...others chose Golda Meir, Barbra Streisand and Michelle Obama. Still others picked the mom of freed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Me? I involked Moo to come join us in the sukkah last evening.
What's a sukkah, you ask? It's a temporary outdoor structure, a hut, built for the week-long festival of Sukkot with 3 sides and barely covered so you can see the sky...it becomes the Gathering Place - the hearth so to speak - for friends and family. It's a place of connection and true community, even if you're alone. And though the sukkah symbolizes frailty and the temporary nature of life, what happens in a sukkah can be very powerful indeed.
Especially when you have 40 or so women gathering to celebrate the new month, or Rosh Chodesh.
(Rosh means head, so since
it's at the top it also means start, and chodesh is month...Jewish
women's groups often adopt Rosh Chodesh as a time to gather because of a woman's connection with the moon - ours is a lunar calendar after all - and we both have 28-day cycles. Oh! And because the women remained level-headed and faithful wandering in the desert for 40 years while the men ran off half-cocked, yelling "FIRE!" and smelting a silly little cow o'gold. So we were rewarded with a holiday...but I digress...)
So as if there weren't enough gals spilling out of the sukkah onto the patio and lining the adjacent rock wall, our fearless leader called for reinforcements! It's a tradition that for
each night of Sukkot, you ceremonially 'welcome' a
biblical figure into the sukkah with you, and that became our celebration... getting to know each other a little better by whose spirit she invoked.
So we introduced
ourselves and said what woman - biblical, historical or current, Jewish
or not - we would invite...as I said, I
'brought' Moo. I really don't know why. She wasn't particularly observant; I don't even know if she belonged to the women's club at her own synagogue. But she was the first woman to pop in my head and there she stayed...giggling with me, talking to my friends and inspecting the baked goods.
I think she fit in well with the crowd...each woman a testament to strength over vulnerability...Maybe that's why she came to me: The sukkah may be flimsy, but what's inside is enduring.
To make sure the guys endured without me, I made meatloaf the night before so they'd have leftovers.
Details?
Here goes:
-Preheat oven to 375 and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
-In a bowl, combine 1 lb ground beef, 1lb ground turkey, 2 eggs, 2 T worcestershire sauce, a quarter to a third cup red wine, a quarter cup bread crumbs - I used matzah meal 'cuz it was the first thing I saw in the pantry! - 1 finely chopped medium shallot, 4 minced garlic cloves, 1 and a half t salt, lotsa ground black pepper and 1 and a half t dried oregano.
-Combine with your hands until well mixed, but don't mix it to death.
-Place on sheet pan and shape into a loaf.
-Pour on 1 4-oz tin tomato sauce - or as much as it'll take...
-And pop into oven for about an hour and a half...internal temp should be 160 when done.
-When done, let it rest another 10 minutes out of the oven so you're not serving crumbs.
And though their eyes weren't glowing quite as brightly when I came home as they were the first night they had this, they were happy. And so was I.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Sometimes, prayers really are answered...
(This is what transpired Saturday...and how I got another chance...)
Today is Yom Kippur. And I’ve been feeling crap for longer than I’ve wanted…often asking G-d to help me leave this place (metaphysically) and have some peace.
If I play my cards correctly, I just may be able to achieve it. Metaphysically. And if that happens, I will have gained the Awe of these 10 Days.
Before last night’s 1st Al Chet (the confessional prayer), our Rabbi read some personal confessions from congregants that were humorous (the kids’) and poignant (the adults’) and my own formulated out of my pain: And for the sin of not knowing how to start to make thing right, selach lanu, mechal lanu, karpeir lanu. (Forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement.)
And I cried through the rest of the prayer.
After services, I greeted my friend and she asked if I’ve been writing…my inner Eeyore kicked in and I replied: Only cover letters, lots and lots, that no one is reading.
Throughout the evening and in my dreams, I kept thinking of my Al Chet, and how I replied to my friend. These weighed on my mind through services this morning. Earlier I had a little brekkie and I told myself that I broke the fast because I felt weak when I woke and because I’d lost a few pounds over the week. I felt I had rationalized and that is a form of beating myself up. My prevailing feeling was negative. I exuded negativity. And negativity is physically heavy and draining and a burden and only encourages more of the same. And it feels simply awful. Nothing good – what I craved above all else – ever comes of it. Ever.
When we stood a bit later, the little girl behind me inadvertently pushed my chair into my knees and quite automatically, I pushed it back. Then I thought: Why be that person? She didn’t do it intentionally. Find another solution. And I did.
That’s when it hit me. Just be Positive. While I’ve always been grateful for all that I have – too many wonderful things about my life and in my life to list here – I have let negativity and to some degree self-pity have its way with me. It was one aspect of Me I couldn’t shake; it was seeping from my pores. And I realized that if I let it persist, I’d remain unemployed and I’d remain down and I’d remain in this rut I’ve carved for myself.
Before Rosh Hashanah started, someone suggested that for this new year, I should resolve to not put myself down. I thought – rationalizing maybe? – that I was just being self-deprecating. Apparently, my friend saw through the all-too-often put downs and called it what it was. This was also on my mind throughout these High Holy Days and was the spark I needed to survive. And to grow.
So now, as I think about having broken the fast before it began, I’m not assailing myself for sinning. I honestly feel that I’ve done as commanded: I removed the distraction, the weakness in my body, that would have impeded my concentration as I sought to gain insight and spirituality on this Holy Day.
That’s what resolutions and spirituality and growth are all about, right?
Maybe I’ll email my friend and share this as a way of explaining my downer reply – Maybe I’ll just let her see the new me – Maybe the peace I’ve found today will transform me back to the person I know lives inside –
Maybe I won’t have to say a word.
For the sin of negativity,
And for the sin of repressing ourselves –
Selach lanu, mechal lanu, karpeir lanu.
And may we all be written into the Book of a Positive life.
Amen.
And with a small piece of sweet Pumpkin Bread, I truly broke my fast.
Details?
Here goes:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a loaf pan with spray oil.
-Put 4 (store-bought) crispy ginger snaps or spice cookies in a zip-top bag and bash into small chunks. Set aside.
-In mixer, beat 6 T butter (room temp) with 3/4 cup dark brown sugar and a 1/4 cup regular sugar until fluffy then beat in 2 large (room temp) eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.
-Add in 1 can (14 to 15 oz) pumpkin puree, a half t vanilla extract, 1 and a half cups flour, 1 t baking soda, a quarter t baking powder, 1 t salt, 2 t cinnamon, 1 t ground ginger, a half t each of grated nutmeg and cloves and 2 handfuls of walnuts.
-Carefully beat until just blended then pour batter into prepared pan. Top with reserved cookie crumbs.
-Pop into the oven for 1 hour 25 mins...it's done when a skewer comes out clean from the middle.
It's traditional to celebrate the new year and new beginnings with something sweet...and it's always good to say thanks for being blessed with life, sustained, and for reaching this day.
And with a small piece of sweet Pumpkin Bread, I truly broke my fast.
Details?
Here goes:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a loaf pan with spray oil.
-Put 4 (store-bought) crispy ginger snaps or spice cookies in a zip-top bag and bash into small chunks. Set aside.
-In mixer, beat 6 T butter (room temp) with 3/4 cup dark brown sugar and a 1/4 cup regular sugar until fluffy then beat in 2 large (room temp) eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.
-Add in 1 can (14 to 15 oz) pumpkin puree, a half t vanilla extract, 1 and a half cups flour, 1 t baking soda, a quarter t baking powder, 1 t salt, 2 t cinnamon, 1 t ground ginger, a half t each of grated nutmeg and cloves and 2 handfuls of walnuts.
-Carefully beat until just blended then pour batter into prepared pan. Top with reserved cookie crumbs.
-Pop into the oven for 1 hour 25 mins...it's done when a skewer comes out clean from the middle.
It's traditional to celebrate the new year and new beginnings with something sweet...and it's always good to say thanks for being blessed with life, sustained, and for reaching this day.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
I like easy...
Easy is keeping up with current events with the noon news and seeing a silly story about 'personal products' fetching a pretty eBay penny...
Easy is chatting with an old friend - whose dad is a Sports Legend - about our favorite sport...and ssshhhh, it's not his dad's...
Easy is realizing you forgot to portion out the bulk-buy chicken after yesterday's GPS (grocery procurement sprint) and when you do it tonight, half becomes dinner! WooHoo! Quite the coup since the bubbles have been helping other folks lately...
Ah, but what to do with those chicken thighs? Broiling came to mind first...with a marinade or a glaze? Hmmmmm....let's poke around the internet for inspiration....Oooo, what's this? A 25-minute braise, a way to get rid of the overly-sweet, not-champagne-as-advertised wine and do it all in one pot? Now, I call that easy.
A morsel on inspiration...I've often said that it can come from anywhere for anything...this time, I trolled looking for a "new" or "under-appreciated" flavor combination that would work for the grill (or broiler)...and the first recipe I tripped across was totally different...so what? It tripped my button's and that's the name of the inspiration game, right? Right.
Details?
Here goes:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Pat dry 6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and brown skin side first in a heavy (oven-proof) pot coated with olive oil. Do it in batches if necessary and keep warm on plate.
-Add 2 cleaned, trimmed medium leeks - whites and pale greens in half-inch slices - and saute on lowish heat to soften. Add sprig of fresh rosemary and 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes and their juice.
-Return chicken to pot, add accumulated juices, a C of a 'sweeter' wine (Riesling or leftover 'champagne-ish' ick), salt and pepper, cover and bring to a boil before popping into the oven for about 25 mins or until the chicken is done.
I served this with easy mashed potatoes and was rather appreciative and appreciated!
An easy Yum all the way around!
Easy is chatting with an old friend - whose dad is a Sports Legend - about our favorite sport...and ssshhhh, it's not his dad's...
Easy is realizing you forgot to portion out the bulk-buy chicken after yesterday's GPS (grocery procurement sprint) and when you do it tonight, half becomes dinner! WooHoo! Quite the coup since the bubbles have been helping other folks lately...
Ah, but what to do with those chicken thighs? Broiling came to mind first...with a marinade or a glaze? Hmmmmm....let's poke around the internet for inspiration....Oooo, what's this? A 25-minute braise, a way to get rid of the overly-sweet, not-champagne-as-advertised wine and do it all in one pot? Now, I call that easy.
A morsel on inspiration...I've often said that it can come from anywhere for anything...this time, I trolled looking for a "new" or "under-appreciated" flavor combination that would work for the grill (or broiler)...and the first recipe I tripped across was totally different...so what? It tripped my button's and that's the name of the inspiration game, right? Right.
Details?
Here goes:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Pat dry 6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and brown skin side first in a heavy (oven-proof) pot coated with olive oil. Do it in batches if necessary and keep warm on plate.
-Add 2 cleaned, trimmed medium leeks - whites and pale greens in half-inch slices - and saute on lowish heat to soften. Add sprig of fresh rosemary and 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes and their juice.
-Return chicken to pot, add accumulated juices, a C of a 'sweeter' wine (Riesling or leftover 'champagne-ish' ick), salt and pepper, cover and bring to a boil before popping into the oven for about 25 mins or until the chicken is done.
I served this with easy mashed potatoes and was rather appreciative and appreciated!
An easy Yum all the way around!
Monday, January 17, 2011
I may not get to Carnegie Hall
As with anything worth doing, practice is the key. You know this, right? Driving takes practice; a slap shot takes practice; a pirouette takes practice...and yes, pasta takes practice.
A lot of practice...more-than-I-expected practice...definitely worth-it practice.
Now, that's a huge turn-around from someone who cooks from the seat of her pants and was considered a better foot tapper than flute player in high school...nah, to me, repetition always felt redundant.
But something about making pasta - and making it well - demanded I keep trying. I mean it seems easy enough:
Take a few ingredients...00 flour, eggs, salt, olive oil and perhaps a sprinkle of water...
Combine them simply...mix, knead and roll...
And you create a firm yet velvety bliss to become a cooking icon where your skill is extolled in smugly jealous whispers about over-achievers who never buy dried fettuccine...
Whoops...my fantasy got the better of me...
After visiting Italy in September, I came home aching for the extraordinary flavor and texture of fresh pasta. There is nothing like the taste of pure wheat that feels dense on your teeth and is more than a vehicle for sauce. After four attempts feeding gracious family members, I received a couple accolades for my almost-there pasta but could not figure out why it was alternately grainy, clumpy, tough or sticky. Until...
...until I did two things: One, realize I was making a dough and two, realize I was making a dough. The first is important because if the mixture was coming together too dry, I could add a bit of water. Duh! And the second is important because I needed to increase elasticity that happens when you form gluten in the dough...and how do you do that? You knead it to smoothness, then let it rest.
Did any recipe I consulted tell me these things? Nope! Should I have "known" these things by intuition? Probably. But sometimes, intuition only kicks in with practice.
Armed with this epiphany I set out to try again, ravioli this time and two different fillings and ya know what? The fifth's the charm...
Small print: Blaming technology first - silly me - we thought the extruder on the Kitchen Aid may've contributed to my less-than-perfect pasta. So my sweet, hungry, toy-crazed guys put a bona fide Italian pasta maker under the menorah. I hear a rolling pin works well too...
Details? Here goes:
Pasta (makes about 1 lb)
- Dump 400 grams 00 flour mixed with a healthy pinch of kosher salt (about 2t) onto (clean! Do I hafta say that?) counter and make a wide well in the center that will contain the liquid.
- Pour about a T olive oil into the well and then beat 4 whole large eggs and 1 additional yolk and add to well. Have a cup of room temp water handy in case you need it.
- Slowly, using a fork (yuck) or your fingers (yay) begin to pull in small amounts of flour into the egg mixture gathering more and more flour from the center until you can 'break' the walls of the well without getting eggs everywhere.
- As you pull everything together, this is where you might need a splash - really 1T at a time - of water to help incorporate all the flour. More small print: I didn't think it mattered if I couldn't work in all the flour, but with a small bit of water you can...and more flour means more gluten and more gluten means smoothness and strength.
- Now, the work begins. Knead that baby in long strokes til your arm hurts, then knead it for another 10 mins...or better yet, ask your Master Mixologist to do it! Really. I didn't knead it enough and it wasn't until I went past the 'oh, it's OK like that' stage that I saw and felt the transformation. It became soft, smooth and creamy while not being wet. That's when I knew practice makes perfect.
- Wrap the dough in plastic, flatten in a disk and let it rest on the counter for 30 mins to an hour.
No futzing for at least a half hour! Plenty o'time to whip up a filling or two for ravioli. In anticipation, I'd roasted small chunks of a whole butternut squash tossed in olive oil and coated with kosher salt, white pepper and cumin in a 425-degree oven for 35 mins until it was soft and easily smooshy. This became the basis for Rav I and frozen spinach became the basis for Rav II.
Butternut Squash Ravioli filling
- To the aforementioned roasted squash, mix in 1T balsamic vinegar, a quarter c mascarpone cheese and 2T parmesan cheese.
- Combine well and pop into a quart-sized zip-top bag for easy squeezing onto the pasta.
Spinach Ricotta Ravioli filling
- Thaw about 12oz frozen spinach (nuking it is fine, just don't 'cook' it) and squeeze out the copious water.
- Add about 1c ricotta, a beaten egg, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, about a half t freshly grated nutmeg and about a quarter t cayenne.
- Combine well and pop into it's own quart-sized zip-top bag.
Now's a good time to put up a pot of well-salted water to cook the pasta and lightly flour some tea towels or baking trays lined with parchment as a landing area for the just-filled or rolled out pasta. Oh, and get out a cup of water and a pastry brush.
Cut the pasta into quarters making sure to keep any pieces you're not immediately working with covered. Take your first quarter and starting on the 0 (or widest setting) start rolling the dough...we did it 3 times each on the 0 and 1 settings and sequentially moved on to #6 so the dough was less than a mm thick - I think.
Now, the assembly:
Take the rolled pasta and paint it lightly with water on one side, then snip a corner of your filling bag so the hole has about a half-inch diameter and squeeze a nice T of filling onto your sheet, leaving about an inch-and-a-half between dollops.
These pix show how I placed the filling so I could fold the top of the pasta over it, press it down over the filling so the air isn't trapped inside (so the flavor explosion is in the mouth, not the cooking pot!) and sealed by the water we 'painted' earlier.
Cut out the raviolis and place on the towels or trays...like this:
And boil til they float or freeze...Yum! Oh wait, I forgot the sauce...
It's easy peasy...really!
- In a saute pan, gently melt 1 stick butter and as it slowly browns, add 3 bruised rosemary stalks.
- Thinly slice 2 large shallots and mince 3 large-ish garlic cloves and add to butter to sweat.
- Add salt and pepper...then add a half c boxed chicken stock....let all soften, then raise heat and bring to boil to thicken a bit.
- Mix in a third c parmesan and then a quarter to a third c heavy cream...simmer, but don't boil...check seasonings, then add cooked pasta to sauce to coat, comme ca:
Whew...that's everything! Well, everything except how ridiculously delicious it is. Unbelievable, actually...and all it took was a little practice...
And while I may not get to Carnegie Hall, this pasta did get me back to Italy and put a little symphony in my mouth.
A lot of practice...more-than-I-expected practice...definitely worth-it practice.
Now, that's a huge turn-around from someone who cooks from the seat of her pants and was considered a better foot tapper than flute player in high school...nah, to me, repetition always felt redundant.
But something about making pasta - and making it well - demanded I keep trying. I mean it seems easy enough:
Take a few ingredients...00 flour, eggs, salt, olive oil and perhaps a sprinkle of water...
Combine them simply...mix, knead and roll...
And you create a firm yet velvety bliss to become a cooking icon where your skill is extolled in smugly jealous whispers about over-achievers who never buy dried fettuccine...
Whoops...my fantasy got the better of me...
After visiting Italy in September, I came home aching for the extraordinary flavor and texture of fresh pasta. There is nothing like the taste of pure wheat that feels dense on your teeth and is more than a vehicle for sauce. After four attempts feeding gracious family members, I received a couple accolades for my almost-there pasta but could not figure out why it was alternately grainy, clumpy, tough or sticky. Until...
...until I did two things: One, realize I was making a dough and two, realize I was making a dough. The first is important because if the mixture was coming together too dry, I could add a bit of water. Duh! And the second is important because I needed to increase elasticity that happens when you form gluten in the dough...and how do you do that? You knead it to smoothness, then let it rest.
Did any recipe I consulted tell me these things? Nope! Should I have "known" these things by intuition? Probably. But sometimes, intuition only kicks in with practice.
Armed with this epiphany I set out to try again, ravioli this time and two different fillings and ya know what? The fifth's the charm...
Small print: Blaming technology first - silly me - we thought the extruder on the Kitchen Aid may've contributed to my less-than-perfect pasta. So my sweet, hungry, toy-crazed guys put a bona fide Italian pasta maker under the menorah. I hear a rolling pin works well too...
Details? Here goes:
Pasta (makes about 1 lb)
- Dump 400 grams 00 flour mixed with a healthy pinch of kosher salt (about 2t) onto (clean! Do I hafta say that?) counter and make a wide well in the center that will contain the liquid.
- Pour about a T olive oil into the well and then beat 4 whole large eggs and 1 additional yolk and add to well. Have a cup of room temp water handy in case you need it.
- Slowly, using a fork (yuck) or your fingers (yay) begin to pull in small amounts of flour into the egg mixture gathering more and more flour from the center until you can 'break' the walls of the well without getting eggs everywhere.
- As you pull everything together, this is where you might need a splash - really 1T at a time - of water to help incorporate all the flour. More small print: I didn't think it mattered if I couldn't work in all the flour, but with a small bit of water you can...and more flour means more gluten and more gluten means smoothness and strength.
- Now, the work begins. Knead that baby in long strokes til your arm hurts, then knead it for another 10 mins...or better yet, ask your Master Mixologist to do it! Really. I didn't knead it enough and it wasn't until I went past the 'oh, it's OK like that' stage that I saw and felt the transformation. It became soft, smooth and creamy while not being wet. That's when I knew practice makes perfect.
- Wrap the dough in plastic, flatten in a disk and let it rest on the counter for 30 mins to an hour.
No futzing for at least a half hour! Plenty o'time to whip up a filling or two for ravioli. In anticipation, I'd roasted small chunks of a whole butternut squash tossed in olive oil and coated with kosher salt, white pepper and cumin in a 425-degree oven for 35 mins until it was soft and easily smooshy. This became the basis for Rav I and frozen spinach became the basis for Rav II.
Butternut Squash Ravioli filling
- To the aforementioned roasted squash, mix in 1T balsamic vinegar, a quarter c mascarpone cheese and 2T parmesan cheese.
- Combine well and pop into a quart-sized zip-top bag for easy squeezing onto the pasta.
Spinach Ricotta Ravioli filling
- Thaw about 12oz frozen spinach (nuking it is fine, just don't 'cook' it) and squeeze out the copious water.
- Add about 1c ricotta, a beaten egg, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, about a half t freshly grated nutmeg and about a quarter t cayenne.
- Combine well and pop into it's own quart-sized zip-top bag.
Now's a good time to put up a pot of well-salted water to cook the pasta and lightly flour some tea towels or baking trays lined with parchment as a landing area for the just-filled or rolled out pasta. Oh, and get out a cup of water and a pastry brush.
Cut the pasta into quarters making sure to keep any pieces you're not immediately working with covered. Take your first quarter and starting on the 0 (or widest setting) start rolling the dough...we did it 3 times each on the 0 and 1 settings and sequentially moved on to #6 so the dough was less than a mm thick - I think.
Now, the assembly:
Take the rolled pasta and paint it lightly with water on one side, then snip a corner of your filling bag so the hole has about a half-inch diameter and squeeze a nice T of filling onto your sheet, leaving about an inch-and-a-half between dollops.
These pix show how I placed the filling so I could fold the top of the pasta over it, press it down over the filling so the air isn't trapped inside (so the flavor explosion is in the mouth, not the cooking pot!) and sealed by the water we 'painted' earlier.
Cut out the raviolis and place on the towels or trays...like this:
And boil til they float or freeze...Yum! Oh wait, I forgot the sauce...
It's easy peasy...really!
- In a saute pan, gently melt 1 stick butter and as it slowly browns, add 3 bruised rosemary stalks.
- Thinly slice 2 large shallots and mince 3 large-ish garlic cloves and add to butter to sweat.
- Add salt and pepper...then add a half c boxed chicken stock....let all soften, then raise heat and bring to boil to thicken a bit.
- Mix in a third c parmesan and then a quarter to a third c heavy cream...simmer, but don't boil...check seasonings, then add cooked pasta to sauce to coat, comme ca:
And while I may not get to Carnegie Hall, this pasta did get me back to Italy and put a little symphony in my mouth.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
At least it tasted good
Two years ago, I tenderly tucked away a recipe I found on the web, keeping it in limbo waiting for the perfect occasion...and as I contemplated my contributions to the Thanksgiving feast, I tripped over this recipe and remembered I wasn't the only one with fantastic food memories.
My Dad's a Brooklyn Chocoholic and that can mean only one thing for folks of a certain age: Ebinger's Blackout Cake.
Three layers of rich, moist cake held together with pools of gooey, fudgey, custardy heaven and sprinkled with a surprise crumb. And it's ALL chocolate. Not too bitter. Not too sweet. Just perfect. (sigh)
Honestly, I think the man still dreams of the pale mint boxes with thin chocolate-colored diamond lines that came from Ebinger's bakery.
As a kid, I remembered hearing Dad wax whimsically about the cake...as though it was a goddess appearing before mortals. Then I tasted the cake and understood exactly why he felt the way he did.
As a kid, I remembered hearing Dad wax whimsically about the cake...as though it was a goddess appearing before mortals. Then I tasted the cake and understood exactly why he felt the way he did.
So for Thanksgiving, as we savor what's sweet, I baked Gale Gand's replication of the famous Ebinger's Blackout Cake...and walked down Memory Lane with my Dad.
Details?
Here goes...or click the link above.
Gale Gand's Ebinger's Blackout Cake
Makes 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened at room temperature
¼ cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 ¼ cups cake flour
1 cup whole, 2% fat, or 1% fat milk
For the custard:
3 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
Scant 2/3 cup cornstarch
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Cut 2 circles of parchment paper or wax paper to fit the bottoms of the pans, then press them in.
In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter and shortening together. Add the sugar and mix until light and fluffy. One by one, add the eggs, mixing after each addition. With the mixer running at low speed, add the vanilla, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix. With the mixer running at low speed, add about 1/3 of the cake flour, then about 1/3 of the milk, and mix. Repeat with the remaining cake flour and milk and mix.
Pour into the prepared pans and bake until dry and springy to the touch and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are OK), 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks and let cool completely, to room temperature.
Using a long serrated knife, cut the cake layers horizontally in half. Reserving 3 halves for the cake, put the remaining half in a food processor, breaking it up with your hands. Pulse into fine crumbs.
Meanwhile, make the custard: Pour 2 ½ cups of the water, the sugar, corn syrup and cocoa powder into a large nonreactive saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the remaining ½ cup of water and the cornstarch. Whisk into the cocoa mixture in the saucepan and return the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly.
Cook, whisking constantly, until very thick, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Pour into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill until firm, about 45 minutes.
To finish the cake, place a cake layer on a cake plate or serving platter (reserving the most even layer for the top) and spread with cooled custard. Top with another layer of cake, then custard, then one more layer of cake. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining custard. Coat the cake with the cake crumbs. Chill until ready to serve, at least 2 hours. Serve the same day.
Be sure to use straight-sided cake pans...mine were not and the cake looked HORRIBLE. I can not stress this enough: The cake looked like I ran the car over it and that is NOT a memory suitable for thanks.
Dad enjoyed the cake. Said it was delicious. But I'm his daughter and he would've said that even if it tasted like car tire. Mom talked about her favorite Ebinger's cake, a minty chocolate confection. (Did Ebinger's bake anything but chocolate? Probably not!)
And everyone around the table gave thanks that Hanukkah's around the corner and my latkes look as good as they taste!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
L'dor va dor
Moo, as I've called her since I met her at 15 when she started dating my uncle, is only 12 years older than I am and was more a beautiful big sister than an aunt...the sister neither of us had. I could confide in her; shop with her; and learn about life from her.
And I took notes.
Moo learned to cook from her mother...an incredibly gifted woman who regularly made baklava and myriad other sweet and savory delicacies for her family -- including her newly-extended family...and became a gifted cook in her own right.
She's Sephardic, so while her Middle Eastern cuisine seemed rather exotic at first, the food of her childhood became the food of mine.
And I took more notes.
When I set up my own house, Moo told me how to make fasulia, a hearty beef and green bean stew spiced with cinnamon and allspice that was often bubbling on her stove.
And it bubbled often on mine...but like Moo's and my relationship, too much came between us in recent years and the recipe -- like our bond -- went untouched...which is a shame. I needed to celebrate my Moo, so tonight I pulled out the yellowing loose-leaf page where I took down her directions and channeled one of my favorite people in the world.
Details?
Here goes:
-Toss 1lb chuck stew meat in enough flour to lightly coat and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
-Add about 2 T olive oil to hot heavy dutch oven and brown the beef in batches.
-When all is browned, add 1 large chopped white onion to pot to sweat in residual oil.
-When translucent, add 1 t cinnamon, a half t allspice, salt and freshly ground black pepper and combine.
-Add about 2 cups of water and on high heat, scrape all the lovely bits from the bottom of the pot.
-Return the meat and any accumulated juices to the pot and add enough water to almost cover the meat.
-Simmer covered for 30 to 45 minutes.
-Add 1 lb fresh green beans and 2 small (8 oz) tins of tomato sauce and simmer for an additional half hour.
-Check seasoning and enjoy.
I held true to Moo's original directions, resisting the urge to add a little harisa paste or some garlic or deglazing the pot with wine. But I did chop the last of our homegrown tomatoes and added them with the sauce because we all have to hold on to what's sweet as long as possible.
L'dor va dor - from generation to generation - I love you Moo,
Tzi-Tzi
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
My favorite thing to hear
I could've just as easily titled this: Should I go green or go red? I didn't have a clue when I started rustling through the fridge and lots of sauce bubbles began crowding my head.
Spinach! Use the spinach!
Chipotle in adobo! Mmmmm, yummy!
Green tomatoes! Ya got plenty!
Tomato sauce! Makes dinner saucy!
You're thinking: She's off her rocker (true, but you knew that already); Mix 'em together (er ... um, that idea wasn't coming together); What the heck are ya makin anyway? (Ah, my point exactly!)
Enchiladas! And for that I need two sauces: Red to mix with the filling and Green to pour over! WooHoo, way to bow to the bubbles!
As for the filling, I had already planned to 're-purpose' the leftover pork chops from a couple nights ago.
Leftovers are key to our weeknight meals as there's often an abundance in the fridge. If anyone can accurately predict how much dinner two teenaged boys will eat on any given night, please let me know. (There's probably a formula that involves Partial Equivalence Relation, but that math's beyond me.)
Anyhoo...
Details?
Here goes:
Green sauce
-In a blender, whiz about a cup and a half frozen spinach with 4 large smashed garlic cloves, 1 roughly chopped large green tomato, juice of 1 lime, 1 t olive oil, 1 t each ground coriander and cumin, a half t salt and freshly ground black pepper until you have a thinish pesto-like consistency.
-Pour into a bowl.
Red sauce
-In the same blender jar - no need to rinse - whiz 1 8oz-tin tomato sauce, 2 T chipolte chiles in adobo, 1 t taco seasoning, a half t allspice, a dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper until smooth.
Enchiladas
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Spread about a quarter cup of the Green sauce on the bottom of a baking dish.
-In a bowl, combine diced pork chops with 1 15-oz tin drained black beans and the Red sauce.
-Using 12-inch flour tortillas, put about 2 to 2 and a half heaping soup spoons of filling into the middle and roll over once, tuck in the ends then roll again. Place in dish seam side down and continue until you're out of filling or tortillas. I think I got 11 out of this.
-Once all the enchiladas are nestled in the dish, pour the Green sauce along the center of the rows of enchiladas and top with shredded cheese (cheddar, taco blend, Mexican blend, even mozzarella if that's what you have).
-Bake uncovered for 25 to 35 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Oh, and what's my favorite thing to hear?
The boys say: It's really good!
Spinach! Use the spinach!
Chipotle in adobo! Mmmmm, yummy!
Green tomatoes! Ya got plenty!
Tomato sauce! Makes dinner saucy!
You're thinking: She's off her rocker (true, but you knew that already); Mix 'em together (er ... um, that idea wasn't coming together); What the heck are ya makin anyway? (Ah, my point exactly!)
Enchiladas! And for that I need two sauces: Red to mix with the filling and Green to pour over! WooHoo, way to bow to the bubbles!
As for the filling, I had already planned to 're-purpose' the leftover pork chops from a couple nights ago.
Leftovers are key to our weeknight meals as there's often an abundance in the fridge. If anyone can accurately predict how much dinner two teenaged boys will eat on any given night, please let me know. (There's probably a formula that involves Partial Equivalence Relation, but that math's beyond me.)
Anyhoo...
Details?
Here goes:
Green sauce
-In a blender, whiz about a cup and a half frozen spinach with 4 large smashed garlic cloves, 1 roughly chopped large green tomato, juice of 1 lime, 1 t olive oil, 1 t each ground coriander and cumin, a half t salt and freshly ground black pepper until you have a thinish pesto-like consistency.
-Pour into a bowl.
Red sauce
-In the same blender jar - no need to rinse - whiz 1 8oz-tin tomato sauce, 2 T chipolte chiles in adobo, 1 t taco seasoning, a half t allspice, a dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper until smooth.
Enchiladas
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Spread about a quarter cup of the Green sauce on the bottom of a baking dish.
-In a bowl, combine diced pork chops with 1 15-oz tin drained black beans and the Red sauce.
-Using 12-inch flour tortillas, put about 2 to 2 and a half heaping soup spoons of filling into the middle and roll over once, tuck in the ends then roll again. Place in dish seam side down and continue until you're out of filling or tortillas. I think I got 11 out of this.
-Once all the enchiladas are nestled in the dish, pour the Green sauce along the center of the rows of enchiladas and top with shredded cheese (cheddar, taco blend, Mexican blend, even mozzarella if that's what you have).
-Bake uncovered for 25 to 35 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Oh, and what's my favorite thing to hear?
The boys say: It's really good!
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