stuff we've been making

As 2011 draws to a close, I thought I'd share a few of the recipes that kept us busy over the holidays. Both Hanna and I had this past week off from work (hooray for slightly anachronistic academic schedules!) so we were able to while away even more time than usual in coffee shops and in the kitchen. Over the past week we've made the following, all of which come highly recommended:

Joy the Baker | Russian Grandmothers' Apple Pie Cake. I didn't actually chill the dough, as recommended, and it came out just fine.

The Way the Cookie Crumbles | Mushroom Farro Soup. Made with barley instead of farro 'cause that's what we had around. And a bit more tomato paste than the recipe calls for. Particularly good as left-overs.

smitten kitchen | cinnamon brown butter breakfast puffs. We just sprinkled cinnamon sugar on the tops of these muffins, rather than rolling them in butter, and thought they came out very tasty all the same.

smitten kitchen | nutmeg maple butter cookies. As it says on the tin. We found these worked best as tiny cookies, since they're basically maple shortbread ... a couple of bites go a long way!

via

And from Hanna's father, a recipe for lentil cakes that we modified into lentil casserole:

Lentil-Curry Casserole


Makes: 8 x 8 baking dish (four to six servings, depending on whether main- or side dish)


1 3/4 cups cooked lentils, any kind
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
olive oil, for frying
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup feta, crumbled
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees; lightly oil 8 x 8 glass baking dish and set aside.
2. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent, add curry powder, salt and pepper.
3. In a medium bowl, combine crumbled feta, lentils, eggs, milk, and 1 cup of breadcrumbs.
4. Add sauteed onion mixture to bowl, stir until well combined.
5. Spoon mixture into baking dish and spread evenly, sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs on top.
6. Bake for 35 minutes until edges are browning and casserole is firm to the touch.

The casserole is excellent hot or cold, and stores well for left-overs (we've made it twice now and it packed well for lunch at work.

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

Via smitten kitchen.

Hanna requested dessert for this evening, and since I'd been salivating over this recipe all week I decided to go for it. Actually super easy.

butter + sugar + wine = deliciousness

INGREDIENTS:

6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup red wine, any kind (we used a merlot)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 generous cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 generous teaspoon cinnamon

eggs in afternoon sunlight

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325; grease 9-inch cake round or 8 x 8 glass baking dish.
1. Cream butter and sugars until smooth.
2. Add egg and beat until smooth.
3. Add wine and vanilla.
4. Combine dry ingredients and then add to liquid about 1/4 cup at a time.
5. Bake 25-30 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean), let cool at least 10 minutes before cutting.

smitten kitchen includes a recipe for marscapone topping which we didn't make but ... yeah. Sounds tasty!

THE MORE NUTS THE BETTER

When I was thirteen, my parents sent me to Connecticut to spend a summer month with family friends. I came from a tidy Midwestern household where my mom put away peanut butter before I could make my sandwich, so at first I found it worrisome that this Connecticut household was neither tidy nor predictable. The mother of the family, Annie, was a serious portrait artist, and for starters, they had a large studio on the main floor of their house that was available for anyone who wanted to dabble in art; we could leave out our materials and half-finished projects to come back to later, or never. Their whole house was a scramble of antique, secondhand, and homemade. There were three young children, not that tame, and many household animals. The father, Mac, was besotted with his kids and full of warmth and fun. On the way home from a drive-in movie, he heard music he liked on the car radio and stopped in a parking lot to get out and dance with his young daughters. The balance of worry and delight shifted for me during the month I stayed with them.

Their meals were, like the rest of their lives, free form. One morning, before we had eaten breakfast, Annie announced, “We’re going to make brownies … the more nuts the better!”—a rallying cry that so perfectly reflected the exuberance and generosity of their family. So, that’s where this story is going … brownies.

For me, brownies are linked to my memories of this summer in Connecticut with this lovely, disheveled family, and I like them to be as full of nuts as possible. I also like them cakey, which is anathema to people (including Larry) who like them gooey. And one person in my own family hated nuts, so whenever we made the following recipe, we had to have a “nuts” and a “no-nuts” side in the pan. The recipe is from the original Moosewood Cookbook and has surprisingly little flour in it. Just lots and lots of butter, sugar, chocolate and eggs. And nuts … if you’re me.

MOOSEWOOD BROWNIES

Let soften ½ pound butter (don’t melt it).

Melt 5 oz. unsweetened chocolate. Let cool.

Cream the butter with 1 ¾ cups packed light brown sugar and 5 eggs. Add 1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract. Beat in the melted, cooled chocolate and 1 cup flour.

Optional: Stir in TONS OF NUTS.

Spread into a buttered 9 X 13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until center doesn’t jiggle anymore.

SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS: 25 CENTS, OR A QUARTER

It’s the beginning of Tulip Time in Holland, Michigan. We live near the hub of downtown activity, Centennial Park. Crowds of people wander among the tulips and small ponds; high school Dutch Dancers perform regularly in the streets around the park; and food concessions are set up where they expect crowds of munchy spectators. Activity ramps up on parade days (there are three).

The neighborhoods near us are full of families with enterprising children, and they know a good deal when they see it. Today, and all through the events of next week, there will be lemonade and cookie stands lining our streets. I try to share my business among all of them. This photo, though a typical scene in any year, was taken eight years ago. My neighbors’ daughters are selling cookies for 25 cents each. Well, you can read the sign. I think they were sugar cookies.

The local history museums, especially the Cappon House, the home of Holland’s first mayor, are prepared for a constant parade of out-of-town visitors during Tulip Time. In springs past, both of my daughters enjoyed dressing up in turn-of-the-century clothes and guiding tours through the Cappon House. The following recipe, which is supposed to have come from the Cappons themselves, has become our stand-by for cookie cutter cookies. They’re a beautiful color and they hold their shape well. I’ve never run into anyone who doesn’t like them. You can sprinkle them with sugar, fine or coarse, to make them prettier.

CAPPON GINGERSNAPS

(60 small cookies)

1 cup butter (room temperature)

1 cup white sugar (can reduce by ¼)

1/3 cup molasses

½ tsp. vanilla

1 egg

3 cups white flour

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 ½ tsp. powdered ginger

1/8 tsp. salt

Optional sugar for top

Cream together sugar and butter. Add vanilla, egg and molasses. Combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture. The dough will be very thick. Divide into 3 pieces and roll each into a log shape (or form flat pieces to roll). Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours. Slice into ¼ inch rounds or cut into shapes. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes.

(Someone told me that to keep the logs round as they firm up in the refrigerator, you can save cardboard tubes and rest the dough in those. I rubber band them closed around the wrapped dough. It works pretty well. Probably also obsessive.)