I've been wanting to try farro for quite a while now but my Whole Foods always seems to be out of it. I finally found some the other day (when I was there for something entirely different of course. It is a fact you cannot leave WF with less than 5 items. I have tried. Many times.), so I picked it up.
I had actually planned on making some sort of chicken/spinach/whole wheat pasta bake last night because I wanted to make something that would yield leftovers for lunches. But, I was not feeling pasta at all and, silly me, I ate a chicken pasta for lunch. D'oh. So for the last half hour of work, my mind kept wandering to what I could make tonight. I still wanted something one-dish that would yield leftovers. And then I remembered the farro. And THEN, I realized that farro ended in an O which meant I could submit this over to Jenn, Sara, and Michelle, who are hosting O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness. Phew. I was racking my brain trying to think of something to make for this over the weekend with what I had on hand and came up with nada. So I was pretty happy to discover something on accident, since I really wanted to participate in this event. More details about Ovarian Cancer Awareness at the end of this post.
Now, I have never cooked with farro before so I'm not sure about the whole soaking thing. Some websites called for soaking the farro in cold water for 8 hours or more before baking. Other recipes just had you jump right into the boiling. I decided to soak the farro for about 45 minutes. Seemed to work just fine.
There is a very small amount of chicken in this recipe which is great for people trying to eat less meat, or simply cut down on costs. Of course, you can always add more chicken if you are not one of those people. Or, take it out entirely and make this a great vegetarian meal. I might add an extra egg or a little more cheese next time for added creaminess, but otherwise this was very tasty and filling. And wait till you see the nutritional information. You definitely won't feel bad adding an extra egg or some cheese if you want. :)
I really liked the farro. I would say it's very similar to barley in both taste and texture, but it's still a nice change of pace. I will probably stick with barley and other grains, though, because, while this is a whole grain, it is lower in fiber and protein than barley.
Farro Bake
Serves 6
1 cup farro (soaked or not. whatev.)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
1 chicken breast (about 8-10 oz.), cooked and shredded
a couple dashes crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess water
3 oz. goat cheese, softened
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan or romano cheese
salt and pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add the farro. Cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion until translucent, and then add the mushrooms and garlic. Add a little salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms have browned and lost most of their moisture. Stir in the chicken, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper to taste, and Italian seasoning and cook a few extra minutes to marry the flavors. Stir in the sundried tomatoes.
Preheat the oven to 375. Whisk the goat cheese and eggs together in a large bowl. Add a couple grinds of pepper. Allow the farro and chicken mixture to cool slightly before adding them both to the goat cheese mixture. Combine well and then pour into a casserole dish or pie pan that is lightly greased. Sprinkle with the romano cheese. Bake for about 35 minutes.
Nutritional Information Per Serving - Calories: 267 / Fat: 8.8 / Saturated: 3.6 / Carbs: 29g / Protein: 21.2g
O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen and Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, Jenn of The Leftover Queen, and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are asking you to donate to the:
and then, out of the goodness of your hearts and to be eligible for the OFoods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest, please do the following:
- Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato) and include this entire text box in the post;
OR
- If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word about the event and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
AND
- Then send your post url [along with a photo (100 x 100) if you’ve made a recipe] to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on September 30, 2008.
We will post a roundup and announce prize winners on October 3.
Prizes:
- 1 Recipe Prize for best “O food” concoction: $50 gift certificate to Amazon;
- 1 Awareness Prize for only publicizing event: Copy of Dolce Italiano cookbook.
———
From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:
- Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
- The American Cancer Society estimates that 21,650 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. in 2008 and about 15,520 women will die from the disease.
- The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
- In spite of this patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
- When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.
Please donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
and help spread the word!
Honestly, why is it that I am always compelled to make things for blog events that look like ass? I feel like I am always sticking a disclaimer on my entries that says, "Sorry this doesn't photograph well, but I promise it tastes good!"
OK, so, to be a broken record, this is precisely the case with this recipe. There are so many food blogging events that I've been wanting to participate in lately but have been so busy I haven't had the chance. I made it a point, though, to participate in Savory Pies, an event hosted by my friend Ivy at Kopiaste.
Now, you know me. You know I eat pretty healthfully most of the time. Pies are not so healthy. I mean you could make them with phyllo, which is much better than typical crust, but then you have to use all that butter between the layers. And for whatever reason, I can't justify the cooking oil spraying between each layer instead of the butter or oil. I mean, I am healthy but first and foremost I am Greek! That's borderline blasphemous. :)
That said, the only thing I might change in this is to add a little more fat to the crust. I was trying to keep this relatively low-cal which is why there is only 2T of fat in it, but let's be honest, more fat = tastes better. Otherwise, this is a nice dinner version of everyone's favorite dip--the 7 layer one! I decided to make the crust with cornmeal - something I love in my plasto - because corn just goes so well with Mexican/Tex-Mex dishes. This looks like a long process but it's really not bad. You can make the beans while your crust bakes and your ground beef mixture right after. And, since everything is already cooked, the final baking of the pie is really only to melt the cheese. I went ahead and used the same pan for the beans and the meat and I already had the food processor out for the pie crust, so why not use it for the bean layer, too? This made for some easy cleanup on my part.
7-Layer Pie
Crust - Layer 1
3/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup masa harina or regular flour
1 T cold butter
1 T canola oil
pinch of salt and a little ground pepper
cold water or milk
Preheat the oven to 375.
Combine the corn meal, flour, butter, oil, salt & pepper in a food processor and pulse to combine. Slowly add a little cold water or milk until the consistency is such that you can pinch some of the mixture with your fingers and it sticks together a bit.
Spray a deep dish pie pan with a little cooking oil and then press the mixture into the dish to form a crust. Prebake for about 12 minutes and then set aside.
Black Beans - Layer 2 (<--- Mmm, isn't that a pretty picture? LOL)
This is the same way I make beans as a side, but this time I pureed them for more of a refried bean-like consistency.
1-2 tsp. canola oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 cup chicken broth
squeeze of fresh lime juice (optional)
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the oil to a shimmer. Stir in the onions and cook until tender. Add garlic and tomato paste and saute an additional minute. Add the beans, chicken broth, bay leaf, cumin, chili powder and oregano. Simmer to combine flavors. Squeeze fresh lime juice in mixture if desired. Pulse the mixture in your food processor until it is a spreadable consistency. Of course you don't HAVE to do this, but I just felt this was more dip-like.
Ground Beef - Layer 3
1 lb. ground beef or sirloin
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1.5 tsp. cumin
1.5 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. oregano
1/3 cup beef broth
salt and pepper
Brown the beef and the onion together until the beef is cooked and the onion is translucent. Drain the fat. To the pan add the garlic, sauteing until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer over low until thickened. Season to taste if necessary.
Cheese - Layer 4
1 cup shredded cheese
After you have layered the crust, beans, ground beef & cheese, bake the pie in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and everything is warmed through. Top with the remaining layers:
Sour cream - Layer 5
1/3 cup sour cream
Tomato - Layer 6
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
Olives - Layer 7
1/3 cup sliced olives
Okay, you got me. This piece doesn't have sour cream on it (yet) because it was a leftover piece. Nor is it reheated. Congealed cheese, anyone? And the pic above? The reason it's so close up is because I didn't want to store the remaining pie with the sour cream on top. Who wants to eat hot sour cream when reheated? Not me.
Leftover tourlou tourlou? Make a frittata.
Tom was working late the other day and his work provided dinner for him, so I was on my own. I was too lazy to make a full meal, so I took the last of the tourlou tourlou, added 2 beaten eggs and a splash of milk and made a mini frittata. Then I sprinkled it with some feta cheese and stuck it under the broiler. A delicious Greek twist on this Italian classic.
Also, this is not particularly related to this post, but I thought I would share anyway, seeing as my commentary about the frittata was a little shortish and, well, dull (not that I am promising riveting commentary below). I love Greek yogurt. I think it's one of the best things on the planet. It's so tart and creamy. It's just unmatched by any other yogurt. Even the fat free variety is totally indulgent. But the thing about it is, it's expensive. And with prices on pretty much everything continuing to rise, I can't always justify buying the yogurt that costs 3 times as much as the other yogurt.
So, I've been trying to alternate between Greek and regular. Now, I normally only strain yogurt if I am making something like tzatziki but I decided to strain my plain yogurt this time because the texture of regular fat free yogurt when you are used to Greek is more than a little offputting. And by offputting, I mean, pretty nasty.
So I strained the yogurt overnight (that's a strainer lined with a cheesecloth, over a bowl)...
and the next morning, this is what I found in the bowl.
Ick. No wonder I can't get behind this stuff. Mind you, this was after I already poured off the liquid at the top and had already eaten a serving earlier in the day. Anyway now that it's strained, it's much better. It's still not Greek yogurt, but it's better than the runny tasteless mess I had the day before.
Tourlou tourlou is a funny name for a seriously tasty dish. The tou is pronounced like "too" (not like tour). Can you roll your Rs? I sure hope so because my high school Spanish teacher claimed that if you couldn't roll your Rs, you were a mutant. She was a special lady. But if you have issues with R-rolling, it's more authentic sounding to make a D sound. So it's like toodloo toodloo. Got it? You are most welcome for your Greek Lesson of the Day (:::Elly cues "The More You Know" backdrop. "Da da da daaaaa!":::)
Moving on, tourlou tourlou is basically a medley of vegetables roasted over a long period of time. It's essentially the same thing as briam, which you may have seen on the menu at your local Greek place. The vegetables vary frequently, but I would argue that potatoes and zucchini are usually staples. You can use anything I've used, plus green beans, okra...whatever you want. Except cauliflower. Don't use cauliflower because cauliflower is the debil. :P
So, big deal right? Roasted vegetables. Been there, done that. Not like this you haven't. By roasting the vegetables for a really long time, all of their natural sweetness comes out and makes this dish super delicious. So delicious, in fact, that my husband told me when he was reheating his leftovers at work, a virtual stranger stuck his face in front of the microwave to see what smelled so good.
This main dish is especially popular during times when Greeks don't eat meat, but it can also be a side dish for some type of protein. We ate this with some Greek-seasoned chicken breast. As I mentioned, the vegetables can vary as can the herbs. I've used dill and parsley in mine. There is something I just love about dill with certain vegetables, and especially with anything tomato-based.
(Mysteriously absent from photo: garlic)
Tourlou Tourlou
Serves 6-8 as a side
1 eggplant, sliced into about 1/2" slices (peeled or unpeeled, your call)
2 large zucchini, sliced
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 large yellow or vidalia onion, cut in half and then sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 lbs. potatoes, peeled and sliced or cut into chunks
1 green bell pepper, sliced or cut into 1" bites
1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
fresh dill..oh, about 3T or so?
1/2 cup olive oil (you could probably get away with 1/3 but since everything else here is so healthy, it's ok to splurge)
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 375. Toss all the vegetables, salt (use a healthy amount, it's a lot of vegetables!) and pepper, and the herbs with the olive oil in a large pan. Mix the crushed tomatoes with 1/2 cup of water and then pour the mixture over the whole pan.
It will look something like this:
Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 1.5 hours. Then it will look something like this. Oh sure, it's not the prettiest thing, but who cares? It tastes awesome.
Nutritional Information for 1/8 of the casserole: Calories: 231 / Fat: 13.9g / Saturated Fat: 1.9g / Carbs: 25.7g / Fiber: 5.5g / Protein: 4.3g
Thanks to another great giveaway on BlakeMakes, I scored these super cute and super functional dipping spoons from Spoon Sisters.
These are great because you can get to the bottom of your long canisters or spice jars without making a mess. Who makes messes? Certainly not me... ;)
I also like the smaller ones for spices because they easily fit into the jar, whereas my adjustable measuring spoon doesn't. Thanks Spoon Sisters and BlakeMakes! Be sure to sign up to be a Sooper Hero on BlakeMakes, if you haven't already
I've been so behind on my blogging lately, and even more behind on all the great blog events that have been happening. In fact, I was in bed the other day and when I should have been sleeping, I remembered that an Eat to the Beat deadline was approaching and I had no idea what to make. After just a minute or two, I remembered the song "Raspberry Swirl" by Tori Amos and decided that would definitely work. I love Tori Amos. I remember getting From the Choirgirl Hotel the day it came out and discussing it with one of my friends in high school. She liked "Raspberry Swirl" the best. I was hesitant. It was ok, but kind of...weird. But of course it grew on me, big time, and it's now one of my favorite songs on the album.
But anyway, back to Eat to the Beat. How had I not thought of this song before? I mean, it's not really about food (far from), but the title could easily be applied to food. It's definitely the easiest one I've thought of yet, and even easier to execute. Just think of something to stick a raspberry swirl in and be done with it. Right? Not so much.
See, my first idea was cheesecake bars which I ultimately should have just gone with. They would no doubt be tasty and the swirl would be striking against the white bars. But I had pretty much none of the ingredients for cheesecake bars, so I decided to make raspberry swirl blondies. In theory, these were a good idea (and tasty!) but in practice, not so much. First, as you know, blondies are golden in color. Second, I decided to mix some raspberry jam with a few tablespoons of batter which dulled the color way too much. And, while tasty, the blondies didn't look particularly pretty.
Then, I was home alone all weekend because Tom's friends were in town for a bachelor party. The weather was really awful and I was bored, so I decided to make something else raspberry swirled. A quickbread. This is ultimately what I will end up blogging below, but it wasn't really my first choice (err, at this point, even my second). Sort of for the same reasons as above--the swirl is not as striking. And, it's not terribly exciting or different from things I bake pretty much every Sunday--healthyish carbs to go with my eggs in my weekday breakfasts.
So then I thought, of course. Angel food cake. A relatively healthier dessert, a pretty white canvas to work with, and a flavor that raspberry would complement. So, I mashed some raspberries that I figured I would layer in the batter and went by Alton Brown's recipe. But, alas, I don't have a nice tube pan with a removeable bottom. What I have is a tube/bundt pan that doesn't have a tube that raises above the edges and also which apparently hates me. So, after all the whipping and the sifting and the slow dolloping into the pan (and even the use of a small ramekin to help prop my pan upside down to cool when it came out of the oven), I had the hardest time ever getting the damned cake out. It finally came out...but, well, not all of it. Part of it stuck in the pan, making a not very attractive angel food cake. And, I had some air pockets in the cake too. So, although it tasted good, it looked pretty awful. Sigh.
And that's when I decided that this Eat to the Beat was obviously not as easy as I had so naively imagined. And after my share of raspberry swirled items over the last few days, I decided to say screw it and post the quickbread. The funny thing is I always look at blog events to make something sort of sinful and that I wouldn't normally make, but here I am making a variation on something I tend to make all the time. But, oh well.
Light Vanilla Quickbread with Raspberry Swirl
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1 egg
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup plain, fat free yogurt
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup raspberry jam
Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.
Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat the egg with the sugar until pale and smooth. Add the yogurt, vanilla, and oil and beat until just incorporated.
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture in 2-3 additions until just incorporated (don't overmix!).
Put about 1/2 of the mixture into the loaf pan, spreading evenly. Stir the jam vigorously to loosen it a little and then spoon it over the batter, but leave some space around all sides of the loaf. Spoon the remaining batter over the jam. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/12 of the loaf): Calories: 177 / Fat: 5g / Carbs: 30g / Protein: 3g
It's actually pretty rare for my grocery store to have tomatillos, which is why I appreciate the canned version I have been able to find at Whole Foods. Last time I went to WF, even they didn't have fresh tomatillos. I don't get it.
Last week, I was grocery shopping when I not only saw tomatillos, but saw them on sale. Now, I am a bit of a planner. I plan our meals out for the week--maybe not by the day, but I make a list of meals and ingredients and shop from that. I *try* not to stray from the list because I want to save money and not waste food. Clearly, though, these sale priced tomatillos were a sign from the food gods--who, incidentally, have NOT been giving me any clear signs as to how to use this southwestern pasta blend that has been sitting in my cupboard forever. So, I threw them in my cart, had Tom grab a poblano pepper for...something, and thought about what to do with them later.
Which, as you have probably guessed, is where the southwestern pasta came in. I never knew how to use this pasta because I was always afraid the sauce would overpower the noodles. I decided to make a relatively mild sauce that is similar to a salsa verde to complement the flavors in the pasta. I threw in some tequila-lime flank steak for protein and there you have it. This was pretty damn delicious and of course it would be great on regular ol' pasta. I am going to submit this over to the lovely Ruth who runs Presto Pasta Night.
On a semi-related note, what do you, dear reader, consider "light?" You see, I tag healthy things in this blog as "light" but I have a really hard time making a judgment call on some things. Like this dish for example. To me, it's pretty low cal for a meal that just needs a salad as a complement. But do you think 14g of fat is too much? Does the carb-o-rificness of this dish negate its healthfulness? I am torn. Please weigh in (no pun intended). But not just on this dish, in general. For now, I am leaving the light tag off this one.
Southwestern Pasta with Flank Steak and Tomatillo-Poblano Sauce
Serves 4
1 poblano pepper
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. tomatillos, cored and quartered
1/4 cup chicken broth
3/4 tsp. cumin
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/3 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup black beans
4 cups cooked southwestern blend or other pasta
Tequila-lime flank steak (recipe follows)
Cilantro (optional)
Shredded cheese (optional)
Directly over a gas burner or in the broiler, char the poblano on all sides until it blisters. Put it in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap until it is cool enough to handle. Peel it and dice it.
In a large sauce pan, heat the oil. Add the onions and cook until translucent, then add the garlic, poblano, tomatillos, cumin, salt and pepper. Saute for a minute and then stir in the chicken broth. Cover, turn the heat to low or medium-low and let simmer while your steak marinates (about 20 minutes). Take the pan off the heat and add the lime juice. Season to taste if necessary. Then, put the mixture into a food processor, along with the sour cream and pulse process until well combined. Put the sauce back in the pan and add the black beans, stirring to warm them through.
Toss the sauce with the pasta and the flank steak. And that evil cilantro, if you want ;)
Tequila-Lime Flank Steak
1/2 flank steak (about 10 oz.)
2 Tbsp. tequila
1/2 Tbsp. canola oil
juice of 1/2 a lime
cumin, oregano, salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients and let marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes. Grill or broil the steak to your desired doneness. Let rest under a foil tent for a few minutes before slicing.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 453 / Fat: 14g / Saturated Fat: 4g / Carbs: 51g / Fiber: 5.6 / Protein: 24.5g
If you use whole wheat pasta (always encouraged!) you will up your fiber and protein.
Enchiladas, much like lasagna, do not photograph well. Or at least they sure don't for me.
But enchiladas (much like lasagna) taste much better than they look, so that's okay.
I admit I don't make enchiladas very often at all, even though I love them (I am usually an enchiladas suizas or enchiladas con poblano mole kinda gal at a Mexican restaurant). I'm too lazy to make separate components and then fill/roll them, so I usually end up doing a layered casserole/Mexican lasagna of sorts instead (or our staple tamale pie with chicken instead of beef). But, I had a few chipotles in adobo sitting in my fridge, and I was thinking they would make a nice smoky-spicy enchilada sauce, so I decided to go about this the old fashioned way.
The chipotles in adobo were a great touch to the sauce, giving it a little more kick and depth than your usual enchilada sauce. I did a really basic filling, and of course you could modify that to your liking.
Chicken Enchiladas with Chipotle Sauce
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 lb. chicken, cooked and shredded
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper
12-14 corn tortillas
canola oil or cooking spray
2 cups Mexican blend or cheese of your choice, shredded
1 batch enchilada sauce (recipe follows)
Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a large baking/casserol dish with cooking oil and then pour about 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce into the baking dish, barely covering the bottom.
In a large pan, heat the oil. Then add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic, chicken, oregano, cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a little while over low to combine the flavors.
Heat another pan over mediym heat and either spray with cooking spray, or add canola oil to the pan. Add the corn tortillas one at a time, leaving in the pan for about 2 or 3 seconds per side - enough to make them pliable and have a little taste of oil.
Add half the cheese to the chicken filling, or just put about 1 Tbsp of cheese in each tortilla. Fill each tortilla, roll, and place seam side down in the prepared dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the rolled tortillas, making an even layer and coating all enchiladas. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5.
Chipotle Enchilada Sauce
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 chipotles in adobo (depending on how hot you want it), minced, plus 2 tsp. adobo sauce
1 Tbsp. flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 tsp. chili powder
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper
In a medium sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Stir in the garlic and chipotle and after about 30 seconds, add the flour. Cook off the raw flour and then add the broth, tomato sauce, chili powder, bay leaf, oregano, cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer to combine the flavors as your prepare the rest of the meal. Season to taste if necessary. Puree if you want - I went ahead and pulse processed this to make it nice and smooth.
Lentil stews? Paprikash? Ragouts? Apple cakes? Geez, someone is ready for fall to come. Too bad it was 92 degrees yesterday. I don't care! Cooking fall food will surely make it come sooner, right? That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.
So, roughly a bazillion years ago, I saw this apple cake on Kayte's blog and it looked great. I am a sucker for any kind of apple cake/pie/muffin so I starred it to make. The other day, my husband took care of dinner on the grill, so I thought I'd bake something for dessert. This isn't strictly a dessert item, though; it could definitely be a breakfast/brunch item because pastry for breakfast is the best, of course. I think putting the frosting on this would make it over-the-top-desserty, but like Kayte, I did not add the frosting. I did, however, make a quick maple icing to drizzle over the top which lended just the perfect amount of added sweetness.
I halved the recipe from Culinate and baked this in a 9" cake pan (though I think 8" would be better if you have it). I kept most of the spice amounts the same, though, because I like a spicy cake. And I added raisins as well as vanilla. And brown sugar instead of white. OK yeah, enough chatting about things I changed and onto my adapted recipe, already! :)
Apple Cake
adapted from Culinate
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups apples, peeled and chopped (I probably should have chopped them finer but whatever, I'm lazy)
1/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1/3 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 325 and grease and flour a 8" or 9" cake pan.
In a large bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients (through nutmeg). In a separate mixing bowl or in the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Incorporate the egg and vanilla, beating for a minute longer.
Reduce the mixing speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture, in 2-3 additions until just incoporated. The batter will be very thick and stiff. Fold in the apples, raisins, and pecans.
Add the batter to the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Bake for about 28-33 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Maple Glaze
1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1-2 Tbsp. maple syrup
milk
Mix together the maple syrup and sugar, then slowly add milk to get the consistency you want. Then if you add too much milk (gee, I never do that) add more sugar. And maybe more maple syrup.
