Archive for the ‘Baked’ Category
Joe’s Biscotti Recipe
This post is a plug for a wonderful project my dear friend Amanda is working on as part of the Brooklyn Utopias exhibition, opening tomorrow night at The Brooklyn Historical Society. It features the recipe for her father’s biscotti, the results of which I have had, and are legendary:
Pear Upside-Down Cake
This is one of my most favorite everyday cakes, since it is reasonably simple to prepare and it includes two of my most favorite flavors, pears and cardamom. I first made this cake at my sister’s house where I pulled the recipe from one of her cookbooks; I then copied the recipe onto the back of a receipt or something similarly scrappish and promptly lost it in a pile of paper; and then I rediscovered it today while cleaning off my desk. The thing is that I didn’t write down whose recipe it is or what book it came from, so if there are any sleuths out there who can clue me in to its origin, please do. Otherwise we’ll all just have to wait until I go to see my sister again.
It is called “Buttermilk Country Cake” and I am positive it is from a Maida Heatter-influenced cookbook. I made a Pear Upside-Down Cake using an actual Maida Heatter buttermilk cake recipe for a dinner party in Alaska, and it was just not the same. For starts, the M. H. version was enormous in comparison, like double-size the progeny’s version, and for seconds, it was a bit drier and tougher (though for that I’ll point to my probable overbeating of batter. M. H. is not to be messed with). The recipe I have for you here is moist-er than the popular Gourmet Magazine buttermilk cake recipe floating about online. For me, it is just right.
Oyster Pie
About an hour after arriving in Valdez, and less than 24 hours after arriving in Alaska, I received an invitation to spend the night on a fishing boat in Prince William Sound. My dear friend Sandra, on hiatus from the Harvard Peabody Museum, has been spending her summer working at the Valdez Museum and I took her up on the offer to visit. She’d borrowed a minivan from her friend Neal to pick me up in Anchorage, where my flight got in at eleven-thirty at night. Upon arrival I noticed the visible station of the sun and a quantity of handsomely taxidermied animals positioned about the airport, and felt certain that I’d landed in a different place.
Kitchens I Have Loved: Rose Geranium Peach Pie
This will be the first in a series of writings about places that I’ve cooked in and their related recipes. Because I’ve moved from one place to another quite a bit over the years, I’ve become handy at making food in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar tools. A few kitchen implements have made it through many transitions, but mostly, I’ve learned to make do with what’s at hand — without things like measuring tools, frying pans, baking sheets, sieves, sharp knives, microwaves & toasters, mixers, and the like. It’s nice to fetishize cooking equipment, but such things really aren’t necessary to make good food. For that, you’ll surely need decent ingredients and a bit of skill, but really good food requires good reception — friends and family to eat with. The kitchen is where the action is in a home!
Philosophical Mint Cookies
The making of these cookies was inspired by a lecture on Kierkegaard and irony I attended with friend Tommy Thornhill at UC Berkeley earlier this year.
First, there was the lecture, held in the department’s Howison Library on campus. Wood paneling, wood and leather chairs, long tables, leather-bound volumes and portraits of ancient academics set the endearingly shabby scene for Johnathan Lear’s presentation on “Irony and Identity”. Shall I recapitulate the arguments? No! I confess my attention drifted from the speaker to the dress of the attendees (nondescript) to the printed signage instructing patrons on how to use the photocopy machine, and back again. Did I enjoy it, even understand what was being discussed? Yes! Ducks were actually employed in part of Lear’s argument, which pleased me very much.
To the point: at the end of the lecture, the facilitator invited us into an adjacent lounge for “coffee and cookies”. How delightful! And indeed, cookies there were – six or seven different varieties whisked in from some fantasy bakery of deliciousness. I kid you not, the cookies were all very good. Lemon sandwich cookies, dressy chocolate chip, some sort of intense fudgelike concoction, and square-shaped mint-flecked sugar cookies. All so very tasty.
Ginger-Carrot Breakfast Biscuits
This recipe is adopted & adapted from Kristina Turner’s great macrobiotic Self-Healing Cookbook. Published in 1987, it has some of my favorite style attributes of homemade cookbooks — calligraphic titles, line drawings to illustrate the recipes, and use of a Courier/typewriter font. Plus the recipes are simple, healthy, and are tuned into the healing powers of food.
Anyhoo. Don’t get all freaked out about these biscuits being “healthy”, just make them and eat them and see what you think and how you feel. They’re in the granola bar family, are gluten-free & egg-free, and are unsweetened except for my addition of chopped apricots. I can imagine the appeal these would have for those scone-lovers out there if you glazed the tops after baking — which, if that gets you to eat ‘em, go for it. These’ll power you all morning. Whole-grain city here. Yee haw. Yum-o.
You will need:
3/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup oat flour, or a combination of oat, barley, or brown rice flours
2 cups cooked millet
1 1/2 Tbsp. oil (ghee, walnut, sesame, corn, etc.)
1 cup carrot, finely grated
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ginger, finely grated
2 Tbsp. seeds (flax, sesame, poppy, sunflower, etc.)
1/4 tsp. salt
Water or other liquid for added moisture
Heat oven to 350°. Toast oats and flours in a skillet over a low flame, stirring occasionally and removing from heat when fragrant. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except the liquid. Incorporate the flour mixture one cup at a time. (Personally, I like mixing with my hands, but it’s your call.) Add the liquid in small doses until the dough is moist and holds together, but is neither sticky nor gummy. Shape into flat biscuits between your palms and arrange on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, let cool, and store in a sealed container (or wrap for on-the-go eating).
Makes about 9 biscuits
My Granola Bars
Granola bars are easy and flexible — they take less than an hour to make and are a simple combination of things you love. Low on the glycemic index and packed with all sorts of powerful, healthful treats, this combination is a favorite. There are so many options — different varieties of grain, dried fruits, nuts… coconut flakes, carob chips, cardamom, molasses, lavender… the mind boggles.
Keep in mind that the dry measurements are approximate, and should add up to 5 cups total. You may like your granola bars chewier or drier; what you’re aiming for is a good ratio between wet and dry ingredients. Experiment!
1 1/4 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 cup rolled spelt
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup agave nectar or other wet sweetener, such as honey or brown rice syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup almond butter
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup dried gooseberries
Spread your dry ingredients, minus the fruit, onto a cookie sheet. Let them toast in a 350 degree oven, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, for about ten minutes. While the toasting is happening, combine the salt, vanilla, cinnamon, agave nectar, brown sugar, and almond butter in a saucepan and stir over a medium flame until the sugar dissolves. You could also add a few pats of butter here, if you’re so inclined.
At this point, you have two options: to bake or not to bake. Either way, you’ll have a baking dish lined up and over the sides with parchment (if baking) or wax paper (if not) ready to go. An 11×9″ dish will yield thinner bars than a square 9×9″ dish. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, fruit included, in a large bowl. Spread the mixture into the dish with a spoon and cover with paper or plastic wrap so you can press it down with your hands.
If baking, put into a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes. For both baked and non-baked varieties, you will want to wait until the mixture has cooled entirely. The you can remove it from the dish with the help of the paper, which you’ll then peel off. Cut and trim; wrap in plastic for easy transport or store in an airtight container with wax paper between layers to prevent sticking.
Makes about 10 bars
Chard Chips
I love these chips so much — they are fast, easy, and have a delicious nutty flavor that makes them slightly addictive. They’re best eaten soon after baking, before the oil has had a chance to resaturate the leaves (the amount of oil can be reduced by using a silicone mat). I find that they are too fragile for dipping, but adding seasoning to the oil can provide a nice flavor boost. They also make a fine garnish. You may wish to try this recipe with spinach, red kale, or other light weight greens.
