless you cook it onboard the boat.

These are the pieces I cooked. One is thicker than the other, so you need to factor the thickness into your cooking time. Cooking time depends on not just the thickness, but how rare you like your tuna. I don't like it raw, but I didn't want to overcook the fish where no pink was showing. I first smeared the fish with a little olive oil, then pressed some "everything seasoning" into the flesh. In the past I've used a combination of white and black sesame seeds and served it with an Asian-inspired sauce (see that recipe here), but I wanted to use some of my fresh herbs, so I decided to make salmoriglio, a commonly used sauce in Sicily and Calabria. We loved the combination of flavors.

One mistake I would caution you not to make is not to have the pan "screaming hot." It burned most of the seeds and I had to scrape them off. I would cook it at medium heat, and just flip it once, with about three to five minutes per side for a thick piece (1 inch or so), and just a minute per side on a thinner piece.

This will give you a pink interior, but a bit more cooked flesh near the surface. If you want it even more rare, then adjust and cook it less. I served it with baked eggplant fries (recipe coming soon).

Salmoriglio sauce is traditionally made with parsley and oregano, but my parsley seemed to have fizzled out mid-summer, so I grabbed a few other herbs, like marjoram, chives and oregano, that were still going strong. There are no rules, so use what makes your taste buds happy. This was definitely a happy marriage of flavors.

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Seared Tuna with Salmoriglio Sauce

about 1 pound of fresh tuna

a little olive oil to smear over the fish

1/4 cup of "everything seasoning" or a mixture of white and black sesame seeds

for the salmoriglio sauce:

zest of one lemon

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

1/2 cup- 3/4 cup fresh herbs (use parsley, oregano, marjoram or chives or a combination of them)

2 cloves garlic

salt, pepper to taste

1/3 cup olive oil

Remove the fish from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 1/2 hour. 

Meanwhile make the sauce. Place all ingredients into a blender and whir until almost smooth. It's ok if there are tiny bits of herbs showing. Set it aside while you cook the fish. 

Pat the tuna dry and smear with a little olive oil on both sides, then press the everything seasoning or sesame seeds into the flesh. Sear the fish in skillet (I used cast iron) on medium heat, flipping it once after a couple of minutes. If you like your tuna cooked more, sear it longer. If you want it rare, cook it less. A lot depends on the thickness of the tuna.

Serve with the salmoriglio sauce.

Clams On The Grill

It's summertime and that means no-fuss, no-muss cooking. These clams, cooked in a disposable pan on the grill, fit the bill perfectly. We ate them as our main course, sharing a little more than forty clams, but enough to serve as an appetizer for a larger group. I was inspired to make these after reading about how much protein we "seniors" should be eating each day. A 70-year-old woman generally needs between 1.0 and 1.2 grams of protein per day for each kilogram of body weight. That's higher than the recommended intake for younger adults and is crucial for maintaining muscle mass, bone strength, and overall health. For example, a 150-pound (68 kg) woman would need approximately 68-82 grams of protein daily. When I checked how much food I needed to eat to consume that amount of protein, I realized I needed to 

up my game. We eat mostly fish, chicken or a grain main course, like pasta, and eat red meat only once or twice a month at most. Oatmeal is our breakfast of choice, but we'll be rotating that with yogurt or eggs from now on. When I looked up the amount of protein in clams, I was astonished to learn that 12 littleneck clams contain 22-28 grams of protein, meaning that my meal last night contained half if not more of my protein requirements for the day. Yea! Clams are also rich in vitamins and minerals and low in fat and calories. Win-win! The small amount of pancetta added even more protein and added more flavor. Are you on board?  Start by drizzling a little olive oil in a disposable pan, and place the pancetta inside. Place the grill on high heat and cook the pancetta until it's crisp and the fat has been rendered.

Add the clams and the rest of the ingredients -- a little knob of butter, dry white wine, garlic, salt, and fresh herbs.

Close the lid and let it bubble away for five minutes, then open the lid and stir to move the clams around. I also added more fresh herbs each time I opened the lid of the grill.

Cook for ten to fifteen minutes, or until the clams have all opened and had a chance to cook through. Toss more fresh parsley on top and serve with grilled bread that's been moistened with olive oil and sprinkled with coarse sea salt.

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Clams On The Grill

1 bag of littleneck clams (there were about 40 in the bag)

1 slice of pancetta 1/2" thick, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

six cloves of minced garlic

1/4 cup dry white wine

salt

minced parsley, plus other herbs to your liking (I used sprigs of thyme and marjoram)

Place the olive oil and pancetta in the disposable pan and cook over high heat until the pancetta loses its fat and starts to crisp. Add the clams, the garlic, salt, wine, butter and herbs, leaving some minced parsley to sprinkle over the top at the end.

Cover the lid of the grill, opening the lid occasionally to stir once or twice. When the clams are all open and have cooked for a few minutes, they are done. It may take 10 to fifteen or twenty minutes.

Serve with grilled bread, smeared with olive oil and salt.

 

Making Pasteis De Nata In Lisbon

If you've never eaten a pastel de nata (pastéis is the plural), a signature dessert of Portugal, you are really missing out on one of life's great treats. We have a large population of Portuguese people living in and around Newark, so they're easy to find here in New Jersey. But eating and making them where they were first created was like finding the mother lode. Pastéis de nata tarts are pastries inspired by an original recipe called Pastéis de Belém, which were created before the 18th century by Catholic monks at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belem (a Lisbon neighborhood). 

In the aftermath of the liberal revolution of 1820, following the dissolution of religious orders and in the face of the impending closure of many convents and monasteries, the monks started selling pastéis de nata at a nearby sugar refinery to bring in revenue. In 1834, the monastery was closed and the recipe sold to the sugar refinery, whose owners opened the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém in 1837. The descendants own the business to this day.

Naturally, we had to try them at the source (where I was also inspired to paint the scene).

Cradled in a crispy, buttery pastry, and filled with a silky, custard interior, you'll find it hard to resist eating more than one of these luscious confections.

My husband, my daughter-in-law and I signed up for a class in Belem on our recent trip, to learn to make these treats. It was lots of fun, and they were easier to make than they look. First you need to make the pastry. Yes, you could buy puff pastry, but there's nothing like homemade and it really wasn't that difficult at all. The most important thing was to refrigerate the dough before shaping it into the tart tins. There's a lot of butter in the dough and you don't want it oozing out because it starts out too warm.

Our chef and teacher Miguel showed us that we needed to put the block of butter in the center of the two layers of dough.

Keep pounding it down, (don't roll it) into a rectangle.

Then moisten the rectangle with water. It will help the dough stick to itself when you roll it into a "log."

Roll it tightly into a log shape. You should be able to get about 12 cuts in the log.

Cut it in pieces a little more than 1/4" thick.

Then using your thumbs, spread each piece wider to fit the individual tart pans, going all the way to the rim of the pan. P.S. You can easily find the tart pans online by searching "pastel de nata tins."

They should look like this:

Then pour the filling into the molds, about 3/4 of the way to the top and place them in the oven.

They'll puff up when they're in the oven, and will deflate after a couple of minutes when you remove them.

Here are the results of our labors. Optional: dust with powdered confectioner's sugar and/or cinnamon.

And here are our fellow classmates, who were visiting from Boston and from London.

Miguel, our teacher, offered us our choice of Portuguese dessert wines to accompany the tarts -- muscatel or ginja, a cherry-based liqueur.

If you find yourself in Lisbon and are interested in a fun way to spend a few hours, here is the info to contact Miguel.

In 2009, The Guardian listed pastéis de Belém as one of the 50 "best things to eat" in the world.  I think I have to agree with that. In 2011, following the result of a public vote, the pastry was announced as one of Portugal's Seven Wonders of Gastronomy, further cementing it as one of the country's most popular national dishes.

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Pastéis de Nata

For the Puff Pastry
230 grams (1 3/4 cups) of low protein flour
120 grams (1/2 cup) of cold water
4 grams (3/4 teaspoon) of fine salt
160 grams (2/3 cup)  of a square of butter proper for puff pastry (high fat, like French or Irish butter)

1. In a large bowl combine the flour, water and salt until you get a dough
consistency.
2. Change for a working surface and knead for 3 minutes. Wrap in cling
film and let it rest in the fridge for 10 minutes
3. With a rolling pin extend the dough creating 4 wings with a lump in
the middle. The wings should have size to cover the square of butter.
4. Place the butter in the center of the dough, close with the wings and press.
5. With a rolling pin extend the dough until get a rectangle shape
with 5mm thick (a little over 3/16 inch)
6. Fold in the pastry in three parts.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 one time
8. For the final fold divide the dough in 4 parts instead of 3.
9. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with water. Roll and press a bit
to form a roll. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
10. Cut 8 mm (a teeny bit more than 1/4") thick slices of puff pastry. You should get 12 or a little more slices.
11. Place a disc of dough on the bottom of the tins and with your
thumbs press and stretch the dough until it completely covers the tin
interior.

For the Custard
200 ml of whole milk (3/4 cup plus two tablespoons)
200 ml of cream (35% fat content) (3/4 cup plus two tablespoons)
120 gr of sugar (1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
2 egg yolks
Cinnamon stick
Lemon zest

1. Dissolve the cornstarch with a part of milk.
2. In a pot, combine everything, except the egg yolks. Bring to a low
simmering just to infuse the aromatics and thicken it up to a double
cream texture (6 minutes)
3. Let it cool to room temperature, before adding the beating egg yolks.
4. Fill up the tins up to ¾.
5. Bake at maximum heat (250ºC or 500 degrees Fahrenheit). Place the tray in
the middle of the oven, fan off with heat coming from top and bottom
either.
6. Should bake for 12/15 minutes. First the puff pastry will start to
flake. After a few minutes the custard will rise and form a dome. When
the black dots appear on top, Pastéis de Nata are done.

Optional: Dust with powdered sugar and/or cinnamon.